Tag: news
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What Does the Poverty Rate Really Tell Us?
The Census Bureau recently released its annual update on poverty in the United States. But before drawing conclusions from a poverty rate, it helps to ask a basic question: How is poverty being measured? The federal government uses two main measures, and they can tell somewhat different stories. The Official Poverty Measure, or OPM, compares…
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Sullivan County’s 25-Year Economic Reset
A wise mentor once said that a community’s progress should be measured in quarter centuries, not quarters. The point was to take the long view — across multiple administrations, economic cycles and political priorities — rather than judge success by quick fixes or short-term gains. Economic change rarely follows an election calendar. Industrial sites can…
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Where Americans Moved in 2025
You may have seen this pop-up in your feed recently. Though many will jump to political conclusions or shout we’re being overrun by newcomers, neither is entirely true. The graphic shows net domestic migration in 2025 per 10,000 inhabitants. That means the numbers are not percentages and not total headcounts. They show whether a state…
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A City Is Something We Build. A Community Is Something We Create.
I can’t tell you how many times people stopped me during Fun Fest to say “thank you” and express how they felt about living in a place like Kingsport. They did not necessarily mean the City of Kingsport. They meant the Kingsport community. They were not really thanking me personally. I happened to be a…
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The County Line Doesn’t Divide Us
Miss Tennessee 2026 recently posted a photo of herself standing in front of Allandale Mansion. She joked that she had come to crown Miss Kingsport and Miss Sullivan County, only to discover that she was standing in the Hawkins County portion of Kingsport. She invited readers to weigh in on Kingsport’s unusual two-county status. It…
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Why Kingsport Is Called the Model City
Kingsport’s municipal election is underway, with early voting through August 1 and Election Day on August 6. This is a good time to remember why we are called the Model City. The name is often associated with Kingsport’s physical plan—Church Circle, an orderly street system, and a balanced layout for businesses, neighborhoods, parks, and schools.…
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The Mixed Messages of Appalachia
We took the granddaughters to see Toy Story 5 at Hilton Head this week. As we were watching the opening ads, a Mountain Dew trailer depicting a fictitious scene from Tennessee in 1948 popped up on the big screen. A theatre full of people saw a ‘hoedown’ with stereotypical images of Appalachia–bibbed overalls, banjos, and…
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What IRS Migration Data Says About Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia
Every year, the Internal Revenue Service releases migration data based on address changes reported on individual income tax returns. It is not perfect. It does not count every person, and it should not be confused with Census population estimates. But it is one of the best tools available for understanding where tax-filing households are moving…
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Roots and Renewal: Why Kingsport Needs Both Locals and Newcomers
In retirement, I’ve spent a lot of time working on the landscaping around my 55-year-old house. The house sits beneath towering oaks that were there long before the first footing was poured. They give the place shade, structure, and character. The foundation plantings came later, when the house was built. Over time, some of them…
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Kingsport Is Not Just a Place to Work. It Is a Place to Live.
For generations, Kingsport has been known as an industrial city. This is a place built by blue-collar workers, managers, supervisors, engineers, executives, and working families — people who changed clothes before and after work, carried lunch boxes, worked rotating shifts, parked at plant gates, punched time clocks, and helped make products that reached far beyond…
