VOL. 9 NO. 15
BUZZ Powell Playhouse play this week It’s not often you can see a thrilling play and serve on a jury in the same evening, but it’s a possibility for the audience of “The Night of January 16th” – the latest production from the Powell Playhouse. “The Night of January 16th” will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 16-18, and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Jubilee Banquet Facility on Callahan Road. Tickets are $10 for all performances with a $5 senior discount for the matinee, and can be purchased at the door. Dinner ($15) will be offered prior to each evening performance, with a lunch ($10) before the Saturday matinee. For meal reservations, call 938-2112.
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Kelley’s annual egg drop
Karns Elementary School second-graders celebrate with teacher Debbie Kelley when the annual egg drop is named in her honor. Photos by Sara Barrett
By Sara Barrett
‘Say It Loud’ at Pellissippi State Pellissippi State Community College’s Magnolia Avenue Campus will host a showing of “Say It Loud: Knoxville During the Civil Rights Era,” a documentary chronicling local events that were part of the Civil Rights Movement, 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in the community room. The community is invited to the free event, which features a brief presentation by Theotis Robinson Jr., one of the first African-American students to desegregate the UT campus in 1961. The campus is at 1610 E. Magnolia Ave.
Helping farmers accept EBT cards The Knox County Health Department and Nourish Knoxville are partnering to help farmers and farmers market managers accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards (commonly referred to as food stamps). A free sign-up will be 9 a.m. until noon Monday, April 20, in the KCHD auditorium, 140 Dameron Ave. Info: Katheryne.nix@ knoxcounty.org or 215-5170.
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Concord UMC Malcolm Shell celebrates the 150th anniversary of Concord United Methodist Church. And Sandra Clark talks about reuses for the house and land at Campbell Station Inn. Click “Farragut” on our website.
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Jamaya Hundley’s egg contraption flew away with the wind, but in the end, she was vindicated.
The mouths of second-graders at Karns Elementary School were agape on April 3 when more than 100 raw eggs were dropped from the rooftop. The annual egg drop is the brainchild of second-grade teacher Debbie Kelley, who has organized and hosted the event for the last 25 years. This year, it was renamed Ms. Kelley’s Annual Egg Drop in her honor. “They just need to have fun experiences while learning how to solve problems in the real world,” said Kelley of the students. “The kids get so excited,
and we’ve got this down to a science.” Students are given a list of contest rules to make their egg container, including a size limit of 12 square inches, and instructions to use the engineering design process. “This was a STEM activity (science, technology, engineering, math) before there was STEM,” said Kelley. Students inspect all packaged eggs and make predictions before the big drop. They keep track of which ones survive by charting the results on a graph. Kelley started out 25 years
ago dropping eggs for her own class, but as the event grew in popularity, it slowly encompassed the entire second grade, which includes 11 classes. Nowadays other teachers, staff and parent volunteers take part. Kelley is the master of ceremonies. Last year after having extensive arm surgery, Kelley enlisted the help of her teammate, teacher Ginger McNeeley. “Last year was the first year she went on the roof, and she knocked the light right off the building with the first egg she dropped,” To page A-3
West Knox County road projects ahead By Wendy Smith Knox County’s Engineering and Public Works Department is responsible for a host of services, like codes enforcement, solid waste and recycling, and stormwater management. But when Senior Director Dwight Van de Vate spoke Dwight Van to the Council of de Vate West Knox County Homeowners last week, he focused on what is surely the department’s biggest challenge: transportation. Several important road projects are, or soon will be, underway. The next phase of the Parkside Drive improvements, which started in 1995 and will total around $10 million for all phases, is expected to start in June, he said. Parkside Drive will be widened
to five lanes from Mabry Hood Road to North Peters Road, in front of Cedar Springs Book Store. A “long overdue” replacement of the guardrail on Lyons Bend Road should begin within two weeks. The mile-long guardrail will cost the county $100,000. The county’s Strategic Transportation Plan includes a list of 25 priority projects, and Canton Hollow Road is No. 1, he said. Because of crash data, the intersection of Canton Hollow and Woody roads will be “an excellent place to start.” The $1.1 million cost of smoothing the curve and reconfiguring the intersection is high because it includes the acquisition of a home. Estimated completion is June 2016. The intersection of Gleason Drive and Ebenezer Road will be “much improved” by lowering the grade of Gleason from 16 percent
to 12 percent and the addition of a traffic signal. Since the project will require the road to be closed for 60 days, work will be scheduled around closure of schools for summer. Van de Vate said he hopes to begin in June, but there’s a possibility that work will be postponed until May 2016. The Karns Connector, which extends Karns Valley Drive across Garrison Road to Oak Ridge Highway, is estimated to be completed by May 2017. Van de Vate observed that the pace of construction in the county has picked up. “If you live next to a vacant lot, someone is probably considering it for development.” After a discussion of new developments on Northshore Drive, a council member asked if Northshore is likely to be widened. Most of Northshore is a state route, and widening it would be
expensive because utilities would have to be moved, Van de Vate said. “I suspect that before Northshore is on deck for widening, I will be retired.” Others complained about rushhour traffic at Sherrill Hills and on eastbound North Peters Road. “Some days, I feel like I’m in the business of making everybody unhappy,” Van de Vate said. Frank Slagle said Chancellor John Weaver has ruled in favor of the use on review for a 246-unit apartment complex at Northshore Town Center, ending a long battle fought primarily by county residents against the project, which is in the city. John Schoonmaker reported that First Baptist Concord is deciding whether to sell acreage surrounding Shoreline Church, located at Westland Drive and Pellissippi Parkway. Food City has expressed interest in the property, he said.
Cyclists aim for photo finish By Betsy Pickle Outdoor KnoxFest focuses on easygoing, fun activities. But two cycling events bookending the weekend will get the competitive juices going. Outdoor KnoxFest kicks off Friday, April 24, with Take Only Pictures, an urban scavenger hunt that also marks the end of the Tennessee Bike Summit. The Knoxville Mountain Bike Checkpoint Race, one of the final events on Sunday, April 26, also involves photos but focuses more on the city’s trails. The Appalachian Mountain Bike Club is organizing Take Only Pictures, a first-time entry in Outdoor KnoxFest. The free ride, open to all, is “AMBC wishing farewell to the folks that came in for the Ten-
nessee Bike Summit,” says Matthew Kellogg, the club’s president. Take Only Pictures starts and ends at The Public House, 212 W. Magnolia Ave. Teams of two or more gather on the back deck by 5:45 p.m., with the race starting at 6 p.m. They will be given a list of tasks that will take them around Knoxville, and they must take pictures as proof and upload them to an assigned phone number. Kellogg is mum about the destinations. “You’ve got to play to whatever’s happening in town at the time,” he says. “Of course, there’ll be the standards, like a picture in front of the Sunsphere. There’ll be some that involve random strangers. There’ll be one with your team and
bikes in an elevator.” The scavenger hunt will take place on city streets, so bikes should have taillights. Cyclists will need a smartphone. “As soon as pictures start coming in, we are going to display them on the screen at The Public House,” says Kellogg. Images must be uploaded by 8 p.m. The awards ceremony will be at 8:30. This is the third year for the Checkpoint Race at Outdoor KnoxFest. It costs $40 if preregistering at active.com and $50 day of race, with all proceeds going to Legacy Parks Foundation. Categories for participants are open, women, single speed and teams with a combined age over 90.
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Cyclists meet at 10 a.m. at Mead’s Quarry for instructions and a map; start time is 11 a.m. Checkpoints remain secret until then. Scott Smith of Tennessee Valley Bikes, which sponsors the event along with AMBC, designs the course and has broadened the boundaries this year. Though the course has expanded, Smith says it hasn’t gotten harder. The race covers around 40 miles, and cyclists must be back at Mead’s Quarry by 4 p.m. Also on April 26 is the Tour de Knox, a family-friendly bike event starting at 2 p.m. at Neyland Stadium Plaza. Cost is $15 adults, $10 students and free for children 12. Register online at www.tourdeknox.com.
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