VOL. 54 NO. 29
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BUZZ
It’s official
Fugate enters commission race John Fugate, who served briefly on the Knox County Board of Education by appointment when Indya Kincannon resigned, is entering the race to replace Amy Broyles on Knox County Commission. Broyles will not seek re-election in 2016. Fugate’s kickoff is set for 4-6 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at Fountain City Park. Everyone is invited.
New principal at Copper Ridge Jennifer Atkins is the new principal at Copper Ridge Elementary School, replacing Kathy Castenir who retired. Atkins has served as an assistant principal at Copper Ridge and Halls Elementary. She joined the Knox County Schools in 2000 as a teacher at Fountain City Elementary and has also taught at Brickey-McCloud. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in elementary education, both from the University of Tennessee. She also holds an educational specialist degree in administration and supervision from UT and a doctorate of education degree in executive leadership from Lincoln Memorial University.
Lions to host pancake breakfast The Fountain City Lions Club will host its annual pancake breakfast 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, in the Lions Club Building at Fountain City Park. Tickets are $5.
IN THIS ISSUE
By Betty Bean Neighbors have long called the mid-19th-century Gothic Revival structure tucked into a picturesque hollow amid pastures and forests at the corner of Washington Pike and Murphy Road the house of seven gables and have wondered what stories those walls would tell if they could talk. Maybe they’d tell about the time Kevin Murphy’s three-times great-uncle and his two-times great-grandfather visited Union soldiers who were bivouacking nearby and carried home hats filled with sugar the soldiers had given them. Or maybe they’d talk about the days in the 1880s when the Powell Valley Railroad shattered the quiet as they came laying tracks through the pastures. Kevin Murphy is the latest Murphy to own the 175-year-old house on property the family has owned since 1797. He not only renovated the house with an eye to protecting its structural and aesthetic integrity, but he also has worked diligently for the past four years to document its stories in the process of having his family home added to the National Register of Historic Places. He built on the research Ann Bennett of the Metropolitan Planning Commission did 25 years ago when she set out to identify potential historic sites in Knox County. Last week his hard work and
July 22, 2015
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Murphy Springs Farm
added a dded to to
National Register of Historic Places
The parlor on the first floor features the original plaster walls, and the fireplace was rebuilt using the original bricks. considerable investment were rewarded when he was notified that not only had the house at 4108 Murphy Road been added to the register, but also that most of the
Kevin Murphy and his dog, Koda, on the front lawn of his home. Photo by R. White
property that comprises the 170acre Murphy Springs Farm has been designated a historic district, probably the largest such district in Knox County.
“I’m pretty much over the moon,” he said. “The best part was telling my grandfather.” Murphy, 37, is a graduate of Rice To page A-3
MPC OK’s offices on Broadway at Gibbs Drive By Sandra Clark
Historic Gibbs Drive neighbors fought hard to retain deed restrictions that prevented business development on Broadway at the entrance to their subdivision, but a recent opinion by the state Court of Appeals torpedoed their efforts. Black and white rezoning signs popped up on two undeveloped lots adjacent to Chick-fi l-A and owned by Emma Harris since 1978. The Metropolitan Planning Commission in July recommended rezoning the property for office, denying a request by property owner Smith-Lindsey Development LLC for general commercial
zoning. Attorney Dan Rhea, representing Gibbs Drive residents, supported office use as a buffer to more intense commercial use. That decision can be appealed by either side to City Council. Judge Charles A. Susano Jr., writing for the court in October, said the 1917 subdivision covenants requiring only residential use are too restrictive for Harris. The ruling, however, upheld Chancellor Mike Moyers’ decision to keep the restrictions on property across the street and owned by Joe Whaley since 2001. Whaley owns and lives in the Dempster-Francis House, a Fountain City landmark.
Dr. Jim Tumblin writes, “Although he lived in Fountain City only a few years (1928-1932), George R. Dempster should be included in the first rank of those ‘Fountain Citians Who Made a Difference.’ “His former home has long been a showplace at arguably the most visible address in Fountain City at Broadway and Gibbs Drive. Now known as the Dempster-Francis House, the home was built in the early 1920s by real-estate developer B.L. Chambers.” But the Harris property was not developed. The Court found it unsuitable for residential development, and Susano mentioned the
annual sale of Christmas trees on the land, a non-residential use not protested by neighbors. Attorney J. Daniel Smith represented the owners at MPC. “Some 40,000 cars a day pass this location.” He promised no curb cuts and a 20-foot landscaping buffer on Gibbs Drive. He agreed to build an 8-foot cedar fence and plant vegetation on the east side of his land. Office use is the best plan for Gibbs Drive residents, given the appellate court ruling. Smith said general commercial is the best plan for him, generating more taxes for the city and being easier to rent.
Interns visit Kern’s The old Kern’s Bakery is a mess, but David Dewhirst sees great possibilities.
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The interns report on page A-8
By Betty Bean
Teacher incentive pay out for FY16 Sandra Clark writes: “Let’s lose the evaluation rubric, the strategic compensation matrix and the committee that’s reformatting incentive pay. APEX is gone, and it’s not coming back.”
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Anne Woodle: lousy politician, splendid human
Read Clark’s column on page A-5
7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Ruth White ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore Alice Devall | Beverly Holland
Not to say that those who run for office can’t be also good people, but the qualities that made Anne Woodle a crappy politician were the very things that made her a fine human – unswerving fealty to what she believed to be right and an unfettered refusal to compromise her principles, even when she knew that the stands she was taking were incompatible with longevity in office. Like the time she served on the election commission and refused to vote to hire the candidate for administrator favored by Knox County’s most powerful local Democrat (that would be Joe Armstrong) because she believed another candidate was more qualified. Woodle’s candidate won, but she lost her seat come reappointment time. And she probably never lost a night’s sleep over it. Same deal with her single term on the school board. Knox County Schools had run into trouble with the federal government because students who attended
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the inequity couldn’t continue. The resulting parental responsibility zones meant no more bus service for families living close to schools, and that city kids living some distance away would ride instead of walk. Woodle voted for the changes and became a one-termer. That one hurt, but probably more for the vicious racist attacks on her teenaged son, Jason, who is bi-racial, than for anything that happened to her. Woodle, whose sudden death last week from a catastrophic stroke has left her friends (and there are lots of them) stunned and reeling, was a single parent and loved her son fiercely. Anne Woodle. Photo provided by North Hills Garden Club And the true fact that can be backed up in court (as Cas Walker used to say) was that schools outside the city limits enjoyed bus ser- Woodle pretty much loved all children. As divice while those who attended schools inside rector of the East Tennessee Children’s Rehathe city limits had to fend for themselves. Since bilitation Center for more than 30 years, it was the county couldn’t afford to pay for bus ser- her job to care for children in fragile health. During her off hours, she’d turn down dates vice for all, it had to take drastic measures. The political fallout was severe, even though anybody with two grams of gray matter knew To page A-3
Feel the crunch.
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