VOL. 8 NO. 9
IN THIS ISSUE
Artist, leader Nita passes
Funeral services were held March 2 for Nita Buell Black, retired teacher and founder of the Powell Playhouse. She is survived by husband Jim Black and many relatives and friends. She was a lifelong member of Sharon Baptist Church. At Powell High School for 35 years, she was the drama coach and senior-class sponsor. Upon her retirement, the faculty named “The Nita Buell Auditorium” in her honor.
➤
See Nancy Anderson’s tribute on A-3
www.ShopperNewsNow.com |
March 3, 2014
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
: s i h t Picture
t u O t h g Gi r l s’ Ni u s fu n o i r a l i h is Fun was the order of business for Girls’ Night Out at All Saints Catholic Church on Feb. 25. The four organizers – from left, Patty Pamorsky, Tiffany Murphy, Jocelyn Brodd and Susan Tribble – were delighted when approximately 200 showed up for the evening. Trying out their photo booth was a great way to get the party rolling. For more photos, see the Faith page, A-7. Photo by Nancy Anderson
Girls’ Night Out As events go, Girls’ Night Out at All Saints Catholic Church practically planned itself, said the quartet of women responsible. Modesty must be great virtue, because Patty Pamorsky, Tiffany Murphy, Jocelyn Brodd and Susan Tribble could easily be collecting accolades, says Sherri Gardner Howell.
➤
Read Sherri’s report on A-7
What comes next Most of us, even the slow learners, are now convinced Butch Jones and his people can recruit. We’ve been told several times. Tennessee signing success was pretty good. Among our friends and neighbors, only Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn had higher quality ratings. Georgia was within a hair of equal.
➤
Read Marvin West on page A-5
TSD boosts literacy The night featured dancing, music, art, fellowship, cookies and cake and just all-around celebration when the Tennessee School for the Deaf hosted the Literacy Imperative for a program called “Black History: Art, Dance, Literature – A Valuable Cultural Experience.”
➤
Read Carol Zinavage on A-6
Biggest winner? Sandra Clark has fun with the upcoming county election by naming the big winners from Thursday’s withdrawal deadline. And the winner is ...
➤
Read the spoof on A-4
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sherri Gardner Howell | Nancy Anderson ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco
Citizens speak out, seek action on Karns billboard By Jake Mabe Members of the Karns community are attempting to take action against the 24x25-foot doublesided billboard erected earlier this year at the intersection of Oak Ridge Highway and ByingtonBeaver Ridge Road. The sign, sold to Amanns Properties Diversified by the Clara Gallaher estate, has been leased by Outdoor Displays. On one side, it currently advertises the Karns Bojangles’ restaurant. Franchisees Gary Huffman and Mike White of Statesville, N.C., were unaware of the billboard’s location and controversy and are working with community members on the problem.
Karns resident Mark Cawood, a former county commissioner, says he and others are “working to find the best possible solution for the citizens of Karns.” He said the florist shop under the board has nothing to do with it. The billboard meets the proper state and county codes, but has residents worried about its size and placement as well as future construction in a growing community. Resident Carolyn Greenwood told County Commission last Monday that she is frustrated at the current process to regulate such construction. “We’re not planners, but we know what’s right and what’s
wrong,” Greenwood said. Metropolitan Planning Commission executive director Mark Donaldson said MPC is currently establishing work program updates for the Northwest County Sector Plan and will hold community input meetings in the next 1012 months to draft a new plan. Greenwood said residents participated in this process when the current sector plan was adopted a decade ago. “We can do plans, plans, plans. We need action. There’s no reason why they can’t act now,” she said. Donaldson said, “Participate (in the meetings) and be as specific as possible. The more momentum you build during the plan-
ning process, the better chance you’ll have to get the changes you want codified.” Greenwood said the Facebook page “I Love Karns” that she founded a few years ago when Hardin Valley Academy opened and affected both teacher retention and school rezoning in Karns, has grown in recent weeks from 200 members to almost 500. Law Director Bud Armstrong said a sector plan creates a broad vision, “and you’re trying to get to implementation. Talk to your (county commissioner) about the standards you have problems with and they’ll work with MPC and with this body to enact ordinances.”
Heagerty relives Farragut memories By Betty Bean Greg Heagerty lives in Atlanta but has a boyhood full of downtown Knoxville memories, many of them entwined with the Farragut Hotel, where his father, Pat Heagerty Sr., was the last Knoxvil-
lian to manage the place. A round, closed. jovial man with an Irish gift of ■ Meeting blarney, Pat Sr. was a lifetime hotelier who’d been the accountant at the Andrew Johnson Hotel the day it opened and was the last manager of the Lamar House when it
City officials tout Farragut Hotel redevelopment Knoxville Redevelopment Director Bob Whetsel is bullish on the Farragut Hotel. More precisely, he’s extremely supportive of the Halo Hospitality Group’s proposal to restore the nearly 100-year-old building at the corner of Gay Street and Clinch Avenue as a hotel. Halo hosted an open house at the building last week. “We’re very excited that developers are exploring the opportunity to restore the Farragut to a full-service hotel with a restaurant, ballroom and a bar on Gay Street,” said Whetsel. “We have a building that’s been essentially vacant for a couple of decades. This will put more people on the streets. It will help the convention center
ALL-INCLUSIVE
$2895/Month
and bring more economic vitality to the community, potentially,” he said. Downtown coordinator Rick Emmett sees the numerous benefits of a restored 190-room hotel downtown. “It could be a catalyst for that next phase of downtown development,” he said, citing its strategic location a short block away from the streetscape project that is soon to begin in the 700 block of Gay Street. Add that to work under way on the former Baptist Hospital site at the south end of the Gay Street Bridge, and the relatively sluggish revitalization of the south end of Gay Street may soon become a thing of the past. – B. Bean
Assisted Living & Memory Care 555 Rain Forest Road • 865-200-8238
know that she actually signed it.’ “I didn’t know for years the significance of the young man at the door. It was Kathryn Grayson’s costar, Merv Griffin!” When he was a little older, Greg was intrigued by the International Visitors Center, a large suite leased by TVA to accommodate foreign visitors. Some were from developing countries, but the majority seemed to be Soviet civil engineers whom locals suspected of being here to spy on Oak Ridge and who in fact were not allowed to enter Anderson County. “It was eye-opening to my Cold War-era mentality that they weren’t monsters and, on the contrary, presented themselves on a personal level that was anything but the ‘Second World.’ ” ■ Civil Rights: Historian and civil-rights leader Bob Booker, then employed by TVA, lived in the International Visitors Center from 1964 until he was elected to the General Assembly in 1966. He says the Farragut’s address was significant to the city’s AfricanAmerican population because it was once the site of the Hattie To page A-3
WATCH BATTERY COUPON W
5 Foster' s
$
PPreserve those old reels, slides & vhs tapes today!
Includes battery & installation*
*1.5v only ( Gasket not included)
Providing d a Superior Quality l off Life f ffor Seniors in Knoxville
Merv: Greg’s earliest Farragut recollection was when he was 5 and his father bet him $5 that he couldn’t get Kathryn Grayson’s autograph. She was in town for the world preGreg Heagerty miere of “The Grace Moore Story” at the Tennessee Theatre. “Never one to miss a chance to make some cold, hard cash (it was 1950, and $5 was a considerable sum), I took him up on his wager, found out her room number and went up on the elevator and knocked on her door. A young man opened the door and took a minute to look down at the tyke standing there. “I asked for Miss Grayson’s autograph (I saw her across the room). He closed the door and came back with her name scrawled on the piece of paper and sent me on my way. When I brought my prize back to my father, he tried to wheedle out of the bet with, ‘She didn’t hand it to you. You don’t
Ex Expires 3/31/14 Mu Must present coupon
Fine Jewelry
7023 Kingston Pike
In the West Hills Center
584-3966
www.fostersjewelry.com
$10 OFF $50 OR $25 OFF $100 PURCHASE
Bring your VHS, slides, film and more into Cannot be combined with any other discounts or offers. the digital age. Coupon must be presented at time order is dropped off. Discount will not be applied to previous orders or orders that are being processed. Expires 03/08/14 SN030314
Audio & Video Conversion
686-5756
www.DigitizeItNow.com 12752 Kingston Pike, Renaissance Farragut, Ste 103, Bldg E