Bearden Shopper-News 051313

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VOL. 7 NO. 19

| pp www.ShopperNewsNow.com

IN THIS ISSUE

Barber house? Steve Cotham, director of the C.M. McClung Historical Collection at the East Tennessee History Center, fields a lot of questions. But here’s one that he’s gotten from all over the world: “Is my home a Barber house?”

Mayy 13, 2013

www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow pp

Singing at Echo Ridge

See Wendy Smith’s story on A-3

Going global Seven members of Bearden High School’s Virtual Enterprise (VE) class represented their business, Elysium Computers, at the International Trade Fair held in New York City in April. More than 150 firms from around the world participated.

See Wendy’s story on page A-3

No way to know “Ten years ago, when Doug Dickey was finishing up as athletic director at Tennessee, dear friend Nancy Siler and I had an interesting conversation about potential replacements,” Marvin West writes. “Her candidate was Bill Schmidt. “Nancy said he met all requirements. He had been an Olympic athlete and a Tennessee coach, a Chuck Rohe assistant. He had a Master’s degree in business with emphasis on accounting.”

See Marvin’s story on page A-6

Barbecue blast West Knox Rotary’s big barbecue cook-off, which drew nearly 50 teams from across the country, was a first-time event, but those in charge say it won’t be the last.

See Anne Hart’s story on page A-11

Miracle for Evie Jessica Ashton was 34 weeks pregnant with her second baby when she received news no mother wants to hear. A routine ultrasound showed fluid in Jessica’s baby girl. On April 5, 2011, a specialist diagnosed the baby with non-immune hydrops, an abnormal collection of fluid in at least two areas: the skin, abdomen, space around the lungs or the pericardial sac around the heart.

See Ashley Baker’s story on A-7

10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Wendy Smith | Anne Hart ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Brandi Davis | Patty Fecco

By Wendy Smith Echo Ridge residents were served something special during lunch last week – a performance by Off the Chain, Bearden High School’s a capella chorus.

The teens wowed the crowd with renditions of songs like Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music,” A-ha’s “Take Me On,” and “Some Nights” by Fun. And even though it didn’t sound like it, the perfor-

mance was entirely vocal. Camille Winton is one of several Off the Chain members who beatbox, or create vocal percussion sounds. A UT student helped To page A-3

Bearden High School Off the Chain chorus members Tori Franklin, Alli Acuff, Callie Stelter, Madison Harmon, Michael Wilson, Mackenzie Ridley and Sabrina Snetter perform at Echo Ridge Independent Senior Living Community. Photo by Wendy Smith

Push for a park on Kingston Pike By Anne Hart West Knox dentist Larry Tragressor is hoping to convince either public officials or private donors to purchase a piece of property that sits in front of the historic Baker-Peters House, which he owns, and turn that land into a park. The .83-acre piece of land, at the corner of Kingston Pike and South Peters Road, has been home to a service station for a number of years but now stands vacant. Tragressor says the underground gas storage facilities that served

the gas station have been removed. The move would increase the value of Tragressor’s own property, but he says he can’t afford the $690,000 price tag for the parcel, which is listed with Ean Moffett of Holrob. In addition to his dental practice, the pre-Civil War building Tragressor bought in 1990 houses the Baker-Peters Jazz Club. Tragressor told members of the Council of West Knox County Homeowners that he envisions a passive park with benches where visitors could sit to read historic

markers. Also at the meeting: ■ Knox County Commissioner Dr. Richard Briggs says he will pursue his idea that the county should find an existing building to lease for a new Karns Senior Center, rather than build a new facility. He said the move would save significant tax dollars that would be spent on overhead if the county owned the building. ■ Knoxville City Council member Duane Grieve discussed the work of the city’s sign task force, which has been studying the mu-

nicipal sign ordinance, last revised in 1985. He said there will be a number of opportunities for public input as the proposal makes its way through MPC and Council before final approval. One interesting aspect, Grieve noted, is that the city law director must determine that a new ordinance does not violate freedom of speech. ■ Knox County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Palmer discussed the website addition which points out locations where dangerous dogs are housed so citizens can be on the alert to avoid those areas.

Not back yet: Moncier’s struggles continue By Betty Bean Not so fast, Mr. Moncier. That’s the message Herb Moncier received from U.S. District Court after a newspaper article announced that he is once again practicing law in federal court after serving a five-year suspension for contempt of court for disobeying a judge who ordered him to shut up. He says he doesn’t know exactly what he must do to be reinstated. “Evidently there’s a glitch,” he said. “Now I’m being told there’s something more I have to do. I did not expect to be in the position that I’m in today after 43 years of practicing law – at the center of this controversy. “I’ve cancelled three appointments this week with

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new clients who wanted to hire me to be their attorney in federal court.” Actually, Moncier’s pretty much always been in the center of controversy, whether for representing a Group W Bench full of infamous criminals or for forcing the local political establishment to comply with laws that they’d just as soon ignore, and doing it with a frequency, bluster and degree of success that members of the political establishment have found maddening. His highs are stratospheric, his lows tragic. And they’re almost always public. As one friend says, “Good or bad, things happen big to Herb.” Herb’s father, James C. Moncier, was a successful entrepreneur who founded

a chain of 17 Easy Way Five & Ten Cent Stores and acquired three cattle farms where he raised registered Aberdeen Angus. Every spring, Herb, a lifelong animal lover, would adopt a calf to raise and show at the fair in the fall. And every year it was the same – the trauma of selling the calf to the highest bidder, always the White Stores, inevitably followed the triumph of winning a blue ribbon. “I knew where the calf that I slept with at night in the barn (at the fair) was going to end up, and as long as the White Stores were in business, I would never eat beef from there. I wouldn’t even walk by the counter,” he said. To page A-4 Herb Moncier at work

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