GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS A9,11 | BUSINESS A12
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powell
VOL. 50, NO. 49
DECEMBER 5, 2011
INSIDE www.ShopperNewsNow.com
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
FC B&P to hold Christmas event
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Almost Purrrr-fect
The Fountain City Business and Professional Association will hold the annual Christmas Business After-Hours event 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Commercial Bank Fountain City, 5320 N. Broadway. Members and guests will network while enjoying light hors d’oeuvres. The 2012 board members and Member of the Year will be introduced as well as the recipient of the annual Claude C. Myers Award. Door prizes and a silent auction benefiting local schools will also be held. Tickets are $10 at the door or $6 in advance from John Fugate at Commercial Bank, emailing Beth Wade at bwade@utfcu. org or by visiting http:// fcbpa2011-efbevent. eventbrite.com/
Panthers ends season at 14-1
Well-wishers cheer as the orange-clad Panthers head toward the bus last Friday afternoon on their way to the state class 5A championship football BlueCross Bowl in Cookeville. Photos by Greg Householder
Powell’s Mobley is MVP By Greg Householder
Busses carrying the Powell High School football Panthers make a pass by Powell Middle School as the youngsters cheered.
FEATURED COLUMNIST DR. BOB COLLIER
Robertson is president of Commercial Bank
Winter Grub
Adam Robertson has been promoted to president of Commercial Bank where he follows his grandfather and Commercial Bank founder E. Oscar Robertson. He pledged continuation of the “tradition of banking excellence” and customer service. Robertson has worked for Commercial Bank for more than 14 years, most recently as executive vice president. He first served as a teller and CSR, then loan officer at the Halls office, then branch manager at the Powell office, before relocating to the Main Of-
Dr. Bob looks into what those pesky birds eat in winter See page A-6
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4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.com ADVERTISING SALES Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 8,314 homes in Powell.
Powell suffered a heart-breaking loss 17-14 to Henry County late Friday to end their season 14-1 as runners-up in the state championship game at Cookeville. Dyshawn Mobley now holds the state rushing record with more than 200 yards on Friday. He needed 150 to break the old record. Mobley scored both of Powell’s touchdowns and was offensive MVP. Henry County kicked a field goal to go ahead in the fourth quarter. Powell drove the ball down the field, reaching Henry County’s 15-yard line with 31 seconds remaining when quarterback Dustin McPhetridge was sacked and lost the football. Henry County recovered and ran out the clock.
fice at Harrogate as the central region executive officer. Terry Lee has served as president and CEO since 2004 and will continue as CEO and a mentor to Adam Robertson. “Adam is one of the brightest and best young men I have ever known, and he is very deserving of this promotion,” said Lee. Robertson’s has held leadership roles in the Bell County (Ky.) Chamber of Commerce, Pine Mountain Community Development Corporation,
Harrogate Little League and Outdoor Truths Ministries. He graduated from Belmont University and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. He and his wife, Cindi, have two children, Olivia and Noah, and they reside in Speedwell. They are members of Pump Springs Baptist Church. Commercial Bank has 20 offices in Tennessee (Knox, Union, Claiborne counties and the city of Kingsport) and Kentucky (Bell, Harlan and Knox counties).
Adam Robertson
Locals brace for Lakeshore changes By Sandra Clark How best to treat the mentally ill? And who pays? The state will stop admissions to Lakeshore Mental Health Institute on Jan. 1 with an eye toward closing the 150-year-old facility on Northshore Drive. Then called Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital, the campus held 3,000 beds in 1975. With the advent of psychotropic drugs, the state has worked to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill. Today, Lakeshore has 115 beds and even fewer residents. State officials say it costs $900 per patient per day for acute care at Lakeshore. The state wants to shift that money to community-based mental health services and transfer the long-term residents to facilities in Nashville or Chattanooga.
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Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones says if Lakeshore stops admissions, deputies will take patients to Peninsula, Ridgeview in Oak Ridge or Woodbridge in the Tri-County area. “It is our hope that some of the monies from the savings of closing Lakeshore would go toward the Safety Center and that would complete the crisis service continuum run by the McNabb Center,” Jones said. He and Attorney General Randy Nichols have advocated construction of a crisis center to be operated by McNabb for short-term care of persons picked up for public drunkenness or nuisance offenses. Jones says as many as one-quarter of those incarcerated at the Knox County Detention Center are suffering from
mental illness. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said one in three Tennesseans is affected by mental illness, either personally or via family or a friend. He says Gov. Bill Haslam wants to do the right thing, and the current crisis is about dollars. “I worry about the state employees and their families, and most of all I worry about the patients and their families,” Burchett said. “Knox County will pick up the pieces. We’ll deal with it in a compassionate manner.” On Wednesday, County Commissioner Jeff Ownby convened a meeting at West High School. The 350 Lakeshore employees are worried about losing their jobs. They also are concerned about their patients. A Farragut resident said
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County Commissioner Jeff Ownby and Lisa Moffett, field rep for the Tennessee State Employees Association, facilitate a public forum to discuss Lakeshore last week at West High School. Photo by S. Clark
our current mental health system is nothing more than “begging around,” trying to get help for your family member. Her son has been in the county’s Detention Center since 2010. His crime was “being born with mental illness. The mentally ill are not cute, they’re not cuddly, but they are God’s children.” She said Lakeshore should
be expanded, not closed, to take pressure off the jail. Ownby will ask County Commission to adopt a resolution requesting a two-year delay for changes at Lakeshore, but even a unanimous local vote can’t dictate state policy. Ownby said concerned residents can contact the governor’s office at 615-741-2001.
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