VOL. 53 NO. 5
IN THIS ISSUE
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February 3, 2014
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Happy birthday, Jerry!
on page 6
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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Dr. Bill Cloud (at right) is one of many friends to stop by and wish Jerry Griffey a happy 80th birthday.
Read Victor Ashe on A-4
Bluegrass album The last name Brewster and bluegrass music go together in this town like the last name Litton and burgers do. Paul Brewster has released a new album and Jake Mabe says it’s one you don’t want to miss.
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Read Jake Mabe on B-2
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 West on A-5
WHERE
JOBS ARE the
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
7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Jake Mabe ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco
Jerry Griffey greets Leslie Graves, choir director at Fountain City United Methodist Church.
By Ruth White It’s not often someone stands in the chapel of a funeral home and receives friends to his own event. Unless you are Jerry Griffey and that funeral home has been your life for almost 40 years. Griffey turned 80 last week, and the staff at Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel and Crematory opened the doors to celebrate his birthday with the community. Guests
stopped by to wish Griffey well and remember old times. Griffey was in the first graduating class (1952) at Fulton High School and was the first band captain. “I was so skinny back then I could hide behind my trombone,” he said with a laugh. Dr. Joe Black and his wife,
May 1970. They continued the Gentry tradition of personal and caring service for grieving families. The staff at Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel and Crematory project that same dignity and respect for each and every family that is served. After 39 years in business, the Griffeys decided to devote more time and energy to family, the community and their church. To facilitate this, in June 2009, Jerry and Joan took new partners into the business who carry on their tradition of service. Today, Jerry remains a partner and licensed funeral director with Gentry Griffey.
Gibbs Drive covenants stand By Betty Bean The owners of property at the intersection of Gibbs Drive and Broadway have lost a Chancery Court battle to overturn the 97-year-old deed restrictions that prohibit them from developing their lots for commercial use. Chancellor Mike Moyers ruled that the covenants placed in 1917 on the 52 lots fronting on Jackson Boulevard – now Gibbs Drive – are still viable and enforceable. The plaintiffs argued that the neighborhood had already invalidated the covenants by tolerating certain commercial uses, particularly the activities of a former resident who ran an electrical contracting business from his home. The evidence, however, showed that although employees drove there in the morning and departed
to job sites in commercial vans, no signage was placed on the property and no actual business was conducted there. Additionally, Moyers said there is no evidence that other Gibbs Drive home businesses (including an insurance agent, a lawn service, a carpenter and a piano teacher) generate excessive traffic or have erected signs or other “external indicia” of commercial activity. “It appears that all of the alleged ‘commercial activity’ in the neighborhood was incidental to the primary use of the property as residences,” Moyers said, observing that all the evidence showed was “incidental and unobtrusive home occupations … occurring behind closed doors.” Plaintiff Emma Harris inherited two adjoining, undeveloped
lots south of Gibbs Drive that front on Broadway. Plaintiff Joe Whaley lives in the historic structure known as the Dempster House on the north corner of Gibbs and Broadway. They argued that Broadway has changed greatly since the covenants were placed and that the covenants deprive them of the highest and best use of their property. Whaley said the restrictions make it impossible for him to sell the house at his asking price. Moyers conceded that Harris cannot make any reasonable use of her property under this zoning, since there has been no residential development along that Fountain City stretch of Broadway in modern times, and said the only expert witness who testified, Realtor Richard Smith, said neither
the Harris nor the Whaley land has value or utility as residential property. “That is indeed unfortunate for her and (Joe) Whaley, but the court must remain mindful that the restrictions contained within the original grant have continuing and substantial value to the remainder of the community, which wishes to keep the residential character of the community intact,” Moyers said. Even though the plaintiffs presented cases from other jurisdictions where courts have removed burdensome, archaic covenants, there is no precedent in Tennessee law for doing so, Moyers said. He ruled that the covenants are valid and dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiffs have the option to appeal the decision.
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 year and beyond, you may face negMark Taylor ative employment consequences up to and including
termination from your position. “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 highest-
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Shirl e y , h a v e k n o w n Griffey so long that they couldn’t tell the exact number of years. U.S. Rep. John Duncan sent Griffey an American flag that had flown over the Capitol, and Tommy and Charlottee Schumpert dropped by. “At the age of 80 you don’t expect to get anything but old,” he said. “It’s so nice to see everyone here.” Jerry and Joan Griffey assumed ownership of Gentry Griffey in
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achieving 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 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,
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