October 4, 2009

Page 1

The Mountain Press ■ Sevier County’s Daily Newspaper ■ Vol. 25, No. 277 ■ October 4, 2009 ■ www.themountainpress.com ■ $1.25

Sunday

Out of sight, not out of mind

INSIDE

5Death toll rises in quake Count gets higher as responders reach rural villages World, Page A12

5Dream comes true Communities miles away help fulfill wish Mountain Life, Page B1 Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press

More construction is planned in the area surrounding the Events Center at Bridgemont, including a second golf course at Ealge’s Landing Golf Club.

State

Kidnapped baby found Alabama woman arrested in case Page A6

Weather Today Mostly sunny High: 73°

Tonight Mostly cloudy Low: 51° DETAILS, Page A6

Obituaries Ted Myers, 66 Mary Evelyn “Bo” Trotter Helen D. Worsham, 86

DETAILS, Page A4

Index Local & State . . . . . A1-6 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . A2 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . A7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . A8-10 Classifieds . . . . . . . . B5-7 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 World . . . . . . . . . . . . A12

Work continues on developments By JEFF FARRELL Staff Writer SEVIERVILLE — Work may not be visible on the construction sites right now for the major commercials projects in the Central business Improvement District, but developers say behind the scenes things are still moving ahead. The Central Business Improvement District is the largest project in the city’s history. Sevierville officials have gained access to about $200 million in bond funding, which will be repaid using sales tax revenues from within an area that runs from Interstate 40 along Highway 66 to downtown. The city has used some of those funds to pay for its new Events Center, which is a major component of the districts under state law, as well as road improvements and other projects. City officials have said they are waiting to draw the remaining funds until they see construction started on major commercial projects in the district. Under state law, a city can use sales tax funds from the district to pay the bond, including funds that would ordinarily go to the state and other local governments. Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Kodak was one of first commercial projects to commit to coming to the district; several new hotels have also opened in the region. Wilderness at the Smokies was another of the first major business components to be finished, and officials there have announced they are already investing another $1 million

Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press

Dirt hasn’t moved in a while on the Dumplin Creek development at Exit 407, but developers say work has been going on to get funding for road projects and recruiting retailers. to add a new ride to their indoor water park. Runaway Canyon is expected to pen this fall. ““It’s going to start pretty quick,” spokesperson Rick Laney said. In addition to the Events Center, the city is also adding a second course at Eagles Landing Golf Club. Developers have said the economic downturn has slowed their efforts to recruit new businesses to the area. Interest has remained strong, but most retail chains in particular have been reducing rather than expanding during the recession. While they’re waiting for further action on some fronts, officials have been looking to move ahead on some other public projects. After years of waiting, work is under way on the expansion of Highway 66 from four lanes

to six. And both city officials and developers have been lobbying for improvements to Exit 407 from Interstate 40 to Highway 66, the only interstate access in Sevier County. “What we’ve been doing is when the (economic) slowdown hit last year we stopped moving dirt and we went to work getting stimulus money for 66 which we were successful doing,” said developer John Turley, who oversaw the Turkey Creek project in West Knoxville and is planning the Dumplin Creek development along the interstate here in Sevier County. Turley said they also had gone to get an earmark for upgrades at 407, and for a new See Developments, Page A4

Homecoming celebrates Smoky Mountain Heritage By ELLEN BROWN Staff Writer

Corrections The Mountain Press is committed to accuracy. Please report factual errors by calling 428-0748 Ext. 214.

Robert Tino’s Annual Smoky Mountain Homecoming, which began as more of a “fall open house” 17 years ago, has grown into more of a “heritage festival” over the past six years, said the artist’s wife, Mary John Tino. “It all really began with neighbors sitting around and talking,” Mary John said Saturday at event, held at her family’s farm off of Highway 66. “We said, ‘Why don’t we take this fall festival and do something bigger for the community?’ Sevier County has really embraced Robert. Not everyone gets to live their dream, to make it as an artist. This is for the people who live here and the tourists who visit here. It helps us to remember where we came from.” This year’s event, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., includes the debut of Robert’s fall limited edition release “Silent Moon” and a juried antique show and sale, as well as live bluegrass music, barbecue, funnel cakes, an old-fashion farmer’s market and pottery making for children. There’s also white oak basket makEllen Brown/The Mountain Press ing, sheep-shearing and wool spinning, antique trac- Briley Sweat, 2, of Lafollette, keeps the beat to the live bluegrass music at Robert Tino’s Annual Smoky Mountain Homecoming, held Saturday and See Homecoming, Page A4 today at the Tino’s farm.

A2 â—† Local

The Mountain Press â—† Sunday, October 4, 2009

C o m m u n i t y C a l en d ar Editor’s Note: The community calendar is printed as space permits. Only noncommercial, public events held in Sevier County will be considered. They are listed by date. To place an item phone 4280748, ext. 214, or e-mail to editor@themountainpress. com. Items may be faxed to 453-4913.

Sunday, Oct. 4 Pet Blessing

Our Savior Lutheran Church pet blessing service 10:30 a.m., 423 Historic Nature Trail, Gatlinburg. 436-5641.

Pet Blessing

St. Paul Episcopal Church, Seymour, to bless pets at 4 p.m. Only caged or leashed pets. Offering benefits Sevier County Humane Society.  Â

Roaring Fork Concert

Roaring Fork Baptist Church hosts gospel singer Shannon Bunch at 6 p.m.

Riverbend Concert

Free gospel concert with Rocky Morris, 7:30 p.m., Riverbend Campground.

Brannam Reunion

Brannam Family reunion and covered dish lunch at noon, Hills Creek Baptist Church Fellowship building.

Monday, Oct. 5 Women’s Bible Study

Garlands of Grace women’s Bible study: n 10 a.m. Seymour Heights Christian Church, Chapman and Boyds Creek Highway, Seymour n 1 p.m. Gatlinburg Inn, Gatlinburg

Angel Food

Angel Food Orders: n 2 to 5 p.m. Gum Stand Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508. n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 9081245.

Beekeepers

Sevier County Beekeepers Assn. meets 7 p.m. at courthouse. Topic is medication. 453-1997.

Seymour Story Time

Preschool story time 11 a.m. at Seymour Library. 573-0728.

Gold Wing Riders

Gold Wing Road Riders Assn., 6:30 p.m. Monday at IHOP Sevierville. 6604400.

Weight Loss Surgery

Smoky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Support Group meets 6:30-8 p.m. at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center, Classrooms 2 and 3. 250-9354 or email to Nsg4Him@aol.com.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 Women’s Bible Study

Garlands of Grace women’s Bible study: n 1 p.m. Fox Trot B&B, Garrett Road, Gatlinburg n 6:30 p.m. Pigeon Forge UMC n 6:30 p.m. Home Cents, Old Newport Highway, Sevierville

Men’s Bible Study

Gatekeepers men’s community Bible study, 1328 Old Newport Highway, Sevierville. 436-0313.

Bipolar/Depression

HopeWorks Bipolar/ Depression support group meets 7 p.m. at Seymour Heights Christian Church. 981-4291 or 724-3755.

Alzheimer’s Support

Alzheimer’s Support group meets 6 to 7 p.m. at MountainBrook Village, 700 Markhill Drive, Sevierville. 428-2445.

Kindness Counts

Kindness Counts meets 7 p.m. at Pigeon Forge Community Park, pavilion 1. 654-2684.

Optimist Club

Northview Kodak Optimist Club installation dinner 6:30 p.m. at clubhouse.

Angel Food

Angel Food Orders: n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Gum Stand Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508. n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 9081245.

S en i or E v en t s

assistance, call 933-0078.

TOPS

TOPS weight loss chapter meets at 6 p.m., Parkway Church of God in Sevierville. 755-9517 or 429-3150.

Women’s Bible Study

Garlands of Grace women’s Bible study: n 9 a.m. UMC Pigeon Forge n 2 p.m. Blue Mountain Mist B&B, Pullen Road, Sevierville

Pancake Supper

Pancake supper sponsored by Sevierville Kiwanis, 4-7:30 p.m. Flapjacks Pancake Cabin, 1016 Parkway. $5. 932-8591.

Crewettes Rummage Sale

Sevier County Crewettes rummage sale 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Friday at Sevier County Rescue Squad Building.

GateKeepers

Gatekeepers Men’s Community Bible studies: n 6:30 p.m., 2445 Scenic Mountain Drive, Sevierville. 310-7831. n 6:30 p.m. Seymour UMC, Chapman Highway. 4360313.

Angel Food

Angel Food orders: n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Gum Stand Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508. n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 9081245.

Friday, Oct. 9 Wears Valley Festival

LeConte Photographic Society meets at 6:30 p.m. Robert Epperson to discuss photographing wildflowers.

Wears Valley Methodist Church annual fall festival 8 a.m.-3 p.m. today and Oct. 10, with yard sale items, pottery and other crafts, baked goods, lunch and more. 429-4412.

Sevierville Story Time

Craft Bazaar Benefit

Wednesday, Oct. 7 Photographic Society

Preschool story time 10:30 a.m., Sevier County Main Library. 453-3532.

Angel Food

Angel Food Orders: n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 9081245.

Thursday, Oct. 8 Hot Meals

Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries provides hot meals 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Sevierville.

Optimist Club

Northview/Kodak Optimist Club yard sale at clubhouse Oct. 10. Bring items beginning today. To schedule

Holy Family Catholic Church craft bazaar benefit 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and Saturday and after Mass on Sunday, 307 Black Oak Ridge Road, Seymour. Refreshments sold. 429-3999 or 983-6611.

Jett Benefit

Covered dish supper 6:30 p.m. followed by gospel singing at Hurst Hollow Road on Jones Cove Road. Donations benefit Martha Jett medical expenses. (423) 623-5710; 453-0687; 774-9435; 774-0656.

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By JANE FORAKER A trip to Dollywood is scheduled for Wednesday leaving at 10 a.m. Plan on taking in some shows, having lunch and leaving the park at 4 p.m. If you are not a season pass holder, tickets can be purchased at the park. Transportation is $2 and limited to 14. The Sevier County Sparklers Club has planned a trip to Carver’s Applehouse Restaurant and Farmer’s Market on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. The bus costs $3 per person so sign up as soon as possible. Some of our club members will be following the bus or meeting us there. Also, on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bob Ross painting instructor Rick Le Beau will offer a class entitled “Golden Sunset.� Participants will finish a painting, and no experience is needed. There is a charge for supplies, and registration is required. Call (423) 623-7361 to register. Upcoming events: On Oct. 20, Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center will be offering flu shots at the center from 9 a.m. to noon. It is open to the public. On Nov. 7 is our second annual Pre-Holiday Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Jewelry, ceramics, floral, wood crafts and more will be offered from over 50 vendors. There also will be food and baked goods. The community is invited. For more information, or if you are a crafter and would like more information regarding booth rentals, call 453-8080, ext. 107 or e-mail to jforaker@ seviercountytn.org. Senior Center menu: Monday: honey pot roast, potatoes and carrots, bread, banana pudding; Tuesday: Chef’s Salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, ham, cheese, eggs), bread sticks, cinnamon roll;

Wednesday: grilled ham and cheese, pasta salad, cole slaw, dirty pudding; Thursday: cheeseburger on bun, cottage cheese, peaches, chocolate chip cookies; Friday: spaghetti w/meat sauce, salad, garlic toast and cinnamon roll. Beverage is included. Meal costs $4. Call to make reservations. Friendly Bridge scores: Cindy McCann 4,990; Donna Legg 4,860; Tony George 4,760; Barbara Leith 3,790. The weekly schedule: Mondays: Piecemakers Quilt Guild at 9 a.m.; painting with LaViolet Bird at 9 a..m.; 50+ Fitness at 10 a.m.; blood pressure checks 11 a.m.; Sit B Fit (gentle exercise) 11 a.m.; Bible study 12:30 p.m.; and bingo at 2 p.m. Tuesdays: Manicures and pedicures by appointment, 9 a.m.; Woodshop and painting, 9 a.m.; 10 a.m. pottery class; 10 a.m. ballroom dance class; 1 p.m. square dance class; 1 p.m.

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friendly bridge group and bunco players. Wednesdays: 10 a.m. 50+ Fitness and Stitch and Chatter Club; 10 a.m. horseshoes; 12:30 p.m. rummy, pinochle, poker and movie party; 2:30 p.m. dominoes. Thursdays: Woodshop opens at 9 a.m.; body sculpting class 10 a.m.; Sit B Fit 11 a.m.; duplicate bridge 12:30 p.m.; 12:30 p.m. pottery class; 1 p.m. ballroom dance class; Tripoley 1 p.m. Fridays: Ceramics 9 a.m.; 50+ Fitness; 10 a.m.; horseshoes, 10 a.m.; yoga-pilates class is offered at 11 a.m. The Fort Sanders Sevier Senior Center and Sevier County Office on Aging is located at 1220 W. Main St. in Sevierville. To make reservations for upcoming events or for more information, contact us. — Jane Foraker is program coordinator at Fort Sanders Sevier Senior Center. She may be reached at 453-8080, ext. 108.

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Sunday, October 4, 2009 â—† The Mountain Press

Governor, VW executives to visit Tenn. plant site CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen will join top Volkswagen executives and officials on Sunday when they visit the construction site of the company’s assembly plant in Chattanooga. Jochem Heizmann, the German company’s board member in charge of worldwide production, along with Christian Wulff, governor of Lower Saxony, where VW is headquartered, are also expected in the city. Officials have said production at the $1 billion plant near Interstate 75 in southeastern Tennessee is scheduled to start in early 2011. Jay Baron, president of the Center for Automotive

Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that could be a good time because the economy may be much better by then. VW is third in world sales behind Toyota and General Motors. However, Kristin Dziczek, director of the center’s labor and industry group, said there are chinks in Toyota’s armor now. Toyota reported Thursday that September’s U.S. sales were off 13 percent from a year ago. For the year so far, sales are down 28 percent. Meanwhile, VW posted sales up 1.5 percent over the same period in 2008. For the year, VW is down 8.9 percent, the company reported.

Medical premiums could still be a ‘heavy lift’ WASHINGTON (AP) — Many middle-class Americans would still struggle to pay for health insurance despite efforts by President Barack Obama and Democrats to make coverage more affordable. The legislation advancing in Congress would require all Americans to get insurance — through an employer, a government program or by buying it themselves. But new tax credits to help with premiums won’t go far enough for everyone. Some middle-class families purchasing their own coverage through new insurance exchanges could find it out of reach. Lawmakers recognize the problem. “For some people it’s going to be a heavy lift,� said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. “We’re doing our best to make sure it’s not an impossible lift.� Added Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine: “We have no certainty as to whether or not these plans are going to be affordable.� Both are on the Senate Finance Committee, which finished writing a health care bill on Friday.

A new online tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation illustrates the predicament. The Health Reform Subsidy Calculator provides ballpark estimates of what households of varying incomes and ages would pay under the different Democratic health care bills. The legislation is still a work in progress and the calculator only a rough guide. Nonetheless, the results are revealing. A family of four headed by a 45-year-old making $63,000 a year is in the middle of the middle class. But that family would pay $7,110 to buy its own health insurance under the plan from the committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

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RAMAH, N.M. (AP) — It’s the last stop of the day for Rural Bookmobile West, snugged up against a curb in a corner of the Ramah Post Office parking lot, where a few customers-to-be wait in their cars protected from looming dark clouds that smell of rain. Inside the bookmobile, manager Wendy Roberts and assistant Toni-Lynn Hart scurry around, turning on the generator, snapping on lights, moving CDs to a low shelf and readying the card catalog — narrow boxes filled with cards from checked-out books. In a digital age where news comes on cell phones and readers download e-books, three bookmobiles chug along the back roads of New Mexico, bringing a library to people who otherwise live without one. The New Mexico State Library’s on-the-road

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Two Confederate battle flags captured by northern soldiers during the Civil War are missing, and Greg Briggs wants them back. Briggs, a historian with the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville, is on the hunt for the flags, which records show were once displayed in Cincinnati. “Maybe somebody will come forward and say, ’yes, I have that flag in a box in my basement,� Briggs said. “I know it’s a pretty remote possibility. But it’s worth a shot. Those flags belong in Tennessee.� Confederate battle flags often were taken as trophies by Union troops and put on public display in northern cities. After the war, many flags were returned to the former Confederate states as a gesture of good will. But it’s unclear what happened to the missing flags from Tennessee, both of which were captured in 1862. One of the flags — which belonged to the Gillespie Guards, a company of the 19th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry — was taken by men of the 9th Ohio Infantry at the battle of Mill Springs, Ky.

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Toni-Lynn Hart, left, watches as 10-year-old Christopher Maki, second from left, gets help from librarian Wendy Roberts, second from right, inside the Rural Bookmobile West, thought to be part of the last state-run bookmobile program in the nation in Ramah, N.M.

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A4 ◆ Local

The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, October 4, 2009

Developments

Bridgemont project itself is being received and spe3From Page A1 cific interest from (businesses), that is bigger than it’s ever been,” Calk said. interchange in the 408 area. Congressman John J. “We’re in the middle of some letters of intent and Duncan’s Web site shows they’re going very well. that he has included a “We’re optimistic we’ll request for $31.7 million in have some announcethe new Highway Bill for improvements to 407 and ments over the next two or three months.” study of a the proposed Mary Evelyn “Bo” Trotter, the member of a He said at this point he new interchange. pioneer Gatlinburg hotel family and a prominent hopes to see construction For now, it appears Sevier County Realtor, died Thursday, October on the retail and enterTurley’s development 1, 2009, at the age of 84. She was the daughter of tainment project across could be the next to see Steve and Pearl Whaley, who built the Riverside Gists Creek Road to start construction start up Hotel in the 1920s. The Whaley family operated in the summer of next again. His project has the Riverside for five decades as the Great Smoky year, with a completion generated a lot of pubMountains National Park and Gatlinburg became date in 2011 or 2012. lic attention, as workers the tourist mecca that they are today. When her The Goodman Company removed a large portion of husband, James T. “Big Jim” Trotter died in 1985, had also purchased addia familiar hill at Exit 407 Mrs. Trotter went back to school and became a tional land that it had before work stopped. highly successful Realtor. She was a life-long membeen marketing across He announced earlier ber of the First Baptist Church of Gatlinburg. She Highway 66 from the this year that Walmart loved the Tennessee Vols, fishing, and playing gin Events Center, but that signed a purchase agreerummy with family and friends. property currently is not ment on a 20-acre piece Mrs. Trotter is survived by her sister, Nancy B. listed on the company’s of property in the develCooper of Gatlinburg; her sons Jim Trotter Jr. and Web site. opment. The chain has his wife, Sharon, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Bob Trotter Long-term plans for since presented a site and his wife, Peggy, of Eagle, Colo.; her grandplan for a 155,289 square the area show additional children, Shelley Trotter of Atlanta; Laura Trotter resort style housing near foot Supercenter to the Gheesling and her husband, Carl, of Gatlinburg; the Events Center; Calkin Sevierville Planning James Trotter III and his wife, Kelsey, of Golden, said that will likely be Commission. Colo. and John Gregory Trotter and his wife, Kerry, part of a later phase of the “They’re trying to close of Springfield, Missouri, and her great-grandchilproject. at the end of October on dren, Isabella and Carlton Gheesling of Gatlinburg, He said he remains their site,” Turley said. and Savannah Trotter of Golden. In the meantime, other committed to plans for Funeral service 2 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist businesses have been call- a nature preserve that Church of Gatlinburg with Rev. Larry Burcham would be ceded to the city. ing to express interest. officiating. Graveside prayer and interment will “I think we’re demon“We’re overwhelmed with follow in White Oak Flats Cemetery in Gatlinburg. potential tenants,” Turley strating this is the way to The family will receive friends in the sanctuary of do major developments said. First Baptist Church of Gatlinburg from 1-2 p.m. in East Tennessee, where “This is just one more Tuesday. Arrangements by Atchley Funeral Home, we’re devoting 15 percent addition to that interSevierville. of our development to change that’s going to make it a real destination.” green space.” n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com That, he said, is symbolWhile he wasn’t set to ic of the relationship he’s announce a commitment developed with the city. from a retail chain yet, “I don’t think there is a lifetime and I’ll never be Developer John Turley anywhere in the Untied said he is also hoping to able to capture it all.’” 3From Page A1 States that yo could have a “It’s true,” Robert said see some commitments with a grin. “You have the soon on the retail portion better city to work in with tors and a 9:30 a.m. “down four seasons here, and every of his development, which this type of project, which is quite ambitions, than home” Sunday morning day is different. It’s a gor- is being overseen by The the city of Sevierville.” Goodman Company out of geous area, always changchurch service followed by Florida. ing.” gospel music. n jfarrell@themountainpress.com “As far as how the For Mary John and “It’s great to have this for the community,” Robert said Robert, the event is all about as he signed a guest’s copy celebrating home. Chapter 7 • BANKRUPTCY • Chapter 13 “This is my Mayberry,” of the Sevier Leadership FREE CONSULTATION / PAYMENT PLANS Cookbook, of which he Mary John said. “My grandSTOP: RELIEF: designed the cover. “I enjoy mother (who owned and FORECLOSURES SAVE HOME-AUTO lived in what is now the people coming out and LAWSUITS / COLLECTIONS GET A FRESH START art gallery) had tourists stay meeting them.” REPOSSESSIONS DEBT ELIMINATE & CONSOLIDATE The self-taught artist also with her because the desk PAYCHECK GARNISHMENT DEBT has plenty of old friends clerk at a hotel would call CREDITOR CALLS who visit him during the and say, ‘We have the nic(865) 428-5263 festivities, such as Vella est looking people here. Do www.GoBankruptToday.com Taylor of Seymour. Taylor you have a place for them 320 Wears Valley Road Catherine B. Sandifer, Esq. has collected Robert’s work to stay?’ This enables me to admitted in Tennessee & Florida Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 carry on the heritage.” since he was in high school. “We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code” “You look younger than you used to!” she told him. The Tinos are celebrating the 25th year of the Robert Tino Gallery, which has another location in Highlands, N.C. “Robert has been here since he was 14,” Mary John said. “He was born in Bristol and has lived all around the Carolinas, but this is his home. He says, ‘I’ll paint

Obituaries In Memoriam

Helen D. Worsham

Helen D. Worsham, age 86 of Pigeon Forge, passed away Saturday, October 3, 2009. She was a longtime member of First Baptist Church, Pigeon Forge. She was a very devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She had many friends and will be greatly missed. She enjoyed traveling, fishing, and family. She loved sewing for her three daughters, and gardening. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Babs; father and mother, Tom and Ella Dempsey; great-granddaughter, Laura Helen Loy; sister, Blanch Ingram; and brothers, Robert, Keith and Henry Dempsey. Survived by beloved husband of 63 years, George A. Worsham; daughters and sons-in-law, Peggy & Mike Palmer and Georgette & Ronnie McCroskey; grandchildren, Alan & Nichole Loy, David & Emily Loy, Tammy & Jeff Brewster, Michael & Kat Palmer, Tonya & Joe Keener and Travis & Cynthia McCroskey; great grandchildren, Dawson & Dylan Loy, Ella & Autumn Loy, Cory Brewster, Ali, Maddie, & June Palmer, Caleb & Wil Keener and Spencer, Shelby, & Sylas McCroskey; brother, T.A. Dempsey; host of much loved nephews and nieces; caregivers, Connie, Thursia, Laurie and Amy. Funeral service at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Rev. Keith Walker officiating. Interment will follow in Smoky Mountain Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends 11a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com

Ted Myers

Ted Myers, age 66, of Sevierville, passed away Friday, October 2, 2009. Ted was an avid outdoorsman who loved fishing, hunting and fly tying. He was employed for many years at Wynn’s in Sevierville, and later with Little River Outfitters, in Townsend where he was currently working parttime. He was preceded in death by his son, Randy Myers, parents, Wayne and Luna Myers, and his mother-in-law, Glenda Atchley. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Myers; daughter, Kim Bean; daughter-in-law, Elaine Myers; grandchildren who he loved dearly and enjoyed sports with, Katie Myers, Blake Myers, John Myers, and Ali Bean; brother and sister-inlaw, Phil and Darlene Myers; sister and brotherin-law, Pam and David Stiles; sisters-in-law, Sue (Jackie) Ownby and Diane (Ronnie) Yates; Father-in-law, Cecil Atchley; Special aunts, Beulah Lafollette and Nell Parton. Graveside service 10 a.m. Wednesday in Smoky Mountain Memory Gardens with Rev. Preston Joslin officiating. The family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com

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Editor’s Note: The following information was taken from the intake reports at the Sevier County Jail. All people listed within this report are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. u Monica P. Bryan, 19, of 454 Cottage Dr. Apt. 2, Gatlinburg, was charged Oct. 2, with violation of probation and a misdemeanor warrant from general sessions court and was being held u Thomas James Dockery, 24, of Maryville, will be charged Oct. 2 with violation community corrections and was released on $2,500 bond. u Nathan S. Earls, 23 of Rockholds, Ky., was charged Oct. 2 with public intoxication and was being held. u Matthew B. Jones, 23, of Williamsburg, Ky., charged Oct. 3 with public intoxication. He was being held. u Zachary Jones, 20, of 3210 Odaham Creek Rd., Sevierville, was charged Oct. 2 with assault. He was released. u Daniel Rubin, 24, of 451 W. Mill Creek, Lot #5, was charged Oct. 2 with assault. He was released on $1,000 bond. u Joseph Thomas Spurr, 19 of 1474 Black Oak Dr., Sevierville, was charged Oct. 2 with two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI, reckless endangerment and underage consumption of alcohol. He was released on $50,000 bond. u Kathy Stephenson, 42, of Newport, was charged Oct. 2 with theft forgery (credit card). She was being held on $10,000 bond. u Justin Watson, 22, of 418 Apt. 7 Hwy. 411, was charged Oct. 2 with aggravated assault. He was released on $7,500 bond.

Mary Evelyn “Bo” Trotter

Homecoming

In Memoriam

Arrests

In Memoriam

The family of

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Sunday, October 4, 2009 ◆ The Mountain Press

AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File

SpaceShipOne and X Prize team members posing with a U.S. flag carried aboard the spacecraft after its successful flight into space and landing at Mojave, Calif., Octo. 4, 2004. From left are prize sponsors Anousheh Ansari and her brother-in-law, Amir Ansari, Peter Diamandis, chairman of the Ansari X Prize Foundation, project backer Paul Allen, SpaceShipOne creator Burt Rutan, pilot Brian Binnie and Sir Richard Branson.

Space tourism yet to fly, 5 years since first flight LOS ANGELES (AP) — When a private spaceship soared over California to claim a $10 million prize, daredevil venture capitalist Alan Walton was 68 and thought he’d soon be on a rocket ride of his own. Walton plunked down $200,000 to be among the first space tourists to make a suborbital thrillride high above the Earth aboard a Virgin Galactic spaceship. Now he intends to ask for his deposit back if there’s no fixed launch date by his 74th birthday next April. “This was going to be the highlight of my old age,” he said. It has been five years since SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed manned spacecraft, captured the Ansari X Prize on Oct. 4, 2004, by demonstrating that a reusable rocket capable of carrying passengers could fly more than 62 miles high twice within two weeks — showing reliability and commercial viability. Enthusiasm over SpaceShipOne’s feats was so high that year that even before the prizewinning flight, British mogul Richard Branson announced an agreement

to use the technology in a second-generation design, SpaceShipTwo, to fly commercial passengers into space under the Virgin Galactic banner by 2007. It seemed that anyone who had the money would soon be experiencing what SpaceShipOne pilot Brian Binnie called “literally a rush — you light that motor off and the world wakes up around you.” And then the sensation of weightlessness and the sight of the world far below. Turning the dream into reality has taken longer than many expected in those days, and spaceflight remains the realm of government astronauts and a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people who have paid millions for rides on Russian rockets to the international space station. X Prize founder Peter Diamandis says, however, that things have not been at a standstill. More than $1 billion has been invested in the industry, regulatory roadblocks have been addressed and as many as three different passenger spaceships will emerge in the next 18 to 24 months and begin flying, he said.

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Nation ◆ A5

Administration eyes ways to help laid-off workers WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is considering steps to ease the burdens of laid-off workers, including possible extensions of unemployment and health benefits, officials said Saturday. The administration has stopped short of calling for a second economic stimulus package to augment the $787 billion measure approved this year. But with the jobless rate continuing to climb, President Barack Obama said Saturday he is exploring “additional options to promote job creation.” Administration aides said possibilities include: n Extending enhanced unemployment-insurance benefits beyond Dec. 31, when they are set to expire. n Extending a tax credit for laid-

off workers who buy health insurance through the COBRA program. That program allows workers to keep their company’s health insurance plan for 18 months after they leave their job, if they pay the premiums. n Extending a tax credit for firsttime home buyers. This credit also is set to expire soon. The administration has discussed these possibilities with congressional leaders, officials said, but no decisions have been made. White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers expressed interest in these ideas in an online interview with the Atlantic magazine. “I don’t know what the term ’second stimulus package’ exactly means,” Summers said. “We certainly need

to continue to support people who are in need, whether it’s unemployment insurance, or a COBRA program that for the first time provides that people who are laid off get supported in being able to maintain their health insurance.” In his weekly radio and Internet video address Saturday, Obama said his proposed health care overhaul would create jobs by making small business startups more affordable. If aspiring entrepreneurs believe they can stay insured while switching jobs, he said, they will start new businesses and hire workers. Dismissive Republicans blamed the continuing job losses on Democratic policies and said the president’s health proposals won’t help.

A6 ◆

The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, October 4, 2009

sunrise in the smokies

TODAY’S Briefing Local n

GATLINBURG

Rotary Club golf tournament set

Gatlinburg Rotary Club golf tournament will be Oct. 14, at Bent Creek. Registration/check-in will be at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at noon. Corporate sponsorship is $400, hole sponsorship is $100, and single player fee is $75. There will be an $8,000 cash prize for a hole-inone on No. 5 and No. 7. All proceeds go toward the Gatlinburg Rotary Foundation. Fax a request for a registration form to 430-4488.

n

PIGEON FORGE

Sharon Drive to close two weeks

Sharon Drive in Pigeon Forge will be closed starting Monday for about two weeks. Crews from Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. will be completing sewer tie-ins. Detour signs will be in place to redirect traffic. For questions call 4532808, ext. 2844.

n

GATLINBURG

Church to host pet blessings

A pet blessing worship service will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Our Savior Lutheran Church. Each pet will be individually blessed. Treats for pets and their owners will be served following the service. A special offering will be taken for the Sevier County Humane Society. The service will be held on the church lawn. In case of rain, it will be moved to fellowship hall. The church is located at 423 Historic Nature Trail (traffic light No. 8). For information, call 4365641.

n

SEYMOUR

Episcopal church to bless animals

St. Paul Episcopal Church will celebrate St. Francis Day Blessing of Pets and Animals at 4 p.m. today. Persons may bring their properly caged or leashed pets to the church for the blessing. All animals may join the pet blessing at St. Paul’s Church. The offering taken will be given to the Sevier County Humane Society. The church is located at 1028 Boyd’s Creek Highway. For more information contact Pete Walburg at 5737253, or visit www. StPaulEpiscopalChurch. org.

n

GATLINBURG

Student projects to be presented

The East Tennessee Historical Society and Anna Porter Public Library will hold a public viewing of select winning projects from the 2009 National History Day competition from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the library. The featured student projects will highlight topics related to the history of Gatlinburg, Pittman Center and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Local middle and high school students will be present to tell about their projects and experiences.

n

SEVIERVILLE

Tino homecoming event ends today

The 17th annual Robert Tino Smoky Mountain Homecoming will be held today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The event is held at the Tino gallery on Highway 66. For additional information visit www.smokymountainhomecoming.com.

top state news

Lottery Numbers

Kidnapped newborn found safe NASHVILLE (AP) — A newborn boy abducted by a knife-wielding woman posing as an immigration agent was safe Saturday and being held by child welfare officials as authorities charged a woman with his kidnapping. Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, said Maria Gurrolla got to hold her week-old baby, Yair Anthony Carillo, on Saturday afternoon, but was not being allowed to take him home yet. Gurrolla, 30, and her three other children — ages 3, 9 and 11 — visited with the baby, then all four of the children were taken into state custody, Johnson said. “Our focus is on the children, and

under the current situation right now, we think the safest thing to do is take the children into state custody,” said Johnson, who declined to elaborate. Joel Siskovic, an FBI special agent in the Memphis division, said he did not have details about whether the parents were also under protective custody. “As of now, there’s no indication that there’s an ongoing threat to the family,” he said. Nashville police said the baby was found in good health at a home in Ardmore, Ala., about 80 miles south of Nashville near the Tennessee line. Earlier Saturday, officials said the baby would remain with a foster family as authorities made arrange-

ments for Gurrolla to be reunited with her son. “This baby is a week old, and this child has spent half his life away from his family. I think it’s time we reunite them,” said My Harrison, a special agent with the FBI in Tennessee. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn identified the arrested woman as Tammy Renee Silas, 39, of Ardmore. Federal authorities formally charged her Saturday with kidnapping. The Morgan County Sheriff’s office said Silas was picked up by U.S. Marshals on Saturday morning, though it was not known where she was being taken.

TODAY’S FORECAST

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 Midday: 7-7-5 Evening: 7-2-4

19 13

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 Midday: 8-6-6-4 Evening: 2-7-2-5

24 16

Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 03-21-26-30-33

LOCAL: Sunny

Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 01-07-19-35-37-38

This day in history

High: 73° Low: 51°

Today is Sunday, Oct. 4, the 277th day of 2009. There are 88 days left in the year.

Winds 5 mph

n Last

Chance of rain 30%

■ Monday Mostly cloudy

High: 71° Low: 58° ■ Tuesday Mostly cloudy

High: 79° Low: 61°

■ Lake Stages: Douglas: 988.7 D0.5

Primary Pollutant: xxx Mountains: xxx Valley: xxx Cautionary Health Message: xxx

quote roundup “It is a time to address this imbalance. It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country.” — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, speaking to the International Olympic Committee before the committee chose Rio de Janeiro as the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Brazil had argued that it was unfair that South America has never hosted the games.

“This baby is a week old, and this child has spent half his life away from his family. I think it’s time we reunite them.” — FBI special agent My Harrison on recovering an infant in Alabama three days after the newborn was kidnapped from her mother in Tennessee.

“I think she’s probably sleeping more soundly tonight than she has since these videos surfaced.” — Attorney Marshall Grossman speaking about his client, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, after Michael David Barrett was arrested for allegedly taping surreptitious nude videos of Andrews and then trying to sell them.

The Mountain Press Publisher: Jana Thomasson Editor: Stan Voit Production Director: Tom McCarter Advertising Director: Joi Whaley Business Manager: Mary Owenby Circulation Distribution Manager: Will Sing (ISSN 0894-2218) Copyright 2008 The Mountain Press. All Rights Reserved. All property belongs to The Mountain Press and no part may be reproduced without prior written consent. Published daily by The Mountain Press. P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN, 37864, 119 River Bend Dr., Sevierville, TN 37876. Periodical Postage paid at Sevierville, TN.

n On

this date

n Ten

years ago

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. On this date:

■ Air Quality Forecast:

Staff

year locally

That $500 million development that would have consumed the property housing Arrowmont School plus a whole lot more appears to be dead. The fraternity land as well as some adjacent to it, much of that owned by the Reagan family, would have been the site of the massive project. Pi Beta Phi was approached by a developer some months ago with an unsolicited offer for the fraternity land.

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An Illinois jury ordered State Farm to pay $456 million to 4.7 million customers in a class-action lawsuit accusing the nation’s largest car insurer of using inferior parts for auto body repairs.

n Five

years ago

The SpaceShipOne rocket plane broke through Earth’s atmosphere to the edge of space for the second time in five days, capturing the $10 million Ansari X prize aimed at opening the final frontier to tourists.

n Thought

for today

“Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.” — Guinean saying.

Celebrities in the news n

Erin Andrews

CHICAGO (AP) — A man accused of taping surreptitious nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews while she was alone in hotel rooms appeared in federal court Saturday and was ordered Andrews returned to California. Michael David Barrett made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys, who ordered him returned to Los Angeles, where charges against him were filed. Keys set another hearing for Monday to determine if Barrett will be freed on bond or remain in custody.

Mountain Views

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” —United States Constitution, Amendment One

■ The Mountain Press ■ Page A7 ■ Sunday, October 4, 2009

commentary

Sevierville history rich with stories When you move to a new town, you don’t know much about its history, its leadership, the people who made it what it is today. Heading toward my fifth anniversary as a resident of Sevierville, last week’s Chamber of Commerce banquet provided a lot of insight and information about just how far the city has come over the last 50 years and what it took to reach this point. A 40-minute video highlighted progress during the last half-century, and mayors dating to Jimmie Temple in 1959 talked in recorded interviews about their experiences and what challenges they faced. Their comments were interesting, but their anecdotes were funny and compelling. Here is some of what they said: Gary Wade was elected mayor at 28 in 1977, and among his early chores was serving a day as garbage collector. These were the days before plastic trash bags and roll-away cans, so he had to lift the cans and empty the trash himself. He noticed an incredible number of beer cans in the debris he dumped into the truck. Sevierville was dry then; no legal alcohol sales. So how could so many people be tossing away beer cans in a dry city? He figured more than half the garbage cans he emptied had beer throwaways. The other garbage men estimated 90 percent. Wade wanted to do a lot of things in Sevierville, including build a community center second to none. How to pay for it? Maybe, just maybe, the resistance to legal beer sales was less than he thought and had been told. Maybe people would approve such sales if presented to them in the right way. Especially considering how many of them were drinking beer anyway. Of course, beer sales were eventually approved, and a new community center was built with massive local contributions. Wade served for 10 years before being appointed to the Tennessee Court of Civil Appeals.

Editorial

It was a great idea Burns documentary shows the importance and beauty of our national parks One of the great things about a Ken Burns documentary is that you are entertained while you learn. The research he and his staff do into the subjects he chooses is remarkable. If you watched any or all of his just completed 12-hour series on the national parks, you know just how complicated, difficult and challenging it was for this great country to adopt the idea of national protected lands. No other country had done that. Throughout the world many of the shrines and historic sites are privately owned, or were at the time the first national park, Yellowstone, was created in 1872. Yosemite came along in 1890, but much of Yosemite was still under the control of the state of California. It took decades for the United States to work its way through the creation of parks, the control of parks and the administration of them. The Burns series reveals so many heroes, so many individuals who fought for their particular interests and prevailed only through perseverance and determina-

tion. The series devotes considerable time to the Smokies and to the key role played by Horace Kephart and his friend George Masa. Both worked hard to have Congress declare Great Smoky Mountains a national park and to do it before lumber companies could cut down all the trees in the mountains, as they were prepared to do. The series reported on the fundraising efforts throughout the Tennessee and North Carolina communities around the mountains and how Congress had agreed to create the park only if the communities raised $10 million to buy the land. They raised only $5 million, but two men came through: John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Franklin Roosevelt. The real story of the national parks is how each of the early ones was established, and how it almost always was a single person or small group that pushed for it, and how entrenched special interests often stood in the way to fight against it. Who knows what might have hap-

pened to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or even the Smokies without champions like John Muir, Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and, of course, George Masa and Horace Kephart. Who knows what might have happened had not the National Park Service been formed in 1916 to oversee the growing number of national parks, and if that agency had not had Stephen Mather at its helm. Those who love and loved our parks evoke a higher spiritual power in their comments during the Burns documentary. That’s no surprise. To see Yosemite or Bryce Canyon or Jackson Hole or Mammoth Cave or Glacier or Acadia is to know proof positive there is a God. To see the wonder of the Grand Canyon is to know someone of a higher power was involved, even with the science that explains it all. If you missed the Burns series, catch it in reruns or buy a DVD of it. Be proud of our national parks and the people who were there at the beginning to see them formed.

Political view

n

Bryan Atchley, elected in 1995 and still mayor, has made his living running Sevier County Nursing Home for years. When he was elected he instructed the staff at City Hall to give out his home, office and cell numbers to anyone who called to talk to him. He still does. One day someone needed to speak to him and was given his office number. The call was placed. “Sevier County Nursing Home,” the caller was told by someone answering. “Uh, I need to speak to the mayor of Sevierville,” the caller said. “He’s here,” the staff member said. “You mean to tell me,” the caller said, “that Sevierville has elected someone who lives in a nursing home?” n

Jimmie Temple, now 82, was in his early 30s when elected mayor in 1959. At the time Sevierville had no city hall, a volunteer fire department, no police station and no public parks. Temple wanted to expand the city limits and add paved streets as well as water and sewer service to more people. There was resistance. So he called for a public meeting to talk about it. The meeting was to be held at the courthouse, and the crowd overflowed into the sidewalks and lawn. Most of the people there were opposed to expanding the city limits, and Temple was stuck on how to address such large and resistant crowd and how to convince them he was right. Then up to the microphone stepped insurance agent W.N. Burchfiel, who asked to talk to the audience. Burchfiel proceeded to tell everyone that their drop in their home insurance rates as a result of expansion and utility services would be so much that it would offset any increase in property taxes. People agreed and, satisfied, started to drift sway. Temple got it done.

Home builders group not against FEMA flood insurance

Editor: As I was reading your Sept. 27 issue, I came to read a letter sent to you concerning flood insurance in our area. I believe the letter writer is right when he said, “County government should approve FEMA.” Where his is mistaken in his letter is by adding that home builders here petition to stop flood insurance. Nothing could be further from the truth. I and the Sevier County Home Builder’s Association have been to many County Commission meetings and we have always been for flood insurance. I suggest the letter writer attend any of the meetings and ask why this has not taken place. Bob Gillespie

Public forum Past President, Sevier County expound. It is on a major highway (Boyds Creek) Home Builder’s Assn. where many very nice homes are located and where tourists travel. It is worse than an Alternative school facility eyesore, it is dangerous for our children. It is worse than the terrorists were provided. is in deplorable condition What kind of food do they get and why Editor: doesn’t our tax money not paint and clean the We take our garbage to the dump off Boyds place? Is that supposed to be a deterrent so Creek by the Alternative School. I want to they won’t commit their “sins” again? know how many kids are in the Alternative So why aren’t major court-adjudicated School, on average. Why are they there? What did they do? Miss school, playing hookey, juveniles provided such a deterrent? I would like to go over there and investigate it and stealing somebody’s lunch money, what? We have a brand new up-to-date deten- put together a support group to see that these tion facility at the fairgrounds with mod- kids receive decent care with their punishern conveniences, toilets, nice windows, nice ment, for whatever they did. Who cares besides me? Who will go with interior and exterior. So why do kids that me and at least check out why that building is have done very minor infractions have to be ready to fall down with our children in it? housed in a place worse than a dump? It is a Joyce Gilpin firetrap. Windows are broken, rust and mold Seviervilie

n

When the late Herbert Lawson was mayor from 1971 to 1973 he had a store right across the street from the courthouse. There was no city hall, just a fire hall where meetings were held. People learned to go see Lawson at his store, where most of the city’s business was conducted. At the time, the population of Sevierville was less than 3,000. n

The more you know about the history of where you live, the more understanding you have of your hometown and its people. — Stan Voit is editor of The Mountain Press. His column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at 428-0748, ext. 217, or e-mail to svoit@themountainpress.com.

Letters to the editor policy and how to contact us: ◆ We encourage our readers to send letters to the editor. Letters must contain no more than 500 words. No more than one letter per person will be published in a 30-day period. Letters must be neatly printed or typed and contain no libel, plagiarism or personal attacks. All letters are subject to editing for style, length and content. Statements of fact must be attributed to a source for verification. All letters must be signed and contain a phone number and address for verification purposes. No anonymous or unverified letters will be printed. No letters endorsing candidates will be considered. The Mountain Press reserves the right to refuse publication of any letter. E-MAIL LETTERS TO: editor@themountainpress.com or MAIL LETTERS TO: Editor, The Mountain Press, P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN 37864. For questions, call (865) 428-0748, ext. 214. The Mountain Press and its publishers do not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in letters and columns on this page.

Editorial Board:

State Legislators:

Federal Legislators:

◆ Jana Thomasson, Publisher ◆ Stan Voit, Editor ◆ Bob Mayes, Managing Editor ◆ Gail Crutchfield, Community News Editor

◆ Rep. Richard Montgomery

◆ U.S. Sen. Bob Corker

1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5981; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 rep.richard.montgomery@capitol.tn.gov

◆ Rep. Joe McCord

(202) 224-3344; Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., B40A, Washington, D.C. 20510

◆ U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander

(202) 224-4944; S/H 302, Washington, D.C. 20510

1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5481; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 rep.joe.mccord@capitol.tn.gov

◆ U.S. Rep. Phil Roe

1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10981; 320 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 sen.doug.overbey@capitol.tn.gov

◆ U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.

◆ Sen. Doug Overbey

(202) 225-6356; 419 Cannon House Office, Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-5435; 2267 Rayburn Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515

Sports

Visit: The Mountain Press.com View/Purchase Sports & News Photos

■ The Mountain Press ■ A8 ■ Sunday, October 4, 2009

SEC GRIDIRON

Vols keep it close in Saturday loss UT falls 26-22 to Auburn By BETH RUCKER Associated Press Writer KNOXVILLE — Chris Todd threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, and Ben Tate ran for 128 yards and a score to help Auburn beat Tennessee 26-22 on Saturday night. Auburn (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), which has come from behind in its other four games this season, never trailed and has now won five straight over the Vols — its longest streak in the series. The Tigers met some resistance early from Tennessee’s defense, but slowly wore it down as they held the ball nearly 10 minutes longer than the Vols. Auburn’s third-ranked offense racked up 459 yards. Tennessee (2-3, 0-2) did little to help itself on offense. Jonathan Crompton overthrew and underthrew receivers, hitting them on their heads and feet. Receivers dropped passes too. Crompton finished 20 of 43 for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Montario Hardesty had a touchdown on the ground and another by air and finished with 90 yards rushing.

Tennessee ‘s Nu’Keese Richardson (7) is tackled by Auburn’s Neiko Thorpe (15) Saturday in Knoxville.

PREP GRIDIRON

It’s Favre vs. Pack

NFL GRIDIRON

SCHS freshman kicker hits winner

By CHRIS JENKINS AP Sports Writer

By COBEY HITCHCOCK Sports Writer SEVIERVILLE — Sevier County High School Smoky Bears freshman kicker Jared Baxter has proved to be cool in the clutch, providing the winning point in Thursday’s classic 24-23 double-overtime affair against visiting county and District 2-AAA rival Seymour Eagles on Thursday night in Jared Baxter Sevierville. Although three consecu- game-winning 26 yarder by tive kicks had been missed Seymour’s Stephen Martin — a potential game-win- in OT No.1, and an overtime ning 20 yarder in regulation by Baxter, a potential See Baxter, Page A9

Wade Payne/AP

Paul Battaglia/AP

Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback Brett Favre drops back to pass last Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in Minneapolis.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’s supposed to be Brett Favre versus the Green Bay Packers, an intense onegame referendum on whether Favre’s former team made the right choice when it sent the three-time MVP packing last season. And if Aaron Rodgers steals the show with a big performance against the Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome on Monday night, he could take a huge step toward proving the Packers right. If Rodgers feels any extra incentive this week, he’s not letting on. The secondyear starter insisted it’s just another game between the bitter NFC North rivals. He didn’t even have an

opinion to share on Favre’s last-minute, 32-yard zinger to beat San Francisco last Sunday. “I didn’t watch the film of him,” Rodgers said. “I just watched the Vikings’ defense.” But one of Rodgers’ best friends in football, former Packers receiver Ruvell Martin, knows Rodgers can handle the pressure. “I’m sure he’s going to be fine,” said Martin, who signed with St. Louis when the Packers cut him before the season. “I guess the bad thing is, it’s not just going to be, ’Oh, hey, Aaron, you had a good game.’ It’s going to be, what did he do compared to Brett Favre?” Favre and Rodgers weren’t particularly close during See FAVRE, Page A9

Lions lose homecoming heartbreaker, 34-28

PREP GRIDIRON

Photo submitted

TKA QB Dane Hoffmeister, right, runs for some yards against visiting Sunbright during Friday night’s homecoming game in Seymour. The Lions lost the heartbreaker 34-28 on a last-second score by the Blue-and-Gold Tigers.

SEYMOUR — Highflying The King’s Academy Lions fell 34-28 in a homecoming heartbreaker Friday night against visiting Sunbright Tigers. The teams exploded for 56 combined first-half points, but the defenses reigned in the second half. The halftime score of 28-28 remained until Sunbright’s Justin Huseman pounded in the winning score from one-yard out with 1:18 remaining in the contest, making the disappointing final on the TKA homecoming night. The Lions (4-2) jumped out in front early, scoring off a 14-yard Dane Hoffmeister to David Lamon TD pass with 6:47 in the first quarter. Jordan Smith’s PAT kick was true, making it 7-0 TKA. Sunbright (4-2) answered moments later when Timmy Turner powered one in from one-yard out with 4:44 in the first. A Huseman two-point conversion run

suddenly put the Lions in an 8-7 hole. Hoffmeister put TKA back on top, however, at the 1:13 mark of the opening frame, this time scoring with his legs on a one-yard run of his own. Smith’s kick put the Lions in front 14-8. But the TKA lead didn’t last long. Huseman returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a score. The extra-point kick failed, but it was a new ball game knotted at 14s with 58 seconds in the first quarter. But a determined Lions offense answered when Hoffmeister took it in from 17 yards out on the final first-quarter play from scrimmage. Smith’s PAT kick gave the Lions a 21-14 edge heading into the second. Sunbright came back to tie it again at 21s when Jason Mason ran it in from five-yards out with 8:44 remaining in the half. The Lions regained the lead again with 5:06 until See LIONS, Page A9

Sports â—† A9

Sunday, October 4, 2009 â—† The Mountain Press

favre

3From Page A8

their time together in Green Bay. When asked this week if he had talked to Rodgers recently, Favre said, “For what?�. Rodgers said any communication — or lack of same — between he and Favre was a private matter. After the Packers took Rodgers in the 2005 draft, Favre made it clear that he wasn’t interested in mentoring a young quarterback. And when Favre went public with his last-minute desire to unretire last summer and the Packers decided not to take him back, Rogers was left to absorb most of the fan backlash. He even was booed during a scrimmage at Lambeau Field. It would have been hard to follow Favre in Green Bay under any circumstances, but did Favre’s unretirement make it even tougher on Rodgers? “I don’t know that answer for sure,� Favre said. “But I think he’s done a very good job, and I’m not surprised by it at all.� Rodgers had won over most of the fans by the end of the year, playing through a painful shoulder injury to start all 16 games, throwing for 4,038 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. “(I) learned a lot on the fly, started to figure things out a little bit,� Rodgers said. “But I’m just continually trying to be critical of myself every time I watch film, and continue to improve.� Vikings coach Brad Childress expects his defense to be challenged by Rodgers’ strong

arm and underrated mobility. Rodgers rushed eight times for 38 yards in Sunday’s win at St. Louis. “Those are demoralizing things for a defense that’s got everybody covered,� Childress said. “But (he has) very good athleticism, and I just see him continue to grow in that system. There’s not any indecisiveness that I’m able to tell.� Still, Favre will be the main attraction. Will his emotions get the best of him? Everybody remembers Favre’s four-touchdown performance in Oakland after his father died in 2003. But when matched up against a Seattle team led by ex-Packers coach and Favre mentor Mike Holmgren in 1999, Favre threw four interceptions in a 27-7 loss. Current Packers coach Mike McCarthy was Favre’s position coach at the time, and said he didn’t do a very good job calming down Favre that day. “I could remember the first interception like it was yesterday because he tried to throw it through three people to the post down in the red zone,� McCarthy said. “He was gunned up for that game. But frankly, he was in some tough spots in that game, too. I’m not just crying because I was his position coach and it didn’t go very well. But that was a rough night.� Childress has talked to Favre about controlling his emotions this week, just as he would with any player facing his former team. For the Vikings to go far this year, Favre will have to stick to the system. “You do yourself the best service staying within the sys-

tem,� Childress said. “That’s what it’s there for. You’re going to get called on to make those off-schedule plays from time to time, but there’s a reason that system’s there.� Favre isn’t worried about controlling his emotions or staying within the system, given the talent he has around him. “I think what helps here, obviously, is more than anything, is having a running game with Adrian Peterson,� Favre said. “That’s not to say he won’t be stopped. I thought San Francisco did a heck of a job. But you feel like that’s always kind of a crutch for you to fall back on. A pretty good one, too.� For all the Favre hype, this game could come down to each team’s apparent weaknesses. Neither has done a particularly good job protecting its quarterback, although the Packers could get a boost if veteran left tackle Chad Clifton returns from a right ankle injury. Beyond that, the Packers’ new 3-4 defense needs to stop Peterson, and the Vikings’ improved pass defense needs to prevent Rodgers from getting the ball downfield to a talented group of receivers. But Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, who also played in Green Bay, knows people will be tuning in for No. 4. “I told my kids that ’High School Musical’ is the highestrated cable show ever,� Longwell said. “This will probably beat it out.� — AP Sports Writers R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis and Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

LOCAL ROAD RACING

Tiger October 8K event to sponsor teams, cause PIGEON FORGE — The Tiger October 8K road race to benefit Sevier County Food Ministries and the Pigeon Forge High School Lady Tigers soccer and softball teams is quickly approaching, with the event scheduled for an 8 a.m. start this coming Saturday. The fund-raising event is the brainchild of Pigeon Forge teachers Carrie Hollingsworth and Sally Tate, who got the idea from a similar event that went to sponsor a neighboring county high school. “Sally Tate — another teacher at the high school — and myself ran in a few road races this summer, and one of the races we ran in benefitted the Cocke County football team,� said Hollingsworth. “So we decided if they can host a race for a high school, then we can too.� Registration for Saturday’s event begins 7 a.m. the same day at the high school. The cost to participate is $30, and there will be many door prizes — including gift certificates to area eateries, shopping, shows and attractions. Also, the overall winning male and female will receive a weekend in Pigeon Forge, including hotel stay, gift card to an area restaurant and tickets to shows and attractions. The top three winners of eight different age divisions, male and female, will also

receive nice prizes. There will also be food and fun for everyone at the finish line. Girls currently on the Lady Tigers rosters will be doing their part by lending their services during the event. “The girls will handing out water to the runners at the water station, some at the half way point and some at the finish line cheering the runners on the entire way,� said Hollingsworth. Besides the Pigeon Forge sports programs, the event will help families in need through the Sevier County Food Ministries. “We choose the Sevier County Food Ministries, because by the time this race is over, we’ll be getting close to the Thanksgiving season,� said Hollingsworth. “We wanted to give to their cause and help them during this particular season.� The race will begin 8 a.m. Saturday, starting in front of the high school, continuing to Walden Creek and finishing back at the high school. The certified course is fast and flat, good for personal record times. For more information, see the web at www.tiger8k.com or contact event organizers through e-mail at tiger8k@ gmail.com.

Is Your Heating System Burning Through Your Money?

Lions

3From Page A8

intermission when Jon Rose broke a 25-yard run for a score. Smith’s kick made it 28-21 TKA. But as they did at the end of the game, Sunbright scored just before the end of the first half. This one on a one-yard Jessie England TD run with just 7 seconds on the clock for the tying score, making it 28-28.

Rose led the Lions with 79 rushing yards and a score on eight attempts. David Lamon added 50 yards on 11 totes, and William Lakatosh had 48 yards on nine carries. The Lions had four players with at least 30 yards receiving, led by Rose with three catches for 57 yards. Kirkpatrick, Matt Turner and Lakatosh each had one grab for 38, 34 and 30 yards respectively. Hoffmeister was 7-of-11

for 163 yards and a score from under center. Defensively, Pierce Krupa led the Lions with 12 stops, including a tackle for loss. Jon Ogle added eight tackles, and Kirkpatrick and Rose had seven stops apiece, including a 12-yard sack for Kirkpatrick and a tackle for loss for Rose. TKA next travels to Unaka to take on the 3-3 Rangers on Thursday night.

baxter

From submitted reports

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3 Day Special October 8th, 9th and 10th.

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A10 â—† Sports

The Mountain Press â—† Sunday, October 4, 2009

NFL GRIDIRON

Winless Titans refuse to panic as they face Jags By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Tennessee Titans probably would be more panicked, maybe even in desperation mode, if they weren’t playing in Jacksonville this weekend. The Titans feel right at home here. Tennessee is 10-5 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, an impressive record that includes wins in five of the team’s last seven trips to the River City. If the Titans (0-3) are to avoid an even bigger hole, a seemingly insurmountable 0-4 start, they will need to extend their winning ways against the Jaguars (1-2) on Sunday. “There’s no time to panic,� Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. “It’s just time to play. If you panic, you just might make the situation worse.� In an effort to stay positive and remind everyone that the season is far from lost, Bulluck and coach Jeff Fisher already have mentioned Tennessee’s 1-4 start in 2002 — a campaign that ended with a trip to the AFC championship game. Coincidentally, the Titans turned that season around with a victory against the Jaguars. “We got tough, and we just kept playing,� Bulluck said. “We still have a lot more to play for.� Tennessee opened this season with Super Bowl aspirations, but close losses to Pittsburgh, Houston and

ticket sales, so the game will be blacked out on local television. Tennessee’s record is much more surprising. The Titans, who earned home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs last season, have endured countless mistakes in their slow start. Dropped passes, missed field goals, turnovers and third-down woes, Fisher has seen his offense and his special teams contribute to losses. The defense might be even more alarming. The Titans have allowed 891 yards and seven touchdownsthroughtheair.Things could get worse against Jacksonville if Tennessee is without two defensive backs. Nickel back Vincent Fuller broke his right forearm last week and will miss at least a month, and standout cornerback Cortland Finnegan (hamstring) might not play. The injuries could force rookies Jason McCourty and Ryan Mouton onto the field against Jacksonville. Bulluck didn’t seem worried. He even offered up the defensive game plan. “Maurice Jones-Drew has been doing a tremendous job, but the way we feel around here, I would tell all fantasy people to bench Maurice Jones-Drew this week because that’s our No. 1 task is to come out and stop him on defense and as a team to win the game,� Bulluck said. “If it’s bulletinboard material, it’s bulletinboard material.� Maybe, but the Jaguars are more concerned about ending Tennessee’s winning

Mark Humphrey/AP

Titans RB Chris Johnson runs for a 57-yard touchdown against Houston in Nashville two weeks ago. ways in Jacksonville. JonesDrew even recalled Fisher’s 10-year-old comments about this city providing his team an extra home-field advantage. “We’ve got to do what we can to win. That’s the attitude you always have to have,� Jones-Drew said. “Coach Fisher has said many times before that Jacksonville is like a home game to them, so we’ve got to come out and defend our home turf and do whatever we can to make plays and pull out a victory.�

nfl gridiron gl ance AMERICAN CONFERENCE East

the New York Jets have the Titans reeling. “No one wants to start off 0-3, but you have to be realistic, you have to look at it, you have to sort through it, get past each week and just do the best you can to get ready to win the next ballgame,� Fisher said. “You can’t dwell on it. If you walk around like a 0-3 team, you’re going to be 0-4, and that’s almost assured. “It’s not about the record right now. Everyone can dwell on the record all they want, we’re not. ... You don’t want to start off the way we did, but we can’t change it. All we can do is look ahead and look to the next week.� The Jaguars are feeling much better about themselves after winning at Houston last week. The rebuilding team got its running game going behind Maurice Jones-Drew, didn’t allow a sack for the first time in 16 games, and made enough big plays on defense to beat the Texans 31-24. It was just the second time in the last 22 games Jacksonville scored more than 30 points. “It was big. It was huge for us,� receiver Torry Holt said. “It erased the frown that we had for the past couple weeks and put a smile on our faces, I know that for sure. Now, we’ll see what it has really done for us. We can obviously build momentum off this and go out and play with that much more confidence now that we’ve got that win under our belt.� The victory might have given players and coaches a lift, but it did little to boost

N.Y. Jets New England Buffalo Miami

W L T 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 3 0

Pct 1.000 .667 .333 .000

PF 64 60 64 43

PA 33 50 72 69

Indianapolis Jacksonville Houston Tennessee

W L T 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 3 0

Pct 1.000 .333 .333 .000

PF 72 60 65 58

PA 45 69 86 71

Baltimore Cincinnati Pittsburgh Cleveland West Denver San Diego Oakland Kansas City

W L T 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 3 0

Pct PF PA 1.000 103 53 .667 61 56 .333 47 50 .000 29 95

W L T 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 3 0

Pct 1.000 .667 .333 .000

South

North

PF 62 73 36 48

PA 16 64 57 85

W L T Pct PF N.Y. Giants 3 0 0 1.000 80 Dallas 2 1 0 .667 86 Philadelphia 2 1 0 .667 94 Washington 1 2 0 .333 40

PA 48 61 72 49

N.Y. Giants at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Baltimore at New England, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Tennessee at Jacksonville, 1

p.m. Buffalo at Miami, 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Jets at New Orleans, 4:05 p.m. Dallas at Denver, 4:15 p.m. St. Louis at San Francisco,

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

New Orleans Atlanta Carolina Tampa Bay

W L T 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 0

Pct PF PA 1.000 120 56 .667 57 53 .000 37 87 .000 41 91

Minnesota Green Bay Chicago Detroit

W L T 3 0 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 1 2 0

Pct 1.000 .667 .667 .333

PF 88 81 57 59

PA 57 63 54 86

San Francisco Seattle Arizona St. Louis

W L T 2 1 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 3 0

Pct .667 .333 .333 .000

PF 67 57 57 24

PA 53 48 68 73

North

West

——— Sunday’s Games Detroit at Chicago, 1 p.m. Oakland at Houston, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at Washington, 1 p.m. Seattle at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

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Sunday, October 4, 2009 ◆ The Mountain Press

◆ A11

A12 ◆ Nation/World

The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, October 4, 2009

Iran’s leader: Obama wrong to say nuclear site hidden

AP Photo/Wong Maye-E

Indonesian rescue teams mask up from the dust and stench of decomposing bodies Saturday in Padang, Indonesia, three days after Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude quake that toppled thousands of buildings on Sumatra island.

Village deaths to lift death toll from Indonesian quake PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from Indonesia’s massive earthquake will likely double as officials on Saturday reached rural communities wiped out by landslides that buried more than 600 people under mountains of mud, most of them guests at a wedding celebration. Virtually nothing remained of four villages that had dotted the hillside of the Padang Pariman district in Indonesia’s West Sumatra just three days ago, said officials and an Associated Press photographer who flew over the devastated area. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, search and rescue experts and cleanup crews arrived at the regional airport from around the globe with tons of food, tents, medicine, clean water, generators and a field hospital. But with no electricity, fuel shortages and telecommunication outages the massive operation was chaotic. Roughly 400 people were at a communal wedding in Pulau Aiya village when Wednesday’s 7.6 magnitude quake unleashed a torrent of mud, rock and felled palm trees, said Rustam Pakaya, the head of Indonesia’s Health Ministry crisis center. “They were sucked 30 meters (100 feet) deep into the earth,” he said. “Even the mosque’s minaret, taller than 20 meters (65 feet), disappeared.” Twenty-six bodies were pulled from the rubblestrewn brown earth in nearby Lubuk Lawe and Jumena, but 618 bodies remained far beyond the reach of residents who worked without outside help because roads had been severed, he said.

The number of fatalities in the disaster will jump to more than 1,300 if all those people are confirmed dead. The government’s death toll on Saturday held steady at 715, most reported in the region’s badly hit capital of 900,000, Padang, where aid efforts are concentrated. As many as 3,000 people had been declared missing before news about the obliterated villages emerged, while 2,400 were hospitalized and tens of thousands of people are believed to have been displaced. More than 1.1 million residents live in the 10 quake-hit districts, the United Nations estimated in a situation assessment, while the government said more than 30,000 homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and government offices had been flattened or severely damaged — 17 percent of all local infrastructure. An AP photographer who flew over Padang Pariaman district in a helicopter saw several landslides in the area. At Limo Koto Timur village, a giant section of a hillside was swept away and the remains of destroyed houses protruded from the mud. The ruins of other tin-roofed homes hung precariously over the edge of a huge crevice that was torn through rice fields and forest. Roads were gone and palm trees had been uprooted and swept downhill, leaving patches of brown earth where villages once stood. El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Indonesia, told the AP that 200 houses were swept away in Pulau Aiya. Aid efforts are “still concentrated in Padang area,” with outlying areas still short of

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aid, Benlamlih said, adding that aid agencies would focus on restoring water, electricity, sanitation and preventing disease.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president hit back Saturday at President Barack Obama’s accusation that his country had sought to hide its construction of a new nuclear site, arguing that Tehran reported the facility to the U.N. even earlier than required. The Iranian president defended his government’s actions as the head of the U.N.’s nuclear monitoring agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, arrived Saturday to arrange an inspection of the uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom. The revelation that Iran has been building a new nuclear plant has heightened the concern of the U.S. and many of its allies, which suspect Tehran is using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for developing a

weapons-making capability. Iran denies such an aim, saying it only wants to generate energy. Obama and the leaders of France and Britain accused Iran of keeping the construction hidden from the world for years. The U.S. president said last month that Iran’s actions “raised grave doubts” about its promise to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only. ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic

Energy Agency, has also said Tehran was “on the wrong side of the law” over the new plant and should have revealed its plans as soon as it decided to build the facility. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad challenged that view in a speech Saturday, saying that Iran voluntarily revealed the facility to the IAEA in a letter on Sept. 21. He said that was one year earlier than necessary under the agency’s rules.

Mountain Life ■ The Mountain Press ■ B Section ■ Sunday, October 4, 2009

Don’t let our park be sock on TV When I was a Boy Scout, one of our leaders told us a story that has stuck with me all these years: the story of the sock on the television. In case it’s not one you heard or, very possibly, is just something he made up, I’ll explain. He gave us the hypothetical scenario of a man who had a sock draped on the edge of his television. Being from a home ruled by a grandmother who didn’t even want me to leave my socks on the floor where I was sitting, the premise of the story may be why the story has stayed in my head. Anyway, if the man had a motivation he might take the sock off the television within a day. If he waited two days, it was less likely. After that, the foot cover would blend with the background, becoming nothing more than part of the scenery. Chances are it would be a while before the sock would migrate from its lofty perch, we were told. The story is something of an illustration of that old saying, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” I suppose. Obviously the man’s mistake is not immediately giving his attention to the matter. Over the past week, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the Ken Burns PBS documentary series on America’s magnificent national parks. If you missed it, you should look for it on the PBS Web site or hope for reruns. It’s worth watching. The images Burns showed of our 58 refuges from the modern world, from Crater Lake to the Grand Canyon to our own Smoky Mountains, are stirring, and the historical information he’s provided has been insightful. It was largely archival, as were many of the pictures, but it’s fascinating to learn about the people and events that led to what many consider, as the subtitle of the series states, “America’s best idea.” As I’ve come into the office each morning, I’ve enjoyed spending time discussing with Editor Stan Voit and Community News Editor Gail Crutchfield the particulars of the previous evening’s episode, reviewing the beautiful sights and the people profiled, like George Masa and Horace Kephart who spent much time in the mountains in my home state on the east side of our ridges. Granted, the series hasn’t been perfect. As Stan has pointed out, the music is somewhat repetitive, and I was irked to hear the narrator describe the Smokies as the highest peaks in the Eastern United States. North Carolina’s Blue Ridge, home to the 6,684-foot tall Mount Mitchell, actually claim that title. Anyway, to bring it back to the sock story, the series reminded me how very much we have to be thankful for in regards to our amazing national parks, especially for those of us who live so close to one. It also reminded me how we sometimes don’t appreciate all that. For most of us, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been around as long as we can remember, this being its 75th birthday year. As such, it’s sort of like that sock sitting on the man’s television set ­— it’s become such a part of the scenery that we forget to pay it any attention. We sometimes take it for granted. I realize not everyone can trek out to Albright Grove to see a 25-foot diameter tulip poplar. Fewer still are willing or able to make an overnight hike into the backcountry. Yet we are fortunate in that enjoying the Smokies takes none of those activities. Getting out into our incredible backyard takes no more than a car and some time, and can require effort only to drive through its glory or to sit at a picnic table by a rushing stream. The benefits we accrue through getting back not only into nature, but also to an area that represents what I also believe is America’s best idea are innumerable. As Stephen Mather, the revered first director of the National Park Service, said, “A visit inspires love of country, begets contentment, engenders pride of possession, contains the antidote for national restlessness. He is a better citizen with a keener appreciate of the privilege of living here who has toured the national parks.” And keep in mind Mather said that before the Smokies were even a national park. Who knows what lavish praise he would have had for our American treasure? — Derek Hodges is a reporter for The Mountain Press. Call 428-0748, ext. 218 or e-mail to dhodges@themountainpress.com.

Submitted

Dollywood hosts Luther and Gloria welcome Sara Murdoch to the park and accept dozens of stuffed animals that Murdoch donated for local emergency medical technicians.

A dream come true Communities miles apart pull together to grant woman’s wish By GAIL CRUTCHFIELD Community Editor

Gail Crutchfield/The Mountain Press

Sara Murdoch and her niece, Donna Hogaboom, are ready to fly on the Sky Rider in the Country Fair section of Dollywood.

Dollywood emergency medical technician Kenny Lee and Sara Murdoch of Michigan during a day spent at the Pigeon Forge attraction. Gail Crutchfield/The Mountain Press

PIGEON FORGE — Friday and Saturday were a dream come true for Sara Murdoch and her family. Though clouds hovered on occasion, nothing could darken the mood for three generations of the Houghton Lake, Mich., family spending a couple of days at Dollywood as part of a short vacation to Pigeon Forge. The group of 12 was following up a day of helicopter rides and a night out at Dixie Stampede, with many of the expenses paid through gifts and donations from people in their hometown and right here in Sevier County. The trip was to end today, with a balloon ride for Sara Murdoch and her mother, Betty Murdoch. “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Betty Murdoch, 83, said as she waited for Sara to finish riding the carousel in The Village area of the park. But it was Sara, 46, on whom the vacation was focused. She was born with cerebral palsy and was diagnosed earlier this year with breast cancer for the second time. The cancer has spread to her spine, hip and lymph nodes. “She’s completely nonverbal,” said her big sister, Lynda Hogaboom. She communicates through an augmentative communication device, the same kind used by famed mathematics professor Stephen Hawking. Her family is also quite adept at interpreting her needs. But it was to her best friend that Sara expressed a desire to go to Dollywood, a place she’d visited when the family lived in Chattanooga. “She called us and said Sara wants to bring her family to Dollywood,” Betty Murdoch said. “I don’t know why she loves it so much. I guess because she has happy memories of See wish, Page B8

B2 ◆ Local

The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, October 4, 2009

Downtown Sevierville site of auto cruise-in

Submitted

A cruise-in was held recently in downtown Sevierville as part of the Great Smoky Mountain Autofest. Over 500 cars were registered for the event, which was held at Smokies Park. Many of the participants drove into downtown to show off their vehicles.

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Local â—† B3

Sunday, October 4, 2009 â—† The Mountain Press

Engagement

Engagement

Fox/Williams Julie Fox, a physical education major at CarsonNewman College, is engaged to marry to Tally Williams, an employee of Sevier County Electric System. The wedding will be June 26, 2010, in Destin, Fla. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Geraldine Burchfiel of Sevierville and Don Fox of Kodak. The future groom is the son of Peggy and Larry Williams of Cosby.

Anniversary

Garner/Caldwell Wayne and Diana Garner of Seymour, Tenn., announce the engagement of their daughter, April Garner, to Cliff Caldwell, son of Jimmy and Karen Caldwell of Maryville. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Ezzie Garner and the late Howard Garner of Seymour, and Geraldine Floyd and the late Carl Floyd of Sevierville. She is a 1997 graduate of Seymour High School and a graduate of Walters State Community College. She is a member of Knob Creek Baptist Church and is employed by United States Postal Service as a mail carrier. The prospective groom is the grandson of Vendeda Tulloch and the late Robert Tullock, the late Carson Elmer Caldwell and the late Jettie Caldwell. He is a 1999 graduate of Heritage High School and a 2005 graduate of University of

Submitted

Julie Fox and Tally Williams are engaged.

Martin

Submitted

April Garner and Cliff Caldwell will be wed on Nov. 14. Tennessee. He is a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and is employed by Agile Engineering as a mechanical engineer. The wedding will take place at 3 p.m. Nov. 14, 2009, at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Maryville. All friends and relatives are invited.

Clifford and Barbara Martin of Kodak will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Oct. 11, 2009, at Dumplin Valley Farm in Kodak. Barbara Cate and Clifford Martin were married Oct. 3, 1959, at Dumplin Baptist Church. The Revs. Glenn Toomey and Ben Knisley officiated at the ceremony. The wife’s parents are the late Mr. and Mrs. E.T. Cate. The husband’s parents are the late Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Martin. Clifford Martin is retired from Triangle Pacific. Barbara Martin is retired and was a teacher in Sevier County. The couple’s children

adventure and a sordid love affair with Fabio. Art in the 18th century was labeled romantic because it focused on feelings and emotions. One dictionary defined romance as a deliberate expression or display of love and affection. Yep, I was hot on the trail to discover one of the secrets of life. But first I needed a hamburger. When I sat down at McDonald’s to eat my burger meal, the TV channel was airing a soap opera. I had never seen a soap opera and was amazed and dumbfounded beyond belief! There must have been at least a dozen different stories happening at one time, and all of them were directly or indirectly involved with men and women having relationships. There were people trapped in bedrooms, lovers looking into each other’s eyes, hugging, kissing, anger, crime, laughter and tears. I finished my hamburger and got a free drink refill to go, but when I left I also carried the solution to marital and relationship

bliss. The TV interview, the soap opera and the hamburger created the perfect storm of discovery. Now I know how Archimedes felt. Eureka! The major required element in every romantic situation is unexpected surprise. Actors in the soap opera were surprised every 15 seconds or so, and love was totally rampant and out of control—on daytime television. Unexpected surprise is the true missing link in man’s evolution. For years I have personally offered extreme displays of romanticism such as washing Kat’s car or even feeding the dog when it was her turn. I saw myself as a maniac romantic on steroids, but putting her clothes in the dryer never seemed to register very high on her romantic scale. I have been a totally frustrated romantic for decades, but now totally understand why I would be given a rating of perhaps 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. I was missing the element of unexpected surprise. Every love relationship can be improved by eliminating the word romantic and substituting unexpected surprise. Men’s brains absolutely cannot process the “r� word, but men enjoy surprises as much as women. Here is my new definition for mankind;

“A romantic is a person who displays expressions of love by incorporating unexpected surprise.� (Dr. Johnny Fever, 2009) Instead of expressing love by filling your wife’s gas tank, add the element of unexpected surprise by also placing a rose on the dashboard. Bring home her favorite cake when there is no birthday or anniversary in sight. Open her car door in the middle of one of those downpours. Mayberry’s Gomer knew it all along when he always

are Randy Martin, Beth Boling and Jill Hodge, all of Kodak. They have four grandchildren.

wedding policy

‘Romantic’ redefined by local doctor Well, this past week I was looking down into the holler toward Webb’s Creek thinking about how a hamburger led me to discover the solution to the age-old problem that has screwed up nearly every love relationship on the planet earth. First of all, I must categorically state that none of this has been tested and I am a totally untrained professional in relationship matters. I was once called Dr. Johnny Fever, but that had nothing to do with my academic background. This discovery can be used at your own risk and can be attempted at home. It will eliminate most divorces and will improve every marriage and dating relationship in our beloved Smokies. Tourists visiting this week are quite welcome to take this miracle solution back to your homelands. It is my pleasure to help you. I was watching TV the other day and a lady on a talk show was oozing about how her husband was a “romantic.� I have heard that word used throughout the years, but have never gotten a handle on its actual meaning. It is a very complicated word, especially for men. I think it’s Greek. I put my ears on and listened intently to the rest of her interview and she offered absolutely no clarification of the behavior she referenced, but she did spark a new flame of curiosity. It was time for research so I googled romantic. I learned so much, but the answer still remained hidden from view. Most encyclopedias agreed that a romantic is one who is “idealistic, but not practical.� A romantic novel is a fictional tale that usually includes

Submitted

Clifford and Barbara Martin have been married 50 years.

said, “Serprize....Serprize!� I’ve got to go now. I’m going to go stand in the driveway and welcome Kat home with a hot cup of coffee in hand. Surprise. That is just how it looks from my log cabin. — John LaFevre is a local speaker and co-author of the interactive national park hiking book series, Scavenger Hike Adventures, Falcon Guides, Globe Pequot Press. E-mail to scavengerhike@aol.com. G. Webb of Pittman Center does the artwork for the column. Visit Gwebbgallery.com.

ird Early Ber Dinn l! Specia

The Mountain Press publishes wedding, engagement and anniversary announcements and photos free of charge to subscribers of the newspaper. There is a $25 charge, payable in advance, for others wishing to publish announcements. Deluxe (enlarged) photos for anniversaries and engagements are available for an additional $15 charge, payable in advance. â– Wedding, engagement and anniversary announcement forms are available. Announcements must be on appropriate forms. â– Responses should be typed or neatly printed in blue or black ink and must include a contact phone number. The phone number is not for publication. â– Announcements are published only on Sunday. Forms must be submitted no later than nine days prior to desired publication date. Announcements sent in after that may not be published in the next Sunday paper. Only anniversaries of at least 50 years will be published. â– Wedding announcements received more than six months after the ceremony will not be published. â– If a wedding date has not been set, announcements must state the anticipated month or season of the year, not to exceed 12 months out. â– Announcements may include a photograph of the bride/bride-elect or the wedding/anniversary couple. Color photos can be submitted, but the should be of professional quality. Photos will not be printed in color. If we judge a photo to be of questionable quality or content, we will not print.

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B4 â—† Religion

The Mountain Press â—† Sunday, October 4, 2009

Public pulpit

With warped values, we call evil good, good evil By DR. ALDEN MARSHALL “Church is boring.� “Church is not relevant.� These are two of the most common objections given when people are asked why they do not go to church. Well, we can throw money at folks and make church more “exciting� by buying high tech entertainment or by going on expensive trips with fabulous food. There is nothing inherently wrong with that — high tech is no worse than low tech, and great food honors God as much as tasteless food. We should try to be relevant to share the joys and sorrows of those around us and to encourage them in Godly ways. But attempts to make church relevant often means to try to make the Bible fit into the culture. German theologian Rudolph Bultmann, for example, thought modern people could not accept the resurrection of Jesus Christ and other accounts of the miraculous in the Bible, so he rejected (“demythologized the Bible� as he put it) them. His teaching did become more relevant to some, but he turned his back on historic Christianity. Is it possible for a church to be historically Christian and still interesting and relevant? Yes, but it is very difficult. If people do not want to be honest (and books like “The Day America Told the Truth show very few really are honest in this country), then honesty will be boring for them. If folks want to be sexually active in ways the Holy Spirit forbids in the Bible he inspired, any church

Military struggles to find chaplains

before God and seek his face/will/Lordship, God meets with us in our church services. Then worship becomes joy and peach for those who have union with God- and terror for those in the service who do not have union with God. Either way, boring is the last adjective anyone would use to describe such a gathering. Such a church also becomes very relevant, as converts to Jesus Christ quit stealing from their jobs, and began to treat their spouses and children and others with respect and love. If you have lived in such a changed family, you would never call such a church that encouraged that change irrelevant. But even if we are still not interesting or relevant to some, God always calls us to be that way in his sight. He calls us to worship him “in spirit and in truth.� Truth is countercultural in all societies — from Wall Street to Main Street, in any nation. “In Spirit� refers to the Holy Spirit, and we are not to “quench� or to “grieve� him, but to be sensitive to his every leading, in order to honor Jesus Christ. Hopefully. The sermon will speak to the preacher first of all, and then to us. If not, then the hymns have great truths and encouragement, or perhaps the prayers, or conversation before or after church. If none of these means of grace move us, then we should either move our body elsewhere, or pray as David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.� — Dr. Alden Marshall is a Presbyterian minister who lives in Gatlinburg.

Do you understand your Bible when you read it? To be able to read and understand the Holy Bible is the greatest need of modern man. The following will help us to that end. 1. Read it often. “Blessed is the man that delights in the law of Jehovah and meditates on it day and night, (Psalm 1:2). 2. Read it slowly. “Every one that is hasty hasteth only to wantâ€?, (Proverbs 21:5). 3. Read it regularly. “These words, which I command thee‌shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou riseth upâ€?, (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). 4. Read it earnestly. “Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slipâ€?, (Hebrews 2:1). 5. Read it persistently. “Give attendance to reading‌ Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting [progress] may appear to all‌Continue in themâ€? (I Timothy 4:13-16). 6. Read the words by; Finding our their meaning. In other words, use a dictionary. 7. Read the thought by grasping the author’s meaning. The inspired writers “combined spiritual things with spiritual wordsâ€?, (1 Corinthians 2:13). 8. Read it progressively in its natural order and sequence. 9. Read it naturally as you would any other book, ancient or modern. 10. Read it a little at a time, fixing each thought in your mind, till you comprehend it and make it yours. “Therefore, shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept‌,line upon line‌, here a little, there a little‌â€? (Isaiah 28:13). 11. Read with a prayerful heart; A teachable mind and a broken and contrite spirit “but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 12. Read it remembering that dangerous errors grow out of imperfect and one-sided view of things. “Take heed how you readâ€?,(Luke 8:18). We must seek “the whole counsel of Godâ€?, (Acts 20:27). 13. Read each passage as if it was the only one, and then read it again in relation to the stupendous whole. Some who take a verse from its setting, or fail to consult the whole composite of teaching on the subject “Wrest the scriptures unto their own destructionâ€? (2 Peter 3:16). Taking separate verses by themselves, the Bible can be forced to teach most anything. 14. Read, remembering that all Truth is harmonious and that God being its author, makes it plain to us. “If any may willeth to do His will, He will know of the teaching, whether it is of God‌â€? (John 7:17). 15. Read asking yourself: 1). Who wrote this? 2). When did he write it? 3). Why did he write it? 4). For whom did he write it? 16. Read it remembering there are Two Testaments; an old and a new, (Hebrews 8:6,13). We must always rightly divide the Word of Truth, (2 Timothy 2:15). The Old is the New concealed. The New is the Old revealed. 17. Read it, not to store your mind with “argumentsâ€? to teach others, but to feed yourself, to enlighten yourself in the ways of God. As did young Samuel, say, “Speak Lord, thy servant hearethâ€? (1 Samuel 3:9). 18. Read it, knowing that the promises of God are not for some other people or age, but for you now; bring yourself face to face with God and His Truth. “Whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding promises‌â€? (2 Peter 1:4). 19. Read it comparing Scripture with Scripture. Like the Bereans, search the scriptures to see if these things are so, (Acts 17:11). 20. Read it resisting the Devil, remembering he is always ready to “catch the Word out of your heartâ€? (James 4:7; Matthew 13:19). 21. Read it endeavoring to see with an “eye of faithâ€? those who took part in or witnessed the scene portrayed. Remembering those things were written for our learning, (Romans 15:4). 22. Read it determined to obey it from the heart . . . from that moment on, all you have learned. “Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selvesâ€?, (James 1:22).

re l i g i o n b r i e f s

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Finding enough chaplains to minister to troops has become a difficult task. The Kansas Air National Guard has two of its six chaplain positions unfilled, while the Kansas Army National Guard is faring worse with nine of 15 slots vacant. Officials with the Kansas Army National Guard describe the high vacancy rate as typical of other Guard units across the country.

Idaho tribe says no to housing

that honors the Bible will be seen as irrelevant. The same goes for those who want to get revenge when the Bible says to forgive, etc. Yet all these Biblical teachings that offend our human nature are very relevant to our society — and any society. When citizens are faithful to spouses, honest, love mercy, work instead of having a sense of entitlement, and take care of the most weak and helpless members of society, only criminals would accuse a church encouraging those traits of being not relevant. In the film “Father Damien,� the priest tried to get a woman in the leper colony in Hawaii to quit her drunken partying. She refused and said that she really wanted to live. He replied that she was really living when she was taking care of the sick and the orphans. But when we have warped values, then we call good evil and evil good! Then we want churches to be at least as materialistic and hedonistic as the culture outside of the churches, and for them to have more status. Then we get concerned about protecting our rights as Christians, and neglect our right to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. By the way, the church grew in the midst of much persecution in the Roman empire, while North America is the only place in the world where the church is not growing. No society or person can take away the promise that when we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. When we humble ourselves

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE

FORT HALL, Idaho (AP) — A tribe has denied a request by a religious group to build a dormitory-style building on the Fort Hall Reservation. The Land Use Policy Commission of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes rejected a permit application from Joseph

Ahlstrom of the Church of the Firstborn of Heaven to build a three-story, 18,000square-foot building. The commission told Ahlstrom in a letter that he

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B8 â—† Local

The Mountain Press â—† Sunday, October 4, 2009

wish

3From Page B1

the park.� Once they learned of Sara’s wish to visit Dollywood again, the family started making plans to raise money. Their community and church really came through, Hogaboom said, giving donations and holding fundraisers. By chance, Dollywood EMT Kenny Lee ran a Google search on the park, looking for any mention of its safety program and came upon Sara’s story on her hometown newspaper’s Web site. He also saw other stories about Sara that detailed her drive to provide stuffed animals to help children traumatized by accidents and emergencies. Hogaboom said the Sara’s Bears program started when the family drove past an accident scene. “She saw a little boy standing next to the road after an accident and said, he should have a teddy bear,� she said.

They began a drive to collect teddy bears and ended up with more than 300 to provide to the Denton Township emergency personnel. Ever since, they’ve continued to collect bears for emergency medical technicians to give to pediatric patients and other children involved in accidents. The Dollywood hosts who heard Sara’s story of selflessness and strength were impressed and donated unused tickets to provide the family with more time at the park. “The hosts really took Sara’s story to heart,� said park spokesman Pete Owens, and wanted to do what they could to provide a nice time for Sara and her family. Sara also provided something, bringing about 40 stuffed animals the park can give to any of its pediatric patients and sharing some with the Sevier

County Ambulance Service, which also donated T-shirts to Sara and helped with some of the trip expenses. “It’s phenomenal,� Hogaboom said of the response to Sara’s wish. “I was looking for a little wow to the trip and that’s when Kenny called.� “It’s just so boggling,� Betty Murdoch said. “I can’t even believe it. I’m so happy.� And so is Sara. “When she woke up this morning she wanted a big hug and said she was having such a good time.� n gcrutchfield@themountainpress.com

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