Rex and the City: The “E” in D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Nasty marital breakups have been a sad fact of life for centuries, but some Nashville divorce litigants have pioneered a whole new electronic form of domestic nastiness — if the claims of their courtroom adversaries are true.

Just a couple of weeks ago, The City Paper’s “Nashville at Law” column reported on a lawsuit naming former TennCare spokesperson Marilyn Wilson. She and her husband stand accused of hacking into the e-mail account of a man now married to the husband's ex-wife — and sometimes doing so from state-owned computers.

The lawsuit claims the Wilsons fabricated abusive e-mails addressed to themselves and sent them through the hacked account, leading a judge to rule in their favor in a child custody dispute.

Now, according to NashvillePost.com, another party to divorce proceedings faces a lawsuit for allegedly engaging in a little surreptitious electronic discovery of her own.

Susan Lane, who co-founded the Lane Motor Museum with Nashville businessman Jeff Lane in 2001, got alimony and other payments that could be worth more than $900,000 when the couple agreed on a divorce last April.

But Jeff Lane filed suit against his ex last Wednesday, claiming to have evidence that during the divorce proceedings, she was reading e-mails between him and his lawyers and feeding inside info to her lawyer for use against Lane in depositions.

Dude, he was in ‘Walker, Texas Ranger.’

Hannah Montana star and Dancing With the Stars semifinalist Cody Linley was among the most popular guests at the post-CMA Awards Party at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Linley was without Dancing partner Julianne Hough, presumably at a label party, but was gracious with the steady stream of fans that approached and asked for photos or autographs. He posed for several pictures in a tango hold and even twirled one or two of the fans.

Hough, who released her debut album earlier this year, was a popular person during the awards show itself. Many of the established artists took a moment to visit with her prior to the broadcast and during commercial breaks.

Catch a Tygard by his tale?

Rex did a double-take at the Nov. 6 Metro Council meeting when at-large Councilman Charlie Tygard received firm reprimands from conservative colleagues Jim Gotto and Michael Craddock.

Gotto and Craddock were blistering Tygard for interfering in the business of District 25 Councilman Jason Holleman, who was entrenched in a neighborhood debate over a conservation overlay for Whitland Avenue.

Tygard interceded in the issue and vowed to evoke an obscure Council rule to prevent a public hearing on the matter, even though the Planning Commission and Holleman himself favored hearing from the Whitland residents.

It’s not often Gotto and Craddock team up to take on Tygard, or to take up for a liberal member like Holleman. But as Craddock put it, “When something’s wrong, it’s wrong.”

And Tygard inserting himself on the issue seems ironic on two fronts. First, didn’t Tygard regularly rail against at-large members’ interference on district issues when he was representing Bellevue on the Council?

Livin’ in a van down by the Starbucks

Apparently the Starbucks situated between Hickory Hollow Mall and the airport is a world away from Brentwood.

Rex decided to get a cup of joe there recently and was served by none other than former financial advisor turned bankrupt, accused embezzler Michael J. Park.

Park didn’t recognize ole’ Rex and proved to be a very pleasant barista with a smile. We would advise other employees there to keep a close eye on the tip jar.

How come all our old friends got moved to War Memorial?

To say the state’s lobbyists are a little confused and worried might be the understatement of the year.

Lobbyists in Tennessee, used to a Democratic majority in the Tennessee State House since the Civil War, are so spooked by the flip in the House majority to the Republican Party they appear to be frozen like a deer in the headlights.

GOP sources said last week lobbyists were not pouring into likely new House Speaker Rep. Jason Mumpower’s office, the current minority leader for the House GOP. Instead, lobbyists continue to mill around the speaker’s office — still occupied by Democratic Rep. Jimmy Naifeh.

“They don’t seem to get it,” one GOP source close to the transition of power said. “They’re not even coming by to introduce themselves. I’m not sure some of them even know any Republicans.”

Miley Cyrus’ dad sighting

Billy Ray Cyrus had an impromptu reunion with a former member of his management team roughly 90 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s CMA Awards show.

Cyrus was a passenger in a pickup truck stopped in a left turn lane at the intersection of Eighth and Demonbreun. He rolled down the window to make casual conversation with those in the vehicle to the right and discovered that one of the passengers in that car was Gillie Crowder, currently a project manager at Live Nation and formerly a member of his posse during his “Achy Breaky” days.

Cyrus yelled out “Gillie” and inquired as to how she was doing. The reunion ended moments later when the light turned green.

Rex Noseworthy appears Mondays in The City Paper. He can reached at rnoseworthy@nashvillecitypaper.com