Tennessee

Fallout from Hurricane Ike and Gustav has spiraled into massive gas shortages in the Southeast. Drivers in Nashville, TN, where the problem is the worst, wait in long lines and some follow tankers around in hopes of being the first to fill up before a station goes dry.

In western North Carolina local governments have been forced to cancel programs, since there's not much gas to travel to activities. One city canceled athletic events, and another county has limited all municipal travel to emergency vehicles for the past few weeks. Many workers in the region have been told to work four 10-hour days, or telecommute.

In Atlanta, one of the nation's largest commuter cities, many stations have run out of gas, and they have no idea when more will come. Once residents find a station with fuel, they often must dole out $5 a gallon, and wait in 40-car lines. What would you do if your city ran out of gas?

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• Suicide Blasts Rip Iraq:
  Suicide Bombers struck twice in Iraq, leaving 47 dead and 240 injured. In Baghdad as Shia pilgrims paraded through on their way to a shrine, female bombers detonated leaving 25 dead. The pilgrimage will bring more than 1 million worshippers. In Kirkuk, a suicide bomber hit a crowd of Kurdish protesters, killing 22. Iraqi security forces have been deployed.



• Olympics Sold Out:
  Despite continuing problems with pollution, the events for the Olympics events in Beijing are all sold out. This could be the earliest the Games have reached capacity. Some tickets for events in other cities are still available. 6.8 million tickets have been sold so far — in Athens in 2004, only two-thirds of the tickets sold.




• Arrest in Tennessee Church Shooting:
  A man who opened fire with a shotgun in a Knoxville, TN, church during a children's performance of Annie, has been captured. The attack left two dead and seven wounded. Police have charged Jim Adkisson with first-degree murder. The performance had just begun when he opened fire. One witness said she thought, "oh, my God, that’s not part of the play."

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Maybe more so than other crimes, a convicted sex offender's punishment does not end with jail time served; it follows him onto the National Sex Offender Registry, onto the Internet, and soon, in Tennessee, onto his driver's license.

Starting Sept. 1, all convicted sex offenders in Tennessee must hold a newly designed license. It will bear a mark to notify police of their sex-offender status.

While I don't envision kids at the playground asking candy pushers for ID anytime soon, it wouldn't matter if they did: ID checkers will not (or should not) be able to distinguish the license from any other Tennessean's, because the mark will only be viewable to the trained eye — like a big scarlet letter written in invisible ink.

Proponents say the new law will help ensure the safety of children. If a sexual offender is pulled over, the license will prompt police to watch for signs otherwise ignored in a routine traffic stop. To see the incident behind the law, read more

I'm here! 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, New York, New York. And it's like the cloudy, rainy chilliness arrived just in time to make all of us moviegoers feel justified about sitting in darkened theaters all day. Which is precisely what I've been doing, awesomely. So far, I've caught six movies and attended the red carpet event for Tennessee. Here are some of my thoughts so far:

• Nothing says drizzly Sunday mornin' like a movie about socialite incest and murder. Savage Grace is heavy on the savage, not so much with the grace. Julianne Moore is phenomenal, but this horrifyingly tragic story is difficult to watch and harder to enjoy.
• I came thisclose to a petite man approximately my size before realizing it was Ben Kingsley, but by the time I doubled back toward him, he was being swept away by his people. After seeing his surprisingly hilarious performance in The Wackness, I have this intense urge to pick that guy's brain.

More thoughts if you read more

Who's got two thumbs and is headed out to the Tribeca Film Festival in a few days? This girl! I can't wait to live it up in the Big Apple, stalking celebs and checking out the festival's best new films. Want a taste of what I'm hoping to see during my time at Tribeca? This week I'll be bringing you previews of some of the most intriguing-looking films in the lineup.

Some big-name movies are premiering at Tribeca this year, like Baby Mama, Speed Racer and David Mamet's Redbelt. But I'm equally intrigued to catch some of the less-publicized flicks like Tennessee, a road trip movie that stars Mariah Carey (who is everywhere these days!).

The story follows two brothers who hit the road back to their home state (Tennessee, natch) in search of an abusive father who may be a marrow match for one of the brothers who's suffering from leukemia. Along the way, they befriend a diner waitress (Carey) who aspires to be a singer. According to the film description, "The relationship that brews between the three is a heartwarming, contemporary spin on the American road movie."

To see a clip from Tennessee, read more