Tennessee editorial roundup

The Tennessee River is the nation's fifth-largest river system with a nearly 41,000-square-mile drainage area. It crosses the state to form the division between Middle and West Tennessee before flowing finally into the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky. ...

Georgia, claiming that a botched 1826 land survey set its border with Tennessee one mile too far south and cheated Georgia of a corner-hold on the river, wants to move the state line and pipe away hundreds of millions of gallons a day.

Estimates now indicate metro Atlanta and North Georgia would need at least 264 million gallons a day just to make up expected 2030 "net deficits" in the Chattahoochee and Coosa river basins that now serve them.

Why so much? Because Atlanta is one of the few cities on the continent that was not built on a river or water source that could sustain it. And it keeps growing, but not dealing with that growth in any durable way. ...

Nonetheless, Georgia lawmakers recently fast-tracked a new bill — the 10th in about as many years — seeking to move the state line to the 35th parallel — the marker Congress intended as the border between the states.

And it's all to give Georgia about an acre of access to the Tennessee River near Nickajack Cave. ...

We hope Atlanta can find an appropriate solution.

But the river in our backyard is not it.

Online:

http://www.timesfreepress.com

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Feb. 25

The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., on the Born Addicted program:

It is heartwarming and inspiring when individuals whose lives are spiraling toward rock-bottom are able to grab hold of something to break that fall and climb back into a fulfilling life.

In Amanda McHan's case, that something to grab was the Born Addicted program operated as part of the Drug Court Treatment Program, which offers counseling, mentoring and education. The goal is to get mothers and their children back together. McHan, 35, overcame an addiction to crack cocaine that cost her custody of her two children. When she gave birth to her third child two years ago, the infant tested positive for cocaine. She lost custody of that child and also was charged criminally with reckless endangerment.

She realized that she had hit bottom and, when given a second chance to turn her life around, she took advantage of it. McHan is the first graduate of the 18-month program. The criminal charge was dropped, and she has custody of her toddler and joint custody of her other two children.

Programs like Drug Court and Born Addicted are gaining increasing acceptance as criminal justice officials realize that putting every drug offender behind bars is expensive and counterproductive.

It is sinking in that it is better to try to rehabilitate minor drug offenders, turning them into productive citizens rather than ex-convicts — whose scant prospects of finding meaningful work increase the odds they'll end up back in jail.

Online:

http://www.commercialappeal.com