South Knox Shopper-News 082714

SOUTH KNOX VOL. 2 NO. 34 1 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ IN THIS ISSUE

Sports inside Check out page 6 to find regular columnist Marvin West, new columnist Stefan Cooper and (when the home team starts playing) pictures from Friday’s game.

Teacher info State Rep. Gloria Johnson wants to make sure teachers of subjects that don’t have TCAP tests know about the Sept. 1 deadline to comply with a new state law that could affect the way they are evaluated.

In the past, 15 percent of their evaluation scores have been based on school-wide or county-wide “literacy” or “numeracy” scores (i.e., reading or math scores of students they never taught).

Johnson posted this announcement: “Is everyone aware that teachers who teach untested subjects now have the ability to choose whatever relevant method they want for their 15 percent as of 7/1/2014?

“You can make up your own measure as long as it is relevant! It has to be approved by superintendent and if there is a disagreement it will go to state BOE.” State Rep. Harry Brooks sponsored the new law.

Jamie Rowe campaign kickoff Second District school board candidate Jamie Rowe will have a campaign kickoff 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the Fountain City Lions Club building in Fountain City Park.

Andy LeGrand will play the guitar, and light refreshments will be served.

School board races are nonpartisan, and Rowe says she won’t take money from political parties or special-interest groups.

The election to replace Indya Kincannon will be held Nov. 4.

Knox County Commission was set to appoint an interim board member Aug. 25.

IN THIS ISSUE Showdown at the K-12 corral It’s high noon and Jim McIntyre faces Tim Burchett on the dusty street.

“Not room in this town for both of us,” says Burchett. But McIntyre can’t draw.

“It’s the doggone Common Core,” he says. “I have to conceptualize all the steps involved in pulling the gun from the holster. I know engineers who can’t do it.”

➤

Read Larry Van Guilder on A-4

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August July 29, 27, 2013 2014

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Hummingbird wonders exposed By y Betsy sy P Pickle ickl ic ke

The event lived up to its title at the fourth annual Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival at Ijams Nature Center.

Getting an up-close view of the fleet, tiny birds was indeed wondrous, and visitors were in line as soon as the gates opened last Saturday to get into the banding area.

Ijams had been luring hummingbirds with extra feeders for a while, so many were accustomed to visiting the center for their energy drink of nectar. That made it easy for workers to gently capture the birds, place them in small bags and carry them down the hill to the banding station.

Knoxville Zoo naturalist Mark Armstrong banded the birds and determined weight, wing and beak length, and gender while colleague Jane Kading recorded the info.

The hummingbirds seemed calm during the invasion of their privacy, which was brief enough not to agitate them but long enough for visitors to get a sense of the creatures and their amazing lives.

Armstrong said females are bigger and have longer beaks than males. He said normally the birds are about the weight of a penny but put on fat on the belly and underneath the wings in preparation for their annual migration to Mexico.

“Right before they migrate they’ll almost double their weight,” zoo colleague Steve McGaffin elaborated. The birds need the extra fuel for their 18-plus-hour trip across the Gulf of Mexico.

Another fact about hummingbirds: “They don’t migrate in flocks,” he said.

“They just seem to know where to go.”

Patty Ford of the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society encouraged festival visitors to make hummingbirds feel welcome.

“This is a great time of year to have hummingbird feeders out in your yard,” she said. “May through September they’re most active coming through because they’re doing all that drinking and trying to add on fat, so it’s a great time to put them up.”

West Knoxvillians Bev and Jim Lemme arrived early on Saturday and planned to spend the whole

Patty Ford gently transfers a hummingbird for Dena Thompson of Maryville to release.

Haiden Curbow captures the moment as Patty Ford hands his little sister, Justice, a hummingbird to release.

Knoxville Zoo naturalist Mark Armstrong takes a hummingbird’s measurements at Ijams Nature Center. Photos by Betsy Pickle

This whimsical gourd created by Jackie Hardin is one of many craft items on sale at the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival.

morning at Ijams, listening to speakers and touring the grounds, which had numerous booths featuring vendors of plants, crafts, yard art, bird books and magazines, birdfeeders, T-shirts, food and drinks. They attended the very first festival but had not been

the Internet with his mom and was excited to see the science part of the event.

“I like how they did the wing thing and how he measured the other things,” he said. “I like how he tagged it. I thought that was pretty cool.”

back till this year.

Love Curbow of Loudon brought her children, Justice, 6, and Haiden, almost 12. Justice got to release a hummingbird.

“I liked it,” she said. “It wasn’t heavy, it was light.”

Haiden had done research on

Mama makes three: Rountree attends orientation

By Betty Bean

Superintendent James McIntyre is off to a rocky start with one of his new school board members.

Ninth District school board representativeelect Amber Rountree will be sworn in Sept. 2.

She is due to have a baby Sept. 6, and stayed on her job as an elementary school librarian through the end of last school year. She has taken “sick time” as medical leave this summer to preserve her health insurance and will resign Sept. 1. Her Knox County Schools coverage will remain in force until Sept. 30.

Rountree was elected to the school board on a “no rubber stamp” campaign promise and was one of the most vocal of the teachers who spoke out last year against McIntyre’s policies.

Her maternity-leave status became an issue after she participated in a tour McIntyre conducted at Dogwood Elementary School Aug. 11.

Her former opponent, incumbent Pam Trainor, also attended the tour.

On Aug. 13, McIntyre sent Rountree an email informing her that he had “fielded a few questions … about your status, which I answered tactfully. I’m starting to become a bit

concerned that some people may perceive it as inappropriate for you to be accompanying me on school visits while you are a paid school librarian out on medical leave.

“Sorry to broach a potentially sensitive subject, but I just wanted to make sure you know that such questions are being asked.”

On Aug. 18, McIntyre sent another email informing her Rountree that she would not be allowed to attend an Aug. 21 orientation session for incoming board members “given the fact you are out on maternity leave due to physical disability.” He said he’d set up a separate session for her after Sept. 2.

Later that day, Rountree sent McIntyre a return email telling him she’d checked with David Buuck, the chief deputy law director, who assured her that there was no legal reason to bar her from attending the orientation session with fellow board members-elect Terry Hill and Patti Lou Bounds.

McIntyre responded the next day: “I certainly appreciate the opinion of the

deputy law director, but I’m not willing to accept the risk, nor any potential appearance of impropriety.”

Rountree again asked the law director’s office for guidance. Buuck replied quickly: “Amber, I am astounded at the disrespectful response of Jim McIntyre to a member of the BOE which body is his employer.”

Buuck shot off an email to McIntyre: “I can find no reason that she should be denied the right to attend the orientation meeting on account of her pregnancy and have so advised her.”

McIntyre responded: “Unfortunately, I believe you have significantly mischaracterized my correspondence with Ms. Rountree.”

The next day, Buuck escorted Rountree across Gay Street to the Andrew Johnson Building, where she attended the orientation.

McIntyre tweeted a picture of the three new board members.

There were smiles all around.

The Shopper-News obtained the emails last Friday after submitting a public information request to the law director’s office.

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Farragut woman finds help close to home After years of lower back and leg pain, Imogene Ford of Farragut began to rethink her attitude about surgery.

“I wanted to avoid surgery because I’ve had some bad experiences,” she said. But the pain in her back and legs was not getting better with medication, and in fact it grew worse as the years went on.

“The pain was persistent,” Ford said. “I wore a (pain medication) patch, and I had taken hydrocodone. But it had gotten so it was difficult to walk, and I was just in constant pain.”

So she began to think about surgery. Three different friends of hers recommended she see Dr. William Reid, a neurosurgeon at the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.

“I am just so glad my friends recommended I go see him,” she said.

Ford first saw Dr. Reid in May 2014, and he diagnosed her problem as spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal column.

It’s caused typically by the bones in the spine developing arthritis, bone spurs and spinal instability that narrow the passage through the middle of the spine. This, in turn, puts pressure on the spinal cord or the nerves extending out from it to the rest of the body.

Dr. Reid recommended a procedure called minimally invasive

Dr. William Reid performs a procedure at the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.

lumbar fusion and laminectomy.

“He told me it was a little risky and it was serious,” she said. “I would like to have avoided it, but I didn’t really have a choice if I wanted to walk.”

During a laminectomy, the back portion (called the lamina) of one or more vertebrae is removed, re-

lieving the pressure on the nearby nerves. Often the remaining vertebrae must be stabilized by fusing them together with special implants to provide stability.

While this is a major surgery, at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center it can be done with minimally invasive techniques. This

Imogene Ford

Back and Leg Pain Neck and Arm Pain

Local hospital welcomes new neurosurgeon correct back, arm and leg pain,” said Dr. Brown. “We use minimally invasive techniques, making smaller incisions leading to a quicker recovery and shorter hospital stay.”

Many of these procedures are done as out-patients.

Part of Dr. Brown’s decision to practice medicine in Knoxville is that he knew Dr. Joel Norman from the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute.

“We were in residency together, so much of our training was similar. It’s now easy for us to provide crossover care of our patients,” said Dr. Brown.

“I also like Knoxville beDr. Barrett Brown cause there are so many outdoor activities here, like the spinal stenosis. lakes and hiking.” In addition The Center for Minimally to those hobbies, Dr. Brown Invasive Spine Surgery focuses enjoys SCUBA diving and aviaon the treatment of spinal dis- tion. orders using cutting edge technologies, including 3-D image For more information about guidance for precise placement the physicians at the Center for of spinal implants.

Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery “Most of our surgeries on at Fort Sanders Regional, the spine are being done to call 865-541-2835.

NEW RELIEF Fort Sanders Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Back pain, leg pain, neck pain, arm pain… the root of the problem is often a pinched spinal nerve.

The good news is that now Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center’s physicians use state-of-the-art minimally invasive techniques to perform spine surgery. Compared with traditional open surgery, minimally invasive surgeries offer patients many advantages, including a smaller incision, less postoperative pain, faster recovery and improved outcome.

Non-surgical treatments such as physical therapy and medication should always be tried first. If those don’t help, surgery may be the best option.

Fort Sanders Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Not every one is a candidate for minimally invasive approach to spine surgery.

To learn more about minimally invasive spine surgery, please call 541-2835 or visit fsregional.com/ minimallyinvasive.

Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery www.fsregional.com/minimallyinvasive 8300-1208

Dr. Barrett Brown, a neurosurgeon, has recently joined the Center for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and the practice of Tennessee Brain and Spine.

Originally from Elkton, Ky., Dr. Brown attended the University of Kentucky School of Medicine in Lexington, where he completed a residency in neurosurgery.

“Growing up, my parents had a small cattle farm,” Dr. Brown said. “We raised a few head of cattle and had a horse, so at first I wanted to be a veterinarian. But in college I shadowed physicians in a hospital, watched surgeries and became very interested in medicine instead.”

Dr. Brown is joining Dr. William S. Reid and Dr. Joel E. Norman at Tennessee Brain and Spine. Their practice treats patients with a wide range of brain and spine disorders including brain tumors, epilepsy, stroke, herniated discs and

often means smaller incisions and less trauma to the surrounding tissue so that recovery times are quicker and complications are fewer for the patient.

Ford had surgery July 3, 2014.

She spent a total of three days at Fort Sanders. Even though it was a holiday weekend, she said the staff was very attentive.

“I had a very good experience at Fort Sanders,” she said. “I had the very best of care around the clock, for a day and a half, in intensive care. The care was exceptional.

“I just felt that they are top notch in their job, very professional, and you never had to ring for anybody. The RN checked me every four hours, and the LPN and CNA looked in on me so frequently. I cannot complain at all.”

And best of all, Ford said the surgery has relieved her pain.

“I have not had any back pain at all since surgery,” said Ford.

“When I first got home for a couple of nights, I had pain in my legs, but I have never had pain in my back.

“Dr. Reid advised me to begin simple exercises, and I have found a sit-down, mild yoga class at the YMCA,” she said.

Ford said she would recommend Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and Dr. Reid to anyone facing a back surgery.

“This has changed my attitude about hospitals altogether!” she said, “And for all I’m concerned, I think Dr. Reid hung the moon.”

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SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • AUGUST 27, 2014 • 3

Dog day of summer Chapman Pool closed out the summer swim season with a four-legged fun day.

Betsy Pickle

The pool held its firstever Doggy Paddle, and the response was paws-itively fantastic.

Pooches from all over town and beyond brought their humans to the pool on Gov. John Sevier Highway, just east of Chapman Highway. They took over the main pool and the kiddie pool during the warm afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 17.

Some dogs took to the water like fish. Others – accustomed to the murky expanses of area lakes – were more reluctant to take the plunge. Some prudently entered using the steps at the shallow end of the Olympicsized pool.

Oddly, some of the bigger dogs, including a gorgeous Great Dane, seemed leery of the water, while the little fellows jumped in without thinking twice. Needless to say, both canines and humans got very wet during the afternoon.

At the midway point, 32 dogs and 46 people were enjoying themselves at the event, which enticed many participants via Facebook.

Funds gathered from the admission charge went to Almost Home Animal Rescue and Chapman Pool, which is owned and operated by the members of the Chapman Recreation Center.

Terrin Kanoa and Debbie Sharp, the leaders of TREK South, show off the trash gathered by volunteers at the South Knoxville Alliance/TREK South August cleanup of Fort Dickerson. Photo submitted

Sarah Greer, 5, enjoys the kiddie pool with the skeptical Buddy during Doggy Paddle. Photos by Betsy Pickle

■

Johnson rallies South Dems

Gloria Johnson brought a message of hope to the South of the River Democrats at their August meeting.

Johnson, District 13 member of the state House of Representatives, is up for re-election in November and is aware that every vote counts. Two precincts in her district are in South Knox: Mount Olive and Bonny Kate.

Those precincts “are traditionally pretty Republican,” the longtime specialeducation teacher told the group at the South Knoxville Community Center on Aug. 18. “But I also have a lot of people working for me there. We may not be able to win those precincts, but we can decrease that Republican vote and get more Democratic votes so that we

can win this election.”

Like other Democrats around the county, the South Dems were discouraged by the results of the Aug. 7 election, which saw some highly respected Democrats lose to not-sowell-regarded Republican challengers. Johnson is not dwelling on the past but is selling her fellow party members on the future.

“I have got to get our voters out, and that’s by energizing people, talking to people and being on doorsteps,” she said, asking for the group’s support.

She doesn’t believe Tennesseans want their elections decided by Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group founded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The group has been sending out antiJohnson mailings.

“They’re the folks that are pouring all this money

into Tennessee to manipulate our elected officials and make sure that we give tax breaks to corporations and millionaires and billionaires instead of working people in Tennessee. That’s a serious problem.

“I’m going to stick to the positives of what Democrats bring to the table, and that’s jobs, education and access to health care,” says Johnson, adding that she has sponsored or cosponsored four bills focused on putting Tennesseans back to work.

■

Cleanup at Fort Dickerson Park

The South Knoxville Alliance put a twist on its monthly cleanup at Fort Dickerson Park and ended up with a host of volunteers.

The secret to the success was twofold: teaming up with TREK South and having a picnic to reward participants.

TREK South leaders Debbie Sharp and Terrin Kanoa did an excellent job of getting out the troops, all

of whom love the outdoors and hate to see trash ruin the beauty of the park. As for the second part, the picnic, well, who doesn’t love to eat, especially after a stint of hard work?

Kudos to the TREK crew and to SKA organizers Carl Hensley and Antoinette Fritz for cleaning up the Tennessee trash, both on land and on the quarry lake.

Yes, the group even brought along canoes and kayaks to tackle the waste on the water.

Here’s hoping other park visitors will be inspired by their efforts and clean up after themselves.

■

Dragonfly gets nonprofit status

It was a long journey, but Dragonfly Aerial Arts Studio, 1805 Maryville Pike, has achieved 501(c)3 status.

Cofounder and instructor Lissa McLeod says that means the studio will be able to serve the community even better.

“We have people of all

fitness levels and all backgrounds come through the door,” McLeod says, “but we also wanted to be able to offer more classes for different populations of people,” such as at-risk kids and people with autism.

“We would like to be able to offer classes to groups of people who can’t always pay,” she says.

Dragonfly, which holds classes in static trapeze and aerial silks, has been around just over three years and except for a brief period downtown in its infancy has been based in South Knoxville. It shares space with Breakthrough Corporation, which serves adults with autism.

The Dragonfly performance troupe has done benefit circuses for Breakthrough, the UT Futures program and the Tennessee School for the Deaf ParentStudent Association. It has also become a favorite at Vestival.

Info: 609-2012, dfaas11@ gmail.com and www.aerialartsstudio.com.

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Taylor Key plays with her dog Kaiden, a husky-retriever mix, as goldendoodle Layla and Kaiden’s litter mate, Khloe, consider going back into the water at the Chapman Pool Doggy Paddle.

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government Political this and that Mark Donaldson will continue for several more months as MPC director despite resigning. Now it can be told that MPC would not have voted to terminate him at this time. However, he met with Mayor Rogero without Mayor Burchett prior to his resignation, and she explained carefully to him that both mayors felt it was time for him to depart and he no longer had their backing. He got the message and did the smart thing in resigning. It avoids an acrimonious departure.

For those wondering what happens to Dave Hill at MPC, no one is saying. Rogero had fired Hill when she became mayor.

Presumably, he will depart with Donaldson, but it is

Victor Ashe

not confirmed.

MPC’s executive committee continues to meet without compliance with the state’s open-meetings law as it seldom posts meeting notices on its website.

■ School Superintendent McIntyre must have been having a terrible day when he told County Mayor Tim Burchett to mind his own business. Burchett had inquired about a school employee getting two years’ paid leave. McIntyre should

4 • AUGUST 27, 2014 • Shopper news remember he answers to the public, which pays him, and Burchett is the newly reelected mayor who speaks for the entire county.

He asked a valid question to which McIntyre and the school board have not given a satisfactory answer. It is hard to justify two whole years of paid leave and no one seeming to know why.

McIntyre ought to go to time-out and return with a new understanding of transparency for taxpayers.

A News Sentinel editorial has weighed in on it.

■ People are upset over the election of Clarence Pridemore as Chancellor. He ran as a Republican and won in a GOP sweep.

He certainly appears poorly qualified to this writer. Bill Ailor was considered less qualified as well, but when compared to Pridemore, Ailor is seen as Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Trying to assign blame as to why Pridemore could be

elected over Daryl Fansler, who was so widely admired, is hard as many are responsible, in my view.

However, this writer feels the media (including himself) failed to do their job in educating the public about him. The major exception was Betty Bean, who writes for the Shopper and did point out salient issues, but not enough voters listened.

The TV and print media largely ignored Pridemore and assumed he could not win. Only since the election have his bankruptcies been fully publicized.

Pridemore hid from the media, and the media let him get away with it. The local Democratic Party never issued news releases or held news conferences. Where were the investigative reporters from TV and major print media on this one?

They had the resources to expose this with front-page stories.

Where was the Knoxville

Bar Association? Why did the bar fail to tell voters about Pridemore with public news conferences? Why was no poll on judges taken by the bar as the state bar did for the state Supreme Court? Everyone has egg on their faces on this one.

Where were the Democratics airing the shortcomings of this GOP candidate?

One has to admit that Chancellor-elect Pridemore is not totally inept as he employed an incredibly brilliant political strategy to win this office by staying so far under the radar that no one noticed him until he won. Whether he came up with this plan or someone c oached him is unknown, but it surely worked.

However, Pridemore takes office in four days and will earn more than $165,000 a year plus health insurance, which is more money than he has seen in three years combined.

He resides at 1613 Coro-

nada Lane off Ebeneezer Road in the Bluegrass area of West Knox County. He has been a registered voter since 2000.

Mike Moyers and John Weaver, who are able fellow Chancellors, likely will see their workloads increase.

Hopefully, the media and columnists will learn from this and no longer assume candidate X cannot win.

One wonders if the media will examine the record and campaigns of Cheri Siler and Richard Briggs running for state senate, Gloria Johnson and Eddie Smith running for state representative, or Lamar Alexander and Gordon Ball running for U.S. Senate.

The candidacies of Democrats Terry Adams and Gordon Ball for U.S. Senate were basically ignored by local media even though both are local residents. Adams won Knox County.

Victor Ashe is a former mayor of Knoxville who served as U.S. Ambassador to Poland.

Elected v appointed school chief: almost persuaded I have always accepted the premise that appointed school superintendents are better than elected ones, mostly because I buy the arguments that the appointment process enlarges the talent pool and eliminates the time-suck campaigning.

However.

The same-but-different sagas of James McIntyre and his predecessor, Charles Q. Lindsey (don’t forget to call them doctor), have almost persuaded me otherwise.

Lindsey came to do battle; won a few, lost a bunch, had some personal foibles that eventually did him in.

McIntyre is a micromanager whose overreliance on standardized tests and allegiance to corporate education reform have made him the most unpopular public official in Knox County. He is said to be a very smart

Betty Bean man, something his ill-considered decision to publicly snipe at Mayor Tim Burchett, arguably the most popular local elected official, doesn’t reflect.

Considering these issues sent me lurching down memory lane to revisit the first elected official I ever thought I knew – mostly because the name Mildred E. Doyle was stamped on my report card just below the line where my first-grade teacher at Fountain City Elementary School, Mrs. Bass, wrote, “Betty talks a little too much.”

Doyle held the job for 30 years (1946-76) and is generally credited with drag-

ging KCS into the modern era. Her resume includes chairing and founding the Alternative Center for Learning, serving on the Maryville College Board of Directors, as president of the Tennessee Education Association and chairing Tennessee’s Superintendent Study Council and the state Commission of Children’s Services. She was a member of the NEA Finance Commission, the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth and the State Textbook Commission and was inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 and the East Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1988 and named Colonel Aide de Camp Governor’s Staff by Lamar Alexander in 1984.

The consensus is that she ended her political career

with a defeat only because she stayed one term too long.

Knox County’s last elected superintendent, Allen Morgan, resigned unexpectedly to join Clayton Homes.

He served from 1992 to 1996, whereupon he became Knox County’s first appointed superintendent.

He retired after another two years with a list of accomplishments that is too long to recount on this page.

Here are some highlights: He was one of 30 superintendents in the Southeast to be a part of the Center for Leadership in School Reform. He was regional cochair of Tennessee’s Schoolto-Career program. He was a 22-year administrator, including 13 years as principal of Powell High School, which, under his tenure was named a finalist in the National Schools Recogni-

tion program and the first Knox County school named “BEST” by the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. He co-chaired the Danforth Committee, which researched the University of Tennessee’s methodology for training school administrators, and was an elected representative to the Metropolitan Association of School Superintendents.

The year before Morgan retired, he fought off a whole herd of fat cats who tried to force him to hand Maynard Elementary School over to Chris Whittle’s privatization scheme. He prevailed against some of the most powerful interests in Knoxville. Could the present superintendent do the same (or even want to)?

Not a chance.

I’m not quite persuaded that elected superintendents are better than the

Showdown at the K-12 corral High noon. The dusty street outside the courthouse is as still as a tomb.

Larry Van Guilder

The stillness is broken as two men emerge from the courthouse and stride purposefully into the street.

Sheriff Tim “Shoot from the Hip” Burchett and “Big Mac” McIntyre, pistols holstered and ready, walk in opposite directions for 10

paces and turn.

“OK, this is it, Big Mac. This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

“Yeah? Well, if you’d keep your nose out of my business at the K-12 ranch, I wouldn’t be fi xing to give you a dirt nap, sheriff.”

“Your business? You know darn well this county helped you build the K-12.

This is taxpayer business, Big Mac, and they’ve had enough of your wasteful ways. Now, draw!”

Big Mac began fumbling with his holster.

“What are you doing?” the exasperated sheriff asked. “I said draw!”

“I ... I don’t feel comfortable here. Come over to the

corral and you’ll have your showdown, sheriff.”

“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

Oddly enough, the K-12 Corral was just across the street from the courthouse.

“No more delays, Big Mac. Now – what the heck?

You’ve ambushed me,” the sheriff said, eyeing nine gunslingers who sprang out of hiding to Big Mac’s side.

“Just my little posse, sheriff. They’re going to evaluate my performance after my six-shooter puts a permanent K-12 brand right between your peepers.”

“I’ll evaluate it now. It’s lousy.”

“I find that remark appalling, sheriff.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take you all on. Slap leather!”

Before Big Mac could clear his gun from the holster, a rowdy gang of supporters appeared behind the sheriff.

“What do you know? It’s my buddies from the BarKCEA spread,” the sheriff said. “Guess we’re even now!”

“Hey, some of those people work for me! Traitors. I’ll get you when this is over,” Big Mac vowed.

As Burchett’s hand inched toward his gun, Big Mac hesitated.

“I need my sidekick here before we start,” he said.

“Your sidekick?”

“Yes, I had to send her

Tim Burchett

Jim McIntyre

home.”

“Why did you send your sidekick home? What did she do?”

“Nothing. Maybe. I don’t know. But I’m still paying her, so it’s all right.”

“You’re paying your sidekick you sent home for doing nothing? See what I mean by wasteful?”

“You’re saying that out of ignorance, sheriff!”

“That’s it! Draw, Big Mac.” The sheriff’s pistol flew

Who do You RACE for?

appointed kind, but I must reluctantly agree with an astute friend’s observation: “Elected officials tend to treat other elected officials as peers. They tend to treat appointed officials as staff.”

McIntyre owes his job to an elected school board that must go hat in hand to County Commission for funding because it has no taxing authority. I’m not sure how this system was supposed to work in theory, but in practice, it just flat doesn’t.

Maybe giving the school board the power to levy taxes would change the dynamic. Maybe it wouldn’t.

Or maybe going back to electing a superintendent would set in motion a natural-selection process that would produce someone with the chops to raise money and/or hell, as needed.

I’m halfway there.

from his holster aimed squarely at Big Mac’s belly button. But, being a fair man, he stopped before squeezing the trigger as he watched Big Mac struggle unsuccessfully to pull out his own gun.

“Now what?” the frustrated sheriff asked.

Red-faced, Big Mac replied: “It’s the doggone Common Core. I have to conceptualize all the steps involved in pulling the gun from the holster. I know engineers who can’t do it.”

“Common Core? As my Daddy would say, here’s something from the Marine Corps!”

With that, the sheriff blazed away with his custom 10-shooter and Big Mac and his posse bit the dust.

Moral: Never take Common Core to a gunfight with the Marine Corps.

S un AV til E $ Se 5 pt .2

Every girl deserves a lifetime!

10-18-14

Register Online: www.komenknoxville.org

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • AUGUST 27, 2014 • 5

Party affiliation all that matters in local races affiliation matters on the bench, but Knox County voters apparently do believe party affiliation matters. Few voters have ever appeared in court before Chancellor Fansler or Judge Wimberly, but nearly every voter has some opinion on the difference between a Democrat and a Republican. In fact, for many voters, party affiliation is the only qualification that matters.

In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, Republican voters in a Republican county are going to vote for a Republican judge. For many, if a judge chooses to be in the same party as

Barack Obama, then he doesn’t have the good judgment to be a judge in Knox County.

As a result of this election, expect calls by Democrats (and some Republicans) for non-partisan judicial races.

Of course, Democrats favored partisan judicial races when Democrats could win elections. Now that Democrats can’t win elections with party affiliation listed on the ballot, we must “remove politics from the courtroom.”

There’s an old saying that “You can’t win an election if you don’t run.” For local Democrats, the new mantra

has become, “You can’t win if you have a Republican opponent.” There are no longer any countywide elected Democrats in Knox County.

A couple of other thoughts on the election: State Democrats have taken comfort in the fact that the Democratic-appointed state Supreme Court members were retained, despite Lt. Gov. Ramsey’s efforts to oust the three remaining Bredesen appointees. It is more likely that the only reason these Supreme Court justices survived is that the state ballots do not list party affiliation beside each justice’s name.

The Republican primary

in the 13th legislative district has been decided with Eddie Smith set to take on first-term, incumbent Rep. Gloria Johnson this November. Local Democrats have thus far been confident of Johnson’s re-election chances.

To the contrary, expect Eddie Smith to easily defeat Johnson. To use language from the financial sector, November 2014 will be “peak Republican” in Tennessee. If a Republican was ever going to win a seat in Tennessee, it will be in this political climate this November.

Concord Park’s big foot sightings

decline and the formation of the posse resulted in the creature’s complete disappearance. After that, “big foot” was never seen again.

The truth about big foot was finally solved when an ape costume was discovered in a hiding place at the Concord swimming pool.

The managing proprietor, Joe Kimsey, son of Knoxville Chief of Police Joe Kimsey Sr., originally obtained the costume to frighten Red Moore and never intended it to go any further than a onetime prank on Red. But when the story began to spread, Joe saw another opportunity to draw people to the park and hopefully increase swimmers at the pool. Joe was always looking for ways to promote the pool, and he immediately recognized that “big foot” could play a major part in his promotion schemes.

Joe even allowed for interviews with the press where he claimed to have seen the creature. But when hunting parties were formed, Joe recognized

that he could possibly get shot and that trigger-happy hunters might also shoot someone else. So, big foot disappeared just as quickly as it appeared on that warm summer evening when Red Moore first spotted it on his way home.

I don’t remember if the truth ever became public knowledge, or whether the lack of sightings just eventually caused a lack of interest among the public. I do know that gradually the park began to draw lovers back to their old parking spots, but I suspect there was never the feeling of security that existed before big foot.

There are just a handful of people left who still remember the “big foot” scare.

During summer months, I often worked on weekends at Lakeland Service Center on Concord Road where sportsmen always stopped to fill their outboard fuel tanks and stock their coolers with beer.

Almost everyone who came in was interested in big foot, and I was available to provide the latest infor-

mation on sightings.

“Have you actually seen the creature?” people would ask. I always answered: “No, but I have friends who have seen it, and they described it as about eight foot tall and said it ran like a man. There would be no way someone could outrun the creature,” I told them.

The sightings were very timely since they occurred during a time when stories of big foot sightings spread throughout the nation.

I am not sure about the credibility of these sightings, but they created curiosity even among the most skeptical.

And our area had a big foot that rivaled even the most credible sightings.

Today, when I drive around the park loop and pass those spots where sightings occurred, I chuckle to myself when I recall pointing out those spots to newcomers to the community. But I usually got the same question from them that many of the locals also asked during the scare.

“Are you kidding me?”

Democrats, and many well-heeled Republicans, are appalled that voters failed to re-elect two local Democratic judges this month. Chancellor Daryl Fansler had served Knox County for 16 years. Circuit Court Judge Harold Wimberly had been on the bench for 27 years. Both were well regarded by local attorneys and praised by Democrats and Republicans alike for their work.

The voters didn’t care and fired both of them on a party-line vote.

The outrage from local attorneys and politicos has been as virulent as it has been predictable.

For teenagers growing up in Concord, the park and its environs created a virtual fairyland playground for most of us. It included an Olympic-size public swimming pool and a marina that provided summer employment.

Malcolm Shell

And for those of us old enough to drive, it provided nooks and crannies that became preferred secluded parking spots for lovers.

And since the park had its own security patrol, it was also a safe place to park.

But in the mid-1950s, it also served as the habitat for an awesome-looking creature that could only be described as “big foot.”

The first sighting was by

Scott Frith

“The voters are just stupid,” some say. Others argue that their Republican replacements are unqualified for the job. Many of the local political elite are just plain baffled that the voters would turn out longtenured judges with good reputations for Republican attorneys.

Many lawyers and political folks don’t think party

a Concord boat dock employee named “Red” Moore.

After that, only the brave ventured into the area to park after dark.

Now since Red was known for his tall tales, his sighting was at first considered just another Red Moore tale. But when he was walking home one evening just after sundown, the creature ran across the road just about 20 yards from him. Red shined his flashlight on the creature, and when it stopped and looked at him he ran back into the boat dock hollering: “ape, ape, ape.”

When the other boat dock employees saw the pure horror on Red’s face, they began to wonder if there could be a kernel of truth in his story.

Red was not the only one who encountered the creature. Cars driving around the park loop often sighted the creature in their headlights running across the

Shopper s t n e V enews

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THROUGH SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 Daily giveaway of two tickets to any performance at Clarence Brown Theatre. To enter: “like” the Clarence Brown Theatre Facebook page. Grand prize winner of two season subscriptions chosen Sept. 6.

THROUGH WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10 Accepting nominations for the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance 2014 Preservation Awards.

Awards to be presented Thursday Nov. 6. Info/ nomination form: http://knoxheritage.org/etpa/easttennessee-preservation-awards/.

WEDNESDAY AUG. 27 The Bookaholics Book Group meeting, noon, Union Ave Books, 517 Union Ave. Discussion: “The Woman Upstairs” by Claire Messud. Info: 951-2180.

THURSDAY, AUG. 28 Cruise Night, 6-9 p.m., 6215 Riverview Crossing Drive in front of old Food Lion at Asheville Highway.

All makes, models, years and clubs welcome. No charge. Door prizes.

Auditions for all voice parts – Knoxville Choral Society, 6-8 p.m. Info/for scheduled appointment time: www.knoxvillechoralsociety.org, 312-2440, membership@knoxvillechoralsociety.org.

Free movie and popcorn, 11:15 a.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Movie: “Jack Reacher” with Tom Cruise. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, AUG. 28-29 AARP Driver Safety class, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Fort Sanders Senior Center, 1220 Main St., Sevierville.

Info/to register: Carolyn Rambo, 584-9964.

FRIDAY, AUG. 29 Sunset Music Series presents Steve

road in front of them. The sightings started to draw increased attention when people with more credibility than Red began reporting sightings.

And finally, when park officers reported seeing the creature, big foot’s existence was firmly established.

The sightings were reported in local newspapers, and soon people from other areas began to drive through the park hoping to catch sight of the mysterious “big foot.” And for a community where people seldom locked their doors at night, citizens not only began to lock their doors but also loaded their shotguns and kept them handy.

Finally, some of Concord’s citizens decided to form a hunting party to scour the park looking in every possible hiding place.

And as news of the “posse” grew, other began to join in the search. Surprisingly, public sightings began to

Kaufman, 7 p.m., Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center’s covered outdoor amphitheater, Townsend.

Three-time National Guitar Champion. Admission: $5.

Info: 448-0044.

Applebee’s Kickoff for a Cause tailgate party, 3 p.m.-1 a.m., Applebee’s, 2912 Knoxville Center Drive.

Proceeds to benefit My Son Shines Fund to build a new playground at Carter Park. Live band, bounce houses, dunk tank, raffle prizes, specialty cocktails, food and fun.

Rivalry Friday Tailgate Party, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Alcoa vs. Maryville football game televised live on big screen, 7:30. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

SATURDAY, AUG. 30 Boomsday, Bluegrass and Barbecue celebration, 6 p.m., Mabry-Hazen House, 1711 Dandridge Ave. Dinner, 7:30. Tickets: $60 per adult; children under 12 are free. Info/advance tickets: www.mabryhazen.com or 522-8661.

Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., The Island in Pigeon Forge. Proceeds benefit Smoky Mountain Service Dogs, a local charity that raises and trains service dogs for disabled veterans. Info: www.facebook.com/greatsmoky mountainjeepinvasion or www.smokymountainjeepclub. org.

Bat Night, 8 p.m., Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. Fee: members, $5; nonmembers, $8; children 5 and under, free. Preregistration required. Info/to register: 577-4717, ext. 110.

SUNDAY, AUG. 31 “Stories in Every Jar,” free storytelling by members of the Smoky Mt. Storytellers, 3-5 p.m., Back Porch, 805 Parkway, Gatlinburg. Info: 429-1783 or www. smokymountaintellers.org.

MONDAY, SEPT. 1 Mighty Musical Monday featuring Jelani Eddington, noon, Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Info: 684-1200 or tennesseetheatre.com.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 2 UT Hospice Adult Grief Support Group meeting, 5-6:30 p.m., UT Hospice office, 2270 Sutherland Ave. A light supper is served. Info/reservation: Brenda Fletcher, 544-6277.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 4 Cruise Night, 6-9 p.m., 6215 Riverview Crossing Drive in front of old Food Lion at Asheville Highway.

All makes, models, years and clubs welcome. No charge.

Scott Frith is a local attorney. You can contact him at scott@pleadthefrith.com

Door prizes.

Vintage Fashion Show and Sale to benefit Goodwill Industries-Knoxville Inc., 6 p.m., Downtown Knoxville Hilton. Tickets: $40 each or $375 for a table of 10; must be ordered in advance. For tickets: 588-8567.

AAA Driver Improvement Course, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Knoxville AAA office, 100 W. Fifth Ave. Cost: members, $30; nonmembers, $35. Preregistration required. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Stephanie, 862-9252.

Free movie and popcorn, 11:15 a.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Movie: “Now You See Me” with Morgan Freeman and Isla Fisher. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

Knoxville Writers’ Guild meeting, 7 p.m., Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave. (at 16th Street). Speaker: David Madden discussing his most recent book-length publication, a collection of stories titled “The Last Bizarre Tale.” Info: www.knoxvillewritersguild.org.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 5 Opening reception for Art Market Gallery September featured artists: painter Victoria Simmons and jeweler Sissy Caldwell, 5:30-9 p.m., Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St. Info: 525-5265, www.artmarketgallery. net or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 6 Cades Cove tour with Bill Landry, 9 a.m., departing from the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend. Tickets: $50 per person; includes light snacks and a cold beverage. Reservations required: 448-8838.

AAA Driver Improvement Course, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Maryville AAA Office, 715 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway. Cost: members, $40; nonmembers, $50. Preregistration required. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Stephanie, 862-9252.

MONDAY-TUESDAY, SEPT. 8-9 AARP Driver Safety class, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Tellico Village Property Owners Association, 145 Awohli Drive, Loudon. Info/to register: Carolyn Rambo, 584-9964.

AARP Driver Safety class, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Seymour First Baptist Church, 11621 Chapman Highway, Seymour. Info/to register: Carolyn Rambo, 584-9964.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 9 Classic Hike of the Smokies: Forney Ridge. Hike is 7.2 miles in length, total elevation gain of 1,600 feet and is moderately difficult. All registration donations benefit the Smokies Trails Forever program. Info/to register: AnnaLee@friendsofthesmokies.org or 828452-0720.

kids

Ashland Copeland

6 • AUGUST 27, 2014 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news

Girl Scouts call for new members, volunteers

Matthew Davidson

New at Dogwood New teachers making the grade at Dogwood Elementary School are: Dr. Tisha Brown, Amy Cate, Allie Carey, Dawn Stafford and Staci Mills. Photos submitted

Morrison ranks high in ‘capsim’ Maegan Groos

John Brent Morrison, manager of technical operations in Education Technology Services at Pellissippi State Community College, was recognized recently as one of the best business graduate students in the world.

Morrison, who is pursuing an MBA at Tennessee Tech, competed in the international Capstone Business Simulation program, or Capsim, during spring semester. He placed 23rd out

Kaylee Harlamert

Jennifer Penwell

Madison Snyder

Who’s new

By Betsy Pickle Bonny Kate and Dogwood elementary schools welcomed several new teachers this year.

At Dogwood are: Dr. Tisha Brown, third grade; Amy Cate, third grade; Allie Carey (a former Dogwood intern), kindergarten; Dawn Stafford, speech; and Staci Mills, kindergarten.

Coming on board at Bonny Kate are: Matthew Davidson, fifth grade; Madison Snyder, fourth grade; and Jennifer Penwell, resource assistant.

Ashland Copeland, Kaylee Harlamert and Maegan Groos are student teachers joining the team from Johnson University.

ters and video game remote controls. Morrison’s success, he believes, came from his strategy of regularly introducing new products into the market.

“The steady pace of prod- ■ “The Alexander Technique: uct innovation,” he said, An Introduction,” 10:30 a.m., “allowed me to examine the Thursday, Sept. 4, Bearden simulated market as a whole Branch Library, 100 Golf Club and target the consumer Road. Free but preregistration requested. Info/to preregister: needs that my competitors Lilly Sutton, 387-7600 or www. were failing to meet, making AlexanderTechniqueKnoxville. products that were smaller, com. faster, and cheaper.”

■ Abundant Life, a Free Weight Info: 865-694-6400.

HEALTH NOTES

REUNIONS ■ Beason family reunion, noon Saturday, Sept. 6, Big Ridge State Park rec hall. Food served 1 p.m.

■ Central High Class of ’74, Sept. 12-13. Friday: tailgate 6 p.m. in the CHS parking lot; bring a picnic and lawn chair. Football game 7:30. Saturday: reunion party 6 p.m. at Calhoun’s on the River. Cost: $40 per person. Info: 584-9469 or knoxcentralclassof74@gmail.com.

■ Halls High Class of ’59, Friday, Aug. 29, Beaver Brook Country Club. Info: Dickie George, 9227145.

■ Halls High Classes of ’76-’80, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, Red Gate Farm, 2353 Maynardville Highway. Admission: $10 ($15 couples). Food vendors will be on-site, but classmates are asked to bring their own drinks and lawn chairs. The Kincaid Band will perform. Info/RSVP: 214-7020 or hallshsreunion@gmail.com.

Management Program incorporating diet, exercise and group support, 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, North Knoxville Seventh-Day Adventist Church fellowship hall, 6530 Fountain City Road. Limited space. Info: 314-8204 or www.

KnoxvilleInstep.com.

■ Asa’s EB awareness 5K walk/ run, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, Victor Ashe Park.

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare skin disease for which there is no cure or treatment.

All proceeds will go to the DEBRA organization for EB awareness and research. To register: http://debra.kintera. org/2014knoxville5k.

South-Doyle, Bruce face interesting first test at Heritage

sports Upcoming Friday Games start at 7:30 p.m.

Austin-East at Anderson County Bearden at Fulton Carter vs. Cocke County Central at Jefferson County Farragut at Oak Ridge Grace Academy at Kingston Gibbs vs. Grainger County Halls vs. Union County Hardin Valley Academy at Karns Knoxville Catholic at Coalfield Knoxville Webb at Baylor Powell vs. CAK South-Doyle at Heritage West: Open

In his sixth season as coach at South-Doyle, Clark Duncan has the Cherokees poised to contend for a state title.

Heritage has turned a lot of heads during the run up to the 2014 season, most notably a 13-6 win over defending Class 3A state champion Alcoa at the Blount County jamboree.

In his third season, Tim Hammontree has the Mountaineers poised as a real threat.

Friday’s (Aug. 29) game is the season opener for both teams, and there’s a lot of potential momentum riding on this one at Heritage’s Jack Renfro Stadium.

Last season: SouthDoyle (7-5), Heritage (1-9) Last meeting: SouthDoyle 26, Heritage 7 The offenses: The Cherokees, with a wealth of backfield horsepower, run largely out of the option. The Mountaineers operate out of

7-5 and a minor bowl bid Even if you know almost nothing about Tennessee football, it is time for predictions.

As a longstanding realist, I say 7-5 and an invitation to a minor bowl would be progress. Anything more would be cause for celebration and raises all around. Anything less than 6-6 would be serious. The Volunteers cannot afford to get stuck in reverse and dump a bunch of bricks.

We have excuses: Young team, tough schedule, inexperienced linemen.

We have reasons to expect more than last year: Improved speed.

Money, whatever it took for all the show-and-tell Butch Jones could think of as enhancements, from gray

of 1,760 participants from 36 countries, and his scores put him in the top 1.5 percent of competitors.

T h e company Morrison Morrison fabricated designed, manufactured and distributed motion sensors for various products, such as pedome-

The fall call for new Girl Scout members and volunteers is going out across the county. The benefits of being a Girl Scout or a volunteer are varied and many, including making new friends, enjoying exciting new experiences and knowing you are making a difference in the lives of others.

Girl Scouts is open to all girls, from kindergarten through grade 12, and adults over the age of 18 may become volunteers.

Joining Scouts or signing up to be a volunteer can now be done online and at any time of the year.

Info: www.girlscouts.org or call 1-800-474-1912.

Marvin West

uniforms to inspirational speakers to stadium disc jockey. Travel allowance was essentially unlimited, enough to go anywhere as many times as the law allows. This combination, in the hands of sales professionals, produced significant recruiting success.

Development is a reasonable next step for a secondseason coaching staff paid at a championship level.

Culture change, account-

ability, internal leadership, faith in the future should pay preliminary dividends.

I have heard the expectations of joyous optimists and their opposites, those who concede that Vanderbilt has passed Tennessee. Predictions range from 4-8 to 9-3.

I have tallied a hundred or more. The average might be a break-even season.

Confidence suffered a setback when CBS Sports.com checked in. The network televises a game of the week from the SEC. That qualifies all staffers as insightful.

Their opinion is Tennessee does not yet have it. Butch got one vote for coach of the year and Tennessee got one vote for fourth place in the SEC East, several for fifth

the spread and aren’t afraid to empty the backfield.

The defenses: SouthDoyle employs the versatile 4-3 to slow opponents.

Heritage, with depth at linebacker, goes with a 3-5 as its stop unit.

The Breakdown: South-Doyle won this one, 26-7, a year ago, and the Cherokees return a big-time running game. Tennessee commitment Joc Bruce is the real deal. A 2,000-yard back last season, Bruce paced a backfield that taxed opponents for better than 4,000 yards in a secondround playoff run for the Cherokees.

The trio of quarterback

Brody Rollins and backs Malik Lundy and Bruce can be lethal.

There’s a buzz at Heritage about football this season, and it’s for real. Fullback Orlando Bledsoe emerged as a player to watch in 2013.

For 2014, the Mountaineers have added a passing game that’s really opened up the offense.

Junior quarterback Dustin Richardson is unlike any the Mountaineers have had in some time. Including the win over the Tornadoes, Richardson has four touchdown throws of better than 30 yards during preseason.

Devin Harris, Devin Gardner, Kahlil Abuhania, Hunter Terry and Riley Hill have proven reliable targets.

Why this one intrigues: If the Cherokees can control the game on the ground – and with Bruce, they’re certainly capable – it’s advantage South-Doyle. There’s only so much time in a

game, and if the Cherokees can control the ball and the clock, it’s easy math.

The key is South-Doyle needs to score.

Heritage can really throw the ball this season. The jamboree quarter with Alcoa was no fluke. Starters for both teams played to the horn.

The passing game doesn’t need as much time to put points on the board. And there’s the hard-running Bledsoe to eat clock if Heritage gets the lead.

It’s always interesting when a running team and one more oriented around the passing game collide.

The future Vol Bruce really spices this one up and could very well decide it.

Note: Stefan Cooper is the founder and editor of the Blount Press Row website and will be previewing a Knox County game for Shopper-News each week this season.

and one for sixth.

The CBS all-SEC team does not mention Tennessee, not even A.J. Johnson, labeled an all-American by local enthusiasts.

Gambling guru Danny Sheridan thankfully left the Vols off his list of 10 worst teams in the country but awarded “honorable mention.”

USAToday/Coaches poll was not particularly comforting. Fifty-one teams received votes. Tennessee did not.

SEC sports information directors said the Vols will finish 11th in the league.

SEC media said 12th.

Paul Finebaum, godfather of the new SEC Network, was alarming. He said fans should not concern themselves with the Oklahoma horror chamber.

Of greater concern is the opener against Utah State.

Oh my.

Forecasting is simple if you accept this vision: Utah State, Chattanooga, Arkansas State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky are need-to-be victories. Missouri, Florida and Ole Miss are possible upsets. Georgia and South Carolina are unlikely. Oklahoma and Alabama are more unlikely.

A fan who said “eight is enough” is betting on nine.

She picked the Vols to win the opener and move boldly past everybody except the Sooners, Crimson Tide and Gamecocks.

One reaction to that forecast: “Nobody in touch with reality would pick this Tennessee team to win three SEC road games.”

Several paid to predict have Georgia winning the SEC title. Great running backs do make a difference.

Mississippi has a very good quarterback and is listed among the most underrated teams in the country. The Vols project as seven-point underdogs in Oxford.

The 6-6 consensus counts three non-conference victories and a strong November.

That would mean an ugly six out of seven setbacks with only Chattanooga to break up the losing streak.

Vol fans may learn to appreciate open dates.

This is not part of predictions but the opener is critical.

Utah State has a busy-body quarterback. I am not convinced Tennessee has learned to contain quarterbacks who run. I am not sure it can disrupt quarterbacks who throw.

I am sure the Volunteers must win the first one.

Must-must-must.

Stefan Cooper

Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com

business

Shopper news • AUGUST 27, 2014 • 7

Moon manages more than money

By Betty Bean He grew up in George Wallace’s Alabama and had a picture of Richard Nixon’s Oval Office on the back of his bedroom door. His grandmother dated Wallace’s predecessor governor, Big Jim Folsom, whom Moon describes as “not quite a benevolent dictator, but as honest as you could be as an executive politician in the South in the 1950s.”

He remembers crying the day Nixon resigned.

He didn’t grow up wealthy, and learned the value of a dollar chopping cotton. By his senior year at Hazel Green High School, he knew he was going to leave. At 6-5 and 260 pounds, he was a highly recruited football player and valedictorian of the HGHS Class of 1981. He could have played on anybody’s team, but wanted to come to Tennessee. There was just one obstacle in the way: He dreaded saying no to Bear Bryant.

His uncle Byrd Williams had played on two national championship teams at Alabama, and it was assumed that Moon, whose parents lived on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa when he was born, would opt to join the Crimson Tide. When he was 10 years old, he got Bryant to autograph a book, and told him, “I’m going to play for you one day.”

So when his Uncle told him he couldn’t go to Tennessee until he informed Coach Bryant of his intentions face-to-face, he wasn’t surprised. But that doesn’t mean it was easy.

“I was so nervous I teared up,” he said. “The week of Thanksgiving 1980, which was the week of the Alabama/Auburn game, Coach Bryant was at practice, and

David Moon in his office at Riverview Tower.

I spent most of practice with him. We had dinner afterward, and he said, ‘Byrd tells me you haven’t made a decision.’

“I said, ‘Coach, I’m going to go to Tennessee.’”

Bryant took the news with his typical aplomb, but later that day, Bryant’s defensive coordinator, Knoxville native Ken Donahue told Moon he’d never beat Alabama at Tennessee.

“We went 3-1 against Alabama when I was there.

When Coach Majors hired (Donahue) in ’85, I reminded him of that,” Moon said.

Moon came to Knoxville in the summer of 1981 to play football for Johnny Majors and has called it home ever since. He played on Phillip Fulmer’s offensive line and was named the senior male athlete with the highest grade point average in 1984.

He says he won his wife, Sien (pronounced Shawn), in a card game.

“Her brother was a waiter at Gibbs Hall, and brought her to Antonio’s, on the Strip, where a bunch of us were playing cards. We were all interested in making her

Photo by Betty Bean

acquaintance, so we cut the cards. I cheated and got first shot,” he said.

His intention when he arrived at UT was to sign with the NFL after graduation, move to New York and eventually become a rich money manager. But two ACL tears made him rearrange his dreams, get an MBA and an early start on the career he’d wanted since his uncle gave him a book written by Warren Buffet’s college professor when he was a kid.

Today, Moon Capital Management, which manages money for individuals, corporations and nonprofits, occupies a comfortable suite in Riverview Tower.

The firm’s president’s office has a tall desk that holds a bank of computer screens and a floor-to-ceiling glass window that frames a spectacular view of the spot where the Holston and French Broad meet to form the Tennessee River and the rolling hills beyond. He can see a bit of his farm on the bank of the Holston. It takes him nine minutes to get to work by car, or 15 by pontoon boat.

“We go out and meet with

the management of companies. I sit around and read stock annual reports all day,” Moon said. “We have someone who does financial planning and an ex-manager of a local UBS office who works with clients. I have another guy I feed raw meat and won’t let him out of the room – just pay him to think.

“Here’s what makes us different: every stock we buy for our clients, we buy for ourselves, and not just a little bit. Every bit of my liquid net worth is invested in the same stock portfolio as our clients own. And I sleep with my most important client – we manage my wife’s IRA.” Moon has written for many publications and has a regular column on the business page of the daily paper. His most recent project, “Thoughts are Things,” is a self-published book of inspirational daily devotionals for children that began as short messages he’d leave for his twins, Wheeler and Bethany, now 14, who were still in bed when he left for work in the mornings. After collecting a couple of years’ worth of aphorisms, he decided to compile them into a book with a thought for every day of the year. Edited by Bill Rukeyser and illustrated with line drawings by a pair of Albanian sisters, Bora and Jona Shehu. The book’s success has shocked him, although he’s not sure exactly how many he has sold.

He was even more shocked to learn that his book has been named Best Juvenile Inspirational Book 2014 by Independent Publishers.

“I thought it was good.

Ruykeyser said it was good, and it’s been received in ways and places I never anticipated. It’s really cool, sophomoric as that sounds.”

New at the mall H2 Cellular Justin Hartley moved from Roanoke, Va., to Knoxville to attend UT. It didn’t take long for him to become a true Vol. After graduation, he decided to make Knoxville his permanent home.

Hartley has been in the wireless industry since 2008, and he knew he wanted to eventually own his own business. After Justin Hartley m e e t i n g with Justin Sterling, leasing agent at Knoxville Center mall, Hartley says the mall was “by far the best place” for his new venture. He lives only five minutes away and wants to serve people in his own community.

With an extensive knowledge of the wireless industry, he has seen many changes over the years but says pre-paid services have recently started booming.

With the many advantages of pre-paid service, Hartley says “more and more people are going this route.”

Hartley is excited to offer plans and services to everyone. With numerous choices for each provider, there is a plan to suit everyone’s needs. No credit checks, no contracts, and no early termination fees are just a few of the benefits. Some phones which were activated by another carrier can even be switched.

H2 Cellular offers a variety of models and phone styles. You can also bring your phone in if you just

Nancy Whittaker

want to sell it. Hartley says he is the only store of this type servicing the area in and around Knoxville Center mall.

H2 Cellular handles Page Plus, Net 10 and Simple Mobile, carriers he says operate off of the “big guys’ towers.”

This enables these pre-paid carriers to offer similar service as the major providers.

Hartley decided on the name H2 Cellular, using a combination of his last name and his grandfather’s first name. He and his grandfather were very close and Hartley wanted to honor his memory.

H2 Cellular is located on the upper level of the mall across from Claire’s. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6.

ETABPA to meet Sept. 3 The East Towne Area Business and Professional Association will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at New Harvest Park Community Center at 8 a.m.

State Farm Insurance agent Mike Davis will speak on risk management and how to grow a business.

New president Justin Sterling encourages everyone associated with businesses along the I640 corridor to attend. Come early and have breakfast while networking.

NEWS FROM PREMIER SURGICAL

Premier Surgical Adds Five Surgeons Premier Surgical Associates has added three general surgeons, a surgical oncologist, and a vascular surgeon to four of the group’s Knoxville hospital locations.

Marcus A. Barber, M.D., of Premier at Tennova North Knoxville and Physicians Regional, is a vascular and endovascular surgeon. A graduate of Wichita State University, Dr. Barber earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where he also completed his general surgery residency. He completed a vascular surgery fellowMarcus A. ship at Baylor University Barber, MD, Medical Center.

Vascular Surgery

Also joining Premier’s Tennova North Knoxville and Physicians Regional Medical Centers location is general surgeon Jessica Louise Vinsant, M.D. She is the fourth generation of the Vinsant family to serve as a physician in East Tennessee. Vinsant grew up in Knoxville, before graduating from Syracuse University. She earned her MBA from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and Jessica L. her medical degree from Vinsant, MD, Wright State’s Boonshoft General Surgery School of Medicine. Vinsant completed her general surgery residency at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine.

Joel Fontaine “Trey” Bradley III, M.D., of Premier at Fort Sanders Regional, is a general surgeon who is experienced in abdominal wall reconstruction, and complex hernia repair. Bradley, a graduate of the University of Memphis, earned his medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of South Carolina, Palmetto Health Richland and both research and clinical minimally invasive surgery fellowships at Carolinas Joel F. “Trey” HealthCare System.

Bradley, III, MD,

General Surgery

Another addition to

the Fort Sanders Regional Premier Surgical location is surgical oncologist Troy Franklin Kimsey, M.D., FACS. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Kimsey earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and also completed his residency there. Kimsey completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at the Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center in New York. Prior to joining Premier Surgical, Kimsey spent six years Troy F. Kimsey, practicing broad-based MD, FACS, Surgical Oncology general surgical oncology and helping in the development of a community-based regional cancer center in Southwest Georgia.

Kristopher Burton Williams, M.D., has joined Premier Surgical as a general surgeon in the group’s Parkwest Medical Center office. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Williams earned his master’s degree from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University and his medical degree from East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine. He completed his internship and genKristopher B. eral surgery residency Williams, MD, at Union Memorial General Surgery Hospital in Baltimore, M.D., and his fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. Williams has special experience in abdominal wall reconstruction and complex hernia repair.

“We are pleased to have these five outstanding surgeons join our group,” says Kevin Burris, CEO of Premier Surgical Associates. "Their experience and expertise will be a great benefit to our patients in East Tennessee."

For more information about the surgical treatment of skin cancer, visit premiersurgical.com.

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