HALLS/FOUNTAIN CITY
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The 311 on the FBI
The Shopper interns took a special tour of the Knoxville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week. Perhaps the most excited kid in the group was columnist Jake Mabe.
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See page A-10
Moment of truth arrives for Vols It is (winning) football time in Tennessee, Marvin West writes, and fans are so excited and optimistic and probably so full of themselves as to overlook facts.
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See Marvin’s story on page A-5
Gibbs softball team honored Knox County Commission honored the Gibbs High School fotball team last week for its successful state championship run.
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See page A-9
Lions honor Lon The Fountain City Lions Club has named its building at Fountain City Park after longtime member Lon McNeil.
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See Jake’s story on page A-3
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Halls High band to hold car wash The Halls High School band will hold a car wash fundraiser 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, in the side parking lot at the Halls Food City. Concessions will also be sold and all proceeds will benefit the band.
Index
4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com GENERAL MANAGER Shannon Carey shannon@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Sandra Clark sclark426@aol.com
Brandi Davis davisb@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 27,825 homes in Halls, Gibbs and Fountain City.
July 30, 2012
Loftin called ‘heartbeat of the school’ By Betty Bean If Knox County Schools administrators were hoping to reduce the tension and get the new school year started on a positive note at Shannondale Elementary School, someone miscalculated. For years, Shannondale students have consistently outperformed state and system averages, despite being plagued by chronic overcrowding and inadequate facilities. Last year, new woes were added when worried parents complained that moldy temporary classrooms were causing their children to get sick. Parent Teacher Organization meetings got TV coverage, and several parents transferred their children to other schools, despite Shannondale’s stellar academic record and close-knit cadre of involved parents. The recent appointment of John Nealy as principal was seen as a positive move, but was immediately overshadowed by the sudden transfer of physical education teacher Lisa Loftin, described by parents as “the heartbeat of the school.” Loftin had been at Shannondale for 20 years. Parents say her influence was felt far beyond the classroom. “The kids love her, she loves the kids. She’s always there for every activity and she’s gone far beyond what was required,” said Kelley Flatford, co-president of the Shannondale PTO. “She coached basketball in the Fountain City League and had mostly Shannondale kids. “They didn’t give us a reason for the transfer. They don’t have to. We haven’t had the best leadership for the past few years, and now we’ve lost Ms. Loftin. It’s very frustrating for parents.”
In this Shopper file photo from March 2002, Shannondale Elementary physical education teacher Lisa Loftin goes one-on-one against then PTO president Ruthie McLeod at a pep rally for a fundraiser basketball game against WVLT-TV. Loftin’s administrative transfer to Gibbs Elementary has upset some Shannondale parents. File photo by S. Clark
Flatford said there were sudden, unexplained changes in support staff also resulting in the departure of two other popular Shannondale staffers, school secretary Debbie Wesley and longtime custodian Arthur Spencer. “We’re going to have an all-new office staff and custodial changes,” she said. “We assume it was on the recommendation of (former principal) Dr. (Joy) Foster.” Loftin could not be reached for comment, but her name is still on the Shannondale website. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UT and an Ed.S from Lincoln Memorial University. Other Shannondale parents, who asked that their names not be used, said they are shocked and angry at Loftin’s removal from Shannondale. One parent termed the timing
“reprehensible” because Loftin was informed of the transfer the day after she returned from her mother’s funeral in mid-July. Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre said he had to make “difficult decisions” about staffing at Shannondale this year. Take a look: ■ Dr. Joy Foster, reassigned as an assistant principal at Cedar Bluff Elementary ■ Lisa Loftin, reassigned to Gibbs Elementary ■ Arthur Spencer, reassigned to Gresham Middle ■ Tiersha Adkins applied for and accepted a 6th grade reading position at Holston Middle School ■ Julia Perkins resigned after being on leave-of-absence for a year ■ Amy Johnson resigned ■ Deborah Wesley, secretary,
Reaching skyward Could Knox County’s church steeples be dwarfed by telecommunications towers in the near future? As more consumers opt to drop their land lines in favor of smartphones, the demand for telecommunication towers is increasing. U.S. Cellular has four new permit applications up for consideration on the Metropolitan Planning Commission’s Aug. 9 agenda, three of which are to be located in church parking lots not far from residential areas where telecommunications towers have not been allowed. Churches are receiving payments of about $1,000 per month
FEATURES EDITOR Jake Mabe jakemabe1@aol.com ADVERTISING SALES Patty Fecco fecco@ShopperNewsNow.com
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Major changes at Shannondale
By Betty Bean Business A2 Jake Mabe A3 Government/Politics A4 Marvin West/Bonnie Peters A5 Betty Bean A6 Faith A7 Interns A10,11 Kids A13 Health/Lifestyles Sect B
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for 5-year contracts with the option to renew for five more 5-year periods. The three towers on church property set to undergo use-onreview are: ■ A 195-foot mono pole on the Andersonville Pike side of Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Halls; ■ A 250-foot lattice tower at Lighthouse Christian Church north of Emory Road on the west side of I-75; ■ A 195-foot mono pole at Trinity Chapel on Haynes Sterchi Road near Dry Gap Pike, northwest of Sterchi Elementary School. The fourth tower location under consideration Aug. 9 is on the site of a former convenience store
Cell towers proposed for churches
located on Washington Pike at South Mall Road near Home Depot. MPC planner Tom Brechko reviews telecommunications tower permits and says there is little danger of neighborhoods being encroached on by these structures because cell towers “in almost every case” require use-on-review approval. He said setback requirements adjacent to residential property will provide further protection by keeping the towers a distance equal to 110 percent of the tower’s height from the property line in the city, and 110 percent of the height from the residence (not the property line) in the county. Tow-
HPUD among nation’s best Hallsdale Powell Utility District has won a national and a regional award for operational excellence – among the highest honors presented in the utility industry. “This represents a lot of hard work by very dedicated people,” said Darren Cardwell, president/CEO.
HPUD was selected by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies to receive a 2011 Platinum Peak Performance Award, the highest level awarded by the association. HPUD was recognized for five consecutive perfect years of operation of its Beaver
Creek waste water treatment plant (2006-2010). HPUD is only the fourth Tennessee utility to be honored at this level since NACWA began granting its Peak Performance Awards 15 years ago. The water discharged from the
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ers are a permitted use in industrial zones. Knox County’s Wireless Communication Facility Plan classifies church parking lots in residential neighborhoods as “sensitive areas,” along with golf courses, cemeteries and utility stations, which “could provide wireless facility sites if care is taken with design.” Bob Crye, who chairs the building and grounds committee at Beaver Dam Baptist Church, said the congregation has voted to endorse the tower. “It will be on the lower parking lot on the corner in a space 20 x 40 feet,” he said. “If it was not here, it would be somewhere close.”
Beaver Creek plant is so clean it actually meets all regulations for potable water. Literally millions of different tests are run each year as part of the operation. HPUD also won a 2011 Operational Excellence award for its Beaver Creek and Raccoon Valley waste treatment plants from the Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association at the 2012 Water Professionals Conference.
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resigned rather than be reassigned. John Nealy is the new principal. Because of construction he’s interviewing teachers at Panera Bread. “It was either that or in a portable,” said one administrator. Central office staff and many parents want healing to begin at Shannondale. Others are hopping mad about the disruption to a stellar community school. McIntyre said his decisions were made “after careful consideration” and in what he believes to be “the best interest of the students and the school.” School board member Indya Kincannon expressed thanks for Loftin’s many years of dedicated service to the Shannondale community. “We will miss her energy, but I am confident that the teachers and staff will come together to maintain and strengthen Shannondale’s positive learning culture.” Changes in state law that imposed an appointed superintendent also removed the school board’s power to countermand the superintendent’s decisions on personnel. Loftin is famous for keeping up with her former students. For example, in the fall of 2008, Josh Archer was a 16-year-old Central High School junior who had a chance to go to the Air Force Academy. His grades and test scores were sterling, but he was required to take a proctored physical, which he ended up doing at Shannondale under the watchful eye of his elementary school physical education teacher, Lisa Loftin, who put him through agility runs, watched him do 75 (or so) pushups in two minutes, counted his sit-ups (95), pull-ups (10) and timed his mile run (six and a half minutes). Gibbs Elementary (who already had two good ones) is getting a wonderful physical education teacher. One hopes Shannondale will be so lucky.
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