North/East Shopper-News 072314

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NORTH / EAST VOL. 2 NO. 29

www.ShopperNewsNow.com |

July 23, 2014

www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

IN THIS ISSUE

Just 4 Pets

In fourth grade, Dr. Jacqueline Roberts Sherrod knew what she wanted to be: a veterinarian – taking care of animals. Her mother, Rosetta Sanders, encouraged her, telling her, “You can do it.” So she did. “If anyone had told me how hard it would be, I might have changed my mind,” says Sherrod. By the time she realized the challenges she would face, she already had overcome them.

See story on page 8

One Faith Christian Store New businesses have been popping up at Knoxville Center Mall. One Faith Christian Store opened in March. The former owner sold the business when he and his wife decided to return to Guatemala on a mission trip. One Faith Christian Store was exactly the type of business Addison and Alison Galloway were looking for. It was much more than I expected.

Read Nancy Whittaker on page 8

More turmoil at school board Knox County school board drama continues with last week’s revelation that vice chair Gloria Deathridge has health issues that might make it difficult for her to serve a four-year term. She’s a candidate for reelection on Aug. 7, opposed by retired social worker Marshall Walker.

Read Sandra Clark on page 4

ESPN disses Vol backfield! Good old ESPN, more enthused than usual about SEC football, honors us with a backfield ranking. Truthfully, it doesn’t tell us much we didn’t already know. Alabama is again loaded. Georgia’s Todd Gurley may be the best running back in America.

Read Marvin West on page 5

Burchett trivia The Shopper-News interns visited with Judge Thomas Varlan and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett last week. Burchett amazed the kids with his eclectic interests and sent them away with Bigfoot bumper stickers. Intern Donna Mitchell compiled a quick list of “Five Things You Didn’t Knox About Mayor Burchett.”

Read Interns on pages 6-7

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Patricia Williams ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Patty Fecco

Meg Retinger, left, shows attendees a set of ornaments as auctioneer Tammy McCammon prepares to start the bidding at the Hallmark Volunteers ornament premiere-night party at New Salem United Methodist Church. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Collectors revel as they prepare for Hallmark ornament premiere By Betsy Pickle It all looked so innocent: a small church dining hall with a buffet of homemade vittles down the middle of the room, red-checkered tablecloths enticing people to sit down and dig in, with a promise of bingo after the meal. Who could know that beneath the surface was a ticking clock ready to erupt in a frenzy of passionate consumerism? Well, anyone who knew that it was Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere Night, and that the group at New Salem United Methodist Church on Twin Creek Road was the Hallmark Volunteers club, the local affiliate of the Keepsake Ornament Club. The ornament-bedecked Christmas tree centerpiece should have been the first clue, and Hallmark products on the auction table and door-prize display should’ve been second

and third clues. Tammy McCammon, president of the Hallmark Volunteers, organizes the shindig at her church every year as the prelude to the ornament premiere event at the Linda’s Hallmark stores at the Gallery and Village Green shopping centers (Linda’s sponsors the club). The 40-some club members and guests enjoy food, fun and fellowship while counting down the hours until the Hallmark stores open at 10 p.m. so collectors can fill their wish lists and browse until sales can begin at midnight. It was a full house at New Salem UMC. The club meets six times a year, and the members greeted each other and fell into conversation immediately at the July 11 gathering. They filled their plates with ham, chicken tenders, deviled eggs, cole slaw, potato salad, sliced tomatoes, warm rolls, watermelon, pies, pound

cake and cookies and sat down to eat and talk. After dinner, McCammon started a bingo game in which players penciled in their own numbers – all corresponding to the names of different ornaments. The winners of the extended game (basically, everyone there) got to choose their own Hallmark item from the display. It was easy to get into the spirit of the live auction, especially since the funds raised would be going to causes that the club supports such as women’s shelters, animal rescue groups and disease-specific charities. The assortment ranged from practical to collectible, with a variety of ornaments – Barbie, snowmen, barbecue, Snoopy – in sets and gift packages as well as things like a red-white-and-blue afghan and Hallmark and Olympics collector pins. To page 3

Rogero supports ‘not-metro,’ with big ‘but’ By Anne Hart Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero says she supports the consolidation of Knoxville and Knox County governments with one very important stipulation: The end result must be a municipal form of government. “I wouldn’t want to live in a consolidated government that had the current form of county government,” Rogero told members of the Rotary Club of West Knoxville in response to a question from the audience. Rogero, who served on County Commission for eight years, said that soon after County Mayor Tim Burchett recently announced that he is going to actively push for consolidation of the two governments she met with him and told him her position. “We had a good conversation about it all,” she said. “We don’t always agree on everything, but we do talk about things, and we get along well.” Rogero said the city of Knoxville and the areas of Knox County surrounding it “are becoming more and more an urban area, and having one government makes sense. But I like city government. The buck stops with me. I hire the law director, I hire the tax collector, I hire the police chief, and they

Madeline Rogero all report to me. I’m responsible for what happens.” In addition, she said, she likes the fact that elective offices in the city are nonpartisan, as opposed to the county’s highly partisan structure. Elected to the office in 2011, Rogero is the city’s 68th mayor. She told Rotarians that she understands that as business leaders and entrepreneurs “your job is to create jobs, and mine is to create the climate that makes that possible – that ensures we have the

quality of life that people will want to live and work here.” To do that, she says, the city has used Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) and other “strategic tools,” including public infrastructure and façade grants, to help create a vibrant downtown. “Historically, there had been a lack of investment in downtown. We have used these tools to make things happen that otherwise would not have happened. We are now starting to see some of those TIFs roll off and tax dollars come to the city.” Rogero cited numerous initiatives sponsored by or encouraged by the city, including the University Commons soon to open on a former brownfield on Cumberland Avenue. “Six years ago, then-Mayor Haslam began working with stakeholders on that project. It represents $130 million in private investment.” The revamping of Cumberland Avenue itself has had some scheduling changes, as important factors like University of Tennessee football traffic have to be taken into consideration, Rogero said. One important visual blight will be eliminated: Knoxville Utilities Board has agreed to move utility lines into the back alleys that parallel the street instead of burying

them underground, thus saving millions in taxpayer dollars. Rogero said another significant infusion of private money – some $165 million – along with a TIF that will delay payment of taxes for a certain time, is making the Tennova project south of the river on the old Baptist Hospital property a reality. A design model has been created for the first four blocks of a plan to revitalize Magnolia Avenue as the city moves to make that portion of East Knoxville more livable and attractive to visitors and residents alike, as it has done in North Knoxville near Central Avenue, she said. The mayor also pointed to the city’s massive Urban Wilderness project and bike trails as a success story that will bring ever-increasing numbers of tourists and their dollars to the area. She pointed out that outdoor recreation is a $6 billion industry in Tennessee. And yes, she says she hears complaints about the lack of parking downtown and in the Cumberland Avenue area, and that is why the city has granted TIFs for garage construction in those areas. “But here’s the good news,” she said with a smile. “We need more parking because there’s more development going on.”

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