SOUTH KNOX VOL. 2 NO. 32 1
IN THIS ISSUE
Strike up the band (camp)
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August July 29, 13, 2013 2014
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‘What’s Shakin’, South Haven?’
Band camp: It’s a tradition with something of an insider aura. But everyone was invited to become part of the bandcamp experience as the SouthDoyle High School Marching Band wrapped up two weeks of rigorous summer training.
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Read Betsy Pickle on page 3
Bean eats crow Lawyers aren’t supposed to forum shop, but it happens. And there’s going to be a bunch of it after the new “Red-to-theRoots” judges take the bench next month, particularly in Chancery Court, Division II.
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See Betty Bean on page 4
50 years since Dickey If memory and the calendar are correct, we are approaching the 50th anniversary of Doug Dickey’s first team at Tennessee. Time for a reunion? Think about it – 50 years since the conversion from single wing to T formation, and the Volunteers are again looking for a quarterback.
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Read Marvin West on page 5
This place is a zoo! Folks of all ages have stopped by the Knoxville Zoo this summer to partake of ice cream, to enjoy the splash pad and to watch the penguins slip and slide on the rocks by their watering hole. Come Aug. 16, the zoo’s residents will welcome a different kind of party in the name of fundraising.
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Read Sara Barrett on page 6
Big plans for ETABPA It has been only one month since Justin Sterling accepted the presidency of the East Towne Area Business and Professional Association. The smooth transition speaks volumes for the leadership of the group and the tight bond many of the members have formed.
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See Nancy Whittaker on page 7
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Paula Johnson examines the menu at the Black Horse Pub in Western Plaza. Photo by Betsy Pickle
By Betsy Pickle Paula Johnson is perfectly happy to be a guinea pig. She was recruited to be the featured speaker at the inaugural event called “What’s Shakin’, South Haven?” The South Haven Neighborhood Association created the program to help people get to know the community’s movers and shakers. The public is invited to come at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, Aug. 14) to the Round-Up Restaurant, 3643 Sevierville Pike, to enjoy dinner with Johnson and then hear her speak. (Food purchase is not required; milkshakes will be on the house.) Johnson knows about firsts. She founded Knoxville Food Tours after hearing about similar enterprises, but she added her own twists. “It started out as something fun for me to do because I really had an interest in food and dining in restaurants,” she says. “I had been reading about these kinds of tours but in bigger cities. I thought, since we had a lot of new business downtown, that maybe Knoxville
could have one, too. So now we do.” Johnson launched Friday and Sunday tours of downtown restaurants almost four years ago. The tours start from the Knoxville Visitor Center, and guests walk to the different destinations. Johnson shares snippets of local history along the way, and restaurant owners, managers and chefs provide information on their establishments along with food samples. Since her low-key beginnings, Johnson has added restaurant tours in the Old City and Bearden, as well as custom tours. She can accommodate up to 12 people on a regular tour, but she can host larger groups for the custom tours. The Greeneville, Tenn., native didn’t set out to have a career in the restaurant world. She earned a degree in music education from Carson-Newman College (now University). Her education in food began when she moved to Louisville, Ky., where she taught piano, worked in a music store and served as choir director and pianist at a church.
“There aren’t a lot of dining-out choices in Greeneville,” says Johnson. “Most people cook at home.” Louisville “is a real food town,”
she says. “They have a culinary school there, and there are many, To page 3
Burchett plans unique birthday bash Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will turn 50 this month, and he’s planning a party at the Ben Atchley State Veterans Home. The public is invited from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. Burchett has Tim Burchett lined up a cookout, provided by Sam’s Club, and live music by David West and the Ciderville Music gang. He’s serious about community mem-
bers attending. And he’s asking for gift cards of any amount from Red Lobster, Shoney’s, Cracker Barrel or Hooters restaurant. Administrators at the veterans’ home say these are many of the residents’ favorite places to eat, and the gift cards will ensure that they are able to continue enjoying meals outside the facility. Attendees are also welcome to bring Visa/MasterCard gift cards or cards to either Sam’s Club or Walmart for use on shopping trips and other activities for the residents.
School board ‘emergency’ vote under scrutiny By Betty Bean Knox County’s law director is taking a close look at school board chair Lynne Fugate’s declaring an emergency at the August meeting to allow a vote on Knox County Schools’ five-year strategic plan. “We’ve received a lot of questions and complaints from the perspective of open-meetings laws and whether voting on a plan that doesn’t take effect until 2015 fits the definition of an emergency,” said David Buuck, chief deputy law director. Fugate declared the emergency after a one-minute meeting of the board’s executive committee – Superintendent James McIntyre and herself – when Mike McMillan invoked personal privilege to postpone a vote for 30 days.
McMillan said he wanted four new board members (who will be sworn in Sept. 1) to have a say. Invoking personal privilege is an established school board practice, most recently used by board member Indya Kincannon to postpone a vote on a textbook-censorship issue in 2010. “With almost half of the board going to be new members next month, do you not think they would like to have an opportunity to take a look at this plan? What would happen if we didn’t rush through it? Any penalties? Any fines? Would we lose any funds?” McMillan asked. “This school board has worked on this part plan for most of a year. We’re about to start a new school year, and this is the time when people are planning. Having our
strategic plan in place would be very beneficial …” McIntyre said. The strategic plan, titled “Deepening Our Work: Excellence for Every Child,” has been in the works for nearly a year, but the final draft wasn’t released until July 31 – leaving scant time for interested citizens to study it, critics say. McMillan was responding to complaints that the present board members, four of whom are lame ducks, should not be setting policy for the new board. The plan was approved unanimously, but it wasn’t the only contentious matter at the August meeting. When asked whether all Knox County teachers had received minutes of meetings of the Teachers’ Advisory Group (which McIntyre formed in response to teachers’ complaints last fall) in
a timely manner, McIntyre said that all teachers had received all the minutes from all the meetings. Lauren Hopson, an advisory group member and a leader of the teachers who have been speaking out against KCS policies, approached the lectern to address the board. She stood silently at the front of the room until a security guard approached and ordered her to return to her seat. A few minutes later, McMillan asked Hopson returned to the lectern, and, struggling against tears, she warned the board that not everything they were hearing was the truth. She told them that advisory board minutes had not been distributed in a timely manner to KCS teachers, or even to board members.
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