POSTAL CUSTOMER
VOL. 9 NO. 35
IN THIS ISSUE
When (and why) did Lori lose?
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September 3, 2014
Time’s up for John Howell
Lori Phillips-Jones has spent her career in the District Attorney’s office, but that ended last week when Jared Effler was sworn in to replace her. Sandra Clark speculates on when Phillips-Jones’ prospects for re-election headed south. Also, check out the latest patent for DeRoyal Industries.
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Read Sandra Clark on page 4
Homecoming for Trooper Taylor Trooper Taylor, one of the most colorful (and some might say controversial) coaches in college football, returns to Neyland Stadium Saturday as cornerback counselor for the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
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Read Marvin West on page 5
Long-time Big Ridge Park superintendent retires By Marvin West
Football results What’s NOT in this issue? Game coverage from Friday’s Halls v. Union County football match-up. Photographer Ruth White was there, but the Union County Shopper-News goes to press on Friday at 5 p.m. in order to make U.S. Postal deadlines for Wednesday delivery. We’ll have pictures on Sept. 10.
Mayme Taylor has unusual hobby One of Luttrell’s most active civic volunteers is a small, blonde woman named Mayme Taylor. She’s a firefighter and a woodworker, and she often takes refuge in her wood shop. “This is what I call my Sawdust Therapy. I go to my shop, put on my dew-rag, turn up my music and start making things,” she says.
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sumptive but others say he accomplished his mission, that this rustic gem, 3,687 beautiful acres of natural wonderland, is one of the finest retreats in the state park system. Big Ridge looks like a park. Grass is mowed. There is no litter. More than 800,000 checked it out in the past year. Some played on playgrounds. Some camped. Some stayed in cabins. Some went boating. Some even caught fish. Some hiked the 15 miles of trails, up and down hills, along old roadbeds, past the grist mill and cemeteries and remnants of longago settlements. Some explored the north boundary, Norris Lake. Many have enjoyed annual bluegrass music festivals and Easter egg hunts and ghost stories during evening hikes in October. Big Ridge is family oriented and John Howell remembers when that really soaked in. “A mother was watching her children at play when I came easing along in my pickup truck. She flagged me down and my first thought was ‘Oh no.’ “She surprised me. She said ‘I love the beauty of Big Ridge Park but the best part is it is safe.’
Big Ridge Park Superintendent John Howell “She had no way of knowing that was my primary goal.” Howell has lived at the park forever and ever. The state of Tennessee provided basics. He is about to learn a new way of life. He has purchased a home. Sometime soon he will be introduced to taxes, insurance and utility bills. He has plans. He intends to visit Civil War battlegrounds. He hopes to read into his collection of military history books. He will build a shooting range at home. To page 5
Read Libby Morgan on page 2
Genetics or something else? In reality, I’m sure both genetics and environment play a part in a person’s development, writes Dr. Ronnie Mincey, but my personal experience causes me to lean toward environment. There are several factors that could have been blamed for my lack of success, but all were overcome by positive role models.
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As sand through an hourglass, so goes the days of our life – even in Union County. That old soap opera theme is a reality fit this week at Big Ridge State Park – nothing is forever, time changes things, people come and people go. John Howard Howell, superintendent for 35 years, is bowing out. His office walls are bare and personal treasures are packed away. He says there will be no retirement party, no gold watch, just a quiet goodbye and sincere thanks to those who helped make good times better. He smiled as he recalled young people he watched do some “growing up” at the park. Dr. Jimmy Carter, director of Union County schools, worked three summers, at the boat dock and in the office. “I knew he was special,” said Howell. “He had a smile and a great attitude. Visitors could see how much he cared.” Howell said Billy Breeding, new sheriff of Union County, was
a dock worker and maybe a life guard when he was in high school. “One summer he was our night watchman. That may have been the start of his police career.” Deep in the park files is an honor roll, a list of rangers, maintenance people, housekeepers and students who eagerly accepted summer jobs for modest pay. Some turned into teachers and nurses and firemen and flyboys. Joe Hill became a geology professor. Roger Flatford went from principal to the UC central office. Scott Suffridge, once a life guard, son of a former park secretary, became the Air Force pilot of choice when Army General H. Norman Schwarzkopf wanted to go somewhere in a hurry. One young park worker grew up to be Kenny Chesney. There are other surnames you may know – Sexton, Irick, Robb, Whaley, Ailor, Malone, Shoffner, Weaver, Buckner and many more – in the Big Ridge family archives. The memories please John Howell. He has always thought the park was about people, those who enjoyed it and those who made it enjoyable. Howell would never be so pre-
Read Ronnie Mincey on page 4
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The destruction of Coach Roach By Betty Bean On election night in Grainger County, supporters of longtime state Rep. Dennis “Coach” Roach got together to await the 35th House District race Republican Primary returns to come in. Their candidate had fought hard to overcome a tsunami of negative advertising fi nanced by as much as a half-million dollars from out-of-state special interest groups blasting Roach for “ghost-voting” (the common and fairly innocuous practice of seatmates pushing the voting button for neighbors who had stepped out to use the rest room or take a smoke). The ads painted it as a dangerous and lazy practice, but Roach’s supporters were cautiously optimistic that Roach, a popular teacher and basketball coach who had served since 1994, would survive. “We thought Jerry was going to get his showing, but it turned out
Dennis Powers State Representative 36th District
Coach Roach
Jerry Sexton
we got our showing,” said Grainger County Commissioner and Roach supporter James Acuff. When the final tally was in, Roach lost by nearly 1,000 votes to opponent Jerry Sexton, a preacher turned furniture manufacturer whose Facebook page autobiography describes him as, “More prolife than your pastor, more for the Second Amendment than Davy Crockett, and more for traditional marriage than Adam and Eve.” The issue that caught the attention of groups like the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and
the Tennessee Federation for Children wasn’t ghost voting at all. “It all came down to my vote on the vouchers,” said Roach. Roach was particularly disappointed in his Union County showing, where he lost 670-320. “We thought we might do a little better than that after saving them $497,000 (by pushing to keep the K12 Inc. Virtual Academy open against the wishes of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman). “We helped them save that revenue and they ran a thank-you in the News Sentinel. But I guess what we did didn’t impress them enough to overcome those (Americans for Prosperity) ads. They were good ads, but just about 99 percent false.” Roach cast the fateful vote on March 5 in the House Finance Ways & Means subcommittee (aka “the Black Hole”) opposing a school voucher bill that would have directed taxpayer money to
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go to private schools. “I could have very easily voted for them, and saved myself this trouble, but I’ve been in education all my life, and it’s not a real good time to be taking money out of public education,” Roach said. “I’ve run 10 times before, but I spent more money in this race than in all my other contests combined. “We raised about $57,000, and we spent it. The TEA did a mailer or two that didn’t cost me, spent about $7,500 or so, but you compare that to $400,000-something … And they did radio, too. “We came back and did what we could, but you spend what you’ve got and no more.” Final spending tallies won’t come in until October, and even then, some of the outside groups will not be required to disclose the amount they spent. And Coach Roach will be home in Grainger County when the Legislature convenes in January.
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