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. 23
JUNE 6, 2011
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Sofie Bell of Crestwood Hills passes out watermelon to her children, nephews and friends at the new Rotary Pavilion in West Hills Park. Photo by Wendy Smith
Crazy about comics Larry Van Guilder recalls heroes of yesteryear See page A-6
What if they threw an election and nobody ran? See Betty Bean’s column on page A-4
Rotary of West Knoxville provides
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SPECIAL SECTION GET OUTDOORS! Fly fishing, geocaching and summer fun
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They’ve already pitched in to help alleviate polio around the globe, and now the Rotary Club of West Knoxville has completed a project closer to home. A new picnic pavilion in West Hills Park is open for business, thanks to the club. Member Steve Chancey, a West Hills resident, came up with the idea and spearheaded the effort. The project was completed just a few weeks ago, but it’s already buzzing with activity. Chancey checks it out when he drives past. The 14-acre park stretches from West Hills Elementary School to Winston Road and is bisected by the Jean Teague Greenway. Several ball fields, tennis courts and a basketball court are in constant use, and two playgrounds draw young families. But Chancey, co-owner of Chancey and Reynolds, thought the park could use another place for adults to relax. He oversaw construction of the 600-square-foot pavilion, which is located across the greenway from the larger playground. A horseshoe pit, a grass volleyball court and a grill make the pavilion a picnic destination. “West Hills Park is such a great park. It’s heavily used, and there are lots of activities, but it needed some more facilities,” he says. “It worked out great. There’s lots of room for everybody to get out and play.” Chancey worked closely with Joe Walsh, director of the Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department, on the project. The city provided a $2,500 grant, and the rest of the funds for the $15,000 pavilion came from the Rotary Club. Kathleen Gibi of the Parks and Recreation Department says the project was bigger than most endeavors by civic groups. The city is grateful for organizations like the Rotary Club that make contributions that benefit the community, she says. A formal ribbon-cutting for the pavilion is planned for later this month. To reserve the facility, call 215-1413. The club puts everything it collects back into the community, Chancey says. It supports local agencies like the Love Kitchen, as well as Rotary International’s campaign to end polio. Since Rotary partnered with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1988, worldwide polio cases have dropped by more than 99 percent.
Chase to legislators: Stay out of TWRA’s business By Betty Bean Mike Chase is a tough guy who has had a spectacularly successful career in the restaurant industry. He’s been a fi xture in Tennessee business and politics for two decades and his 17-restaurant Copper Cellar Corp. stretches from Gatlinburg to Nashville. He is a Democrat whose support is courted by both major parties and friends occasionally kid him about a passing resemblance to Tony Soprano. Those who know him best, however, say he’s happiest when he’s fishing. That’s probably why he lights up when he talks about his six years on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, which oversees the operations of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Chase was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bredesen and served as chair in 2010 and until his term was up earlier this year. He is an enthusiastic booster of the agency’s mission. “I don’t think most people know that the agency doesn’t get any money from the state. It is totally self-funded
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through hunting and fishing license sales. One of the things I would like to see is a portion of the sales of all boating, fishing and hunting licenses go to fund the agency,” Chase said. “The sale of hunting Chase licenses has been on the decline for years. “I don’t think the average person realizes what a wildlife officer has to deal with on a daily basis,” he said, mentioning a wildlife officer who worked a 20-hour shift dealing with a woman who had two fingers ripped off in a water skiing accident and a bear that was sighted and trapped in South Knoxville. “And I wonder if the average person realizes that the management job the agency does has made hunting what it is today in the state of Tennessee. Twenty years ago, we probably had wild turkeys in six or eight counties. Now, they’re all over the place. Something like 3638,000 of them are harvested every year. The same thing can be said for deer, and the same has taken place
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mantly opposed to Rep. Frank Niceley’s deer farming bill, which was defeated this session. “In listening to the people I knew whom I have to respect, it would have been a very bad thing for wildlife in the state of Tennessee. Sometimes I think some of the legislators resent the independence of the commission – but that’s the reason the commission was set up – to keep it separate from the political in Nashville. “The agency has to be constantly monitoring what’s going on and try not to let these private acts pass. There would be different rules in every county. There would be no statewide enforcement, especially for the last two years because there’s been such a change in Nashville. Even a few bills, which have been withdrawn, to allow the Legislature to appoint commissioners and even put legislators on the commission, I personally think would be the death of the commission. The existing format has been working with great success and they need to leave it alone. Leave the commission alone. Leave the agency alone.”
in our lakes and reservoirs and rivers for fishing. Look at the trout below Norris Dam or in the Caney Fork River. Somebody has to raise and stock these trout. If you’re a hunter or a fisherman, you’ve sure got to give credit to somebody.” Chase is modest about his role in shaping policy, but says he’s proud of prodding the agency to spend money on hatcheries. “Since I have such an interest in fishing, I wanted to get our hatcheries to where we could start meeting the needs of fishermen out there as far as producing fish. Most of our lakes are past their prime as far as fishing goes, and it’s necessary to restock them. Under Gov. Bredesen, there was a strong emphasis on state parks and tourism, and this is part of it. Our lakes need to be attractive to out-of-staters who come to fish. It’s an important part of our economy and economic development for the future. I felt it was very important.” Chase said politics never played a part in the board’s decisions but sometimes were imposed from the outside. He is, for example, ada-
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