Coach Alexander in the game

The Knoxville News Sentinel includes this profile of Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. Calling Alexander a "moderate," the piece discusses his ability to reach out to Democrats and the weekly bipartisan breakfasts that he cohosts with Independent Senator Joe Lieberman.

One of Sen. Alexander's recent outreach efforts was missing from the story, though. He worked with Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen to get Bishop William Graves of Memphis reappointed to the TVA board. He had been deadlocked with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who thought it was time for a Democrat to be appointed to the board. Bishop Graves identifies as a Democrat, but has supported Republicans such as President Bush and Alexander himself.

Sen. Alexander's rising position gives him the opportunity to advocate for Tennessee on a more regular basis:

"Whenever I see the president, which is more often now, I remind him about our clean air issues in Tennessee," he said. "I remember walking in to (see) him, and he said, 'Lamar's going to ask me about sulfur.' "

TVA turns 75, still controversial

A rare color photograph from the Library of Congress in today's Knoxville News Sentinel shows a carpenter working on TVA's Douglas Dam. The accompanying story discusses the current efforts to reexamine TVA's place as a quasi-government agency as well as the efforts of TN Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to protect it.