VOL. 8 NO. 27
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Urban gardens The city of Knoxville is ready to propose changes in the zoning ordinance that will make it easier for individuals and community groups to establish gardens on privately held land. Anyone interested in community gardens, urban agriculture or sales of produce from these gardens is invited to meet 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, July 14, at Cansler Family YMCA, 616 Jessamine St. Info: 215-2065.
IN THIS ISSUE Coffee Break Manuela Ptacek doesn’t want to budge from Farragut, where she has lived since 2001. “I love the house we’re in; it’s kind of out in the country.” Meet the new president of the Knox County Republican Women chapter which formed in March 2013 and meets at 6 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at Chick-Fil-A in Bearden.
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Read Coffee Break on page A-2
Payouts to paramours It is not often a serious candidate for the U.S. Senate has in his past a state Supreme Court decision that delves into his personal life, thereby making it public. But such is the case with Gordon Ball, a wealthy Knoxville attorney and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in the Aug. 7 primary.
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Read Victor Ashe on page A-5
McIntyre’s mojo melting away It started as Alice’s Restaurant. Superintendent James McIntyre could get anything he wanted at any time, generally by an 8-1 vote. But now McIntyre’s board majority is melting, and neither his contract nor his long-range plan nor the August election will save him. He’s done. Alice isn’t cooking here anymore.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-4
Find us in Food Shopper-News publisher Sandra Clark says if a newspaper is good enough, readers will find it – even if it’s stuffed inside the Wednesday Food section.
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Read Sandra Clark on page A-4
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July 9, 2014
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Resident says Huber project By Wendy Smith Cheryl Hatcher has always enjoyed watching the great blue herons from her porch, which looks out on Sinking Creek. The herons nest in the tops of pine trees along the water, and last year, Hatcher counted 13 nests. Two weeks ago, she heard the sound of machinery and watched as the trees came down. One had a bird in it. As the trees fell, the adult bird flew away. “I can’t imagine it would have stayed unless it was protecting a nest,” she says. Hatcher spoke with the local agent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After the agent visited the Emory Church Road site where developer John Huber hopes to build an apartment complex, no more trees fell. The federal office did not return calls from the ShopperNews, but Scott Somershoe, an ornithologist with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, said herons are protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibits pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing
or collecting any migratory bird, nest or eggs without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “You can’t go around actively destroying nests,” he said. The proposed Westland Cove development plan includes a total of 312 apartment units on both sides of Emory Church Road. Huber has filed a lawsuit against numerous West Knox homeowners who are opposed to the development, and adjacent homeowners plan to fight the apartment complex in court. Hatcher was concerned that proper permits had not been issued for current work on the site, but Eddy Roberts of Knox County’s Department of Engineering & Public Works says a Notice of Coverage on file with the county and the state allows for demolition of structures, litter cleanup and removal of vegetation. The document states that no grading permit has been issued or requested. After a neighbor expressed concern about activity at the
A great blue heron enjoys the summer sun on Sinking Creek, the site of John Huber’s proposed apartment complex, Westland Cove. Photo by Wendy Smith
site, a county inspector visited the property and reported that clearing had occurred to allow access to the property for core sampling to determine soil type. Nothing out of line was observed at that point, Roberts said.
Neighbors of the property are also monitoring the site for activity that could have long-term consequences. “Once it’s paved over, it’ll never be the same,” says Hatcher.
A slam-dunk art show By Wendy Smith It would be easy to assume that rising sixth-grader Terrence Tolliver spent the summer attending a high-priced art camp. He debuted his new movie, aptly named “Terrence’s Slam Dunk Movie,” at the Claxton Complex, home of the University of Tennessee’s College of Education, Health & Human Services. The star of the movie is a clay Harlem Globetrotter that performs a series of outrageous slam dunks − with assistance from Tolliver. The animated video is composed of over 300
photos, along with video of Tolliver himself, decked out in Harlem Globetrotter gear and making impressive real-life baskets. He created the film with the help of masters-level art education student Matthew Mikos, one of several graduate students who are teaching art at Inskip Elementary School’s new University-Assisted Community School program. While it is officially a summer program, this is the county’s second University-Assisted Com- Terrence Toliver, right, and UT student Matthew Mikos discuss the video Toliver created during Inskip Elementary School’s summer University-Assisted Community School. Photos by Wendy Smith To page A-3
Demoted Earl speaks out at school board By Betty Bean Former Brickey-McCloud Elementary School assistant principal Sheila Earl was moved to tell her story at last Wednesday’s school board meeting after hearing board members at the Monday workshop talk about clamping down on teachers who bypass the KCS “chain of command” by going public with complaints about the administration. Earl is fearful of retaliation but promised her daughter she’d be brave because many colleagues have received the same treatment she has and don’t know why. The last year she was an assistant principal, she was evaluated by Knox County Schools’ elementary schools director Nancy Maland, who gave her the highest possible rating – a level 5 score. This result was typical for Earl, a 23-year KCS employee, so she had reason to be excited when she got a phone call from the KCS human resources department July 19, 2012.
“I naively believed that my time had finally come and I was going in to interview for a principalship,” she said. “After all, I had spent nine years as a successful assistant principal after 14 years as an award-winning teacher. I had even completed the D-21 program with excellent results as well.” When she went to the meeting with Maland and HR director Kathy Simms, she was stunned to hear that Superintendent James McIntyre had decided to return her to the classroom, a change that carried a 25 percent pay reduction. “When I asked for the reason why, I was reminded that administrators serve at the pleasure of the superintendent. (Nancy) Maland acted as a scribe, but she remained silent. (Superintendent) McIntyre was conveniently out of town.” Maland retired at year’s end. Earl, a single mother, was given
very little time to clear out her office, prepare to teach third grade and readjust her family budget to the pay cut. Her former principal said she had no idea why Earl was demoted. Her new principal suggested that perhaps this was a test to see how gracefully she handled difficult situations and speculated that she might get a promotion the next year. “That, of course, did not happen,” Earl said. There was a bit of a silver lining, she thought. Under state guidelines, Earl’s evaluation score qualified her for an APEX bonus, so she had reason to expect some financial help that fall. But when she checked the APEX website in November, the words next to her name were “Employee no longer in good standing.” She attempted to find why she had been labeled a loser, but multiple phone calls and emails got no response until her sister (acting without Earl’s
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knowledge) contacted the county ethics board. Finally, in April 2013, she heard from KCS chief accountability officer Nakia Towns, who informed her that being reclassified as a classroom teacher after having been an administrator automatically made her ineligible for the bonus. Earl, who said she has been shocked at the level of micromanagement that classroom teachers have to endure nowadays, was required to submit her emails to board chair Lynne Fugate in order to be allowed to speak at the meeting. Many of the teachers who have been speaking out in recent months were present, although they were harder to pick out in the crowd because most were not wearing their familiar red SPEAK (Students, Parents, Educators Across Knox County) T-shirts. To page A-3
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