May 2005 Archives

Officials in Cocke county Tennessee are scratching their heads after more than a dozen inmates escaped from the Cocke County Regional Prison on Friday.

The prison, one of the newest in the country, was completed in 2003 after more than a decade of planning and building. Inmates began arriving in early 2004 after an issue with the sewage system was corrected.

The prison was held up to legislators across the country as a model of ingenuity. It was the first prison construction project to harness the labor of prisoners from other areas to do the building.

"About 96% of the labor in this prison was done by prisoners," Ray Tandall, the administrator of CCRP, said. "We saved about $40 million in construction costs, which allowed us to invest in state-of-the-art security equipment."

CCRP installed over 500 high-tech security cameras, sensors, and electronic locks in the prison. All of the wiring and installation of the system was also completed by prisoners.

"We just don't know what happened to them," a guard who wishes to remain anonymous said on Friday. "They just vanished in the night. When the morning shift went in, all the doors were open and they weren't anywhere in sight. It's a complete mystery."

Authorities are combing the area and have been telephoning family members of the inmates to ask if they have seen any of the escapees. So far, no family members or friends have reported sighting any of them.

"We'll sure give the sheriff a call if we see him," Trudy Smiley, the wife of escapee Rex Smiley, said on Monday.

Staff Reporter -- bs

With dating services scrambling for love-seekers, one company is hoping to capitalize on one of the senses not often tapped into by the dating service behemoths: smell.

"The sense of smell evokes some of the most powerful emotions in humans," says Brad Kassell, founder of Smell-Me-Not Dating. "We go through all of the usual routines that other dating services go through -- the background checks, personal profiles, video introductions, the whole 9-yards."

But Smell-Me-Not goes farther by offering a service that usually isn't covered by other companies.

"We give the customer the option of purchasing a Smell-O-Gram from anyone that they are interested in," Kassell says. "The potential mate has the option of declining or accepting the release of a sample to the requestor. If they accept, we send out a scratch-n-sniff sample of their body odor to the requestor."

The patch, a 3"X3" square, contains the body odor of a love-seeker that is released by scratching the square. If they are still interested after smelling the object of their interest, they can request a date. The other person can decline if they so choose.

"Sometimes you just smell them and say, 'Wow, that's one special person'", Dana Lane said. "I've smelled a lot of men over the last few years, but I haven't found 'The One' yet. I have found some really great-smelling men, though."

The company hopes to advertise in several major magazines in the coming year by including some scratch-n-sniff samples of customers willing to let the world smell them.

"I think it's going to be an exciting year," Kassell said.

--Staff Reporter -- bs

Are you like me? Do you drive in the left lane to actually pass people? Or are you one of

those people that drive in the left-hand lane because they like being there?

It ticks me off when I'm driving the speed limit (yes, sometimes I drive faster than the limit, but never more than 10 mph over) and I come up to two cars driving side-by-side at 5-10 mph under the speed limit. They both refuse to alter their speed whatsoever to allow anyone to pass. So, four thousand cars jam up behind them doing 35 mph in a 45 mph zone.

So, as we drive along at 35, I begin to watch the people behind me jockying for position, whipping in and out of the already jammed lanes, trying to make it to the front of the line so they can get by whoever is being a nuisance driver.

So, are these people oblivious to the entire world around them? Are they so inconsiderate of other people that they refuse to make the slightest gesture to do what they supposedly learned while studying to get their driver's license to begin with?

I think they are so selfish and starved for some sense of power that they do it intentionally. They very well know what kind of mayhem that they are causing behind them. They relish it. They drive along and giggle as they look in their rear-view mirror at all of us losers behind them. They'd probably scream in delight if they actually witnessed one of the accidents that they were responsible for.

I guess it goes back to the world we live in. Everyone has taken on the motto "Every man/woman for himself/herself." If you don't take it, someone will. If you don't take advantage of someone else, they'll take advantage of you.

I hate when government gets involved in things that people should handle reasonably on their own. However, when people fail to do the reasonable thing and wind up causing injuries and deaths, I think the government should step in.

I will write my representatives (again) and ask for legislation to be passed in my state to make it a driving offense if you stay in the left-hand lane when someone approaches you from behind. Regardless of the speed of the vehicles, if you're doing 10 mph over the speed limit and they come up behind you at 30 mph over the speed limit, and you don't move over to let them pass, you should also get a ticket for blocking traffic.

I'll let you know how it goes...

-- Mark --