GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | HEALTH & LIFESTYLES SECTION B | BUSINESS SECTION C
A great community newspaper.
VOL. 5, NO. 24
karns / hardin valley
JUNE 13, 2011
INSIDE www.ShopperNewsNow.com
You can go home again Jake Mabe tours the Thomas Wolfe Memorial See page A-6
Winners! Grace Christian Academy varsity girls net district title See story on page A-3
Pawing around The Shopper-News summer interns tour PetSafe See story on page A-8
ONLINE
DO YOU
LIKE? TELL US! The Shopper-News is now on Facebook! Check us out for updates, photos and more! www.facebook.com/ ShopperNewsNow
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.com ADVERTISING SALES Paige Davis davisp@ShopperNewsNow.com Darlene Hacker hackerd@ShopperNewsNow.com Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 33,237 homes in Farragut, Karns and Hardin Valley.
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
|
twitter.com/shoppernewsnow
Karns grows
By Valorie Fister Bill Halsey says he’s holding no secrets about future growth of the community he’s called home since 1989. But the president of the Greater Karns Business Association speculates there is more growth ahead for Karns, a community that despite a faltering economy changed from a one stop light town to a three stop light town in just the last few years. “All around us things are really developing,” Halsey said. “We have the land, the opportunity and we have the need. “And it’s a neat community that’s still affordable.” Identifying Karns as the Oak Ridge Corridor or part of Northwest Knoxville, Halsey pointed in the direction of his home from the not yet two-year-old Bojangle’s Famous Chicken ’n Biscuits restaurant on Oak Ridge Highway. He remembers Weigel’s was constructed just after his arrival. Halsey, an insurance agent with Insurance and Planning Solutions, said he has fond memories of raising his now-grown children in the close knit community and even said he wanted “to brag on my wife a little bit.” He said his wife, Helene Halsey, was the first to rent the Karns Community Pool to organize an after-pool-hours school band party. “People don’t realize how great that pool is,” he said. Halsey said the recent expansion and development of Schaad Road has opened all kinds of possibilities for Karns. He also said incoming businesses and developers would be wise to work closely with the Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission and conduct market
Greater Karns Business Association president Bill Halsey stands by a welcome sign in his Karns community. Valorie Fister.
studies for long-range planning of the community. “A lot of times it takes up to five years” for plans to become physical buildings, Halsey said. And he definitely recommends membership in the GKBA for networking and visibility. The GKBA itself is 10 years old this year. As president, Halsey has worked with his group during the last two years to undergo a major audit, modernize the by-laws, update and maintain current directories. The group also launched a new website, www.Karnsbusiness. com, which was actually in limbo for two years before going online.
“Those were some of the big projects that we did,” Halsey said. And as part of a monthly series of guest speakers, GKBA members were visited last week by Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett. Much of the GKBA membership currently consists of small, family-owned businesses, Halsey said. “There are chiropractors and dentists, there are the mom and pop shops,” he said. “To me, the small, family business is the foundation of our economy.” And the business group’s new website even has a new community calendar that is updated by vice president Alisa Pruett. Pruett, a local real estate agent
Photo by
with Keller Williams Realty, advises that any group, including civic or neighborhood organizations, interested in a listing on the calendar should email information at least two weeks in advance to her at apruett@bellsouth.net. She said the hope is to have all local sports, youth and community events funnel into one calendar. Halsey said even in light of Karn’s recent growth spurt, the community has managed to keep its personality. “Karns has managed to maintain its small town community feel while attracting the businesses and services that people have been needing,” he said.
Amenders face an uphill battle ber not so long ago former Commissioner Mark Harmon fighting doggedly for what was largely a symbolic reduction and losing by a vote of 17-2. Now, Harmon’s former 2nd District mate, Amy Broyles, is asking for more, not less, and she’s not alone in her dissatisfaction with the mayor’s budget. But are six commissioners dissatisfied enough and (more to the point) politically courageous enough to engineer a revolt? It will Political junkies have take courage, because the seen this act come and go at mayor’s “I feel your pain” every level of government fiscal message undeniably from the smallest village has support from a recesto the nation’s capital, and sion-weary citizenry. The composition of The the finale rarely varies: the budget stands with little or Amenders won’t be determined until tomorrow’s no changes. This year the roles are budget debate, but the canreversed from what com- didate list looks like this: Commissioners R. Larry mission watchers had become familiar with during Smith, Jeff Ownby, Dave the closing years of the Wright and Richard Briggs Ragsdale administration. have sent strong signals that Then, the mantra was they’ll support the budget “cut.” Some may remem- as presented. Broyles and
By Larry Van Guilder
Call them “The Amenders.” They aren’t an obscure male quartet from the 1950s or a gaggle of constitutional law scholars. They’re a group of Knox County Commissioners who want to amend Mayor Tim Burchett’s proposed budget for FY 2012, and they have their work cut out for them.
Analysis
39* Introductory 1-hour massage session
$
|
Sam McKenzie have openly asked for amendments. Tony Norman, Brad Anders and Mike Brown could be persuaded, depending upon the cause and the cost. Ed Shouse and Mike Hammond have mostly maintained a diplomatic silence, although Hammond says he’s reached an agreement with the mayor to partially restore commissioners’ discretionary funds. To make their dreams come true, Broyles and McKenzie must not only bring along Norman, Anders and Brown, they must pick off either Hammond or Shouse. And even as their act warms up, they face getting the hook over the most controversial items on their lists, fully funding the Beck Center and a county employee pay raise. Beck’s representatives say they welcome an audit. McKenzie, however, is on a political hot seat, knowing that agreeing to an audit as a condition of funding
3 Week ManicurePolish that lasts 3 weeks!
NAIL SALON A Cute Little Nail Salon in Homberg
5201 Kingston Pike Suite 7 • 865-450-9254 Odorless, Drill-Free Environment
Beck at a later date won’t win him many votes. But it appears he’ll have little choice if he’s to preserve any chance for commission to reconsider the mayor’s 92 percent reduction of the center’s county funding. Broyles’ support for employee pay raises would play much better in the city, but County Commission isn’t City Council. She’s backing away from an across the board increase in favor of a step adjustment, but even that is likely to cost something north of $2.5 million. The sheriff will support Broyles, who led the charge to buy new cruisers for his department a few months back. But, the sheriff has no vote on commission. If The Amenders numbers swelled to six, where would the money come from to raise pay, restore funding to Beck, the Legacy Parks Foundation and other causes deemed worthy? The word is that Broyles
and others are considering a novel approach. Aside from the immediate proposal, the mayor’s budget presentation includes a plan to reduce debt by approximately $100 million over five years. Instead of a $20 million reduction next year, why not dial back to $15 million and free up $5 million in FY 2012? It isn’t “free” money, a mythical notion, but neither is it a property tax increase, which Burchett has vowed will not occur on his watch this year. If this proposal surfaces tomorrow, finance director John Troyer will be called upon to explain how only Beelzebub could have hatched such an insidious scheme. But Broyles says she’s received encouragement from some prominent names in the community. How many if any of those names will publicly support the idea remains to be seen, and the odds still favor the house over The Amenders.
Keep Your Memories SAFE! Preserve those old Pr reels, slides & vhs tapes today!
25% OFF Manicure/Pedicure Combo New clients only. Excludes Gift Certificates.
Bring your VHS, slides, film and more into the digital age.
Purchase 3 VHS tranfers at regular price and receive
1 Additional Transer FREE!
Audio & Video Conversion
Includes VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Mini-DV. Not valid with any other offers or coupons. Expires 6/18/11 SN061311
686-5756
www.DigitizeItNow.com 12752 Kingston Pike, Renaissance Farragut, Ste 103, Bldg E