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Vol. 5, No. 5 • January 31, 2011 • www.ShopperNewsNow.com • 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500 37932 • 218-WEST (9378)
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Belk shipping and receiving manager Kyle Porter takes a minute out of his busy day to show off his wheels. It’s a replica of the Hazzard County sheriff’s cruiser used in the popular 1970s television show “Dukes of Hazzard.” Photo by Valorie Fister
TDOT’s Martinez to join Haslam administration The Shopper-News has learned that local Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Yvette Martinez will soon join Gov. Bill Haslam’s staff. In a Jan. 26 e-mail sent to reporter Natalie Lester, Martinez wrote that she is leaving TDOT to become the new governor’s press secretary. Before joining TDOT, Martinez was a reporter and news anchor for WBIR-TV in Knoxville.
Free tax assistance The Internal Revenue Service and the town of Farragut will sponsor free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) at the town hall, 11408 Municipal Center Dr., Fridays from Feb. 4 through April 15; Saturdays from Feb. 5 through April 9; Tuesday, Feb. 15; and Tuesday, Feb. 22. Volunteers will complete and e-file IRS forms 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ for lower income and senior taxpayers. This service is by appointment only. Info: 748-0151.
Dukes of Hazzard
sheriff’s cruiser in town
Photographs by Dean Rice The Arts and Culture Alliance will present “Another Way of Life: Photographs by Dean Rice,” opening 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, in the balcony of the Emporium Center. Rice displays photographs of villages scattered throughout the countryside of Guizhou and Guangxi provenances in China. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with additional hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6. Info: 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.
By Valorie Fister
Kyle Porter is careful to keep a light bar cover on his classic 1978 Plymouth Fury Hazzard County sheriff’s cruiser. He’s not really into impersonating a police officer. The West Knox resident and Belk shipping and receiving manager is really a car buff who couldn’t pass up the purchase of this piece of pop culture. It’s an exact replica of the Hazzard County sheriff’s cruiser used in the fourth season of the 1970s tele-
vision show “Dukes of Hazzard.” “A lot of times I’ll get a thumbs up, or they’ll wave and smile real big,” he said of police reaction to his unique ride to work. The car hails from Webber City, Va., where Porter purchased it last November. It comes complete with signatures on the inside of the trunk of actors in the television series. One signature belongs to Ben Jones who played the role of Cooter Davenport. Porter said he and his “gear head” friends keep their classic
cars running by doing their own work on them. As a kid, Porter said his grandparents owned a used car lot and salvage parts lot. He said he grew up around old Packards and Studebakers and he learned car mechanics at an early age. “I’ve been hooked ever since,” Porter said. He said he also has a toy car collection with 14,000 to 15,000 pieces in it. Prior to his possession of a Dukes of Hazzard police vehicle, Porter put together a replica of
the Bluesmobile. That was the police car used in the 1980 film “The Blues Brothers” that starred John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. He eventually sold that car to Blues Brothers fans from Chicago, which was the city featured in that movie. And when asked what Porter’s wife, Michelle, thinks of his car hobby and his new vehicle, he grinned even more. “She is severely supportive of all of this,” he said. “She drives it through the neighborhood.”
Burchett meets with critics of stormwater policy By Betty Bean Last week, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett met with Shannondale farmer James McMillan, Clean Water Network director Renee Hoyos and CWN attorney Stephanie Matheney to discuss Knox County stormwater enforcement issues in general and the Notice of Violation recently issued to McMillan’s father, Charles McMillan, in particular. The elder McMillan had a contractual agreement allowing T-Mobile to build a cell tower on his property, and the grading contractor had failed to install a legally required silt fence at the construction site until the work was almost complete. The McMillans say that the citation should have gone to the permit holder or the contractor, over whom they have no control. They are demanding an apology. James McMillan is a frequent and vocal critic of county stormwater enforcement, and the McMillans and CWN officials charged
Stephanie Matheney, James McMillan and Renee Hoyos after their meeting with Mayor Tim Burchett. Photo by Betty Bean
that the citation was payback for the younger McMillan’s activism. How did the meeting go? Depends on whom you ask. Burchett: “I think the meeting with Mr. McMillan and Ms. Hoyos went well and was very productive for us, and I certainly hope it was
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productive for them. I look forward to continuing to work with them in the future on stormwater issues.” Hoyos: “It was a productive conversation. We talked about prioritizing sites – emphasizing sites that are harming property, neigh-
bors or clean water. They indicated they would look at doing that. And they said the McMillan’s citation was not retaliatory.” Matheney: “We learned the McMillan citation was one of 40 NOVs that went to what (stormwater manager) Chris Granju called ‘mom and pop’ sites last year. Why are they wasting time on that? We want them to work on bigger sites that are causing harm. Dwight Van de Vate (county engineering director) admitted there was no evidence that pollution had come off the McMillan site and gotten to the stream.” James McMillan: “I keep hearing that all these foreclosed sites are a big enforcement problem in Knox County. Does this mean that they are sending demand letters to the banks that now own the properties and treating them like they have treated the McMillans?” Knox County’s stormwater ordinance is a little muddy on the issue of where notices of violation should go. One paragraph says the notice
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should go to whoever has operational control over construction plans and specifications. Another section says that the director “… may issue a notice of violation to the permittee or property owner and/or any other person or entity having responsibility for construction work performed at a site development.” James McMillan remains unconvinced and believes that his father was cited, and threatened with a $5,000 per day fine, because of the son’s persistent criticism of county enforcement efforts. Hoyos said that Burchett agreed to consider her suggestion that the county do more wet weather inspections. “The Network’s goal is to reduce sediment in the rivers, and there are a number of sites around the county that contribute sediment. We would like for them to focus on correcting large sites discharging large amounts of mud to streams.” And what about an apology to the McMillans? “I don’t think so,” Hoyos said.
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