Although he probably wishes he could hide out on the farm all week after news of his required annual Nathan Bedford Forrest Day proclamation went viral for some reason to the point that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) even weighed in against it, Gov. Bill Lee is back on the road in East Tennessee this week.
(A reminder, for those of you who might be new to the state: GOP Gov. Bill Haslam signed the same Forrest proclamation for eight years, as did Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen. As did presumably all their predecessors. But Cruz is right — it’s long past time to change the law. And it’s way past time to remove that stupid bust, which after all, was only installed in 1978.)
The most intriguing item on Lee’s schedule, however, is a Wednesday announcement at the Gibson Guitar Factory in Nashville. As you might recall, Gibson filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and has since reorganized under a former Levi’s president, closing its Memphis factory. My educated guess is that an economics incentive announcement is coming, but maybe I’m wrong and Lee will instead announce that Gibson is donating guitars to every school in Tennessee as part of a new music education initiative. Which would be a much better idea.
In any case, there’s a nice scoop coming Monday. And if you’re forwarding this newsletter to your friends, please encourage them to also sign up themselves!
GOVERNOR LEE’S MEDIA SCHEDULE FOR JULY 15, 2019 – JULY 21, 2019
Monday, July 15
No public events
Tuesday, July 16
Unicoi County Event with Sen. Rusty Crowe and Rep. John Holsclaw Jr.
Unicoi Welcome Center
106 Village Pl
Unicoi, TN 37692
11:00 a.m. EDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
ETSU Announcement
ETSU Quillen College of Medicine
Veterans Affairs Campus, Stanton-Gerber Hall Mezzanine
Building 178, Maple Ave.
Mountain Home, TN 37684
2:00 p.m. EDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Johnson County Event with Sen. Jon Lundberg and Rep. Timothy Hill
Johnson County Welcome Center
716 South Shady Street
Mountain City, TN 37683
3:30 p.m. EDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Wednesday, July 17
Grainger County Event with Sen. Frank Nicely and Rep. Jerry Sexton
Grainger County Justice Center
270 Justice Center Drive
Rutledge, TN 37861
9:00 a.m. EDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Claiborne County Event with Sen. Frank Nicely and Rep. Jerry Sexton
Claiborne County Courthouse
1740 Main Street
Tazewell, TN 37879
11:00 a.m. EDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Gibson USA Factory Announcement
641 Massman Drive
Nashville, TN 37210
2:00 p.m. CDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Thursday, July 18
No public events
Friday, July 19
Judge Carma McGee Investiture Ceremony
Hardin County High School Auditorium
1170 Pickwick Street
Savannah, TN 38372
2:00 p.m. CDT
MEDIA – Open, Availability
Saturday, July 20
No public events
Sunday, June 21
No public events
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