VOL. 9 NO. 25
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BUZZ Lacy on state Teacher Cabinet Farragut High School math teacher Wanda Lacy has been named as one of 18 Tennessee teachers to serve on the first Governor’s Teacher Cabinet. The cabinet will meet quarterly with Gov. Bill Haslam and state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen to share real-time information from the classroom, advise on policy considerations and provide a direct line of communication to schools and communities. Teachers will serve two-year terms on the cabinet. The first meeting is planned for July. At Farragut, Lacy teaches AP Calculus. She was named Tennessee Teacher of the Year in 2014.
Free self-defense classes offered Three martial arts academies have partnered to offer free self-defense classes to citizens of Knox and surrounding counties. Lucas Lepri Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Bullman’s Kickboxing and Krav Maga will offer a free 2-hour self-defense seminar from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at Western Plaza, 4511 Kingston Pike. Info: 865-963-2207 or bjjknox ville@gmail.com.
From sun to dark at Meadow Lark Ever wish you could have a music festival in your backyard? Well, your wish can come true at Meadow Lark Music Festival this Saturday at Ijams Nature Center. From 1-11 p.m., talented purveyors of Americana, bluegrass and folk will rock out and mellow down from the outdoor stage on the Ijams lawn. Acts scheduled include Pokey LaFarge, Scott Miller and the Commonwealth Ladies Auxiliary, Lonesome Coyotes, Emi Sunshine & The Rain. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate. Find purchase links on the Ijams or co-presenter WDVX websites (ijams.org, wdvx.com). Bring the kids, sunscreen, and a chair or blanket and settle in for a great day of music. There will be food trucks and adult and family-friendly beverages for sale. Just don’t bring coolers or canines. The event will go on rain or shine. – Betsy Pickle
Garden master is ‘veggie’ excited By Carolyn Evans Marsha Lehman is one enthusiastic gardener. She is excited about her purple sweet potatoes, white sweet potatoes, crunchy kohlrabi and a bunch of tomatillos she will use in her special salsa recipe. If some exotic vegetables could spice up your life, head to one of her talks this summer where she shares insider information. Lehman is one of about 100 certified Master Gardeners in Knox County, and she’s happy to help where she can. A former Rochester, N.Y., executive who worked with Kodak IPIX, Lehman now calls Farragut home. It was here where she took the 14-week Knox County Master Gardener training class two years ago. Lehman now loves being a Master Gardener so much that she’s already put in 440 volunteer hours this year. She says Tennessee is the perfect place for her. “I can garden year-round,” she says. “Why go anywhere else?” Thanks to the Master Gardener program, area residents can quickly get horticulture advice at
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By Wendy Smith After over an hour of passionate community input, the vote of the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission was split, four to four, resulting in a recommendation against the rezoning of 19.6 acres on Smith Road for a proposed apartment complex. Attendees were surprised, and disappointed, that Mayor Ralph McGill voted in favor of the zoning change, along with commissioners Noah Myers, Ed Whiting and Annette Brun. Continental Properties of Milwaukee, Wis., has requested the change from R-2 (single family residential) to R-6 (multi-family residential) for a 236-unit luxury apartment complex called Springs of Farragut. Property owner Doug Horne told the standing-room-only crowd that he’s proud of the town’s two apartment complexes, Derby Run and Lanesborough, which he
creased traffic on Smith Road, in spite of the property’s Kingston Pike entrance. Those traveling to the interstate will turn right to Smith Road to avoid traffic lights, they said. Smith Road resident Cheryl Nehls said there are already too many drivers on Smith, driving too fast. She’s seen three collisions in front of her house, and she’s frightened every time her children pull out of the driveway. Others expressed concerns Mayor Ralph McGill and Ed St. Clair, who chaired last week’s Municipal about decreased property values Planning Commission meeting, prepare to vote on Continental Properties’ and less well-to-do neighbors. Jon proposed apartment complex. Photo by Wendy Smith Holtztrager warned that there is already a legal path for HUD to developed. After receiving several calls for greater housing choice, he convert apartments to Section other offers, he opted to sell this said. 8 housing. He also questioned property to Continental because Representatives from Fox Den, whether the complex’s minimum the company agreed to a gated de- Village Green, Smithfield, Bald- income of $40,000 would guaranvelopment with no access to Smith win Park and Waverly Court sub- tee quality residents. Road. divisions said the majority of their “Two people making $10 an hour The town’s Comprehensive neighbors are opposed to the deLand Use Plan supports the de- velopment. To page A-3 velopment, and the Strategic Plan Most cited concerns about in-
School deal puts Bounds in a bind The deal brokered between the county mayor and the superintendent of schools means that Tim Burchett will get to serve eight years without raising taxes, and Jim McIntyre will get to keep his job – at least until the next school board Patti Bounds election.
By the time school board chair Mike McMillan faces re-election, he will have built two new Eighth District schools and so will County Commissioner Dave Wright, who will be term-limited out of office but may well have future political aspirations. Sixth District Commissioner Brad Anders will get to brag about delivering a middle school to Hardin Valley; ditto his district school board representative, Terry Hill. So what’s not to love about the
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Marsha Lehman, Knox County Master Gardener, demonstrates the proper transplanting of a tomato seedling during a presentation this spring at the Davis Family YMCA. Photos by Carolyn Evans
Planning commission recommends against apartments
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Master Gardeners Bill Menius and Amy Haun take the Good Bugs/Bad Bugs show on the road during the summer. They have done presentations at the Davis Family YMCA, Cansler YMCA, Concord United Methodist Church and the Parkridge Community Garden.
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Memorandum of Understanding, which is being hailed as a rare and welcome example of cooperation between the appropriating side of county government (commission/mayor) and the spending side (school board/superintendent)? Quite a bit, says Patti Bounds, the Seventh District’s school board representative: “I wish we could separate the capital improvement plan out of the MOU. There are parts of it that are going to be very helpful, but
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when it comes to the capital improvement part, it hurts District Seven,” she said, labeling the plan to renovate rather than replace the dilapidated Adrian Burnett Elementary School “a travesty.” Bounds, who spends at least a day a week in each of the schools in her district and taught kindergarten in the district until she retired last year, said she was taken by surprise when McIntyre recTo page A-3
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