VOL. 8 NO. 17
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IN THIS ISSUE
Honoring moms Paying it forward is a way of life at Knoxville’s Restoration House, which provides supportive transitional housing and mentoring to low income single mothers and their children in a safe environment. Ever since the non-profit received national recognition and the gift of new housing in the winter of 2012, thanks to the popular “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” TV program, Mandy and Daniel Watson and their volunteers, staff and supporters have been returning the favor by finding ever more creative ways to help others improve their lives. Anne Hart tells what they’ve got planned for May.
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April 28, 2014
Karns rallies for Waggoner
Read more on A-10
Marvin makes a list The approaching pro football draft has the attention of forum children playing in the sandbox. They asked each other a very heavy question. Who was the greatest Volunteer who did not play in the NFL? Easy answer: John Majors, all-American tailback, leader of the great 1956 team, rooked out of the Heisman Trophy by the Notre Dame mimeograph machine.
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See the list on page A-5
Foster families sought by DCS There are more than 8,800 children in DCS custody in Tennessee, and 768 of those are from Knox County. The ultimate goal is to reunite children with their parents, but in Knox County, that happens only 30 percent of the time. The primary reason for the low percentage is drug use. Wendy Smith offers suggestions.
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Story on A-7
Free advice Sandra Clark offers up advice and wisdom to most candidates in the May 6 election. Such as: Ed Brantley and Michele Carringer, please stop channeling Cas and Mary Lou. Algebra, it’s a good thing. Could Bob Thomas run for both at-large commission seats?
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See her commentary on page A-4
Prom Promise Nancy Anderson catches up with the 6th District Democrats and the Karns High School Prom Promise.
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Read her wrap on page A-3
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Bobby Waggoner, who worked in law enforcement for 32 years with Southern Railway, conducts a train ride for kids at his barbecue in Karns. (inset) Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett gives an unexpectedly rowdy fist-bump to the Easter Bunny. Photos by S. Clark
By Sandra Clark Bobby Waggoner brought it home, rallying hundreds of friends and supporters April 19 at the Brasfield farm on Rather Road. The weather was perfect, and the candidate’s sister, retired Judge Brenda Waggoner, sported crisp casual attire, obviously purchased for the event. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett was less inspired, wearing his favorite Opie Taylor
horizontal striped shirt. When asked to fistbump the Easter Bunny, Burchett walked up and pretend-slugged him. “Name?” we asked. “Hummmph,” said the rabbit. “You must be a county deputy who doesn’t want the sheriff to know you’re here,” said we. “You’ll never know who’s in this suit,” whispered the rabbit as it hopped away. To page A-3
New middle schools inch forward By Betty Bean For months, groups from Hardin Valley and Gibbs have been making the case for new middle schools in their communities. Hardin Valley residents cite their community’s booming population. Gibbs supporters talk about the unfairness of three-hour school bus rides over to Holston. Superintendent James McIntyre addressed those concerns in his 2015 Capital Budget and Planning Priorities memo earlier this month but said that middle school issues cannot be discussed individually and recommended a long, thorough study: “… I am recommending we designate a modest level of resources ($75,000) for a complete review of
our middle school infrastructure and analysis of student population growth /enrollment patterns during FY15. Such a study will provide important data and insights that will inform our future decisions regarding capital resources, enrollment planning and zoning strategies. “In light of recent public discourse, we have estimated potential expenditures in the capital improvement plan for construction of a new Hardin Valley Middle School and a new Gibbs Middle School should the study recommend this course of action.” The school board approved the recommendation, and the internal study will be conducted. But on “Inside Tennessee,” when John Becker asked board chair Lynne
Fugate how people can find out where their school project ranks on the capital plan, she said there is “no per year list.” It’s a “falsehood,” she said, that there is a ranking somewhere. “The needs change.” Reactions from the communities most affected are guardedly optimistic. Lisa Starbuck has been the most consistent and vocal booster for a Gibbs Middle School: “I am encouraged that Dr. McIntyre is listening to community concerns about the middle school need in Gibbs and delighted to see a Gibbs Middle School on the fiveyear capital plan. I understand his reasoning for doing a systemwide middle school study because
factors such as feeder patterns, transportation costs and impacts to other middle schools should be evaluated. I am confident that there are sufficient numbers of students in the Gibbs/Ritta/Corryton communities to fill a middle school in Gibbs and that building a new school will solve overcrowding and transportation issues, among others.” If Starbuck sees the glass as half-full, boosters on the Hardin Valley Supports a Middle School Facebook page are more guarded than optimistic: “Turns out that the board does not specifically vote on the next five years so the HVMS and Gibbs Middle are a ‘blueprint’ but weren’t specifically approved or rejected tonight. But the results of the study will help drive the actions taken by the board in the near future.”
Pellissippi prepares for Tennessee Promise By Betsy Pickle Now that Gov. Bill Haslam’s free higher-education plan, the Tennessee Promise, has earned legislative approval, the state’s community colleges are facing the possibility of significantly increased enrollment, which could put a burden on teachers and classrooms. Pellissippi State Community College, with 10,600 students on five campuses in the Knoxville area, is the largest local school affected by the legislation, but the mood there is preparation, not panic. President Anthony Wise says Pellissippi State should be able to accommodate any influx beginning with the registration for the
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2015-16 school year. “We are starting to look at it and to think about it,” says Wise. “It’s really built on the model of Tennessee Achieves, which started here in Knox County and Blount County. I don’t know that we’ll see the huge inAnthony Wise enrollment creases that we might see in other parts of the state because in essence you can have free access to a community college in Knox or Blount County right now through Tennessee Achieves.”
Faculty and facilities are two concerns. “We’re committed to having full-time faculty as much as possible teach our classes on campus,” says Wise. “We want to make sure that we have the right kind of academic and student support programs in place for the new population of students. “We’re a little bit off our historic enrollment high of three or four years ago, so we have some capacity to grow into that. We do have the new facility at Strawberry Plains, which hopefully can absorb some of these new students.” Other potential measures include adding classes later in the afternoon, offering Saturday
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classes and making science labs available on Sundays. Students who take advantage of the Tennessee Promise plan to earn a two-year associate’s degree are likely to be people who ordinarily wouldn’t have thought about higher education, either because they lacked financial resources or didn’t think they could succeed in the academic environment. Wise says generally 60 percent to 65 percent of students have to take some type of remediation course at Pellissippi State. “That’s among the best at community colleges within the state,” To page A-3
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