VOL. 10 NO. 21
BUZZ New leader for Karns High School Brad Corum is the new principal at Karns High School. He replaces Kim Towe who has resigned at the end of the school year to take a position with Anderson County Schools. Corum has been principal at Karns Middle School since 2013. He joined Knox County Schools in 1997 as a social studies teacher at Karns High School. He began his administrative service in 2005 as an assistant principal at Powell Middle School. He also has been an assistant principal at Karns and West Valley middle schools. Corum holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UT and a master’s in education administration from LMU.
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Jerry House was one of five school bus operators recognized by Knox County Schools May 18 for excellence in driving. This is the second monthly award ceremony to honor the county’s school bus operators. House has been driving a bus for one year, and he transports students from Farragut schools and Hardin Valley Academy. KCS presented each winner a certificate of appreciation, and awards sponsor Ted Russell Ford presented each with $100. WIVK is also a sponsor of the recognition organized by Commissioner Bob Thomas.
Beauford Delaney The public is invited to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, 1927 Dandridge Avenue, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2, for an inside look at the emerging Beauford Delaney Project and to learn more about plans for the hometown celebration of a Knoxville cultural hero.
The case for ‘66 Marvin West writes: “It sure would be nice to recognize the Tennessee football team of 50 years ago, the 1966 Volunteers, before they get old and thin out. “Anniversary celebrations are so much more fun when the celebrants can walk.�
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Read Marvin West on page A-4
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Knox Fastpitch, and Knox County Parks and Recreation have revived Nicholas Ball Park in the Ball Camp community, and it’s given girls in East Tennessee a place to play. Knox Fastpitch vice president Alicia Grooms says she and president Jeremy Rogers were initially based at Levi Park in Powell under other girls’ softball programs, but boys’ baseball teams weren’t too eager to share the fields there. “Last time I checked, there wasn’t a gender sign on the fences,� says Grooms. She asked the
Bike Boat Brew & Bark, is set to launch June 4-5 at Volunteer Landing. The year-long event offers a place where you ride your bike, take your boat, share with your dog and grab a great local brew
“It’s a great way for girls to be equal to boys. The girls are being taught by the right set of people, and they’re learning to play a pretty decent caliber of softball.� Grooms initially hand delivered 29,000 flyers to area elementary and middle schools to spread the word about Knox Fastpitch. To page A-3 Amaya Felton of the Knox Fastpitch 12u Chaos gets ready for a game at Nicholas Park.
– all in Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness. Presented by Grayson Subaru, the BBBB initiative by Visit Knoxville debuts the weekend of June 4-5, coinciding with the Knoxville Powerboat Classic.
Bike Boat Brew & Bark promotes visiting downtown to enjoy Knoxville as a pet-friendly community with a growing and tasty brew scene. Guides, maps and brochures will be provided June 4-5 to help locals and visitors take full ad-
vantage of Knoxville’s greenways, trails, blueways, trolleys and more. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 4, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, June 5, at Volunteer Landing. Info: bbbb.visitknoxville.com
Burchett angry at state’s failure to help mentally ill By Betty Bean “When is the war on the mentally ill going to stop?� This was Tim Burchett’s question when he made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows to denounce the state’s decision not to help fund a behavioral health urgent care unit (formerly known as the safety center). Normally a fist-bumping jokester, the county mayor didn’t hide his anger over the Haslam administration’s failure to come through with the money to allow Knox County to divert mentally ill and addicted inmates from the jail population and steer them to treatment options. Burchett made multiple trips to Nashville to secure funding, and said he’d been led to believe the state would pony up some $2 million needed to make the center happen this year. Knox County put $1 million aside for the facility several years ago, plus another $200,000 in this year’s budget. Mayor Madeline Rogero has set aside $200,000. That won’t be enough, but Burchett vowed to find the money and dismissed the explanation he was given for the administration’s decision. “I was misled about that, and
county if there were other options and found out about Nicholas Park. That’s when the nonprofit Knox Fastpitch was formed, and playing space went from two fields in Powell to six fields at Nicholas Park. “We’ve had a really successful first season,� she says. Girls ages 3-14 and their families drive in from other parts of Knox County, Kingston, Oneida, Pigeon Forge and surrounding areas to play ball. Signups were extended two months, and there were already 38 teams this first season.
BBBB is coming to an urban wilderness near you
Nicholas Ball Park encourages love of softball
Knox Fastpitch 8u Gold Fillies team includes Kaycee Baldwin, Landry Bernard, Sara Bishop, Gabby Burkhart, Lanee Carmichael, Adrianna King, Alli McKamey, Josie Moody, Aimee Shafer and Taylor Sherwood. Photos submitted
By Sara Barrett
Safe driver
May 25, 2016
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Tim Burchett
Bill Haslam
I’m very put out about it. I was told, ‘Mental health is a local issue.’ Well, dadgummit, then, why do we have a Department of Mental Health in the state of Tennessee?â€? He said the largest mental health hospitals in the state are the Shelby County, Davidson County and Knox County jails, and didn’t dodge the question of whether denial of state funds amounts to a broken promise by Gov. Bill Haslam: “Yes. I’m of the opinion it was – but regardless of the state’s partnership, we’re going to go ahead with it‌â€? Burchett said about half of mentally ill inmates are veterans and accused the governor of breaking his promise that funding would follow the patients after he shut down Lakeshore Institute in 2012.
“We closed down Lakeshore and everybody loves Lakeshore Park – but where are those people going? You drive under any major bridge in Knoxville, you’ll see the human cost.� A couple of days after his talk show appearances, Burchett still hadn’t cooled off, and said he was offended that Haslam was pleading budget constraints while spending $8 million subsidizing the TV show “Nashville.� “They pulled the rug out from under us. I don’t like it when they start explaining that they didn’t get as much money as they expected, but I see all these little projects getting funded. “I spent 16 years in the Legislature, was on the Senate Finance Committee and chaired the Budget Subcommittee. I know the system and I don’t like hearing that crap. I know that taking care of the mentally ill’s not sexy like that miserable TV show – which has been cancelled, thank goodness – but when they talk about return on investment, I say, ‘What about investing in somebody not going to jail when what they need is treatment?’� Former Attorney General Randy Nichols is working as special coun-
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sel to the sheriff on issues of mental illness, domestic violence and the prescription pill epidemic. He said the new unit will be staffed by nurse practitioners, a psychiatric nurse, with doctors available as needed. Inmates could stay up to three days to be stabilized and evaluated. “The people we’re dealing with now get into trouble because they don’t take their prescribed meds and get into crisis. Rather than take them to jail, we can transport them to this center, get them back on their meds and keep them up to three days. From there, they can move on to another facility where we could keep them up to five days to get them sober and thinking clearly. The ultimate goal is to get them into permanent supportive housing, and our ultimate hope is to help them find some kind of work so they can be productive and stay out of jail.� Burchett is still hoping for state support. “We’ve probably got 400 people locked up right now suffering from mental illness. It’s a nightmare, and it’s costly. We’ve got to figure out a new way to do it.� Gov. Bill Haslam’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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