KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 22) - Judge Thomas Phillips will conduct a hearing on the Alcoa, Inc. retiree benefits case Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 9 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. Attorneys for both the company and the retirees have asked the judge to avoid a trial and rule in their favor on the case which impacts the health plans of 13,000 to 15,000 former aluminum company workers.

Hundreds of former Alcoa, Inc. employees are expected to attend Wednesday’s hearing in Knoxville.

According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Alcoa, Inc. retirees, the contract ratified nearly two years ago between Alcoa, Inc. and the United Steel Workers union imposes higher premium obligations, more deductibles and greater amounts of coinsurance on most — if not all — previously covered health-care expenses. The benefit changes were effective at the beginning of 2007 and apply to retirees who left the company between May 31, 1993, and June 1, 2006.

The contract was approved nationwide by a razor-thin margin. At Local 309 in Blount County, the vote was also close with 511 union members (51.7 percent) voting in favor of ratifying the contract and 478 members (48.3 percent) voting against it. Retiree benefits was the key point of contention.

The lawsuit charges that Alcoa, Inc. violated the retirees’ vested rights under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and breached its contract under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Knoxville attorney Greg Coleman, who represents 14,000 Alcoa retirees nationwide in the case, said that Judge Phillips’ ruling would either end the case or send it forward to a trial.

Didn't we used to have a Blount County newspaper? Here are two BIG stories about Blount County ... both of them from the KNOXVILLE News Sentinel:

Maryville church youth leaders charged with sex crimes

West Knox company relocating to Rockford

The Knoxville News Sentinel is reporting the following: "Newell Rubbermaid Inc., which has operations in Blount County, is in a “precarious situation” due to exposure to rising costs, after second-quarter profit dropped 35 percent, an analyst said Friday.

Newell Rubbermaid also offered a third-quarter profit outlook that missed Wall Street expectations."

Complete story here.

We were one of the lucky homes that was without power Monday evening and all day Tuesday after thunderstorms rolled through East Tennessee late Monday afternoon. After having no air conditioning, lights or computer for 23 hours and 14 minutes, an ABC News story jumped out at me.

ABC News says: "Dolly, a Category 1 hurricane, was expected to dump up to 15 inches of rain, threatening flooding that could breach levees in the heavily populated Rio Grande valley. Dolly, upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday, had sustained winds of 85 mph. Utility company AEP Texas reported power outages to more than 9,200 customers in Cameron County."

Compare that hurricane story to this article from Wednesday's Knoxville News Sentinel: "At the height of Monday’s storms, more than 44,000 customers were without power. More details as they develop online and in Thursday’s News Sentinel."

Any KUB customers out there interested in joining my new recruiting effort to bring AEP Texas to East Tennessee?

Looks like a surprise candidate has entered the 2008 Presidential Race ... and now this great nation has a REAL future.

The Pellissippi Research Centre at Pellissippi Parkway and Old Knoxville Highway in Alcoa - a high tech industrial park being developed by Blount and Knox counties - is in line to receive $700,000 in federal appropriations according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Read the complete story here.

The Maryville Daily Times has maintained for the past year that the housing slump isn't happening locally. Dean Stone has written editorials stating that Blount County's housing market is "booming in spite of what's happening elsewhere." The newspaper even gave away countless pages of free advertising to local Realtors who were upset when The Daily Times ran a less-than-flattering national story about the housing market last year.

I wonder how many pages of free advertising they'll have to give away because of Joel Davis' story today (see complete story here) about the South Blount County Utility District? The story says:

Because of lessening demand for new homes, the utility district isn't making as much money from tapping fees, Stacie Keller, SBCUD spokeswoman, said.

"It's dropped off to about 200 to 250 this year," Keller said. "There's not as much housing construction ... People aren't moving into the homes. There's a lot of empty developments sitting. It's a huge cut in our revenues."

Can anyone say "reality check" ??!!