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The Mountain Press for January 10, 2010
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The Mountain PressSunday
INSIDE
World
Page a5
Suicide attack investigatedVideo links Pakistan Taliban to deadly CIA bombing
Local & State . . . . . A1-6Calendar . . . . . . . . . . A2Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . A7Sports . . . . . . . . . . A8-10Classifieds . . . . . . . . B4-5
Index
The Mountain Press is committed to accuracy. Please report factual errors by calling 428-0748 Ext. 214.
Corrections
Weather
TodayPartlyCloudy
High: 29°
TonightPartlyCloudy
Low: 12°
DeTaILS, Page a6
5A league of their ownFamily enjoys time participating in Pokémon league
MounTaIn LIfe, Page B1
Hobert Kerr, 87Elizabeth Kuncitis, 58Jerry Rolen, 69Delmar Ogle, 68
Obituaries
DeTaILS, Page a4
5Manning makes historyPeyton gets unprecedented 4th MVP award
SPorTS, Page a8
■ Sevier County’s Daily Newspaper ■ Vol. 26, No. 10 ■ January 10, 2010 ■ www.themountainpress.com ■ $1.25
By DereK HoDgeSStaff Writer
NASHVILLE — When Tennessee’s lawmakers go into regular session in just a couple weeks, it seems the consensus is they’ll do so with shears in their hands.
Among all three of Sevier County’s General Assembly representatives, the unanimous vote for the top issue of the coming legislative year is, obvi-ously, the budget. And, with a $1 billion – that’s right, with a “B” – deficit projected, the trio is pre-pared to join with others in the Capitol in making some serious cuts.
“The budget, without question, will be the big-gest issue in the regular session,” State Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, says. “It’s going to be an ugly year and there are going to be a lot of cuts made.”
State Rep. Richard Montgomery, R-Sevierville agrees.
“It’s going to be a year when we’ll have to tighten the belts and do some seri-ous cutting,” Montgomery says. “It’s not going to be easy. There will prob-ably be some painful cuts that have to be made. We’re going to have to go through every department line by line. We’re just going to have to be sure we do the cutting we need while preserving those critical services that the people of Tennessee rely on.”
State leaders already made some serious cuts last year as they faced a smaller but still monumen-tal budget shortfall. With spending down across the country, tax collections have faltered and that has meant less revenue coming into state coffers over the past couple years.
Still, Montgomery points out the state isn’t as bad off as others.
“Some of those other states would be ticked to death to have a $1 billion shortfall, as unbelievable as that sounds,” he says. “We could always be more conservative, but I think the state has done well and we’re in better shape than probably 75 percent of the states. We haven’t done as much borrowing and defi-cit spending.”
McCord likewise praised the state’s relative fiscal responsibility, adding that he’s pleased lawmak-ers have already come to
Tough decisions aheadBudget cuts top concern of legislators
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, celebrating its 150th birthday, will see legislators back in session this week.
terms with needing to make cuts, rather than borrowing to meet the deficit.
“One thing I’m proud of is we are accepting the facts as they are. I think there’s no choice but to admit there is a problem and live within our parameters, and I think our legislators have done that.”
The two representa-tives and State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, all agree the discussion about bridging the budget gap won’t include the specter of an income tax. Further, they believe the talks won’t get far into raising other taxes or fees.
“The governor has prom-ised we won’t have major tax increases this year and I agree with him on that. This isn’t the year to be raising taxes on folks,” Overbey says. “I think everyone expects government to live within its means, just like a family, and that means making ends meet and making do with the resourc-es you have.”
Though all three men agree the money will come from cuts, none of them yet has any information on spe-cifically which departments will be losing money and, likely, employees. One area that certainly won’t be get-ting cuts is education, where state leaders appear poised to possibly invest more in the hopes those dollars will multiply.
Special sessionIn that interest, Gov.
Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., has called a special ses-sion of the Legislature set to start Tuesday, with
AP Photo/John Russell
State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, shown at a legislative hearing, says he agrees with Gov. Phil Bredesen that no new taxes should be imposed on residents of the state.
By DereK HoDgeSStaff Writer
NASHVILLE — With an important statewide redistricting coming up next year and, along with it, the potential to shape the future of politics in Tennessee, Sevier County’s Nashville Republican representatives believe their party can hold onto or even expand its slim majority in the General Assembly.
If that’s the case, it
Two local seats up for grabs in House; Montgomery plans to seek re-election
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, left, talks with Rep. Mike McDonald, D-Portland, during a ses-sion of the House of Representatives. McCord thinks the state budget will be the biggest issue facing lawmakers this year.See BuDgeT, Page A3 See SeATS, Page A3
By eLLen BrownStaff Writer
Although there was still snow and ice throughout Sevier County on Saturday, many people braved the roads to get to work or to do errands.
Jeremy Hurst, 17, lives off of Sevierville Pike in Seymour, which he report-ed as “slick.”
“I just drove slowly, like my mom told me to do,” he said of driving to Food City
for his job.G r o c e r y
s h o p p i n g was the first time out in sev-eral days for Jim and Martha Morton of S e y m o u r ,
who are retired.“We’ve been staying
busy inside, and we’ve been rushing from room to room faster to keep
warm,” Jim said with a laugh.
“ W e ’ r e l u c k y , ” said fellow S e y m o u r r e s i d e n t K e n n y L o v e d a y . “Our drive-
way is steep, but we live on Dupont Road, right down from the volunteer Ellen Brown/The Mountain Press
Jim and Martha Norton braved the snow and ice to get groceries.
Locals venture out into the cold, test roadways
Hurst Loveday
See LoCALS, Page A4
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010A2 ◆ Local
Editor’s Note: The com-munity calendar is printed as space permits. Only non-commercial, public events held in Sevier County will be considered. They are listed by date. To place an item phone 428-0748, ext. 214, or e-mail to [email protected]. Items may be faxed to 453-4913.
SundAy, JAn. 10
Boyds Creek RevivalBoyds Creek Church of
God winter revival 11:30 a.m. Bishop G.R. Hill from Cleveland to speak.
Right to Life MarchSevier County Right to
Life memorial march leaves Pigeon Forge Community Center at 1:45 p.m. for Country Tonite Theater. Sanctity of Life program begins 2:45 p.m. in the-ater.
MondAy, JAn. 11
GateKeepers GateKeepers men’s com-
munity Bible study, 6:30 p.m., 2445 Scenic Mt. Drive, Sevierville. (865) 310-7831.
Women’s Bible StudyGarlands of Grace wom-
en’s Bible study:n 10 a.m. Seymour
Heights Christian Church (enter last door on right), Chapman at Boyds Creek Highway.
n 1 p.m., Gatlinburg Inn
Cancer Support GroupSmoky Mountain Cancer
Support Group meets at Senior Center. Supper 6 p.m., program 6:45 by Barbara Edwards on stress. 428-5834 or 654-9280.
DAR DAR Spencer Clack
Chapter meets 7 p.m., Sevier County Library. Program on history of silver by Carrie Murphy.
Angel FoodAngel Food orders:n 2 to 5 p.m. Gum Stand
Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 908-1245.
n 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., River Of Life Outreach, 110 Simmons Road, Seymour. 679-6796.
Gym Closing Sevierville Community
Center gym closed Jan. 11-13 for maintenance. 453-5441.
Seymour Story TimePreschool story time 11
a.m., Seymour Library. Guest readers for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. 573-0728.
TueSdAy, JAn. 12
S.I.T.Seniors In Touch (S.I.T.)
meets 6 to 7:30 p.m. at MountainBrook Village, 700 Markhill Drive, Sevierville. 428-2445.
Alzheimer’s SupportAlzheimer’s Support group
at MountainBrook Village meets from 5-6 p.m. Program by Bobby Fields of Alzheimer’s Association. 428-2445, ext. 107.
GateKeepersGateKeepers men’s Bible
study, 6:30 p.m. 1328 Old Newport Highway, Sevierville. 908-0591.
Angel FoodAngel Food orders:n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Gum
Stand Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 908-1245.
n 6 to 7:30 p.m. Basic Life Ministries, formerly The Father’s House, 139 Bruce Street. 286-9784 or 230-1526.
wedneSdAy, JAn. 13
Garden ClubSevierville Garden Club
will meet at noon at Sevier Senior Center. Lunch served. Tom Leonard, man-ager of Sevier Solid Waste Inc., to speak on recycling. Board meeting at 11.
Angel FoodAngel Food Ordersn 5 to 6:30 p.m., River
Of Life Outreach, 110 Simmons Road, Seymour. 679-6796.
Middle Creek UMCWorship services at 6:30
p.m. at Middle Creek
United Methodist Church, 1828 Middle Creek Road, Pigeon Forge. 216-2066.
Sevierville Story TimePreschool story time
10:30 a.m., Sevier County Main Library. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday guest read-ers. 453-3532.
ThurSdAy, JAn. 14
Women’s Bible StudyGarlands of Grace wom-
en’s Bible study:n 9 a.m., Pigeon Forge
UMCn 2 p.m., Blue Mountain
Mist B&B, Pullen Road, Sevierville
n 6:30 p.m., Sevierville UMC, Conference Room
Community Choir
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Choir will practice 6-8 p.m. today and Friday in Conner-Short Building, Walters State Community College. Interested singers welcome.
Hot Meals Smoky Mountain Area
Rescue Ministries provides hot meals 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Sevierville.
TOPSTOPS weight loss chap-
ter meets at 6 p.m., Parkway Church of God in Sevierville. 755-9517 or 429-3150.
Angel FoodAngel Food orders:n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Gum Stand Baptist Church, 3031 Veterans Blvd., Pigeon Forge. 429-2508.
n 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., First Smoky Mountain Church of the Nazarene, 2652 Upper Middle Creek Road. 908-1245.
Blood Drivesn 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sevierville Primary School, 1146 Blanton Drive
n 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Seymour Middle School, 737 Boyds Creek Highway
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Sunday, January 10, 2010 ◆ The Mountain Press
could give the GOP its first chance at drawing up the state’s political map in more than a century and a half, with Democrats holding the majority for all that time pre-viously. Though both parties take part in such redistrict-ings, the majority side obvi-ously has more power in any issue that comes to a vote.
Republicans are gunning to maintain or grow their pres-ence in the Capitol, holding a narrow one-vote major-ity between the two houses of the General Assembly. Among the three who repre-sent Sevier County — and all three of the local representa-tives are Republicans — two are currently filling seats that will be up for election at the end of this year.
State Rep. Richard Montgomery, R-Sevierville, says he’s already made up his mind to seek another term, giving the credit for that decision to the upcom-ing redistricting.
“I am going to be running for re-election, but after that I’ll have to reevalu-ate if I want to run again at the end of that term,” Montgomery said. “I don’t want to be sending a fresh-man representative down there to Nashville to do this redistricting. I don’t think
that would be fair to him and I don’t think it would be fair to the county.”
While acknowledging the importance of his party keep-ing a majority in the General Assembly after the upcom-ing election, State Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, says he hasn’t yet made up his mind about running again.
“Right now I’m focused on getting all the legislation introduced that I need to for the people of my district,” McCord says. “After March or April I’ll have some time to sit down and think about reelection.”
State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, doesn’t have to run for reelection until 2012, having just won his four-year term in 2008. However, sev-eral of his Senate colleagues
will have to campaign this year.
“I don’t see the numbers changing in the Senate, where the Republicans have a 19 to 14 majority,” Overbey says. “The House is really where the action is going to be in the 2010 elections. I think we could see some changes there.”
Overbey suggests there might be Democrats hold-ing seats in tradition-ally Republican districts or Republicans representing left-leaning areas who could be unseated. Beyond that, he believes the state may contin-ue a move it made in 2008.
“In that election we saw the nation move to the left in the votes for the president and the Congress, but Tennessee bucked that trend and went
even more to the right,” Overbey explains. “I think Tennessee is a conservative state and we could see it mov-ing further that way this year.”
Overbey isn’t the only local Republican optimis-tic about the coming vote. McCord believes his party will hold the majority and use that power to redraw the political map in such a way that it helps keep the state mostly red for years to come. Meanwhile, Montgomery has even bigger ideas.
“I think we will at least hold the majority and we might even expand it,” he says. “I think there is the real possibility we could pick up as many as three additional seats.”
SeaTS3From Page A1
the regular session open-ing a week after that. The focus of that meeting will be implementing new testing standards for students across the state that might qualify the state for a new federal program called “Race to the Top.”
That effort, implemented by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, offers money to states that, among other things, hold students to higher standards for expected educational progress.
“The governor is putting education front and center by calling us into a special session next week to discuss this Race to the Top program,” Overbey says. “We’re going to be looking at possibly changing test stan-dards to bring a different level of accountability for students and teacher across the state. We might possibly also make some changes to higher educa-tion funding that could help us out with that.”
It’s not clear yet what chang-es might need to be made, with legislators set to hold a number of committee meetings throughout the week to figure out exactly what needs to be done. Montgomery is optimistic there won’t be too many chang-es that need to be made.
“We in Tennessee have done a good job of investing in education and building a good framework for education, so I think we’re probably in a better place to qualify for these dol-lars than a lot of other states,” he says. “There will only be a limited amount of money and a few states that get it, as I under-stand it, so we’re really going to be pushing for that.”
Beyond that, Overbey says Bredesen announced during a recent Blount County Chamber of Commerce meeting that he wants to see a new school of energy and engineering opened somewhere in East Tennessee as part of a partner-ship between the University of Tennessee and the U.S. Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge.
“I think that will be some-thing to build on the univer-sity’s reputation as a top-tier research school,” Overbey says.
Local issuesSo far there haven’t been
too many Sevier County folks
contacting their lawmakers about changes they’d like to see, apparently. Overbey says he hasn’t received any calls seek-ing local bills, while McCord and Montgomery seem to have both gotten only one call about the same issue.
“Kenny Maples called me to let me know he and some of the other hotel owners up there in Sevier County are concerned about a move that would put a tax on the continental break-fasts they serve at their places,” Montgomery says. “They don’t think that’s fair because that would be like taxing that break-fast twice, so they’re asking that we fight that.”
Other issuesAll three men also men-
tioned some changes they hope to make to a piece of work-ers compensation legislation passed during their 2009 ses-sion.
Apparently, with some force behind the proposed amend-ments to the laws governing that insurance program, the bill was pushed through before many in the General Assembly truly understood its possible implications. Since then, it has apparently come to light that the move would require small business owners to carry work-ers compensation coverage on themselves, even if they don’t actually work on-site.
“That’s something that we didn’t realize was in there and certainly we think that’s an unnecessary hardship to put on our small business owners,” McCord says. “We’re going to be looking at changing that law to fix that.”
Montgomery also hopes the legislators will get into at least some discussion of criminal penalties, perhaps substituting community service for jail time for less-er crimes while strengthen-ing the punishments for DUI offenders and some others. Additionally, he says he expects to see some issues related to healthcare arise if the Democrats are able to pass their national reform bill.
budgeT3From Page A1
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By DEREK HODGESStaff Writer
PIGEON FORGE — After a heated debate about the city’s contracts with its two tourism marketing firms in a workshop last week, officials are set to forge ahead on those deals when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday in City Hall despite concerns from one city leader.
Commissioner Randal Robinson has objected to hold-ing the vote on the contracts with BOHAN Advertising and USDM, an Internet marketing company, saying he believes the commission is “rushing” into the move.
Robinson has made objecting to the city’s tourism market-ing contracts the cornerstone of his young tenure on the board, questioning them at every turn. His concerns in part prompted the marathon three-and-a-half hour workshop session.
During that meeting, Robinson continued to hammer at the city’s agreements with the two firms, questioning everything from how detailed their invoices should be to whether the contract with BOHAN was still legally binding. At the end, city leaders said they had done everything they could to reassure Robinson the deals were in the city’s best interests, while Robinson maintained no
effort had been made to address his concerns.
Robinson was the only one of the five commissioners who objected to the board’s moving ahead with a vote on the con-tracts.
“I can’t honestly say I’m satis-fied with any of this,” he said, though everyone else agreed they were ready to proceed.
Department of Tourism Director Leon Downey assured Robinson he is willing to answer questions about the contracts at any time. He also promised he will seek qualifications and proposals from other marketing firms if the City Commission agrees they want him to do
that.On the agenda for the Monday
session is consideration of a general services agreement and scope of work for USDM’s Internet efforts for the city. Additionally, a new letter of agreement, scope of work and media plan for BOHAN will be voted on.
Also on the agenda for the meeting is:
n Proclaiming March 15 Arbor Day in the city
n Review and consideration of an option agreement with Cindy Owens as trustee for Ogle Credit Shelter Trust regarding the pur-chase of right of way and the rezoning of property from R-1
(low-density residential) to C-2 (tourist commercial)
n An agreement with Vision Engineering for survey work at the new fire station site on Veterans Boulevard
n A request to purchase items to upgrade the Jake Thomas Lift Station pump
n Reappointing Police Chief Jack Baldwin to serve as a member of the E-911 Board of Directors
n Appointment of Commissioner David Wear to the Sevier County Economic Development Council Board of Directors.
City to move ahead on marketing contracts
Editor’s Note: The fol-lowing information was taken from the intake reports at the Sevier County Jail. All people listed within this report are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
◆ Kathy Michelle Bunch, 36, of 3180 Hickory Dr. #310, Pigeon Forge, was charged Jan. 9 with domestic violence assault. She was being held on $2,500 bond.
◆ Brannon James Hall, 36, of 3009 Amanda Dr., Kodak, was charged Jan. 9 with domestic violence assault. He was being held on $2,500 bond.
◆ Tyler Higginbotham, 18, of 2559 Roberts Rd., Kodak, was charged Jan. 9 with underage consumption of alcohol. He was being held on $1,000 bond.
◆ Kelly Ann Jones, 28, of 615 River Rd., Kodak, was charged Jan. 8 with viola-tion of probation from cir-
cuit court. She was being held.
◆ Fred Daniel Ledford, 30, of 984 Goose Gap Rd., Lot 2, Sevierville, was charged Jan. 8 by criminal summons for shoplift-ing less than $100, first offense. He was released.
◆ Quinnten Kalab Lindley, 21, of 1401 Old Newport Highway was charged Jan. 8 by criminal summons for theft of property. He was released.
◆ Monica D. McMahan,
24, of 1210 Pin Oak Dr. Apt. 30, Sevierville, was charged Jan. 8 with gener-al theft. She was released.
◆ Stanley Dewayne Myers, 44, of 1417 Little Cove Church Rd., Sevierville, was charged Jan. 8 with driving while revoked, traf-fic violations and financial responsibility law. He was released.
◆ Ravon Jamal Silva, 22, of Morristown, was charged Jan. 8 with driving on sus-pended license.
A R R E S t S
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010
NASHVILLE (AP) — A GOP contender for Tennessee governor will face no pen-alty for violating a state law during a recent duck hunting trip to western Tennessee.
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam ran afoul of the state law by failing to buy the right license for a Dec. 28 trip with his son and friends in Dyer County.
“I just messed up,” said Haslam, an infrequent hunter.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel report-ed that Haslam went to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Web site to purchase the basic Tennessee hunt-ing and fishing license that costs $27. Instead, Haslam bought other permits he did not need, according to Haslam’s account and TWRA records reviewed by the agency’s assistant commissioner, Nat Johnson.
From Submitted Reports
KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee provides students one of the best values in public educa-tion, according to the latest rankings from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance maga-zine.
The magazine’s annual “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” ranks American colleges based on academic quality and affordability. The Best Values program this year evaluated 120 pub-lic colleges and universities. UT was the only Tennessee public university to make the top 100, placing 58th overall, up six spots from
last year. Kiplinger’s considers
characteristics includ-ing entrance exam scores, admissions and retention rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratios, total cost for in-state stu-dents and average debt of students upon graduation. Academic quality measure-ments make up two-thirds of the total score, while costs and financial aid fac-tors count for one-third of the scoring.
“We strive to make the University of Tennessee an affordable and accessible
institution and are proud to be nationally recognized for our efforts,” said UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek. “We have continued to increase access by cre-ating need-based scholar-ship programs so that we can offer the best education possible for the best and brightest students.”
The HOPE Scholarship is available to Tennessee high school graduates who earn at least a 21 on their ACT and have an overall weight-ed grade-point average of 3.0 or better. About 95 percent of UT Knoxville’s
Delmar Arthur Ogle Delmar Arthur Ogle, 68, of
Sevierville, died Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church and a veteran of the U.S. Army.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Naomi Ogle; and brothers, Bob and Don Ray Ogle.
Survivors: chil-dren Scott Ogle, Rick Ogle, Mike Ogle, Jessica Ogle; grandchildren Alex, Bryce, Anna, Trent, Paige, Ashley; sis-ters and brothers-in-law Shirley and Bill Huskey, Linda Carol and Scotty Chaney; brothers
and sisters-in-law Roy and Pam Ogle, Roger and Cathy Ogle; sisters-in-law Brenda Ogle, Donna Ogle; several nieces and nephews; special friends Vea Ogle, Mattie.
Funeral service 3 p.m. Sunday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Revs. Ronnie Reagan, David Huskey and David Ayers officiating. Family and friends will meet 11 a.m. Monday in Smoky Mountain Memory Gardens for grave-side service and interment. The family will receive friends 1-3 p.m. Sunday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville.
n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com
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In Memoriam
Hobert Kenneth “John” Kerr
Hobert Kenneth “John” Kerr, age 87 of Sevierville, went to be with the Lord on Friday, January 8, 2010. John was a very loving brother, uncle, and friend. John had lots of friends and he loved all of them.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mack and Nora Kerr, sisters, Anah Lewelling and hus-band Kenneth and Lois Campbell, brothers, Conley, McKinley, and W.C. Kerr and wife Velma, sister-in-law, Deloris Kerr, brothers-in-law, Ralph Flynn and Kenneth Loveday.
Survivors: sisters, Helen Flynn, Francis Loveday; srothers, Mayford and wife Helen, Ernest and wife Ruby, and Raymond Kerr; brother-in-law, Brownie Campbell and wife Christine; several nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews; special friends, Claude England and Gene Abbott.
Special thanks to all the staff at Sevier County Healthcare Center and the staff of Caris Hospice.
The family would also like to thank all of John’s friends for their many prayers and visits.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Millican Grove Baptist Church Building Fund, 1559 Allensville Rd., Sevierville, TN 37876
Funeral service 5 p.m. Sunday in the East Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Rev. David Wilson officiating. Interment 11 a.m. Monday in Millican Grove Cemetery. Nephews and great nephews will serve as pallbearers. The family will receive friends 3-5 p.m. Sunday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville.
n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com
In Memoriam
Jerry Lee RolenJerry Lee Rolen, Sr. age 69, of Knoxville, passed
away Friday, January 8, 2010 at St. Mary’s North Hospital.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Linda Rolen and parents, Roy and Ruby Rolen
Survivors: wife, Katie Rolen; children, Malisa Gail Kontour, Sandra M. Rolen Mackey and hus-band Tracy, and Jerry L. Rolen, Jr. and wife Rita; 11 grandchildren; brothers and sister-in-law, Mike and Faye Rolen and Paul Rolen; sisters and brother-in-law, Betty O’Neal, Geneva and Murrell Parton, and Mary Kate Webb.
Funeral service 1 p.m. Monday in the East Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Brother John Daniels officiating. Interment will follow in Mt. Zion Cemetery. The family will receive friends 3-5 p.m. Sunday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville.
n www.atchleyfuneralhome.com
In Memoriam
Elizabeth KuncitisElizabeth Kuncitis, age 53, of Sevierville, passed
away on Friday, January 8, 2010 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville, TN. She will be remembered for her caring and vibrant personality.
She was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Frank and Apolonia Hermann and Edward and Lydia Kuncitis, and uncle Zigfred Simonsons.
Survivors include her parents, Edgars and Anna Kuncitis of Sevierville; a brother, Edgar Kuncitis of Sevierville; uncles, Lorenz Hermann of Knoxville and Stephan and wife Margret Hermann; aunt Zigrida Simonsons; cousins, Michelle and husband Doug Kurry and their children, Kaitlyn and Jaclyn; Dogmar and Stanley Salkewiezc; and the Steins family.
A private committal service will be conducted in the Hamblen Memory Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Relay For Life.
Arrangements are by Stubblefield Funeral Home.
fire department (if we need them).”
People even traveled into Sevierville from other areas in the Southeast for a Pokémon card tournament, held at First United Methodist Church on Cedar Street.
“We have 29 people here today, which is half of what we had last year,” said tourna-ment organizer Keith Haas.
The snow is expected to slow down a great deal, accord-ing to the National Weather Service in Morristown. In Sevier County’s higher eleva-tions, only “a few flurries” were expected for Saturday night. Meteorologist Mary Black said a wind chill advi-sory was in effect through 10 a.m. today. The rest of the day is expected to be partly sunny with temperatures at 15-20 degrees. Tonight’s forecast is partly cloudy with tempera-tures at 5-15 degrees.
For the lower elevations, today is expected to be partly sunny with temperatures in the upper 20s and dry. Tonight can expect partly cloudiness with light winds and tempera-tures of 10-15 degrees.
Predictions for Monday are mostly sunny in the mid-30s in the lower elevations, and mostly sunny with highs in the upper-20s to mid-30s for the higher elevations.
LOcALS3From Page a1
UT considered a good value
GOP candidate to face no penalty over hunting foul
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker is con-sidering pushing a partial amnesty for drivers with unpaid traffic violations and setting up a program to allow people to work off the debt.
State Rep. Brenda Gilmore told The Tennessean that some people don’t have the funds to pay all they owe.
Gilmore, D-Nashville, is working on a bill for leg-islative consideration that would help establish a statewide amnesty program.
The Tennessean reports that some drivers have amassed significant debts to Davidson County from traffic violations. A group of 10 drivers owes the county $118,638 for a total of 247 unpaid viola-tions.
Tenn. weighing amnesty for unpaid tickets
Sunday, January 10, 2010 ◆ The Mountain Press
KABUL (AP) — In a video broadcast after his death, the Jordanian sui-cide bomber who killed seven CIA employees sits cross-legged on the floor next to the new chief of the Pakistani Taliban, confirm-ing the group was behind the brazen attack in eastern Afghanistan.
Yet multiple insur-gent groups have claimed responsibility for the bomb-ing, and a senior Pakistani militant told The Associated Press that al-Qaida and Afghan Taliban fighters also were involved in one of the worst attacks in the U.S. intelligence agency’s history.
The suicide attack inside the CIA base could prompt the U.S. to further pres-sure the government of Pakistan to crack down on militants who operate on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. U.S. mis-sile strikes against targets on the Pakistan side already are on the rise.
Seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intel-ligence officer were killed Dec. 30 when the suicide bomber detonated his cache of explosives at Camp Chapman, a tightly secured CIA base in Khost province, a dangerous region south-east of the Afghan capital Kabul.
The CIA had cultivated the bomber — a Jordanian doctor identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi — in hopes of obtaining information about al-Qai-da’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Defending his agents, CIA Director Leon Panetta said the bomber was about to be searched before the blast occurred.
“This was not a ques-tion of trusting a poten-tial intelligence asset, even one who had pro-vided information that we could verify indepen-dently. It is never that
simple, and no one ignored the hazards,” Panetta wrote in a Washington Post op-ed piece posted online Saturday. “The individual was about to be searched by our security officers — a distance away from other intelligence personnel — when he set off his explo-sives.”
Al-Balawi turned out to be a double-agent — per-haps even a triple-agent. In his 1 1/2 minute video, the bomber said he attacked the CIA to avenge the death of Baitullah Mehsud, the longtime leader of the
Pakistani Taliban who was killed in August in a CIA missile strike.
“This jihadi attack will be the first revenge operation against the Americans and their drone teams outside the Pakistan border,” the bomber said on the video broadcast Saturday. Al-Balawi — wearing an Afghan hat and camou-flaged jacket — said the Pakistani Taliban, now under the leadership of its new chief Hakimullah Mehsud, would fight until they achieve victory.
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AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., second from left,and others, listen to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md., center right, speak during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 31, 2009 . From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Becerra, D-Calif., Hoyer, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn of S.C.
By DAVID ESPOAP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior House Democrats have largely abandoned hopes of including a government-run insurance option in the final compromise health care bill taking shape, according to sev-eral officials, and are pushing for other measures to rein in private insurers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats told President Barack Obama in recent meetings they want the legislation to strip the insurance indus-try of a long-standing exemption from federal antitrust laws, officials said. That provision is in the House-passed mea-sure, but was omitted from the bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve.
They also want the final measure to include a House-passed proposal for a nationwide insurance exchange, to be regulated by the federal government, where consumers could shop for private coverage. The Senate bill calls for a state-based system of exchanges.
Additionally, House Democrats want to require insurers to spend a minimum amount of premium income on benefits, thereby limiting what is available for salaries, bonuses, advertising and other items. The House bill sets the floor at 85 percent; the Senate-passed measure lowers it to 80 percent for policies sold to
small groups and individuals.The officials spoke on condition of ano-
nymity because the negotiations are pri-vate.
The maneuvering comes as the White House and majority Democrats intensify efforts to agree on a final measure, possi-bly before Obama delivers his State of the Union address late this month or early in February.
Government intervention into the insurance market is one of the most contentious issues to be settled. Others include the fate of a Senate-passed tax on high-cost insurance plans, bitterly opposed by some labor unions; the extent to which abortions could be covered by insurance to be sold in the new exchang-es; and the amount of money available to help lower-income families purchase coverage.
Liberals long have pressed to include a government-run insurance option in the legislation, arguing it would create com-petition for private companies and place a brake on costs.
House Democrats included it in their legislation. In the Senate, it drew opposi-tion from Democratic moderates whose votes are essential to the bill’s fate. Even attempts to include an expansion of Medicare for uninsured individuals as young as age 55 — widely viewed as a face-saving proposal for liberals — had to be jettisoned.
Govt. health insurance option appears doomed
Video links Pakistan Taliban to deadly CIA bombing
AP Photo/Taliban video via APTN
In this image taken from undated video made available from Taliban sources on Saturday, purportedly showing Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, right, reading a statement to camera vowing revenge for the death of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, while sitting next to the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud. Jordanian doctor Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, is identified by news organizations to be the man who killed seven CIA employees in a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Dec. 30. The authenticity of this video is unconfirmed.
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010A6 ◆
6A Sunday
Departments:News: Ext. 214; e-mail: [email protected]: Ext. 210; e-mail: [email protected]: Ext. 201 & 221Commercial Printing: Ext. 229
“A UT-TPA Prize Winning Newspaper”
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Midday: 6-1-0-0 07
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Midday: 7-1-6 14
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03-12-17-23-27
■ Air Quality Forecast:
Base: 45-60 inches
Primary base: Machine groomed
Secondary base: Hard packed
Trails open: All slopes open
toDAy’SbrieFiNg
CeLebritieSiN the NewS
toPStAte NewS
The Mountain PressStaffPublisher: Jana Thomassoneditor: Stan VoitProduction Director: Tom McCarterAdvertising Director: Joi Whaleybusiness manager: Mary OwenbyCirculation Distribution manager: Will Sing
SubscriptionsCarrier Delivery (where Available): $11.60 per 4 weeksin-County mail: $13.08 per 4 weeksout-of-County mail: $19.60 per 4 weeksPostmaster: Send address changes to The Mountain Press, P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN 37864
(ISSN 0894-2218) Copyright 2008 The Mountain Press. All Rights Reserved. All property belongs to The Mountain Press and no part may be reproduced without prior written consent. Published daily by The Mountain Press. P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN, 37864, 119 River Bend Dr., Sevierville, TN 37876. Periodical Postage paid at Sevierville, TN.
how to reach us:Phone: (865) 428-0746Fax: (865) 453-4913
P.o. box 4810, Sevierville, tN 37864
office hours:8 a.m. to 5 p.m. WeekdaysLocated at 119 Riverbend Dr., Sevierville, TN 37876
NAtioNALQuote rouNDuP
■ Conan o’brien LOS ANGELES (AP) —
If “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien decides to leave NBC over its pro-posed late-night lineup revamp, he might find a w a r m welcome w a i t i n g for him at Fox.
F o x respects O’Brien’s t a l e n t and sees him as a good fit, a person at the net-work said Friday. The person, who lacked authority to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Fox was watching to see how the situa-tion played out but that O’Brien remained under contract with NBC.
“Not in the name of Islam.” — Sign among demonstrators outside federal court in
Detroit where umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was arraigned on charges he tried to blow up a u.S. airliner.
“It wasn’t some prank that didn’t do any harm.”
— New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, on the arrest of a man believed to have breached security to bid his
girlfriend goodbye, triggering the shutdown of a busy Newark Airport terminal that led to snarled flights world-
wide.
“Talk about waving a red cape in front of a bull.”
— Criminal law professor Stan goldman on balloon boy father richard heene. heene now says there was no bal-
loon hoax, even though he pleaded guilty and agreed to be sentenced to 90 days in jail, angering prosecutors
and law enforcement officials.
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■ mondayPartly Cloudy high: 37°Low: 23°■ tuesdayPartly Cloudyhigh: 35°Low: 18°
Local■ SeVierViLLe
County boardsmeet Jan. 20
Three Sevier County boards will meet on Jan. 20 at the courthouse.
The Sevier Water Board meets at 10 a.m.; the Transportation Board will meet at approximately 11 a.m.; and the Solid Waste Board will meet at 1:30 p.m., all in the Sevier County mayor’s office.
■ PigeoN Forge
Right to Lifemarch is today
Sevier County Right to Life will hold its annual memorial march today to remember the estimated 60 million unborn babies who have been aborted.
The march will begin at the Pigeon Forge Community Center at 1:45 p.m. Participants will walk to Country Tonite Theater for a program in celebration of the sanctity of life. The program will begin at 2:45 and end at approximately 4:15. Persons may attend the event at the theater with-out having to participate in the march.
For more details, call Terry Aparicio (654-7685) and Louis Kahl (384-5441).
■ gAtLiNburg
Greenways Trailtopic of workshop
Citizen and business community participation and input are encour-aged when the city hosts a second public workshop to discuss the next steps in the development of the Greenways Trail System master plan, including preliminary cost esti-mates and phasing rec-ommendations.
Gatlinburg staff and representatives of Barge, Wagonner, Sumner and Cannon Inc. will conduct the informational work-shop at 5 p.m. Jan. 26 at City Hall.
For more information, contact Marty Nicely at 436-4990.
■ SeVier CouNty
Hospice in needof new volunteers
UT Hospice is looking for mature volunteers to serve patients in the Sevier County and sur-rounding areas.
The only require-ment is a willingness to serve others. No medical experience is necessary. Training is provided.
For more information, call Brenda Fletcher at 544-6277.
■ SeVier CouNty
Libraries to closefor King holiday
The Sevier County Public Library System, which includes the Main Library and History Center at 321 Court Ave. in Sevierville, the Seymour Library and the Kodak Library, will be closed on Jan. 18 for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
All locations will be open for regular hours on Jan. 19. For more infor-mation, call 774-6033.
■ SeVierViLLe
Road closedtemporarily
The city of Sevierville Department of Public Works is installing drainage tiles on Reed Schoolhouse Road. Weather and other condi-tions permitting, the esti-mated project completion date is Friday.
The work requires the closure of the road to through traffic between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. week-days. Motorists can expect delays while work is ongoing.
thiS DAy iN hiStory
Today is Sunday, Jan. 10, the 10th day of 2010. There are 355 days left in the year.
■ Last year locallyMountain Hope Good
Shepherd Clinic, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next month, is preparing to offer new services for 2009, includ-ing a Vision Care Program that will start this winter and three dental operato-ries where dentures and partials can be done at an affordable cost. The clinic was founded to provide primary health care to the medically uninsured in Sevier County.
■ on this dateOn Jan. 10, 1860,
the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., col-lapsed, trapping hundreds in the rubble; during res-cue efforts, a fire broke out — up to 145 people, mostly female workers from Scotland and Ireland, perished.
■ ten years agoAmerica Online
announced it was buying Time Warner for $162 bil-lion (the resulting disas-trous merger ended in December 2009). Peace talks between Israel and Syria recessed in West Virginia without agree-ment on new borders or any other major elements of a land-for-peace treaty.
■ thought for today“History must speak for
itself. A historian is content if he has been able to shed more light.” — William L. Shirer, American author and journalist (1904-1993).
by eriK SCheLZigAssociated Press Writer
NASHVILLE — It was potentially a quarter-billion dollar decision on state spending. And the public has no clue how it was reached.
When the State Funding Board set con-servative annual revenue estimates last month, its four members would
only say the decision was a “consensus.” The estimate was set without debate at a public meet-ing, and board mem-bers wouldn’t divulge how that agreement was reached.
The projections are used by the gover-nor and lawmakers to craft the state’s annual spending plan at a time when they are consid-
ering deep cuts that could include reducing TennCare coverage to thousands of enroll-ees and laying off state employees.
The funding board’s low-end projection for the general fund of $8.275 billion is $244 million less than the most optimistic prediction among a panel of five econo-
mists consulted by the panel. The difference could pay for more than the entire budget of the Department of Children’s Services or the salary and benefits of about 6,000 state employees.
The panel’s estimate is $22 million higher than the bottom pro-jection offered by the economists.
$244M Tenn. revenue call made behind closed doors
O’Brien
S u N r i S e i N t h e S m o K i e S
Friday, Jan. 8, 2010
12-21-25-28-29-40 x4
7A Opinion Sun.
It’s about time Ryan DeSear had some good news.
On Thursday, as he unveiled plans for the penguin exhibit at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, you could tell life was pretty good for him these days.
DeSear is general manager of the Ripley’s attractions in Sevier County, including Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, Moving Theater, Haunted Adventures, Mirror Maze, Davy Crockett Mini Golf, Believe It or Not, Old MacDonald’s Farm Mini-Golf in Sevierville and Guinness World Records Museum. He got that job last year after working his way up through the system for years.
He also seems to have his house flooding problems behind him. For years his house in Pigeon Forge has been plagued by flood-ing from what he insisted was a clogged, broken city drainage ditch. After repeatedly denying the city was at fault, officials finally went in and — can you believe it? — found the drain was clogged. The DeSear house has survived recent rains with no flooding.
Last week he was all smiles, dressed — like his key staff people — in black and white clothes to resemble a penguin. He teased the audience by proclaiming the announcement was for a manatee tank, but everyone there knew this was the worst-kept secret around.
DeSear, who’s in his late 30s, is loving his new role, but also thankful for the guid-ance he got along the way from people such as Steve File, former Ripley’s GM who’s now overseeing the company’s various con-struction projects as a regional supervisor. DeSear loves the marketing side of the busi-ness, meeting and hiring people, thinking of ways to make a Ripley’s attraction a must-see destination.
The decision by corporate officials to close the Veranda Restaurant was a good one. While at one time the high-end eatery was a good idea to go along with the aquari-um, in fact most people who visit the aquar-ium are satisfied with sandwiches and fast food from the snack bar inside. Gatlinburg has some terrific upper-end restaurants already, and the Veranda was probably a financial drain on the aquarium.
Besides, there wasn’t a lot of room left for expansion. Closing the restaurant and using that space for a new exhibit made lots of sense.
So did the decision to add penguins. The African blackfooted variety will fit nicely into the aquarium’s mix. Bringing in cold-water penguins from Antarctica would have been difficult, and maintaining their habitat would have been costly.
Besides, the warm-water penguins allow the aquarium to build the exhibit so people can interact with them easier. But don’t expect to be able to touch them or swim with them.
Not that you’d want to. Penguins have a nasty odor, and humans wouldn’t want to be in contact with them for very long. It’s one big reason they are glassed off from people when you see them at zoos and aquariums.
DeSear thinks the animals will draw at least another 250,000 people to the aquar-ium. He may be right. But he also probably sees the addition as a boost to business at a time when there are more and more options right here in Sevier County for the tourist dollar.
The folks at Dollywood understand the need to give people something different every year. Whether it’s a show or a ride, Dollywood has something new each year to offer potential guests. So has the aquarium, but not like what they’re doing now. This is a $5 million project.
Joseph Construction of Knoxville is doing the work. The company has a branch in Sevierville, and its local representative, Jim Arwood, was at the announcement. Safe to say this is the company’s first penguin exhibit.
The Ripley’s investment in the aquarium is significant. It shows confidence in the future of tourism here and in the continued recovery of the economy. And for Ryan DeSear, it is an indication of what his boss-es think of his leadership.
It’s well placed trust. This Gatlinburg-Pittman graduate — and Merit Scholar, I might add — shows what hard work, loyalty and patience can mean. This is a fish tale to be believed.
— Stan Voit is editor of The Mountain Press. His column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at 428-0748, ext. 217, or e-mail to [email protected].
Mountain Views■ The Mountain Press ■ Page A7 ■ Sunday, January 10, 2010
c o m m e n ta ry e d i t o r i a l
P o l i t i c a l v i e w
P u b l i c f o r u m
editorial board:◆ Jana Thomasson, Publisher◆ Stan Voit, Editor◆ Bob Mayes, Managing Editor◆ Gail Crutchfield, Community News Editor
State legislators:◆ rep. richard montgomery
1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5981; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN [email protected]
◆ rep. Joe mccord1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5481; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN [email protected]
◆ Sen. doug overbey1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10981; 320 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN [email protected]
federal legislators:◆ u.S. Sen. bob corker
(202) 224-3344; Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., B40A, Washington, D.C. 20510
◆ u.S. Sen. lamar alexander(202) 224-4944; S/H 302, Washington, D.C. 20510
◆ u.S. rep. Phil roe(202) 225-6356; 419 Cannon House Office, Washington, D.C. 20515
◆ u.S. rep. John J. duncan Jr.(202) 225-5435; 2267 Rayburn Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515
letters to the editor policy and how to contact us:◆ We encourage our readers to send letters to the editor. Letters must contain no more than 500 words. No more than one letter per person will be published in a 30-day period. Letters must be neatly printed or typed and contain no libel, plagiarism or personal attacks. All letters are subject to editing for style, length and content. Statements of fact must be attributed to a source for verification. All letters must be signed and contain a phone number and address for verification purposes. No anonymous or unveri-fied letters will be printed. No letters endorsing candidates will be considered. The Mountain Press reserves the right to refuse publication of any letter. E-MAIL LETTERS TO: [email protected] or MAIL LETTERS TO: Editor, The Mountain Press, P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN 37864. For questions, call (865) 428-0748, ext. 214. The Mountain Press and its publishers do not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in letters and columns on this page.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establish-ment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacably to assemble and to petition
the government for a redress of grievances.”—united States constitution, amendment one
Sevierville officials doing poorjob getting priorities straightEditor:
When our children were young, my wife and I would take them to Myrtle Beach in the summer. Once, we sat in traffic about 10 miles from our destination for nearly two hours. We haven’t been back to Myrtle Beach since.
It has long been acknowledged that history is a good predictor of the future, because it often repeats itself. Unfortunately, the Sevierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen has paid very little attention to history.
A couple of years ago, Pigeon Forge was convinced to spend over $25 million to build a parking lot for the now defunct Belle Island project.
Several years earlier, Sevierville excitedly cooperated with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to destroy the
façade of a picturesque mountain and build the much talked about “Ultra Flow” traffic system, through the middle of town that is now popularly called the “Ultra Cram” sys-tem. Previously, both TDOT and Sevierville totally ignored the suggestion that a bypass starting at the French Broad River would work more efficiently.
The Pigeon Forge parking lot now sits empty, the poorly designed TDOT traffic flow system failed and now BOMA is consider-ing spending millions of dollars of borrowed money to build a road to a shopping center that has a history of stopping construction. It is barely in the city limits. Moreover, this shopping center has only attracted another Walmart as a major tenant.
In the meantime Sevierville officials are ignoring the fact that as the Events Center gains popularity, visitors are finding it much more convenient to bypass SR 66 and take Old Knoxville Highway to do their tourist
things, thus backing up traffic for as much as one mile.
Fortunately, those of us familiar with the area know the backroads, but the residents of Mountain View Drive and Jersey Drive are getting tired of all the new traffic in their res-idential neighborhoods. In the interim, the city has spent most of the money it borrowed for the purpose of widening Old Knoxville Highway on buying and destroying buildings downtown, and still plans on only widening Old Knoxville Highway to a dangerous maxi-mum of three lanes.
The Events Center and Wilderness Resort are realities, producing revenue, affecting traffic flow and frustrating both locals and visitors. The Walmart shopping center is still a couple of years off. Isn’t it time that Sevierville officials started putting first things first?
Neil Cubberley Sevierville
When a boxer’s punch cuts his oppo-nent, he goes after that spot, hoping to open up the cut more and maybe stop the fight. That’s the way one-on-one sports are. You find your opponent’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities and attack them.
The same goes for team sports, although one person’s absence or weak-ness usually doesn’t mean disaster for the whole team. Yet you can’t help but wonder — as will everyone who saw the Texas-Alabama game — what would that game have been like with a healthy Colt McCoy quarterbacking the Longhorns. To have Texas’s best against Alabama’s best would have been a more compelling game and storyline. It wasn’t to be.
No team makes it to 14-0 without some close calls and lucky breaks. It’s difficult to go through an entire football season at any level without losing at least once. You really can’t afford to lose a game these days if you want the title. Parity hasn’t yet come to college football.
The best teams are those with the best
head coaches, the best recruiters, the best facilities and the best organization. And even then you’re only as good as your last recruiting class or close game. The big-time coaches make big bucks, but at what price?
Tennessee fans take some comfort in knowing they came within a low field goal try of beating Alabama and putting somebody else in that title game. That game, plus Bama’s narrow win over Auburn, were the close calls, the lucky breaks, that the Tide received. Texas had its troubles with Oklahoma and, of course, that classic against Nebraska for the Big 12 championship. Close calls. Lucky breaks.
The Rose Bowl stadium was full of 92,000 fans Thursday night, with pre-cious few no-shows. This was not an easy or inexpensive trip to make just to watch a football game. Television is great for sporting events, but you do miss something not being at the stadium watching in person. It’s the difference between seeing “Jaws” or “Titantic” on
a giant screen with an audience, and watching it alone at home.
If TV can ever replicate the in-person experience, watch for attendance to drop.
Fans of Southeastern Conference sports should be happy that an SEC team won the title for the fourth straight year. The respect in which this confer-ence is held cannot be measured and is invaluable for those who recruit high school players. Three different SEC uni-versities have won in those four years, so there is enough glory to go around. And always, always, there is next year.
Few teams can repeat as champs in the modern era, whether at the college or pro level. That should give hope to the fans of Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Georgia who are close but not there yet.
For now, though, let’s congratulate the Tide. Whether they beat the best Texas team that could have been fielded is beside the point. The title goes to the team that wins the game.
A fish talethat you cantruly believe
It’s SEC againBama didn’t beat McCoy-led Texas, but a title is a title
8A Sports Sun.
Sports■ The Mountain Press ■ A8 ■ Sunday, January 10, 2010
Visit: The Mountain Press.comView/Purchase Sports & News Photos
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Peyton’s place in the record books
Darron Cummings/AP
In this Nov. 15, 2009 file photo, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning reacts after he threw a touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne dur-ing the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Indianapolis. Manning has been selected as The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player of the Year.
National Football League MVPs2009 — Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, QB2008 — Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, QB
2007 — Tom Brady, New England, QB2006 — LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego, RB
2005 — Shaun Alexander, Seattle, RB2004 — Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, QB
2003 — Peyton Manning, Ind, and Steve McNair, Tenn, QBs2002 — Rich Gannon, Oakland, QB2001 — Kurt Warner, St. Louis, QB
2000 — Marshall Faulk, St. Louis, RB1999 — Kurt Warner, St. Louis, QB1998 — Terrell Davis, Denver, RB
1997 — Brett Favre, GB, QB, and Barry Sanders, Det, RB1996 — Brett Favre, Green Bay, QB1995 — Brett Favre, Green Bay, QB
1994 — Steve Young, San Francisco, QB1993 — Emmitt Smith, Dallas, RB
1992 — Steve Young, San Francisco, QB1991 — Thurman Thomas, Buffalo, RB
1990 — Joe Montana, San Francisco, QB1989 — Joe Montana, San Francisco, QB1988 — Boomer Esiason, Cincinnati, QB
1987 — John Elway, Denver, QB1986 — Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants, LB1985 — Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders, RB
1984 — Dan Marino, Miami, QB1983 — Joe Theismann, Washington, QB1982 — Mark Moseley, Washington, PK1981 — Ken Anderson, Cincinnati, QB
1980 — Brian Sipe, Cleveland, QB1979 — Earl Campbell, Houston, RB
1978 — Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB1977 — Walter Payton, Chicago, RB1976 — Bert Jones, Baltimore, QB
1975 — Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota, QB1974 — Ken Stabler, Oakland, QB1973 — O.J. Simpson, Buffalo, RB
1972 — Larry Brown, Washington, RB1971 — Alan Page, Minnesota, DT
1970 — John Brodie, San Francisco, QB1969 — Roman Gabriel, Los Angeles Rams, QB
1968 — Earl Morrall, Baltimore, QB1967 — John Unitas, Baltimore, QB1966 — Bart Starr, Green Bay, QB1965 — Jim Brown, Cleveland, RB1964 — John Unitas, Baltimore, QB
1963 — Y.A. Tittle, New York Giants, QB1962 — Jim Taylor, Green Bay, RB
1961 — Paul Hornung, Green Bay, RB
Manning gets unprecedented
4th Most Valuable Player awardBy BARRY WILNERAP Football Writer
NEW YORK — Maybe the award should be renamed Most Valuable Peyton.
Peyton Manning became the first player to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player honors four times. The Indianapolis Colts’ sensa-tional quarterback romped to the award Saturday in balloting by 50 sports writ-ers and broadcasters who cover the league. He got 39 1/2 votes to 7 1/2 for Drew Brees as only quarterbacks received any backing.
Manning adds the 2009 honors to the awards he won in 2003, 2004 and 2008, breaking a tie with Brett Favre at three MVPs.
“It’s been a different sea-son,” said Manning, who guided the Colts to a 14-0 record before they rested starters in the second half of two games and finished 14-2. “Like I’ve said all along, it’s been a challenge, it’s been a grind at times, but guys have stepped up and played well.”
No one more so than Manning, who threw for 4,500 and 33 touchdowns and, perhaps most impres-sively, led the Colts to a record seven fourth-quar-ter comeback wins.
The 33-year-old Manning also has started every game in his career, 192 in the regular season and 15 in the playoffs. He is
durable, dynamic, depend-able and decisive.
In other words, most valuable.
“He’s been such a highly accomplished performer year in and year out. Just when you think you’ve seen his best, he improves upon it,” said Jim Caldwell, who replaced Tony Dungy as coach and benefited from the same kind of perfor-mances Manning gave
Dungy. “This year is one of those in terms of when you look at his numbers and how he’s been able to play consistently well over a long period of time. It’s been remarkable.
“I think a lot of it has to do with his drive. He just has an innate sort of will to excel. He never gets bored with it. That, I think, is
See PEYTON, Page A9
By GREGG BELLAP Sports Writer
SEATTLE — Pete Carroll reportedly agreed to leave Southern California after nine years to return to the NFL and coach the Seattle Seahawks.
ESPN cited multiple league sources Saturday, saying Carroll reached an agreement with a
team that went 5-11 and fired coach Jim Mora on Friday after one season. The Los Angeles Times reported Carroll also will be team president.
The Seahawks also are speak-ing with Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Teams must interview minority
Reports: Pete Carrollleaving USC for Seattle
Mark J. Terrill/AP
USC head coach Pete Carroll celebrates after they inter-cepted the ball during the Trojans’ game against UCLA last season in Los Angeles.
See CARROLL, Page A9
With the NFL playoff get-ting started yesterday, here are my picks for Sunday’s NFL Wildcard games.
• Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. Sunday on CBS
The Patriots have been an enigma all season, and we still really don’t know how good they are. For one thing, they play in a weak division with the Jets and Dolphins as their main competi-tion. For another, we don’t know how well Tom Brady is actually playing this season.
Brady has had some great games this year, but he’s not been his typical self by any measure.
Randy Moss has been hearing some complaints that he’s slack-ing this season and not giving a great effort for the team.
It goes without saying that how well Moss and Brady play in this game will be a huge factor in the outcome, especially since Wes Welker went down last week with a nasty knee injury against Houston.
The Ravens no longer have a great defense. QB Joe Flacco has regressed from his promising rookie campaign a season ago.
Running back Ray Rice is a beast.The New England defense has
been virtually refabricated, and they have been vulnerable against the run and pass this season.
Flacco doesn’t have what it takes to win a game on his own. He needs a great defense and a running game. He has a great running game, but I don’t believe that will be enough.Pick: Patriots 27, Baltimore 16
• Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals, 4:30 p.m. Sunday on FOX
This should be a great matchup against two teams that have been playing well recently for the most part.
The Packers have some explo-sive offensive playmakers in their lineup, from their quarterback to receivers to a tight end that is a mismatch for any linebacker and most safeties to cover.
Green Bay also has a top-five defense this season, although they did lay some eggs in a few games, including a recent Week 16 matchup against the Steelers.
The Cardinals also have an explosive offense, from QB Kurt Warner to a solid stable of wide receivers. Arizona has some talent at running back also, although both Beannie Wells and Tim Hightower have a chronic problem called fumblitus.
By the way, the Arizona defense is pretty tough too, espe-cially against the run.
I guess I’ll go with experience in this one.
Warner is no stranger to play-off runs and Super Bowl games. If his O-line gives him three sec-onds, he’ll make big plays down the field.
Green Bay has choked in a few too many big games this season to pick the Packers for a road playoff win, and QB Aaron Rodgers is a talent, yet very unproven, especially in the post-season.Pick: Cardinals 38, Green Bay 27
Pats, Cards should win todayCOMMENTARY AND PREDICTIONS
KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee is headed into a matchup with the top ranked team in the nation and they’re not at full strength.
With the dismissal of senior team captain Tyler Smith and suspension of three others, Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl faces an unenviable task of try-
ing to avenge last year’s loss to the Jayhawks without the big-gest tools in his toolbox when the teams tip off on Sunday.
Smith, an All-SEC forward for No. 16 Tennessee (11-2), and three teammates were arrested during a traffic stop on New Year’s Day on misdemeanor drug and weapons charges.
Pearl dismissed Smith from the team and suspended post player Brian Williams, wing Cameron Tatum and point guard Melvin Goins.
“Tyler was accountable to me, he was very remorseful, and he has accepted the responsibili-
Vols changing as Kansas comes to townTENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS BASKETBALL
See VOLS, Page A10
Sunday, January 10, 2010 ◆ The Mountain Press
CARROLL3From Page A8
Sports ◆ A9
PEYTON3From Page A8
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highly unusual.”So unique that Manning has joined the truly elite of team sports: Wayne Gretzky (9), Barry Bonds (7) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), the leaders for most valuable player awards in each of their sports.
Not surprisingly, Manning, the 2007 Super Bowl MVP when he won his only league champion-ship, briefly reflects before looking ahead.
“To win 14 games this year, if you had told me we were going to 14 games at the beginning of the season, I might not have believed you,” he said. “So, it has been rewarding from a team standpoint because of what we have done. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
The Colts play in the divisional round next week and have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Super Bowl is Feb. 7 in Miami, the same place they won it three years ago.
Manning lost his long-time favorite receiver, Marvin Harrison, this sea-son. Harrison’s replace-ment, Anthony Gonzalez,
went down with a right knee injury in the opener.
Manning simply turned to his latest fave, Reggie Wayne, who had 100 catches for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns. And to Dallas Clark, who joined Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends with 100 recep-tions in a season when he grabbed exactly that many for 1,106 yards and 10 scores.
Plus, Austin Collie tied for the rookie lead in receptions with 60 and scored seven times. Pierre Garcon, nurtured in doz-ens of passing sessions with Manning, developed into a prime deep threat and averaged 16.3 yards on 47 catches, with four TDs.
“What he’s been able to do this year with Pierre (Garcon) and Austin (Collie),” linebacker and defensive captain Gary Brackett said, “and obvi-ously Dallas had a year that will go down in the record books, and I think it really says something when you can work young guys like that.”
The other votes went to San Diego’s Philip Rivers with two, and Minnesota’s Brett Favre with one.
Doug Mills/AP
Peyton Manning in his Tennessee days, prepar-ing to loft a pass in the Vols’ 20-14 Citrus Bowl win over Ohio State Monday, Jan. 1, 1996, in Orlando.
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candidates for head coaching jobs.
Carroll’s agent, Gary Uberstine, did not return calls and e-mails from The Associated Press. The Seahawks are not com-menting and chief execu-tive Tod Leiweke did not return repeated messages Saturday.
Carroll was 6-10 in 1994 with the New York Jets and then 27-21 while twice reaching the play-offs from 1997-99 with the New England Patriots. He restored a dynasty at USC beginning in 2001.
A month before fir-ing Mora, the Seahawks forced general manager and president Tim Ruskell to resign.
That left them without a coach, general manager or president less than four years after they reached the Super Bowl.
Until now.The Los Angeles Times
reported that Leiweke flew to California before firing Mora to interview Carroll. The newspaper said that Seattle — owned by Microsoft Corp. tycoon Paul Allen — is believed
to be offering Carroll a five-year contract worth $7 million a season to be president and coach. That would be a raise of more than $2 million annually on what Carroll is thought to be earning at USC.
The opportunity is unique for Carroll. The Seahawks still do not have a GM, so he con-ceivably will have author-ity over football matters as he does at USC, and far more than he would have had filling any of the NFL coaching openings to which he’s been con-nected in recent winters.
And this was perhaps
the best time to leave the Trojans since he arrived. USC’s string of seven consecutive Pac-10 titles ended with four losses this season. The school has been under several years of NCAA scrutiny for alleged improprieties in both Carroll’s team and athletic director Mike Garrett’s beleaguered department.
When receiver Damian Williams announced he would enter the NFL, the news release of his depar-ture Friday night didn’t include a comment from Carroll, who often lav-ishes praise on his early
entry candidates.If Carroll is indeed leav-
ing college, USC’s recruits must now decide whether to honor their commit-ments to the Trojans or re-enter the recruiting derby late in process.
U n i v e r s i t y o f Washington coach Steve Sarkisian left his friend Carroll and the Trojans 12 months ago for his first head coaching job. He was asked if he’d like to be a head man in the same city as his mentor.
“That would be kind of fun,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a great coach.”
Brewer: Coaching clinic a successLOCAL FOOTBALL
Jason Davis/The Mountain Press
Coach Johnny Majors, a speaker at the clinic, poses for a photo after his session with first-year Bledsoe County head coach Jason Reel.
By JASON DAVISSports Editor
GATLINBURG — Over 200 coaches from Tennessee and the bor-dering states gathered at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg this weekend for the annual Big East Coaching Clinic.
The clinic, which is named for the now-de-funct Big East football conference, is organized by Sevier County High School coach Steve Brewer and Dobyns-Bennett head coach Graham Clark.
“We thought it went really well,” Brewer said Saturday afternoon. “We had 220 register and for the snowy conditions that we had, we thought it was great.”
Though Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson had to cancel his appearance due to problems at the Atlanta airport, the clinic still featured several influ-ential coaches.
North Carolina coach Butch Davis, Tennessee assistants Jim Chaney and James Cregg, Kentucky offensive coordinator Randy Sanders and for-mer Tennessee head coach Johnny Majors were among the event’s
featured speakers.In those sessions, the
coaches share emerging ideas and strategies in the world of football.
“In our profession there’s not a lot of origi-nality. You take what you hear and try to adapt it to what you can do and what
your personnel can do,” Brewer said.
“We’re always looking for ideas, we’re always looking for drills, and we’re looking for things we can implement.”
Hoping to strike gold, Brewer said Smoky Bears’ staff heard some things
they liked at the clinic.“We got several ideas
from the clinic, to the point that several of the coaches are going to go visit with one of the speakers that we heard,” Brewer said.
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010A10 ◆ Sports
10A Sunday
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S C O R E B O A R D
n f l g r i d i r o n
n c a a h o o p s
ties of what he was charged with,”’ Pearl told The Knoxville News-Sentinel. “We understand there’s a code of conduct for student athletes.”
The dismissal of Tyler and suspension of three play-ers doesn’t mean Kansas coach Bill Self is looking for an easy game against the Volunteers. Instead, Self said, he suspects others will step up.
“Now this will be a chance for Scotty Hopson to take over and do what he’s capa-ble of doing,” KU coach Bill Self told the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World. “He’s their best prospect.”
Hopson, a 6-7 sophomore guard, averages a team-leading 13.5 points a game.
Kansas sophomore Tyshawn Taylor told the Lawrence paper he was dis-appointed the Vols would be lacking top players in a rematch of last year’s game. The Jayhawks (14-0) out-paced the Volunteers 92-85 a year ago in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
“If we beat them, people are just going to say, ’Oh, they didn’t have their full team,”’ Taylor said. “If we win, we are not going to get the credit we deserve for it, but I mean, we are going to go in there with the mindset that everybody is playing. We are hungry just like they are hungry.”
Even without Smith, Jayhawks junior Cole Aldrich expects a rough time in a hostile arena that holds
21,678 fans.“They can still be a great
team,” Aldrich said. “It doesn’t matter if those (four) guys are playing or not. It still will be a great game, a fun game.”
Self told The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle that Pearl and Missouri coach Mike Anderson are among the best at getting players moti-vated and adjusting to who is available.
“There’s times when Missouri’s or Tennessee’s leading scorer is out of the game, and you don’t even realize he’s out of the game because of the way they play,” Self said.
Off the court, Smith said he’ll miss his teammates, but looks to continue vol-unteering in the community and hopes to play in the NBA next year.
“The hardest thing for me right now is I can’t go back and put on that orange jersey,” Smith told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “But I’m still going to be a volunteer in the community. The way I look at it, I can still help out, the boys and girls clubs, the habitat for humanity . . . whatever I can do.”
Smith was averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 26.8 minutes. He had been leading the Vols in minutes played and assists (44), and Smith ranked second in the nation in assist-turnover ratio.
“His legacy at Tennessee is tarnished, we understand that,” Pearl said. “But at the same time he accomplished a great deal here as a play-er.”
VolS3From Page A8
ap nfl MVp VotingNEW YORK (AP) — The voting for the 2009 NFL Most Valuable Player selected by The Associated Press in ballot-ing by a nationwide panel of the media:
P. Manning, QB, Indi. 39 1/2
D. Brees, QB, New Orleans 7 1/2
Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego 2
Brett Favre, QB, Minnesota 1 carson-newman vs Mars hill01/09/10 2:00 p.m. at Mars Hill, N.C. (Stanford Arena)At Mars Hill, N.C.carson-nEWMan 88, Mars hill 80
carson-nEWMan (13-0, 3-0 SAC)Kyle, Ashley 6-12 10-15 23; Mendenhall, Mandy 8-13 2-4 19; Buford, Shari7-11 2-3 16; Moore, Katlin 3-7 0-0 8; Clear, Candis 2-6 3-4 8; Williams,Zoriah 1-7 4-5 6; Miles, Courdne 1-1 1-3 3; Bates, Cassie 1-4 1-1 3;Jackson, Dominique 0-0 2-2 2; Phillips, Tasha 0-1 0-0 0; Hunter, Megan 0-00-1 0. Totals 29-62 25-38 88.
Mars hill (4-10, 1-2 SAC)Young, Brittini 7-9 2-2 18; Moore, Krystal 5-14 0-0 12; Harvey, Margaret 3-7 3-5 9; Miller, Beth 3-6 2-2 9;
nfl playoff glance Wildcard roundsaturdayN.Y. Jets at Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m. (NBC)Philadelphia at Dallas, 8 p.m. (NBC)TodayBaltimore at New England, 1 p.m. (CBS)Green Bay at Arizona, 4:40 p.m. (FOX)divisional playoffssaturday, Jan. 16Philadelphia, Green Bay or Arizona at New Orleans, 4:30 p.m. (FOX)Baltimore, N.Y. Jets or Cincinnati at Indianapolis, 8:15 p.m. (CBS)sunday, Jan. 17Dallas, Green Bay or Arizona at Minnesota, 1 p.m. (FOX)New England, N.Y. Jets or Cincinnati at San Diego, 4:40 p.m. (CBS)conference championshipssunday, Jan. 24
AFC, 3 p.m. (CBS)NFC, 6:40 p.m. (FOX)pro Bowlsunday, Jan. 31At MiamiAFC vs. NFC, 7:20 p.m. (ESPN)super Bowlsunday, feb. 7At MiamiNFC champion vs. AFC cham-pion, 6:25 p.m. (CBS)
Grayson, Narcissa 4-11 1-2 9; Buckner, Katie 3-6 3-4 9; Smith, Bria 3-8 0-0 8; Deal, Taylor 2-11 0-0 4; Yeargan, Cassie 1-2 0-0 2; Assif, Sky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-74 11-15 80.c-n 35 53 - 88Mars hill 37 43 - 803-point goals--Carson-New-man 5-15 (Moore, Katlin 2-4; Kyle, Ashley 1-1;Mendenhall, Mandy 1-3; Clear, Candis 1-4; Bates, Cassie 0-2; Phillips, Tasha 0-1), Mars Hill 7-19 (Moore, Krystal 2-8; Smith, Bria 2-3; Young, Brittini 2-3; Miller, Beth 1-1; Deal, Taylor 0-1; Grayson, Narcissa 0-2; Harvey, Margaret 0-1). Fouled out--Carson-Newman-William, Zoriah, Mars Hill-Deal, Taylor. Rebounds--Carson-Newman 45 (Buford, Shari 14), Mars Hill 42 (Deal, Taylor 9). Assists--Carson-Newman 19 (Mendenhall, Mandy 7), Mars Hill 14 (Grayson, Narcissa 5). Total fouls--Carson-Newman 19, Mars Hill 27. Technical fouls--Carson-Newman-None, Mars Hill-None. A-302
Top 20 faredsaturday1. Kansas (14-0) did not play. Next: at No. 16 Tennessee, Sunday.2. Texas (15-0) beat Colorado 103-86. Next: at Iowa State, Wednesday.3. Kentucky (15-0) vs. Georgia. Next: at Florida, Tuesday.4. Purdue (14-1) lost to No. 17 Wisconsin 73-66. Next: vs. Ohio State, Tuesday.5. Duke (13-2) lost to No. 20 Georgia Tech 71-67. Next: vs. Boston College, Wednesday.6. Villanova (14-1) beat Marquette 78-76. Next: at Louisville, Monday.7. Syracuse (14-1) did not play. Next: vs. South Florida, Sunday.8. West Virginia (12-1) at Notre Dame. Next: at South Florida, Wednesday.9. North Carolina (11-4) did not play. Next: vs. Virginia Tech, Sunday.10. Michigan State (12-3) at Iowa. Next: vs. Minnesota, Wednesday.11. Kansas State (13-2) lost to Missouri 74-68. Next: vs. Texas A&M, Tuesday.12. Georgetown (12-2)
beat No. 13 Connecticut 72-69. Next: vs. Seton Hall, Thursday.13. Connecticut (11-4) lost to No. 12 Georgetown 72-69. Next: vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh, Wednesday.14. Mississippi (12-3) lost to Mississippi State 80-75. Next: at Georgia, Wednesday.15. New Mexico (14-2) vs. UNLV. Next: vs. Utah, Wednesday.16. Tennessee (11-2) did not play. Next: vs. No. 1 Kansas, Sunday.17. Wisconsin (13-3) beat No. 4 Purdue 73-66. Next: at Northwestern, Wednesday.18. Florida State (13-2) did not play. Next: at Maryland, Sunday.19. Gonzaga (11-3) at Portland. Next: at St. Mary’s, Calif., Thursday.20. Georgia Tech (12-3) beat No. 5 Duke 71-67. Next: at Virginia, Wednesday.
Women’s Top 10 faredsaturday1. Connecticut (14-0) vs. No. 7 North Carolina. Next: at Marquette, Wednesday.2. Stanford (12-1) did not
play. Next: at UCLA, Sunday.3. Notre Dame (14-0) beat Villanova 81-46. Next: vs. South Florida, Tuesday.4. Tennessee (13-1) did not play. Next: at Mississippi State, Sunday.5. Baylor (13-1) at No. 23 Oklahoma State. Next: vs. No. 14 Oklahoma, Wednesday.6. Ohio State (17-1) beat No. 19 Michigan State 65-62. Next: vs. Illinois, Thursday.7. North Carolina (13-1) at No. 1 Connecticut. Next: at Virginia Tech, Thursday.8. Georgia (15-0) did not play. Next: vs. Florida, Sunday.9. Duke (13-2) did not play. Next: vs. Wake Forest, Sunday.10. Texas A&M (12-1) at No. 15 Texas. Next: vs. Iowa State, Wednesday.
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1B Mtn. Life Sun.
Are you superstitious?Do you avoid walking under ladders?
Does a broken mirror bring thoughts of seven years of bad luck?
Do you believe in ghosts?Do you sometimes think there are others
around you that you don’t see, but sense in other ways?
Raised by at least one parent who is pretty superstitious and believes in ghosts, I can’t help but be a little bit of both, and it’s been picked up by the next generation.
Take dreams, for example. My nieces love sharing their dreams with me. Sometimes their dreams include their favorite teen stars as main characters. Their dreams run the gamut from happy and funny to weird, scary and sad.
The funny and happy dreams are shared as soon as they can tell me. They don’t hesi-tate to tell me about them. But the weird, scary or sad ones have to wait until after they’ve had something to eat.
Why is that, you may ask? It’s because they’ve been taught the superstition that if you tell someone about your dream before you eat something, the dream will come true.
Crazy, I know, but that’s what they’ve learned from my mother and their mother. I’ve even caught myself doing that once or twice. The good thing about it, though, is sometimes by the time you’ve eaten, you’ve forgotten the bad dream.
My dreams are never really that bad any-way, and sometimes are amusing.
I have a tendency to fall asleep in front of the television. One time when I fell asleep and I began dreaming, one of my co-work-ers was the main character in the dream, but her voice and dialogue were that of the pitchman for one of those compilation albums of music from the ’50s or ’60s.
It would have been much funnier if she were the Sham-Wow or Slap-Chop guy, but I can still see the image of her face with the pitchman’s voice coming from her mouth.
Our superstitions go further than sharing our dreams. Take football, for example. My sister and nieces are particularly supersti-tious when it comes to football.
All Alabama fans, they’ve taken their superstitions to a new level this year. My sister and her oldest child have certain clothes they have to wear on game day and certain foods they have to eat that day. Soup is always on the menu for game day, and I believe my niece was wearing her Saban Nation T-shirt on Thursday night.
I, on the other hand, have no special clothing I wear on game day and no special foods to eat. I did wear my crimson turtle-neck on Thursday, but mostly because it was a new blouse. I’d forgotten the national championship game was being played that day and didn’t even know what time it started or on what channel it would be broadcast.
That wouldn’t have mattered anyway; my way to help my alma mater is to not watch the game. They seem to do better when I don’t watch. I haven’t seen a full game this year.
Do you think that’s why they won the championship? Well, it might have had something to do with their capabilities.
As for ghosts, I can’t swear to have ever seen one. I even went on a ghost hunt with a couple of ghost-hunting brothers for a story for my old newspaper.
I felt a couple of cold spots, which the brothers told me is indicative of a ghostly presence, but it was also late October when we went hunting for ghosts in an old cem-etery.
My mother, who learned her supersti-tions from her mother, doesn’t seem to see ghosts as much as she smells them. I know, it sounds crazy, but that’s the way it is.
After my Uncle Walter died, Mom swore one day she could smell cigarette smoke in the house, and no one in the house smoked. After telling Walter hello and that he could go away the smell went away, she said.
Now I have caught odors that remind me of certain people, but I haven’t ever thought it was a long-dead relative coming to pay a visit.
The ghosts I see are quick visions I catch out of the corner of my eye, mostly while I’m driving down the road.
I could have sworn I saw my paternal grandfather one day standing near the side of the road at my parent’s home. A second look proved it was only the paper box and a long shadows from a street light. That’s also happened with road signs and mail boxes.
So maybe my superstitions aren’t valid and ghosts aren’t real, but simply an active imagination and lessons learned over a lifetime.
— Gail Crutchfield is the community editor of The Mountain Press. Call 428-0748, ext. 215, or e-mail to [email protected].
Mountain Life■ The Mountain Press ■ B Section ■ Sunday, January 10, 2010
Superstitions and ghosts in my imagination
By GAIL CRUTCHFIELDCommunity Editor
SEVIERVILLE — Trading cards may not seem to be an educational tool, but that is one advantage a local man sees from the Pokémon Trading Card Game League.
Keith Haas is the leader of the local league and a regional lead-er as well for East Tennessee. He’s also acts as a judge at many regional and national tourna-ments. He’s been involved with Pokémon since his oldest son, 15-year-old Alex, received his first trading cards back in 1998.
“His cousin gave him some cards and he liked them,” Haas said. “So for the next couple of years, we would get cards to col-lect.”
Introduced to them at such a young age, the 4-year-old wasn’t interested in the game played with the cards, which can be classified as rare, common and uncommon. The rare cards are shiny with holographic images on them.
“He didn’t play the game way back then,” he said. “He just liked the shiny cards, the pretty ones and the ones he knew from the TV show he liked.”
Haas said he would buy packs of cards from Japan over the Internet, because they had more of the cards Alex liked.
As Alex got older and his inter-est in the cards increased, the family found out about a league that met at a local bookstore.
“We found a bunch of young folks that collected and traded. Some of the older kids actually knew how to play the game,” Haas said. “Once Alex figured out there was a game to it and he got a little bit older, he wanted to learn. Well, since he didn’t know how to play, Dad had to learn and then I had to teach them.”
Haas said that’s one thing he appreciates about the game: The entire family can play.
It is a one-one-one game, with each player bringing their own 60-card deck to the table. They build their decks over time. Each year, the company that distrib-utes the cards puts out four sets of numbered cards. Each indi-vidual package contains 10 ran-dom cards from the set, with the player’s goal of collecting all the cards in the set. There are also themed decks that are ready for play.
The cards include different characters, each with different powers that can be used to attack the characters in an opponent’s deck. There are also other cards called trainer, supporter, stadi-um and energy that can help the character card in the game.
Like a card-game version of rock-paper-scissors, one charac-
A league of their own
Gail Crutchfield/The Mountain Press
Zachary Haas, 9, keeps on eye on his cards as his brother Alex, 15, makes his play.
Family enjoys time participating in Pokémon league
ter’s powers can over-ride another’s, but yet another character can override the first charac-ter’s powers. Grass, for example, is vulnerable to fire, but fire would be vulnerable to water, and so on.
As one opponent reveals their cards, the other can use the cards in their own deck to fight back against the character revealed. The goal is to deplete the number of prize cards in an opponents hand to win the game and knock out all of their Pokémon characters. A character is knocked based on how many hit points the receive from the oppos-ing character. Each card indicates how many hit points it takes to knock out that character.
“I can use poltergeist where I get to look at my opponent’s hand,” Alex said as an example. “I can see how many trainers, supporters and stadiums he has in there, count them, mul-tiply it by 30, and that’s how much damage I do to him.”
There are rules and regulations, Haas said, to keep the game fair, allowing only so many cards of certain strengths and only so many trainer, support, stadium and energy cards.
The leagues rotate sets of cards out of play periodically to keep the game interesting and prevent players from
building the ultimate unbeatable deck.
During tournament play, the players are divided based on ages. Anyone born 1994 and earlier plays in the master category, with younger categories clas-sified as junior and senior. The master cat-egory, which Alex is in this year, can include anyone his age all the way up to adults.
Alex said what he likes about the game is get-ting to meet with friends and go to different places to play the game. He also likes to play, planning strategy to try to beat his opponent and win prizes. His younger brother, 9-year-old Zachary, said he likes it because it’s fun. “Who cares about winning or losing?” he said.
“The parts I like about it as a parent, is that if you notice, all these cards have language on them,” Haas said. “What do you have to do? You have to read them to understand them. You’re working on reading skills. You have to know how to calculate dam-age, and it’s in factions of 10, so you don’t do anything difficult, but you improve your math skills.”
The local Pokémon TCG League meets each Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Sevierville Public Library. About 40 play-ers participate through-out the year, Haas said, with about 18 coming to league meetings each Saturday. For more information about the league, contact Haas at 310-5140.
Gail Crutchfield/The Mountain Press
Keith Haas watches as his sons Zachary and Alex play the Pokémon trad-ing card game.
Gail Crutchfield/The Mountain Press
Alex Haas looks at the Pokémon trading cards in his hands while playing his brother. Alex has been invited to the world Pokémon trading card game championship at least twice.
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010B2 ◆ Local
Well, this past week I was looking down into the holler toward Webb’s Creek thinking about how Old Man Winter is packing up his icicles and snowballs ... getting ready to head north on I-75.
If you look up “Perfect Climate” in the diction-ary it should say, “Sevier County, TN.”
Our springtime shows up early in the year fol-lowed by an incredibly long summer and an almost never ending fall. We get to play in the snow for a couple of weeks in January and experience brief eye-opening numbness and then green stuff starts popping up all over again.
Winter is entering its second week now and will soon be over. I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed the past winter of 2010 and am now ready for spring. Step outside and listen for a robin, but be careful on the ice.
Unless you are a pen-guin, our four seasons are the perfect blend of spring wildflowers, lazy summer days floating on an inner tube, and then watching 135 different deciduous trees paint a masterpiece of colors beyond description. I don’t care how trite this ancient saying is, “If you are lucky enough to live in Sevier County, you are lucky enough!”
Old Man Winter travels on down to the Smokies to use his two-week timeshare and then sneaks back to Chicago and other places where people can actually see each others’ breaths. No offense intended, but I have zero interest in see-ing your breath coming out of your mouth.
My favorite memo-ries and highlights of the winter of 2010 were enjoying the beauty of the snow-capped moun-tains and watching frolicking visitors with Florida license plates sledding on hills at the top of NewFound Gap. I smiled as one daddy pulled his car over and grabbed a bit of snow to hand to his baby in the backseat. Sweet!
Two weeks of cold weather is the perfect winter season.
Kat and I enjoy the outdoors and hiking dur-ing the two weeks of win-ter. It showed six degrees on my car’s thermometer
at the top of Newfound Gap last week, so we simply changed our hik-ing plans from Mingus Creek Trail to hiking the Harrah’s Loop Trail in Cherokee. It is a level, totally enclosed trail that serves a buffet.
In the early part of the winter of 2010, a few days back, I was hik-ing on Big Creek Trail (in that area where Mountain Mama’s used to serve hamburgers to hikers) and met a family of four returning from a five-day backpacking trip. We chatted for a while with them, and the two cute 7- and 10-year old girls seemed most excited about getting back to their car and get-ting pancakes that had been promised to them.
There is nothing like the family bonding that occurs while starving together and sleeping on
the ground in near zero weather. I would love to read the journals of that trip.
Our perfect climate brings to mind the famous story of the three bears. The family trav-eled up to Houghton, Mich., when the baby bear started screaming and crying, “This is way too cold!” Houghton gets 17 feet of snow each year and you could miss the entire summer season while getting your oil changed at Quickie Lube.
The bear family quickly traveled south to Miami and the baby bear once again screamed and cried, “Get my fur off. This is like an oven, and what’s the deal with the bugs?” Finally the bear family arrived in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the baby bear said, “This climate is the best in the whole world. This is just right! Can we live here?”
Fifteen hundred of their smart relatives now call the Smokies home.
OK, I don’t want to hear about the 65-70-degree average annual temperature in San Diego or the year-round balmy beaches in Hawaii
or even the three-month period when Floridians can go outside. There is no climate perfection where you have hur-ricane seasons, wild-fire seasons or have to
regularly check your lava flow.
Hey, is that a trillium popping up down there?
That is just how it looks from my log cabin.
— John LaFevre is
a local speaker and co-author of the interactive national park hiking book series, Scavenger Hike Adventures, Falcon Guides, Globe Pequot Press. E-mail to [email protected].
2B Sunday
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Kindergarten registration for the 2010-2011 school year in Sevier County Schools will be held March 12.
As part of the Education Improvement Act of 1992, a kin-dergarten experience is mandatory in Tennessee.
To be eligible for kindergarten, a child must be 5 years of age on or before Sept. 30.
Parents should pick up a registration packet at the school the child will be attending on or after Jan. 15. This packet contains all the information and directions needed to register a child.
Completed registration packets must be returned on March 12 between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the school in which the child will be enrolled.
Kindergarten studentsget registration dates
A few highlights of the Sevier winter of 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010 ◆ The Mountain Press Religion ◆ B3
Palestinians jeer leader in march
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Dozens of Palestinian Christians have booed their religious leader during a proces-sion in the biblical town of Bethlehem marking Greek Orthodox Christmas.
The protesters accuse Patriarch Theofilos of selling church lands to Israelis.
Tuesday’s protest was peaceful. But about two dozen Palestinian police-men wearing helmets sur-rounded the protesters, who held signs reading, “the Holy Land is not for sale.”
Malaysia court reinstates ban
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court tempo-rarily suspended its deci-sion to let non-Muslims use the word “Allah” to refer to God, pending an appeal by the govern-ment in a case that raised religious tensions in the Muslim-majority country.
High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan said her Dec. 31 ruling will not take effect until the Appeals Court decides on a petition by the Home Ministry. No date has been set for the Appeals Court hearing.
Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail welcomed the suspension.
Lawmakers back gay funeral rights
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island lawmakers have voted to allow same-sex and unmarried couples the right to plan the funer-als of their late partners, overriding a veto by the governor, who warned it eroded traditional mar-riage.
The bill passed 67-3 in the House and 31-3 in the Senate, and enjoyed support from several Republican lawmakers, who in the same party as Gov. Don Carcieri, an ada-mant opponent of same-sex marriage in a state that does not recognize gay unions.
Teenager arrested in mosque blaze
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police briefly detained a teenager from a West Bank settlement in connection with the torch-
ing of a West Bank mosque in December.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a minor was questioned last week in the attack, believed to have been the work of Jewish extremists in the West Bank. Israeli law prohibits publication of information that might lead to identifica-tion of minors suspected of crimes.
Man sentenced in church sale plot
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man who was con-victed in a church mort-gage scheme has been sen-tenced to at least 11 years in prison.
Forty-six-year-old Tracy Carmichael was sen-tenced Tuesday. He was convicted last month by a jury of charges including embezzlement, forgery and money laundering.
Authorities say Carmichael attempted to sell the Temple of God Deliverance church on Detroit’s east side in 2007.
3B Sunday
Happy New Year! As we transition to a new decade a number of important things will take place this year. Our nation will conduct its census. This is a very important process which helps our local and national government to be good stewards of our local and national resources. Our states and communities will continue to try to work our way out of this economic recession. But more importantly we as individuals will make decisions every day that will affect those around us in positive and negative ways. I am not big on New Year’s resolutions because I have failed so miserably at so many. I prefer to make commitments when ever it is appropriate not just once a year. When it comes to setting priorities in our daily lives like who gets the first piece of food? And why? Who gets the place of honor? And why? Is it a Guest or a Birthday or an Anniversary, a Graduation, certification. We like to recognize, hard work, and success. But if we look at Exodus chapter 13 (selected verses) the one who gets the first and the best of our lives should be God. The text even tells us why that is as well. “Consecrate to me all the firstborn…both of man and of beast, is mine.” All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. God tells us why in this text as well, when your child asks…‘What does this mean?’ Here is the answer to why; ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.Pharaoh was stubborn And the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’” So how do you….in your daily life show who is first? How do you …by your actions consecrate your life? How do you….Dedicate you life? What we say….and what we do as part of our daily routine shows who or what is first to us. What we do and say as part of our decision making process showsWho or what is first to us. In how we treat people, in how we manage our resources, in how we spend our time. What is your daily routine?......What part does God play in it? What part does His word play in it? Or would it be transparent others by your daily actions that you are even a Christian? What is your decision making process? What part does God play in it? What part does His word play in it? Or would it be transparent others by your decisions that you are even a Christian? How do you treat people? Is Christ and your faith in Him evident in your actions? Is his name made holy by your God pleasing actions? Or do you by your actions towards others carry His name in vain? How do you manage your resources? Is Christ and your faith in Him evident in your resource management? Do you use God’s resources to love and care for others? Or do you squander His gifts and give Him the leftovers? Christ and your faith in Him is evident in how you spend our time and in your planning & scheduling? Do those around you see a good steward of time showing a balance of worship, prayer, work, and leisure? Or do you… by you someone who plays at your worship, worships at your work and works at your play? Even with the best of intentions we many times get it wrong, making our selves first in what we say and do. So what can we do with Moses answer to our child like question ‘What does this mean?’It means we will fail…..but we do not stop trying to please God. Knowing that all our actions no matter how worthless, when done seeking to serve Him are made holy and righteous before God by Him. ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. We too were slaves……Slaves to sin…… Christ is the fulfillment of that these Old Testament consecrations point to in His act of love on the cross we are freed from slavery to sin, death and the devil In response to that great gift we are made free to serve him. As part of our daily routine, As part of our decision making process, In how we treat other people, In how we manage our
resources, In how we spend our time. So take some time in the beginning of 2010 and act in response
to this great gift of Grace from God. Write down some ways that you will seek to serve Him this year and do not make a resolution, prayerfully ask His help as you seek to do His will.
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Smoky Mountain ReflectionsJanuary 2010
278595MP
In Christ, Pastor Robert Portier
Saint Paul Lutheran Church1610 Pullen Road, Sevierville
865-429-6023
P u b l i c P u l P i t
by AltA RAPER2010. What changes, joys and sorrows
does it hold? The new year is a fresh start. We can
fill the new pages of our life with as much goodness, kindness, and love as we can muster.
Let the bad things of the past be gone and forgotten.
I’m pondering this morning on God and how glad I am that He is a God of fresh starts. Psalm 139:16 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them ever came to be.”
As we begin another year let us con-sider that our Father, our God, knows, creates, lives, loves, judges and sancti-fies. If we call ourselves Christian, then He is in control. He is the one to whom and for whom we live and breathe and have our very being.
In Genesis 1:5 we are assured that God is from morning to evening, ever mov-ing. He is never still and He never leaves us alone. His line is never busy, and our knee mail to him always reaches its des-tination.
“What a friend we have in Jesus..” Sing it again and again. What a precious friend we have in Jesus.
We can all begin this New Year by entrusting our cares, our burdens, our heartaches, and our worries to Him. Let him be the Lord of your life and
you can enjoy perfect peace as you allow yourself to move with him and yes, even dance with Him.
Wow. What a great thought. Dancing with the Lord of the Dance. Moving rhythmically with Him in preordained or even improvised steps and allowing him to lead us throughout all the days of our lives. Keeping guard that we don’t step on His toes, realizing that He knows far better than we do the direction we should take.
Following the lead of our Savior, we will never fail nor flounder and all our steps will be sure and certain.
“Another year is dawning, dear Master, let it be, in working or in wait-ing, another year with Thee. Another year of progress, another year of praise, Another year of proving Thy pres-ence all the days.” (Written in 1874 by Frances Ridley Havergal)
Why not make this your prayer for the New Year. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlast-ing.”
Amen and Amen. — Alta Raper is pastor of Pittman
Center Circuit of the United Methodist Church: Burnett Memorial UMC in Pittman Center, Webb’s Creek UMC just off 321 in Gatlinburg, and Shults Grove UMC in Cosby.
As we begin the new year,remember God’s in control
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696 APARTMENTSFOR RENT
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307 CHILDCARE
Willow Brook Lodge is seeking to hire a dependable person to work in our Maintenance Dept. Apply in Person at Willow Brook Lodge 3035 Park-way, Pigeon Forge
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Local cabin company taking applications for Reservationist, Assistant Manager, and Cleaners. Ap-ply in person at: 333 Ski Mtn. Rd. Gatlinburg.
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HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE
CAREGiver
Bring a Smile to the Elderly! Join our team of caring, c o m p a s s i o n a t e and reliable CARE-Givers who are dedicated to im-proving the lives of our community’s senior citizens. We are the trusted source of compan-ionship and non-medical home care for seniors. No medical experi-ence required. We offer competitive pay and a bonus program. Health in-surance and retire-ment plans availa-ble. We offer hours to reflect your schedule, but some weekends, evenings or over-nights required. We are looking for dedicated and reli-able people to serve in the Sev-ierville and Gatlin-burg areas. To learn more about how you can make a difference, please call our em-ployment line toll-free at 1-877-581-5800 or visit us on-line at www.home-instead.com/428.
Please stop by to fill out application at 3202 Wears Valley Rd. located in the Century 21 office building. No phone calls please.
236 GENERAL
Cove Mountain Re-sorts has the fol-lowing positions open:Cabin Cleaner/Housekeeper
This is a contract posi-tion which requires applicant to pro-vide their own transportation and vehicle insurance. Hotel/Cabin clean-ing experience pre-ferred. Applicant must be self moti-vated, detail orient-ed.
Reservations ClerkThis position requires:
Excellent commu-nication skills, ex-perience in the hospitality industry a plus.
Associate Account Executive
Regional publishing company seeks a f/t sales position. Duties include ad-vertising sales, production and merchandising of area Visitors Guide Magazines and hospitality prod-ucts. Territory in-cludes the High Country area of NC. Position is ideal for college graduates and serves as training to become an Ac-count Executive . Salary position with benefits. Email resume to [email protected]
236 GENERAL
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Notice of typographical or other errors must be given before 2nd insertion. The Mountain Press does not assume responsibility for an ad beyond the cost of the ad itself and shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad for a typographical error.
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110 SPECIALNOTICES
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Reward! Lost Tuesday 12/29 Sony Cyber/Shot cam-era. 423-323-7004
107 LOST & FOUND
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200 Employment
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400 Financial
500 Merchandise
600 Rentals
700 Real Estate
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The World in a Travel Size
4B Classifieds The Mountain Press Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Mountain Press Sunday, January 10, 2010 Classifieds 5B
Who ya gonna call? If you have a problem with the delivery of your morning Mountain Press , please call the Circulation Department at 428-0746, ext. 239 & 231 Monday - Friday and your paper will be delivered to you on the same day. Newspapers from calls after 10:00 a.m. will be delivered with the next day’s paper. On Saturday, Sunday and holidays you may dial 428-0748 extensions 239 & 231. If complaints are received between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m., papers will be delivered the same day. Newspapers from calls received after 10:00 a.m. will be delivered with the next day’s paper. This applies to in-county home delivery only.
Sevier County’s Only Daily Newspaper
1985 Gold Wing. Runsgood. New battery.$2500. 865-809-4578
950 MOTORCYCLESALES
2005 Chevy TrailblazerLT. 4.2 Liter, 4wd,low miles. $11,995.Call 865-428-3704
941 SUV SALES
First Time BuyersYour Job isYour Credit
New Single Wides& Double WidesCREDIT HOTLINE865-453-0086
NEW HOME1900 Sq. Feet
1/2 Acre-ReadyEasy- Loan by
Phone865-453-0086
16x76 2BR/2BA realnice. Health prob-lems. Must sell.$8000 cash. Call865-932-5163.
829 MANUFACTURED
HOME SALES
Office Space for Rent 119 South Blvd Way. Formerly used as Beauty Shop 933-6544
4 office rentals + large garage. S. Blvd Way $249,000. 933-6544
722 BUSINESSBUILDINGS
Space for lease in cli-mate control stor-age area. Hwy 321 East Gatlinburg. 850-2487.
Building for lease for-merly Creekside Wedding Chapel. Parkway Gatlin-burg 850-2004.
721 COMMERCIALPROPERTY
Owner FinanceCobbly Knobb area3 BR 2 BTH BSMTRancher. Sits on
Webb Creek. Totally remodeled with
2 car garage. Asking $190,000 Call Brackfield &
Associates865-691-8195
**Home For Sale**Historic Neighborhood
in Downtown Sev-ierville. Close to all schools.710
3BR/1.5 bath. 654-7907
**************************
710 HOMES FORSALE
Eagle Creek Landing$139,900
New Construction 3 BR/2BA
Single-LevelLiving
Open House Saturday/Sunday
Super subdivision in Historic Boyds Creek! Open floor plan, kitchen with all appliances. 2-Car garage, and so much more on a level lot. $8,000 tax credit eligible. Ask about our Lease-Purchase Option for qualified buyers. Call Dave @ Wimbledon Properties – 865-705-4054 for fur-ther information and directions.
710 HOMES FORSALE
HUD PUBLISHER’S NOTICEAll real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, family status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination. State laws forbid discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. To complain of discrimination, call HUD Toll-free at 1-800-669-9777, The Toll-free telephone number for the hearing impaired is 1-800-927-9275.
Small house on Park-way for lease. Great for small business. With liv-ing quarters. 850-2487.
Small 1BR cottage furn. $385 + $200 dep. 680-3078 No pets.
699 HOME RENTALS
Seymour Hinkle Sub 3BR 2BA $975 mth. + dep. 680-1032
Sevierville Doublewide 2BR $500 mth + deposit. No pets. Ref. 933-6544
Newport 3BR 1BA un-finished basement. $700 mth $500 dep. 865-696-9993
Luxury Home for lease-Short or long term. 4 or 5 bed-rooms. 4 full baths. Near Sevierville Events Center $3000 per month. 865-607-2784 or 429-5018
Large home on lake for lease in Kodak area. Minutes from Exit 407. 4BR 4+ BA, large deck, 2 fireplaces. $2000 per mth. 850-2483
Hwy 321 Pittman Cen-ter area. 1&2 BR cabin on creek fully furnished Util-ities included. $225 & $250 wk 850-2487.
House for rent off 338 Douglas Dam Rd 3BR 2BA. 1 bed-room is very large. Stove, fridge, dish-washer, yard main-tenance & pest control included. $850 mth 1st & last required + $500 damage dep. Ab-solutely no pets. References need-ed. Call 865-428-4752 Mon-Fri 8-4
House 2BR Close to Sevierville. Sewer & water furnished. C/H. W/D hook up. $600 + dep. No pets. 453-9269 or 382-1966
Great Pigeon Forge location. 3bd, 1ba home w/FP. $850 monthly + deposit. 1 yr lease. 385-9530
Great Location. 2 blocks from WalMart Sevierville 313 Lynn Dr. 3BR 1.5BA home. Im-maculate. Laundry room with W/D. Quiet neighbor-hood, large yard, carport, city water, sewer & garbage pick up, central H/A. 1 year lease. $850 mth. 1st, last & $300 sec. dep. No pets/smoking. Call 429-1335 or 654-6623
Gatlinburg Glades 3BR 2BA fireplace, jaccuzi. No pets. $900 mth 428-4073
Gatlinburg Cobbly Nob 2BR 2BA, $850 per month. 1BR 1BA furnished on creek $700 per month. Fireplace, Cathedral Ceilings, Hot tub and whirl pool tubs. 423-487-5020 or 865-719-7000
For Rent: 3BR House. Gatlinburg. Call 436-4748
For Rent 3BR, 2BAhouse. Pigeon Forge. 573-7997 or 776-4371.
4BR/2BA Furnished. Traffic Light #6 in Pigeon Forge. Credit References and Deposit Re-quired. $1250 mth. 770-983-0698
4BR 1BA Exit 407 close to I-40. Ref-erences. $450 mth. 690-2408.
699 HOME RENTALS
3BR 2BA house with 2 car attached ga-rage. First & Last month rent & Dam-age deposit. Call 865-654-9230
3BR 2BA Fully furn. On lake. $850 mth $500 dep. 865-654-4003
3BR 1.5BA Newly ren-ovated. Sevierville. Garage. $950 mth + dep. 654-0222.
328 Ownby St, Gatlin-burg; 3 bed 2 bath home, $700 per month with $700 deposit. Tenant application re-quired $35. 423-307-1552
2BR 1BA Pigeon Forge Carport, deck, private n e i g h b o r h o o d , washer/dryer, cen-tral h/a. $725 mth. 1st, last & deposit. 1 yr lease. No in-door pets. 865-654-4514
New Homes for Rent.
3BR/2BA starting at $700 - $850 & $1000
per month. No pets.
865-850-3874
2 1/2 acres with 2BR 2BA cabin for rent. First & Last month rent & Damage de-posit. Call 865-654-9230
3 BR 2 BA house for rent with carport.Boyds CreekCommunity
$600 mth$600 damage deposit.
850-5700
Nice Homes in Kodak.
2 BR 1 BA $3852BR 2BA $465
Each has C H/A, deck appliances. No pets.
865-368-6602
Very Nice Brick Home in River Run
Subdivision3br/2ba with
basement garage$900.00 mo.
Call 865-933-9775
For Lease3BD/2.5BA furnishedcharming 2 acres log
cabin home in Seymour, Dog Haven, access to river & private park,Weekly or Monthly
Call Owner865-789-1427
3BR 2BA in Red BudSubdivision.
Appliances included. $750 & up +
deposit.428-5212
NICE, CLEAN IN KODAK3 BD / 2 BA
4 MILES FROM EXIT 407
$700/MONTH & DEPOSIT. NO PETS.
865-712-5238, 865-705-9096
1BR cabin Pigeon Forge $650 2BR cabin Pigeon Forge $900 fur-nished. Pristine Realty 865-453-6389 or 865-556-2150.
699 HOME RENTALS
2BR 2BA mobile home Central H/A Water & sewer furn. on Hwy 66 near Swaggertys Saus-age. 933-5509 or 755-2402
2BR 2BA Great condi-tion. No pets. Ko-dak area. $500 mth + $500 dep. 865-397-7140.
2-3 BR Homes
PeacefulSettings
Mountain View865-933-0504
OPEN HOUSE 12 Homes to view
RENT NO MORE!
RENTERS, LET YOUR RENT BE YOUR DOWN PAYMENT!ONLY 10
HOMES LEFT865-453-0086
698 MOBILE HOMERENTALS
698 MOBILE HOMERENTALS
Studio Gatlinburg! Fur-nished, water, ca-ble, electric, wifi. Call 931-239-0777.
Pigeon Forge behind Ruby Tuesday 2br 2ba Immaculate. No pets. $700 mth. 1st. last & sec. Call 865-712-8333.
Gatlinburg Beautiful 2BR 2BA Furnish-ed Condo with Fireplace, Over-looks stocked trout stream and has heated pool. Walk to downtown Gat-linburg, includes water, cable, Flat screen TV. Imme-diate occupancy, Minimum 1 Year lease $875 mth. 865-771-9600
Condo for rent 3BR 2BA, 2 car garage, 1 level, new con-struction. Down-town Sevierville. $1200 mth + dam-age deposit. Call Phyllis 455-5821
2BR 2BA P.F. Fully furnished condo 7th floor. Spectac-ular view. 30 ft pri-vate balcony. $1050 mth. 1st & last mth 425-922-6988
1 Bedroom condo for rent; includes wa-ter, cable and wifi. $695/mo. + depos-it. No pets. 908-1342
697 CONDORENTALS
Single size apt. $425 mo. Incl utilities. No pets. Near Dol-lywood. 621-7897.
Sevierville Duplex 2BR 2BA Whirlpool. $650 mo. No pets. References. Tony-414-6611
RIVERWALK1BR/1BA TO 2BR/2BA$545.00 to $695.00865-429-2962
McCarter’s Efficiency Apts 221 Newman Rd, $420 month everything except power and phone. Gatlinburg. Call 865-850-2542 or 865-436-5489.
Large 1BR apt 453-6758 or 207-5700.
CROSSCREEK2BR/1.5BA $5452BR/2BA LargeGarden apartment$570.00 to $580.00865-429-4470
2BR appliances fur-nished $600 a month. By month or week $500 se-curity 654-7127 or 748-7946
2BR 2BA triplex PF. 2BR apt Sev. No pets. Clean & con-venient. 453-5079.
2BR 1BA apt. $595 mth Call 428-1514.
SILO APARTMENTSin Sevierville
Offers 1/2 BR UnitsPet Friendly
PIGEON FORGE2BD/2BA APARTMENT
New Center3BR/2BA
Garage, Pet Friendly
Sevierville5BD/4.5BA
Fully furnished, w/hot tub, washer, dryer, etc.
Wears Valley1BD/1.5BAPet Friendly
BIG BROKERBOB’s REALTY865-774-5919
EFFICIENCIESAll utilities included
1Br Apt in Sevierville. $400 a month. Util-ities ncluded. 256-4809
696 APARTMENTSFOR RENT
MA
KE
YO
UR
PO
INT
!
Classifieds
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Mark Our Words:
You’ll Find It in the
Classifieds!428-0748
The Mountain Press ◆ Sunday, January 10, 2010B6 ◆ Local
6B Sunday
Tennessee horse enthusiasts and profes-sionals spend nearly $300 million a year subsidizing their pas-sion.
From the idle “yard ornament” some keep on a small acreage to the high-dollar performance horse on the show circuit, Tennessee’s equine population of more than 210,000 is an important driver of the state’s agricultural economy.
An increasing num-ber of owners, how-ever, come to the sport, or hobby, with little or no agricultural back-ground. For first-time owners especially, the learning curve in the responsibilities of horse stewardship can be steep. UT Extension has filled the need for education with a new program for horse own-ers.
The Master Horse Owner program tar-gets all horse owners. The program is mainly written for adults, although it is suitable for all ages.
The Tennessee Master Horse Owner program is designed to deliver science-based information to horse aficionados, from the novice to the professional. The 16-hour training cov-ers the equine indus-try, health, nutrition,
reproduction, genetics and selection, behav-ior and training, farm management and busi-ness management.
A multi-county Master Horse Owner program has been scheduled for March and April in the Sevier County/Knoxville area. Horse owners will be participating in the program from eight surrounding counties.
Classes will be held at the University of Tennessee Agriculture Campus starting on March 9. The class will run for the next four Tuesday evenings in March, and on April 3. Cost for this class will be $150.
For additional infor-mation or to get signed up to participate, con-tact the Sevier County Extension Office at 453-3695, e-mail to [email protected]. or come by the office at 752 Old Knoxville Highway, Sevierville.
— Alan Bruhin is the Sevier County agricul-tural extension service director. Call him at 453-3695.
Horse program set
Submitted reports
Plunging temperatures across the Tennessee Valley region have caused the high-est demand for electricity so far this winter.
“This is the first significant demand period we’ve seen this season,” said TVA Vice President Bob Dalrymple. “Through our nuclear, hydro, fossil and combus-tion turbine generation fleet and purchased power arrangements, TVA has a diverse portfolio of resourc-es available to reliably meet the need. TVA resources and transmission system have performed extremely well during these challenging conditions.”
TVA met a demand of more than 31,300 mega-watts on the morning of Jan. 6. Demand is expected to remain high through Jan. 11.
The TVA system has a winter capacity of more than 36,000 megawatts of available power and at least 5,000 megawatts of addi-tional reserve power daily.
The all-time record winter demand was set on Jan. 16, 2009, at 32,572 megawatts when temperatures across the Tennessee Valley region averaged 9 degrees. The all-time record demand on the TVA power system was 33,482 megawatts on Aug. 16, 2007, when tempera-tures averaged 102 degrees.
TVA is working to reduce peak demand and improve energy efficiency through a number of programs such as TVA’s Home Energy e-Valuation, which will be available in 74 markets this year. TVA is also expand-ing its Efficiency Advice and Incentives program to help commercial customers reduce their energy use. The goal is to reduce growth in peak demand by up to 1,400 megawatts by 2012, thereby reducing the need for TVA to build more new power plants, which could affect future rates.
TVA is the nation’s larg-est public power provider and is completely self-financing. TVA provides power to large industries and 157 power distributors that serve approximately 9 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also creates economic devel-opment opportunities.
Demand forelectricityhigh at TVA
Submitted reports
4-H Night at Thompson-Boling Arena is returning on Jan. 17, as the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team takes on Vanderbilt at 6 p.m.
This marks a continued part-nership between 4-H and the UT Athletics Department.
Highlights include special recog-nition at halftime of the Tennessee 4-H program, which is celebrating the centennial (1910-2010) of UT Extension and Tennessee 4-H. 4-H members from all age groups and backgrounds will be highlighted from those in attendance.
A limited number of tickets are available for $7 plus a $1.25 han-
dling fee. Tickets include a $3.50 concession voucher for the game.
Tickets are available only online at www.groupticketwin-dow.com/groupticket/college/TennesseeUniversity/group. Use the following log in and password codes: Login, 4H; password, hoops.
For questions, contact Glenn Turner at 453-3695.
4-H in spotlight at Tennessee game
Bank donates school supplies
Submitted
School supply items were donated to Northview Schools on behalf of the employees and custom-ers of Citizens National Bank’s Kodak branch. “We began collecting items such as paper, note-books, pencils, and hand sanitizer in August,” said Sandy McCarter, assistant vice president and branch manager. “Our customers joined us in the effort to collect as many items as we could to help out the local students in our area.” From left are Angie Elmore and Vickie Harrell from Northview Primary, Erin Ownby and Sandy McCarter from CNB, Northview Primary Principal Missy Wade and Julie Oliver, Northview Middle principal. Not pictured is Kellie Strange from CNB.
