VOL. 8 NO. 25
Kincannon to Slovenia; shakes up school board
School board member Indya Kincannon will resign her position in August to travel with her husband, Ben Barton, to Slovenia where he will teach law at the University of Ljubljana as a Fulbright Scholar. Barton has taught at the University of Tennessee College of Law since 2001. He teaches torts, evidence, advocacy clinic, comparative law, and images of the law. Kincannon, in her third term, has represented District 2 on the school board since 2004. She served as board chair in 2008-10. Their two children, Dahlia and Georgia, will go along for the family adventure. Kincannon said she expects to teach English or Spanish there. Knox County Commission will appoint a replacement. – S. Clark
Interns visit Happy Holler A trip to Happy Holler isn’t complete without a stop at the original Freezo for soft-serve ice cream. Read about the interns’ visit to the Time Warp Tea Room, the Mabry-Hazen House and the Old Gray Cemetery, inside on A-8 and A-9.
Lamar’s rally U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander left no doubt that he will do whatever it takes to win re-election, even reversing his 1,000-mile walk across the state. That would be fun to see because Alexander has aged a bit since that winning 1978 race for governor.
➤
Read Sandra Clark on A-4
‘West Side Story’ Karns High School students and recent alumni headed to Carousel Theatre on campus in early June to sing and dance their way to stardom in the popular Broadway musical “West Side Story.” The summer production was a cooperative venture between the UT drama department and the Tennessee Valley Players.
➤
Read Nancy Anderson on A-3
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
www.ShopperNewsNow.com |
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
June 25, 2014
Jumping for Jesus By Sherri Gardner Howell The place was jumping. It was really hopping. But when Jump Rope Master Peter Nestler took the stage at Hardin Valley Academy for the Family Fun Night, there was no time for old jumprope rhymes like “Cinderella, all dressed in yella.” The rhymes would have sounded like a 45 record on a 78 record setting if matched to Nestler’s jumping speed. The seven-time world champion and holder of seven “Guinness Book of World Records” honors wowed the crowd and showed the athleticism needed for 21st-century jump rope. Nestler was the guest of Cokesbury United Methodist Church’s Hardin Valley Campus as part of Family Fun Night. The event is the church’s take on a family-style Vacation Bible School and is held on selected Sunday evenings at the school. Family Fun Night at Cokesbury is the brainchild of the Rev. Brent Ronald and director of children’s ministries Diane Baylor. They revamped the traditional VBS model where the kids are dropped off at the door into a time for the whole family to come together for an entertaining program. “I wanted the children to hear a different voice,” said Baylor. “We’ve brought in people the kids can easily relate to. They don’t look like ‘church people,’ but they are folks
who are passionate about Jesus.” Passion is certainly part of Nestler’s message. A self-described “kid who was picked on,” Nestler said it was finding something to be passionate about that changed his life. His message of faith and dedication was punctuated with amazing jump-rope demonstrations that included his unicycle, juggling a soccer ball, multiple ropes and glow-in-the-dark ropes. Nestler travels the world, having hopped in 18 countries and 50 U.S. states sharing his life story of faith and dedication. “I love what I do,” said Nestler. “My faith is important to me, so these outreach events are a joy. I want to inspire kids to ask themselves, ‘How can I go from where I am to being more of what God wants me to be?’ Finding something I was passionate about helped me through some tough years as a child. Too many people today float through life and never experience that.” Jumping rope may seem an odd choice, said Nestler, but it was his choice back when he was a youngster in Alaska. The fact that it isn’t a traditional choice has become part of his message. “I want to introduce students to the idea that anything can be your passion, not just the standard sports,” he said. “It can be anything that inspires you to give it all you’ve got.”
Peter Nestler shows his skills as he combines riding a unicycle with jumping rope at Hardin Valley Academy at an event for Cokesbury United Methodist Church.
Blankenship keeps job
THE MONEY TRAIL The Shopper-News requested title information for the property at 7201 Strawberry Plains Pike from the Register of Deeds. Here’s what we got: 3/7/79 – Carl Armstrong to Philips Electronics – $300,000 5/24/79 – Hal Sherrod to Philips Electronics – $10,000 6/28/07 – Philips North America to Furrow Realty Fund – $5 million 3/9/12 – Furrow Realty Fund to State of Tennessee – $10 million
Following the money By Betty Bean Why did the state buy a decrepit block building at the edge of nowhere – near the Strawberry Plains I-40 exit – for a Pellissippi State Community College branch campus? How did Pellissippi State attract Knox County Schools to build a new magnet school in the basement of the former Philips Electronics building at a time when it was closing down community vocational schools, like the agricultural education program at Halls? And how did a local investors group double its money in five years? Turns out that reporter Walter F. Roche Jr. of the Tennessean covered this part of the story nearly two years ago, with a long, detailed account of how a group of investors led by Sam Furrow bought low and sold high after enlisting the help of Gov. Bill Haslam’s chief of staff when the deal to unload the 220,000-square-foot building wasn’t moving fast enough. Read his article and supporting documents at: http://archive.tennessean.com/article/20121216/ NEWS0201/312160067/Tennes
Get Ready For 4th Of July!
see-pays-millions-fi xer-upper/. “The state bought the building by tapping $87 million that it had previously budgeted for TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program for the poor. But that money was able to be shifted for other uses when Don Lawson the federal government boosted its share of Medicaid funding for Tennessee as part of the stimulus package. In addition to $8.5 million in state funds, $1.5 million was contributed by the Pellissippi State Foundation toward the purchase,” Roche reported. The bulk of the foundation money came from PetSafe founder and CEO Randy Boyd and his wife, Jenny, who donated $1 million toward the purchase of the Strawberry Plains campus. Last month, the building was named for the Boyds, who have given large sums of money to support public education. Roche reported that the building required some $16 million in repairs. Pellissippi started classes in September 2012, a few months after
Knox County Schools Superintendent James McIntyre put a career and technical school in his strategic plan. During that time, CTE director Don Lawson said he pitched the idea to Pellissippi State President Anthony Wise one day over lunch. Wise was enthusiastic, since Pellissippi was only utilizing about 20 percent of the building. A year later, the school board voted to approve McIntyre’s plan to shift nearly $4 million in funding for renovations at Pond Gap Elementary School to the new CTE magnet. Knox County program: Don Lawson cut his teeth on vocational education when he was a senior at Doyle High School in 1978 and took an agriculture class from then firstyear teacher Mike Blankenship, whose award-winning agriculture program at the North Knox Career and Technical Center in Halls was shut down last month. Lawson has been struggling to preserve CTE since becoming its supervisor. Although the state funds CTE at a rate of nearly 250 percent of regular academic classes (due mostly to the cost of equipping classrooms with state-of-the-indus-
SALES • SERVICE • MAINTENANCE
To page A-3
Good news: Mike Blankenship has a job at the new career magnet academy on the Pellissippi State campus at Strawberry Plains. The longtime, award-w inning agriculture education teacher will be placed in the Sustainable Living Blankenship Career Cluster. More good news: Blankenship also will teach part-time at the North Knox Career and Technical Education Center, where he had been for more than 25 years. This means that rising juniors and seniors at Halls and Gibbs high schools who were left in limbo when Knox County Schools terminated Blankenship’s program this spring will be able to take ag classes at Halls this fall. Blankenship also can continue as sponsor of the Future Farmers of America, which provides scholarship and career opportunities. This announcement came from 7th District school board member Kim Severance. Bad news: The arrangement is good for one year only. Halls High senior Ryan Cox called the compromise “better than nothing” but said that while it resolves his problem, it won’t help younger students. “It’s not just the seniors who need this chance to gain the important skills (of ag education).” FFA president and Gibbs High senior James Dunn can compete for a college scholarship. “I would like to thank everyone who was supportive and helpful to our cause,” he said. Both Dunn and Cox spoke at the June school board meeting.
Call Today For Our Summer Specials
PPreserve those old reels, slides & vhs tapes today!
VHS TAPE SPECIAL
Bring your VHS, slides, 5 Tapes for $55.55. Includes VHS-C, Hi8 & Mini-DV. 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.
Audio & Video Conversion
SN06/25/14 SN 06/25/14 Expires 07/01/14
686-5756
www.DigitizeItNow.com 12752 Kingston Pike, Renaissance Farragut, Ste 103, Bldg E
Family Business for Over 20 Years 5715 Old Tazewell Pike 687-2520 Financing available through TVA Energy Right program* *Restrictions May Apply
Cantrell’s Cares
Providing d a Superior Quality l off Life f ffor Seniors in Knoxville Assisted Living & Memory Care 555 Rain Forest Road • 865-200-8238