KARNS/HARDIN VALLEY
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A great community newspaper
VOL. 7 NO. 9
March 4, 2013
‘The God Committee’ by the WordPlayers
IN THIS ISSUE
Coffee Break
It’s Thursday, and Sage Morgan, director of operations for Random Acts of Flowers (RAF), has the sniffles. That’s because it’s arranging day, and Sage is allergic to flowers. Fortunately for the Knoxville community, she puts up with the discomfort. She was the first employee of the nonprofit, which was founded in 2008 by Larsen Jay. In the early days, RAF delivered approximately 15 bouquets each week. Now that the community has caught on to the concept, the number has risen to 600.
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Point of order! Sandra Clark never saw it coming. Knox County Commission shot down Dave Wright’s proposals for an elected school superintendent and for partisan school board elections. Also, the commission finally adopted billboard reform, prohibiting new digital boards. It was a signal win for Scenic Knoxville and Richard Briggs.
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See analysis on page A-4
Lee speaks on courage, cabbage Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee did not come to Downtown Rotary to talk about the law. She came instead to talk about courage, common bonds and cabbage. Lee’s presentation included the story of her father, Charles Lee, and of James Hugh Ross, Harold Leibowitz, David Goldin and Bruce Foster.
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See story on page A-13
HVA WinterGuard “Congratulations are in order to the Hardin Valley Academy WinterGuard for their two outstanding performances at the Winter Guard International Nashville Regional. Their successful preliminary performance earned them a spot in the regional finals contest for the first time in school history,” said band leader Alex Rector.
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See report on A-8
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Theresa Edwards ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey | Patty Fecco Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly and distributed to 29,974 homes in Farragut, Karns and Hardin Valley.
The WordPlayers will present “The God Committee” with performers (front) Joe Jaynes as Dr. Alex Gorman, Jeni Lamm as Dr. Ann Ross, Lizzie Wouters as Dr. Kierra Banks; (back) Dorothy Giles as Nurse Nella Larkin and Matthew Lloyd as Dr. Jack Klee. Photo by T. Edwards of TEPHOTOS.com
By Theresa Edwards With three patients, one heart and one hour to decide. … Who lives? Who dies? Who decides? The WordPlayers will present “The God Committee” by Mark St. Germain 7:30 p.m. March 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, and 2:30 p.m. March 10 and 17 at Middlebrook Christian Ministries, 1540 Robinson Road. This provocative drama brings an aware-
ness of the inner workings of heart transplant programs and the difficult decisions inherent with them. How does a donor heart get assigned and who makes the decision with several prospective patients? Medicine, money and morality clash when the Transplant Selection Committee of St. Patrick’s Hospital has minutes to decide which of three patients will get a second chance at life.
Cultural, legal changes affect clerks’ bottom line By Betty Bean County Finance Director Chris Caldwell’s report on the court clerks’ collections sounded pretty grim when he gave his financial update at last week’s County Commission chair’s luncheon. The numbers are down from last year. Criminal, Criminal Sessions and 4th Circuit Court Clerk Joy McCroskey’s collections are running $140,000 behind last year’s figures. Circuit, Civil Sessions and Juvenile Court Clerk Cathy Quist’s collections are $69,000 behind last year. On the surface, Clerk and Master of Chancery and Probate Court Howard Hogan’s collections seem to be a bright spot, since they are running about $4,000 ahead of last year, but he says that number is deceptive, because although collection numbers are up, case filings are down, giving him cause for concern about the future. Jokingly, Caldwell breaks it down to this: “Judges say clerks aren’t collecting. Clerks say judges are too quick to forgive (court costs). We take that into account as we do the budget.” Behind the numbers, however, are existing problems and brewing societal and cultural changes that are affecting the fee offices’ bottom lines.
While Chancery Court has a reliable revenue source from handling county tax sales, other traditional sources are drying up. Many divorces that used to be heard in 4th Circuit Court are now going to Chancery Court instead (more on that later), but the divorce filings are down overall, probably because of the economy. “Fewer divorces are being filed because people can’t afford them,” Hogan said. Additionally, while the trend away from taking disputes to trial in favor of mediation may ease the financial toll on citizens, it has taken a toll on Chancery Court collections. Much of the child support collection that used to be done in Chancery Court is now being handled at the state level, creating another loss of fees. And the long-term judicial commitments that used to bring in thousands of dollars in fees annually vanished with the 2012 closing of Lakeshore Mental Health Institute. “There’s just not as much trial work, which means there’s not as much filing to generate fees to clerks. From a clerk’s perspective, the more work involved in a case, the higher the court costs. No filings means no counterclaims, no hearings, no subpoenas or notices, so fees and com-
missions to the clerks tend to be lower,” Hogan said. “Since my appointment, we have lost four to five positions because of decreasing workload.” The financial stress isn’t likely to ease anytime soon – Hogan is keeping an eye on a new workers’ compensation bill that will take those cases out of local courts entirely. Cathy Quist, who is also an attorney, says the effects of tort reform (another Haslam administration priority) have affected her bottom line. “We are seeing less of the cases that typically generate the most billing because of mediation and arbitration,” she said. “And while our collection rates range between 95 percent and the high 80s, cases aren’t being filed that generate intermediate case billing. A large number of cases are filed and closed the same day. In a lot of cases, settlements are announced the day they are filed. The culture has changed in the civil courts.” When the recession hit, Quist’s office saw a 45 percent increase in civil sessions court filings, largely due to credit card companies going after delinquent accounts. Now, that boomlet is receding. Filings in civil sessions court increased dramatically after the amount that could be collected in
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“small claims” cases increased. This has had the effect of shrinking the circuit court docket because plaintiffs can represent themselves in sessions court, where cases tend to generate less paperwork and get resolved much quicker, Quist said. That’s good for the plaintiff, not so good for the clerk’s numbers. Quist’s office, which used to process short-term mental health commitments, has also been negatively impacted by Lakeshore’s closing. “We had 34,496 mental health filings in 2011. Last year, Lakeshore closed, and we lost all of them,” she said. And she, too, is dreading the impact of the governor’s workers’ comp bill. “As of Jan. 1, 2014, those lawsuits will be completely administrative and will be handled by workers’ comp judges,” she said. Joy McCroskey is in the deepest hole of the three clerks, but says her office will be getting some help under a new law that has put some teeth into enforcement of delinquent collections. “If the costs aren’t paid in one year, the state can revoke the offender’s drivers license. We don’t have a choice,” she said, adding that the new law will have no ef-
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During this thrilling race against the clock, this play will keep you on the edge of your seat as you question what your own decision would be. This drama is recommended for ages 15 and older. Tickets are $8 to $12 at the door (cash or check) or online at www.wordplayers.org. Thursday, March 14, is “pay what you can night.” A discussion will follow the matinee on Sunday, March 10.
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