VOL. 2 NO. 5
www.ShopperNewsNow.com |
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
February 3, 2014
IN THIS ISSUE WHERE
JOBS ARE the
81 new jobs in Clinton
Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee Inc. is expanding its plant in Clinton. The $53.8 million investment will create 81 new jobs over the next two years in Anderson County, said Bill Hagerty, the state’s commissioner of Economic and Community Development. It’s the company’s second major expansion since locating in Tennessee in 2004. According to its website, the Clinton plant has 580 fulltime employees. It contains 524,000 square feet located on 82.5 acres.
➤
Read Sandra Clark on page 7
A really big show Amazon and iTunes have their virtues, but you’re never going to get to experience a great musical act live and in person through a computer. That’s what makes Disc Exchange one of South Knoxville’s most valuable assets.
➤
Read Betsy Pickle on page 3
S-D’s Mark Jones is ‘biggest loser’ South-Doyle Middle School assistant principal Mark Jones is on a mission, and he’s inspiring his colleagues and students to join him. Jones is on the Covenant Health Biggest Winner Challenge team, revamping his eating and exercise habits as he works toward an immediate goal – running the half-marathon at the Knoxville Marathon at the end of March – and a lifetime goal of becoming healthy and active. At South-Doyle Middle, the faculty and staff have “been super,” he says.
➤
Read his story on page 6
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Info on health insurance A public meeting for anyone with questions or needing help enrolling in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is set for 3-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, at South Knoxville Community Center, 522 Maryville Pike. The free event is sponsored by Cherokee Health Services and Tennessee Health Care Campaign.
7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Betsy Pickle ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco
Jason Stephens and Jon Magnusson operate some of the equipment used to clear and improve the lower section of the Burnett Ridge trail at Mead’s Quarry.
Photos by Robert Noto
Turn, turn, turn – a time to gather stones together
Victor Hanset and Landon Rosling Ohlgren clear trail the old-fashioned way.
By Betsy Pickle On a sub-freezing Saturday morning toward the end of January, there’s no better place to be than curled up under a pile of blankets in a warm, comfy bed. Unless, of course, you’re a member of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club, and it’s a scheduled trail workday. While most people are figuring out ways to keep from going outside, AMBC members are jumping at the chance to get out and dig, pick, shovel and lift. Their target on Jan. 25 was the bottom section of Burnett Ridge, on the South Loop in the Urban Wilderness. “That trail was built just over a year ago,” says Matthew Kellogg, an AMBC board member. The Burnett family gave the ridge, which adjoins Mead’s Quarry, to Ijams Nature Center, and the AMBC built the trail. “That one section, where it intersects with Imerys (trail) at Aber- Members of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club break for a chili lunch on deen, just needed a little work,” Kellogg says. a chilly day. “A little work” in this case involved sculpting about 10 new banked turns in the trail. For the first time, the bike club used something other – with some canine cheerleaders – was even larger than normal. than hand tools to deal with nature. “We usually expect about 30, but I think we had just over 50 people” “We decided to bring some machines along for this workday to try to expedite some of the trail building, and we made a huge amount of for the 9 a.m.-noon workday, Kellogg says. “Having 50 eager individuprogress for the amount of time we put in,” says Kellogg. They used a als and five machines at work for three hours made a huge difference mini excavator and a miniature skid steer, with which they loaded dirt on that trail. There were 12 or so folks that came back after lunch and worked till 4 just because we like playing with toys.” and rock into trailers pulled by three four-wheelers. Lunch – with both beef and vegetarian chili – was provided by Harp“There’s no shortage of rock in that area,” he says. “We’d load up rocks and use that as a base for the trail and as the major turn items. er’s Bike Shop. The turns on the Burnett Ridge trail were sorely in need of attention, We’d stack up a bunch of rock, pack it in, and then we’d start topping it with soil. We made countless trips with the four-wheelers and trailers Kellogg says. “They were loosely organized for the last year, but … they’re really to get material to different locations on that trail.” It could have been the popularity of the trail, or it might have been beautiful turns now that are going to be a lot of fun for runners and bikthe appeal of the “toys,” but the work party of men, women and youths ers. It added a lot of character to that trail.”
Botanical Garden plants seeds for urban ag center By Nick Della Volpe The leadership team at Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum (KBGA) is planning for a 20acre Center for Urban Agriculture at the East Knox facility. It’s part of the master plan prepared with help from Louisville architects De Leon & Primmer to improve the functionality of this 47-acre community resource which hosts individual and public events and welcomes both locals and tourists. A $1 million visitors center will open this year, and leaders are
working on other growth needs including an education center, a greenhouse/special events center and a conservatory. The proposed Center for Urban Agriculture has an educational role. It started life as a community garden and outdoor classroom. The original scale, though modest, soon took off and hosted learning visits from nearby schools like Green Magnet, Sarah Moore Greene and Austin-East. Community gardens and raised vegetable beds now cover some
31,000 square feet under plow. Students enjoy the sunshine and festive outdoor atmosphere at the nascent Center, and leave thinking about where natural food comes from, and how they might bring that knowledge to their homes. It’s a working partner in the local food trend. The master plan calls for expansion of the tilled area and refurbishment of several older structures into farm support, food preparation and service buildings. Partners include UT, the state De-
partment of Agriculture, the Knox County Health Department and various corporate sponsors. This expansion will enable the Center and participating schools and neighbors to grow, preserve (can), cook and serve fresh foods while providing canned produce to neighbors and visitors here. What about money? KBGA needs $500,000 to fund the Ag Center and restore the existing buildings. Some 22,500 To page 3
A teacher’s story: Letters of concern By Betty Bean The letter teachers dread ends like this: “In the 2012-13 school year, your summative results rating was x, or below expectations. Should your summative results continue to be below or significantly below expectations in the 2013-14 school year and beyond, you may face negMark Taylor ative employment consequences up to and including termination from your position.
“To avoid any negative consequences, you are expected to comply with all administrator directives, collaborate with colleagues and improve your overall performance in the upcoming school year.” Farragut Middle School science teacher Mark Taylor has received two such letters. He was one of the teachers who accepted Tony Norman’s invitation to speak to County Commission last week, and told the commissioners he fears for his job, despite having a reputation for turning out the highest-achieving 8th grade science students in the county.
He racks up consistently high scores in teaching observations, but is considered an “outlier” because he scores more than two points higher on evaluations than his students’ Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) scores. Theoretically, these scores should be the same, and principals can lose their jobs if they don’t reconcile the gap. “My TVAAS was a 1. Can you imagine what my observation scores are going to be this year? If they give me anything higher than a 3, they’re going to have repercussions,” Taylor said. His primary problem is that he
We Offer: • Complete inspections, maintenance & repairs for all air conditioning & heating equipment • Money-saving high-efficiency system upgrades! • FREE ESTIMATES on new equipment • FINANCING through TVA Energy Right program
“Cantrell’s Cares” SALES • SERVICE • MAINTENANCE 5715 Old Tazewell Pike • 687-2520
• Maintenance plans available. Over 20 years experience
A+ RATING WITH
teaches high school-level physical science to 8th graders whose progress is difficult to measure because they are not taught the standard curriculum. His secondary problem is that his students are so advanced that there’s not much room to “grow” their scores, as measured by TVAAS, which tracks student “gains.” The first year of evaluations, only one of Taylor’s four classes was tested – a standard 8thgrade science class that included several ESL (English as a second language) speakers. His 130 high To page 3