North/East Shopper-News 020415

NORTH / EAST VOL. 3 NO. 5

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Beaumont’s

IN THIS ISSUE

‘Magnet’-ism Vine Middle Magnet Academy and Beaumont Magnet Academy held special open house events last week for current and prospective parents and students.

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February 4, 2015

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winter carnival

See Ruth White’s story on page 8

What happened to the low bid?

For old-timers, the kerfuffle over the E-911 board’s rejection of its evaluation committee’s recommendation for a new radio system begged this question: Whatever happened to taking bids and accepting the lowest one?

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See Betty Bean’s story on page 5

Oscar contenders A couple of films with an Oscar spotlight on them are due to arrive in Knoxville on Friday.

Marion Cotillard, who won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Edith Piaf in 2007’s “La Vie en Rose,” is nominated in the same category for “Two Days, One Night,” a film from Belgian directing brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.

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by Ruth White

Ethan Crawford tries his hand at skee ball during the carnival.

A-E film earns Emmy nomination

See more reviews on page 6

‘Jackpot’ more than a business Nancy Whittaker visits with Tony Vicks of The Jackpot Antiques and Uniques.

Vicks left a stressful job in auto sales to find peace in the ministry and a small store, “from selling $8,000 cars” to just “$200 sofas.”

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Connor Arnold gives a big hug to Beverly Lochhead, staff member at Beaumont Magnet Academy, during the school’s winter carnival. Connor had his face painted like a ninja turtle before visiting the temporary tattoo booth.

The evening was filled with games, balloon animals, karaoke, a silent auction, Wii dance party, face painting and fun. The PTA hosted the evening as a fundraiser and for families to get together in a festive atmosphere. Photos

A film produced at AustinEast Magnet High School has earned a regional Emmy Award nomination through the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Midsouth Chapter organization.

The film promotes the performing arts program at the school and is in the award category, Informa-

tion/Instructional Program.

The informational film was premiered in December 2013 during an A-E arts showcase. It was cowritten and produced by Olivia Riggins, magnet coordinator and dance teacher at A-E, and co-written and directed by Tyler Hays, local cinematographer and owner of Tyler Hays Creative.

To view the film, visit the school’s website, and click on the “AE Showcase Video.”

The regional Emmy Award competition was held Jan. 31 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. The Midsouth Chapter serves North Carolina, Tennessee and northern Alabama.

Other nominees in the Informa-

Prosser Road project complete

See her story on page 9

XTERRA returns

By Sandra Clark

The XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon will return to the Urban Wilderness in June, and this time it’s going to be a party.

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See Betsy Pickle’s story on page 3

Tech for students While local leaders undoubtedly benefited from a tour of South-Doyle Middle School, where computers are integrated into every classroom, the most compelling argument for putting computers into the hands of all Knox County students came from Vine Middle Magnet School principal Cindy White. On Sundays, her students line up along the outside walls of the school to use Wi-Fi Internet access, a commodity lacking at home for many.

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See Wendy Smith on page 5

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Bill Dockery ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore Wendy O’Dell | Sara Whittle

tion/Instructional Program category include Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Peabody College and WZTV Fox 17 in Nashville.

Performing arts at Austin-East Magnet High School include a competitive theatre team, marching band, choir, dance company and West African Dance and Drum Ensemble.

City Council members Finbarr Saunders and Daniel Brown, Mayor Madeline Rogero, and City Council members Duane Grieve and George Wallace brave the cold to officially open Prosser Road. Photo by Ruth White

Mayor Madeline Rogero was joined by four members of Knoxville City Council and others to celebrate completion of the Prosser Road drainage improvements. The work required the occasional closure of the road, but it was finished on time.

To relieve chronic flooding that had frequently closed the road, the city reconstructed approximately 1,600 feet of Prosser between Knoxville Zoo Drive and East Magnolia Avenue.

Twin K Construction of Hunts-

ville, Tenn., was awarded the contract for the roadwork. The $1.4 million project was part of the capital improvement projects advocated by Rogero in the 2014 budget.

The road itself was reduced from four lanes to two with a bike lane and sidewalk installed. Road elevation was raised with a new storm sewer installed and water line relocation.

Jim Hagerman, the city’s director of engineering, said it is “great to have a functional street again that will be reliably available to residents.”

Understanding Insure Tennessee cifically address the spiraling cost

By Wendy Smith Gov. Bill Haslam came to town of healthcare. It leverages federal dollars to provide last week to educate state legislahealth insurance tors before a special session being to those whose inheld this week regarding Insure come is less than Tennessee, his proposed Medicaid 138 percent of expansion program. the poverty level, which translates to approximately $16,000 for an Legislators aren’t the only ones individual and who need to be educated. Citizens Bill Haslam $27,000 for a famneed to have a basic understanding of the program so they can ily of three. The program is expass their thoughts on to their pected to cover roughly 280,000 people. Over half of them have elected officials.

Haslam spent two years craft- jobs.

This group falls into a covering Tennessee’s program to spe-

Analysis

age gap because they don’t qualify for Medicaid and they either don’t make enough to qualify for tax credits to help them buy coverage or can’t afford it even with tax credits.

The controversy surrounding the plan comes from its utilization of federal dollars. Affordable Care Act (ACA) funds would cover 100 percent of the cost of the expansion through 2016. By 2020, the federal contribution will drop to a permanent rate of 90 percent, but Tennessee hospitals have committed to covering the state’s contribution once federal funding drops below 100 percent.

Some fear that Tennessee taxpayers will be left on the hook if federal funding dries up or hospitals don’t follow through with their commitment. In the event of an emergency, Haslam has packed a parachute. The two-year pilot program will automatically terminate in either case. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and the head of the federal health department agreed last week that the state could legally opt out.

Haslam says he’s not a fan of the ACA because it didn’t do anything

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2 • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

At 81, Knoxville woman makes most of every day At the age of 49, Polly Hood was diagnosed with a melanoma that could have ended her life. A doctor told her she only had a 25 percent chance of survival. Rather than curl up in defeat, Hood decided to find something that would be a diversion.

She enrolled in classes at the University of Tennessee.

Hood won a scholarship and eventually received a college degree in Home Economics Education when she was 53. She graduated at the top of her class, among students who were young enough to be her children.

Hood knew about overcoming obstacles. She had defeated cancer, cheated death and with her degree had achieved a goal that many people never do.

So when her husband passed away after an extended illness last July, this strong woman of faith, now 81, was pressed but not crushed. She didn’t know that a new and life-threatening challenge was just around the corner.

In October, Hood was invited to participate in a special service, memorializing individuals who had recently died. She was asked to bring a picture of her husband and was invited to stand and share a few words about him.

While it was certainly an emotional night, she appreciated the people who wanted to honor her husband’s memory and lingered at a reception that followed. All seemed to go well – until her chest started hurting on the way home.

“I thought it was indigestion because I had eaten some snacks I was not accustomed to,” Hood says. “And it was stressful to speak about losing my husband.”

Hood took antacid tablets when she got home, but the pain stayed

Polly Hood, a Knoxville native, is thankful for the lifesaving care she received at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. After Hood arrived at the emergency room door, a team cleared the blockage in her left main coronary artery in 23 minutes, which is about 40 minutes faster than the national average.

with her throughout the night. She felt better the next day, but her problems were far from over.

“It was about 4:30 in the afternoon when I had another chest pain, and it was severe,” Hood recalls. After texting her children, she called 911 and was instructed to chew four 81-milligram tablets of aspirin and drink water till emergency personnel arrived.

“I got sick at my stomach, I vomited, I broke out in a cold sweat,” Hood says. She was experiencing some of the classic symptoms of a heart attack.

Hood would later learn there was a blockage in the LAD coronary artery, often referred to as a “widow maker” because of the low survival rate. The LAD coronary artery feeds two of the three main arteries of the heart – it is essentially a heart attack in two-thirds of the heart.

When the ambulance arrived, Hood was given an EKG. “I could tell when the EMT pulled the paper out of the machine that it was a heart attack. I could tell by the expression on his face.”

Hood’s suspicion was correct.

However, she remembers hearing some important words of comfort: “We will get you out of here and get help for you right away.”

Emergency workers made good on that promise. Hood didn’t know it at the time, but Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center has an aggressive plan in place to provide immediate care for patients who are in

cardiac arrest.

When a person experiences a heart attack, fast-paced care is critical. That’s why two doctors and other medical staff were waiting and ready to attend to Hood as soon as she arrived at the hospital’s emergency department. She was surprised.

“They were waiting for me in the hallway,” Hood says. “They stopped me right there and gave me an EKG and two kinds of blood thinner.”

No time was wasted taking the next step. “They ran to the catheterization lab with me,” Hood says.

“They were running, and they moved fast.”

Because the process of placing a stent requires a patient to be awake and alert, Hood was fully aware of conversations going on around her.

As she listened, she learned one of the nurses treating her had been in the parking lot, about to leave for the night. Another was on the way home when called to turn around and come back.

“They were called back to help me,” Hood says gratefully. “Everyone was very professional, very courteous and very reassuring.”

Hood offered up prayers for the people working so diligently to save her and says she felt at peace knowing if she died she would see her husband again.

It took just 23 minutes to get Hood from the entrance of the emergency department to the cath lab with the stent in place. That’s about 40 minutes faster than the national average.

Hood has no doubt that those minutes made a difference not only in saving her life, but in her recovery.

Within days of being released from the hospital, she was enjoying a lunch date with her daughter. She was back to church soon after.

“I’ve been really happy with the care I’ve gotten,” Hood says. “It couldn’t have been any better.”

When Hood looks back over all the important moments in her life, most of them have a common element: her husband was there by her side.

Now a widow, she is starting life over with new challenges. Cardiac rehab at Fort Sanders Regional has strengthened her heart and helped renew her spirit. While going through life without her partner of almost 55 years is difficult, she takes every step on the treadmill with purpose. After a life-threatening heart attack, the woman who once couldn’t imagine living without her husband now understands that she must.

“I lived, and God’s not through with me, yet,” Hood says, wiping her eyes. “I have to realize that and make the most of every day.”

Hood says her heart was broken twice. Her husband’s death broke her heart emotionally. The heart attack broke her heart physically.

“But by the grace of God and medical expertise, I’m mending now, and I’m thankful to be alive.”

Local hospital leads team approach to faster care for heart attacks Collaboration improves care for STEMI patients

When a heart attack happens, time is critical – not just for the person experiencing the heart attack, but for professional caregivers as well.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have established recommended standards of care for heart attack patients, specifically those identified as the “ST-Segment Elevation MI” (STEMI) population. These patients have the highest mortality (risk of death) and morbidity (risk of associated complications). They can be rapidly identified with an electrocardiogram.

The standards emphasize organizing regional systems of care and patient transfer procedures in order to provide faster access to advanced therapies that help facilitate rapid restoration of blood flow during a heart attack. The care team – from first responders and emergency departments to cardiologists and cath lab staff – must collaborate to provide efficient and effective care.

To help meet the revised stan-

dards, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center established a physician-led team that included a medical director, STEMI coordinator, interventional cardiologists, emergency department manager and an educator, along with other departments, hospitals and emergency transport companies working together to enhance care for STEMI patients.

“From initial contact – whether by EMS in the field or a triage center in the emergency department – there are several steps to rapidly get Joshua Todd, MD patients with the highest mortality during a heart attack to the catheterization laboratory,” said Joshua Todd, MD, interventional cardiologist and project team medical director. “Our role is to evaluate the entire process and collaborate with anyone who has contact with this patient population to develop a standardized approach to

efficiently get them to a cath lab.”

The team’s goals included: ■ Decrease mortality of STEMI patients through early intervention.

■ Increase the number of STEMI patients brought directly to Fort Sanders by EMS transporters, bypassing centers that are not equipped to care for STEMI patients and thus reducing the time to procedure.

■ Increase transfer efficiency of STEMI patients to Fort Sanders from smaller facilities by helping those facilities identify STEMI patients more quickly.

■ Decrease readmission rates for patients transferred to Fort Sanders with STEMI diagnosis.

The team developed several new processes, including: ■ Helping train EMS providers to identify STEMI patients quickly and building relationships with emergency transporters to ensure efficient arrival at a center equipped to deal with STEMI patients. A new focus of the guidelines is to track “First Medical Contact-to-Device Activation” time, with a goal of less than 120 minutes from medical encounter by first responders to interventional treatment.

“Every 30 minutes results in

nearly an 8 percent increase in risk of death, so we can improve patient outcomes by having a systems approach to identification, notification and rapid transfer,” Dr. Todd said.

Clinical members of Covenant Rapid Access, Covenant Health’s patient transfer center, are available 24/7 to accept STEMI patients from outlying hospitals and immediately notify the cath lab team and interventional cardiologist. “Rapid Access is the coordinating center for Covenant facilities,” Dr. Todd noted. “They are integral to our STEMI system of care.”

■ Emergency transporters can simultaneously notify both ED and cath lab teams of potential STEMI patients and transmit an EKG when available. This allows earlier activation of the cath lab team, with personnel available immediately when the patient arrives.

■ Interventional cardiologists hold educational events to improve rapid identification for pre-hospital EKGs and EKG interpretation, and develop protocols for managing STEMI patients and notifying the hospital of a STEMI diagnosis.

■ The team reviews STEMI cases monthly to give referring hospitals

and EMS providers feedback on outcomes, and to continually improve systems and processes.

A key factor for success is support from emergency physicians and interventional cardiologists, said Jennifer Debow, RN, Fort Sanders director of cardiology services. “Their willingness to work together has been the force behind the teamwork between Covenant Health facilities and EMS companies throughout the area.”

As a result of these efforts, during first year implementation Fort Sanders exceeded state and national hospitals’ performance in meeting standards for “First Medical Contactto-Device” times. Mortality and readmission rates also declined.

The team has expanded its efforts and now collaborates with hospitals and emergency responders in Claiborne, Sevier and Jefferson counties, and as far away as Newport and Kentucky.

Debow summarized the collaborative spirit of all the health care providers: “The commitment and compassion of this initiative is making a difference, not only by saving lives, but giving patients back their quality of life as well.”

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community

NORTH/EAST Shopper news • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • 3

Alice Bell clothes closet

Arboretum entry underway There were more dignitaries than you could shake a shovel at for last week’s groundbreaking at the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum on Wimpole Street. City, county and regional officials joined outgoing board chair Joan Ashe (right) in stirring up a little dust to mark the start of construction for the new $1.45 million entrance and visitors center. The block structure behind the celebrants will be transformed into a glass-and-steel centerpiece for the former Howell Nursery. Completion is set for Aug. 1. Photo by Bill Dockery

Alice Bell Baptist Church will open its Community Clothes Closet on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The closet has been a part of the women’s ministry at the church for more than three years and supplies clothing for people in need, said Barbara Golec, who manages the charity for the church.

“We’re glad to take any clothes people want to give us, and we’re glad for people to take anything we have,” Golec said. “Everything is absolutely free.”

Clothes are available in all sizes, from infant to 2X and 3X, she said. Each family member who visits the closet will receive a clothes bag to carry their selections. The closet is open quarterly.

Iglesia de Dios de la frofecia, the Spanish-language congregation that meets in the Alice Bell facility, is providing translation services for visitors to the closet. The ministry is part of the church’s effort to serve the surrounding community, which has seen an increase in immigrants making homes in the nearby neighborhoods.

The Alice Bell ministry center also offers a fourth-Friday movie and popcorn event that is open to the public.

“We are looking for things we can do for the community and in the community,” Golec said.

Triathlon inspires mountain sport festival

XTERRA Knoxville Off-Road Triathlon participants will face grueling conditions in the Urban Wilderness. Photo submitted

By Betsy Pickle The XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon will return to the Urban Wilderness in June, and this time it’s going to be a party.

The triathlon will be the “backbone” of the Knox Mountain Sports Festival planned at Ijams Nature Center for Saturday-Sunday, June 6-7, according to Ryan Roma of Dirty Bird Events.

“When Ijams and River Sports (Outfitters) approached me about being part of the Mountain Sports Festival, I thought, ‘That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard,’ ” says Roma, whose company started organizing XTERRA events in Knoxville and Hamblen County last year.

Roma says the success of last year’s triathlon was the catalyst for the festival, which will be family friendly.

“There’ll be live music,” he says. “There will be food trucks at Mead’s Quarry and the nature center. There’ll be family activities as well as athlete activities. It’s basically a weekend full of outdoor activities. River Sports is going to be doing paddle boarding and guided hikes, and there’s going to be rock climbing. There’ll be a kids’ scavenger hike.”

In addition to the 8 a.m.

June 7 triathlon (threequarter-mile swim, 16.5mile mountain bike and 4.2 mile-run), Dirty Bird will hold a trail run in two distances, 4.2 miles and half-

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marathon, at 9 a.m. June 6.

“There’s going to be a whole weekend long of festivities at the nature center,” says Roma. “We’re just finalizing the details.

“Most of the events over the weekend are going to be free except for a few things that are entry-required like the XTERRA races. … For the most part, it will be a come-and-go festival of mountain sports.”

Roma, a lifelong endurance athlete, has lived in Knoxville for about five years and created Dirty Bird, a race-management and consulting firm, about

two and a half years ago.

“Dirty Bird Events is a way to solidify myself in the outdoor world without having to train as hard,” he says. “There’s a time that I’m not going to be as competitive as I am, and this is my way of staying relevant inside the community.”

The XTERRA series offers off-road triathlons all over the country. Athletes compete at races within their region to accumulate points by winning their age group or the overall event. In the Southeast, top points earners go to the Southeast regional cham-

pionships in Alabama. The best at the regionals are invited to the nationals in Ogden, Utah.

Dirty Bird had about 85 athletes at each of the two XTERRA events they did last year, in the Urban Wilderness and at Panther Creek State Park northwest of Morristown. He expects around 100 at XTERRA Knoxville this year.

Last year saw athletes from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and across Tennessee.

“A lot of people are intrigued by a new race,” says Roma. “It’s tough to find a good location for one. I think Knoxville is going to start to become a destination race. The Urban Wilderness is a fantastic spot to host this kind of event.”

Regular XTERRA competitors aren’t the only ones who will compete, he says.

“You get the locals who just want to try an off-road triathlon,” he says. “They’re not in it for the points. They don’t plan on doing any more races. This one is local, so they jump in.”

The top three finishers in each age category in the trail runs and the triathlon will receive awards. Price breaks are offered to those who register by March 23 and May 18. There will be full-price registration onsite the days of the races.

For info, visit dirtybirdevents.com.

Eastside Eagle The only resident of East Knoxville to grace a U.S. postage stamp perches in a treetop looking for lunch. This American bald eagle has been sighted occasionally along the rivers to the east of downtown. Photo by Bill Dockery

Insure Tennessee to address the rising cost of healthcare, as his plan does.

Here are the nuts and bolts of his plan. Those eligible for Insure Tennessee would have two options.

Under the Volunteer Plan, participants would receive a fi xed contribution voucher that will enable them to buy into private health insurance offered by their employer. The voucher would go toward out-of-pocket expenses associated with the coverage.

The benefits of private insurance coverage include a broader range of providers and possible participation in Health Savings Accounts, which encourage healthy choices, Haslam says.

The other option, the Healthy Incentives Plan, differs from Medicaid because it has premiums and

From page 1 co-pays. But participants get credits for healthy behaviors, like regular screenings, and using the health system appropriately, such as going to a clinic rather than the emergency room.

If participants make good choices, they can cover their healthcare costs with credits.

But they can also be disenrolled if they don’t cover copays or premiums, Haslam says.

From his perspective, Insure Tennessee is a win-win because it’s a step toward true healthcare reform and provides insurance to 200,000 residents who wouldn’t otherwise have it − without raising taxes.

Detractors say Haslam is supporting Obamacare by taking advantage of federal funding. You decide.

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4 • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • Shopper news

Strange story of Woody Quinn There is continuing debate about whether the chicken or egg came first, but there is no doubt about the sequence of steps to success in college football.

Recruiting precedes development. And as it relates to national signing day, be reminded that talent evaluation is almost as important as salesmanship.

Here is a touchy little story based on the fundamental truth that you can’t judge a book by the cover. It has been said that Tennessee’s Woody Quinn looked more like a big-time Southeastern Conference tight end than the big-time SEC tight ends.

He is 6-6 and 253.

Woody didn’t do much in his two years at the position but he was a contributor.

He helped the Vols maintain satisfactory academic standing in the eyes of the NCAA. He was an honor student in communications.

He earned a degree in May. He helped Butch Jones earn a bonus.

Quinn opened the 2013 season as the No. 2 tight end and played briefly in a game or three. He did not appear in the final eight. He did not play in 2014. He finished with no statistical record, but he was often in the practice spotlight.

Jones, from time to time, favored Woody with extra “coaching.” He wanted the big guy to become more explosive and provided frequent opportunities in his famous circle drill, one on one, best man wins.

On my list of unusual Tennessee stories, accumulated over more than 60 years, Woody Quinn is top 10. He was a California volleyball player, from Dana Point, high-rent district. He was nurtured at Saint Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano. He

Next question: Would he stick? Quinn seemed indecisive.

“He came out to practice and got better every day.”

Quinn didn’t set records: 15 catches, 252 yards, one touchdown. One recruiting service awarded two stars.

Another said he was the 213th junior college prospect in America.

Former Tennessee safeties coach Josh Conklin is credited with discovering Quinn on behalf of the Derek Dooley staff. Upon departure, Josh left notes.

New tight ends coach Mark Elder took up the project. UT wanted a junior college tight end, somebody more mature, ready to compete. Coaches checked film on everybody available and liked Woody best. They really liked his size before they heard how little he had played.

Summation: Outstand-

then transferred again.

Please follow this move carefully.

Geoff Jones, football Marvin coach at Santa Ana ColWest lege, got a call from a friend about a big kid playing volleyball. The coach was logically skeptical – until is from an artistic athletic Woody walked through the family. His father, Tim, did office doorway. Soon therewater polo at Cal-Irvine after, he thought “Wow, so and was on Team USA. His this is what great prospects brother Johnny was an all- look like.”

College basketball playAmerican pole vaulter at ers – Tony Gonzalez, AntoUCLA. Woody played football as nio Gates, Jimmy Graham a high school freshman but – were jumping to the NFL. chose volleyball. He was so Why couldn’t a volleyball promising, Olympian Karch player make half that leap?

Kiraly spent time tutoring. The coach caught himself.

Woody was twice league Could Quinn even catch a MVP, top scholar-athlete in football? He last played at the area. Pepperdine award- age 14.

A brief tryout followed – ed a scholarship.

Woody stayed a year but in a cold rain with the wind didn’t play (he was radio blowing sideways. analyst), transferred to Cal“The kid was catching evifornia Baptist and did play, erything.”

Find us in the food section Since switching to Wednesday delivery, Shopper-News has been delivered to Knox County subscribers to the News Sentinel in the daily paper’s food section. With a series of cartoons

by Charles Williams, we’ve worked at telling folks that. This week we wrote: Veteran reporters and columnists at Shopper-News cover local government so you don’t have to. And we’ve got sources – even in the food section.

LOCAL Businesses

ing athlete with excellent academic credentials is a rare find in junior college.

Elder added a few details: Great young man, going to have a great career here.

Or maybe not.

Woody Quinn is the perfect example of an evaluation error. But he impressed me, too. He didn’t quit. He got his degree.

Marvin West invites reader reaction at westwest6@netzero.com.

Madeline for Senate John McCain’s bid for president in 2008 was serious business, though in retrospect his choice for a running mate makes the campaign appear more desperate than earnest.

Larry Van Guilder

Presumably the smartest guys and gals under the Republicans’ big tent signed off on Sarah Palin.

The Wasilla Wonder became the gift that keeps on giving to Democrats, as she demonstrated with her offthe-charts lunatic speech at Iowa’s recent “Freedom Summit.”

While I wouldn’t want to – in Palin’s words – “forego a conclusion,” we probably won’t have Sarah to kick around during the 2016 presidential sweepstakes.

But her nosedive doesn’t close the door to high office for women.

If Palin could rise from mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to candidate for U.S. vice president, what’s stopping Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero?

Palin had a stint as governor along the way, but Rogero needn’t move to Nashville to outpoint a Palin on qualifications.

The Census Bureau estimates Wasilla’s 2013 population as 8,621. The estimate for Knoxville is 183,720.

Take chargee of your

Rogero has a 30-year track record of accomplishments that include serving as a county commissioner and heading up community development for her predecessor, Bill Haslam. She’s committed to “green” development strategies.

Palin inquired about banning “objectionable” books from the Wasilla library as mayor. She’s committed to bagging grizzlies and “going rogue.”

The mayor’s qualifications allow her to stand shoulder to shoulder with nearly any Washington politician. She should consider becoming Tennessee’s U.S. Senator. The path is difficult, but doable.

The Republican-controlled Congress could be Rogero’s strongest ally. Two more years of Washington gridlock and clownish antics from the Tea Party faction might persuade a majority of Tennessee voters that change is in order.

And it’s significant that Republican Gov. Bill Haslam thought enough of Rogero to invite her into his administration. Party loyalty would prevent an outright endorsement, but powerful friends couldn’t hurt her candidacy.

Assuming re-election, Rogero’s mayoral term expires two years before Sen. Lamar Alexander’s term ends, enough time to organize and finance a statewide campaign. So, dream the impossible dream, Mayor Rogero. Let me know where to donate.

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NORTH/EAST Shopper news • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • 5

Whatever happened to the low bid?

For old-timers, the kerfuffle over the E-911 board’s rejection of its evaluation committee’s recommendation for a new radio system begged this question:

Betty Bean

Whatever happened to taking bids and accepting the lowest one?

The easy answer is state law. There are a bunch of statutes governing public sector procurement, and those frustrated by the E-911 board’s refusal to accept the recommendation that the contract for radio services be awarded to Harris Corp. over two other bidders say the 18-month process (which involved a user committee setting up the scope of work and an evaluation committee vetting the proposals) followed every one of them.

“The basic difference between an invitation for bids

and a request for proposals is that with invitations to bid, you know exactly what you are going to buy: a pickup truck.

“With an RFP, you know what you want to accomplish but don’t know how you’re going to do it, so you have subject matter experts sitting on an evaluation committee who rank proposals,” said Hugh Holt, Knox County’s purchasing director.

“Twenty years ago, contracting was just pushing paper, not looking at what services cost. It was doing the taxpayers a disservice.”

Marty Spears, interim assistant director of County Technical Assistance Services (created in 1973 to provide technical assistance to Tennessee’s 95 counties), agrees with Holt’s assessment.

“Counties do RFPs for the lowest and best bid,” Spears said.

“State law says ‘lowest and best,’ and almost everywhere across the state, anything over $10,000 (requires an RFP) and you’ve

got to have justification for not taking the lowest and best bid. You’ve got to say why.”

And therein lies the rub.

The members of the Knox County Emergency Communications District board of directors pretty much gave the finger to Spears’ admonition – and raised a justifiable suspicion of violating the sunshine law when they all went mute when it came time to second a motion to accept the evaluation committee’s recommendation that Harris Corp. (rather than traditional Motorola, which has held the contract for nearly 30 years) be awarded a $7.4 million to $9 million (depending on who’s talking) contract for radio services.

County mayor Tim Burchett’s proxy, Jason Lay, made the motion to select Harris, and city representatives (led by Knoxville Police Department chief David Rausch) are catching the most heat.

Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones and County Commission chair (and KPD lieuten-

ant) Brad Anders also sit on the board.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, also a board member, sent a proxy to the voting meeting. Burchett is ticked; Rogero is evidently stung by accusations of open meetings law violations (she’s always been an advocate of transparency) in a re-election year.

And, following what surely must be a law of nature and politics, speculation is filling the information vacuum.

One of the most popular theories – that Motorola’s hiring former county mayor Mike Ragsdale and his sidekick Mike Arms’ lobbying firm, Tennessee Strategies, tipped the process in their favor – is widely dismissed by insiders: “I could fit everybody that likes Mike Arms in a Mini Cooper,” one said.

The truth is likely closer to this: Cops have used Motorola radios for decades, they like them and feel comfortable with them, and they have bowed up to get their way.

Haslam must use political capital to pass Insure Tennessee While the odds favor Gov. Bill Haslam getting the Legislature to expand Medicaid during the current special session, it has not been an easy push. Haslam will have to use major political capital.

Senate Finance Committee chair Randy McNally of Oak Ridge, who represents part of Knox County, is clearly wary of the proposal.

He is not a bomb thrower.

His detailed questions to the state attorney general are legitimate and thoughtful.

If the Medicaid expansion should falter, it can also be brought up in the regular legislative session.

A political factor complicating matters is this: There are 73 Republicans in the House, where 50 votes are necessary to pass a bill.

Haslam could pass his bill with 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans but would leave those Republicans vulnerable to a primary challenge in August 2016 (just 18 months from now).

He really needs a majority of Republicans in the House (37) and support from Speaker Beth Harwell.

Already, very conservative groups are running radio ads attacking GOP members who are for the Haslam plan.

Harwell, who clearly

Victor Ashe

plans on a race for governor, has not taken a position as of the writing of this column. She is scheduled to speak to the Knoxville Rotary Club on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the Marriott. She would have to be concerned that a yes vote might irk conservative GOP voters in a statewide 2018 primary.

In the Senate, Knoxville’s Rick Briggs is a strong proponent of the plan, which has been endorsed by the Tennessee Medical Association and every hospital.

However, Sen. Brian Kelsey of Collierville, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, strongly opposes it and recently held a hearing aimed at derailing it.

This is Haslam’s most difficult legislative battle since he became governor.

■ Mayor Rogero has been caught flatfooted on the recent controversy when the 911 Board did not approve a new contract for radios. It failed without discussion for lack of a

seconding motion. Rogero simply does not attend the meetings of this board of which she is a member. She sends Gary Holliday, who works for the KPD, as her proxy.

How does the mayor justify skipping the four meetings a year of the 911 Board, which impacts the health, safety and emergency planning for the entire city? She does attend city pension board meetings and TPO, but why has she decided not to go to 911? No answer. She owes the public a justification.

The law permitting the mayor to send a proxy was meant for unavoidable absences such as illness or being out of town. It is not a pass to play hooky. When I was mayor I attended the 911 meetings regularly as did Dwight Kessel and Tommy Schumpert for the county. It never occurred to me to send a proxy unless I was out of town. I met in advance with the person to give my thoughts on the upcoming agenda.

It is clear Rogero seldom speaks to her proxy and clearly did not go over the agenda prior to this recent meeting where the $9 million contract failed. A8more prudent and observant mayor would go over the agenda prior to the meeting with

her proxy on how to vote on upcoming issues. That did not happen here, and Rogero did not even know the contract was coming up. The Burchett proxy had been instructed to make the motion to adopt it and the city representatives sat on their hands.

Apparently Rogero does not have regular briefings from Holliday after the meetings either. In this case she has met now with Holliday but has not told the public what she learned.

Holliday was silent at the meeting so we do not know what he thinks. Rogero does not deserve her upcoming $12,500-a-year pay raise based on avoiding 911 Board meetings.

■ TVA spokesperson Travis Brickey has asked that this column not refer to salaries for the new legal counsel as taxpayer funds as Congress does not vote money for TVA. I am glad to honor this request, which is all about semantics as TVA is a monopoly and ratepayers have no choice but to fund TVA through their local utility fees, which is another word for taxes. It is good to know TVA big shots are reading the Shopper and our comments on TVA waste and excessive salaries. Too bad they fail to do much about it.

government South-Doyle High School graduating junior Luke Hixson shows school board member Terry Hill how to find the approximate square footage of a new road in front of Karns Elementary School. The exercise was a demonstration of how computers are used in the classroom. Photo by Wendy Smith

Principals share 1:1 computing successes While local leaders undoubtedly benefited from a tour of South-Doyle Middle School, where computers are integrated into every classroom, the most compelling argument for putting computers into the hands of all Knox County students came from Vine Middle Magnet School principal Cindy White.

On Sunday afternoons, students line up along the outside wall of the school to take advantage of the school’s Wi-Fi Internet access because they don’t have access at home, she says. Students are hungry for technology, and her students value their computers so much that the school has the lowest repair rate in the county.

White told that story at last week’s Knox County Schools Personal Learning Environment (PLE) Showcase. Vine Magnet Middle and South-Doyle High are two of 11 Knox County schools that won the county’s 2012 Technology Challenge − now called the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) Initiative. Principals from those schools met with community leaders to share how their classrooms have felt the impact of 1:1 computing (one computer per student). Leaders also toured the school to see the computers in action and participated in a computerdriven lesson themselves.

South-Doyle High math teacher Robby Howard showed the group how to use Google Earth to calculate the size of the field at Fenway Park using trapezoids. He then asked each of them to find the area of another landmark. With the help of student ambassadors armed with laptops, leaders calculated the area of such sites as Neyland Stadium and Fountain City Lake.

During the tour, leaders met teachers like Karly Stache. She showed how she could immediately see results of a math quiz and know which students had mastered a new skill. At home, students can learn by watching short videos and participating in Google

Wendy Smith

“hangouts,” or video conferences, before tests.

After the tour, leaders watched a video featuring Mooreland Heights Elementary School instructional coach Amber Sawyer, who talked about the benefits of 1:1 computing at the elementary level. Having computers means the teacher isn’t the sole source for learning, she says. Students are learning how to go to the right source for information by themselves.

Principals discussed the “bumps” they’ve encountered during the 18 months since computers were deployed. New students who come from traditional classrooms have a steep learning curve, and students who experience 1:1 technology at the elementary or middle school level and transition to a middle or high school that doesn’t have it are frustrated. Inappropriate Internet use still concerns some teachers, and not all students have Internet at home.

But the principals were overwhelmingly positive.

West Valley Middle principal Renee Kelly says the computers are popular with teachers, students and families, and she has seen a rise in the school’s enrollment.

The cost of county-wide 1:1 technology was also discussed. Principals say that they would consider less-expensive alternatives to MacBooks, which were used in the initial deployment, now that they know what they need. The cost of equipping 11 schools with 1:1 computing was $6 million. There are 90 schools in the system.

Superintendent Jim McIntyre said that computers will undoubtedly be a part of future classrooms. “It’s where we need to be at some point, and I think we need to be there sooner rather than later,” says McIntyre.

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEB. 28

THROUGH SATURDAY, JUNE 20

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEB. 6-7

“Buy One, Get One Free” admission tickets available for Knoxville Zoo. Tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours. Info: 637-5331, ext. 300 or knoxvillezoo.org.

Online registration open for Race to benefit the Corryton Community Food Pantry, to be held Saturday, June 20. Event is part of “The Run and See Tennessee Grand Prix Series.” To register: https://runnerreg.us/ corryton8mile. Info: corryton8miler@yahoo.com; ron. fuller@totalracesolutions.com; or Joyce Harrell, 7057684.

Mildred Haun Conference, Walters State Community College. Featuring: the ETSU Old Time Pride Band, Appalatin, Walters State choral groups and more.

Registration is free. Info/schedule of events: 423-5856922 or http://www.ws.edu/.

THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 27 Call for local authors of children’s books for “Farragut Book Fest for Children” to be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday, April 11, at Founders Park at Campbell Station. $25 fee includes tent, table, two chairs and lunch at the event; authors will supply their books, decorations and signage. No fee: bring own set-up materials, which must include a tent fitting a 10’x10’ space. Info/ to register: www.townoffarragut.org/register and click the Programs tab; Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive; 966-7057.

THROUGH FRIDAY, APRIL 10 Tickets available for Rhythm N’ Blooms music festival, on stages set exclusively along downtown Knoxville’s historic Jackson Avenue. Features firsttimers, chart-climbers and highly lauded acts from varied musical backgrounds. Info/tickets: www. rhythmnbloomsfest.com.

THURSDAY, FEB. 5 “Bulbs in Containers,” 3:15-4:30 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 4438 Western Ave. Presented by Knox County Master Gardener Lynn Carlson. Free program.

Info: 329-8892.

Flower Lovers Garden Club will meet 2 p.m. at the John T. O’Connor Senior Center. Program: Valentine’s Day Tea with a craft activity. Info: 687-0744.

Mom’s Night Out Book Club: “The Girls of Atomic City,” 6:30 p.m., Fountain City Branch Library, 5300 Stanton Road. Info: 689-2681.

Needle Tatting/Crochet/Quilting class, 3:307:30 p.m., Hobby Lobby at Turkey Creek. Cost: $24.

Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@ gmail.com, myquiltplace.com/profile/monicaschmidt.

Pajama-rama Storytime, 6:30 p.m., Powell Branch Library, 330 W. Emory Road. Info: 947-6210.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 AAA Driver Improvement Course, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or 8 a.m.-noon, AAA Maryville Office, 715 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway. Preregistration required. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Don, 862-9250.

Author Meet and Greet, 9 a.m., Maynardville Public Library, 296 Main St., Maynardville. Authors include: Brandi Kennedy, T.G Franklin, Juli Alexander, Lexi Witcher, Leanne Tyler, JK Ensley, KaLyn Cooper and Bonnie Peters. Info: 992-7106.

Chili Supper and Silent Auction, 6-8 p.m., New Pleasant Gap Baptist Church: 9019 Old Andersonville Pike. Donations only.

“Evening of Storytelling,” 7-9 p.m., Narrow Ridge’s Mac Smith Resource Center, 1936 Liberty Hill Road, Washburn. Free event; all ages welcome. Finger food contributions to the snack table appreciated but not required. Info: Bill, 497-3444, or community@ narrowridge.org.

6 • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • Shopper news

February 13-15

Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) and Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) learn to trust each other in “Jupiter Ascending.”

KNOXVILLE CONVENTION CENTER

Marion Cotillard is on a quest to save her job in “Two Days, One Night.”

HOW-TO STAGE

Jeff Daniels and Ben Barnes keep an eye out in the fantasy adventure “Seventh Son.”

Oscar contenders hit local screens James Farmer Author &

Southern Living Magazine’s Editor-at-Large

A couple of films with an (Channing Tatum), a geOscar spotlight on them are netically engineered tracker due to arrive in Knoxville on sent from a far-away planet Friday. by one of three siblings bent Betsy Marion Cotillard, who on gaining control of their Pickle won the Best Actress Oslate mother’s intergalactic car for playing Edith Piaf holdings. Jupiter stands bein 2007’s “La Vie en Rose,” tween the siblings and vast is nominated in the same power. category for “Two Days, One Night,” a film The cast also includes Eddie Redmayne, from Belgian directing brothers Luc and a Best Actor Oscar nominee for “The TheJean-Pierre Dardenne. ory of Everything,” Sean Bean, James Cotillard plays Sandra, a factory worker D’Arcy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Douglas Booth, who is informed that she’s been laid off due Tuppence Middleton and Terry Gilliam. to downsizing. But actually, her co-workers This is Andy and Lana Wachowski’s first were forced to choose between getting their feature since 2012’s “Cloud Atlas.” annual bonuses and letting Sandra keep A world of witches, boggarts and ghouls her job. Her boss tells her that if she can comes to life in “Seventh Son.” Jeff Bridges convince her co-workers to change their plays Master Gregory, the local spook, who votes, she can stay, but she has only a week- protects the countryside from all sorts end to get them to reconsider. of evil. But Gregory happens to be away “Song of the Sea,” a nominee for Best when the powerful Mother Malkin (JuliA nimated anne Moore) Feature, is escapes coninspired finement, by Irish and the masand Scotter’s young tish legapprent ice, ends about Tom Ward creatures (Ben Barnes), called selkmust retrieve ies. Saoirse, her.

The cast a little girl, also includes is the last of D j i m o n the selkies, Hounsou, which live The last selkie puts herself at risk in “Song of the Sea.” Olivia Wilin the sea liams, Jason as seals and take human form on land. Saoirse escapes Scott Lee and David Cubitt. Sergei Bodrov from her grandmother’s home and heads to directed. the sea to save fairies trapped in the modEverybody’s favorite animated sponge ern world. returns in “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge The vocal cast includes Brendan Glee- Out of Water.” It’s been a little more than son and Fionnula Flanagan. The film was a decade since SpongeBob made his bigdirected by Tomm Moore, who co-directed screen debut, but you can’t keep a good “The Secret of Kells” (2009) and wrote the sponge down. original story for both “Kells” and “Song.”

This time, SpongeBob visits our world to Another set of sibling co-directors – the track down a stolen secret recipe and winds American Wachowskis, this time – brings up tangling with a pirate (Antonio Banus “Jupiter Ascending,” a space-trotting deras). The vocal cast includes Tom Kenny, epic in which a young woman may change Clancy Brown, Bill Faggerbakke and Slash. the course of the cosmos.

Paul Tibbitt directed.

Mila Kunis plays Jupiter Jones, whose Downtown West is supposed to open a life is a drudge, despite her big dreams. program of Oscar shorts on Friday. No deThings change when she meets Caine Wise tails were available.

Patrick Star and SpongeBob SquarePants come up against Bigfoot – or something like that – in “SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out of Water.”

weekender

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • 7

FRIDAY, FEB. 6 ■ Ken Waldman in concert, 7:30 p.m., Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall, Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville. Tickets: $15 for seniors and students, $20 for adults. Info/tickets: Box Office, 981-8590, or claytonartscenter.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEB. 6-7 ■ “Flashdance – The Musical,” 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Tickets: Tennessee Theatre box office, Ticketmaster.com, 800-745-3000.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 ■ KSO Pops presents: “Broadway Romance,” 8 p.m., Knoxville Civic Auditorium, 500 Howard Baker Jr. Ave. Tickets: KnoxvilleTickets.com, 656-4444 or 877-995-9961.

■ “PUSH Physical Theatre,” 8 p.m., Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville. Info/tickets: Box Office, 981-8590, or claytonartscenter.com.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, FEB. 7-8

Bryant Bentley as Willie, Rico Bruce Wade as Sam and Eric Sorrels as Hally in the Clarence Brown Theatre’s production of “ ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys.” Photo by Liz Aaron

Powerful play touches today’s issues In “ ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys,” the Clarence Brown Theatre’s offering for the month of February, things are not often what they seem. A black South African waiter in a tea room is actually a father figure to a white teenager.

Another waiter’s harsh treatment of his girlfriend is a metaphor for his own frustrated sense of ownership and entitlement.

And a ballroom dance becomes the world, fraught with racial tension and uneasy alliances. As one of the characters says: “We’re bumping into each other all the time.

Look at the three of us this afternoon: I’ve bumped into you, you’ve bumped into your mother, she

Carol Shane

bumping into your dad … None of us knows the steps, and there’s no music playing. And it doesn’t stop with us. The whole world is doing it all the time.”

Written by Athol Fugard, the drama is “one of those plays that has lasting relevance and can triumphantly survive any test of time,” according to the New York Post.

Director Jayne Morgan saw it “many years back,”

but this is her first time in the director’s chair.

“As with any play, you see it through the filter of your own experience,” says Morgan. “I find myself very moved and surprised by the show. When I saw it before, it wasn’t long after apartheid was dismantled in South Africa, and so that was very present in the play.

“Now, I see it much more in terms of what’s going on in America right now, with our stumbling toward a way to talk about race in some reasonable and sensitive way. The play has powerful things to say about that and also about what it means to be a man and a father. About how we forgive ourselves

for thoughtlessness we are capable of. It asks us how we are to behave as responsible adults in a complicated and challenging world. And it does so with such compassion and grace and humor.”

Morgan, widely known as an actor for more than 25 years in regional theaters in the Southeast and at Clarence Brown, says that the play seems easy, with a cast of only three and a simple set, but that there are, literally, “a lot of moving parts.” The two older actors must occasionally speak their lines while doing ballroom dance steps, an area in which neither has had any previous experience.

“Bryant Bentley started

■ “Tata Ajache: The Story of an Amazon Warrior,” 8 p.m.

Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay St. Presented by Go! Contemporary Dance Works. Tickets: $17-$27.

Info: www.gocontemporarydance.com or 539-2475.

his performing career as a hip-hop dancer, and Rico Bruce Wade has martialarts training,” Morgan says, “so they both move very well, but ballroom has a lot of rules! They’ve been doing the quickstep and foxtrot every night for a couple of weeks now and are getting good at it.”

Both actors are visiting professionals. Eric Sorrels, who plays the part of the young man, is a University of Tennessee undergraduate, and choreographer Kody Rowe is a recent UT graduate.

Morgan concludes, “This is a powerful and moving play. I think the audience will fall in love with the characters and can find moments to iden-

tify with no matter what their background.

“It’s so much about how we care for one another despite our differences, about the struggle to find the best in ourselves in spite of our worst moments.” “ ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys” opens Thursday, Feb. 5, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 22. All performances take place at the Ula Love Doughty Carousel Theatre, on the UT Campus next to the Clarence Brown Theatre. To see a full list of performance times and purchase tickets, visit www. clarencebrowntheatre.com or call 865-974-5161.

Send story suggestions to news@shoppernewsnow.com.

Plate it

Boyd’s Jig and Reel

The good folks at Boyd’s Jig and Reel, 101 S. Central St. in the Old City, would like for you to think the food is an afterthought at the Scottish pub. Their dedicated mission is “to celebrate and preserve our region’s musical heritage in the only way it can be done: playing the tunes and passing them on from musician to musician.”

But don’t be fooled, me laddies! The cuisine is far

Mystery Diner

from a back-burner, justcome-for-the-music quality. We happened to wander in during a jam session where no fewer than 10 mu-

sicians were gathered in a circle with fiddles, guitars and bass in their capable hands. The music was inviting, and the talent level was first-class. It was a great addition to our dining experience.

The food, however, was still the star of the show for Mystery Diner. The menu offers starters, soups and salads, sandwiches, main entrees and desserts. Traditional Scottish dishes are

there, including Scotch Egg and Haggis Neeps and Tatties. For those who want something different but aren’t quite ready for haggis, try a meat pie.

The Steak and Ale Pie was a great choice for a blustery winter night. It is stick-to-your-ribs food with a hearty aroma that gets the taste buds ready at the first crack of the crust. The pie is chunks of tender beef and vegetables simmering in a

Steak and Ale Pie joins such Scottish traditions as Scotch Egg and Haggis Neeps and Tatties on the menu at Boyd’s Jig and Reel. Photo by Mystery Diner traditional broth made with Scottish ale. The whole delicious, thick stew is topped with a crispy puff pastry and baked to a golden brown in a plate-size iron skillet.

Save the slice of brown bread for sopping up what’s left after the puff pastry is gone. It’s much better manners to sop than to lick the skillet.

Neyland Stadium =

102,455 PEOPLE Shopper News =

142,000 HOMES North office: 7049 Maynardville Pike • Knoxville, TN 37918 • (865) 922-4136 • Fax: 922-5275 West office: 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500 • Knoxville, TN 37932 • (865) 218-WEST (9378) • Fax: 342-6628

www.ShopperNewsNow.com wsNow.com Now.com ow.com w.com .com com m

kids

8 • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • NORTH/EAST Shopper news

Engineering at Vine Middle Vine Middle Magnet Academy hosted a family engineering night, allowing parents and community members a look at some of the great things students work on in the classroom.

Curent (Center for UltraWide-Area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks was on hand as University of Tennessee students demonstrated solarpowered vehicles, building paper towers, using Legos to construct buildings and more. “We want to help make kids aware of engineering in their world and encourage them to go into STEM majors in college,” said UT student Terence Randall.

J’Lyn Correll, Jordan Okeeran-Baah and Tashma Habersham look at a tumbling tower during Vine Middle School’s engineering night.

Photo submitted

Ruth White

Vine offers the STEAM curriculum of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics and is committed to excellence for every student.

To learn more about the opportunities at Vine Middle, contact principal Cindy White at cindy. white@knoxschools.org or visit the school’s website, knoxschools.org/vinems.

Vine Middle Magnet assistant principal Zach Best challenges student Christopher Farmer on engineering night. Photo by R. White

■

Beaumont magnet’s attraction

Beaumont Magnet Academy recently hosted an open house for prospective students and their parents.

Although just an elementary-level school, Beaumont offers what Superintendent Jim McIntyre called “a lot of brain opportunities” thanks to the excellent, dedicated staff. One of the most unique aspects of Beaumont is that the school partners with seven area museums, allowing students a deeper Parent Dana Starr Hall chats with Beaumont Magnet facilitator Casey Robison during a recent experience through “learnopen house. Photo by R. White

ing expeditions” to the museums. In addition to the trips, the museums bring their lessons into classrooms three times a year.

The school also offers an honors program that works at a more advanced pace.

Students are required to test for placement into the honors program, and grades are monitored throughout the year to keep students from falling behind. Students in regular classroom settings are also monitored for pos-

sible advancement.

After-school opportunities at Beaumont include a theater club for students in grades kindergarten through third; DanceWorks for fourth- and fifth-grade students and an art club for fifth-graders.

Parents interested in Beaumont Magnet Academy may sign up at www. knoxschools.org for a tour given by staff on the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 9 a.m.

Whittle Springs Middle School librarian Karen Sims White

Photo by R.

Novel alternatives Whittle Springs Middle School librarian Karen Sims is always looking for creative ways to help students excel in the classroom.

Sims submitted a grant request to the Junior League of Knoxville and was thrilled to receive over $400 for her project.

Sims understands that not all students learn in the same manner and many do not enjoy reading as much as others, so her project involves reading novels in graphic (comic book) form to help increase students’ interest. “The objective is to get the students reading more and to help develop a love of reading,” she said.

Since using the graphic novel format, library circulation has increased and the students seem to enjoy reading more. Some of the titles that Sims will purchase with the grant money include “Robin Hood,” “Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “Black Beauty,” “Dracula,” “Treasure Island” and other classics.

The books will be available for all grade levels and will help strengthen language skills for ESL students and develop reading skills, apply technology and typing skills, expand interests as they analyze characters and strengthen use of words and symbols.

Roxie and Buster

Lots of furry friends await new homes at Young-Williams Animal Center’s 3201 Division St. location. Roxie is a 6-year-old female Rottweiler mix and Buster is a 12-year-old male Jack Russell mix who would like to be adopted together. Each animal has been spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

Info: 215-6599 or www.young-williams.org.

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • 9

Grapes and hemp can set us free I got to thinking the other day about sustainable agriculture. Don’t ask why.

Beef production is problematic. Cattle farming is dirty work and expensive.

Cattle require tons of grain and grass to grow from birth to table. They pollute creeks and emit greenhouse gasses. Cattle might look like an easy buck, standing there on the hillside munching grass, but I know from experience there’s gotta be a better way to make a dollar.

I decided to raise beef cattle once on a 5-acre minifarm on Brickyard Road in Powell. Brevity demands that I relate only key words: Summer sweat, balky steer, borrowed trailer, brother’s truck, stuck in mud, cousin’s tractor, caravan down Emory Road.

Lonely steer, neighbors’

Sandra Clark fence, cut a hole, share the grass, Sunday call, not a steer!!?? Threatened mayhem, find quick buyer, sell steer on the hoof.

What’s a body to do?

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is accepting applications from farmers and producers interested in growing industrial hemp. State law says growers can get a license for “research” or a pilot project.

So you folks growing the vile weed in the woods, get on down to the library computer and dial up w w w.tn.gov/agriculture/

regulatory/industrialhemp. shtml.

A friend in upper East Tennessee once grew recreational hemp in a plot of tomatoes. She went on vacation and returned to find the tomatoes wilted brown and the hemp standing proudly about seven feet high for the world to see.

She quickly harvested it and hung it in the barn to dry, like tobacco. Her dog, Fuzz, was quick to grab the stalks and carry them around the yard, a pleasant smile on his face.

If producing cannabis is not your cup of tea, the Ag people encourage you to try grapes.

Get set for an all-day conference Thursday, Feb. 26, in Marshall, N.C., on “cold-hardy grape growing and some winemaking

tips.” So run back over to the library and dial www.

GrapeSAVI.org.

I’m not lying.

Economic development is ours for the asking. We don’t need to recruit those dirty factories. Just grow grapes and hemp and sell them to your neighbors. We’ll all be poor, but, like Fuzz, we just won’t worry about it.

■ Will Gov. Bill Haslam muster the votes to pass Insure Tennessee this week? You’d think a governor would count noses before calling a special session of the Legislature to consider just one item. Everybody says the vote will be close.

If I had a vote, it would be “yes.” But I don’t have high regard for the GOP supermajority. Will Insure Tennessee pass this week?

My prediction is no.

business

Jim Burns, a member of the Rotary Club of Bearden, delivers a very special dictionary to Brickey-McCloud Elementary School third-grader Vanessa Weaver as her teacher, Brittney Winn, looks on. Photo submitted

Rotary delivers a special dictionary

By Anne Hart

Interesting assortment at Jackpot I ventured into The Jackpot Antiques and Uniques in South Knoxville last week and was impressed with the cleanliness and extensive inventory there. I was also impressed with owner Tony Vick.

Vick inherited his interest in antiques and collectibles from his grandparents.

Carl and Mary Smart of Powell were widely known antique-lovers; Vick says their house was like a museum. His dad, retired Army Sgt. Maj. John D. Vick, and mom, Brenda Anderson Vick, were stationed in Germany when Tony was born.

After graduating from high school in 1988, Tony moved from Maryland back to Knoxville.

Vick says being in the car business for 27 years had left him “ … going broke and pretty torn up.” He had no idea how much a text would change his life when a friend invited him to a revival at Dante Church of God, but he knew he needed to make a change. “I was tired of being tired,” says Vick.

During the revival, the preacher told Tony, “God is going to prosper your business in more ways than you can imagine.” That was mid-September 2013. In addition to his car lots, he

Nancy Whittaker

owned a Jackpot on Broadway at the time and didn’t know how he could switch “from selling $8,000 cars” to just “$200 sofas.”

Nevertheless, Vick’s last day in the car business was Sep. 27, 2013.

In November 2013, Vick moved The Jackpot to 5001 Chapman Highway after the Broadway store’s lease expired. His business has consistently grown. After doing some advertising, he quickly had a huge inventory of furniture. The Jackpot has antiques as well as assorted new and used furniture at great prices. Vick laughs and says he sells “anything that doesn’t eat.” Lamps, collectibles, DVDs, CDs, tools and artwork are plentiful, and there’s a special “thrift room” in the back.

“I now realize God had to take me through it to get me to it. He supplies my every need,” says Vick.

So what does he do in his spare time? In February 2014, Vick was called to

Tony Vick, owner of The Jackpot Antiques and Uniques Photo by Nancy Whittaker

the ministry. He is an evangelist, works with a prison ministry and preaches on the radio at 8 p.m. Saturdays on 900 AM. He says

he used to work 90 hours per week, but now he works 40 hours a week at the store and 40 hours a week for God. Vick buys, sells and trades. Delivery is available, as is layaway. Located between The Mattress Place and Basement Records, The Jackpot Antiques and Uniques is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Visit www.jackpotknox ville.com or the Facebook page Jackpot Antiques and Uniques. For more info about the store or if you are interested in having Vick speak at your church, call 454-3261.

It was a first for the Rotary Club of Bearden – a request for a dictionary quite unlike any the club has ever donated before.

Since 2006, the club has given a free dictionary to every third-grader in a Knox County public school.

Some 4,700 students received the dictionaries this year.

Over time, the number of the free dictionaries, which are always personally delivered to the classrooms by the Rotarians, has amounted to 43,788. That number recently increased to 43,789 with an unusual request.

Rotarian Jim Burns says he was presenting the dictionaries to students at Brickey-McCloud Elementary School when a teacher, Brittney Winn, asked if the club could provide a Braille

dictionary for one of her third-graders who is vision impaired.

Burns says he checked with Todd Wolf, who chairs the project for the club, “and he ordered one right away.”

Burns went back to the school to deliver the dictionary to third-grader Vanessa Weaver. “She was so excited and thankful. She asked to shake my hand and then gave me a hug.

And the whole class applauded. It was pretty special.”

Club members are justifiably proud of their ambitious dictionary project, which has far-reaching effects. For many of the students, it is the only book they have ever owned. For all of them, it can open a world of wonders as they search and learn new words and their meanings.

An Elite Team of Physicians United for Better Health

Mitchell is medical director fied general surgeon, joined Premier Surgical in 1996.

He practiced at the group’s Oak Ridge location until 2011. He currently heads the Premier Hemorrhoid Treatment Center on Papermill Drive.

“Dr. Mitchell’s depth of surgical knowledge and decades of clinical experience will be invaluable in his role as medical director of Premier Surgical,” said CEO Kevin Burris. “He is wellrespected in the physician community. We’re excited to have Dr. Mitchell in this role.”

Free tax assistance available Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which offers free tax preparation by certified volunteers to low- to moderate-income families and households, is available at three locations.

■ Goodwill, 5307 Kingston Pike: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, through April 15.

■ Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Fridays, Feb. 6-April 10 (closed Feb. 13).

■ Westside Unitarian Universalist Church, 616 Fretz Road: 5-8 p.m.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 10-April 14.

Documents needed include: Social Security card and birthday for each person on the return; taxpayer photo ID; original W-2s, 1099Rs, SSA1099s, etc., for all income; proof of health insurance – a new requirement. Optional documents: last year’s return, proof of account for direct deposit and expenses for deductions.

Info: www.irs.gov.

Our Physicians (L-R): Douglas Marlow, MD; J. Stephen Alley, MD; Sunil John, MD; Michael Bernard, MD; Robert Thompson II, MD; Saeed Etezadi, MD; Jeffrey Swilley, MD

Committed to excellence - every patient, every time. Serving the Knoxville area for more than 20 years. And connected with one of the nation’s highest performing health networks, Covenant Health.

Now accepting new patients.

Call for your appointment today.

(865) 632-5885 7564 Mountain Grove Drive • Knoxville, TN 37920 www.smgcare.com CLAIBORNE MEDICAL CENTER | CUMBERLAND MEDICAL CENTER | FORT LOUDOUN MEDICAL CENTER FORT SANDERS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER | LECONTE MEDICAL CENTER | METHODIST MEDICAL CENTER MORRISTOWN-HAMBLEN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM | PARKWEST MEDICAL CENTER PENINSULA, A DIVISION OF PARKWEST MEDICAL CENTER | ROANE MEDICAL CENTER

8 8800 -0682

Premier Surgical Associates has named C. Stone Mitchell, MD, FACS, as medical director of the K nox v i l le based surgical practice.

His duties will include directing quality initiatives, Dr. Mitchell suppor ting patient safety through analysis of quality data, ICD-10 implementation, strategic planning, and referring physician outreach.

Mitchell, a board-certi-

10 • FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • Shopper news