There will be no abiding Ken Whitehouse now: The same reporter who broke the story that the Nashville Predators might be sold to Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie dropped an even bigger bombshell today:

NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country and are converging in Indianapolis for a “major event” to take place on Saturday. Saturday is the same day that Obama is expected to make his first public appearance with his yet to be announced vice presidential running mate. Indiana is the home state of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered to be on the short list of Democratic vice presidential contenders.

CBS News, among others, is citing Nashville Post as its source for speculation about Obama’s choice for vice president. This is a huge scoop for a local news organization that’s become an invaluable part of Nashville’s local media landscape over the past several years. Way to go, Ken!

KYpolitics.org, a right-wing blog devoted to chronicling political happenings in the Bluegrass state, just borrowed a page from the Bill Hobbs playbook: Publishing a doctored photo of a woman in Islamic headdress holding a child; both the woman and the child bear the photoshopped face of Barack Obama alongside the following commentary:

Some call him the greatest man ever. Some say he’s the world’s No. 1 celebrity. Others, well, others — like those who work for NBC News — claim he’s the new Messiah. If ever there was a doubt in anyone’s mind…here’s proof.

I read KYpolitics.org–and the counterpart left-wing blog Bluegrass Report–regularly, and I see instances of bias in both pretty often. That’s not unusual in the blogosphere. This latest nonsense is not only tacky, but just plain hateful and shameful. We’re all entitled to our opinions, but there’s no need to resort to these kind of childish antics to (try to) make a point. There are plenty of things I don’t like (and some things I do like) about John McCain, but you won’t see me grafting his face onto anything, not to mention anything this tasteless.

Jennifer Peebles is right to credit Glenn Reynolds for his major role in inspiring Tennessee’s active and ample blogosphere, but I think the original NashvilleIsTalking site is a big reason why our blogosphere is as connected as it is:

Welcome to the Tennessee political blogosphere: where citizen journalists, amateur pundits and wiseacres with broadband access endlessly type and snipe. It’s a well established, highly organized and highly readable subculture with a devoted following among political junkies, casual Web surfers, politicians and reporters alike…

“There are a ton of Texas bloggers … but they don’t ever seem to talk or know each other,” [Betsy] Phillips (aka Aunt B) said. By contrast, Tennessee bloggers seem to have a much stronger sense of group identity, as she learned after [a] would-be attack on her identity. “It was one of the first lessons I had in that kind of cohesive spirit of the Tennessee blogosphere,” she said. “There’s a sense that we all do this, and we can have our fights and still stay kind of nice.”

Thank you, Mike Sechrist and Brittney Gilbert, for helping us all get to know each other out here. If you’re looking for another example of Tennessee’s blogosphere rallying around one of its own, look no further than Katherine Coble.

A thorough, deliberative process to determine the fate of the Tennessee State Fairgrounds is the right approach.

On Wednesday, four development organizations will present their proposals for the future of the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. The meeting of the fair board, to be held 6-8:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall at the fairgrounds, will not have public comment, though listeners can offer written questions or comments to the groups and the board afterward.

It is hoped that questions and comments will be numerous, because this 117-acre site is a big, colorful part of Nashville’s history, and should not become a footnote in its future.

Demands for a plan for the fairgrounds have been growing, because it has remained undeveloped for years even as the city has grown and changed around it. It currently hosts the Tennessee State Fair every September, a monthly flea market and regular exhibitions, and has as its main tenant the Music City Motorplex, formerly the Nashville Speedway.

The fairgrounds have been in place for decades, but I personally think the existing site would be better served by another purpose. The site is close to downtown and underused, and many of the properties around it have fallen into disrepair. This part of town has a potential for residences and commerce that is going unfulfilled, if you ask me. I’ll defer to whatever consensus appears to emerge, but I think a town center or community park would be excellent choices for this property.

The Tennessee State Fair in its present state has outlived its usefulness. It’s no secret that gang activity is not unusual during the fair, and attendance is not what it ought to be for what is billed as a statewide event. I’d like to see the title of Tennessee State Fair ceded to the larger (and safer) Wilson County Fair or, touching on the idea I suggested on Monday, relocated to the current Hickory Hollow Mall property. Establishing a Six Flags-style theme park with exhibition space suitable for the state fair would be a major and welcome change for Antioch and for Nolensville Road.