North/East Shopper-News 062415

NORTH / EAST VOL. 3 NO. 25

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BUZZ

Farm tour

From sun to dark at Meadow Lark Ever wish you could have a music festival in your backyard? Well, your wish can come true at Meadow Lark Music Festival this Saturday at Ijams Nature Center.

From 1-11 p.m., nationally acclaimed and local talented purveyors of Americana, bluegrass and folk will rock out and mellow down from the outdoor stage on the Ijams lawn.

Acts scheduled include Pokey LaFarge, Scott Miller and the Commonwealth Ladies Auxiliary, the Lonesome Coyotes, Emi Sunshine & The Rain, Guy Marshall, Mountain Soul, John Myers Band, Subtle Clutch and the Knoxville Banjo Orchestra (lineup subject to change).

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate. Find purchase links on the Ijams or co-presenter WDVX websites (ijams.org, wdvx.com).

Bring the kids, sunscreen, and a chair or blanket and settle in for a great day of music. There will be food trucks and adult and family-friendly beverages for sale. Just don’t bring coolers or canines.

The event will go on rain or shine.

– Betsy Pickle

Tournament to boost baseball A cornhole tournament to raise funds for the Union County High School baseball team will be held 6 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at Lil Jo’s BBQ on Maynardville Highway. Early registration begins at 5 p.m.

Cost is $20 per player. There will be cash prizes for first and second place. Rain date is July 11. Info: 621-4603 or 660-1839.

IN THIS ISSUE Annexation dies; nobody notices The Legislature has abolished involuntary annexation, but no one seems to care.

Victor Ashe, once the poster boy for forced annexation, didn’t seem particularly perturbed by the Legislature’s rebuke of his policies, saying, “I’m not losing any sleep over it – I’m not in the mayor business anymore.”

➤

Greg Brann, grazing and soil health specialist, farm owner Mike Clark and Jeffrey Winter discuss strip grazing and its benefits during the Knox County Farm Tour.

Armstrong vows innocence on tax fraud

By Betty Bean State Rep. Joe Armstrong is legally entitled to keep the seat he has held in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1988 unless he is found guilty or enters a plea on the federal tax Armstrong fraud charge for which he was indicted last week.

Knox County Election Commission administrator Cliff Rodgers confirmed that Armstrong, who entered a not guilty plea, cannot be forced out simply because he was indicted.

Armstrong is accused only of tax fraud, not public corruption.

The indictment says he devised a scheme to avoid paying taxes on the windfall profit he made when he bought $250,000 worth of cigarette tax stamps from a local cigarette wholesaler in anticipation of a hike in Tennessee’s cigarette tax from 20 cents to 60 cents. This would, of course, increase the value of the stamps by a corresponding amount.

Armstrong, who sat on a House subcommittee that would cast a crucial vote in the matter, is accused of approaching accountant Charles Marshall Stivers of Manchester, Ky., in 2006 or 2007

The staff of HomeSource East Tennessee pauses for a wrap-up group photo after their recent celebration of NeighborhoodWorks Week at Paul Hogue Park in East Knoxville. The organization staged a neighborhood fair and cookout to let people know that it had changed its name from the Knox Housing Partnership and broadened its scope. Staff include (women) Kim Owens, Pat Sitton, LaShawn Hall, Destiny Kyle, Jackie Mayo, Rhonda Clay, Michelle Howerton, Teressa Williams, Connie Neal; (men) Bronzie Harris, Robbie Wheaton, Ken Block, Frank Rosken, Chris Osborn and Taylor Hays. Photo courtesy HomeSource

New name, larger mission For local housing agency

By Bill Dockery An agency founded to fight real estate redlining in the early 1990s has changed its name to reflect its broader role in helping East Tennesseans find homes.

HomeSource east tennessee is the new name for the Knox Housing Partnership, a nonprofit group that formed to widen the possibilities of home ownership for lowerincome families.

“HomeSource is a nonprofit community development agency.

Tennessee Valley Realty LLC is a

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subsidiary of HomeSource that funnels its commissions back into more projects,” said HomeSource president and CEO Jackie Mayo, who has been with the group for 16 years. “We are a real estate company with a social mission.”

The organization staged a public picnic recently at Paul Hogue Park to celebrate the name-change and promote its expanded services.

HomeSource is a counseling agency for the U.S. Department of To page 3

to lend him the money to buy the stamps. When Stivers refused, the indictment says Armstrong asked Stivers for help laundering the proceeds and telling him that he did not want his name attached to money from a cigarette wholesaler, nor did he want to pay taxes on his windfall.

(It is fair to point out that raising the tax on cigarettes to discourage smoking is widely considered good public policy. It would have been consistent for Armstrong, who has won awards for championing public health, to have voted for the tax increase.)

Stivers admitted helping Armstrong conceal the $500,000 profit he made from buying the tax stamps from cigarette wholesaler Tru Wholesale. He entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and could receive up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. The date the agreement was reached was July 30, 2015. It was filed April 8, 2015.

An unnamed co-conspirator allegedly borrowed the money for Armstrong after Stivers refused to do it and received a portion of the profits, as well.

Tru Wholesale is located in West Knoxville. Former state Sen. Bill Owen was a registered lobbyist for the tobacco wholesaler for several years.

School deal puts Bounds in a bind

Read Betty Bean on page 4

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136

Grazing specialist Webb Flowers and Mike Clark tour the Green Acres Farm in Mascot during a recent event focusing on grazing, annuals and perennials, and soil health. Guests visited the farm of Mike and Susan Clark to see firsthand the benefits of strip grazing. The farm has been in Susan Clark’s family since 1803, and the couple have managed it for the past 10 years. Photos

by R. White

Ballroom dance Halls Senior Center will host a ballroom dance from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, June 27, with live music by the Nigel Boulton Band. Admission is $5 at the door.

June 24, 2015

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By Betty Bean The deal brokered between the county mayor and the superintendent of schools means that Tim Burchett will get to serve eight years without raising taxes, and Jim McIntyre will get to keep his job – at least until the next school board Patti Bounds election.

By the time school board chair

Mike McMillan faces re-election, he will have built two new Eighth District schools and so will County Commissioner Dave Wright, who will be term-limited out of office but may well have future political aspirations. Sixth District Commissioner Brad Anders will get to brag about delivering a middle school to Hardin Valley; ditto his district school board representative, Terry Hill.

So what’s not to love about the Memorandum of Understanding, which is being hailed as a rare and

welcome example of cooperation between the appropriating side of county government (commission/mayor) and the spending side (school board/superintendent)?

Quite a bit, says Patti Bounds, the Seventh District’s school board representative: “I wish we could separate the capital improvement plan out of the MOU. There are parts of it that are going to be very helpful, but when it comes to the capital improvement part, it hurts District Seven,” she said, labeling the plan

to renovate rather than replace the dilapidated Adrian Burnett Elementary School “a travesty.”

Bounds, who spends at least a day a week in each of the schools in her district and taught kindergarten in the district until she retired last year, said she was taken by surprise when McIntyre recommended building a new north central elementary school (which ultimately didn’t get funded) while ignoring the longstanding need To page 3

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2 • JUNE 24, 2015 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

Larry and Lisa Guillain-Barre ordeal prompts couple to volunteer The Allspice CafĂŠ at Fort Sanders Regional may seem like an unusual place for a family gathering, but for Larry and Lisa Beeler, it’s a “second home.â€?

It’s where they came that St. Patrick’s Day 2010 when Larry was stricken with Miller Fisher Syndrome, a rare variant of GuillainBarre Syndrome (GBS) that left him paralyzed, on a ventilator and in an induced coma. It’s where a worried Lisa, “not knowing whether he would be the ‘Larry’ he was when he came in or if he would ever be again,� waited in the lounge of the Critical Care Unit for weeks on end.

But it’s also where Larry and Lisa found so much hope, healing and caring that they now serve as volunteers for others who nd themselves in similar situations.

It’s also why the Beelers – complete with the four children, in-laws, grandkids and parents – have returned every St. Patrick’s Day for the past ve years to remember. “Our family meets here every year on March 17 because we’re so thankful,� said Lisa. “We can look back and see where we were and where we got back to. People say, ‘Could you not nd a better place to go celebrate?’ We ate here three times a day for three months!� “We’ll eat and walk around a little bit,� said Larry. “Sometimes, we’ll all go upstairs on the terrace because I loved to be wheeled outside. We re ect on what happened and thank God that we’re not here.

Sometimes, we go up to Patricia Neal (Rehabilitation Center) and a nurse will say, ‘Can I help you?’ and I’ll say, ‘No, I was a Guillain-Barre patient here ve years ago and I was in this room, and I am just here re ecting on what happened.

They’ll ask me a lot of questions. A lot of times, I will tell them my story of what I went through.�

What Larry “went through� began March 16, 2010, on his drive home from work when he noticed his vision wasn’t quite right but brushed it off, thinking it was a side effect of the antibiotics he was taking for a sore throat. “Within 24 hours, he went from

being as healthy as could be to being on life support,� Lisa recalled. “He couldn’t move his arms, his legs, he couldn’t open his eyes. He was paralyzed from head to toe.�

Fort Sanders neurologist Dr. Darrell Thomas determined that Larry had been stricken with Miller Fisher Syndrome, a variant of GBS that is characterized by abnormal muscle coordination, paralysis of the eye muscles and absence of the tendon re exes. “We didn’t know what GuillainBarre was, never heard of it,� said Larry. “We didn’t know if I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. We didn’t know what the next step was. We didn’t know whether I would be a vegetable for the rest of my life. I could tell a little bit of what was going on around me if people talked to me. I could wiggle my toes a little bit for ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I lost 30-something pounds. I was skin and bone.�

After being in ICU for four weeks, Larry spent four weeks in Patricia Neal where therapists and Dr. Sharon Glass were nally able to send him home in a wheelchair and walker. Another six or seven months of outpatient therapy followed before Larry was able to return his job as a buyer at a hardware wholesaler. “I’m living proof and a testament to a lot of people that you CAN beat this if you work hard at it,� says Larry. “Because of this hospital – the doctors and the nurses and nutritionists and therapists and the spirit of God and my belief – they got me to walk again, to talk again, got me to eat again and they helped me pull through it.�

Now, Larry and Lisa are “giving back� as Fort Sanders volunteers.

Lisa serves once a week in the same ICU lounge where she spent so many weeks during Larry’s illness. “Waiting in the ICU lounge was bad – it’s not an easy seat to sit in – but the people they had working in the ICU lounge helped me get through it,� said Lisa. “That’s why I wanted to give back.

I always say I come to volunteer hoping to be a blessing to somebody else, but usually I am the one

Five years apart, Larry and Lisa Beeler continue to remember. Wearing green, they returned to Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center on March 17, 2015, to acknowledge the fifth anniversary of Larry’s admission to rehab and reflect on what that time meant for their family. In 2010, Larry and Lisa were smiling as he was discharged from Patricia Neal. Presently they continue to come back to PNRC and Fort Sanders Regional, as a way to serve fellow patients and relay the experiences they once had.

who leaves with all the blessings. I always do. I love it.�

While Lisa helps with all types of patients in ICU, Larry serves on an as-needed basis whenever there is a family dealing with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. “What we’re trying to do is give a little bit of hope and inspiration to people,� he said. “We just try to meet with families and people in the hospital who have that and try

to help them through it. We don’t diagnose them by any means or tell them what’s going to happen. We just try to give them a little bit of hope and say, ‘You are not alone.’ If I can show that I am there and I am strong and – I hate to use the words ‘beat it’ – but if we have a positive mental attitude about it then maybe I can give them some inspiration that might change the way they look at things. When we walk out of the room, we hope that we have left something with them.

They are lying there in bed, they

can’t walk but maybe they will say, ‘He was completely paralyzed but he was able to walk in and walk out and maybe I can do that too – if not for myself then for my family.’ �

The couple recently received the 2015 “Volunteer of the Year� award in May at Fort Sanders Regional’s Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. In addition, Regional’s Volunteer Coordinator Paula Minhinnett said the couple will likely be nominated for state and national volunteer awards in the near future.

Student volunteers lend hand at Fort Sanders There’s more than a bit of wistfulness in Paula Minhinnett’s voice as she talks about the scores of college students who volunteer at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. “They are like stardust,� Paula Minhinnett is saying. “They come in like a whirlwind, do all these great things and then they’re gone. But while they are here, they are fabulous. They’re digitally gifted, they’ll accept any job, they’re quick and they’re energetic. They are great but, unlike our retiree volunteers who sign on for the rest of their life, the students are gone after a little while.�

That’s why Minhinnett, the coordinator of Fort Sanders’ army of 200 volunteers, says she would love to have even more students from the nearby University of Tennessee campus to

help add consistency to the daily operation of Covenant Health’s agship 550-bed facility.

Currently, the main areas she is trying to ll are front desk volunteers who meet, greet and escort visitors, surgery lounge volunteers who work not only with patients and family, but physicians as well, and discharge call volunteers who follow-up a patient’s progress via a phone call soon after their discharge. “Those are the three main places I’m recruiting for and it isn’t easy to do and remain consistent,� said Minhinnett. “The students are great at it because there is some computer training involved.�

Of course, there are plenty of other possibilities not only for college students but also retirees, workers looking to transition into a new ca-

reer, former patients and those with a passion for music, ministry or animals, including: Heartstrings: A musical group that entertains patients and visitors each month.

Fellowship Center: Volunteers who assist those staying in Fort Sanders’ hospitality house for the families of patients from outside the region.

HABIT (Human Animal Bonding In Tennessee): Pet owners who share the unconditional love of a pet with patients and caregivers.

Stephen Ministers: Lay ministers who provide spiritual support to patients and caregivers.

Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center Peers: Former patients help current patients

by reading to them, helping them write letters, and providing conversation and friendly company.

Openings are not always available for the service areas in which you are most interested.

The Volunteer Service Coordinator will work with you in selecting an alternative service area based on your preferred schedule. From time to time it may be necessary for a prospective volunteer to wait until an appropriate service area is vacated.

Want to lend a hand or “give back� the way Larry and Lisa Beeler do? Call Fort Sanders Volunteer Auxiliary at 865-541-1249 or visit www.fsregional.com/volunteers to apply online.

TO ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS - THANK YOU! For more than 50 years, members of the Fort Sanders Regional Volunteer Auxiliary have helped support the mission of Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. :H UHFRJQL]H HDFK RI RXU YROXQWHHUV IRU WKHLU VHOÀ HVV FRPPLWPHQW WR RXU SDWLHQWV VWD̆ DQG GRFWRUV

0094-0094

Want to know more about volunteering at Fort Sanders Regional? Call (865) 541-1249 or go to fsregional.com.

NORTH/EAST Shopper news • JUNE 24, 2015 • 3

Poet Bill Alexander and local singer/songwriter Karen Reynolds enjoy a good time at Retrospect Vintage Store. Photo by Cindy Taylor

Chronicles in verse I met local musician Karen Reynolds and poet Bill Alexander on a hot spring day at Retrospect Vintage Store. Retrospect co-owners Gina Alazawi and Tree Griffin invited us to spend time in the shop just hanging out. What fun!

Reynolds and Alexander are both accomplished artists. When singer extraordinaire Reynolds added recitation by Alexander to her CDs, words, music and lyrics met in an explosion of wistful nostalgia.

With soulful guitar and tunes reminiscent of Emmylou Harris and Joan Baez, Reynolds takes your mind back to simpler times.

On her album “Read the

Cindy Taylor

Book” she has brought Alexander in for a reading of his poem “Drunken Love.” Featuring him on CDs seems to be trending with other artists as well.

Alexander lost Mary, his wife of 35 years, in 2006.

He commemorates her in his book “From Mountain, Bottle and Heart.”

“Mary wanted me to love and laugh for the rest of my days, and that is the mea-

sure of true love,” said Alexander.

Alexander has been dubbed the “Appalachian Hippie Poet” and happily takes on that persona. To compare him to anyone living or dead would be futile.

He is someone who must be experienced in person.

Reynolds, a multitalented musician, plays guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, drums and percussion.

“I’m teaching myself to play the harmonica, but all I’m doing right now is making the neighbors’ dogs howl,” she said with a grin.

The two have performed in Knoxville venues and beyond but say two of their favorite pastimes are at-

Larger mission

Oakwood-Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association officers Bill Hutton, Ben Conaway and Mollie Conaway celebrate the opening of the neighborhood’s Little Free Library. Photo by Emily Ellis

Little Free Library opens in Oakwood-Lincoln Park

By Betty Bean The Oakwood-Lincoln Park Little Free Library served its first customer within minutes of its opening last week.

Located on Shamrock Avenue behind the OLP clubhouse, the Little Free Library was the idea of neighborhood association secretary Molly Conaway, who was thinking about ways to build community morale in the wake of the disheartening news that the most iconic home in the area – the Howard House at 2921 N. Broadway – is probably going to meet the wrecking ball to make way for a new Walmart.

“I started thinking about how to promote good development when the Howard House and Walmart started coming up, and this is just a very small effort to show how we can bring positive things into our neighborhood,” she said.

Conaway, who is the volleyball coach at Fulton High School, said that she is so thankful for the books her mother introduced her to as a child, and that remembering those days prompted her to look into getting a Little Free Library for her neighborhood.

The Little Free Library movement began in 2009 when a Wisconsin man built a tiny replica of a one-room schoolhouse and filled it full of books in honor of his mother, who loved to read.

He mounted it on a post in his front yard and invited his neighbors to take a book or bring a book. A professor

at the University of Wisconsin was intrigued by the project and saw its potential as a social movement.

The idea caught on, and by 2012, there were 2,510 Little Free Libraries across the world.

Conaway’s husband, Ben, who is an academic coach to Fulton’s student athletes, pitched in, as did Dustin Beason, who built the book box.

Conaway said the OLP Little Free Library is larger than most, and has room for plenty of books.

“Take a book, leave a book. There’s no formal checkout process – just a cool neighborhood project run by and for our neighbors, and maybe we can all take care of it together.”

Housing and Urban Development and offers educational training and counseling about home ownership and the financial aspects of personal real estate.

“We want buyers to be fully informed about the process of getting a home and keeping it,” Mayo said.

The group provides courses in financial literacy and mortgage delinquency counseling. In 2014, HomeSource worked with 230 customers who were in foreclosure.

The group seeks to put homeowners in houses that are energy-efficient and “visitable.”

Visitability means that key parts of a house are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility issues. HomeSource is building housing units that are compliant with the U.S Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. HomeSource staff have also partnered with Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation to supply LEED expertise.

HomeSource has also expanded its construction of housing, building homes in Lonsdale, apartments in Dutch Valley, and two senior complexes in Karns.

“We try to brand and market neighborhoods,” she said. “Residents have a stake in the neighborhood. You have to have residents at the

tending performances by other artists and studying with other writers. Both say much of their inspiration comes from just listening.

“Bill is an all-round totally creative soul and such an inspiration,” said Reynolds. “He is eat up with the beauty of words and how powerful they can be and is exceptional at what he does.

Words can effect change, but we use them so carelessly.”

Alexander is an eighthgeneration Tennessean, which could explain his gift for Appalachian verse.

Reynolds left Tennessee for a while but is back in Knoxville and considers herself a true Tennessean.

“To wind up with my words spoken the way I speak them on Karen’s CD is a real soulful experience,” said Alexander.

In their spare time (insert laugh here) Reynolds teaches the music business to independent artists and is creator, host and program director for the radio program “Writer’s Block,” broadcast worldwide for the past 16 years. Alexander designs Mountain Berry Baskets and loves traveling to attend artist conferences.

As if he needs more talent.

To experience truly breathtaking art in verse and music check out these two on Facebook and YouTube and consider yourself lucky if you can catch them in town or on stage.

Together or apart they take ordinary words and create magic in the moment.

From page A-1 center. Homeownership stabilizes a community.”

The organization recently added housing rehabilitation projects in Blount and Campbell counties.

community School deal

From page A-1

for a new Adrian Burnett Elementary School, which keeps getting moved to the back of the line in favor of schools in more vocal communities. She said that renovating the wooden structure is not a legitimate solution to the problems with a building that has no gymnasium and has hallways being used as classrooms.

“I don’t believe in throwing taxpayer dollars away, and that’s what you’re doing trying to renovate that building.”

She sums up her feelings: “The chair of the commission is Brad Anders, who wants a new Hardin Valley school. The assistant chair is Dave Wright, who wants a new school in Gibbs. Meanwhile, in my district, we have 51 portable classrooms housing about 2,200 students, and subpar conditions in portables that date back to 1980.

“Does it bother me that we are building in anticipation of overcrowding in Hardin Valley while you’ve got 2,200 students in portable classrooms? That’s half of the students housed in portables in Knox County. May-

REUNION NOTES ■ Central High School Class of 1980 35th reunion, 6-10 p.m. Saturday, June 27, The Foundry. Info/register: Melody Majors Johnson, 423798-0880.

■ Halls High Classes of 19761981 will be 6:30 p.m.-midnight Saturday, Sept. 26, Red Gate Farm, Maynardville.

■ Korean War Veterans Reunion luncheon will be 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 25, at Bearden Banquet Hall. For all East Tennessee military

be we could send some of our portables to Hardin Valley.”

On the other hand, Bounds likes many elements of the MOU – the fact that Knox County will be overseeing school construction, selling the Andrew Johnson Building, delivering additional money to teachers (although she wishes it were more).

But beyond bricks and mortar, there’s another aspect to this bind: the politics of the school board.

Bounds is part of a fourmember faction that includes McMillan, Hill and Amber Rountree. Hill and McMillan will benefit politically from delivering new middle schools to Hardin Valley, and Gibbs.

And Bounds, in her first year on the board, must weigh her frustrations about her own district against the value of preserving these alliances.

So where will she land when the agreement already approved by County Commission lands on the school board agenda July 1?

“I just don’t know how I’m going to vote,” she said.

“This is very difficult.” veterans who served during the Korean War. Info/RSVP: Rex Davis, 689-3900.

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4 • JUNE 24, 2015 • Shopper news

Who is your hero?

“Who is your hero?”

The little guy is nine or 10. He had been talking with his dad about heroes.

Hit me cold with his question.

I almost admitted I never had one but I didn’t think that was the answer he was seeking. I told him my father was inconveniently drafted into the military at age 39 to help win World War II. He never once complained.

Years later, when I asked how he tolerated that upheaval in our life, he said “Simple enough, when your country calls, you answer.”

This very special sermon about loyalty and responsibility sailed right past the youngster.

“My hero is Justin Wor-

Marvin West

ley.”

OK, you got me. Why? “He could take a licking and keep on ticking.”

This was little-boy talk but grandfather Timex logic.

The former Tennessee quarterback did not win enough games but got up each time he was knocked down and won considerable respect. And some genuine admiration.

Worley got clobbered. He was on his way to a world record number of sacks when he was finally decked for keeps. It was cruel and unusual punishment for a Volunteer.

I blamed 2013 problems on the veteran offensive line which looked good in photos but did not perform at a winning level. In the beginning of 2014 I blamed the inexperienced and inept offensive line and wondered if receivers really knew where they were going and why they couldn’t create at least a small window of opportunity.

Later I asked if Worley was holding the ball too long, looking for something that wasn’t there and would

never be.

After Justin was injured and the schedule softened and Joshua Dobbs arrived out of nowhere and saved the season, I dismissed the offensive muddle as a misfit of moving parts. Worley did not run the Tennessee version of the read option very well and was not expert at salvaging broken plays.

He did have leadership qualities. He took whatever came his way without ever blaming others. He showed up for work even when he didn’t feel like it. He had the heart of a champion.

Justin Worley has more than enough of the other stuff to be the little guy’s hero. He won state championships back to back at Rock Hill, S.C. He threw for 5,315 yards and a state-record 64 touchdowns as a senior. He was Gatorade National Play-

er of the Year 2010.

Hmmm, wonder why South Carolina and Clemson did not recruit him?

One analyst said “three stars, 30th among pro-style quarterbacks.”

Another whispered “too slow.”

Derek Dooley was delighted to sign Worley. He made one heck of a press release – pro size, great stats, practicing Christian, 4.07 grade-point average, goodguy award, everything from Feed the Hungry to Adopt a Highway.

As you know, the partnership didn’t work out very well at Tennessee.

Justin was poorly prepared for freshman appearances.

He saw mop-up duty as a sophomore. He won the job as a junior and started seven of eight games before the thumb injury. He threw

the key pass against South Carolina but didn’t see Marquez North’s unbelievable left-handed catch, where he pinned the football against his helmet.

Worley would have enjoyed it but he was flat on his back with a Gamecock rooting around on top of him.

Justin was again the No. 1 quarterback as a senior and almost beat Georgia (handoff fumble). The 29th sack of last season, at Ole Miss, ended his college career – 23 TD passes, 21 interceptions, not much in the way of trophies.

I’m going out on a limb.

He may not make it in the NFL but he won’t end up on welfare or in rehab. He is an OK choice as a little boy’s hero. He fits the role.

(Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com

GOSSIP AND LIES ■ Cheri Siler, math instructional coach and candidate for state senator last summer, has been RIF’d by Knox County Schools.

■ Instructional coaches were, well, coaching their peers one minute and a bunch of them are looking for jobs the next.

■ We’ve gotta preserve the myth that principals hire teachers, I guess. Remember the old education association

that put a premium on experience? That’s history.

■ Arguably, the efforts at education reform have created more problems than they’ve solved.

■ And candidates like Jeb Bush and Bill Haslam, who meant to hang their political hats on the reforms, are now looking the other way. “Curse that Common Core!”

– S. Clark

Wise to chair state council dermaknox.com

Women in Tennessee have made economic advances in recent years. The gender wage gap has narrowed, more women have college degrees and more women are in management positions.

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But data show women still have a long way to go, says Dena Wise, who was recently appointed chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women (TECW). She is a professor and Extension specialist at the University of Tennessee.

She trains teachers to teach personal finance and coordinates financial education for those seeking loans or going through bankruptcy. But she hadn’t looked at women’s economic issues until being appointed to the council six years ago.

TECW was founded in 1998 to address the economic needs of women.

Over the past two years, the council has documented the economic cost of violence against women − almost $1 billion annually.

Medical services for female victims of violence, such as cosmetic and dental surgeries, impact the cost of health insurance for everyone, Wise says.

This year, the council is looking at special issues women have regarding work. Transportation, childcare and caring for other family members are issues that are more likely to impact women than men.

The elderly and single mothers are the most economically vulnerable women in the state, she says.

Women don’t tend to work as many years as men, and their salaries aren’t as high, so their retirement checks are smaller. Responsibility for young children also affects earning ability.

TECW works to find solutions for such problems.

“It doesn’t do us any good as a society to not help because we’ll pay the price later if children aren’t edu-

UT professor Dena Wise starts second term on the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. Photo by Wendy Smith

cated or nurtured.”

Since women are often overlooked for leadership roles, the council advocates for placement of women on boards and committees.

Certain state boards are legally required to have equal numbers of men and women, so the council keeps tabs on numbers. It also looks at the governor’s appointments. Gov. Bill Haslam’s first round of appointments had no women until the TECW called him on it, Wise says.

“I don’t think men intentionally do this. You just tend to appoint people in your own networks.”

In spite of the data collected by the TECW, some in state leadership feel that women are doing just fine economically. In March, a Republican-led legislative committee failed to extend funding for the council. If the votes don’t change, the council will cease to operate in June 2016.

Wise was stunned by those who opposed the continuation of funding, like Sen. Mike Bell. The Republican chair of the Government Operations Committee asked why the state has no men’s economic council.

All the more reason to work hard this year, Wise says. The council meets quarterly, and the October meeting in Nashville will be held in conjunction with the Women’s Economic Summit and the National Congress of Vision2020, an initiative to achieve women’s economic and social equality by the year 2020 − the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

NORTH/EAST Shopper news • JUNE 24, 2015 • 5

Involuntary annexation dies; nobody notices Property owners called it a land grab that doubled their taxes. County governments called it forced annexation and a revenue drain. City governments called it annexation by ordinance.

Whatever it was called, the Tennessee General Assembly this year put an end to annexation by ordinance, and hardly anybody outside the Legislative Plaza noticed.

The legislative process of dismantling involuntary annexation began with a 2014 law requiring cities to hold a referendum in areas targeted for annexation and imposed a one-year annexation moratorium to give the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations time to work out the details. TACIR did its work, and the governor signed a new and much more restrictive annexation law this April.

matter of unwanted annexation, and provides the legal financial resources to Betty and file suit and block such anBean nexations.

“We believe CHR is the most litigious advocacy organization in the state of But the fight had been Tennessee, and we are the going on for much lon- city of Knoxville’s most freger, and the front line was quent and most successful in Knox County, where a litigant.” vigorous anti-annexation Lawsuits filed by CHR movement kicked into high members have kept individgear in 1980 in response to ual parcels off the city tax the policies of then-Mayor rolls for decades, as the city Victor Ashe, whose “finger” opted not to schedule the annexations earned head- trials. David Buuck, CHR’s lines across the state. That lawyer, now chief deputy was the year a group of law director of Knox CounKnox County residents who ty, was responsible for fillived outside the city lim- ing most of those lawsuits, its and wished to preserve which have kept hundreds that status got together of contested annexations and created Citizens for in limbo, staving off anHome Rule, whose website nexation until the property describes the organization changes hands. Buuck is like this: glad to see the change in “CHR is dedicated to the the law and says it was long preservation of the legal overdue. rights of its members in the Ashe, once the poster

boy for forced annexation, didn’t seem particularly perturbed by the Legislature’s rebuke of his policies, saying, “I’m not losing any sleep over it – I’m not in the mayor business anymore.”

But that doesn’t mean he thinks the new law is a good idea: “As a philosophical matter, if cities are precluded from growing, over a period of time, their strength will be diminished. A lot of what we did has been very beneficial to my successors.

Turkey Creek has been a tremendous benefit to Knoxville, Farragut and Knox County.”

He believes the Tennessee Municipal League, an organization of mayors that once mounted a vigorous defense of annexation, fell down on the job of protecting cities’ interests.

“The city mayors threw in the towel,” he said.

Gibbs school is expensive, unnecessary All right, I’ll say what a lot of folks are thinking.

Scott Frith

The proposed Gibbs Middle School is a terrible idea. The only people who want it are Gibbs families and the politicians seeking their support. The school is expensive, unnecessary and will force future county commissioners to raise your property taxes.

Why are we building it?

Politics.

Not long ago, a middle school for Gibbs was a boutique political issue. It was popular for Gibbs politicians to support it but usually received only passing lip service from others. However, now we have a county

mayor from West Knoxville eager for rural votes and a school board and County Commission beholden to activists from the northeast corner of the county. When you bring both together, you get a fiscal boondoggle more typical of Washington or Nashville than conservative Knox County.

Conservative?

There was a time when that word meant something.

For many, there are few things more frustrating than free-spending politicians who masquerade as conservatives. We are supposed to be against wasteful spending, not for it. There’s nothing conservative (or even sensible) about building a school we don’t need.

Millions of dollars in concrete and steel doesn’t better prepare a child for the future. Current or projected student enrollment doesn’t justify building it. In fact, every dollar spent build-

ing and operating this new school is a dollar that won’t be available to address other, more pressing needs.

(Supporters of a Gibbs Middle argue they need the school because the drive from Gibbs to Holston Middle School is too long a daily commute. They neglect to mention that it’s a long drive from Gibbs to anywhere.)

I don’t blame folks living in Gibbs for wanting their own middle school. If I lived in Gibbs, I’d likely be fighting for a new school as well.

But there was a time not too long ago when cooler heads prevailed in county government. The school board or County Commission would allow district representatives to rant and rave for their own district needs, but then the others would move quietly along and (more often than not) act in the county’s best interest.

Not anymore.

We’re passing budgets

not based on need but on where parents complain the loudest. Our politicians are beholden to the politicos and not the people.

The county is being sold the smooth evasion of, “We won’t raise your taxes,” yet this new school will require a property tax increase in the not-too-distant future.

Speaking of the future, in this era of rapid technological advances, who believes that 50 years from now there will be kids sitting at desks inside a classroom in this new building in Gibbs?

Ready for it or not, we’re at the threshold of radical changes in public education. What is Knox County doing to prepare for these changes?

Building another building.

Here’s hoping for less reactionary – and more visionary – county leadership in the future.

Scott Frith is a local attorney. You can contact him at scott@pleadthefrith.com.

We are Tennessee Since the beginning, your Shopper-News has refused to use the term Lady Vols.

We’ve resisted the copycat ladies – devils, roosters, stallions, etc. of high school teams. That does not mean this writer does not support Title IX or the culture of excellence exemplified by Tennessee’s women athletes specifically.

I was in Los Angeles in 1984 when Southern Cal beat the young team led by the late Mary Ostrowski. I watched Pat Summitt pull her starters when the game was out of reach, subbing in the youngsters who would

Ben Byrd slyly tweaked the name by writing about the “Gentlemen Vols” bastive Lady Vols name. We ketball team. The men were were Tennessee then and not amused.

Alabama guy Dave Hart now.

Come July 1, the moni- and Florida guy Jimmy Sandra ker will be history, except Cheek are taking abuse for Clark for basketball. And the folks doing the right thing. That’s who have bought ads, pep- fair because they did it badly pered letters to the editor and for the wrong reasons.

Staff who built the “LV” and even organized a probring it home for Tennessee test at the upcoming UT brand were treated shabbily three years later.

Board of Trustees meeting as the men’s department absorbed the women’s.

I was in the stands when should get a grip.

Sports is about winning. the Tennessee women won The Lady Vols tradition their first national champi- is special. It’s powerful. And Winners will earn respect and start new traditions. onship in 1987, beating La it’s history.

And Phil Campbell will Tech (the team now coached Gloria Ray was there at

by Tyler Summitt) in Austin, the naming. “Lord, they continue his old joke: “I’m Tx. were talking about calling from Tennessee, where men But I never wore the LV us the Volettes,” said the are men and women are national champions.” attire or spoke the diminu- first women’s AD.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 Computer Workshops: Internet and Email Basics, 2 p.m., Burlington Branch Library, 4614 Asheville Highway. Requires “Introducing the Computer” or equivalent skills. Info/registration: 525-5431.

Historic Ramsey House Annual Luncheon, 2614 Thorn Grove Pike. Guest speaker: Lisa Oakley, education director at East Tennessee Historical Society.

Open to the public. Board meeting at 10 a.m.; guest speaker at 11 a.m.; lunch at noon. Cost: $20. Reservations required. Info/reservations: 546-0745.

Ijams Brown Bag Series: Eating Your Yard, noon-1 p.m., Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. For ages 10 and up. Bring lunch. Free; preregistration required. Info/registration: 577-4717, ext. 110.

THURSDAY, JUNE 25 Shakespeare for Kids, 4 p.m., Mascot Branch Library, 1927 Library Road. Presented by the Tennessee Stage Company; featuring “Macbeth” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” For elementary-school-age kids and older. Info: 933-2620.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26 All-You-Can-Eat Fish Fry, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Ander-

sonville UMC, 3944 Andersonville Highway, Andersonville.

Cost: $8, adults; $6, children 12 and younger. Includes fish, cole slaw, fries, hushpuppies, drink and dessert.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JUNE 26-27 Oakes Daylily Festival, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Oakes Daylilies, 8153 Monday Road, Corryton. Free. Includes plant sale, refreshments, kids activities, live music and more. Lunch available for purchase. Info: 800-5329545, www.OakesDayLilies.com.

FRIDAY & SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 28 Encore Theatrical Company auditions for “One Man, Two Guvnors,” 6:30 p.m., Studio ETC, 180 W. Main St., Morristown. Looking for eight men, three women, three-four male singers, plus a small ensemble of actors. Info: www.etcplays.org or 423-318-8331.

SATURDAY, JUNE 27 Ballroom Dance, 7-9 p.m., Halls Senior Center, 4405 Crippen Road. Admission: $5. Live music by David Correll. Info: 922-0416.

Film Night with Potluck Meal, 6-9 p.m., Narrow Ridge’s Mac Smith Resource Center, 1936 Liberty Hill Road, Washburn. Info: Mitzi, 497-3603 or community@

government Karen Carson on the issues

Karen Carson is running for state representative in the Aug. 12 Republican primary to replace Rep. Ryan Haynes. Serving her third term on the Knox County school board, she lives in Concord in Twin Harbor.

A mother of three adult children and a nurse for 25 years at Children’s Hospital, she is 57.

Victor Ashe

A graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, La., she moved to Knox County in 1990. “I know the community and have worked in it for 25 years,” she told me.

Carson had these responses to pending legislative issues: Insure Tennessee: “We cannot leave federal dollars on the table,” she said.

Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan has significant problems, she added, and she expects it to be changed before it comes to the Legislature a second time. She did not say with certainty how she would vote if it comes up in 2016 but noted both Knox County senators voted for it while the county’s GOP state representatives were opposed or silent.

Guns in Parks: She called it “much to-do about nothing. Why was it a pressing need?”

Carson says she supports the right to bear arms, and if a repeal bill comes up next year she would get input from constituents before deciding how to vote. She did not say how she would have voted had she been a member of the Legislature during the last session.

Gas Tax: While her platform says she favors keeping taxes low, she did not say directly whether she would vote for or against a gas tax hike next year, which Haslam is expected to back. She wants to know how much it would be and what roads it would go for.

She did say, “I do not anticipate voting for any tax increase” during the 2016 legislative session. While that suggests opposition, it is less than a clear statement of opposition.

Carson expects her campaign will need to raise $50,000, and she has raised almost $10,000 to date. She says she is open to debates with expected opponent Jason Zachary, whom she says she has never met. She has two paid campaign assistants – Loren Long and Collin

Thompson. She said her headquarters will be her home and (with a laugh) “Panera’s.”

On two issues she was very clear.

She supports the Lady Vols name for women’s sports at the University of Tennessee, and she strongly backs state Rep. Roger Kane in his effort to have the UT Board of Trustees discuss the issue.

“I love the Lady Vols.

There is a history there. I absolutely favor putting it back,” she stated. (The UT Board has declined to discuss the matter at a board meeting, which almost guarantees the Legislature will debate it next year.)

She favors an appointed Knox County Schools superintendent, while Zachary favors an elected one.

Carson said she would resign from the school board if elected but declined to give a date when she might resign as she has not decided. She even mentioned serving in both positions until March 2016 although the state representative election is Sept.

29. It is legal to serve in both positions and draw two separate paychecks.

The reason she mentioned March was that her successor might be elected then, concurrent with the presidential primary, and the Knox County Commission might be expected to choose the elected winner to replace her if it was known who that individual would be.

On the other hand if the Legislature met at the same time as the school board it would be impossible to attend meetings in Nashville and Knoxville at the same time.

■ Mayor Rogero intends to replace Kirk Huddleston as a member of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority since he has served two terms. Huddleston says Gov. Haslam plans to appoint him to the state Aeronautics Commission effective July 1. He will be one of five members.

■ Sometimes UT can be its own worst enemy. The controversy over the Lady Vols is a case in point. By refusing to discuss this at a board meeting, they give state legislators a logical argument to bring legislation before the General Assembly to overturn the ban.

They can say that they are the only body willing to hear it out in a public setting. The Board of Trustees would be wise to let the public speak in a public forum. At the very least, have a board committee to hear all sides. Instead, the Lady Vols fans are being shunted to the sidelines.

narrowridge.org.

Free health fair 10 a.m.-1 p.m., hosted by St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 5401 Tiffany Road. Screenings include: height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and pulse rate. Light lunch will be served. Grab bags of nutritious snacks and fresh vegetables from the church garden while they last.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Emagene Reagan, 11 a.m., Powell Branch Library, 330 W. Emory Road. Info: 947-6210.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Melissa Mastrogiovanni, 11 a.m., Fountain City Branch Library, 5300 Stanton Road. Info: 689-2681.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28 Red White & Bluegrass, 4:30-7:30 p.m., Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, 701 Merchant Drive. Free admission. Family-friendly community event. Food vendors, inflatables, popcorn and games begin 4:30 p.m.; Kip & Jerry’s Rocky Road Show, featuring classic bluegrass and gospel, 6 p.m. in the gym. Info: wmbc.net or 688-4343.

MONDAY, JUNE 29 Shakespeare for Kids, 11 a.m., Powell Branch Library, 330 W. Emory Road. Presented by the Tennessee Stage Company; featuring “Macbeth” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

For elementary-school-age kids and older. Info: 947-6210.

interns Meet intern Betty Betsnat “Betty” Mengesha is the newest Shopper intern. She is a rising sophomore at Bearden High School and enjoys biking, rock climbing and watching movies. Her future plans include becoming a doctor. If Betty could have lunch with anyone in the world, she would pick YouTube vlogger Louis Cole, a British video creator.

“Louis travels all over the world and is Mengesha always meeting new people so I feel I could learn so much from his adventures and have a fun time.”

6 • JUNE 24, 2015 • Shopper news

Interns on the water

By Shannon Carey Shopper-News interns and their chauffeurs only got lost once on the way to Helms Ferry, deep in Sharps Chapel on Norris Lake. Luckily, Google Maps saved the day.

The ferry, possibly the last in operation in Tennessee, serves to connect the Braden community with the rest of Union County.

Braden was cut off when Norris Lake was impounded. Now, the only way for Braden residents to get to the rest of the county is the ferry or a long drive through Claiborne County.

Union County Roads Superintendent David Cox

Donald Sharp guides Helms Ferry across the river on a many times each day. He has been doing this task for 14 years.

says the ferry and the ramps leading to it have seen recent improvements through a partnership with TVA, which provided $10,000 for

the project. Union County only had to kick in $7,000.

“We’re all about saving money,” said Cox. The ferry is free to ride. In-

terns enjoyed the ride across the beautiful, clear waters of Norris Lake, and they even encountered some wildlife: a goose and one fish.

A voyage to Braden

By Charlie Hamilton Have you ever ridden on Helms Ferry? If you haven’t you should take a voyage.

Helms Ferry is located off Old Leadmine Bend Road in Sharps Chapel in Union County. Helms Ferry is one of the last working

ferries in East Tennessee.

This ferry is a very important mode of transportation for the community of Braden and the rest of Union County. If it wasn’t for Helms Ferry the residents of Braden would have to go through Speedwell or

LaFollette to get to the rest of Union County.

In 1936, TVA created Norris Lake as an artificial reservoir which flooded the community Loyston and created problems for people living in some communities like Braden.

Helms Ferry has been in operation for some time now. We met Donald Sharp, the operator of Helms Ferry for 14 years, and he took us for the voyage. It is neat that a piece of East Tennessee history like Helms Ferry is just in our backyard.

Abi Nicholson, Charlie Hamilton and Anne Marie Higginbotham relax on the porch swing at the Union County Arts Cooperative in Maynardville.

Arts Co-op has something for everyone

By Shannon Carey Shopper-News interns had yet another shopping spree, and yet again we apologize to their parents.

This time, interns enjoyed a little treasure hunting in the rooms of the Union County Arts Cooperative. Susan Boone welcomed them to the store.

Located in the historic Dr.

Carr House in downtown Maynardville, the Co-op showcases and sells the work of more than 30 artists and crafters. A tiny building next door houses music and art lessons. Eric Holcomb offers free music lessons every Wednesday evening.

Info: 992-9161 or find them on Facebook.

Forensics taught at UT KidsU Camp

By Maddie Murphy I had an amazing time at the UT KidsU Camp for the second year in a row. I think that it is important for kids to keep learning over summer break and I wanted to do something to further my learning in the subject of forensic anthropology.

I had a great time and learned a lot in the five days at camp. I can tell the gen-

der and ancestry of a person just by using the skull and pelvis. I made many new friends and did fun labs, too.

May 16, the ShopperNews interns went to the Trinity Funeral Home, and I was excited to get to share what I knew with Myra Sloan, an embalmer there.

Overall the camp was a great learning experience and I’m glad I decided to sign up.

A dummy head used to practice facial repairs at the funeral home

Trinity Funeral Home embalmer Myra Sloan shows one of the personal size urns to the interns. Photos by R. White

Trinity embalmer wows interns

By Shannon Carey Myra Sloan was going on four hours of sleep when she spoke to the Shopper-News interns June 16. But that’s the nature of the business at Trinity Funeral Home in

Maynardville.

“We are 24/7, 365 funeral home,” she said. “There are no holidays for us.”

For such a somber subject, Sloan made her talk interesting and comfort-

ing. She described the process of planning a funeral, different traditions for embalming and funerals, and even the embalming process.

Sloan spoke about deal-

ing with grief and death of a loved one.

“Love everybody to the fullest now,” she said. “We’re never promised tomorrow.”

Info: www.trinityfuneral home.net or 865-992-5002

Myra Sloan’s amazing job

By Abi Nicholson Myra Sloan has worked as an embalmer for 22 years. She has been to lots of schools talking about her job. In her high school years, Sloan wanted to be a speech pathologist. As she was training she still was indecisive what she wanted to be, so she prayed to God to give her a sign.

“Every day is a new adventure, you never know what your next phone call

will be,” Sloan said.

One day, a man came to her and said “Myra, God came to me in a dream and said you need to work in a funeral home.”

Sloan laughed. She had seen too many horror movies to want to work in a funeral home. Later, she started getting interested and soon realized it was a pretty cool job. When she started learning about embalming she fell

in love with the job and started to see it as a ministry.

To this very day she believes that this was supposed to be her job. To me, Myra Sloan is amazing person because she wakes up every day just to work with deceased people and help their families. Also, she can work on a tight schedule and still makes it through the day.

Meet the courthouse crew

By Shannon Carey Union County’s officeholders welcomed the Shopper-News interns and were glad to share information about what they do.

Mayor Mike Williams led the tour with stops in each office, including visits with Register of Deeds Mary Beth Kitts, Clerk and Master Sandra Edmondson and the staff of General Sessions Court Clerk Barbara Williams.

Intern Bailey Lemmons even researched her father’s childhood home in the Property Assessor’s office with help from Randy Turner and Tammie Carter.

Bailey Lemmons looks at a map of her father’s childhood home, thanks to the help of Randy Turner (pictured) and Tammie Carter in the property assessor’s office.

A friendly welcome at the courthouse

By Betty Mengesha

Union County Mayor Mike Williams welcomes the interns to his office. Photo by Amanda McDonald

In addition to the charming art galleries, wonderful scenery and an enjoyable ferry, Union County offers a kind and welcoming courthouse. Even with all the legal business being carried out, you are immediately able to see the kind of people who make up

Union County’s community. However, this courthouse wouldn’t be able to be so productive in their property, financial and court clerk departments without Mayor Mike Williams.

Williams has been serving Union County as mayor for approximately five years. His passion for helping the

community really shines through, and it is evident that he is a friend to all residents. His humor and desire to work hard for the public good really aids in making the courthouse a family. So if you have spare time during this summer, make sure you stop by Union County!

weekender

Shopper news • JUNE 24, 2015 • 7

Onward and

By Carol Shane

East Tennessee is home to gardeners of all types.

This time of year, tomatoes, squash and peas are – if you’re lucky – popping off the vine. Coneflower and lilies bask in the sun; hostas and ferns are happy in the shade.

But what if you don’t have much land? Or are a city dweller? Or just want to do something fun and trendy?

Vertical gardening has been called “a boon for the land-challenged,” and this weekend UT Gardens will teach you all you need to know about it. Plus you can also design garden structures with your kids in tow.

They’ll be using Legos; you’ll be listening and taking notes.

There are currently many kinds of commercial products available for those who want to garden up, not out.

A quick Google search turns up “Woolly Pockets,” aeroponic towers, tiered systems. Big-box stores are getting in on the trend, offering instruction books and preassembled wall units.

The good folks at UT Gardens have their noses to the ground (yikes), and they’re getting in on the vertical craze. They’ll have all sorts of ideas, and you’ll get to build your own miniature vertical garden to take home. Also, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a pro or a beginner – everyone can

upward

for the gardener

FRIDAY ■ Alive After Five: “Tribute to the R&B Classic Hits” with Evelyn Jack and Donald Brown, 6-8:30 p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive. Tickets: $15; $10 for members/students. Info: 934-2039.

■ Headroom III concert, 9 p.m., the Concourse, 940 Blackstock Ave. Tickets: $5 at the door. Info: http://internationalknox. com.

■ Steve Kaufman Concerts featuring: Steve Kaufman, Bobby Hicks, Alan Munde, John Reischman, Mark Cosgrove, 7 p.m., Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville. Info/tickets: www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com or 9818590.

■ Summer Movie Magic: “The Birds,” 8 p.m., Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Tickets: all Ticketmaster outlets, the Tennessee Theatre box office, 800-745-3000. Info: www. tennesseetheatre.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY ■ Oakes Daylily Festival, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Oakes Daylilies, 8153 Monday Road, Corryton. Free. Includes plant sale, refreshments, kids activities, live music and more. Lunch available for purchase. Info: 800-532-9545, www.OakesDayLilies.com.

Not enough yard for a vegetable or flower garden? UT Gardens can show you how to rethink that. Photos submitted

FRIDAY-SUNDAY ■ Music: Best Served Cold featuring The Northerners, a live folk-rock ice concert, 7 p.m., Ice Chalet, 100 Lebanon St. Info/ tickets: www.productionsonice.com/.

SATURDAY learn something.

Also on the docket for the summer months are workshops in growing carnivorous plants, gardening in the shade, making decorative leaf castings, and gardening to attract butterflies.

“Growing Together:

Landscape Legos” runs from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 27. The cost per family is $20 for members, $30 for nonmembers.

“Adult Workshop: Vertical Gardening” runs 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 27. The cost is $20 for members,

$30 for nonmembers. Costs for both workshops include materials.

To learn more, or to find out how to become a member of UT Gardens, visit utgardens.tennessee.edu/.

Send story suggestions to news@shop pernewsnow.com.

3 films brave post-dino landscape

■ Cherokee Heritage Day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., James White’s Fort, 205 W. Hill Ave. Free to the public. Visit a Cherokee campsite, interact with members of the militia; tour the fort; a variety of pioneer skills displayed. Info: 525-6514 ■ “Fun in the Sun” Mopar Car Show and Swap Meet, noon-4 p.m., Chilhowee Park Fairgrounds, 3301 E. Magnolia Ave. Registration, 9 a.m.-noon. Proceeds to benefit the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad. Info: etmcarclub@gmail.com, www. easttennesseemopars.com.

■ Hard Knox Roller Girls Allstars vs. Circle City Derby Girls, 5 p.m., Knoxville Civic Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker Ave. Intraleague bout: Lolitas Locas vs. Machine Gun Kellys, 7 p.m. Tickets: Coliseum box office, team members and team website. Info: www.hardknoxrollergirls.com; on Facebook.

By Betsy Pickle If you’ve had enough of dinosaurs already, it may be time to move on to some different critters in this week’s new releases.

The family film “Max” features a heroic Marine dog who needs time to recover after losing his best friend. His handler’s family adopts him, and he slowly bonds with the younger brother as they try to unravel a mystery.

Thomas Haden Church, Lauren Graham, Luke Kleintank, Jay Hernandez, Mia Xitlali, Dejon LaQuake and Robbie Amell star for director Boaz Yakin (“Remember the Titans”). The A Marine dog named Max and the younger brother (Josh Wiggins) of his former handler bond film is rated PG. as they try to solve a mystery in “Max.” The less-than-cuddly living teddy bear Ted returns in “Ted 2.” Now married to Morgan Freeman, Sam J. exclusively at Downtown in on him, changing his life Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), Jones, Patrick Warburton, West. forever.

Ted (voiced by director/co- Michael Dorn, John Slattery Greg (Thomas Mann) has Nick Offerman, Molly writer Seth MacFarlane) and Liam Neeson. The film made an effort throughout Shannon and Jon Bernthal must prove to the court that is rated R for crude and sex- high school not to get close (“The Walking Dead”) also he’s a “person” before he ual content, pervasive lan- to anyone, even his “co- star for director Alfonso qualifies to become a par- guage and some drug use. worker” Earl (RJ Cyler). But Gomez-Rejon. The film, ent.

There’s at least one cat in when his mom (Connie Brit- rated PG-13, won the AudiMark Wahlberg returns “Me and Earl and the Dying ton) insists that he befriend ence Award and the Grand as Ted’s best bud, who’ll do Girl,” but the teenagers ref- a schoolmate (Olivia Cooke) Jury Prize at this year’s anything he can to help. The erenced in the title are the who has been diagnosed Sundance Film Festival and cast also includes Amanda focus of this Sundance Film with leukemia, the world earned honors at several Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Festival winner, opening he has kept at bay crashes other fests.

Looking for a lifetime of happiness?

■ Adult Workshop: Vertical Gardening, 1-3 p.m., UT Gardens, 2518 Jacob Drive. Info/registration: www.utgardens. wildapricot.org/UTGardensEvents; 974-7151.

■ Meadow Lark Music Festival, Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. Featuring; Americana music, local food and family fun. Headliner: Pokey LaFarge. Tickets: www. brownpapertickets.com/event/1568627. Info: www.ijams. org.

SUNDAY ■ Summer Movie Magic: “The Birds,” 2 p.m., Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Tickets: all Ticketmaster outlets, the Tennessee Theatre box office, 800-745-3000. Info: http:// www.tennesseetheatre.com.

AREA FARMERS MARKETS ■ Dixie Lee Farmers Market, Renaissance|Farragut, 12740 Kingston Pike. Hours: 9 a.m.noon Saturdays through Oct. 31. Info: dixieleefarmers market.com; on Facebook.

■ Ebenezer Road Farmers Market, Ebenezer UMC, 1001 Ebenezer Road. Hours: 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays through late November. Info: on Facebook.

■ Knoxville Farmers Market, Laurel Church of Christ, 3457 Kingston Pike. Hours: 3-6 p.m. Fridays through late November.

■ Lakeshore Park Farmers Market, 6410 S. Northshore Drive. Hours: 3-6 p.m. every Friday through Nov. 20. Info:

on Facebook.

■ Market Square Farmers Market, 60 Market Square.

Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturdays through Nov. 21.

Info: marketsquarefarmers market.org.

■ Maryville Farmers Market: Church Avenue. Hours: 9 a.m.-sellout, Saturdays through Nov. 17.

■ Maryville Farmers Market: New Providence Presbyterian Church, 703 W. Broadway, Maryville. Hours: 3:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays through Aug. 29.

Additional information at ShopperNewsNow.com.

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8 • JUNE 24, 2015 • Shopper news

NHC funds nursing equipment for PSCC A $10,000 donation to Pellissippi State Community College by local affiliates of the National HealthCare Corporation is earmarked for the purchase of state-ofthe-art teaching equipment for the college’s nursing degree program.

The equipment includes a bed with a headwall containing electronic patient monitors and is to be used in the simulation lab at the Strawberry Plains campus.

“The nursing department is very grateful for NHC’s support,” said Lisa Stamm, dean of the program at Pellissippi State.

“We currently have students completing clinical rotations at NHC Farragut, and we appreciate the many opportunities NHC continues to provide for our students, in addition to this gracious gift.”

The donation was made

by NHC Farragut, NHC Fort Sanders, NHC Knoxville, Holston Health and Rehabilitation Center, and NHC Oak Ridge. NHC affiliates operate long-term healthcare centers, as well as home-care programs, independent living centers and assisted living communities throughout the country.

Pellissippi State Community College officials accepted a donation of $10,000 from NHC’s East Tennessee facilities on June 12.

The donation will fund laboratory simulation equipment for the college’s nursing program. Pictured are NHC vice president Ray Blevins, PSCC professor More Herington, NHC Farragut director Karla Lane, PSCC vice president Peggy Wilson and president L. Anthony Wise Jr., with Jeff Tambornini, Keith McCord and Brad Shuford. Photo submitted

Pellissippi State’s nursing degree program began in 2010 and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. Each of the college’s five campuses in Knox and Blount counties offers prenursing courses, and the

nursing program is offered at the Blount, Magnolia and Strawberry Plains campuses.

The program runs two years, and students graduate with an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree. They are then pre-

pared to take the national licensure exam to become a registered nurse.

Pellissippi State also offers a fast-track degree option through the Bridge to Registered Nurse program that allows licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and

paramedics to enter nursing school following the successful completion of one summer transitional course. The college partners with other schools to offer the RN to BSN path for students interested in going on for a bachelor’s degree.

Cutting-edge technology with traditional customer service

By Sara Barrett More than 30 years ago, Dave Glass began Computer Systems Plus as an information technology business specializing in help for smaller companies. Prior to that, he had repaired computers at K-25 in Oak Ridge and installed automated teller lines for SCI, the manufacturer of the first IBM computer.

“But after I learn something, I get bored and want to learn something else,” said Glass. He was working for Tennessee Data Systems when it closed, so he offered to continue helping his 40 clients independently. EvComputer Systems Plus founder Dave Glass and his son, Rob, ery single one accepted the offer, and Glass estimates vice president of marketing and field service Photo by S. Barrett

Computer Systems Plus, now located at 605 Sevier Ave., has filed more than 7,500 client contracts since.

In addition to installing computers, networks, printers and other hardware, Glass’s staff of 16 develops specialized software for individual business needs. A utility company in Roane County needed a way to remind its customers to pay their bill on time, so Computer Systems Plus developed a program that would call the utility company’s customers automatically.

“We are a face-to-face

company,” said Glass. “The world is so big and there are so many products, we want to find what works best for our clients and not something that will outpace or out-price them.”

A prime example is the option for smaller businesses to hold Computer Systems Plus on a retainer, just as attorneys are used only when needed. A business owner pays a certain amount for a specific amount of time, even a block of hours, and he or she would be able to access any of CSP’s services throughout the year until

the time has been used. If the business does not use the entire amount, the time rolls over to the next year.

Although the business is based in South Knoxville just across the river from downtown, the address is just a landing spot, said Glass. “We leave from here to visit customers. This is just where we deploy everybody from. We want our clients to feel like they’re getting a return on their investments. We are always available to talk.” Info: 5735303, or visit compsysplus. com.

Rotary gives two scholarships

NEWS FROM PREMIER SURGICAL

Dr. Mejia of Premier Surgical: serving through surgery The importance of service and helpDr. Mejia was on staff at Masssena ing others was instilled in Jose Luis Memorial Hospital in upstate New Mejia, MD, FACS, at an early age. As York, providing surgical and wound the son of a politicare to a variety of pediatric and adult cian and owner of patients. a newspaper in the Dr. Mejia and his family missed South American East Tennessee, so he recently joined country of Ecuador, Premier Surgical Associates in Dr. Mejia saw how Knoxville as a general surgeon at the his father served group’s Tennova North and Physicians the community.

Regional locations in June.

Dr. Mejia But it was his “We love it here! The mountains, uncle, who was a the people - everyone says ‘Hello’,” surgeon, who inspired him to serve says Dr. Mejia. “Premier Surgical has a through medicine. great reputation and I’m excited to be “When I was a part of this group.” young, my uncle took Dr. Mejia, who me to the clinic where speaks both English he operated. I loved and Spanish, has cleaning wounds, found already his naremoving sutures, tive language to be an and I especially loved advantage in commuthe operating room. It nicating with patients. came naturally to me,” “Communicating says Dr. Mejia. and always being honWhile in medical est with my patients is school at the prestivery important to me,” gious Central Universiexplains Dr. Mejia.” ty of Ecuador, Dr. Mejia Dr. Mejia, whose trained with one of the special interests pioneers of laparoscopinclude minimally inic surgery techniques. vasive procedures “Surgeons ffor benign and maDr. Mejia is an avid runner and is picwere transitionlignant problems li tured in the 2013 Boston Marathon. ing to minimally oof the abdomen He completed the race 40 minutes invasive surgeries. aand breast cancer before the fatal bombing. He says the It was an advanssurgery, is curtragedy is a reminder of the importage that I trained rrently accepting tance of life and family. in a time when we new patients at the n did a lot of both Premier Surgical P open and laparoscopic procedures,” offices at Tennova North and Physiexplains Dr. Mejia. cians Regional.

Drawn by the medical technology available, Dr. Mejia moved to the United States in 1999 and completed his residency in General Surgery at East Tennessee State University. He worked at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Johnson City for eight years, serving as Clinical Associate Professor To schedule an appointment with and Chief of Surgery. Most recently, Dr. Mejia, call 865-938-8121.

Cormack

Ramsey

By Bonny C. Millard Applicants for the Rotary Club of Knoxville scholarships were so outstanding that the club decided to award two $16,000 scholarships for the first time.

Rachel Cormack, a graduate of South-Doyle High School, and Cameron Ramsey, a graduate of Bearden High School, were honored at a Rotary Club of Knoxville luncheon. They will receive an annual disbursement for four years.

Rotarian Shannon Holland said the committee received applications from students from all Knox County high schools, and these two applicants were exemplary students who both deserved the scholarship.

Cormack will attend Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and plans to pursue a career in neonatal nursing. She said that after college graduation she plans to come home to Knoxville to live and also hopes to

Scholarship recipient Faith Harris performs for the Rotary Club of Knoxville while Bill MacGrath watches.

continue participating in medical mission trips.

Ramsey will attend Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C., and plans to earn a master of divinity and go into the ministry. Ramsey has been working parttime at Chick-fil-A while in high school and said that his experience as a team leader has helped him develop his leadership skills.

Both Cormack and Ramsey thanked the Rotary Club for the scholarship and for investing in their lives.

Two current recipients, Alicia Lewis and Lucas Despins, who both attend the University of Tennessee,

Knoxville, attended the luncheon.

In addition to those scholarships, the Bob and Diana Samples Community School of the Arts Rotary Club of Knoxville Scholarship was presented to Faith Harris, who has been at the school for 12 years. Rotarian Bob Samples was club president last year.

Jennifer Willard, executive director of the arts school, described Harris as a percussion prodigy.

Harris plays several instruments. After thanking Rotary, Harris demonstrated her vocal and guitar skills while performing a song for the audience.

SUMMER CAMPS ■ Acting 2: Character Acting classes for ages 11 and up, 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, July 20-24, Knoxville Children’s Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Ave. Cost: $240. Info/registration: Dennis Perkins, dennis@ childrenstheatreknoxville. com or 208-3677.

■ Camp Wesley Woods summer camp, 329 Wesley Woods Road, Townsend. Programs for boys and girls grades K-12. Info/ registration: 448-2246 or www.

CampWesleyWoods.com.

■ Music and Creative Arts Camp, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. July

13-17, Concord UMC, 11020 Roane Drive. For kids who have finished first through sixth grades.

■ Clarence Brown Theatre Summer Acting Camp, 9 a.m.4 p.m. Clarence Brown Theatre Performance Venues. Session 1: Monday-Friday, July 6-17; Session 2: Monday-Friday, July 2031. Focus on acting and musical theatre techniques. Cost: $525 each session. Info/registration: www.clarencebrowntheatre. com/actingcamp.shtml or Terry Silver-Alford, tsilvera@utk.edu.

■ Creative Movement for

the Stage acting classes for ages 12 and up, 1-4 p.m.

Monday-Friday, July 20-24, Knoxville Children’s Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Ave. Cost: $240. Info/registration: Dennis Perkins, dennis@childrens theatreknoxville.com or 208-3677.

■ “Dance the Day Away!” dance camp, 9 a.m.-noon Monday-Thursday, July 20-23, Premier Athletics KnoxvilleWest, 11250 Gilbert Drive.

Ages 4 and up. Cost: $90.

Snack and craft included.

Info/registration: 671-6333.

NORTH/EAST Shopper news • JUNE 24, 2015 • 9

NEWS FROM EMERALD YOUTH FOUNDATION OF KNOXVILLE

What’s old is new again

A message from Steve Diggs, Emerald Youth president and CEO High school students from our Virginia Avenue neighborhood ministry spent time this month painting the home of an elderly Knoxville resident. As the teens wielded brushes and rollers under Steve Diggs the direction of Operation Back Yard, they learned about backbone from the homeowner: at 94, she still cares for her own lawn.

Even more, the young people experienced the deep satisfaction of serving others. “It makes me feel more like a human being because I am helping another person,” said Tayrohn Jackson, a sophomore at Central High School.

Serving others is a key component of all Emerald Youth activities this summer. All of our youth, who range from kindergartners through high school seniors, are involved in serving others. Some of our youth are performing volunteer work at community agencies like Beardsley Farms, Operation Backyard with the Knoxville Leadership Foundation, Volunteer Ministry Center, and KARM. Some youth are learning leadership skills by helping out with younger kids. For example, during Emerald’s annual Camp Week for elementary and middle school students June 1519, high school students worked as crew members. Under the leadership of Emerald Youth staff they performed needed assistance and helped out with activities like biking, water activities, arts and crafts, and music production during the various camps.

Learning about giving back is on the minds of our 2015 EY Fellows. The select group of recent high school graduates, now about to begin college, will spend five days this month in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. There they will spend time touring community development activities and speaking with community leaders. “They will start to understand their own leadership potential,” said Cedric Jackson, director of the EY Fellows.

We find again and again that when children focus on serving others, they grow in compassion and love. Often they express disappointment when service opportunities conclude. I think of the example of our Lord Jesus as expressed in Matthew 20:28: “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” May we all follow that example.

Historic building awaits Emerald Academy scholars

C

onstruction crews are finishing the renovation of the Moses School Building, 220 Carrick St., to house Knoxville’s first public charter school, Emerald Academy.

With a planned opening of July 27 by Emerald Charter Schools, the team led by Johnson & Galyon Construction is preparing the best of all worlds: a century-old brick school building that has been fitted with modern comforts and high-functioning technology.

Exposed brick walls, spacious classrooms filled with natural light, a modern media center, a roomy dining hall, a wellequipped gymnasium, and an auditorium with a stage all await the children.

In mid-June, crews were painting the 65,000 square foot building and installing flooring, sprinkler systems, communications and electrical wiring, and HVAC. The opening of the K-8 Emerald Academy will be the continuation of a rich tradition and the start of an exciting new era for the children of Knoxville, said Jon Rysewyk, school director of Emerald Academy. “The building that first opened its doors in 1916 as the Moses School is about to house a new generation of scholars. We expect great things for them.”

Emerald Academy will begin with 60 kindergarten students and 60 first graders. It will grow two grades per year until it is at Renovations continue at Emerald Academy in the historic Moses School capacity at 540.

Building.

Emerald Youth teens paint house with

Operation Backyard Painting a house takes teamwork!

The Knoxville Force men’s team gathers on the field at Emerald Youth Sansom Sports Complex.

Thirteen volunteers from Emerald Youth’s Virginia Avenue ministry worked June 5 with Operation Backyard to paint the exterior of a small bungalow for an elderly Knoxville resident. High school student Tayrohn Jackson Mixing fresh paint for the porch and walls of the house are (l-r) high school students Jada Foster, Akeyesha Bell, Shelley Sterling, and youth director Quana Fields.

Knoxville Force settles in to new home The Knoxville Force has enjoyed its new home this season at Emerald Youth Sansom Sports Complex.

The amateur soccer club is owned and operated by Emerald Youth Foundation, and provides the young adult players with the opportunity to coach children at annual camps and clinics, as well as model positive, Christian values for the kids.

The Knoxville Force men’s team plays in the National Premier Soc-

cer League and the women’s team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League. Remaining home games include:

steadied the ladder for Menwou Cargoe while Billy Dusenge handed up the roller. The group, which finished its project in one day, included nine high school students, one young adult, and two Emerald Youth staff members.

■ June 26, 7:00 pm - Knoxville Force Women vs. Chattanooga ■ June 27, 2:00 pm - Knoxville Force Women vs. Cincinnati Saints ■ June 28, 3:00 pm – Knoxville Force Men vs. Birmingham Hammers

More details at www.knoxvilleforce.com

Swimming, sleuthing and Minecraft intrigue kids at

Camp Week

Enjoying Bike Camp at Safety City during Emerald Youth Camp Week.

Nearly 300 elementary and middle school kids had fun and high adventure at Emerald Youth’s annual Camp Week June 15-19, presented by Variety of Eastern Tennessee.

Camp activities included fishing, theatre, biking, Lego and Minecraft, sleuthing, team sports and fashion. A highlight of the week was a full day at the Knoxville Zoo with catered lunch, car-

ousel rides and tee shirts.

Emerald Youth Camp Week convened throughout the greater Knoxville area at sites including Lenoir City Park, Safety City, Junior Achievement Biz Town in Clinton, Emerald Youth Sansom Sports Complex downtown, and a host of local churches.

Children enjoyed immersion in the theme of each camp and the hands-on experiences. For ex-

ample, Sports Camp included time swimming and playing basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. Fashion Camp included a fashion show. Kids at Master Builders put together racecars and sent them down a giant ramp. Forensics campers learned to assemble evidence and solve a mystery… or a crime.

Emerald Youth are already looking forward to Camp Week 2016!

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10 • JUNE 24, 2015 • Shopper news

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