VOL. 8 NO. 33
‘ROUND TOWN
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August 20, 2014
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Grad hopes to ‘make a difference’ with Yale education
➤ Town gets grant
for playground
.
The town of Farragut has received a Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grant from Gov. Bill Haslam and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in support of the playground replacement project at Mayor Bob Leonard Park.
Haslam announced a total of $6.6 million this year to fund local parks and recreation projects across Tennessee; the Town is receiving a $43,000 matching grant for the playground. The project will include a new playground structure, ADAapproved playground surface and energy efficient LED lighting. The LPRF grant program was established in 1991 to provide local governments with funds to purchase land for parks, natural areas, greenways and recreational facilities as well as to develop trails and projects within these spaces.
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Markli keeps seat; Pinchok wins Robert N. (Bob) Markli will keep his seat as alderman for Farragut’s Ward 1, and Ron Pinchok will join the board as a new member, representing Ward 2. Mayor Ralph McGill ran unopposed in the Aug. 7 election and will begin his second term as mayor, having first been elected in April 2009. Markli defeated challenger John Underwood 1,131 votes to 1,016, according to unofficial totals from the Knox County Election Commission. Running for the seat vacated by Jeff Elliott, Pinchok garnered 950 votes to Ronald Edward Williams’ 849 votes. A total of 4,033 votes were cast for mayor, with 3,017 taking advantage of early voting and 54 voting absentee. Markli, a general contractor, has lived in Farragut since 1987. He served several years on the town’s Visual Resources Review Board and the Development Review Process Evaluation Committee and has served one term as alderman. Pinchok, a 26-year resident of Fort West subdivision, retired four years ago after a 35-year career with Hallmark Cards. Since he retired, his volunteer work has included serving on the Parks and Athletics Committee and the Economic Development Council. – Sherri Gardner Howell
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Physical therapist Justin Robbins helps Ben Nadolsky get into his brace. Photos by Betsy Pickle
By Betsy Pickle When Ben Nadolsky was a kid, he wanted to play football for the University of Tennessee and become a Power Rangers firefighter. But kids grow up, and plans change. Nadolsky’s dream switched to going to Stanford University and becoming a biomedical engineer. And then it changed again: The Farragut resident and recent Knoxville Catholic High School graduate will leave
soon for Yale University, where he still intends to study biomedical engineering and pre-med. Nadolsky says his goal of doing medical research is a way for him to give back. “I want to try to make a difference,” says the 18-year-old. He’s had plenty of care from the medical profession during his young life. Almost nine years ago, he contracted transverse myelitis, a rare inflammatory
disease that injures the spinal cord. Of the three degrees of the disease, Nadolsky ended up with the most severe. “Mine unfortunately was demyelination of the nerve endings,” he says. He and his mother, Pam Nadolsky, spent a lot of time at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore for treatment and therapy. Though typically he’s confined to a wheelchair, at his twice-a-week ses-
Ben Nadolsky and Justin Robbins make their way down a corridor at the Springbrook therapy center. sions with physical therapist Justin Robbins he gets around under his own steam. After a series of stretches, he suits up – with much assistance from Robbins – into an elaborate brace that encircles him from his abdomen to his feet. Using a walker, he makes a round-trip trek down a long hallway
at Blount Memorial’s Total Rehabilitation at Springbrook, pausing occasionally but determinedly forging ahead. He won’t be able to do therapy at Yale – there’s nowhere to store his brace – but he says he’ll continue working with Robbins To page A-3
Board says goodbye to Jeff Elliott By Wendy Smith
Farragut Assistant Town Administrator Gary Palmer, South Ward Alderman Jeff Elliott and Parks and Leisure Services Director Sue Stuhl visit during a reception for Elliott, who ended his term last week. Photo by Wendy Smith
Jeff Elliott attended his last meeting as a Farragut alderman last week. He expressed thanks for the educational opportunity of sitting on the board for five years and four months. “It’s amazing how much you can learn sitting up here.” By resolving to disagree without being disagreeable, the board has set a standard that
people in Washington would be proud of, he said. The town’s new South Ward alderman, Ron Pinchok, will be sworn in at the August 28 meeting of the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen. An agreement between the town and Farmstead Developments was approved that will require the Split Rail Farm developer To page A-3
Pridemore faces trial by fire; lawyers worry By Betty Bean “You’re at the airport with your wife and kids, getting ready to board a plane to Disney World. But when you get to the gate for the flight to Orlando, there’s an election, and a guy who’s never flown before is elected pilot and citizens are comPridemore pelled to get on that plane …” This is how one Knoxville attorney described having pending cases in Chancery Court, Division II, where the newly elected and little-known Republican Clarence “Eddie” Pridemore will preside come Sept. 1. Pridemore’s victory over respected incumbent Daryl Fansler, a Democrat, was a product of the GOP’s “Red to the Roots” project
and sent shockwaves through the local legal community. “You hear it from every lawyer of every stripe who practices here, throughout the courthouse and out on the street and everywhere – ‘Oh, my gosh! What’re we going to do now?’ ” said David Buuck, Knox County’s chief deputy law director. The city of Knoxville is awaiting several decisions in important cases pending in Division II, including Lamar v Knoxville, which challenges the city’s right to regulate billboards; Anderson and Woodridge v Knoxville, an appeal of the city’s closure of Ben Atchley Street in Bearden; and Royal Properties Inc. v Knoxville, dealing with the fate of the Pryor Brown parking garage. Arthur Seymour Jr. represents the Northshore Town Center developer who intervened in a case filed by county residents opposing a large mixed-use development
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project inside the city. “All I know to do is forge ahead,” Seymour said. “He says he’s going to judge’s school, so there’s that.” At “Baby Judges’ College,” operated by the Administrative Offices of the Courts in Nashville, Pridemore will have five days of seminars, sign up for his $175,000-peryear paycheck and get fitted for his robe (a standard choir robe will suffice). When he returns, Pridemore will immediately face Motion Day, where dozens of lawyers present a wide variety of cases. “If Eddie has half a lick of sense, he’ll sit there like a stone, nod his head and take cases under advisement. The problem with that is he’ll have to write opinions and will get swamped pretty quickly. His cases will drag, and complaints will start coming in,” said one very experienced attorney, speaking anonymously.
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Most worry less about Pridemore than about those who will stand before him. “I have cases where clients will be in front of a judge with no Chancery Court experience who engaged in the political process and had some issues regarding his personal finances. Without being critical of the chancellor-elect, it raises significant questions about the manner and method by which we elect judges in Knox County,” said Greg Isaacs, who represents Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Attorneys speaking anonymously had less tactful takes: “There needs to be a preliminary threshold for who gets to be a judge. … You’re going to wonder why your children got taken away or why you lost your inheritance. … A chimpanzee could have won if it had an R behind its name. … An incompetent buffoon ran a stealth campaign and got elected.”
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