GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS A11-12 | HEALTH & LIFESTYLES SECTION B | BUSINESS SECTION C
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VOL. 5, NO. 20
MAY 16, 2011
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The best of West
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Principal doubles service in school, military
See story on page A-12
Music so sweet ‘Tennessee’ by John R. Bean has been named an official state song. Betty Bean reflects on her late brother’s life and his love for his home. See page A-4
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Greenway section closed The section of the Knoxville Greenway beneath the Henley Bridge has been closed because of construction. It will be closed intermittently until mid-August, depending on the construction schedule. There is a locked gate that will be open when it’s safe for runners, walkers and bicyclists to travel along the greenway under the bridge. The three-mile-long Neyland Greenway is part of a near 10-mile section of connected greenways running east to west from Morningside Park to Bearden Elementary School. It travels along the Tennessee River between the James White and Third Creek Greenways. Info: www.cityofknoxville.org/ greenways/.
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By Natalie Lester Teachers, students and school administrators across the county are saying goodbye for the summer months, but Rocky Hill Elementary is bidding farewell to principal Cory Smith for an entire year. Smith will soon be deployed to Afghanistan. After active duty in military intelligence from 1990 to 1994 and with the National Guard infantry from 1995 to 2003, Smith took a few years away from the military. He re-enlisted with the National Guard Reserves in 2009. “The military is just a part of me and I can’t really explain why. It just is,” Smith said. Being a soldier was something Smith dreamed about when he was
EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.com ADVERTISING SALES Paige Davis davisp@ShopperNewsNow.com Darlene Hacker hackerd@ShopperNewsNow.com Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 24,267 homes in Bearden.
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adult, because I get to do everything I ever wanted. I have the ‘Army me,’ the ‘school me’ and the ‘family me.’ ” In Afghanistan, Smith will take his experience as principal and use it as a civil affairs mediator. He will work with community leaders to assure cities and towns have the assistance they need daily. “My job as principal helps with my job overseas, because here I am the face of the school and work to meet the teachers’ and students’ needs,” he said. “The same thing is true over there. I’ll be working to help people. Rocky Hill Elementary School prin- This is the culmination of everything cipal Cory Smith explains to his stu- I’ve ever done in my professional life dents he will not be at the school next rolled into one.” year because he is being deployed to Smith served in Iraq, so this is not Afghanistan with his National Guard his first deployment. He said his bigunit. Photo by N. Lester gest concern is the people he leaves his students’ ages. behind. “Serving has been something I’ve “I worry more about what my famwanted to do since I was a kid,” he ily here has to deal with. My mission said. “I’m so lucky now that I’m an is single focused, but they have a mil-
Warehouse Liquors in Rocky Hill Center is one of a number of local businesses guarding its highly sought-after parking spaces in the midst of a new parking pickle. Photo by Valorie Fister At least one other business owner, who asked for anonymity, said the Tin Roof doesn’t have enough parking for its patrons and is soliciting parking agreements from other businesses to the tune of $500 a month. City Zoning Coordinator Anita Cash said according to permit BU100167, the Tin Roof is in compliance with city codes and regulations and did show proof of adequate parking. The business is to provide 58 parking spaces, two handicap car spaces and one handicap van space. She said 58 parking spaces were shown, along with the handicap spots, in order for the business to begin operation.
By Jake Mabe A 2 percent reduction in the Knox County Public Library System’s $12 million budget (just under $300,000) in the coming fiscal year will not affect the library’s services to the public. Interim director Myretta Black said last week that she and her staff were Black able to find ways to cut the budget without affecting operations. “We were able to take some administrative positions and shift responsibilities,” Black says. “And we used those positions to create direct public staff hours, which allowed us to restore the hours (of operation).”
Operating hours had been cut during the previous administration. Black said that Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett has been stopped “in the parking lot and at the store” by people thanking him for restoring the library’s hours, saying “it is the most positive thing he’s done. “That was a huge plus for our patrons. And it will continue with the coming budget. Mayor Burchett is 100 percent behind it and supportive of our system.” Black said that the shift in responsibilities represents about onethird of the cuts with the remainder coming from a small reduction in the library’s materials budget. “The public will not see any change in the services we provide.” Black says that several programs,
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Tin Roof Bars is a restaurant and live music corporate chain with locations throughout Tennessee and Kentucky. Knoxville’s first Tin Roof location is on Cumberland Avenue. The Rocky Hill location is its second. Efforts to contact Tin Roof officials were met with no response. “Yeah, I’m too busy to talk about this right now,” said one Tin Roof official named Patrick. Patrick didn’t give his last name during a phone call to the South Northshore location. “But if you shoot me an email at Patrick@tinroofbars.com I’ll get back to you.” An email sent 15 minutes after the
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including the Imagination Library, the recently-ended Saturday Stories and Songs, the Summer Library Club and the upcoming Children’s Festival of Reading, are funded through grants, private, corporate or community support, as well as through the Friends of the Library. She says that the Saturday Stories and Songs program, which was held in each quadrant of the county, was designed for working families who can’t get to the library through the week. “About half of the attendees were new patrons. We’re seeking grants to see if we can bring it back after the summer reading program is over.” Circulation for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2010, was more than 2.6 million, representing 1.6 million visits.
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lion things to do and run in as many different directions,” he said. Saying goodbye is difficult, but Smith said telling the kids was the hardest. “Saying goodbye to adults is one thing, but telling the kids is something else,” he said. “The kids sometimes handle things better than adults. They are so resilient. But, I’m going to miss the tons of hugs and high fives I get everyday.” While Smith is gone, vice principal Crystal Marcum will take over as principal and there will be an interim vice principal replacement. “My staff is phenomenal, so I know they will continue to do the great job they are already doing, even in my absence” Smith said. Smith expects to return to Rocky Hill when he comes back from Afghanistan. He hopes his students will learn from his time spent overseas. “Teaching is all about leading by example,” he said. “I can only hope my service – as principal and in the National Guard – and my story inspire other citizens to serve our community and country.”
phone call remains unanswered. Knoxville Police Department Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk verified that his department was called to Rocky Hill two weekends ago to handle a fight disturbance call. He said it does appear that people are parking in the Rooster’s designated parking area and walking across the street. DeBusk said the parking issue actually is a civil issue rather than criminal. He also said that if “Businesses X, Y and Z” legally post signage that clearly states parking only for their businesses, they “have a right” to tow other vehicles. Rooster’s owner Bill Gray was contacted but had no comment on the issue. Davis said he has operated his liquor store long before either Rooster’s or the Tin Roof opened for business. He said he’s worked well with Rooster’s Gray for years. He also said as an observer, he noticed the new parking issue can cause serious liability problems if the Tin Roof’s patrons continue to park at Rocky Hill Center. “There’s a huge amount of liability there with them walking across Northshore Drive,” he said. “Did you see how busy (the road) is?”
Budget reduction will not affect library services
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By Valorie Fister The new Tin Roof Bar at 7428 S. Northshore Drive in Rocky Hill is drawing a crowd and more vehicles to a commercial area already peppered with tow-away zones and reserved parking spaces. And just two weekends ago, the business also drew one tow truck, an angry patron and 10 police cars from two departments to the Rocky Hill Center in Knoxville’s latest parking pickle, Shopper-News sources say. The angry patron parked in a spot designated for Rooster’s Bar & Grill across the street. “I had to protect my parking spaces,” said Warehouse Liquors Manager Lloyd Davis, one business person who reports no parking problems at this time. With only five spaces in front of his store and five orange poles with boldly lettered signage clearly marking those spaces, Davis said he has his business covered. But other business owners aren’t experiencing such luck as they strive to keep parking open for their customers. Most businesses throughout the center have visible parking signage identifying their business’s parking spaces as tow-away zones for anyone else.
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“We have a terrific staff that works together,” Black said. “We have an administrative team that meets every two weeks. And our support staff and facility staff … everybody does a great job.” The library system is currently working to make Wi-Fi access available at the four branches that do not offer it – Halls, Corryton, Mascot and Carter. Black says e-books have taken off since they were introduced in February, with 9,000 “check outs” from the 5,200 e-book collection. This should grow when e-books will be offered through Amazon’s Kindle e-reader later this year. “We’re in the planning mode for some new initiatives. We’re comfortable with this budget, we think it’s a positive budget, and we’re ready to move forward.”
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