Good morning, Nashville. This is how we hate to start the morning, but layoff news just keeps rolling in. This time, we’ve come full circle to another round of state job cuts. You might remember the first round of buyouts and layoffs back in June where about 2,300 state employees lost their jobs, and this time we’re looking at another 2,000. Governor Bredesen has vowed to do what he can to minimize the damage, but he also tells us that the state is in its worst financial crisis since World War II. He’s looking at options like four-day work weeks and that whole forced-vacation thing that Gannett is doing, but it doesn’t look real promising.

• Not exactly transparent. Eric Crafton and the English First group that’s backing him probably won’t be disclosing financial records as is required by the Election Commission before an election. Apparently they’ve been calling around Davidson County trying to find out what would happen if they miss today’s deadline. Many folks suspect it’s because of the group’s probable financial ties to known racist groups.
• Down and out. As the temperatures dip down to 5 degrees tonight, be sure to think of the folks in Middle Tennessee who don’t have heat. And there are plenty of them.
• Bits & pieces. A new phone poll of WSMV shows the English Only election to be neck-in-neck … You want whiter teeth? Not here … Congrats to Vandy, who picked up another SEC win … Nissan is moving toward a four-day work week.

Photo by Nashville Anonymous.