VOL. 9 NO. 5 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Belmont West traffic calming
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February 4, 2015
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The lowdown on Dirty Bird
Knox County’s Department of Engineering and Public Works has set a public meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23, at Peace Lutheran Church, 621 N. Cedar Bluff Road, to discuss traffic calming for the Belmont West subdivision.
IN THIS ISSUE
Art at Open Arms Care
The paint brushes are flying across canvases at Open Arms Care in Karns. The artists are a little different from most, but their work is getting good reviews and bringing paying customers to their door. Open Arms is a group home for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many clients have no motor control and can only communicate through eye gestures, but that’s no deterrent to Open Arms Care day program director Nikki Byrd and art therapist Terry Breeden.
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See Nancy Anderson on page A-3
Tech for students The most compelling argument for putting computers into the hands of all Knox County students came from Vine Middle Magnet School principal Cindy White. On Sundays, her students line up along the outside walls of the school to use Wi-Fi Internet access, a commodity lacking at home for many.
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See Wendy Smith on page A-5
What happened to the low bid? For old-timers, the kerfuffle over the E-911 board’s rejection of its evaluation committee’s recommendation for a new radio system begged this question: Whatever happened to taking bids and accepting the lowest one?
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See Betty Bean on page A-5
A competitor receives encouragement from supporters during an off-road Dirty Bird Event.
By Sara Barrett Ryan Roma is a landscape designer, and his wife, Ani, is a middle school fitness instructor. Their passions also can be seen in a business they developed about three years ago: Dirty Bird Events LLC. Through the company, whose headquarters is off Lovell Road, they design and manage outdoor sports competitions that offer alternative routes for running and multi-sport events.
By Sandra Clark Weigel’s store at 8414 Middlebrook Pike will be torn down and replaced with a new prototype, following a vote last week by the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals to grant a setback variance from 20 to seven feet. Chris Ooten, director of real estate for Weigel’s stores, represented the Weigel family. He said a variance is necessary because road improvements on Middlebrook Pike have reduced the us-
By Wendy Smith Gov. Bill Haslam came to town last week to educate state legislators before a special session being held this week regarding Insure Tennessee, his proposed Medicaid expansion program.
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Analysis Legislators aren’t the only ones who need to be educated. Citizens need to have a basic understanding of the program so they can pass their thoughts on to their elected officials. Haslam spent two years crafting Tennessee’s program to specifically address the spiraling cost of healthcare. It leverages federal dollars to provide health insurance to those whose income is less than 138 percent of the poverty level, which translates to approximately $16,000 for an individual and $27,000 for a family of three. The program is expected to cover roughly 280,000 people. Over half
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charities so the money would stay in town. That was the birth of the idea for Dirty Bird Events. “We wanted to differentiate ourselves, so we started thinking of other events to host,” says Ryan. He could see the windmills at the top of Buffalo Mountain from his house and decided Dirty Bird’s first official event would be the War at Windrock, which is now in To page A-3
able land. “Our store is within 10 feet of Old Middlebrook Pike,” he said. The motion passed 6-1 with the no vote from BZA commissioner Kevin Murphy (District 8). He said he can’t see a hardship when Weigel’s has use of the land now. Ooten said the land lies partly within the city of Knoxville, and the current store is there. The new store will be built on land outside the city limits with the gasoline pumps in the city.
Former BZA chair John Schoonmaker dropped by to thank his former colleagues and the county officials who work with BZA. He resigned when appointed to fill Rick Briggs’ 5th District seat on the Knox County Commission. Markus Chady (District 2) was elected chair; Cynthia Stancil (District 1) was elected vice chair. Knox County Commission will appoint a new member from District 5. Modern Outdoor Advertising was denied a variance to add light-
ing to a billboard in a commercial zone at 7720 Clinton Highway. The owner said he didn’t realize the board had no lights when he bought it. Commissioner Bill Sewell (District 7) led the opposition to allowing a lighted board closer than 300 feet to a residential zone, and no one offered a motion to approve. Finally, Cindy Buttry (District 6) moved to deny after apologizing to the applicant, who had paid $400 to make the request.
Understanding Insure Tennessee
A couple of films with an Oscar spotlight on them are due to arrive in Knoxville on Friday. Marion Cotillard, who won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Edith Piaf in 2007’s “La Vie en Rose,” is nominated in the same category for “Two Days, One Night,” a film from Belgian directing brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. See more reviews on page A-10
everyone,” says Ryan. He read a statistic that Tennessee is the second fattest state in America, and he feels “a lot of locals don’t realize what we have here in our backyard,” with the Smokies and the Urban Wilderness readily available. The Romas began helping national organizations plan and manage events as fundraisers for charitable organizations. The couple wanted to include more local
Weigel’s plans new store on Middlebrook
Oscar contenders
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Most Dirty Bird events encourage participants to take the unpaved road less traveled, which could be through a creek or around 320-foot-tall windmills on Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge. Only one event, the familyfriendly Stroller Derby, is on a paved surface. Ani came up with the idea after the couple had two children, now 1 1/2 and 4 years old. “We try to offer something for
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of them have jobs. This group falls into a coverage gap because they don’t qualify for Medicaid and they either don’t make enough to qualify for tax credits to help them buy coverage or can’t afford it even with tax credits. Bill Haslam The controversy surrounding the plan comes from its utilization of federal dollars. Affordable Care Act (ACA) funds would cover 100 percent of the cost of the expansion through 2016. By 2020, the federal contribution will drop to a permanent rate of 90 percent, but Tennessee hospitals have committed to covering the state’s contribution once federal funding drops below 100 percent. Some fear that Tennessee taxpayers will be left on the hook if federal funding dries up or hos-
pitals don’t follow through with their commitment. In the event of an emergency, Haslam has packed a parachute. The two-year pilot program will automatically terminate in either case. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and the head of the federal health department agreed last week that the state could legally opt out. Haslam says he’s not a fan of the ACA because it didn’t do anything to address the rising cost of healthcare, as his plan does. Here are the nuts and bolts of his plan. Those eligible for Insure Tennessee would have two options. Under the Volunteer Plan, participants would receive a fi xed contribution voucher that will enable them to buy into private health insurance offered by their employer. The voucher would go toward out-of-pocket expenses associated with the coverage. The benefits of private insurance coverage include a broader range of providers and possible
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participation in Health Savings Accounts, which encourage healthy choices, Haslam says. The other option, the Healthy Incentives Plan, differs from Medicaid because it has premiums and co-pays. But participants get credits for healthy behaviors, like regular screenings, and using the health system appropriately, such as going to a clinic rather than the emergency room. If participants make good choices, they can cover their healthcare costs with credits. But they can also be disenrolled if they don’t cover copays or premiums, Haslam says. From his perspective, Insure Tennessee is a win-win because it’s a step toward true healthcare reform and provides insurance to 200,000 residents who wouldn’t otherwise have it − without raising taxes. Detractors say Haslam is supporting Obamacare by taking advantage of federal funding. You decide.
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