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Coffee Break
It’s Thursday, and Sage Morgan, director of operations for Random Acts of Flowers (RAF), has the sniffles. That’s because it’s arranging day, and Sage is allergic to flowers. Fortunately for the Knoxville community, she puts up with the discomfort. She was the first employee of the nonprofit, which was founded in 2008 by Larsen Jay. In the early days, RAF delivered approximately 15 bouquets each week. Now that the community has caught on to the concept, the number has risen to 600. See story on page A-2
Point of order! Sandra Clark never saw it coming. Knox County Commission shot down Dave Wright’s proposals for an elected school superintendent and for partisan school board elections. Also, the commission finally adopted a billboard reform, prohibiting new digital boards. It was a signal win for Scenic Knoxville and Richard Briggs.
See story on page A-12
Concert at 2nd Presbyterian West High School junior Margaret Kramer has taken voice lessons for a year and a half, and the audience at 2nd Presbyterian Church was mesmerized by the purity of her soprano voice when she performed last week at a concert for young musicians.
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Club members got an early start on the wet, foggy day. George Wehrmaker, owner of Bright Side Landscaping in Powell, helped organize the event and donated many of the items used in the facelift. To page A-3
Pond Gap entrance after remulching. More picture on A-11.
By Wendy Smith In addition to the keys to their new Habitat for Humanity home, Pastor Magwe Arthemon and his wife, Martha, received numerous gifts from their adopted community during a recent dedication ceremony. Habitat board member Marv House gave the family a Bible. Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee donated food for the pantry. Other friends gave the family artwork, sheets, towels, tools and a fire extinguisher. And Habitat budget tutor Susan McGuire presented Magwe with a coupon book that he will use to make payments on the Lonsdale house. Like all other Habitat homeowners, the Arthemons will pay for their new home. But the opportunity to live in the home is a gift from God, Magwe says. It is
Carolyn Hansen, Phil Watson, Byamungu Arthemon, Magwe Arthemon and Martha Arthemon participate in the dedication the Arthemons’ new Habitat for Humanity home in Lonsdale. The Burundian family was relocated to Knoxville in 2008. Photo by Wendy Smith
By Betty Bean County Finance Director Chris Caldwell’s report on the court clerks’ collections sounded pretty grim when he gave his financial update at last week’s County Commission chair’s luncheon. The numbers are down from last year. Criminal, Criminal Sessions and 4th Circuit Court Clerk Joy McCroskey’s collections are running $140,000 behind last year’s figures. Circuit, Civil Sessions and Juvenile Court Clerk Cathy Quist’s collections are $69,000
behind last year. On the surface, Clerk and Master of Chancery and Probate Court Howard Hogan’s collections seem to be a bright spot, since they are running about $4,000 ahead of last year, but he says that number is deceptive, because although collection numbers are up, case filings are down, giving him cause for concern about the future. Jokingly, Caldwell breaks it down to this: “Judges say clerks aren’t collecting. Clerks say judges are too quick to forgive (court costs). We take that into account as we do the budget.”
Behind the numbers, however, are existing problems and brewing societal and cultural changes that are affecting the fee offices’ bottom lines. While Chancery Court has a reliable revenue source from handling county tax sales, other traditional sources are drying up. Many divorces that used to be heard in 4th Circuit Court are now going to Chancery Court instead (more on that later), but the divorce filings are down overall, probably because of the economy. “Fewer divorces are being filed because people can’t afford them,”
the fulfillment of a promise that God made to him while he was living as a refugee in Africa. He was born in Burundi, Africa, in 1964, but was forced to flee the war-torn country in 1972. His family lived as refugees in the Congo and then Tanzania for 36 years. While in Tanzania, Magwe received a message from God. He would preach in a new land, and be provided with a church and a home. In 2004, Burundian refugees began the process of relocation to the U.S., but Magwe was afraid because he was poor, didn’t speak English, and had only lived in the bush, he says. But God told him that if he obeyed, he could do anything. The Arthemons came to Knoxville in 2008, and the promises have now been fulfilled. In 2011, Magwe’s congregation, the Light Mission Pentecostal Church, purchased a building on Heiskell Avenue. That same year, the family enrolled in the Habitat for Humanity program. Kelle Shultz, president of To page A-7
5 Foster' s
Hogan said. Additionally, while the trend away from taking disputes to trial in favor of mediation may ease the financial toll on citizens, it has taken a toll on Chancery Court collections. Much of the child support collection that used to be done in Chancery Court is now being handled at the state level, creating another loss of fees. And the long-term judicial commitments that used to bring in
To page A-3
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Cultural, legal changes affect clerks’ bottom line
See Wendy’s report on A-7
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Charley Garvey receives some shovel horseplay from West Knox Rotary president Richard Bettis. Gary Ricciardi waits patiently, holding a post. The three helped replace an old set of steps leading up to the school.
A new land, new church and new home for Burundian family
See analysis on page A-4
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee did not come to Downtown Rotary to talk about the law. She came instead to talk about courage, common bonds and cabbage. Lee’s presentation included the story of her father, Charles Lee, and of James Hugh Ross, Harold Leibowitz, David Goldin and Bruce Foster.
March 4, 2013
By Cindy Taylor
P d G Pond Gap El Elementary t School received a facelift on World Rotary Day Feb. 23, thanks to the combined efforts of Knox area Rotary clubs. Pond Gap principal Susan Espiritu would not guess the value of the improvements. “Oh my goodness, I have no idea. They donated over $1,500 worth of flash cards that they are making into tutoring packets for classrooms and tutors to use. “They completely redid our steps coming from the lower parking lot, repainted our front door and window frame and mulched all our flower beds. “They also powerwashed the concrete in front and back. More than 70 Rotarians from five clubs participated and did for our school those things that just don’t get done and that we needed so desperately! “Rotary is a tremendous organization!”
Lee speaks on courage, cabbage
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Facelift for Pond Gap
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VOL. 7 NO. 9
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