VOL. 8 NO. 5
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IN THIS ISSUE
Valentine Specials
February 3, 2014
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Tennessee’s highways and byways weave through Farragut
on pages A-8 and A-9
Who’s in charge? Mayor Madeline Rogero’s trip to Turkey set Victor Ashe to wondering about the city charter provision for managing the city in the absence of the mayor.
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Read Victor Ashe on A-4
Musical Harrisons In any gathering of local professional musicians, the talk often turns to medical concerns. And when the subject of doctors comes up, there’s one name you’ll hear over and over. “Dr. John Harrison,” says a KSO violist, “gets musicians.”
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One of the special places on the Rocky Top Trail is Sequoyah Museum in Vonore. Photo submitted
Read Carol Zinavage on B-2
By Sherri Gardner Howell
Rating recruits Here’s what you will hear on Wednesday, after the fax machine clicks off and the celebration fund-raiser begins: Typical Tennessee football fan: “Great recruiting class.” Blind optimist: “Best ever!” Shopper reader: “Looks good to me, but Marvin says The General reserved evaluation of young players until after the Alabama game of their sophomore year.
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Read Marvin West on A-5
WHERE the
JOBS ARE 81 new jobs in Clinton
Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee Inc. is expanding its plant in Clinton. The $53.8 million investment will create 81 new jobs over the next two years in Anderson County, said Bill Hagerty, the state’s commissioner of Economic and Community Development. It’s the company’s second major expansion since locating in Tennessee in 2004. According to its website, the Clinton plant has 580 full-time employees.
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Read Sandra Clark on A-12
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sherri Gardner Howell ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco
Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways signs for the Rocky Top Trail have been placed in Farragut along Concord Road, Campbell Station Road and Kingston Pike. Photo by Sherri Gardner Howell
New brown signs along several of Farragut’s major roads had drivers craning their necks to see what was up. TDOT installed the signs for the Tennessee State Department of Tourism to promote and designate the Rocky Top driving trail, one of the Discover Tennessee Highways and Byways routes.
Of the 16 routes across the state, there are several in East Tennessee, including White Lightning and Secret City. Farragut is on the route for the Rocky Top: Smoky Peaks to Crafts and Creeks Trail, a 282-mile, self-guided trail with 131 stops along the way. To page A-3
Town settles lawsuit, delays sign debate By Sandra Clark Developers of the 52-acre Split Rail Farm subdivision on Everett Road in Farragut have withdrawn a lawsuit filed against the town. “Our insistence that developers properly build what they propose to build is the fundamental way that we protect the town and citizens from substandard development,” said Town Administrator David Smoak. The developers also withdrew a recently filed final plat and said they intended to submit an amended concept plan preliminary plat to the town planning commission in hopes of gaining approval for changes in the design of the development. “We are very pleased to have this issue behind us,” Smoak said.
He said the town will continue to work with all developers including Split Rail Farm to balance the needs of business with the “services and community character Farragut residents and visitors have come to expect.” Signs: Miserable weather delayed a meeting Tuesday of the town’s Visual Resources Review Board which was set to consider revisions to the sign ordinance to define vehicular signs as: “A vehicle with signage on or attached to it and where such signage is visible from a public street or public access easement and such vehicle is not used throughout the day for off-site transportation related tasks. Any vehicle that is to be parked for more than two (2) hours in a location where the sig-
nage on such vehicle would be visible from a public street or public access easement shall be deemed a vehicular sign; and “In the prohibited signs section of the sign ordinance, reference Vehicular sign, as defined in this ordinance.” Marty Layman chairs the review board. Candidates: Nominating petition forms are available for the non-partisan municipal election scheduled for Aug. 7, 2014. The mayor and one alderman from each ward will be elected. The deadline to file is noon Thursday, April 3, with the Knox County Election Commission. In July 2009, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to move the town’s election to run
concurrently with Knox County general and primary elections in even-numbered years to conduct more cost-effective elections and to increase voter participation. Art: The Farragut Arts Council will sponsor the Farragut High School Art Show Feb. 3-14 at Town Hall. Awards will be given for best in show and first, second and third places during a reception to honor the artists and their work 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4. The exhibition is open during regular Town Hall hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The art show and reception are free and open to the public. Info: Lauren Cox, special events and program coordinator, at lauren. cox@townoffarragut.org or 9667057.
A teacher’s story: letters of concern By Betty Bean The letter teachers dread ends like this: “In the 2012-13 school year, your summative results rating was x, or below expectations. Should your summative results continue to be below or significantly below expectations in the 2013-14 school Mark Taylor year and beyond, you may face negative employment consequences up to and including termination from your position.
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“To avoid any negative consequences, you are expected to comply with all administrator directives, collaborate with colleagues and improve your overall performance in the upcoming school year.” Farragut Middle School science teacher Mark Taylor has received two such letters. He was one of the teachers who accepted Tony Norman’s invitation to speak to County Commission last week, and he told the commissioners he fears for his job, despite having a reputation for turning out the highestachieving 8th-grade science students in the county. He racks up consistently high
scores in teaching observations but is considered an “outlier” because he scores more than two points higher on evaluations than his students’ Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) scores. Theoretically, these scores should be the same, and principals can lose their jobs if they don’t reconcile the gap. “My TVAAS was a 1. Can you imagine what my observation scores are going to be this year? If they give me anything higher than a 3, they’re going to have repercussions,” Taylor said. His primary problem is that he teaches high-school level physical science to 8th-graders whose
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progress is difficult to measure because they are not taught the standard curriculum. His secondary problem is that his students are so advanced that there’s not much room to “grow” their scores, as measured by TVAAS, which tracks student “gains.” The first year of evaluations, only one of Taylor’s four classes was tested – a standard 8thgrade science class that included several ESL (English as a second language) speakers. His 130 highschool level students were left out of the equation, thereby lowering his (and his school’s) overall test To page 3
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