PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID KNOXVILLE TN PERMIT # 109
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Copyright © 2014 farragutpress
ISSUE 21 VOLUME 26
FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE
Snow:
50 cents
10255 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37922
Sell with Success THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014
Tuesday weather forces school, government office closures Jan. 28
Schools dismiss classes at 11:45 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28
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TAMMY CHEEK
while middle and high school students left around 11:45 a.m., Amanda Johnson, public affairs specialist with the school system, said. While schools were officially closed at that time, Johnson said parents were welcomed to pick up their children at any time. Parents started arriving at intermediate, middle and high schools around 10:30 a.m. By 11 a.m., they lined the driveways beside the buses. McIntyre made the call to close the schools about five minutes before he notified the public, Ogden said.
tcheek@farragutpress.com
Farragut parents scrambled Tuesday, Jan. 28, to pick up their children and teens while buses lined the roads. Knox County superintendent of schools Dr. Jim McIntyre Jr. made the call to close schools around 9:30 a.m. because of snow, Melissa Ogden, director of public affairs with Knox County Schools, said. “We did this out of an abundance of caution based on the forecast today,” Ogden said. The elementary schools were closed at 11 a.m.
An inclement weather procedure for Knox County Schools is posted on the school systems website, she added. “There is a team of individuals that advise [McIntyre], people from transportation, security, maintenance, instruction and various people in operations, ” Ogden said. “They provide information so he can make an informed decision. “We also consult the National Weather Service and state and county agencies,” she said. “It’s a decision by one person with input by many.” Tammy Cheek
Town, Knox County offices react to inclement weather
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ALAN SLOAN
Farragut, as McKelvey was left in charge of keeping Town roads relatively clear of snow, which began accumulating late Tuesday morning, Jan. 27. Though acknowledging the competency of McKelvey, his crew and other Town officials responsible for dealing with ever worsening weather conditions Tuesday, Mayor Ralph McGill said he was concerned about a serious weather related accident
asloan@farragutpress.com
In trying to juggle the responsibilities of handling rough roads, utility breaks and acts of nature — such as breaking tree limbs that could pose a hazard thanks to sudden, accumulating snowfall in Farragut — Bud McKelvey said he was “very busy” with “three things going at once.” Such is the job of Public Works director in town of
within Town limits. “People sometimes don’t realize how slick it can be,” he said. “Today we’re a little bit surprised with this one.” At Town Hall Tuesday morning “for a meeting,” McGill said he got an early taste of rough conditions. “I came home and started driving up Sugarwood Drive and did some slipping and stuff, and I called Town Hall and told them to ‘try and get on
As snow falls on a relatively clear roadway, Farragut High School students head for buses and personal vehicles around 11:45 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28, after Knox County Schools officials closed schools because of the snow.
See SNOW on Page 4A
Town Beer Board fines two businesses ■
TAMMY CHEEK
A n e m ployee o f Dixie L e e Shell sold a s i x pack of beer P.B. Patel to an under-aged undercover operative, May said. Prhalad Bhai Patel, manager of Dixie Lee Shell, said he had a friend come from India a n d s o l d beer to t h e minor while Patel N. Patel was at a doctor’s appointment. May said there is no
tcheek@farragutpress.com
Operators of two Farragut businesses pled guilty to selling beer to a minor. Dixie Lee Shell, 16289 Kingston Pike, and Farrag u t Marke t , 11104 Kingst o n Pike, were cited during a Dec. May 1 2 , 2013, beer sting by Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Capt. Allen “Wolfie” May said. May, the county’s beer permit inspector, said the Sheriff’s Office conducted the sting on 26 businesses in the Town. Only two businesses were cited.
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ANNUAL P E R C E N TA G E R AT E
record of Dixie Lee Shell having any other violations in the past three years. The Beer Board unanimously imposed the $500 civil penalty on Patel since it was his first offense. At Farragut Market, May said an employee sold two 25-ounce cans of beer to a minor during the same sting operation. Nick Patel, owner of Farragut Market, said he is taking measures to be a responsible vendor. He is installing a three-dimensional bar code scanner for driver’s licenses; his employees took alcohol awareness classes; and he applied for the Responsible Vendor Act through the state. May said this is the second violation at that store. The first one occurred in 2010. “Regardless of what See BEER on Page 4A
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Bumper-to-bumper traffic congregated near the intersection of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road around noon, Tuesday, Jan. 28, as drivers recently released from Farragut High School made their way home on brined and salted roads courtesy of Farragut Public Works crews.
NCLB brings gang members to Farragut ■
ALAN SLOAN asloan@farragutpress.com
No Child Left Behind may have its place on some levels within Knox County Schools, but “teachers don’t like it, I don’t like it.” That’s according to Knox County Sheriff’s Office Det. Tom Walker, supervisor of KCSO’s Homeland Security Criminal Intelligence Unit who started its “Gang Unit” in 2002. Farragut High School began the current school year with nine gang members.
“If a kid gets kicked out of, say, one of the inner city schools, Central or Fulton, for slugging a teacher. … By law he can’t go back to that school because he might be persecuted, that’s their theory on that,” Walker said as featured speaker during The Rotary Club of Farragut’s Wednesday, Jan. 22, meeting in Fox Den Country Club. “At that point, if that child is No Child Left Behind or Special Ed., he gets to choose what school he wants to go to. So where do they want to go? Farragut, Hardin Valley,
Karns,” Walker added. Moreover, if that NCLB student attending FHS or HVA attacks a teacher — unless the teacher is trained in restraint techniques — “All they’re allowed to do is cover up, they’re not allowed to strike a student or push a student away,” Walker said after the meeting. “They are not allowed to touch a student.” Also part of NCLB in Knox County Schools, “We’re obligated to eduSee NCLB on Page 5A
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