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SOUTH KNOX VOL. 24 NO. 123
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Baker Creek trails open for riding
Read Betsy Pickle on page 3
Youth groups earn funds for camp The teens of Mount Olive Baptist Church, in cooperation with those at nearby Stock Creek Baptist, Providence Baptist and Eden Chapel, have big summer plans. Their goal is to raise the about $250 per teen needed for their combined youth groups, about 80 kids in all, to attend a fabulous five-day Wilderness Camp at Awinata Valley Christian Retreat Center in Marietta, S.C., June 20-24. Learn how the kids are raising the needed funds. Read Kelly Norrell on page 7
Gill vs. Staples??? Betty Bean profiles Democratic nominee Evelyn Gill from District 1, only to learn that Rick Staples, the man Gill beat 1704-1507 in the primary, might jump into the race as a write-in candidate. The Republican nominee is Michael Covington. It could get crowded in District 1.
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No ribbon was cut when city officials opened 7.1 miles of new trails in South Knoxville last week. Instead, politicians and key players were handed screw guns and asked to put in the last few screws to the bridge, which connects the new trails in Baker Creek Preserve (formerly referred to as the Wood Property) to the rest of the Urban Wilderness. “The Urban Wilderness is a phenomenal asset thanks to all the partners who are here today,� said Mayor Madeline Rogero. “Let’s keep working on the Urban Wilderness and the South Knoxville Waterfront.�
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Community feel is
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Read Betty Bean on page 5
Nicholas Gibbs open house The Nicholas Gibbs Historical Society will host an open house 11 a.m. Saturday, June 11, at the original log home of Nicholas Gibbs, 7633 E. Emory Road. There will be food, music and an opportunity to learn local history. Bring a folding chair and a potluck dish. Everyone is invited. In case of rain, the meeting will be moved to Clapps Chapel UMC, located just past the homesite. Info: Joe Longmire, 687-0314.
(865) 922-4136 NEWS (865) 661-8777 news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Betsy Pickle ADVERTISING SALES (865) 342-6084 ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Amy Lutheran Patty Fecco | Beverly Holland CIRCULATION (865) 342-6200 shoppercirc@ShopperNewsNow.com
Heather Howell watches Margie Richardson try a sample of her Plum Perfection jam at the Seymour Farmers Market. Howell’s jam and jelly creations also include Strawberry Shortcake, Pineapple Jalapeno, Sweet Garlickin’ Goodness, Hot Love Apple, Raspberry Mocha, Spicy Scuppernong and Apple Stack Cake. Photos
by Betsy Pickle
By Betsy Pickle Imagine a library that needed more books, so it offered writing classes to the public. Or a furniture store that wanted a bigger inventory, so it provided tools and instruction to would-be wood-
workers. That’s the kind of farmers market you find in Seymour each Saturday morning, 8 to noon. The Seymour Farmers Market launched its 2016 season last Saturday with a spectrum of early
crops – lettuce, peppers, onions, herbs and tomatoes – as well as eggs, honey, jams and jellies, locally raised beef, plants/bulbs and crafts. Every vendor welcomed guests warmly and seemed happy to chat for a while. There was no
such thing as a hard sell. Market manager Margie Richardson started the market in 2000 with a core group of seven. Seymour First Baptist Church, 11621 Chapman Highway, has allowed To page 3
‘MakerPalooza’ set for PSCC Megalab
Tinkerers, knitters, bakers, carvers, illustrators, programmers, cultivators and all kinds of makers will display and demonstrate their creations at Pellissippi State Community College’s second annual MakerPalooza 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 18, in the Megalab of PSCC’s Strawberry Plains Campus. The event is free and open to all. “Makerpalooza celebrates
STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and math – education and the National Day of Making,� said Sarah Graham, a planner of the event and a completion coach of the Southeastern Education and Economic Leadership Consortium grant at Pellissippi State. “We’re excited to host a variety of makers this year from farmers to welders to knitters and every-
thing in between,� she added. The inaugural Makerpalooza last year was well-attended and featured a variety of technical and craft creations and their makers. Seth Giles, advanced manufacturing master lab technician in the Megalab and co-planner of Makerpalooza, said, “Makerpalooza creates an environment that rewards accomplishment – after
all, who doesn’t want to show off their creations? – and also shares information with other makers on how to achieve a task or complete a project, as well as on how a creator arrived at his or her solution.� Makerpalooza 2.0 is sponsored by Pellissippi State’s Engineering and Media Technologies department. Info: pstcc.edu/emt/makerpalooza
Rountree calls state funding formula ‘broken’ By Betty Bean Two weeks ago, Amber Rountree, who served on a task force that studied disparities in academic performances among Knox County students, told her school board colleagues there’s something badly wrong with the state’s funding formula for education. “You need to be talking to your state legislators about the fact that the BEP (Basic Education Plan) is broken, and our kids are not getting what they need,� said Rountree, who said that working on the task force taught her that most student disparities are caused by poverty, regardless of ethnicity or disability. “We all have to come together as a community. We have to all reach out to come up with a solution.� When asked to elaborate, Rountree said Knox County Schools’ greatest need is for additional so-
Brooks
cial workers and guidance counselors. She said these positions have never been adequately funded by the BEP, which was created by the Education Improvement Act of 1992 to settle a lawsuit filed by a group of small school systems that challenged the way the state distributed money between urban and rural school districts. The BEP was updated in 2007 (becoming BEP 2.0), but leaders of the state’s larger school systems complain that the state has simply shifted the burden for paying
funding, and I’m not sure how anyone in the state can rah-rah the virtues of the BEP.� Rountree said she feels “a lack of connection with representatives at the state level – like when Bill Dunn was trying to push his voucher bill through, saying he had a letter from the school board, when in reality it was a letter from (board chair) Doug Harris. The majority of the board did not support Dunn’s bill. And the conversations I’ve had with Harry (Brooks), I’m not sure he thinks the BEP needs to be fi xed.� Brooks, who chairs the House Education Administration and Planning Committee and served on a task force convened by Gov. Bill Haslam to work on finding more money for education, said that state government has worked hard To page 3
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Rountree
for education to urban districts like Knox County. Periodically, lawmakers consider bills requiring the state to fully fund the BEP, but those measures invariably get punted to a summer study committee black hole. Rountree said many of the “enhancements� included in the BEP 2.0 reforms have never been fully funded – guidance counselors and social workers among them. “Whatever money (Gov. Bill) Haslam put forth this past year hasn’t enhanced that area.� She said Moreland Heights Elementary School shares a social worker with Pleasant Ridge Elementary. “That’s one person trying to meet the needs of 800-plus students,� she said. “I don’t think there’s a perfect solution, but the way we’re doing it now is obviously not working. We’re at the bottom of the barrel with educational