O.k. when the News-Sentinel took flight from downtown. Then Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe and the City of Knoxville gave the NS a lucrative corporate welfare handout called a PILOT. (payment in lieu of taxes) It was given so that the News-Sentinel would maintain a certain percentage of good higher paying jobs. It is questionable that the News-Sentinel has maintained their end of the bargain. Last Friday, the NS laid off 8 employees in the advertising department. (More on that in another post)

So, when they are considering their endorsements for the August 7, 2008 election is it any surprise that a majority of their endorsements are former Victor Ashe cronies. The very people that will continue to encourage the City of Knoxville officials to look the other way on the News Sentinel’s adherence to the agreement.