GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4-5 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS A9-11 | HEALTH & LIFESTYLES SECTION B
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halls / fountain city
VOL. 50, NO. 45
NOVEMBER 7, 2011
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Athletes rally for FCA
Funeral home refutes charges Following a meeting at which opponents to the installation of an on-site crematory by Gentry-Griffey Funeral Chapel discussed their concerns, Gentry-Griffey manager Eric Botts provides detailed responses to those issues. Info: www.knoxcremations.com/.
New ‘battle’ for Korean War veteran See Lorraine’s story on page A-6
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Mayor’s Halls constituent meeting canceled
Former UT standout and Farragut High grad Nick Reveiz chats with longtime FCA booster Bob Temple of Halls after the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet. Reveiz delivered the “postgame” prayer. See Jake Mabe’s story on A-3.
‘Hey buddy!’
Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett’s constituent meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, at the Halls Branch Library has been canceled. It will be rescheduled sometime after Thanksgiving. Info: Michael Grider, 215-4750.
Classmates honor Matt Faris By Jake Mabe When Matthew James “Matt” Faris died at age 26 on April 5, his classmates wanted to do something special. So, the Halls High School Class of 2004 collected donations with the intention of sending flowers to his funeral service. “We had some $500 extra,” says Sydney Flynn, a 2004 Halls High grad, “so we had a monument to Matt placed at the (school’s) main entrance underneath the tree. “Matthew was so sweet and kind and he’d always come up to you and say, ‘Hey
How a tragedy became a blessing See Jake Mabe’s story on page A-3
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4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.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.
buddy!’ That’s why we had that put on the monument.” Flynn says the Class of ’04 is also donating $500 to the Special Matt Faris Olympics in Matt’s memory. “We’d also like to give a special thank you to Mike Blankenship and his agriculture students for digging the hole for the marker.” Matt was also a longtime employee at Kroger.
‘Stand Down’ Serves needy vets
services in one day. He was especially thankful for his new glasses, which he says By Wendy Smith During war time, battle- will come in handy at night. He has recently moved into weary soldiers are sometimes given the opportunity an apartment, but he spent 10 to “stand down,” or withdraw years on the street before fifrom combat and refresh nally getting his own place. themselves with warm food “If feels good just to have and camaraderie, and receive a key. I don’t have any furnicare for their wounds. ture, but I have a key,” he said The term “stand down” with a smile. now refers to communityWillis has received help based intervention programs from Clyde Vincent of Volunthat serve homeless veterans, teers of America, one of severmany of whom are continu- al organizations that offered ing to fight for survival. The services at the event. Vincent Knox Area Veterans Stand is a program manager for the Down was held last week Knoxville Homeless Veterans at the Park West Church of Reintegration Project, which God, and 200 veterans pre- helps vets break down barriregistered to participate. ers to employment. The all-day event provided One of those barriers can three meals, clothing and hair- be unpaid fines, so the Knox cuts for vets, as well as medical, County Public Defender’s Ofdental and eye care, including fice and representatives from free glasses made on-site. Legal Aid were on hand to Robert Willis, who help veterans clean up miserved in Germany during nor offenses. Veterans who the 1970s, was grateful to don’t pay parking tickets, for be able to receive so many instance, can end up with
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Volunteer Judy Moore cleans Robert Willis’ new glasses at the Knox Area Veterans Stand Down, held at the Park West Church of God last week. The event provided free medical, dental and legal care to veterans, many of whom are homeless. Photo by Wendy Smith large fines and lose their driver’s license, says Vincent. By getting their records expunged, vets can get back their license and thus be better positioned to get a job. Remote Area Medical (RAM) and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) recruited the doctors who volunteered their time for the event. Recruitment was a little tough, says RAM Foundation Volunteer Coordinator Laura Kirschenmann,
WE BUY
GOLD Directly across from Fountain City Park
because the Stand Down was on a Thursday, when most doctors are working. But a core group of medical providers and volunteers can always be found to staff RAM clinics. The group has provided staff and equipment for 27 clinics this year, she said, but serving veterans is a special opportunity. While many of them receive medical care through the VA, they don’t always get dental and eye care, which is expensive.
Issue: The neighborhood will be disrupted by increased traffic by Fountain City Lake. Response: Although our street address is Fountain Road, our ingress and egress is actually on Cedar Lane; therefore, traffic does not typically drive past Fountain City Lake. We do not anticipate an increase in hearse traffic. Issue: There will be visible smoke and fly ash and noticeable fumes and odors produced. The absence of scrubbers will allow fly ash to exit the crematory. Response: Today’s state-of-theart crematories are clean and very efficient. The two-chamber model being installed at Gentry-Griffey is produced by B&L Cremation Systems, an international leading producer of crematories. Scrubbers are not a needed component to the twochamber design, which eliminates emissions such as smoke or odors; only heat is emitted. Issue: The crematory was improperly permitted. Response: Gentry-Griffey is zoned commercial and the crematory was properly permitted as an accessory use to an existing funeral home. In fact, at the Fountain City Town Hall meeting on Oct. 10, both Council member Nick Della Volpe and former Council member Carlene Malone stated that it had been appropriately permitted. We followed all requirements presented to us by Knox County government. There is no 30-day notice requirement here. The funeral home is also licensed and inspected by the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. Issue: The mercury emitted from the crematory is very dangerous. Response: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are many ways mercury emissions are released into the air. Common sources include municipal incinerators, the breaking of used fluorescent tube lamps, dental facilities, production and disposal of batteries, household trash disposal and residential heating, along with the operation of crematories. Crematories are one of the lowest sources of mercury emissions. In fact, EPA states that crematories statistically represent zero percent of the total inventory for national mercury emission rates, according to their Best Point Estimates. Issue: Gentry-Griffey is not locally managed and doesn’t care about our community. Response: Gentry-Griffey has been a part of Fountain City since 1948, and Jerry Griffey, longtime owner and licensed funeral director and embalmer, continues to be part of the funeral home’s staff. Managing partner Eric Botts also lives in Fountain City and would not support any project that causes a negative impact to this community. We want to be good neighbors which is why we are making efforts to provide this educational information.
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FLU SHOTS available Tues, Wed, & Thurs. Walk-ins Welcome.
865-705-5836
602 E. Emory Road next to Mayo’s
5334 N. Broadway
9 am-7 pm, Mon.-Fri., 9 am-2 pm Sat.
947-5235
An Independent Family-Owned Pharmacy