Farragut Shopper-News 102914

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VOL. 8 NO. 43

‘ROUND TOWN

www.ShopperNewsNow.com |

October 29, 2014

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A visit from ‘the mob’ By S B Sherri h iG Gardner d Howell H ll Drive. The Cove has two

➤ Are you green? If your business has a “green” glow, the town of Farragut wants to know. Farragut’s Office of Sustainability is working to compile a list of sustainable businesses that operate in the town. A sustainable business is one that, for example, reduces, reuses and recycles products; takes active measures to conserve energy or uses renewable energy sources; conserves water or uses water harvesting such as rain barrels; has an alternative fuel vehicle; makes use of low-impact landscaping and other stormwater practices; sells or purchases local and/or organic products; or utilizes greener products such as Energy Star, EPEAT, Fair Trade, WaterSense and Design for the Environment. Businesses that meet any of the criteria are asked to contact sustainability coordinator Lori Saal at lsaal@townoffarragut.org with your name, title, company name, company address, company description, and a description of what makes your business sustainable. Info: www.townoffarragut.org/ sustainability.

➤ Upcoming at

Town Hall Early voting – daily through Oct. 30 Farragut/Knox County Schools Education Relations Committee – 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 Arts Council – 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 Economic Development Committee – 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 Stormwater Advisory Committee – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 Town of Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen – 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13

NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ

Burchett sets meetings Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will host 10 constituent meetings during October and November to give citizens the opportunity to speak individually with him about issues that are important to them. These meetings are open to the public. Burchett will be at Cedar Bluff Library 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6; and the Strang Senior Center, 109 Lovell Heights Road, 9-10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 24.

10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sherri Gardner Howell ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Patty Fecco | Wendy O’Dell

When “the mob” came to visit the Cove at Turkey Creek on Oct. 19, they were greeted with shovels, wheel barrels and dirt. No bodies were slated to be pushing up the daisies, but the daffodil bulbs were in ample supply. The Cove was the site of Farragut’s first Beautification Mob, a program of Keep Knoxville Beautiful, and the daffodils were the stars of the show. Susie Stout, who is on the Keep Knoxville Beautiful board, got the afternoon started for the 14 residents who made up the mob with a lesson in how to plant daffodils in a naturalized way. No need for measuring things in a straight line for this project. Stout showed the volunteers how to gently toss three to four bulbs in the air and then plant them where they landed. The Beautification Mob worked the link between Fords Cove Lane and Sonja

greenway links between the neighborhood and three other subdivisions, plus the additional link up to Sonja. “There are a few daffodils already growing along the way,” explains Stout. “We thought adding more to the area would greatly enhance it for those who live here and all who use the greenway.” Cove residents donated money to buy the bulbs, but the group was able to bank what was raised for future beautification projects, thanks to the generosity of Volunteer Lawn Service, which donated 400 daffodil bulbs. The Cove homeowners’ association group partnered with Keep Knoxville Beautiful for the event, also pulling in a permission from the town of Farragut to work along the greenway. The idea behind a Keep Knoxville Beautiful BeauTo page A-2

Bill Bryant is ready for work as part of the Beautification Mob at the Cove at Turkey Creek. Photos by Sherri Gardner Howell

Guns in parks doesn’t make town agenda By Wendy Smith The Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen shot down a motion by Alderman Bob Markli to add the issue of guns in parks to an upcoming agenda after four residents spoke in favor of them at last week’s meeting. The ban on guns in parks goes against the constitution and can’t be shown to reduce crime, said Liston Matthews. “It doesn’t stop crime or the bad guys, it just stops the good guys,” Doug Dutton said of the ban. Mike Tisdale, whose wife is in a motorized wheelchair, said he doesn’t feel safe taking her to a park without a weapon. George Caldwell, a retired federal officer and

police commissioner, said “hoodlums, rapists and murderers” don’t prey on parks where they believe people are armed. Markli and Vice Mayor Dot LaMarche voted for putting the issue on an upcoming agenda. Mayor Ralph McGill, Alderman Ron Honken and Alderman Ron Pinchok voted against it. The town is ready to take action to remedy tack left behind on Andover Boulevard, Smith Road and beyond after the Rogers Group paved there three months ago. Cleanup of tack is virtually impossible without damaging the roadway, said Town AdGeorge Caldwell makes a case for guns in parks during the ministrator David Smoak. Citizens Forum at last week’s Farragut BOMA meeting. Photo Since the Rogers Group by Wendy Smith

hasn’t yet agreed to remedy the situation, town engineer Darryl Smith recommended that a contract to resurface Andover Boulevard be awarded to the second-lowest bidder for the original project, Greenback Asphalt Company. The $59,121.30 project has a Dec. 5 completion date due to the approaching end of the paving season. But Smoak reported that the Rogers Group had, that day, indicated that they would like to continue talking about a possible solution. Smoak added language to the motion that would cancel the contract

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School chant: ‘Change is hard’ South Knox rep wants fewer tests in K-2 By Betty Bean In the recent past, when teachers or parents asked for relief from Knox County Schools’ test-happy corporate reform regime, Superintendent James McIntyre and the 8-to-1 school board majority that had his back would tell them to suck it up and get with the program.

Analysis “Change is hard,” they’d say to tearful mothers telling of their children’s mounting test anxiety. “Change is hard,” they’d tell teachers saddled with evaluations based on subjects they never taught.

We haven’t heard much of that since that since August elections and Indya Kincannon’s departure whittled McIntyre’s majority down to a 4-5 minority, and depending on the outcome of the Nov. 4 race to replace Kincannon, the former majority would probably be well advised to start practicing a new mantra. New board member Amber Rountree has one: “Go big or go home.” Rountree has requested a called meeting to vote on abolishing SAT-10, an exam for kindergarten through second grade that many educators feel is inappropriate. SAT-10 is not state-mandated, and board chair Mike McMillan is expected to honor her request. Rountree wants a vote before the tests are ordered. Board member Karen Carson is expected to oppose Rountree’s

efforts. Carson said at last week’s mind- and buttnumbing five-hour workshop that it’s the school board’s job to hire a superintendent and set goals. It’s the superintendent’s Rountree job to decide what tests will be administered. But Rountree disagrees. She quit her job as a school librarian to serve on the school board. Her South Knox constituents elected her, and she’s not been shy about saying how she feels about McIntyre’s heavy-handed administration. Rountree, Patti Bounds and Terry Hill have served notice that they intend to own future school board meetings. It’s unlikely that McIntyre’s lengthy, orchestrated

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presentations will recur. County Commissioner Charles Busler said last week that commissioners would never allow Mayor Tim Burchett, or any mayor, to sit at their table and control their meetings. In fact, Burchett often stays in his office, monitoring commission meetings and making himself available if needed. Change is hard. And we should expect change for the Knox County Board of Education, starting this week with Amber Rountree’s effort to discontinue high-stakes testing for kids who have not yet learned to read. Are we really that data-driven? And to what goal? Will Rountree win the vote? Maybe yes, maybe no. But the message is clear: Go big or go home. Yes, change is hard.

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