VOL. 53 NO. 8
IN THIS ISSUE WHERE
JOBS ARE the
Unity gets new owner
In our quest to discover “where the jobs are,” we found a homegrown business that has provided jobs along with compassionate community service for 35 Dr. L.C. Powell years. We also found an indomitable woman with an inspiring story. Come along.
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Read Sandra Clark on page A-15
Dem women prepare to party The oldest Democratic women’s club in America is throwing itself a party. The Knox County Democratic Women’s Club, established March 28, 1928, will celebrate its 85th anniversary year 6:30 Saturday, March 8, at the Southern Depot, in conjunction with Women’s History Month. The public is invited and descendants of charter members will be there. There will be music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. It’s not a costume party, but period attire will be welcome.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-4
Spring sports No doubt you are delighted, perhaps even bubbling over, with the coming of spring sports at the University of Tennessee. What, you hadn’t even thought of Volunteer track, baseball, tennis or golf? These are the fun and games funded by football and donations. Please mark your calendar. Enjoy.
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Read Marvin West on page A-5
FC apartments on BZA agenda Representatives of neighborhoods near a large apartment complex to be built on Tazewell Pike met last week with attorney John King to discuss the feasibility of opposing the project, which has not yet entered the construction phase, although grading of roadbeds has begun.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-3
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
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Remembering Sam By Ruth White When you think of Sam Hardman, what comes to mind? His pride for our veterans? His ear-toear grin or the big hug that he gave when he said hello? Hardman passed away last year. During his lifetime he touched many people in Halls and surrounding communities. To remember him, several individuals that hang out at the Halls Senior Center wanted to do something special. Harold “Puzzle Mike” Carmichael, Judy Huggett and Harold Ellison were working on a patriotic puzzle and came up with the idea to have it framed and presented to the center in Hardman’s memory. “I thought this would be great to do for Sam,” said Huggett. “People would stop by and put in a piece or two of the puzzle.” Buzz Buswell, interim senior director for veteran and senior services, was on hand at the unveiling and described Hardman as “the face of veterans in Knox County.” He said that he considered Hardman a good friend who never grew tired of working for the Halls Senior Center coordinator Darrell Gooding unveils a framed puzzle creveterans. ated by several senior adults in memory of Sam Hardman. Photo by Ruth White
Sheriff loses special friend By Jake Mabe
He was a big man with an even bigger heart. And he’ll be missed. Roger Wilson, 55, passed away Feb. 16, following an illness. He was a longtime employee of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, including Roger Wilson a 22-year stint as assistant chief deputy. “I’d usually talk to him every day,” Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones said. “No five people could do Roger Wilson’s job.” For the past few years, Wilson was in charge of inmate work crews. They would perform maintenance for nonprofits and around the county, working at such places as the Halls Outdoor Classroom.
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Wilson himself would secure bicycles and food baskets for those who needed them, as well as help former inmates and their children. Jones said Wilson never publicized it and wanted it that way. Last year, he racked up $125,000 in volunteer hours for nonprofits. “I had just talked to him, and he was feeling better. He’d had some health problems. So it was not a complete shock, but it was a shock.” Wilson knew tragedy. His son, Andy, a corrections officer, was killed in 2008. And yet he carried on, developing a memorial fund and hosting a golf tournament fundraiser in Andy’s memory. Law enforcement and volunteerism ran in the family. Wilson’s father, Bill, is a former chief of detectives for the Sheriff’s Office. His mother, Peggy, is a longtime volun-
Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones talks about losing a longtime employee and friend, Roger Wilson. teer at Hillcrest North. “He was a prankster,” Jones said. “He was a big man, and he had this golf cart he would ride around in. At one time, he ran the detention facility on Maloneyville
Road. One day he got a little goat in the cart and rode with it down the hill. If you were having a bad day and you saw him, you felt better.” Wilson loved his community. He was a member at Marbledale Baptist Church and a regular at Carter High athletic events. “He had his own yellow penalty flag that he would throw if the referees didn’t call a penalty.” Jones said the mold was broken after Roger Wilson entered the world. “He was a fi xture, and we will make sure he won’t be forgotten. You won’t find anybody who has a bad word to say about Roger Wilson.” The family requests memorial donations be made to the Andy Wilson Memorial Fund, 455 N. Wooddale Road, Strawberry Plains, TN 37871.
Opting out: Parent says K-2 testing harms daughter By Betty Bean Jennifer Nagel’s 7-year-old daughter spent her snow days reading a book. That might not sound like a big deal, but to Nagel, it’s almost miraculous because reading has been an ordeal for her daughter, who has an undiagnosed learning disability. Nagel says her daughter’s teacher has been very helpful, but the school system has not. So she started looking for solutions on her own. Almost by accident, she found a critically acclaimed series of books co-written by actor Henry Winkler and the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity for and about dyslexic kids – who knew the Fonz has a master’s degree from Yale, and dyslexia? As of last week, Nagel’s daugh-
Jennifer Evans Nagel
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Photo by Betty Bean
ter is halfway through a book about a resourceful dyslexic boy named Hank Zipzer, printed with a special font designed for dyslex-
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ics, who frequently have problems with letters that seem to float around the page. Nagel says her daughter has finally found joy in reading, no thanks to Knox County Schools. Knox County Schools director of Student Support Services Melissa Massie said she cannot comment on Nagel’s daughter’s situation and is not familiar with the Winkler books. “But we have a number of interventions that look at multisensory approaches (for learning disabilities),” Massie said. Back in December, Nagel, who is PTA president at Amherst Elementary School, fought back tears as she stood at the lectern and told the school board how her youngest daughter is being affected by the 17
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district-mandated tests she has to take during the school year. Once a happy child, she’s now anxious and overwhelmed by her struggles with a yet-undiagnosed reading disorder, Nagel said. “She hates school because she thinks she is stupid,” Nagel said, calling the K-2 Assessment (formerly known as SAT 10) “a test that is set up for her to fail.” She expressed frustration at what she sees as the school system’s inflexibility, And because of the difficulties her child had as a 1st-grader, Nagel says she will not subject her to the K-2 Assessment again this year. “My daughter has been struggling since kindergarten, saying To page A-3
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