VOL. 9 NO. 20
BUZZ Rockin’ the Docks Rockin’ the Docks is an allday festival each Memorial Day on Fort Loudon Lake at Lenoir City Park. Food vendors will arrive at 1 p.m. with live music at 5. A salute to soldiers is at 8 with fireworks to begin at 10. Organizers plan a rock climbing wall and a children’s play area. They ask attendees to leave pets at home and say alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
IN THIS ISSUE Victims speak Lynn Porter doesn’t believe in sugarcoating reality, and she’s confident that her 16-year-old daughter, Amber, is prepared for what she’s going to hear when the man who gunned down her father six years ago stands before a judge May 28 and pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Sources say he will probably serve seven years.
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Read Betty Bean on page A-4
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Having a smash By Nancy Anderson Seniors at Karns High School gathered at the school last Thursday for one last hurrah with classmates. The bash seemed to be a smash as students played games, visited the photo booth and gathered in the bleachers to laugh together and eat pizza – lots and lots of pizza. Door prizes donated by local businesses were a hit, with the students winning prizes from Vera Wang handbags to food coupons to tickets for Splash Country in Pigeon Forge. The seniors began arriving at 8 p.m. prepared to have fun with friends and stay until 11 p.m. The kids had to give up their car keys. The Grad Bash is a three-year tradition organized by senior parents, many of whom said it may be the last time they’ll see their kids being kids. Senior parent and event cocoordinator Blakey Bills described the party as “a small-scale lock-in like a church youth event. They’re good kids, but we don’t want them wandering in and out. The goal is to enjoy each other in a safe, clean environment. Many of these kids
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at the Grad Bash
Shelby Brown is thrilled to win a Vera Bradley bag, the first door prize of the evening, at the Karns High School Grad Bash held on campus May 14. Photos by Nancy Anderson are very close school friends, but kids this party to have fun and may never see each other again. enjoy each other before going off “We just wanted to give our into real life.
“I’m excited to see what these kids do in the future, who will they become?”
Fiber therapy There is a therapy session going on every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cokesbury United Methodist Church North Campus. It’s “fiber therapy,” and the willing participants are members of the Thursday Bee.
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See Sherri’s story on page A-14
Feeding God’s Children cookout Every bite had a mission behind it as Feeding God’s Children supporters manned the grills and serving lines in May to support children in Guatemala and rural Appalachia. The organization was founded by Sid and Shannon Kemp in November 2005 as a Global Outreach Ministry program at Two Rivers Church in Lenoir City. In June 2008, it became a separate 501(c)(3) foundation.
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of breaking bread By Nancy A Anderson nd nder derso son n More than 225 church members and guests gathered at the Beaver Ridge United Methodist Church May 2 for their bicentennial celebration. The day began with folks, some wearing period clothing, gathering to ring the church bell. Following a lively message delivered by District Superintendent the Rev. Dr. Adam McKee, the congregation visited ancestors buried in Old Beaver Ridge Cemetery, the original cemetery established in the 1830s. As is the custom at Beaver Ridge UMC, church family and friends then gathered in the Family Life Center for a fried chicken dinner with dozens of covered dishes provided by congregants. The church was first estab-
lished cabin li sh hed d iin n a log log ca lo cabi bin bi n in in 1815 1815 815 on Copper Ridge Rd. in Karns. Since then, it’s had dozens of pastors, multiple locations and droves of people coming and going with at least one constant. Beaver Ridge UMC seems to enjoy feeding the masses. “I’ve been a member of this church for 48 years and we’ve had pot luck dinners as long as I can remember, probably since the beginning,” said Laune Pennell. “I remember attending church around 1963 in the first brick building. It was also the masonic lodge for Beaver Ridge. We were having a meeting of the Eastern Star where we had all brought To page A-3
Church member Gloria Lunsford dressed in period clothing looks as if she is a country window visiting love ones in Old Beaver Ridge Cemetery where there are graves dating back to the Civil War.
Pictures on page A-7
At Litton’s it’s all about that burger Litton’s Market, Restaurant and Bakery has some dedicated purists. Their passion is the burger. Add whatever sides you want, choose cheese or not, but don’t leave Litton’s without eating the burger.
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Beaver Ridge marks 200 years
See Mystery Diner on page A-11
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Teachers’ raise in play with reduced schools budget By Betty Bean Back in February, Gov. Bill Haslam gave teachers a reason to hope when he included nearly $100 million in his budget to give them a 4 percent raise. Superintendent James McIntyre made it clear it was past time to do it. Sales-tax revenue numbers were holding their own, and over on the county general government side, the notoriously penurious Mayor Tim Burchett was poised to recommend a 3 percent employee raise. But now, the possibility looms that teachers could be the only Knox County employees who won’t get a pay raise, and there have been fears that the annual merit pay (APEX) bonuses could be in jeopardy as well. While Knox County Schools personnel were awaiting Mc-
Intyre’s recommendation on how to deal with a budget shortfall, County Commission chair Brad Anders and school board chair Mike McMillan were working out the details to convene a joint commission/school board meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 South Gay St. Both said everything will be on the table for discussion – including raising taxes. “I’ve not had any discussions with Dr. McIntyre regarding cutting the teachers’ pay raise (from the 3 percent McIntyre has recommended),” McMillan said. “The question becomes how much are you going to cut?” Though noncommittal, McMillan said he expects discussion of some kind of tax increase to come up at the joint meeting. Anders
was blunt: “We haven’t had a property tax increase since 1999. I know it’s not popular among Republicans, but I’d like to talk about it. It’s going to get to the point that we have to,” he said. “And it’s not just for schools for me – I don’t think the schools are as efficient as they could be. But there are great infrastructure needs across the county. “We’re on a 100-year rotation on paving roads, for example. We’ve got 2,000 miles of roads in the county, and we’re paving less than 20 miles a year, most years. The Rescue Squad, whom we depend on, is in financial trouble. Do we let them fall? “In my district, we’ve got two parks – Harrell Road and Plumb Creek – sitting, purchased and designed, but not done. We’ve got a subdivision in Karns, the road is
coming apart from the curb. We should be doing more sidewalks around schools.” But for now, the county’s finance director, Chris Caldwell, said the problem is simple arithmetic. Burchett’s budget appropriates $14 million more than last year to Knox County Schools, based on growth in sales and property tax revenues. But the state funding formula covers only 44 percent of KCS teachers, leaving the county to make up the gap – a gap that’s exacerbated by last year’s decision by the school board to spend $4 million from its fund balance. Caldwell also said automatic step raises are not built into county general employees’ pay scales (unlike teachers), making it difficult to draw an apples-to-apples comparison.
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