I don’t make it a habit to praise car dealerships, but this move by Darrell Waltrip’s company was both kind-hearted and savvy.

Waltrip said the general manager of his Franklin auto dealership, John Gallagher, alerted him to the [Tennessean] story and recommended the vehicle giveaway. “I thought that’s a no-brainer — let’s help this kid out,” Waltrip said after handing [Iraq war veteran Jay] Strobino the keys…

“There are so many fake sites,” he said. “You really have to be sure. We’re in the car business, and he got ripped off by someone pretending to be real.” Waltrip said he also was motivated by Strobino’s military service.

Strobino, who was injured in a firefight south of Baghdad in 2004, is a Silver Star medal recipient, the third highest-ranking military honor. When hearing the Honda dealership was going to give him a car Tuesday, Strobino, who described himself as being “broke,” said simply: “Are you serious?”

The cost of donating a nice used car to help a veteran in need was tiny compared with the substantial media exposure generated by a front-page story in the newspaper. This was a good deed and a smart decision to move fast and do the right thing. Well done.

Is Bill Purcell’s departure from Nashville a net gain or a tough loss for the city? The former mayor’s critics, who appeared to increase in number during his last couple of years in office, certainly would argue that it’s a plus to have the Philadelphia native headed back to the Northeast.

As someone who took the good with the bad during Purcell’s tenure and thought the mayor served the city very well, I’m sad to see him go. That said, is having a well-spoken (albeit a little long-winded) and passionate advocate for Nashville in an influential community such as Harvard such a bad thing? Where it may hurt Nashville (and Tennessee) the most is in 2010, since Purcell is now unlikely to run for governor. Then again, if Purcell were to run, would Tennesseans really elect a former Nashville mayor as the state’s top official twice in a row?

Thoreau once wrote, “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.” It’s regrettable that so many of us are distracted by silly diversions that fail to address the real problems we face as a society, but it’s also encouraging that some go out of their way to give generously and with compassion to help people in need.

It’s even more amazing when one of those people is a child. Ellie Ambrose is a teenager these days, but she hasn’t lost her motivation for helping people facing desperate situations:

Ellie’s Run for Africa is the God-given dream of a young American girl to help families and children in Africa. Combining educational efforts in area churches and schools with a 5K run and family fun day, Ellie’s Run for Africa raises awareness of and funding for Africans who struggle to meet basic needs such as health care, food, water, shelter, clothing and education.

I admire this amazing effort, which will mark its fifth-annual race this weekend on Saturday morning (June 14) at Percy Warner Park. There’s still time to make an online donation if you’re interested in lending a hand toward a little root-striking. Thanks for making a difference, Ellie.

Developers in Lexington, Ky., are scaling back their plans to build a hotel and mixed-use project downtown (rendering above) that has drawn criticism from historic preservationists, much the same as happened here in Nashville earlier this year. The proposed changes include “moving the tower away from the street so the façade along Main Street is similar in height to nearby buildings” and “attempting to preserve the façade of the Rosenberg jewelry store.”

Controversy has surrounded the proposed $250 million CentrePointe hotel, condominium and retail project from the day in March when it was unveiled by developer Dudley Webb and his partners. Citizens have expressed concerns about the size, scale and scope of the project. It also has met resistance from those who want to preserve the 14 historic buildings that would be razed to make way for CentrePointe.

The project, as it was initially proposed, called for a 40-story hotel with 243 rooms and 77 residential condominiums with 26,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor on the block bounded by West Main, West Vine, South Limestone and South Upper. Since then, Webb has agreed to scale back the hotel by five stories.

But it remains to be seen whether the changes will satisfy city leaders and gain the several levels of government approval for plans to proceed. Vice Mayor Jim Gray said he did not know that CentrePointe’s developers had submitted additional information this week, and that was part of the problem.

“Once again they’ve presented this and unwrapped it without any community input even after there’s been a clear demonstration in this community of how troublesome this proposal is in so many respects — in its scale, in its displacement of the historic fabric, in its displacement of the farmers market, in its displacement of the entertainment and dining establishments,” Gray said.

The Lexington project sounds more invasive and intrusive to me than Nashville’s proposed Westin, but it’s interesting to see such a similar plight taking place a few hours north.

Lexington, Ky., is in the throes of a fight over downtown property that will sound familiar to anyone in Nashville who’s been keeping up with the planned Westin Hotel development on Broadway:

With an announcement of a high-rise downtown hotel development expected as early as this week, two groups are keeping a close eye on a strip of historic buildings on the block where the building will rise. One is interested in the buildings because of their architectural and historic significance (some of the buildings date to the 1820s). The other says the block houses one of the city’s few pockets of night life, which they contend will suffer if the buildings go down.

Both groups say they are not opposed to new development on the block, but they want to see it incorporate the historic buildings and support the existing entertainment district.

Supporters of the mixed-use development — shown as a 40-story tower in preliminary plans — say it will bring new life to the heart of downtown, and that it isn’t economically feasible to keep the old buildings on the block.

Look closely: It seemed appropriate irony to me that there is a Rite-Aid in the foreground of the digitally enhanced photo of the Lexington hotel.

It may be too late, but the Lexington developers might turn to The Tennessean’s Chas Sisk for thoughts on how to proceed. I thought it was strange that Sisk mentioned Free-Will Baptist Bible College in his column today but not Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ or the Westin, two recent and high-profile instances of square-offs between developers and preservationists.

Just when you thought it was safe to return to your local polling place, Kenneth Eaton has announced that he intends to unseat U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in this fall’s election:

After deep consideration and talking with my family, my political mentor Bob Clement, as well as his long time friend and chief of staff Larry Woods; I have decided to enter the race. These friends are confident that I should run, and believe we have the ability to win this race.

If Eaton’s mayoral campaign was a longshot (and it certainly was), I’m not sure how to describe this latest effort. Quixotic doesn’t quite say enough. It may be time to solicit more realistic mentorship and advice because I’m not sure why trying to unseat one of Tennessee’s most popular political figures seems like a good idea to anyone.

Eaton is ready, though, even if his Web site is not. Note that “Kenneth Eaton for Mayor of Nashville” is still the home page’s title, but at least he still has a home page. (It’s amazing to me that this site still links to a Web directory months after the election.)

I’m not sure what to make of the source for this news. If the author had concerns about Harold Ford’s unsuccessful Senate campaign, he will be plenty busy analyzing this one.

I was in third grade at a conservative Christian school in 1983 when I first learned that “gay” did not merely mean happy. I discovered that when one of my classmates got in trouble for calling someone gay, and I didn’t understand why saying that was a problem.

I think in-depth discussion of sexuality can and should wait until middle school, but for there to be no mention of it whatsoever prior to that point is, I think, naive. If I and my classmates were discovering the concept in a sheltered environment two-plus decades ago, today’s students know even sooner.

There is a significant and legitimate need for more parents who are willing to adopt in Tennessee, especially for older children. Determining whether an adult is a fit parent, in my opinion, should have little to do with their sexual orientation and plenty more to do with their character.

I’ve said this before, but I would much rather have Metro Council member Keith Durbin parent a child than State Rep. Rob Briley, and that feeling has nothing to do with which one of them is gay. Decisions about adoption and parenting should have to do with making sure that those who adopt are responsible and compassionate people who are willing and able to care for children above all else.

As usual, the Preds are responding generously in a time of need: This time it’s in support of the American Red Cross’ tornado relief efforts. The team will donate half of the revenue from tickets sold today and tomorrow for tomorrow’s home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If you don’t have tickets, there’s no time like right now. If you do have tickets, volunteers will accept additional donations for the Red Cross at all entrances to the arena tomorrow night.

In case you missed Tennessean columnist Larry Daughtrey’s take on Gov. Bredesen’s once-reluctant embrace of open government, here’s a snapshot:

Bredesen opened up the state budget process, and it is no longer a big issue on Capitol Hill. When Bredesen became mayor of Nashville, he told reporters the other day, “I was flabbergasted and appalled at how you had to do business (in public). It just seemed to me almost impossible to hire people and do business. ‘I’ve come to realize you can work in this environment.’Yes, it has a substantial load attached to it in terms of how efficiently you can make decisions, but in the end government just works better if you come down on that side of it.’

What is a big issue on Capitol Hill these days is an effort by some local officials to go in the other direction — to change state law so they can meet in secret to talk about hiring and firing, pay raises and scandals.”

In a state not far removed from Operation Tennessee Waltz and a nation where political scandals are a spectator sport, who does it benefit, beyond those directly involved, to roll back sunshine laws? I don’t think it helps the general public, and at a time when transparency continues to increase in importance, I agree with Newscoma and others that a step in the opposite direction would definitely be backward and a bad move for Tennessee.

State Senator and former Lt. Gov. John Wilder, whose three decades at the helm of the State Senate ended dramatically in January, can’t be excited about this typo from opponents of plans to build a meeting hall at the Governor’s Mansion:

Surely the people energized on this issue could go on and on all day about the veracity of the claims made in the ad. But here’s one thing we know is wrong: The phone number listed for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.

The number listed there … is actually the phone number for former Lt. Gov. (now Sen.) John Wilder’s office. We just got a call from Wilder’s office to say they’re being flooded with phone calls from people who saw the ad.

The correct number for Ramsey’s office is [615] 741-4524.

Wilder lost his status as Speaker of the Senate (and Lt. Gov.) despite his strong desire to retain the title. This isn’t a pleasant reminder of that defeat, but it may be a relief to Wilder that he isn’t having to address the calls intended for current-Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Whew.

As expected, the Commodores have indeed cracked the AP men’s college basketball Top 25. Vanderbilt is #23 in that poll and #25 in the ESPN-USA Today poll.

The most entertaining part of this news is the comment thread on The Tennessean story about the ranking. Sure, the battles between the ‘Dores and the Vols are (sometimes)  intense on the basketball court and the football field, but the gloves really come off when Web-savvy fans debate which school is more pathetic for issuing commemorative DVDs of its accomplishments. As The Office’s Jim Halpert might say, there are no winners to this argument, but oh yeah, “There are losers.”