NORTH / EAST VOL. 2 NO. 33
IN THIS ISSUE Churches sponsor back-to-school For the last weekend of summer, the East Knoxville community came out in force to excite and equip children for the new school year that started Aug. 11. Within walking distance of each other I found three back-to-school celebrations and a church barbecue.
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Ice cream in the park By Patricia Williams We all scream for free ice cream, and that includes members of Town Hall East, who recently hosted the annual ice cream meet and greet at Thomas “Tank” Strickland Park, 4618 Asheville Highway, next to the Burlington Branch Library. “We want to make this the most friendly and livable place in Knoxville,” said Eston Williams, Town Hall president. This year marks the fourth anniversary of the park the group Brenda Brooks, board memhelped to establish in the ber of Town Hall East, orgaepicenter of Holston Hills, nized the ice cream social. Chilhowee Hills and the Photos submitted Burlington communities. Members of Town Hall are also active in the ongoing To page 3 maintenance and upgrades
Read Patricia Williams on page 3
Looking at Steve Hall’s defeat It has been 20 years since a Knox County state representative lost a party primary, but Martin Daniel made history when he upset incumbent Rep. Steve Hall by 157 votes. The last time that happened was in 1994 when Tim Burchett defeated then-incumbent Rep. Maria Peroulas in the same district. How did Daniel do it?
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The Smoky Mountains National Park’s first naturalist helped lay out the 800mile trail system in the park. He also added hundreds of observations to the journal he started at age 15. Eventually, those observations would number 18,000 and are now computerized as a part of the park archives for use by scientists in understanding the long-term changes in its flora and fauna.
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Read Jim Tumblin on page 5
Back- to- school at Sarah Moore Greene To echo former Vol Sterling Henton, Sarah Moore Greene probably had the best-ever back-to-school welcome in Knox County. Henton greeted kids as staff members rolled out the red carpet and treated students like superstars as they entered the building.
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Happy Holler joins National Register of Historic Places By Sandra Clark Country crooner Con Hunley got his start at The Corner Lounge in Happy Holler. Now the entire district will earn national attention as one of five sites just added to the National Register of Historic Places. So here’s what the state says about Knoxville’s treasure: “Situated around North Central Street and East and West Anderson Avenues in Knoxville, the 14-building Happy Holler Historic District is a good example of a neighborhood shopping district that formed where trolley lines had stops. “The trolleys provided transportation between developing suburban areas, the downtown and the manufacturing and railroad districts. Most of the district is composed of one-story masonry retail buildings built between 1909 and 1945.
“The name Happy Holler comes from the Prohibition Era when alcohol could be purchased in the alleys behind the stores. Happy Holler is one of seven existing communitybased shopping areas centered on the streetcar trolley routes in Knoxville. “Until the close of nearby Brookside Mills in 1961, the district was a small, thriving neighborhood commercial area. There has been a resurgence of activity in the area due, in part, to Façade Improvement Grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.” Rustic cabins in Norris Dam State Park also were listed on the National Historic Register. Built as a New Deal project between 1934 and 1937, the district includes the historic “tea room,” ranger residences, a linen house and amphitheater.
Read Ruth White on page 6
Prosser Road set to re-open soon The warehouse district of Magnolia Avenue is due attention, with $500,000 in façade grants to upgrade the area around Pellissippi State’s Magnolia Avenue campus. Work is underway to alleviate flooding on Prosser Road. with two lanes to open by Sept. 1, Mayor Madeline Rogero told the North Knoxville Rotary Club.
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Kids twirl on the new tire swing, donated by Town Hall East.
Read Victor Ashe on page 4
Arthur John Stupka
Read Sandra Clark on page 7
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Deathridge earns second term By Patricia Williams The voters have spoken and the end is as the beginning – Gloria Deathridge retained her position as Knox County Board of Education representative for District 1. In her first race, Deathridge was unopposed and did not have to compete for the posiDeathridge tion. But with all the controversy that has engulfed the operations of the school system, from the top down, many of those up for re-election faced opposition. Deathridge overcame two challengers in the May primary that left Marshall Walker, a retired Knox County Schools social worker and coach, defeating Robert Boyd, an English professor at Pellissippi State Magnolia campus. Since Deathridge did not poll 50 percent, she and Walker faced a run-off in August. “I’m glad it’s over. It was an enlightening experience, and I learned a lot about people,” said Deathridge. She recognized the support of her husband, Mark, her campaign team and the District 1 family for
their faith and confidence to reelect her to a second term. “I invited (Marshall) to work together on things he wants to see happen to move Knox County forward,” said Deathridge, referring to the “after the results are in” phone calls between her and Walker. Meanwhile, Walker Walker is preparing for a sabbatical in Memphis, a city he says he likes to visit. “I won in two ways,” said Walker. He feels the race did more than elect a candidate. The process engaged the voters and challenged school board members to admit the wheel is broken, in Walker’s opinion. “When I was a coach, I planned around the players, rather than putting the players around the plan,” he said. “That has to stop.” Walker also expressed the pride and appreciation he has for his volunteers. “I have worked to better educate children most of my life, and I will continue to do so. Education is never over,” said Walker.
Pridemore faces trial by fire; lawyers worry By Betty Bean “You’re at the airport with your wife and kids, getting ready to board a plane to Disney World. But when you get to the gate for the flight to Orlando, there’s an election, and a guy who’s never flown before is elected pilot and citizens are comPridemore pelled to get on that plane …” This is how one Knoxville attorney described having pending cases in Chancery Court, Division II, where the newly elected and little-known Republican Clarence “Eddie” Pridemore will preside come Sept. 1. Pridemore’s victory over respected incumbent Daryl Fansler, a Democrat, was a product of the GOP’s “Red to the Roots” project
and sent shockwaves through the local legal community. “You hear it from every lawyer of every stripe who practices here, throughout the courthouse and out on the street and everywhere – ‘Oh, my gosh! What’re we going to do now?’ ” said David Buuck, Knox County’s chief deputy law director. The city of Knoxville is awaiting several decisions in important cases pending in Division II, including Lamar v Knoxville, which challenges the city’s right to regulate billboards; Anderson and Woodridge v Knoxville, an appeal of the city’s closure of Ben Atchley Street in Bearden; and Royal Properties Inc. v Knoxville, dealing with the fate of the Pryor Brown parking garage. Arthur Seymour Jr. represents the Northshore Town Center developer who intervened in a case filed by county residents opposing a large mixed-use development
project inside the city. “All I know to do is forge ahead,” Seymour said. “He says he’s going to judge’s school, so there’s that.” At “Baby Judges’ College,” operated by the Administrative Offices of the Courts in Nashville, Pridemore will have five days of seminars, sign up for his $175,000-peryear paycheck and get fitted for his robe (a standard choir robe will suffice). When he returns, Pridemore will immediately face Motion Day, where dozens of lawyers present a wide variety of cases. “If Eddie has half a lick of sense, he’ll sit there like a stone, nod his head and take cases under advisement. The problem with that is he’ll have to write opinions and will get swamped pretty quickly. His cases will drag, and complaints will start coming in,” said one very experienced attorney, speaking anonymously.
Most worry less about Pridemore than about those who will stand before him. “I have cases where clients will be in front of a judge with no Chancery Court experience who engaged in the political process and had some issues regarding his personal finances. Without being critical of the chancellor-elect, it raises significant questions about the manner and method by which we elect judges in Knox County,” said Greg Isaacs, who represents Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Attorneys speaking anonymously had less tactful takes: “There needs to be a preliminary threshold for who gets to be a judge. … You’re going to wonder why your children got taken away or why you lost your inheritance. … A chimpanzee could have won if it had an R behind its name. … An incompetent buffoon ran a stealth campaign and got elected.”
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