POWELL/NORWOOD VOL. 54 NO. 20
BUZZ Memorial Day Memorial Day service will be held 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 25, at Clapp’s Chapel UMC, 7420 Clapp’s Chapel Road, Corryton. Service includes military honors, special music and calling of names. Info: 687-4721.
IN THIS ISSUE Honor Fountain City is May 25 Memorial Day means Honor Fountain City Day at the park and lake. Festivities get underway at 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 25, in Fountain City Park. Formal ceremonies at the gazebo including naming the 2015 man and woman of the year and a keynote address by Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will run from 3 to 3:30 p.m. From 3:30 until 4 p.m. veterans will be honored at the Fountain City Lake, with remarks by John Becker and U.S. Rep. John Duncan Jr. In case of rain, the activities will be held in the Fountain City Lions Club building. Shopper-News has published a 4-page promotion for Honor Fountain City Day inside the Halls/Fountain City Shopper. It’s available to all readers at ShopperNewsNow. com.
Victims speak Lynn Porter doesn’t believe in sugarcoating reality, and she’s confident that her 16-year-old daughter, Amber, is prepared for what she’s going to hear when the man who gunned down her father six years ago stands before a judge May 28 and pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Sources say he will probably serve seven years.
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See Betty Bean on page A-4
Fiber therapy There is a therapy session going on every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cokesbury United Methodist Church North Campus. It’s “fiber therapy,” and the willing participants are members of the Thursday Bee.
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See Sherri’s story on page A-3
At Litton’s it’s all about that burger Litton’s Market, Restaurant and Bakery has some dedicated purists. Their passion is the burger. Add whatever sides you want, choose cheese or not, but don’t leave Litton’s without eating the burger.
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See Mystery Diner on page A-11
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What’s under the By Sandra Clark “It’s better to be lucky than smart.” That’s the word from Bill Weigel, the man who cites the corn dog as his chief contribution to the business that bears his name. Weigel amused and inspired at last week’s Powell Business and Professional Association meeting. And he reconnected with old friends in the community he calls home. Weigel talked about his military service in France. He told how his dad worried about the future of farming and shipped him off to Vanderbilt University to train to be a doctor. The chemistry and biology almost did him in. Weigel’s is the story of an immigrant family who bought “farmland” in Wartburg, moved to Forks of the River and finally settled on 600 acres in Powell. The Broadacres Farm is now the Broadacres subdivision, home to almost 900 families. “My dad was 21 in 1931 when he bought his first four cows,” Weigel said. Previously, the family had raised vegetables. The big white barn, still visible from Emory
at Weigel’s
The Weigel’s story is one of caution and observation. “My dad and uncle went to Florida” where they discovered the milk depot, he said. Women were taking jobs out of the home, and no one was around to bring in the milk. Soon the brothers built the original winged Weigel’s where customers could drive through to buy milk. “It got tough to operate with a single product line,” he says, so the walk-in milk store was born. “Open 10-10.” A slick sales rep talked them into installing gasoline pumps. “We hated to tear up that asphalt.” After watching sales climb Bill Weigel speaking to Powell Busi- and calculating the vendor’s take, Weigel’s soon started installing ness and Professional Association. its own pumps. The new logo – a white W offset on a bright red Road, was built in 1931 and ex- background – was created in 1995. panded shortly thereafter as the “I didn’t like (the marketing mateherd grew to 40. Mr. Weigel ini- rials) at first. It made us look like a tially sold milk to Avondale Dairy gas station,” he said. With the new century came (on Norris Freeway where the empty Walmart now stands). He a new logo, an emphasis on cofsoon had his own processing plant fee, creation of branded products up and running. Home deliveries like Skim D’Lite and egg nog, and most recently the addition of came next.
Weigel’s to build new store in Powell The Weigel’s store at the corner of Emory Road and Clinton Highway will be rebuilt on the other side of Clinton Highway, the company president announced last week. Bill Weigel said there is just no way to expand or remodel the current store, given its proximity to Beaver Creek. “We have bought land across the road.” As to the older store on Emory Road across from Powell High School, Weigel said it needs to be updated but the company is waiting to see what impact the bypass road will have on store sales. fresh bakery items. Weigel’s now operates 63 stores in the region. And you’ve got to figure Billy Weigel had a bit more to do with that than just the corn dog.
Safe driving pays off By Ruth White The Powell Business and Professional Association is hoping to make a difference in the Powell community. Through the teen driver awareness program, the group is raising awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, cell phone usage and passenger safety. Students had the opportunity to submit posters, videos or essays with their thoughts on safe driving, with a chance to win prizes and scholarship money. Seniors Katelyn Edlin (second place) and Megan Defenderfer (third place) submitted original artwork and earned money for college tuition. Danastalgia McDermott submitted an essay titled “R U TH3R3?” – it won first prize and earned her $2,500. Junior Sierra Wilburn earned
a Dollywood Splash Country Gold Pass for her winning submission, and Lauren Harris received a Bluetooth speaker and gift card for her second-place submission. Sophomore class entry winners were Madison Sellers, Kayla Palmer and Cody Wells. Ninth-grade winners were David Croes, Matthew Rivera, Claire Daniel and Summer Parker. Sponsors for the senior scholarships were the PBPA, Kelly Jarnigan with Farm Bureau, Knoxville TVA Credit Union, Rusty Wallace Honda, Sage Kohler with State Farm and Summit Medical Group. Donating time and prizes for students were Aaron Shorey with U.S. Cellular on Cogdill Road, Enrichment Federal Credit Union, Food City, 1 Source Printing in Powell, MaxAir, Powell ShopperNews and UT Federal Credit Union.
Powell High students Megan Defenderfer, Katelyn Edlin and Danastalgia McDermott were recognized at a recent assembly for their submissions to the Teen Driver Awareness program sponsored by the Powell Business and Professional Association. Danastalgia’s essay “R U TH3R3?” earned her $2,500 in scholarship money. Photo by R. White
Teachers’ raise in play with reduced schools budget By Betty Bean Back in February, Gov. Bill Haslam gave teachers a reason to hope when he included nearly $100 million in his budget to give them a 4 percent raise. Superintendent James McIntyre made it clear it was past time to do it. Sales-tax revenue numbers were holding their own, and over on the county general government side, the notoriously penurious Mayor Tim Burchett was poised to recommend a 3 percent employee raise. But now, the possibility looms that teachers could be the only Knox County employees who won’t get a pay raise, and there have been fears that the annual merit pay (APEX) bonuses could be in jeopardy as well. While Knox County Schools personnel were awaiting McIntyre’s recommendation on how to deal with a budget shortfall, County Commission chair Brad Anders and school board chair
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May 20, 2015
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lan said he expects discussion of some kind of tax increase to come up at the joint meeting. Anders was blunt: “We haven’t had a property tax increase since 1999. I know it’s not popular among ReJim McIntyre Mike McMillan Chris Caldwell publicans, but I’d like to talk about it. It’s going Mike McMillan were working out to get to the point that we have to,” the details to convene a joint com- he said. “And it’s not just for schools mission/school board meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at the East for me – I don’t think the schools Tennessee History Center, 601 are as efficient as they could be. But there are great infrastructure South Gay St. Both said everything will be on needs across the county. “We’re on a 100-year rotation the table for discussion – includon paving roads, for example. ing raising taxes. “I’ve not had any discussions We’ve got 2,000 miles of roads in with Dr. McIntyre regarding cut- the county, and we’re paving less ting the teachers’ pay raise (from than 20 miles a year, most years. the 3 percent McIntyre has rec- The Rescue Squad, whom we deommended),” McMillan said. “The pend on, is in financial trouble. Do question becomes how much are we let them fall? “In my district, we’ve got two you going to cut?” Though noncommittal, McMil- parks – Harrell Road and Plumb
Creek – sitting, purchased and designed, but not done. We’ve got a subdivision in Karns, the road is coming apart from the curb. We should be doing more sidewalks around schools.” But for now, the county’s finance director, Chris Caldwell, said the problem is simple arithmetic. Burchett’s budget appropriates $14 million more than last year to Knox County Schools, based on growth in sales and property tax revenues. But the state funding formula covers only 44 percent of KCS teachers, leaving the county to make up the gap – a gap that’s exacerbated by last year’s decision by the school board to spend $4 million from its fund balance. Caldwell also said automatic step raises are not built into county general employees’ pay scales (unlike teachers), making it difficult to draw an apples-to-apples comparison.
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