POWELL/NORWOOD VOL. 53 NO. 15
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NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Candidate forum
The Halls Business and Professional Association will host a candidate forum at noon Tuesday, April 15, at Beaver Brook Country Club. HBPA will host Bo Bennett and Charles Busler, candidates for the 7th District seat on Knox County Commission. Meetings are open to the public. Lunch is $10.
April 14, 2014
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In Your Easter Bonnet …
IN THIS ISSUE Forum for vets
Knox County has many programs in place to help our local veterans. Mayor Tim Burchett believes we can always do more. Burchett held a press conference at Redemption Church to announce the Veteran Friendly Congregation Initiative “When War Comes Home” forum planned for May 1.
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Heiskell seniors show off their Easter bonnets at the April meeting: (seated) Sarah Kirby, Roberta Fogle, Carolyn Martin, Pat Needham, Mary Daugherty, Sue Nicely, Joyce Davis; (back) Jeanette Jenkins, Carolyn Wells, Samy Cooper, Bill Forrester, Donna Yardley, Billie Hall, Kelly Wells, Jerrie Foust, Ruth Bayless, Charlotte Marlan and Louise McMahan.
Read Cindy Taylor on page 3
City salaries: Bet you didn’t know ...
The city of Knoxville is essentially a service provider. It’s a people business. As such, wages and related fringe benefits make up the largest part of the city’s $183 million operating budget.
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By Cindy Taylor
Read Nick Della Volpe on page 5
Marvin West talks basketball
My mentor ... said “basketball is such a simple game, even you can teach it.” All you have to do is control time and space – and don’t give up the baseline. He explained that effort and positioning are key ingredients of defense and rebounding. He said shooting was a bit more complicated, that even the best players rarely made half their shots. He recommended getting as close to the basket as possible before “putting it up.”
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Read more from Marvin on page 5
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Union County: Sandra Clark interviews District Attorney General Lori PhillipsJones; while Libby Morgan writes about a headless cow. North/East: Betty Bean has the scoop on city plans to revitalize the Magnolia Avenue Corridor. Bearden: Wendy Smith interviews founders of Fort Kid as the city announces plans to restore it. Farragut: Stefan Cooper writes about a ice hockey team that won a national tourney.
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Carolyn Wells leads the Easter Bonnet Parade at the Heiskell Senior Center April meeting. Wells won the prize for Funniest Easter Hat.
A bevy of beauties and one handsome male competed for the title of Best Easter Theme Hat, Funniest Easter Hat, Most Original Easter Hat and of course Elegant and Prettiest Easter Hat during the Heiskell Senior Center Easter luncheon April 10. Judges were County Commissioner Ed Shouse and Powell Florist owner Walta Patt. The two observed as seniors paraded around inside the center while Grace Noters provided sashaying music. Winners were treated to prizes of Easter gift baskets and gift certificates. Grace Noters, a dulcimer and acoustic group from Grace Baptist Church, provided the day’s entertainment, which included spiritual and old-time music and ended with an old-fashioned sing-along. The Heiskell seniors meet 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday at the Community Center. Activities include crafts, card games, a meal and health and fitness classes. At 11 a.m. each second Thursday the meal is larger, a special guest speaker is invited and bingo runs from 1 to 2 p.m. Info: 548-0326.
Lay, McMillan are GOP candidates to replace Swann By Jake Mabe The swan takes flight. After 32 years on the bench, 4th Circuit Court Judge Bill Swann announced his retirement last year, shortly after lawyer Greg McMillan said he would seek the job whether Swann ran or not.
Analysis Swann is Knox County’s most controversial judge; lawyers and litigants either love or hate him. Many just bypass his court entirely, filing in Chancery Court and putting a burden on that court’s caseload. The biggest complaint against Judge Swann is his overreliance on psychologists, with several working in his court, pushing up costs. The state requires that divorcing couples undergo one mediation session; Swann requires four. The state requires four hours of Parent Education Seminars; Swann requires 12. It is difficult to get a trial date because he has trial “managements,” which require litigants to spend yet another day sitting in the courtroom with their lawyers so that progress toward settlement can be “measured.”
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Another frequent complaint is his overreliance on Orders of Protection. At one time, Knox County’s 4th Circuit Court issued more OPs than Davidson, Hamilton, Shelby and Sullivan counties combined. He also has a stable of lawyers who work as his “special masters.” These lawyers have their own robes, dockets and nameplates. When they’re not wielding a gavel, they are practicing in his court, raising the question of how these individuals can be agents of the judge one day and come before him the next. Candidate Patti Jane Lay is one of these, and Swann has endorsed her to succeed him. These practices have caused Chancery Court dockets to become overloaded with divorce cases. Swann’s critics say he has made the process of getting a divorce in Knox County expensive, cumbersome and protracted. The candidates: Two lawyers seek to replace Judge Swann, a race that will be decided in the May 6 Republican Primary. The winner will face the winner of the Democratic Primary, either Daniel Kidd or David Valone, in the general election. Patti Jane Lay and Greg McMillan are campaigning hard – both
in the shadow of Bill Swann. Lay grew up in Fountain City and Bearden, graduating from Webb School of Knoxville. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Emory University in Atlanta and a law degree at UT. She and her husband, Tom Baugh, live in Bearden and have three children. Lay McMillan says he declared his intentions to run in 2006. He graduated from Bearden High before earning a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from UT. He and his wife, Summer, have five children. He is special counsel with the Lewis Thomason law firm. McMillan says he got into the race because “the court hasn’t been working well for the people of Knox County for several years.” He says he will: ■ Do a better job screening orders of protection, granting them not at the initial stage by special masters but by the court of record. “It eliminates appeals.” ■ Ensure better coordination between law enforcement and the court, making orders of protection simplified, clear and typed rather
Betty Bean contributed to this report.
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than written. ■ Change the way the docket is handled. He says most cases are filed in Chancery Court because of Swann’s “biases,” which have created a logjam. ■ Change Swann’s snowday policy, opening court even if Knox County government is closed for those who can McMillan safely make it to court. On the civil side, McMillan says he will change the current policy of a 12-hour parenting class to the state-required four-hour class and will look at offering online classes. He says when parents are going through a divorce, their children need them more than ever. “The court needs to work better for the people of Knox County. There’s going to be a change (in judges). But it needs to be the right change.” We were unable to connect with Lay by press time. Candidate bios can be found at their websites, w w w.pattijanelay forjudge.com and http://mcmillanforjudge.com.
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