POSTAL CUSTOMER
VOL. 9 NO. 48
IN THIS ISSUE West looks ahead At my age, I don’t win many foot races but, by jumping the gun, I might be first with a Tennessee football outlook for 2015. Next year is when the Volunteers are supposed to take a giant step forward. Some teams that have been pushing Tennessee around for the past several seasons should rethink the situation. The big bullies know who they are.
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Read Marvin West on page 5
Thanksgiving As I enjoy Thanksgiving Day, my mind travels back to past Thanksgivings. I am thankful for happy memories as well as for new memories yet to be made.
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Read Ronnie Mincey on page 4
Walker’s Ford Union County historian Bonnie Peters continues her look at troops in Union County during the Civil War.
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Read Bonnie Peters on page 4
Shop Local This week we’re featuring three local businesses with special deals for Christmas shopping.
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Read Libby Morgan on page 2
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
For the Children The “For the Children” Christmas fund for foster children in Union County is asking for popular toys (unwrapped) for babies to pre-teens, as well as cash to buy gift cards for the older kids. Members invite everyone to join them at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Cancun Restaurant on Crippen Road in Halls to collect the toys and cash and to “celebrate the spirit of generosity and community with toys, tacos and margaritas.” Donations can be made by calling Kim Raley Bouchard at 865-363-3833.
Pecans are here! The Union County Lions Club is selling pecans to raise funds to help provide eye care services for Union County citizens. Pecans are available at the Union County Trustee’s Office in the courthouse, First Century Bank and Commercial Bank (Maynardville branch). Cost is $10 per pound for halves and $12 per pound for 12-ounce packages of dark chocolate covered pecans.
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December 3, 2014
Ornament-al art By Libby Morgan Amid the sparkle and lights of the family Christmas tree, branches are decorated with meaningful memories: baby’s first Christmas, a child’s handmade ornament or a memento purchased from a special time. Lawanna Loy is putting fond memories of a different kind on hand-painted glass globes. She paints scenes, current and bygone, to display during the holiday season. Many depictions of structures have made their way to the delicate curved surface. Each is unique, and some of her commissions are from old family photos. While most of the ornaments have a church on them, she’s painted the old courthouse, farms, existing and bygone home places, and 33 bridge. Recent commissions include the old Leatherwood church and Dale Earnhardt’s car. “I don’t have a lot of confidence, but when it comes to crafting, I’ll try anything. I love to sew and paint,” says Loy. She says she’s been painting for about 10 years, and has taken classes from Aurora Harrison Bull
Lawanna Loy holds two of her hand-painted glass ornaments at Flowers by Bob. Beside her is one of her scenery paintings. Photo by Libby Morgan and others. She paints on canvas, too, and says one of her favorite subjects is the Italian countryside. Some of her paintings are for sale at Union County Arts. “Lately some of my family members and I have had some serious health problems,” she says, referring to the recent death of a brother and her own heart surgery early this year. “Taking care of him and then
recuperating from my surgery has taken a lot of time away from creating art, but I’m renewed now and feeling great.” Loy is well-known in Union County, being raised among the 10 Wynn siblings in Hickory Valley, and later providing her friendly smile to customers at several Maynardville businesses for decades. She worked many years at the courthouse, for Darryl Edmonson, for John Deere
and at First State Bank. Maynardville’s Flowers by Bob sells her ornaments and takes custom orders. Ornaments of several local churches are available now, and the staff at the shop are happy to contact Loy about new commissions. Prices are reasonable. “So far I’ve been able to keep up with the demand,” she says. “I’m pleased to do this for my friends and neighbors.”
New digs for ORNL Credit Union The ORNL Federal Credit Union has moved into spacious, contemporary new offices within the Food City in Maynardville. Pictured are: head teller Jessica Holder, manager Angie Merritt, teller Bethany Winstead and teller Ashley Stanford. The branch was previously located in a different section of the store. Merritt said it is full service, handling all the products offered at any branch, including loans. Photo by S. Clark
Dunn breaks with Haslam on Common Core By Betty Bean State Rep. Bill Dunn is a key member of the House Education Committee and has generally supported Gov. Bill Haslam’s education reform measures. But he broke ranks last session by passing a bill to reel back the Common Core Bill Dunn State Standards, which have grown increasingly unpopular among conservatives as well as teachers. Dunn said the new law (which Haslam signed) puts Tennessee in control of its standards while requiring the state Board of Education to notify members of the House and Senate education committees and post information online before it can vote on standard changes. The law also limits the application of the standards to language arts and math, limits the data that can be collected from students
and parents, and requires Common Core-aligned tests to be bid out. While Dunn’s efforts made implementation of Common Core more transparent, is that enough for legislators who want to repeal it outright? We will see in January. Dunn also has a plan to get teachers a raise but isn’t ready to discuss it. “The governor may have a different plan, but I’ve got a backup plan to reward teachers for their hard work over the years.” He admits his plan could be complicated by the reality of a tight budget year. “That’s going to rule a whole lot of things.” When asked if he’ll join his conservative colleagues who want to repeal the Hall tax on investment income, he hedged his answer, pointing out that he has supported tax cuts like the small sales tax decrease on food (“People have got to eat”), but said he’s leery of cutting off vital revenue streams. “I think we have to look at the budget long term. When you
weaken yourself financially as a state, you become beholden to the federal government. Why would we weaken ourselves? “When someone comes forward and says we need to repeal this tax, they need to show how that’s going to affect the budget. When we repealed the inheritance tax, we benefited, because it encouraged more people to stay in state. With the Hall tax, I think you start by looking at who you’re hurting. If it’s a retiree who depends on this for income, you could raise the exemption, but I think we should distinguish between an elderly couple depending on their investments and a billionaire who’s investing. “My main point is, as long as we have the financial means, we call the shots. When we don’t, the federal government calls the shots.” After 20 years in the House, Dunn is kind of a big deal, particularly since the Republicans ended the Democrats’ majority in 2008. Dunn became chair of the Calendar and Rules Committee, the last
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stop for committee-approved bills before they hit the House floor. Traditionally, some legislation doesn’t make it, and when it doesn’t, it’s usually the decision of the chair. But Dunn says it’s not like the old days, when the Speaker of the House dictated outcomes. “I’ve got the gavel and I’m the one who determines what the vote was, if it’s a voice vote. What I like to do is work with individuals to get the bill where it needs to be. Has the bill been properly vetted in committee? That used to come from the speaker, but I go through all the bills to make a determination whether they should be on the consent calendar, make a list and give it to the Democratic leadership. “A couple of times I’ve used my gavel to do what needed to be done. ... One time nobody wanted to call for the question and I just grabbed my gavel and left. Everybody said, ‘What?’ But if I hadn’t, we would have spent another two hours just going on and on. I think the bill ended up failing.”
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