VOL. 9 NO. 49
BUZZ Breakfast with Santa at Karns Karns High School is hosting Breakfast with Santa 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, for families in the Karns community. It is hosted by various KHS clubs and sports. “Our event will be full of holiday spirit with crafts, carolers, musicians, breakfast, and of course Santa! The event is free, but we are hoping that guests bring a donation for the Big Red Bow Project for Alzheimer’s Tennessee,” said SGA sponsor Cori Hackworth.
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December 9, 2015
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Pizza fuels Santa’s Sleigh
Lights coming to Concord Park Knox County’s 17th annual Holiday Festival of Lights at The Cove at Concord Park will sparkle and entertain each night from 6-9 p.m. starting Thursday, Dec. 17, through Thursday, Dec. 31, excluding Christmas Day. The Cove is located at 11808 S. Northshore Drive. Each night during the festival, a food vendor will be onsite with kettle corn, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, cotton candy, ribbon fries, funnel cakes and other refreshments for sale. Visitors walk the three-quarter mile greenway trail to view the lights. Pets on leashes are welcome. The event is free, but Knox County will collect non-perishable food items for The Love Kitchen.
‘Wonderful Life’ Home Federal Bank invites the public to enjoy its Christmas gift to the community – two screenings of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Tennessee Theatre at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13. Doors will open one hour prior to screening. “We’ve been presenting this holiday classic film for six years, and we appreciate this opportunity to make the holidays brighter for so many,” Home Federal Bank president Dale Keasling said. The event is free, and no ticket is required. Seating is limited to the theater’s capacity.Free parking is available in the State Street garage.
Ed and Bob At-large county commissioners Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas will ring the Salvation Army red kettle bells from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the West Town Mall entrance near Charming Charlie’s. Everyone is invited to stop by to talk with Ed and Bob about items of interest. Other commissioners may join them in the fundraising effort.
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Dina Haddad, KVFD Chief Daron Long, Santa and Nick Haddad. “We’re really grateful. They’ve raised about $600 a year to put toward making sure the kids get something nice during the Holiday’s and that’s going to make a real impact,” said Long. Photos by Nancy Anderson
By Nancy Anderson Santa Claus was spotted Sunday at Little Nicky’s Pizza on Oak Ridge Hwy. The restaurant, normally closed on Sundays, was open for business, welcoming visitors to a free, freshly-baked cheese or pepperoni pizza for making a donation to the Karns Volunteer Fire Department
Santa’s Sleigh program. Nick Haddad, owner of Little Nicky’s Pizza, KVFD Chief Daron Long, and Jenny Mee, Santa’s Sleigh coordinator, were on hand as nearly $600 was raised to purchase toys for Karns children in need. “It’s a brotherhood,” said Haddad. “Firefighters, volunteer or
otherwise, we’re brothers for life. We have each other’s backs and we’re all about community.” Haddad was a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey and participated in rescue efforts during 9/11. When he opened Little Nicky’s in 2013, it didn’t take the men and women of KVFD long to form that bond with Haddad over pizza and
“war” stories. Cut to September 2013 when a call came to the fire station for a gas oven explosion at 8917 Oak Ridge Hwy. The men on duty knew it was Little Nicky’s Pizza and the bond grew stronger.
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Ijams taps Darnell as outdoor adventure coordinator By Betsy Pickle Powell native Benjy Darnell is the new outdoor adventure coordinator for Ijams Nature Center. Until last Friday, Darnell was the general manager for Navitat Canopy Adventures, which is based at Ijams. He started his Ijams duties on Tuesday. Jennifer Roder, Ijams’ education coordinator, says that while the center was looking for someone with Darnell’s skill set for the newly created position, they were “thrilled” but surprised that he “threw his hat in the ring.” “We’ve seen such a dramatic growth in our opportunities with some of our recreational partners, like Navitat and Riv-
erSports, that we think this is a market that has the potential to grow and grow and grow,” says Roder. “So we think now’s the time to find someone who can Darnell dedicate all of their work toward maximizing our partnerships and providing really exciting ways for people to get outdoors.” “I’ve been pushing this idea for four or five years,” says Darnell, who previously ran the outdoor program at the University of Tennessee. “I feel like Knoxville is at
the perfect place: You’ve got baby boomers who are still active and want to get outside and do all this stuff. You’ve got my generation, the Gen Xers, who … love the outdoors. And we’ve got kids now.” Roder says one of the goals for the outdoor adventure coordinator is to expand activities for children beyond summer camps into yearround programming. Darnell, who helped to create Ijams Crag, has climbed, kayaked, biked and backpacked for “years and years,” so his love for the outdoors is deeply embedded. But he says his passion lies in creating outdoor educational programming that is accessible to all populations and gives oppor-
tunities so people can do things “they never even realized that they could do.” Roder says Darnell will have the scope to broaden programming beyond Ijams proper, leading overnight and even extended trips. “One of my dream trips to do is birding and sea kayaking in the Florida Everglades,” says Darnell. “Such an awesome trip.” Darnell, who grew up in Powell, lives in South Knoxville with his wife, Kelley, and their three young sons. He earned his bachelor’s degree in therapeutic education and his master’s in recreation administration from UT.
‘Golden parachute’ or fair reward, McIntyre’s contract signals bumpy year ahead By Betty Bean As expected, schools superintendent James McIntyre won his battle for job security by a 5-4 vote last week when the school board extended his employment contract for another two years. This agreement will be in place until the end McIntyre of 2019 and gives him a 2 percent raise, bumping his salary up to $227,256. The five pro-McIntyre board members (Harris, Carson, Death-
meeting called to consider it. They also complained of being presented with two “final” versions – one endorsed by board chair Doug Harris, and the other produced by Law Director Bud Armstrong, who warned that there are “ambiguities” that must be sorted out. The major objection of the Board member Amber Rounfour board members who voted tree’s request for a two-month against the extension (McMillan, postponement was summarily Rountree, Bounds, Hill) can be shot down because a contract vote summed up in three words: cannot come within 30 days of “What’s the hurry?” a county election. She did get a They complained of not having 15-minute recess to look it over afenough time to study the finalized ter board member Terry Hill also contract because it was presented complained of not having an opto them just minutes before the portunity to study the document. ridge, Sanger, Fugate) said it is well deserved, mostly based on Knox County Schools’ status as an Exemplary School District.
Analysis
Finally, board member Karen Carson’s motion to approve the contract subject to an attorney general’s review was approved. State Rep. Harry Brooks will ask for the opinion. Pending AG approval, the agreement guarantees McIntyre a paycheck for the duration of the term if some future school board votes to remove him without a finding of wrongdoing. As of Jan. 1, the buyout will be just over $1 million, and it is certain to become a major issue in the 2016 school board elections. To page A-3
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