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VOL. 2 NO. 1 July 29, 2013www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNowVOL. 3 NO. 7 February 18, 2014www.ShopperNewsNow.com | www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow

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By Wendy SmithBearden High School students

and parents didn’t lament the possible loss of long, leisurely summers during principal John Bartlett’s discussion of Knox County Schools’ proposed bal-anced calendar.

There was little reaction, aside from a few questions about spe-cifi cs, to the idea that the 2016-2017 school calendar could have two-week fall, winter and spring breaks and an eight-week summer break.

There would still be 180 in-structional days.

Bartlett began the discussion by reminding students and par-ents, who attended the evening meeting to discuss scheduling as well as a balanced calendar, that nothing is set in stone.

“This is a conversation that is just starting and nobody has de-cided anything yet.”

Other local school systems, like Maryville, Alcoa and Oak Ridge, are already on balanced calen-dars. The school calendar should be structured around needs of

students, and the current calen-dar, with a 53-day summer break, was set up to meet the needs of an agrarian society. Not many stu-dents are hauling hay anymore, Bartlett said.

The balanced calendar is in-tended to provide more continu-ous learning. Remediation would be offered during the fi rst week of fall and spring breaks, which would give struggling students the opportunity to catch up.

A shorter summer break would also reduce summer learning loss, which most affects students who spend summers at home watch-ing television and playing video games.

Less time spent reading and interacting with adults results in learning loss, which leaves teach-ers playing catch-up for the fi rst two weeks of fall semester, he said.

But studies comparing the aca-demic success of students on tra-ditional and balanced calendars have been inconclusive, especially for students who are engaged dur-ing the summer months. Another challenge would be changing the

mindset of parents who grew up with long summer breaks and

want their kids to have the same ex-perience.

A balanced cal-endar wouldn’t affect school ath-letics programs, and teams would continue to prac-tice during fall and spring breaks.

Bartlett conjectured that child-care centers would adjust to meet the needs of a balanced calendar.

He emphasized that Bearden’s block scheduling wouldn’t neces-sarily change due to conversion to a balanced calendar.

Bearden has four classes each semester, and students receive a full credit for each one, as opposed to six or seven classes each day for a full year.

But a balanced calendar could cost more than a traditional cal-endar due to the expense of trans-porting students during the reme-diation periods built into fall and spring breaks. If funds currently

spent on transporting students for summer remediation can be shifted, there may be no added ex-pense, he said.

Block scheduling also costs more than traditional scheduling, and since school budgets are fi xed, it might be reconsidered at some point. Bartlett emphasized that block scheduling will continue at Bearden for the foreseeable fu-ture.

If the county switches to a bal-anced calendar, students would be allowed to miss a few days of school in order to attend Gover-nor’s school, he said.

School would start a week early, and graduation would be bumped back a week.

Mark Wilkerson, whose daugh-ter is a rising sophomore, said that he needed more information before he could form an opinion about a balanced calendar, but that it was presented positively. He’s strongly in favor of block scheduling, which he thinks helps students understand the rigor of a college course load.

“That part has got to stay.”

John Bartlett

The pros and cons of a balanced school calendar

By Betsy PickleBonnie Kate Elementary

School’s gym probably saw more calories burned during the annual Father-Daughter Dance than at any other event this year.

The energy level was topped only by the sweetness of the scene last Thursday night: dads beam-ing at their little girls as they slow-danced and twirling the breath-less princesses through the air on more upbeat tunes.

Moms got a little bit of the dancing action, but mostly they stood to the side and took pictures of the dancing duos.

Some of the Bonny Kate stu-dents abandoned their parents in favor of snaking their way through the crowd in a chain or dancing wildly together. No matter what style they chose, they all seemed to be the happiest girls on earth.

A trio of elected offi cials rep-resenting South Knoxville and South Knox County will hold a community forum to encourage constituents to offer their com-ments and suggestions.

Vice Mayor Nick Pavlis, who is also the City Council member for District 1; County Commis-sioner Mike Brown; and Amber Rountree, who was elected to the

Knox County Board of Educa-tion last fall, will convene a “State of South Knox” meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Flen-niken Landing, 115 Flenniken Ave. Danny Gray of the South Wood-lawn Neighborhood Association will serve as moderator for the 90-minute meeting.

Brown said in a press release that this is the fi rst time elected

offi cials from the city, county and schools have held such a forum, and he said he hopes “constitu-ents take the time to come out for a chat.”

He noted that budget time is drawing near and that this would be good time for public input.

Pavlis described the forum as bringing “government to the peo-ple.”

“This is an awesome opportuni-ty for our constituents to hear our vision for the district and to ask us questions about what matters to them most.”

“South Knox is all about com-munity,” Rountree said. “In order for our community to fl ourish, we must all work together on the same team.”

Andres Robledo and his daughter, fi rst-

grader Natalia, wow onlookers as they fol-

low the beat at the Bonny Kate Elementary

Father-Daughter Dance. Photo by Betsy Pickle

Pavlis, Brown and Rountree plan South Knox forum

Bonny KateKiwanis event

Northside Kiwanis Club will host a Pancake Jamboree and Bake Sale from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 544 N. Broadway.

Tickets at $4 ($10 per family, up to four) are avail-able from Northside Kiwanis members or at the door. All proceeds go to support the ser-vice activities of the Northside Kiwanis Club. Info: Tom Mat-tingly, 414-6218.

GOP reorganizationThe Knox County Republi-

can Party will hold its biannual reorganization with precinct meetings at the polling places at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, unless otherwise scheduled by the precinct chair.

Delegates elected at the pre-cincts will meet for the county convention at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7, at The Crown College in Powell. Info: Ruthie Kuhl-man, chair.

IN THIS ISSUE

Snow modeShopper-News was com-

posed a bit earlier than usual this week because of the poten-tial for snow. We skipped our fi nal proof-reading, so if you see errors, please call or email and we will correct. Also check for updates on our website, ShopperNewsNow.com

Marvin WestSports columnist Marvin

West looks at Tennessee’s new offensive coordinator, Mike DeBord, and his fi t in maintaining “the best staff in America.”

That’s what Butch promised when he was hired. No reason for him to back down, writes West. His column is on page 4.

Betsy PickleRead Knoxville’s best movie

critic’s take on this year’s Oscars, and match wits with a professtional.

Check out Weekender, inside.

Betty BeanTyler Harber: Ace political

reporter Betty Bean was writ-ing about this youthful politico some 14 years ago and she’s kept up with him ever since. Now he’s probably heading to jail after last week’s guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Virginia. Bean looks back and ahead with “The Rise and Fall of Tyler Harber.” Inside.

2 • FEBRUARY 18, 2014 • Shopper news

health & lifestyles

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a regional referral hospital where other facilities

REGIONAL EXCELLENCE.

4400949494949444449449499009-007-0070707--777

After six weeks of inpa-

tient care and a year of

outpatient treatment at

Patricia Neal Rehabilita-

tion Center, Chris Taylor

celebrated his “gradu-

ation” from rehab with

staff . Taylor’s experience

encouraged him to

return with his three

daughters to PNRC

and hand out cards to

patients on Christmas

Eve. Now, thanks to

his treatment from the

Wound Care Center and

HBO Therapy at Fort

Sanders Regional, along

with PNRC, Taylor is get-

ting back to his old self,

including playing drums

at church.

He gained ‘friends for life,’ after life-threatening infectionIn 2013, Chris Taylor, now 45,

was working as a probation pa-role officer in Claiborne County, driving more than an hour each way to his home in Mascot, Tenn.

“I was getting up at 5 a.m. to be there by 7 and getting home at 8 o’clock at night. I was so tired from working and driving,” Taylor said. “Probably looking back on it, I was more fatigued than I thought I was.”

That fatigue caught up with him after he mowed his lawn in late May of 2013. He awoke the next morning with his left foot swollen and painful.

“I treated it like gout for a week, and then on June 1, I got what I thought was a back spasm. I was in so much pain I went to the emergency room at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center,” Taylor said.

The staff took a blood sample and found Taylor had an infec-tion of Staphylococcus bacteria, commonly known as “Staph,” not only in his left foot, but around the base of his spine where he’d had a previous surgery. The in-fection was life-threatening.

“I was in kidney and liver fail-ure. They told me I would have died in a few days,” said Taylor.

Strong antibiotics were not successful in battling the infec-tion, so Dr. G. Douglas Schuch-mann performed two surgeries to remove the infection from Taylor’s left foot.

Taylor spent about four weeks at Fort Sanders, then another six weeks at Patricia Neal Rehabili-tation Center. He was a resident there for six weeks and an out-patient for about a year.

“Everyone at Fort Sanders and Patricia Neal has been amazing. I hadn’t spent a whole lot of time in hospitals, but they were all real nice to me. I wouldn’t have want-ed to be anywhere else,” said Tay-lor. “They called me the ‘mayor of Four-East,’ I was there so long.”

After Taylor was released from inpatient care at Patri-

Skin substitutes help wound healingThe body’s ability to heal itself is

remarkable. Most of the time, cuts and tears in the skin will heal with-in four weeks, even if they leave a scar.

However, many factors can in-hibit healing. Poor oxygen flow, bacterial infections, age and sex hormones, stress, diabetes, obesi-ty, medications, alcoholism, smok-ing, and nutrition can each inhibit the body’s ability to heal wounds.

Fort Sanders Wound Treatment Center offers a number of thera-pies for patients whose wounds do

not heal on their own. One of them, a new “skin substitute,” can pro-vide a healing barrier for the skin.

Called EpiFix, it’s a biological product, meaning it’s made from live human tissue. In this case, it’s human amniotic membrane from real human placentas. They are chosen from women who are healthy, then the membranes are separated, processed, sterilized and freeze-dried for medical use.

“It’s collagen, so it provides a framework for wound healing, plus the amniotic membrane is not re-

jected by the body like most other tissues. It has immunosuppressant properties,” said Dr. G. Douglas Schuchmann, a surgeon and medi-cal director of the Fort Sanders Wound Treatment Center.

The center has been using Epi-Fix for about three months with impressive results, Schuchmann said.

“It can be put on easily in the clinic,” he said. “It’s almost like a piece of tape. You activate it with saline and it just sticks down, so it’s a very simple and painless ap-

plication. And it just really increas-es healing times.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” said Schuchmann. “It’s not a new product per se, but we are getting a better feel for it.”

A number of biological tissues are used for below the knee, but EpiFix can be used anywhere on the body, Schuchmann said.

“Whether it’s applied in surgery or at Fort Sanders Wound Treat-ment Center, EpiFix is probably the best of the biologics and most helpful for our patients,” he said.

cia Neal Rehabilitation Center,he received hyperbaric oxygen(HBO) therapy to speed healingof his foot and strong antibioticsto treat his spinal infection.

Five times each week, Taylorwas wheeled to the HBO thera-py center to spend an hour in abody-sized oxygen tube.

“I’m extremely claustropho-bic,” said Taylor. “So the firstday, I freaked out, and theycalled Dr. Schuchmann. Hecame in and he took me by thehand and said, ‘Chris, it’s goingto be OK. I need you to do this.’Like my grandfather was talkingto me. He said, ‘I’ll be here whenyou get out.’ And when I got out,he was standing right there.”

Over the course of weeks, Tay-lor’s wounds slowly got better.

“They thought I would be ina wheelchair the rest of my life,but I kept progressing,” he said.

“Patricia Neal RehabilitationCenter tried to prepare me for lifebeing a paraplegic, and they did agreat job of that, learning to usemy upper body to get in and outof the chair. But my hard headwouldn’t believe it. After outpa-tient therapy for almost a year,I’ve gotten to where I walk witha cane, and around the house Iwalk without it,” he said.

“I have three girls to walkdown the aisle at some point!”said Taylor. “I may never runany marathons, but I’ve beenplaying drums at my church. Mygoal is to continue to improve.

“I’d like to thank everyone atFort Sanders, the HBO therapyteam and Patricia Neal Rehabili-tation Center. They are amaz-ing people with amazing hearts.They are people that I’ll prob-ably be friends with for life. I’drecommend them to anyone. Inmy mind it’s the best place inEast Tennessee for care.”

For more information about the services offered at

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, go to fsregional.com.

G. Douglas

Schuchmann, MD

SOUTH KNOX Shopper news • FEBRUARY 18, 2014 • 3 community

New Beverly Baptist ChurchNew Beverly Baptist Church

Sunday, February 22 • 11am and 6pm services

New Beverly Baptist Church 3320 New Beverly Church Rd., Knoxville, TN 37918

Rev. Eddie Sawyer, Pastor546-0001 or www.newbeverly.org

I-640 to exit 8. Go north on Washington Pike to red light @ Greenway Rd. (facing new Target), turn left, church is ¼ mile on the right.

No admission charge, but a love off ering will be taken. DON’T MISS IT!

When:Where:

Info:

Directions:

Worship with us!

GOSPEL SINGING

featuring Troy Peachyyyyyyoyyyyoyoyoyoyyyoyoyyyyyyoyoyoyyyyyyoyoyoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaaaaaaeaeaeaaaeeeeeeeeeaeaaeeeeeeaeaeaeeeaaeeeeaeeaeaeeaeeaeaeeeaeeeeeeaeeeeeaaaeeeeeeaaaaaaeeaeaaaaaeeeeeaaaaaaaaaeeaaaaaaachchchchchchchchchchhhhhhchhchchhhhhchchchhchchcchccccchcccccccccchcccccccccfefefefefefefefeefefefeffffeefefefefefefeeatatatatatataatataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ururururururururrininininnng ggg gg g g TrTrTrTrTrTrTrrrrTrTrTrrrTrrTroyoyooooyoyooooyooyooooyooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooyoyoooyooooooooooooooooooo

TheThe Washams WashamsTheThe Washams Washams

New Beverly is proud to announce a great day of gospel singing

with the awesome family group

Tennessee Shines Radio Show moves to Old City

COMMUNITY NOTES ■ Colonial Village Neighborhood Association. Info: Terry Ca-

ruthers, 579-5702, t_caruthers@hotmail.com.

■ Knoxville Tri-County Lions Club meets 7 p.m. each second and

fourth Monday, Connie’s Kitchen, 10231 Chapman Highway, Sey-

mour. Info: https://www.facebook.com/TriCountyLions/info.

■ Lake Forest Neighborhood Association. Info: Molly Gilbert, 209-

1820 or mollygilbert@yahoo.com.

■ Old Sevier Community Group meets 7 p.m. each third Thursday

(except December), South Knoxville Elementary School library,

801 Sevier Ave. Info: Gary E. Deitsch, 573-7355 or garyedeitsch@

bellsouth.net.

■ South of the River Democrats (9th District) meet 6:30 p.m. each

third Monday, South Knoxville Community Center, 522 Maryville

Pike. Info: Jim Sessions, jim.sessions@comcast.net or 573-0655.

■ South Haven Neighborhood Association meets 10 a.m. each

third Saturday, Hillcrest UMC, 1615 Price Ave. Info: Pat Harmon,

591-3958.

■ South Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. Info: Shelley

Conklin, 686-6789.

■ Vestal Community Organization meets 6 p.m. each second

Monday, South Knoxville Community Center, 522 Old Maryville

Pike. Info: Newman Seay, 577-4593.

Foster grandparents needed as mentors

The Foster Grand-parent Program is looking for adults age 55 or older to serve 20 hours per week men-toring and tutoring young people in public schools and other non-profi t settings. Quali-fi ed volunteers receive a tax-free stipend and mileage reimburse-ment. Training will be-gin Monday, March 2. Info: 524-2786.

Ken Lister holds granddaughter Jesse. Lister also partnered

with granddaughters Patti and Emi during the evening.

Scott Porter and daughter Kelly, a fourth-grader, show style

as they cross the dance fl oor. Photos by Betsy Pickle

Glen Morse and fi rst-grader Kate have a tight connection at

the dance.

Fish WagonTo place order call 1-800-643-8439

www.fi shwagon.com

FISH DAYIt’s time to stock your pond!

Like us on facebook

Delivery will be:

Wednesday, March 4

Clinton: 4:30-5:15 Anderson Farmer’s Co-op

Thursday, March 5

Dandridge: 12:30-1:15 Jefferson Farmer’s Co-op

Knoxville: 2:00-2:45 Knox Farmer’s Co-op

Blaine: 3:30-4:15 Blaine Hardware & Feed

Friday, March 6

Halls Crossroads: 7:30-8:15 Knox Farmer’s Co-op

Maryville: 10:30-11:15 Blount Farmer’s Co-op

Advertising Sales Representative

The Shopper-News has an immediate opening for anAdvertising Sales Representative to handle a high

volume of established accounts. The right candidate should be highly organized, computer literate and

experienced in sales. We offer competitive salary plus commission, benefi ts and paid vacation.

Please send resume and cover letter to Fecco@ShopperNewsNow.com to apply.

By Betsy PickleThe famed coffee slightly

edged out the delicious do-nuts at the cash register last Tuesday morning, but the main items on the menu were simply hanging out with friends and getting to know the new business, one of several Dunkin’ Donuts locations operated by Blue-mont Group.

Dave Baumgartner of Bluemont and general man-ager Audra Hull took early-bird guests on a behind-the-scenes tour – “where the magic happens” – to see how the donuts come to life. The kitchen design is the latest for Dunkin’ franchises, with the option of loading donut trays in the sales case from the back as well as the front.

The restaurant’s private conference room with a board table and big-screen monitor for presentations is available to patrons at no charge.

Residents from through-out South Knoxville attend-ed, and everyone seemed to have a good time chatting with the mayors.

Baumgartner says there will be an offi cial Knoxville Chamber ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at the restaurant, which “turned on the lights and opened the doors” on Dec. 27. While Bluemont Group has several locations al-ready, with more coming soon (including one on Broadway), Baumgartner says he’s excited about the South Knoxville site.

“I’m all about South Knoxville redevelopment.”

■ Vestal memoriesVestival wants to include

you as it celebrates its 15th anniversary this spring.

The family-friendly fes-tival will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Candoro Marble, 4450 Candora Ave. Along with games, dancing, food and music, Vestival plans to in-corporate the rich history of Vestal into the celebration.

Dave Baumgartner, owner of the new Dunkin’ Donuts on Chapman Highway, hosts Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, Knoxville

Mayor Madeline Rogero, Knoxville Vice-Mayor Nick Pavlis, City Council member Duane Grieve and Tanna Nicely, principal of

South Knoxville Elementary School. Photos by Betsy Pickle

General man-

ager Audra Hull

instructs Tanna

Nicely, principal

of South Knox-

ville Elementary

School, on how

to decorate a

donut.

Peggy Lofl in of Lake Forest, Mayor Madeline Rogero, Mooreland Heights Elementary School

principal Roy Miller and Dave Gartner of Lake Forest are ready to face the cold after fortifying

themselves with coff ee and donuts.

SoKno runs on Dunkin’

Bonny Kate From page 1

is losing many of its long-time residents who have shared stories of the old days through the years, in-cluding the beloved Dobber Doyle, who died in Decem-ber.

His memories included Friday and Saturday boxing nights at a vacant lot across from Candoro where 200 people would show up to watch bouts illuminated by a single light bulb, and box-ers had to share the same two pairs of gloves, passing them on as the next match was about to begin.

Contributions should be submitted by March 20 if possible.

Family photos, old letters and other memorabilia can be photocopied so that do-nors can keep the originals.

Arrangements can be

made to record those who wish to provide oral histo-ries.

To provide content or for more information, contact Voelker at: placebasedpro-ductions@gmail.com, 1920 Goff Road, Knoxville, TN 37920, 307-0800 or 307-9971.

■ If the weather outside is frightful The South Knoxville Alli-

ance’s litter pick-up planned for this Saturday may fall victim to winter weather.

Cleanup chair Carl Hens-ley says the group is keep-ing an eye on the forecast, which at press time called for a wintry mix on Satur-day.

The fi nal decision will be announced on SKA’s Face-book page (search for K-Town South).

The rain (or snow) date will be Saturday, Feb. 28.

Tennessee Shines Radio Show will mark its third an-niversary with a new loca-tion and new weekday be-ginning Wednesday, March 4, at Boyd’s Jig & Reel, a res-taurant and music venue lo-cated in the historic Old City.

The hour-long, live radio show begins at 7 p.m. and includes headline musical performers, special guests and readings by local and

regional spoken word art-ists. Tickets will be avail-able at the door beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is $10.

Tennessee Shines can be heard in Knoxville and sur-rounding areas on 89.9 FM, 93.9 FM and 102.9 FM, and online at www.wdvx.com. Past shows are available for on-demand streaming for two weeks after the broad-cast.

Chelsea Voelker of Place Based Productions is seek-ing “stories, images and an-ecdotes of the past” for the project, particularly from those whose relatives were “connected to the indus-tries that birthed the area: Candoro Marble Co., Vestal Lumber Co., the fertilizer plant, the woolen mills, etc.”

Voelker notes that Vestal

4 • FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • Shopper news

Marvin West

The late Al McGuire used “seashells and balloons” to describe good times. The way things are with Ten-nessee football, you can add rainbows and free ice cream.

Recruiting success re-mains the talk of the town. The new offensive coordina-tor is said to be a precise fi t. Butch Jones is really com-fortable. Everybody that matters is some degree of happy. New titles and raises helped.

For lack of contrary in-formation, I assume Mike DeBord is the correct step in maintaining “the best staff in America.” That’s what Butch promised when he was hired. No reason for him to back down.

I will concede that the

Happy time, good fi t, comfort zone

Jones group can sell. This is the year to see how it does at developing talent.

Fans should accept DeBord as a loyalty hire. This was payback. It is OK to scratch your head and won-der, but no bickering. Butch has already said he knows what’s best for the Vols.

Butch worked for Mike long, long ago at Central Michigan. Together they produced a 12-34 record. DeBord did give Jones a big

boost in his career. Butch has returned the favor, res-cuing Mike from oblivion and adding the encourage-ment of a $500,000 salary.

We have been told that this enhances the status quo, that little or nothing will change about the Jones offense. I don’t believe that. The Vols need more touch-downs. They need to be able to gain a yard now and then, when they absolutely must have one. Maybe DeBord can coach a power forma-tion. He once did.

Offense did not come easy for Tennessee the past two seasons. It fi nished 104th and 93rd in national rankings. The Vols were 69th in red zone touchdown percentage in 2014. Those perfectly relaxed about the

future may think that is OK. It isn’t.

I have no concerns about DeBord as offensive coordi-nator. He may even be great, as soon as he catches up with what is going on.

I am amazed that Butch is passing him off as a quar-terback coach. His fi rst and last fl ing at that assign-ment was the mid-1980s at Fort Hays State. Quarter-back coach of those famous names at Michigan (Tom Brady, Brian Griese, etc.) was Stan Parrish.

Based on last season’s ar-gument that Joshua Dobbs needed considerable im-provement on fundamentals and the current dilemma of three freshmen posing as quarterback depth, it would seem that Jones needed a

master technician as teacher.Old friend Mike DeBord

is a line coach. He does bring a lifetime of experience and warm compatibility.

“Comfort” is a bigger word in Butch’s vocabulary than in mine. I thought “comfort” was part of the 2014 problem.

The coaching staff was more comfortable with Jus-tin Worley at quarterback because he was a better practice player, had a bet-ter grasp of the offense, was less likely to make mistakes and would stick to plans. It didn’t seem to matter that he couldn’t run the read op-tion.

It hurts to say what I’ve been thinking, that there would have been no bowl game had Worley survived. Justin would have deserved a medal for true grit and everlasting respect for raw courage, but no way does

Tennessee upset South Caro-lina without Joshua Dobbs.

Now we know and under-stand.

This, indeed, looks like the beginning of seashells and balloons for Tennessee football. There is reason for optimism.

The Lyle Allen Jones Reconstruction Company has done the preliminary brick work. His method has merit. There will be no more 7-6s.

Spring practice, even in relative secret, fi gures to be exciting. Already there is chatter about the Orange and White game. And an SEC East title! Some can barely wait. Go Vols!

I hope the new coach can help the team win. If the Vols make it to Atlanta, that might mean top 10 in the polls. Call it to my attention when it happens. That will be the real comfort zone.

My fi rst encounter with Tyler Harber was in 2001 when he was working in Joe Bailey’s fi rst city council campaign.

The rise and fall of Tyler Harber

Betty Bean

I’d taken a couple of pokes at him as the new en-fant terrible of local politics, and one night when Joe met me at a blues bar in the Old City to drop off some cam-paign literature, he men-tioned that Tyler was wait-ing for him in the car.

My recollection is that he couldn’t get into the bar because he wasn’t 21 yet, but Joe recently told me that Ty-ler thought it better to wait in the car because he fi g-

ured I was out to get him. It wouldn’t have taken a politi-cal savant to fi gure that out, because I loved to crack bad jokes about the escapades of Sun Tzu-quoting under-graduates being unleashed on the world by UT’s politi-cal science department.

The last time I heard from Tyler was Nov. 12, 2014, when he sent me an email asking me to come up to D.C. to interview him. He said the Department of Jus-tice was focusing on Repub-lican consultants who were running super PACs:

“I’ve trusted you to write the truth before. Can I pay for you to come up here to meet me once more? One more interview,” he wrote.

“I need an impartial, reasonable, no BS-telling of why I’m going to federal prison for calling Obama a criminal repeatedly on na-

tional television. Are you up for a story with as much complexity as the series you wrote about me previously?

“Sooner rather than later. DoJ is pushing hard and I can’t hold them off too much longer. You’ve been the journalist I’ve trusted. Plus this is going to be a na-tional story. I wanted to give you fi rst dibs.

“Let me know. I know this is a very f’d-up request. But in the end of my politi-cal career, I’d much prefer that you write my ‘epitaph’ than the Times, Post or any other rag inside the beltway.

“Let me know.“Best regards, Tyler”Flabbergasted, I e-mailed

him back, asking him to call me. He never responded.

RagsdaleHarber’s situation be-

came brutally clear last

week when the news broke that he’d pleaded guilty to illegally coordinating a po-litical campaign with a su-per PAC he’d created, direct-ing more than $300,000 to the campaign and diverting $138,000 of that to a com-pany run by his mother.

The news brought back a fl ood of memories – Mike Ragsdale’s 2002 county ex-ecutive campaign kickoff at the L&N Station to the tune of the Beatles’ “Here comes the sun.”

And there he was – Tyler Harber – fi xing to embark on the long-term project of helping Ragsdale become governor.

When Ragsdale was sworn in, Tyler got a nebu-lous job on the sixth fl oor. Later he was transferred to the county probation of-fi ce, supposedly monitoring prisoners’ ankle bracelets. A lot of us guffawed at that, because we spotted him do-ing stuff like chauffeuring the mayor here and there

and skulking around meet-ings keeping tabs on errant county commissioners who weren’t toeing the Ragsdale line.

Over time, recalcitrant commissioners began to complain that they were being threatened with re-election problems if they didn’t get with the program. Specifi cally, they said that they were being told that the mayor would sic the ruthless boy genius on them if they didn’t straighten up. Occasionally Tyler got caught misbehaving in pub-lic and would get his knuck-les rapped.

It all came to a head in 2006 when GOP county chair Chad Tindell refused to turn over a mailing list to the Ragsdale re-election campaign that he’d com-plied during the previous presidential election. Tyler, who was somehow privy to Tindell’s email password, printed out Tindell’s email correspondence and passed

it on to Ragsdale and his body man Mike Arms. Threats, intimidation and car chases ensured. Tyler departed for Washington.

But he was heard from one more time.

WashingtonShortly after Ragsdale’s

less than impressive 2006 re-election victory, an anonymous blog post asked, “Missing me now?”

“Tyler,” I thought.After tracking him down,

I spent a weekend in Wash-ington interviewing Tyler, and the result was a three-part Shopper-News series detailing the work he had done in the service of Mike Ragsdale. (The trip was solely at my expense, reim-bursed in part by the Shop-per.)

The interview included a description of his bogus probation job, a detailed account of attempting to

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(Students, Parents, Edu-cations Across Knox), the organization she and oth-ers put together last year at

the begin-ning of what came to be known as the teacher r e b e l l i o n , got elected as well. So Amy Cate will become vice presi-

dent; Linda Holtzclaw, sec-retary; Julie Smalling, high school executive board rep and Mark Taylor middle school executive board rep. Dave Gorman and Sherry Morgan were elected to the

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • 5 government

Deborah Huddleston and Karen Pershing of the Metropolitan Drug Commission display Born

Drug-Free in Tennessee materials. The initiative aims to raise awareness about babies being

born addicted to drugs. Photo by Wendy Smith

Campaign aims to keep babies off drugsWe’ve produced many

exceptional things in East Tennessee – Mountain Dew, hydroelectric power and the 1982 World’s Fair, to name a few.

“This is not an addict-under-the-bridge problem. This is a person-sitting-next-to-you-in-church problem.”

Agencies from across the region, including the non-profi t Metropolitan Drug Commission and East Ten-nessee Children’s Hospital, partnered with the East Tennessee NAS Task Force to kick off the Born Drug-Free Tennessee education initiative last week.

The goal of the program is to raise awareness about babies being born exposed to prescription and other drugs. Education is aimed at medical providers, wom-en who are pregnant or at risk of becoming pregnant, and their families.

Karen Pershing, execu-tive director of the Metro-politan Drug Commission, says the problem stems from lack of communica-tion. Last week, 29 OB/GYN doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and nursing students participated in Born Drug-

Free Tennessee training. Through role-play, the med-ical providers learned how to talk to women about ad-diction. It’s not something they’re comfortable asking about, she says.

Pregnant women also need education. They think pain pills are safe because doctors prescribe them, and access points are every-where. Knox County has 35 registered pain clinics.

Those who recognize that they are addicted, or even dependent, face enormous challenges. They get sick if they quit taking pills, and replacement therapies, like methadone, are also harm-ful to babies. Information on the Born Drug-Free Ten-nessee website can help ad-dicted women make chang-es and move forward with their lives, Saunders says.

Prescriptions for pain pills rose in response to the under-treatment of pain in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, no one

realized how addictive the drugs were, she says. Even now, large prescriptions aren’t uncommon.

“There’s no need for opi-ates to the degree that doc-tors are prescribing them.”

Despite the number of NAS babies, Saunders has hope. A lot of people are looking for ways to help.

Pershing hopes to see the number of NAS babies born in Knox County drop 20 percent by 2016. It’s a lofty goal, but she thinks it’s pos-sible through education. The Born Drug-Free Tennessee message is being spread via the Internet, radio, televi-sion, posters and brochures, and her voice. She’s happy to speak to community groups about the work of the Met-ropolitan Drug Commission – substance abuse preven-tion – and she always men-tions the smallest victims of drug abuse.

“I always bring up the babies.” Info: www.borndrugfreetn.com

Wendy Smith

Unless you’ve been liv-ing under a rock, you know that this region also cranks out something that should make us all shudder: drug dependent newborns. The Tennessee Department of Health’s 16-county East Tennessee region produced a whopping 27 percent of the state’s 973 Neona-tal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) babies in 2014. Knox County alone produced 10.6 percent of the total number, which continues to rise.

These babies are sick be-cause they are addicted to drugs ingested by their ad-dicted mothers. The babies, and their moms, are the sad fallout of the region’s over-prescription of opi-ates. Addiction to prescrip-tion drugs is something that can happen to anyone, says Carla Saunders, a neonatal nurse practitioner at East Tennessee Children’s Hos-pital.

By Betty BeanAsked what’s fi rst when

she takes over as president of the Knox County Educa-tion Association July 1, Lau-ren Hopson didn’t hesitate:

“Increase membership and give teachers a voice.”

This shouldn’t surprise anyone who has observed the Halls third grade teach-er since her “Tired Teacher” speech at the October 2013 school board forum.

Being president of KCEA is full-time, so Hopson will be taking a leave of absence from teaching.

If there was a KCEA elec-tion surprise, it’s the slate of offi cers who will enter with her. Members of SPEAK

Hopson and allies to take helm of teachers’ association

Hopson

team that interviews candi-dates for public offi ce.

Here is how Amy Cate de-scribes their platform: “We are for truth and honesty in education – not smoke and mirrors of false promises from the educational re-formers… This is 2015 and managing teachers through fear and intimidation is not acceptable. … We pride our-selves in being seekers of truth, but we are far from being radical. I promise!”

Hopson likes being part of a team: “It is a strange feel-ing to be excited and scared to death at the same time. My biggest fear was getting elected without the rest of them there to help me.”

One of the fi rst issues she wants to address is helping teachers re-establish some control over their profes-sional lives.

“Over the last fi ve days, I’ve had two days of plan-ning time. We’re supposed to have it every day. Techni-cally, under Tennessee law, I get 2.5 hours per week, which works out to 45 min-utes a day.”

Instead, she has been required to attend a tech-nology meeting and a PLC (professional learning com-munity) meeting.

“What we’re supposed to be doing is do grade-level planning, identifying kids who need help; but usually,

we just look at test data. Pretty much there isn’t anything I can do in a PLC meeting that is more impor-tant than planning for my students the next day. Last year, we asked for PLCs to be done monthly rather than weekly. If I worked at a TAP school, I’d have a clus-ter meeting – you don’t have to think long at all to fi gure out what those are called.”

And that’s just for start-ers.

Hopson, who is from Greeneville, started her professional life armed with degrees in psychology and sociology. She worked with troubled kids at a residen-tial treatment center for

several years. In 2000, she went back to the University of Tennessee on a Lynd-hurst fellowship, earned a master’s in education, and went to work for Knox County Schools.

She describes herself as generally conservative, but motivated into the politi-cal arena by learning of the plight of two friends, whom she describes as “amaz-ing teachers, who, because of one test, had their jobs threatened. Now, they are both teachers of the year at their respective schools – and they’ll probably never talk to you because they don’t want that kind of at-tention.”

VictorAshe

derail a referendum on Ragsdale’s county wheel tax proposal and a recounting of an attempt to access con-fi dential medical records of political foes, plus lots of in-timidation of other elected offi cials.

It was explosive stuff, and although Ragsdale compelled department heads and other employees to sign sworn statements

disavowing Tyler’s allega-tions, nothing he told me in that marathon interview has ever been proven false. Nothing.

Unlikely as it would have seemed in 2001, Tyler Har-ber became a valued friend and source to me over the years. I watched his rise through the Republican fi rmament – “Elections and Campaigns” magazine

named him a Rising Star in 2012 – and he was making regular appearances as a commentator on Fox News. Last October, his refusal to join in on Fox’s wholesale bashing of Muslims was widely reported on other news outlets.

He and his wife, who is carving a niche for herself as a “military romance” author (who knew there was such

a genre?), are the parents of two cute little kids. I was impressed by his personal and professional growth over the years since he was Mike Ragsdale’s dirty tricks specialist. Then it all came crashing down.

This morning, I read that “Elections and Campaigns” has revoked his Rising Star award. And sentencing is set for May.

Tyler Harber From previous page

Recently I wrote the odds favored Gov. Haslam getting Medicaid expan-sion passed in the special legislative session. Little did I think that it would fail so overwhelmingly in less than 48 hours at the hands of fellow Republicans.

Never has a major initia-tive from the governor been scuttled so quickly and decisively. What happened?

There are many theories and all have some element of truth. But based on my own 15 years in the Legis-lature, there seems to be several factors.

First, the governor erred in calling a special session instead of letting Insure Tennessee be considered in the regular session. Weeks were needed to pull togeth-er a majority in both House and Senate, if it could be done. In hindsight, it prob-ably would have failed in the regular session too, but not so spectacularly.

Second, the governor never had an accurate count of lawmakers showing a majority in favor. Whatever count he had was not close and was based on hope, not reality. He believed that his plan was so logical and so different from Obamacare that it would prevail after all the facts were outlined, combined with strong busi-ness community support.

The votes simply were not there to pass the plan.

Third, there were early warning signs of deep trouble when both speakers (Republicans, too) declined to endorse the plan. Then the Senate majority leader refused to sponsor the plan. Then there was not a written agreement with the Obama Administra-tion. Then the House GOP caucus chair said he was opposed.

Fourth, extensive lobby-ing by hospital executives who spoke of the fi scal plight facing hospitals when top leadership’s pay, even at the medium and smaller hospitals, often exceeds $250.000 and in some cases reaches $600,000 hardly indicated a fi nancial crisis. Only TVA is more tone deaf when it comes to paying outrageously high salaries to the top folks. Erlanger in Chattanooga recently handed out over $1 million in bonuses to top personnel. This was not the governor’s doing but he got caught in the crossfi re.

Fifth, the governor would have been well advised to have discussed this during his re-election campaign last fall. Then he could have said voters knew of it and backed it. He de-nied himself a mandate on the issue he did not raise.

The high point of the ses-sion was Haslam’s address which was as articulate a speech as he has ever given and came from the heart. It simply did not register with members who had already decided to vote “no” on an extension of Obamacare and bigger government.

The governor will and should move on. This Legis-lature probably will not act on this until a new Presi-dent takes offi ce on Jan. 20, 2017. While its failure is a setback and embarrassing, it is not the end of the world and Haslam has four more years to lead the state in an exceptional manner.

The quick death of Insure Tennessee

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6 • FEBRUARY 18, 2014 • Shopper news

Betsy Pickle

By Betsy PickleThe Oscars may be

drawing the bulk of atten-tion from movie lovers this weekend, but theaters have to keep selling popcorn. Three fi lms are opening in wide release Friday.

Kevin Costner continues what feels like a comeback with “McFarland, USA.” With “Black or White” still getting love at the box of-fi ce, Costner piles on with this inspirational fi lm based on a true story.

Costner plays Jim White, a disgraced high-school football coach who winds up in a small town in Cali-fornia, teaching P.E. and science in a primarily His-panic school.

As he and his family try to deal with culture shock,

he notices that several boys at school are exception-ally fast runners, and he recruits them for a cross-country team.

Scoffed at by their better-funded competitors, the team trains hard and heads for a fi nale that won’t be a surprise for anyone who’s ever seen an inspirational sports movie. Maria Bello also stars in the fi lm di-rected by Niki Caro (“Whale Rider”).

The hot tub and many of the cast members are back, but not John Cusack in “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” the sequel to the 2010 hit.

The characters seek out the mysterious hot tub once more to go back in time when one of their own is shot. Adam Scott, Rob

Corddry, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Chevy Chase, Thomas Lennon and Gil-lian Jacobs star for director Steve Pink, also returning.

“The DUFF” delves into high-school life and a twist on “Mean Girls.”

A high school senior de-cides not to take it when she discovers that the student body has labeled her the DUFF – Designated Ugly Fat Friend – to her more at-tractive friends.

She tries to reinvent her-self and upend the social pecking order at her school, starting with taking down the queen bee.

Mae Whitman, Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell, Nick Eversman, Ken Jeong and Allison Janney star for di-rector Ari Sandel.

Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) encourages his team in “McFarland, USA.”

Oscar alternatives

The bookies aren’t as busy as with the Super Bowl, and the list isn’t as long as the Grammys, but the 87th Academy Awards, airing this Sunday night on ABC, should draw one of the biggest TV crowds of the year.

Controversy always in-trigues an audience, and “American Sniper” – nomi-nated for six Oscars – has stoked one fi re after anoth-er. Between the critics’ pans and the divide between viewers, Clint Eastwood’s omission from the best di-rector nominations, the real-life debate over Chris Kyle’s achievements during wartime and the real-life trial now deciding the fate of Kyle’s killer, “American Sniper” has become the most interesting subplot of the Oscars.

It may even be more in-teresting than the show itself. Nominated for Best Picture along with “Bird-man or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Boy-hood,” “The Grand Buda-pest Hotel,” “The Imita-tion Game,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash,” “American Sniper” isn’t seen as a con-tender.

The race is between “Boyhood” and “Birdman.” As clever and well-made as “Birdman” is, nothing is cleverer or better made this year than “Boyhood.” “Boy-hood” pushes the boundar-ies of fi lmmaking in dozens of ways, and its gamble re-sults in a beautiful, compel-ling story.

Best Actor (female): Nominees are Marion Co-

Pickle picks the Oscars

tillard, “Two Days, One Night”; Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”; Ju-lianne Moore, “Still Alice”; Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”; Reese Witherspoon, “Wild.”

This is a fantastic line-up, but the only name that counts is Moore’s. This is her third nomination for lead – she’s also been nomi-nated twice for supporting. Hollywood loves her; the public loves her. She’s get-ting the gold.

Best Actor (male): Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”; Brad-ley Cooper, “American Snip-er”; Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”; Mi-chael Keaton, “Birdman”; Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything.”

It’s a phenomenal fi eld, but an old favorite is poised to win. While this is only the fi rst nomination for Keaton, he is a talented and beloved star seemingly making a comeback in an “arty” fi lm about an actor making a comeback. Life will imitate art.

Best Supporting Actor (female): Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”; Laura Dern, “Wild”; Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”; Emma Stone, “Birdman”; Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods.”

This worthy list also has a frontrunner, and – amaz-ingly – it isn’t Streep, who

already has one support-ing and two lead Oscars from 18 previous nomina-tions. Early accolades have overwhelmingly favored Arquette, whose work in “Boyhood” is complex and controlled. The journeyman star will fi nally get her due.

Best Supporting Ac-tor (male): Robert Duvall, “The Judge”; Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”; Edward Nor-ton, “Birdman”; Mark Ruf-falo, “Foxcatcher”; J.K. Sim-mons, “Whiplash.”

This may be the most suspenseful race of all the major categories. Eachnominee is impressive, but the two generating the most excitement are Ruffalo and Simmons. Ruffalo was nom-inated previously for “The Kids Are All Right,” and he’s terrifi c in “Foxcatcher.” Simmons is a newbie in the Oscar world, but the man has done everything from the creepiest of convicts to the most lovable of father fi gures. His tough-guy act in “Whiplash” is a sight to be-hold, and Oscar voters will want to reward him here for a lifetime of greatness.

Best Director: Alejan-dro G. Inarritu, “Birdman”; Richard Linklater, “Boy-hood”; Bennet Miller, “Fox-catcher”; Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Ho-tel”; Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game.”

Not a weak spot here, but only one spent 12 years making a fi lm that turned out to be a masterpiece. Can’t wait to see Richard Linklater – the man who directed the classic “Dazed and Confused” – pick up the Oscar for “Boyhood.”

Patricia Ar-

quette plays

the mom of

Ellar Coltrane

in “Boyhood,”

nominated for

six Academy

Awards.

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 18, 2014 • 7 weekenderFRIDAY-SUNDAY

■ Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents “Built To

Amaze” at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker

Jr. Ave. Showtimes: 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.

Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Info/tickets: Coliseum Box Offi ce,

215-8999.

FRIDAY ■ Antonin Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater” performance by the

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Tennessee The-

atre, 604 S. Gay St. Part of the Moxley Carmichael Master-

works Series. Tickets: KnoxvilleTickets.com, 656-4444; KSO

box offi ce: 291-3310.

SATURDAY ■ The Black Jacket Symphony performs The Beatles’

“Abbey Road,” 8 p.m., Bijou Theater, 803 S. Gay St. Tickets:

$27.50 plus applicable service fees. Info/tickets: http://www.

knoxbijou.com.

SUNDAY ■ “Hollywood’s Night Out” presented by Young Variety at

Regal Entertainment Group’s Riviera 8 Downtown. Watch the

Oscar’s live on Regal’s big screen. Doors open 7 p.m. Tickets:

$35. Tickets: Fandango Online or the Regal Riviera Box Offi ce.

Proceeds go to Variety of Eastern Tennessee’s Kids on the Go!

Program. Info: Variety of Eastern Tennessee on Facebook.

■ Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Winter Concerts:

4:30 p.m. featuring four of the fi ve Youth Orchestras and

7 p.m. featuring the top Youth Orchestra with solos by

the Concerto Competition winners 8th grader Autumn

Arsenault, piano and Farragut High School sophomore Jerry

Zhou, cello; Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Free admis-

sion.

■ Young Pianist Series Concert featuring Steven Lin, 2:30

p.m., Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie L. Haslam Music

Center, 1741 Volunteer Blvd. UT campus. Tickets at the door

or online: students free, $25 adults. Info/tickets: 408-8083 or

www.youngpianistseries.com.

Did you know that Knoxville is home to 21 museums? And here’s some startling info: according to the website moretoknox-ville.com, their total annu-al attendance exceeds that of all UT home football games combined.

Painter Karla Wozniak’s 2014 “Mountain Building,” currently on display at the KMA Photo courtesy of KMA

Carol Shane

That’s a lot of art lovers!The big kahuna, of

course, is the Knoxville Museum of Art. It’s home to not only a world-class collection of visual art, but the wildly popular Alive After Five concert series, as well as the brilliant KSO Concertmaster Series of classical concerts.

Right now is a great time to visit the museum, what with the changeable weather and often gloomy skies. Is it spring? Still winter? Who knows? Put away the gardening tools and canoe for a few more weeks, anyway, and find beauty and intrigue inside the KMA.

Three local artists – two painters and one mixed-media sculptor – are cur-rently featured in “Con-temporary Focus,” an annual exhibition designed to serve as a vital means of recognizing, support-ing, and documenting the development of contempo-rary art in East Tennessee. Each year, the exhibition series features the work of artists who are living and making art in this region, and who are exploring is-sues relevant to the larger world of contemporary art.

Painter Karla Wozniak holds degrees in painting from Yale University and Rhode Island School of Design, including partici-pation in RISD’s European Honors Program in Rome, Italy. Her paintings have been exhibited all over the U.S. and in Germany. She is currently an assistant professor of painting at the University of Tennessee’s School of Art.

Anyone who enjoys the daring and vibrant use of color will love Wozniak’s densely patterned, exuber-ant works. She’s a modern-day Fauve, referring to a group of early-20th-cen-tury French Impressionist painters who used vivid palettes. Wozniak draws inspiration from nature as well as the urban land-scape.

The other featured painter, Mira Gerard, is chair and associate profes-sor in the department of art & design at East Ten-nessee State University.

From the KMA website: “Mira Gerard’s shadowy, expansive figure paintings integrate subject matter from her own video record-ings and found imagery in ways that blur the bound-aries between dream and reality.”

Gerard’s ghostly figures are sometimes gently in-tercepted by objects, as if they’re made of air. Faces are obscured, backgrounds are multi-layered, gauzy, swirling.

On her website, Gerard states, “I make paintings of the figure as a way to understand desire, which functions in my work in

part as a fantasy about be-ing both subject and mak-er.”

Mixed-media sculptor Caroline Covington’s aim is often to provoke and un-settle. She produces “works that explore notions of dis-placement, mortality and chance,” according to the KMA website. In addition to her studio practice, Cov-ington is assistant profes-sor of sculpture at Chat-tanooga State Community College.

Covington says, “My cur-rent work exposes the anxi-eties and apprehensions felt towards the myths of the past and the uncertain-ties of the future through interactive installations incorporating found and fabricated objects, perfor-mance, video and monu-mental structures. As view-

Did k th t

www.ShopperNewsNow.comNorth offi ce: 7049 Maynardville Pike • Knoxville, TN 37918 • (865) 922-4136 • Fax: 922-5275

West offi ce: 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500 • Knoxville, TN 37932 • (865) 218-WEST (9378) • Fax: 342-6628 wsNow.comNow.commow.comw.com.comcom

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I love seafood, so seeing a type I have never tried be-fore on the menu at Bistro by the Tracks made my din-ner selection an easy one. Grilled cobia turned out to be a fi rm and meaty fi sh with such a delicious and mild fl avor that I cleaned my plate in no time.

Cobia, according to some quick Internet research, is sometimes called black kingfi sh or black salmon, which is something of a mystery as it isn’t anything like kingfi sh or salmon and

The fi rm and delicious cobia is the star of this dish at Bistro by

the Tracks. Photo by Mystery Diner

Plate it

Bistro by the Tracks

Mystery Diner

isn’t black. It’s a saltwater fi sh, and most of the sup-ply for restaurants comes from aqua-farms. Cobia’s mild fl avor makes it a chef’s favorite at high-end restau-rants.

The cobia at Bistro by the Tracks is served with Anson Mills’ Farro Verde – another menu item that sent me to the Internet – and pickled vegetables, thinly sliced radishes, lemon and arugula. Farro is simply an Italian name for emmer wheat. It has a slightly nutty taste, can have a smoky fl avor and is cooked soft, but still with a slight crunch. It is rather

like risotto, but not as soft.The sauce is the perfect

complement to the whole dish. The key is starting at the top layer and mak-ing sure your fork goes all the way to the bottom of the plate, getting a little of every component into each bite.

Just eat it. The combina-tion of the cobia, the tang of the pickled vegetables and the farro verde will make

this one of your favorite dishes. If you love seafood, you’ll go back to Bistro by the Tracks for this one.

Bistro by the Tracks, 215 Brookview Centre Way, is located off Northshore

Drive in the center behind Walgreens and the former TGI Friday’s restaurant. Go now, and then return for lunch when they open their beautiful patio.

ers consider the work and the narratives therein, a sense of dread stirs both memories and premoni-tions, fueling fears and dis-rupting intimacy.”

So, some uncomfortable feelings may arise. But what better place to ex-plore and expand than in an art museum?

“Contemporary Focus” runs through April 19 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, just off 11th Street at 1050 World’s Fair Park. For more information, includ-ing other current exhibits, visit knoxart.org or call 525-6101.Send story suggestions to news@

shoppernewsnow.com.

8 • FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news kids

By Betsy PickleNew Hopewell Elemen-

tary School has named Lee Ann Carter Teacher of the Year.

A Doyle High School graduate, Carter earned an associate degree in Bible from Johnson Bible College and a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Kentucky Wesleyan

College. She earned her master’s of education from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

Carter began her career teaching kindergarten in Kentucky. She later did sub-stitute teaching and taught preschool and fi rst grade in Missouri while her hus-band, Todd, was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base.

Lee Ann Carter

New Hopewell names Carter Teacher of the Year

When the Carters moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, she was licensed by the base to do family child care in her home. She was nominated several times and in 1999 won Family Child Care Pro-vider of the Year for Wright-

Most childrendream of dollhouses,big trucks, roller coasters and birthday parties.

But some dream ofshelter, safety, family,and love

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By Wendy SmithA.J. Tierney was in third

grade when she saw a pro-duction of “Peter Pan” and said, “I want to do that.” Her parents immediately began sending her on auditions, and over the next couple of years, she appeared in plays at the Black Box Theater in Bearden and the Bijou The-atre.

Looking back, A.J. thinks “Peter Pan” made her want to fl y, not act. But after ap-pearing in 12 different pro-ductions and now directing at the Knoxville Children’s Theatre, it’s clear that she’s capable of doing both.

Whether or not it was what she intended, acting came naturally to her.

“I was that loud kid no one knew what to do with. No one ever told me to go bigger.”

The West High School junior directs “Alice’s Rum-pus in Wonderland,” which opens Friday, Feb. 20. She was given the opportunity after interning for a year with the children’s theater, located at 109 E. Churchwell Avenue.

As an intern, she ex-perienced every aspect of backstage work, from props to stage management. She

also choreographed several wordless sequences when she co-directed last fall’s production of “Hound of the Baskervilles.”

She was initially nervous about directing the young cast because some of them are almost like siblings. She’s known some since the fourth grade, and was con-cerned that they wouldn’t see her as an authority fi g-ure.

But they’ve behaved so professionally that it hasn’t been an issue, she says.

The leadership skills A.J. learned as an intern have helped. One of her respon-sibilities as stage manager was discipline, and she learned how to correct gen-tly with phrases like, “I’m disappointed in you.”

She loves having the op-portunity to direct.

“I’ve always sat in the audience during shows and thought, ‘This is what I’d do.’ So it’s cool to have the power to do that.”

She compares direct-ing with being an artist, or painter. As an artist, she has numerous tools, or ge-niuses, at her disposal, she says. In addition to 18 hard-working actors, her work is supported by a talented

crew of costumers and set designers. She’s also backed up by the theater’s executive director, Zack Allen.

He wrote the adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Al-ice Through the Looking-Glass,” but it was A.J.’s idea to set the play in New York City during the Roaring 1920s.

“Think of the parallels of the craziness of New York and Wonderland,” she says.

The play begins at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1925 when Alice loses Har-ry Houdini’s white rabbit. While chasing the rabbit, she fi nds herself in the ho-tel elevator, which takes her down to Wonderland.

As much as she’s enjoyed directing, acting is A.J.’s fi rst love. She plans to pur-sue acting in college, and since she expects to spend much of her senior year au-ditioning, “Alice’s Rumpus in Wonderland” may be the end of an era for her.

“I wanted to put a stamp on something before I left,” she says.

Performances are Feb. 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28, and March 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Info: 208-3677 or knoxvil-lechildrenstheatre.com

A.J. Tierney gives feedback to the cast of “Alice’s Rumpus in Wonderland.” The Knoxville Chil-

dren’s Theatre production opens this Friday. Photo by Wendy Smith

West High student directs ‘Alice’ adaptation

Textbooks available for public review Parents and community members who wish to review

math textbooks and instructional materials proposed for use in the Knox County Schools during the 2015-2016 school year can view the selections at the Sarah Simp-son Professional Development Center, 801 Tipton Ave., through Feb. 20.

At the Bonny Kate father-daughter dance are fi rst-grader Brooklyn Jolly, left, and kindergartner

Caroline Berry can barely hold still long enough to pose with fathers Tony Jolly, left, and Jeff

Berry. Photo by Betsy Pickle

Patterson Air Force Base.Two years later, she be-

came a training curricu-lum specialist at the base. When her husband retired from the Air Force in 2006, the family moved to South Knoxville.

Soon afterward, she was offered a full-time position at New Hopewell, teaching fi rst and second grades for several years before settling in fi rst grade alone.

Her current and past ser-vice includes the Leader-

ship Team, Family Engage-ment, Arts 360 coordinator and Mentoring Team.

Lee Ann and Todd have been married for 25 years and have two daughters, Hayle and Abby.

Madeline, a prehen-

sile tailed skink, is a

29-year resident of

the Knoxville Zoo. Photo by Xavier Hill

Louise Hargis of the Knoxville Zoo shows Madeline to

students at Sarah Moore Greene. Photo by Destiny Woods

Skink alert!

Louise Conrad Hargis brought a reptile in a cooler to last week’s newspaper club at Sarah Moore Greene. It was Madeline, a prehen-sile tailed skink.

The reporters touched the lizard and asked good questions:

Does it change colors?

No.What does it eat?Kale and carrots.Who are her predators?Owls, hawks and eagles.“She smells with her

tongue,” said Hargis. Reporters commented on

the skink’s long fi ngers (fi ve per hand) and her tail which

functions “like another hand,” according to Hargis.

Someone asked how Har-gis got her job at the zoo.

“I majored in ecology and biodiversity in college, but what helped most was my summers spent working as a camp counselor.”

– S. Clark

Newspaper club gets zoo visit

School board sets mid-month workshopThe Knox County Board

of Education will hold its mid-month work session at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, in its boardroom on the fi rst fl oor of the Andrew Johnson Building, 912 S. Gay Street.

The full agenda and sup-porting documentation are available on the Board of Education page of the Knox

County Schools website. Supporting documents may

be viewed on the website or downloaded in a PDF form.

Shopper news • FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • 9 business

Free tax assistance availableVolunteer Income Tax

Assistance (VITA) pro-gram, which offers free tax preparation by certifi ed vol-unteers to low-to moderate-income families and house-holds, is available at three locations.

Goodwill, 5307 Kingston Pike: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tues-days through Thursdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Satur-days, through April 15.

Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fri-days through April 10.

Westside Unitarian Uni-

versalist Church, 616 Fretz Road: 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 14.

Documents needed in-clude: Social Security card and birthday for each per-son on the return; taxpayer photo ID; original W-2s, 1099Rs, SSA1099s, etc., for all income; proof of health insurance – a new require-ment. Optional documents: last year’s return, proof of account for direct deposit and expenses for deduc-tions.

Info: www.irs.gov.

Let’s face it. There are businesses that you hope you’ll never need to visit. But when you are faced with repairing your vehicle after a collision, you want a place with excellent qualifi ca-tions. Dalton Collision fi lls the bill – and then some.

Jerry Dalton was in the fi berglass repair division at Sea Ray Boats, but soon he was also working on cars. It wasn’t long before his customers also needed col-lision repair, so he and wife Donna opened Dalton Colli-sion in a garage in 1991.

In 1998, the business re-located to the current build-ing at 355 Rutledge Pike near Blaine. With 8,600 square feet, it appeared the building would have plenty of space. However, in the typical Dalton fashion of growth and progress, an ad-ditional 4,000 square feet is being built adjacent to the current location and is scheduled for completion in March.

The new space will in-clude a dedicated alumi-num room. With stricter government standards for fuel economy, manufactur-ers are being required to re-duce the weight of cars and trucks. Aluminum reduces the weight of the average vehicle by 700 pounds. The

SOUTH KNOX SENIOR CENTER ■ Wednesday, Feb. 18: 7:30

a.m. free swim; 8:30 a.m.

guitar lessons; 9 a.m. painting;

10 a.m. quilting; 11 a.m. Water

Peeps; noon bridge.

■ Thursday, Feb. 19: 7:30

a.m. free swim; 9 a.m. water

aerobics, South Knox Opry; 10

a.m. Water Pilates; 12:15 p.m.

ballroom dance; 1 p.m. Rook,

water aerobics; 1:30 p.m. line

dance; 2 p.m. Water Pilates.

■ Friday, Feb. 20: 7:30 a.m.

free swim; 8:45 a.m. advanced

senior cardio fi tness; 9 a.m.

water aerobics; 10 a.m. yoga;

11 a.m. SAIL exercise, cards,

water peeps; 1 p.m. water

aerobics, beginning art.

■ Monday, Feb. 23: 7:30 a.m.

free swim; 9 a.m. Taxaide,

water aerobics; 10 a.m. Water

Pilates; 11 a.m. quilting, Water

Peeps; 1 p.m. bridge, water

aerobics, Gospel singing/pot-

luck lunch.

■ Tuesday, Feb. 24: 7:30 a.m.

free swim; 8:45 a.m. Senior

Cardio Fitness, dulcimer les-

sons; 9 a.m. water aerobics;

10 a.m. crafts/beading, SAIL

exercises; 11 a.m. Tai Chi I;

12:30 p.m. Tai Chi II; 1 p.m.

water aerobics; 2 p.m. Water

Pilates, yoga.

■ Info: 573-5843.

Donna and Jerry Dalton have spent over 20 years building their

successful business. Photo by Nancy Whittaker

Dalton Collision: Gold Class Shop

Nancy Whittaker

Daltons want to stay one step ahead of the future needs of consumers. New Ford F150s are currently made of aluminum. Dal-ton Collision has already been aluminum certifi ed for Ford, as well as for Nis-san, Infi nity, Honda, Acura, General Motors and Chrys-ler.

Certifi cations are impor-tant to Jerry and Donna. The Daltons require all 16 employees to stay current on the latest technology. Local and regional training has resulted in Dalton Colli-sion being designated as an I-CAR (Inter-Industry Con-ference on Auto Collision Repair) Gold Class Shop for 16 years, the longest of any shop in the state of Tennes-see, according to Jerry.

Some insurance compa-nies require collision repair to be done by a Gold Class Shop.

Blueprinting the car – taking a car apart and look-ing for hidden damages

By Alvin NanceMargaret Bowling, 86, is

proof that you are never too old to fi nd your passion. She published her fi rst novel two years ago and completed her second, “Mountain Glory,” last year.

The Northgate Terrace resident has been invited to bring her newest novel to the KCDC board of commis-sioners meeting when every commissioner will be given a book purchased by Knox-ville’s Community Develop-ment Corporation.

In just a few months, Bowling already has sold more than 100 books, even though she never picked up a pen to write until she retired and began crafting stories in spiral notebooks.

Both novels center on an-cestors who lived in Scott County in a small commu-nity called Norma in the late 1800s. The fi rst book, “Mountain Refuge,” focuses on the childhood and early life of her great-grandfa-

Bowling fi nds purpose in writingNews from Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC)

Terri Evans (left) and Alvin Nance (right) have their copies of

“Mountain Glory” signed by author Margaret Bowling at a

book signing at Northgate Terrace.

ther, Will Wilson. The 254-page sequel follows Wilson as he raises his children and also tells the story of the Wilson family’s friends and neighbors. This book is about twice as long as Bowl-ing’s fi rst effort.

Bowling said the second book was fun to write, be-cause she had reached the

point where she was writing about people she knew fi rst-hand, such as her grand-mother, Nancy Wilson, who is a child in this book.

Publishing was the hard-est part of the process. She wrote “Mountain Glory” in a few months, but it took nearly two years to publish. Her hard work paid off, be-

cause both books now are available on Amazon in both print and digital forms.

Bowling has received a great response from Scott County folks. To her, that’s the best part of writing this book.

“I’m meeting a lot of new people,” Bowling said. “I never dreamed I’d have so many friends.”

Bowling has lived at Northgate Terrace for more than 25 years and has cer-tainly been one of our most engaging residents.

“We are very proud to have a published author,” said Terri Evans, Northgate Terrace senior asset man-ager. “KCDC staff and resi-dents are eagerly awaiting the next edition to see what happens next to Will Wilson and his family.”

They won’t have to wait long. Bowling says she’s already well on her way in writing her third novel. Alvin Nance is executive director and

CEO of KCDC.

– is one reason Jerry says insurance companies refer people to Dalton Collision. “Quality work with a faster turn-around time is what sets us apart. I put my mon-ey back in the business to insure I have the best tools and equipment and lat-est technology,” says Jerry. Currently they are averag-ing repairs on 20 vehicles per week.

Dalton Collision is also certifi ed with in-network Certifi ed VIP Collision Care Repair Services. “We are lo-cally owned and operated but also part of a national chain of shops,” explains

Jerry. Among other ben-efi ts, Jerry says this guaran-tees repairs nationally with a lifetime warranty. When repairs are completed at Dalton Collision, they are guaranteed by the network, so customers can move out of state and still be assured of their warranty if there are any issues in the future.

Dalton Collision is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 5:30 for all ser-vices and on Saturdays from 9 to noon for estimates and drop-offs. Collision repair is available for all makes and models. Info: www.dalton-collision.com or 933-9818.

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7

Elite Realty is celebrat-ing 22 years of service to the community. Co-owners Andy Mason and Karen Bradshaw held a Knoxville Area Association of Realtors (KAAR) awards luncheon Feb. 10 to acknowledge the accomplishments of Award of Excellence recipients for 2014.

Awards given: Andy Ma-son – Diamond; Shirley Jones, Tausha Price, Aaron Newman and Terri Rose –

Gold; Donna Beasley – Sil-ver.

“We are not a big corpo-ration. People come to us because they feel they get more personal attention,” said Bradshaw. “We feel blessed that the community has supported us through the years. Without them we wouldn’t be here.”

Elite Realty handles commercial, land and resi-dential sales. Info: 110 Leg-acy View Way, 947-5000.

Elite Realty staff : (seated) owner Andy Mason, Realtor Aaron

Newman; (standing) owner Karen Bradshaw, Realtors Shirley

Jones and Tausha Price. Not pictured: Donna Beasley, Terri

Rose. Photo submitted

Elite Realty marks 22 years

10 • FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • SOUTH KNOX Shopper news

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEB. 28

“Buy One, Get One Free” admission tickets available for Knoxville Zoo. Tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours. Info: 637-5331, ext. 300 or knoxvillezoo.org.

CLO Arts Academy for Kids art exhibition, Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park. Pre-sented by the Knox County Public Defender’s Commu-nity Law Offi ce (CLO). Features art work by children ages kindergarten through fi fth grade.

Free admission to the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, near the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is closed on Sunday. Info: www.gsmheritagecenter.org.

THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 8

Call for entries for the next “Arts in the Airport,” a juried exhibition to run April 16 to Oct. 7 at McGhee Tyson Airport. Info/applications: www.knoxalliance.com/airport_entry.html or send an SASE to Suzanne Cada, Arts & Culture Alliance, PO Box 2506, Knox-ville, TN 37901.

THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 27

Call for local authors of children’s books for “Farragut Book Fest for Children” to be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at Founders Park at Campbell Station. $25 fee includes tent, table, two chairs and lunch at the event; authors will supply their books, decorations and signage. No fee: bring own set-up materials, which must include a tent fi tting a 10'x10' space. Info/to register: www.townoffarragut.org/register and click the Programs tab; Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive; 966-7057.

THROUGH FRIDAY, APRIL 10

Tickets available for Rhythm N’ Blooms music festival, on stages set exclusively along downtown Knoxville’s Jackson Avenue. Features fi rst-timers, chart-climbers and highly lauded acts from varied musical backgrounds. Info/tickets: www.rhythmnbloomsfest.com.

THROUGH MAY 20

Applications accepted for the Great Smoky Mountains Trout Adventure Camp for middle school girls and boys, sponsored by the Tennessee Council of Trout Unlimited to be held June 15-20 at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont (GSMIT) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Info/applications: http://www.tntroutadventure.org.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18

Books Sandwiched In: “Lose Your Mother: A Journey along the Atlantic Slave Route,” noon, East Tennessee History Center, East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Info: Info: 215-8801.

Robert Earl Keen with The Doyle & Debbie Show, 8 p.m., Bijou Theater, 803 S. Gay St. Info/tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com; http://www.knoxbijou.com.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19

Antonin Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater” performance by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. Part of the Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series. Tickets: KnoxvilleTickets.com, 656-4444; KSO box offi ce: 291-3310.

Free preview screening of “American Denial,” 6 p.m., Scruffy City Hall in Market Square. Presented by East Tennessee PBS. Info: http://www.easttennesseepbs.org/news-and-events/community-cinema/.

“Read the Packet: a key factor for successful seed starting,” 3:15-4 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 4438 Western Ave. Presented by Knox County Master Gar-deners. Free and open to the public. Info: 329-8892.

THURSDAYS-SATURDAYS, FEB. 19-28

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” presented by the Tellico Community Players, 7:30 p.m., Tellico Community Playhouse, 304 Lakeside Plaza, Loudon. Additional performance: 3 p.m. Feb. 28. Tickets: $20; available at Village Salon, Salon Anew and The Tellico Village Yacht Club in Loudon and Kahite Pub & Grille in Vonore; or at the door. Info: http://tellicocommunityplayhouse.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 19-SUNDAY, MARCH 8

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Clarence Brown Theatre Mainstage. Performances: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. “Deaf Night at the Theatre,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3. Tickets:

box offi ce, 974-5161; Tickets Unlimited, 656-4444; www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. Info: www.clarencebrowntheatre.com or Clarence Brown Theatre on Facebook.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20

Alive After Five concert: Wallace Coleman Band, 6-8:30 p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive. Tickets: $10; $5 for members/students. Info: 934-2039.

Opening reception for Ewing Gallery Student Art Competition, 7-9 p.m., Ewing Gallery of Art & Architec-ture, 1715 Volunteer Blvd. On exhibit through March 1. Info: 974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, FEB. 20-22

46th Jubilee Festival, Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave. Featuring old styles of fi ddle, banjo, string bands, sacred music, early country and historical ballads and Epworth Old Harp Singing. Concerts, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Old Harp Singing and potluck, 10 a.m. Sunday. Cost: Friday or Saturday, $12, some discounts apply; Sunday singing and dinner, free. Info/tickets: www.jubileearts.org.

Urban Gypsy Trunk Show Pop Up Event, Paulk+Co, 510 Williams St. Hours: 1-8 p.m. Friday, noon-8 p.m. Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday. Info: http://www.urbangypsytrunkshow.com/#about.

SATURDAY, FEB. 21

All you can eat pancake breakfast, 8:30-10 p.m., Chili’s, 6635 Clinton Highway. Tickets: adults, $5; chil-dren 4-6, $2; children under 3, free. All proceeds benefi t Christus Victor Early Childhood Development Center education program.

Little Free Library Workshop, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Center for Creative Minds, 23 Emory Place. Hosted by A1LabArts. To register: Donna, donnamoore32@mac.com. Info: www.a1labarts.org.

Northside Kiwanis Club Pancake Jamboree And Bake Sale, 7 a.m.-2 p.m., St. John’s Lutheran Church, 544 N. Broadway. Tickets: $4 each or $10/fam-ily (up to four) available at the door. Info: Tom Mattingly, 414-6218.

Nourish Knoxville’s Winter Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Central UMC, 201 Third Ave. Features pasture-raised meats, eggs, winter produce, honey, baked goods, artisan foods, handmade items, food trucks and other vendors from the Market Square Farmers Market.

“Our First Ladies of the United States,” 2-3 p.m., Farragut Branch Library, 417 N. Campbell Sta-tion Road. Program by Elizabeth Nelson, manager of the Fountain City Branch library. Free and open to the public. Info: 777-1750.

“Read the Packet: a key factor for successful seed starting,” 10:30 a.m.-noon, All Saints Catholic Church, 620 N. Cedar Bluff Road. Presented by Knox County Master Gardeners. Free and open to the public. Info: 215-2340.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Brianna Hanson, 11 a.m., Cedar Bluff Branch Library, 9045 Cross Park Drive. Info: 470-7033.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Georgi Schmitt, 11 a.m., Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. Info: 215-8750.

Tennessee Stage Company New Play Festival Readings: “American Farce,” 2:30 p.m., Bearden Branch Library, 100 Golf Club Road. Info: 588-8813.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

“Fostering Dreams Toward Future Success,” a free event in honor of Black History Month, 2 p.m., Farragut Folklife Museum, Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive. Speakers include Dr. Jacob Salvage, president of Knoxville College, and Shirley Clowney, collector and historian on black inventors. Info: www.townoffarragut.org/museum; www.facebook.com/farragutfolklifemuseum; or Julia Barham, julia.barham@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.

McClung Museum Civil War Lecture series: “Brownlow’s Whig and Rebel Ventilator: How Not to Heal the Wounds,” 2 p.m., McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Drive. Free and open to the public. Info: http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.

MONDAY, FEB. 23

“Read the Packet: a key factor for successful seed starting,” 1-2 p.m., Davis Family YMCA, 12133 S. Northshore Drive. Presented by the Knox County Master Gardeners. Free; open to the public. Info: 777-9622

Technology 101: Smartphones and Tablets, 12:30-2 p.m., Humana Guidance Center, 640 Plaza, 4438 Western Ave. Free; open to the public. Info: 329-8892, TTY: 711.

West Knox Book Club: “Defending Jacob,” 10 a.m., Bearden Branch Library, 100 Golf Club Road. Info: 588-8813.

MONDAYS, FEB. 23-MARCH 30

Zumba class, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Farragut Town Hall community room, 11408 Municipal Center Drive. Instructor: Karen McKinney. Cost: $45. Registration/payment deadline: Monday, Feb. 23. Info/to register: 218-3375, www.townoffarragut.org/register or at Far-ragut Town Hall.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24

Computer Workshops: Word 2007 II, 5:30 p.m., East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St. Requires “Word 2007 Basics” or equivalent skills. Info/to register: 215-8700.

Log Cabin Quilt Block Class, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Hobby Lobby at Turkey Creek. Cost: $24. Info: Monica Schmidt, 406-3971, monicaschmidt.tn@gmail.

com, myquiltplace.com/profi le/monicaschmidt.“Savvy Social Security Planning: What Baby

Boomers Need to Know to Maximize Retirement Income” non-credit course. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Pellissippi State Community College Blount County campus Full schedule of class times and locations: www.pstcc.edu/bcs. Info: 539-7167.

Winter Choral Concert featuring Karns and Heritage high school choirs, 7 p.m., Clayton Perform-ing Arts Center on Pellissippi State Community College Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. Also includes singing by Pellissippi State’s Concert Chorale and Variations Ensemble. Info: 694-6400 or visit www.pstcc.edu/arts.

TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, FEB. 24, 26

AAA Driver Improvement Course, 5:30-9:30 p.m., AAA Knoxville offi ce, 100 W. Fifth Ave. Must attend both nights. Preregistration required. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Stephanie, 862-9252.

TUESDAYS, FEB. 24-MARCH 31

Yoga class, 9-10 a.m., Farragut Town Hall commu-nity room, 11408 Municipal Center Drive. Instructor: Betty Kalister. Cost: $60. Registration/payment dead-line: Tuesday, Feb. 24. Info/to register: 218-3375, www.townoffarragut.org/register or at Farragut Town Hall.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25

AAA Driver Improvement Course, 5:30-9:30 p.m., AAA Knoxville offi ce, 100 W. Fifth Ave. Must pre-register. Info/to register: Kate, 862-9254, or Stephanie, 862-9252.

African-American Read-In, a recitation celebrat-ing the works of African-American authors, all day, Pellissippi State Community College Division Street campus. Info: www.pstcc.edu/diversity or 694-6400.

Knoxville Writers’ Group meeting, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Naples Italian Restaurant, 5500 Kingston Pike. Program: UT Professor Emeritus Dr. Bruce Wheeler will talk about “Knoxville, Tennessee – A Mountain City in the New South.” Lunch: $12. RSVP by Monday, Feb. 23: 983-3740.

Performance Salon, 7-10 p.m., Remedy Coffee, 125 W. Jackson Ave. Features: Yissy Garcia and her band from Cuba. Presented by Carpetbag Theatre and Arts & Culture Alliance. Cover charge: $5. Info: Joe Tolbert, 806-0451 or thejoet@gmail.com.

STAR Junior Volunteer Training, 5-7 p.m., Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding, 11800 Highway 11E, Lenoir City. For ages 10-12. Horse ex-perience not necessary. Info: Melissa, 988-4711 or www.rideatstar.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26

Caribbean Festival, 5:30-8 p.m., Goins Adminis-tration Building at Pellissippi State Community Col-lege Hardin Valley campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. Features performances by the Carib Sounds Steel Band and the Caribbean Dancers of Atlanta; Caribbean foods, including jerk chicken and rice and beans. Info: www.pstcc.edu/diversity or 694-6400.

“Savvy Social Security Planning: What Baby Boomers Need to Know to Maximize Retirement Income” non-credit course. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Pellissippi State Community College Blount County campus. Full schedule of class times and locations: www.pstcc.edu/bcs. Info: 539-7167.

Yissy Garcia in concert, 7 p.m., Knoxville Muse-um of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park. Tickets: $15; museum members, students and seniors $10. Info/tickets: www.KnoxTIX.com or 523-7521.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27

Alive After Five concert: Devan Jones & The Up-town Stomp with special guest Robinella, 6-8:30 p.m., Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive. Tickets: $10; $5 for members/students. Info: 934-2039.

Dirk Powell and Riley Baugus, 8 p.m., Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave. Tickets: $15, some discounts available. Info/tickets: www.jubileearts.org.

Doc Rock 2015, 8 p.m.-midnight, on two stages: NV Nightclub, 125 E. Jackson Ave. and The Bowery. Doors open at 7. Ultimate battle of physician bands. Presented by Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance. Bands include: Second Opinion, Remedy, Patriot Rising, Funk and Awesome, STD-Spinal Tappin’ Docs; South River Trail. Info: https://www.facebook.com/DocRockForHealth/timeline.

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

Ancestry in Detail, 1-3 p.m., East Tennessee His-tory Center, 601 S. Gay St. Preregistration, a valid email address, good Internet searching capabilities required. Registration begins Feb. 17. Info/to register: 215-8809.

Dialogue workshop, noon, Remedy Coffee, 125 W. Jackson Ave. Instructor: Pamela Schoenewaldt. Spon-sored by the Knoxville Writers’ Guild. Cost: $35 for KWG members, $40 for nonmembers. Info/to register: www.knoxvillewritersguild.org or send check to KWG Workshops, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville TN 37939-0326.

Historic Hauntings VIP session, 5:30 p.m., Ramsey House, 2614 Thorn Grove Pike. The results of the paranormal investigation by Haunted Knoxville Ghost Tour’s J-Adam Smith and video by Patrick Watson of Mapletree Productions. VIP admission: $35;. Additional tours: $25. All proceeds benefi t Historic Ramsey House. Info/reservations: 546-0745; judy@ramseyhouse.org; Kathy@ramseyhouse.org.

“Pottery for Entertaining” pottery show and sale, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tellico Village Yacht Club, 100 Sequoyah Road, Loudon. Features handmade pottery and clay art of Terra Madre: Women in Clay. Free and open to the public.

Saturday Stories and Songs: Kindermusik, 11 a.m., Cedar Bluff Branch Library, 9045 Cross Park Drive. Info: 470-7033.

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