HALLS/FOUNTAIN CITY
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A great community newspaper
VOL. 51 NO. 7
IN THIS ISSUE
February 13, 2012
Facelift
Field of dreams
Tennova guy John Ewart had a week to remember participating in the Atlanta Braves Fantasy Camp. Along the way, he met former Webb School, UT and Braves pitcher Greg McMichael, who manages the camp for the Braves.
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See Jake Mabe’s story on page A-3
Halls Library goes wireless Take your iPad or laptop along next time you visit the Halls Branch Library. It’s all wired up!
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See Page A-2
Uptown look for Central restrooms Scott Burnette, a department sales manager at Lowe’s at East Towne, is wowed by the renovated women’s room in the commons at Central High School. Caught in his reflection is Rhonda Archer, who represented the PTSO on the project. Principal Danny Trent said as many as 8,000 people use the facilities during concerts and sporting events. It was time for renewal. Photos by S. Clark
More on page A-8
By Betty Bean
‘Grappling’ with it Halls High wrestling battles through injuries while the middle school team wins the conference. Coaches Shannon Sayne and Cody Humphrey say the future looks bright for Halls wrestling.
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Index Jake Mabe Community Notes Government/Politics Marvin West Jim Tumblin Faith Schools Business Health/Lifestyles
2-3 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 Sect B
4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Sandra Clark sclark426@aol.com ADVERTISING SALES Patty Fecco fecco@ShopperNewsNow.com Brandi Davis davisb@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 27,825 homes in Halls, Gibbs and Fountain City.
School officials say they are doing all they can to address mold problems in portable classrooms at Shannondale Elementary School: Flooring and subflooring replaced as needed. Classrooms and Jim McIntyre associated air-conditioning equipment cleaned. Preliminary environmental testing to ensure mold successfully remediated. “High dust collectors” in the 5th grade, music and art classrooms removed. The 5th grade, music and art classrooms thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. Additional and precautionary air quality testing using a certified independent third party contractor. Discovered, repaired window leak in music room; drywall and insulation replaced as needed. Checked roofing in the affected areas for possible leaks. UV scrubbing equipment used in affected rooms; data loggers installed to monitor humidity and CO2 levels. Portable exteriors, entry/exit ramps pressure washed. Consulted with health department. And that was back in September. In January, Knox County Schools gave Shannondale’s portable classrooms a clean bill of health, but now concerns over health issues
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have reached the boiling point: parents are organizing, protesting, requesting transfers. Many say the most pressing issue is going unaddressed: “All we asked was would you please move the kids while this is going on,” said Martha Smith, who is among a growing number of parents who want their children taken out of their temporary classrooms, now. Where would she like for them to go? “The gym. The library. Bring another portable in. Anywhere. Just get them out of there,” she said. Smith says she’s unwilling to watch as her daughter Dreau, a Shannondale 5th grader, gets sicker and sicker. “She is now an asthmatic. She has chronic headaches, extremely bad fatigue, itchy, burning eyes, and respiratory problems. There are other kids breaking out with fungal infections on their faces, rhinitis, sore throats. … Some kids had to transfer per doctor’s orders. It’s not just one or two kids who are sick. Take a classroom of 20 students – 11 are absent all with the same symptoms. There might be a problem. It’s ridiculous that these kids are going to have to go through this.” Smith, who has reluctantly applied for a transfer for Dreau, says Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre’s decision to await the results of a new round of testing before considering taking the students out of the affected classrooms is unacceptable. The
ownership is not only failing to take steps to stop the nuisance behavior, but it is encouraging and participating in the activities. The owners of the business are some of the most blatant bad actors in the said nuisance. “All in all, the investigation shows that the Hi Life operates as a haven for criminal activity and is known in the area as such, and is a continued threat to this community.” Assistant District Attorney General Eric Counts said that the continuance was granted to allow the landlord, Ft. Sanders GP, to take civil action, if it chooses to do so. Attorney Matthew Grossman of Frantz, McConnell & Seymour told Judge Bob McGee that a conviction on a nuisance charge would breach the threeyear lease between his client and Hi Life owner Nicky N. Wyrick of Baton Rouge, La. “We had no idea of the nature of the allegations,” Grossman said. “And we don’t want to end up with a permanent injunction against us going into our own building. The lease agreement expressly prohibits maintenance of a nuisance.” “We’ve been looking for cooperative solutions,” Wyrick’s lawyer T. Scott Jones said. Counts said that Attorney General Randy Nichols’ position is “no deals.”
By Betty Bean A hearing for a Fountain City business raided and padlocked by the Knoxville Police Department last month under the city’s nuisance ordinance has been postponed until Thursday, Feb. 16, because the store’s landlord has moved to join the case. Hi Life Wonderland 2 was one of four such establishments shut down by KPD under a temporary injunction. An affidavit included in the court file says the store was the subject of an undercover investigation that commenced last November and described the store as “… an establishment where illegal drug and drug paraphernalia sales and purchases are rampant and are made by owners, management, employees and customers.” The affidavit also says undercover agents posing as customers bought synthetic marijuana, which was “located under the counter and accessible only to employees,” on Dec. 16, Dec. 22, Dec. 29, Jan. 3 and Jan. 27. On two of those occasions, Dec. 16 and Jan. 27, the undercover officer also asked for and purchased drug paraphernalia to smoke the synthetic marijuana with as well, the affidavit says. “In short, the Hi Life is saturated with illegal drug sales and drug paraphernalia sales. The
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Anger grows among Shannondale parents
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Dr. Tumblin recalls a tragic carriage accident on what is now the UT campus.
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