Honky Tonk Stomp Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressThe Memphis Roller Derby (in black) vs. Hard Knox in the Tennessee Roller Derby Tournament at the Appalachian Fairgrounds. Memphis won this match.
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Honky Tonk Stomp Roller Derby
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Food City Kids' Day
Food City Kids' Day Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressSaturday was a busy day at the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson City as the Annual Kids' Day event was underway with inflatables, games, a dunk tank, train rides face painting, good food and music.
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Food City Kids' Day
Food City Kids' Day Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressSaturday was a busy day at the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson City as the Annual Kids' Day event was underway with inflatables, games, a dunk tank, train rides face painting, good food and music.
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Covered Bridge Festival Saturday
Covered Bridge Festival Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressCovered Bridge Festival
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Jason Witten Football Camp 2013
Witten Camp 2013 Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressHundreds of youngsters showed up for the 11th Annual Jason Witten Football Camp at Dave Rider Field in Elizabethton.
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Volunteers needed as Trashbusters for Fun Fest
KINGSPORT — Keep Kingsport Beautiful and sponsor AEP Appalachian Power are looking for volunteers to serve as Trashbusters during Fun Fest.The festival will be held July 12-20.Want to receive free admission to a Chris Tomlin, Hunter Hayes or Chicago Fun Fest concert? If the answer is yes, then sign up to be a Fun Fest Trashbuster. In order to receive free admission to one of the Sunset Concert Series shows, you need to work two events, one being the concert of your choice.Trashbusters are volunteers who patrol the festival areas setting a good example for everyone attending by pointing out trash barrels and encouraging proper disposal of trash. Trashbusters encourage Fun Festers to be responsible for their own trash to ensure that Fun Fest remains a litter free event.Volunteers receive a free Trashbuster T-shirt with their registration.For more information on how to volunteer as a Trashbuster, please call Keep Kingsport Beautiful at (423) 392-8814 or visit www.keepkingsportbeautiful.com to download the Trashbusters Fun Fest Event Schedule and Registration Form. Registration forms will also be available at Funfest.net or the Fun Fest store.Keep Kingsport Beautiful is a partnership of the city of Kingsport and the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce. An affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Tennessee Beautiful, the program has won more than 60 national, state and environmental awards.
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Rogersville Arts Council holds auditions for all youth version of ‘Annie’
ROGERSVILLE — The Rogersville Arts Council is holding auditions for its 2013 Broadway Jr. Theatre Camp production of Annie Monday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Camp performances will take place July 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. and July 28 at 2:30 p.m. at the Rogersville Playhouse. Rogersville Arts Council’s Broadway Jr. Theatre Camp made its debut in Summer 2012 with a successful run of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The camp is open to singers, dancers, actors, and stage hands in grades 3 through 12, and 2013 graduates are also welcome. Annie has roles suited for children and teenagers alike and production crew are needed and children don’t have to be performers to have a great community theatre experience.Those wishing to audition should attend and plan to stay for the entire session. During the audition, participants will learn a song from the show in a group, take part in dance/movement exercises, and read from the script. No experience is required. The audition experience will be relaxed and a lot of fun. There will be an opportunity for solo auditions if participants would like to bring a prepared song. CD accompaniment is preferred. Auditions will be held at Rogersville Playhouse, located at 1924 E. Main Street, Rogersville. For more information, please call (423) 293-0882, email rogersvilleartscouncil@gmail.com, or visit the Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/rogersvilleartscouncil. Stagehands are also needed to work behind the scenes as stagehands for our production of Annie. The scenic designer will work with campers on painting and creating sets, the costume master will need help with organizing and finding costumes for the cast, and the technical director will need help with lighting and sound. There will also be responsibilities during the performances like stage managing and moving set and props for scene changes.
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Twilight Alive ‘Waiting’ no more for Tom Petty tribute act
Although The Waiting is a new name, the people behind the band logged a decade of experience performing as the immensely successful Journey tribute band Frontiers.The Waiting, a Tom Petty tribute band, will perform at 7 p.m., June 27, at Twilight Alive on Broad Street in downtown Kingsport.For close to 40 years, the troubadours known as Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have been a fixture on rock ‘n’ roll radio with their distinctive songs about love, hope and the uniquely American experience. The band has sold more than 60 million records, including nearly 18 million copies of its “Greatest Hits” album. Petty and The Heartbreakers, alumni of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, have appeared in the Billboard Top 10 in five consecutive decades, and continue to sell out stadium tours well into the new century.The Waiting is a unique tribute to the sounds and melodies of that classic American songbook. The Waiting has spent a decade perfecting the subtle nuances of a large-scale tribute act. Its members bring those experiences to one of the greatest catalogs of any rock ‘n’ roll artist in a show that embodies not a breezy imitation but a channeling of the spirit and sounds of Petty and The Heartbreakers’ legendary live performances. The chiming guitars, organic pianos and soulful drawl of Petty are present and accounted for.The Waiting frontman Jeremey Hunsicker has proven a skilled caretaker of timeless songs, as evidenced by the invitation to join the actual band Journey in 2007. The Waiting carries over the current lineup of Frontiers, featuring Frontiers co-founder Greg Eanes on bass guitar, Chris Castelda on drums, David Thomas on guitar and Frontiers co-founder Chad Campbell on keyboard.The Waiting will rely on many of the tricks that made Frontiers such a popular draw — that is to say, not many gimmicks at all.“We are on focusing on the music, the songs and the sound that people expect,” Hunsicker explained. “Just like with Frontiers, we were able to channel those songs through our collective energy and come out with something that people really connected to. We are a live rock ‘n’ roll band, built for the stage, and we are working over the Petty catalog and coming up with things that really capture the spirit of a live Heartbreakers concert.”The concert is free, but non-perishable food items will be accepted. Bring a lawn chair, but leave your coolers and pets at home.For more information about The Waiting, visit www.tompettyshow.com
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JC Cardinals fans find fun on and off the field
Minor league baseball fans flew in to visit the improved Howard Johnson Field at Cardinal Park on Sunday for the Johnson City Cardinals home opener against the Danville Braves.
Johnson City Sports Foundation President Lee Sowers said he was excited by the line of fans waiting to enter the stadium before the game.
“We look forward to seeing that because the fans mean everything to us,” Sowers said.
Cards fan Stacy Cookenour was waiting in line with his wife Stephanie, son, Blake, and neighbor, Berkley Pafford, who was excited to be visiting the field for the first time.
“It’s the start of summer — baseball,” Cookenour said. “It’s cheap entertainment for the family and we are Cardinals fans, so it all works out.”
Cookenour said his love of the Johnson City minor league team may stem from his Major League preferences.
“I think it’s because I’m a St. Louis fan,” Cookenour said. “It’s sort of an extension of that.”
Another Cards fan, Johnny Bragg, had just finished his trip to The Birdhouse, the on-site Cardinals merchandise store, when he shared how he plans to maximize the fun at future home Cardinals games.
“We will come early. We will stay late. And, we will always come hungry because of the concession stand,” Bragg said. “I like that we have a Major League presence here in our town even though it’s minor league baseball. I love that we are connected to major league baseball here because we don’t have a lot in this area.”
Bragg said he enjoys the atmosphere because he gets to sit up close to the action and has been involved in some on-the-field fun.
“I do like that you can sit up close,” Bragg said. “You can hear the pop on the glove. I got to go out last year and cover the field with a tarp. It was me and a friend and we actually got to go out on the field. I love it.”
Bragg said it’s also a plus for his children to be able to get involved in supplemental activities.
“My kids are already excited about the dancing for pizza where they have free pizza to give out,” Bragg said. “They come out and if you dance, whoever goes the craziest, wins. My son won last year. We just love it. We love the whole atmosphere.”
Baseball fanatic John Allen was standing in the breezeway writing down the roster for his scorecard included in the Cardinals’ program.
He said it’s something he has been doing since the 80s when he lived in Cincinnati and frequented Reds games.
“I keep score even though there’s a scoreboard because it’s something I’ve done since I was probably 8 years old,” Allen said. “It was something my dad taught me how to do. We always filled out scorecards. It keeps people engrossed in the game.”
Allen said minor league baseball has an appeal with which major leagues can’t compete.
“I love minor league baseball because it’s so fan-oriented,” he said. “They do a lot of things to support the fans. They do a lot of things especially for kids and that’s really important. I’ve always been a big proponent of Little League baseball and that kind of stuff. It shows kids what they could do. You really could become a baseball player and go on to play in center field.”
Allen said he is proud to live in a place that embraces minor league baseball like the Tri-Cities.
“I think Johnson City and the whole area — Kingsport and Bristol — their minor league teams are really important to them and to their communities and I think they do a really great job supporting them.”
Nikki Dugger, who used to play softball, said the park brings back memories and allows her to make even more with her children.
“It’s just family time for us to come have fun with our Cardinals and watch them play ball,” she said. “It’s inexpensive to come and it’s good family time. We like to help support our team whenever we can.”
Her son, Caleb Dugger, said they know how to have fun when they come out to a game.
Nikki Dugger elaborated by saying, “We like going along with all the cheers, helping to run after foul balls and things like that. He actually got one. The second foul ball that was hit, he got it.”
Dugger said she is proud her children have been willing to get involved in tee ball, baseball and being a good member of the minor league audience by fetching foul balls for the team.
“It was the first time I had ever really got one, so it made me excited,” Caleb said.
Dugger said positive attitudes and some stadium updates have made her opening game experience even better.
“I do like the new parking because it was confusing before,” Dugger said. “The field looks great. It looks really great compared to the times we were out here before.”
Sowers said the audience may have noticed a few other upgrades like the one Dugger mentioned.
“This year we have added to the concessions,” Sowers said. “We’ve got an extra concession stand coming in. But, we’ve broadened the one we already have and increased the availability of items that are there.
“We are adding other things to the on-the-field promotions where the fans can get involved. We have everything from different contests to prizes from our sponsors.”
Sowers was excited to point out even more stadium improvements to come like a brick ticket booth and wrought iron fencing on either side.
He has hopes that future plans will enhance minor league fans’ experience even more.
“We like to see them enjoying a winning team,” Sowers said. “We want to see them enjoying the concessions and we try to interact with them in the stand. A lot of the promotions that you’ll see during the game happens in the stand. We want them to have a great time and enjoy themselves.”
Sowers said he wants all to leave every visit to the park with appreciation for minor league baseball and having experienced something wonderful.
“Basically we’ve enhanced what we’ve been doing in the past because it works,” Sowers said. “Hopefully the fans will say, ‘That was a good time we had at Cardinal Park and we are going to come back.’ ”
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Cards stay perfect with 10-inning win
Johnson City Cardinals fans received rally towels for the home opener Sunday night, and waving them seemed to be effective.The Cardinals overcame a 4-2 deficit to improve to 4-0 with a 5-4, 10-inning victory against the Danville Braves.Kenny Peoples-Walls singled with one out in the 10th, advanced to third on Rowan Wick’s line single to right field and scored the winning run on Kyle Grieshaber’s sacrifice fly to center. It appeared the Braves might take the lead in the 10th, but Fernando Baez came on with one out and stranded leadoff batter Kyle Wren at third base thanks to two straight strikeouts.Peoples-Walls’ clutch hit completed a 3-for-4 night. The swift shortstop from Los Angeles had a double and a walk, and is 8-for-14 on the season (.571). He wasn’t surprised to see Grieshaber come through at the end.“I expected him to (come through),” Peoples-Walls said. “He makes solid contact quite often. So I was ready for whatever. ...“I’ve been getting good pitches to hit and being patient. Everything’s working out so far. We’ve just gotta keep it rolling.”Grieshaber, a lifelong Cardinals fans, was undeterred after going undrafted earlier this month.“I grew up in St. Louis, so I’ve always been a Cardinal fan,” Grieshaber said. “I thought I was gonna get drafted. Things didn’t shake out that way. It’s not a big deal. I kind of had a feeling something was gonna happen. ...“The first day I put this jersey on was when we had, like, a meet and greet with the fans. I looked down and I was like, ‘Wow, this kind of looks like a big-league jersey.’ So it’s pretty cool.”Baez was cool under pressure when he came on in the 10th. He struck out Victor Caratini and Bryan De La Rosa, the respective Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup, to keep Wren’s potential go-ahead run off the board.Wren is the son of Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren, who was in attendance. He saw his son line a single to center after fouling a pitch off the front of his helmet to lead off the 10th.Wren stole second and advanced to third on Mikey Reynolds’ sacrifice bunt. Johnson City manager Joe Kruzel then brought in Baez, who he said had been eager to pitch after rain shortened his first appearance Friday to one-third of an inning.“He’s really a good kid that likes to pitch and compete,” Kruzel said. “You know, he came in to a very tough situation tonight and bulldogged it. He went right after the hitters, didn’t fool around. He said, ‘Hey, if you’re gonna beat me today, it’s gonna be with my best stuff.’”Added Grieshaber: “(Baez) came out there and he dominated. He understood what the task was at hand, and he was able to come through big for us. Really, that gave us the win right there.”Lance Jeffries’ two-out double scored Peoples-Walls to give Johnson City a 1-0 lead in the second. Danville parlayed four singles, a walk and an error in to a three-run third.Johnson City cut it to 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Brett Wiley scored on a wild pitch, but Reynolds answered that when he lined a solo home run to left in the top of the fifth.Peoples-Walls doubled Ronnierd Garcia to third base with one out in the bottom of the fifth, and Wick tied the score, 4-4, with a line single to center.The Cardinals’ Stalyn Lopez, Zach Loraine and Baez (1-0) combined for five innings of scoreless relief.Kruzel was impressed with his teams’ rally.“I liked the character they showed,” Kruzel said. “They fell behind ... and then they fought back to get to 4-4, and we battled out of some very tough situations early in the game. And late in the game those pitchers pitched their butts off to keep the game where it was to give us a chance.”Wick finished 2-for-4 and Justin Ringo was 2-for-5. Seth Moranda (2-for-3, walk, RBI) was the lone Brave with more than one hit.Game two of the three-game series is tonight at 7.
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Cardinals in First Home Game vs Braves
Cards Home Opener Dave Boyd/Johnson City PressA large crowd was on hand as the Cardinals took on the Danville Braves in the first home game of the season Sunday evening.
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Snowden's booked flight to Cuba departs, but he's not seen on board
MOSCOW — Aeroflot says a Cuba-bound flight for which National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was registered has departed from Moscow, but he has not been seen on board.An airline representative told The Associated Press that the Havana-bound flight has left Moscow. The representative, who wouldn't give her name as she wasn't authorized to speak to the media, said Snowden wasn't on the flight.AP reporters on the flight couldn't see Snowden in the seat he booked or anywhere else on the plane.The airline said earlier Snowden registered for the flight using his U.S. passport, which American officials say has been annulled.Snowden arrived in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong, where he had been hiding for several weeks to evade U.S. justice. Ecuador is considering Snowden's asylum application.
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10 things to know today at a glance
1. SNOWDEN TRAVELS THE WORLD FOR ASYLUMThe NSA leaker flew from Hong Kong to Moscow with the help of Wikileaks, and has sought asylum in Ecuador.2. NELSON MANDELA'S HEALTH TURNS FOR WORSESouth Africa's president says the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader became critically ill in the past 24 hours.3. OPENING STATEMENTS IN GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TRIALFlorida prosecutors will argue today in the racially charged trial that Zimmerman is a vigilante who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Zimmerman says he was defending himself.4. WHO HELPED SANDY SURVIVORS THE MOSTAn AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that friends and neighbors, not the government, were the most helpful sources of support.5. LEBANON CLASHES LEAVE 12 DEADMilitary forces target a mosque where followers of a Sunni cleric are taking cover in some of the country's worst violence related to bordering Syria.6. DAREDEVIL CROSSES GORGE ON TIGHTROPENik Wallenda got across a river near the Grand Canyon in 22 minutes on a 2-inch thick steel cable, 1,500 feet high.7. WHAT SNOWDEN DID IN HONG KONGLawmaker Albert Ho says the NSA leaker stayed in a private location, switched places a couple of times and slipped out a few times at night.8. RULING FAVORS 6-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENDER CHILDColorado officials are holding a news conference today explaining the decision to let Coy Mathis, who identifies as a girl, use the girls' bathroom at school.9. GANDOLFINI FUNERAL PLANS SETThe "Sopranos" star will be remembered at an upper Manhattan cathedral on Thursday, after his body was flown from Italy to his home state of New Jersey.10. SUPERMOON SHINESThe biggest and brightest full moon of the year cast its light around the world Sunday when it came within 222,000 miles of Earth.
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Tenn. trooper hurt when car hit by truck
JACKSBORO — A truck driver has been charged with injuring a state trooper.WVLT-TV (http://bit.ly/14SGBnp ) reported Trooper the tractor-trailer truck struck the trooper's car and a wrecker at the scene of a vehicle fire on Interstate 75 in Campbell County on Sunday morning. Lindsay has a fractured neck vertebra, a broken rib and arm injuries. He was released after treatment at University of Tennessee Hospital.Police said the truck didn't stop, but it was found later at truck stop. Officers charged Stewart Snedeker with driving under the influence of an intoxicant drug, multiple counts of reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, possession of drug paraphernalia and moving traffic violations.Snedeker is 59 and is from Chrisman, Ill. He was held Monday at the Campbell County Jail which had no record of an attorney for him.
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Tennessee Paralympian Blake Leeper pursues track titles with prosthetic legs
The first time sprinter Blake Leeper began training, he didn’t know how to use the starting blocks or how to line up on the track.By the time he learned, Leeper quickly became the fastest Paralympian in the world, tying the 100-meter world record set by South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius at 10.91 seconds during a meet in Canada last July.Leeper, who is from Kingsport, was born with a rare congenital birth defect where neither of his fibulae developed. He has no limbs below his knees. He learned to walk using prosthetic legs.Read more about Leeper from The Tennessean.
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The Buzz: Today's look at local and regional news worth knowing
In case you missed these items, here are 10 stories worth reading on JohnsonCityPress.com:• Man killed by train in Johnson City. A pedestrian was killed by a train in west Johnson City on Saturday.
• Dozens of Washington County inmates sickened by carbon monoxide leak. More than two dozen Washington County Detention Center inmates were sickened early Saturday morning after a malfunctioning gas-powered water heater sent carbon monoxide through the ventilation into two cell blocks, a sheriff's office official confirmed.
• Little gets MLB call; Carter going back to Senators. Former Science Hill and Milligan College baseball player Will Little is scheduled to debut as a Major League Baseball umpire Monday night in Baltimore.
• Johnson picks up third NHRA victory of 2013. Allen Johnson put the disappointment of Thunder Valley behind him by becoming the first Pro Stock driver to win the NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, N.H. on Sunday.
• Johnson City woman arrested after call to 911 about husband with gun. A Johnson City woman's claim to 911 that her husband had a gun during an argument Saturday night landed her in jail.
• More than half of local domestic violence offenses committed by family members. Half of all domestic violence offenses reported throughout Tennessee in 2012 involved family members, according to a study released this week by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and locally the numbers are similar.
• Kingsport's Blake Leeper has his sight set on Rio de Janerio, the site of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The first time sprinter Blake Leeper began training, he didn’t know how to use the starting blocks or how to line up on the track.
• Thousands turn out to learn football at Cowboys star Jason Witten's camp. As footballs soared through the air and parents and family members packed the stands, one would have thought that the football season was already under way at Dave Rider Field Saturday morning.
• Tenn. trooper hurt when car hit by truck. A truck driver has been charged with injuring a state trooper.
• Contract possible first step in full integration of Emmanuel into Milligan. Employees at Milligan College will assume management duties at Emmanuel Christian Seminary July 1 as part of a year-long contract, according to the college’s president.
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Richard Manahan served ETSU Foundation well
Dr. Richard A. Manahan should be commended on a job well done. As Press Assistant News Editor Rex Barber reported in Friday’s paper, Manahan is stepping down from his job as president and chief executive officer of East Tennessee State University’s Foundation.Manahan, who also serves as vice president for university advancement, told Barber he plans to teach courses in the College of Business and Technology beginning this fall.“Basically, I just felt that this was a good time for me to go to teaching,” he said Thursday.Manahan began his career at ETSU 32 years ago as vice president for finance and administration. His duties included overseeing the Foundation’s finances. During his time at the helm of the ETSU foundation, he has seen the account go from a negative balance of $250,000 in 1981 to a current fund balance of more than $108 million.The Foundation and fundraising operations were placed under Manahan’s direct supervision in 1984. A decade later, he became head of the Foundation and university advancement. More than $350 million has been raised for ETSU under his stellar leadership.Manahan shares credit for his fundraising success with “people within the Foundation and donors and significant givers that have a commitment to East Tennessee State University.” Those contributors, however, might not had been so generous without Manahan’s vision and prodding. We congratulate him on a job well done and wish him much happiness in his new endeavors.
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Unicoi Animal shelter and Erwin officials retreat in Sunday's Forum
As a supporter of the Unicoi County Animal Shelter, I was shocked to find out that Erwin is withdrawing more than $20,000 from that shelter, and planning to open a city shelter just for dogs. At a time when the economy is precarious and budgets are tight, civic leaders must guard taxpayer dollars carefully. Two local shelters equal twice the cost of water, electricity and phone service, twice the cost of a person stationed at the front desk and twice the cost of intake staff and management. The Unicoi County Animal Shelter is blessed with a great director, dedicated staff, wonderful volunteers and tremendous contacts throughout the region that have helped find homes for hard-to-place animals. The Unicoi shelter works with vets to ensure animals leave the shelter spayed or neutered and healthier than when they arrived.The Unicoi shelter staff ensure new owners learn about care and the importance of proper immunizations for their pets. The Unicoi shelter operates on a bare-bones budget and does remarkable work thanks to the support of the community and volunteers. Withdrawing $20,000 from Unicoi to start a shelter in Erwin would dilute the services the residents of Erwin already receive. CATHERINE WAITINASJohnson CityRetreat expense?Why do Mayor Doris Hensley and her colleagues have to retreat to Pigeon Forge to strategically plan? What do they accomplish while occupying office space during the workweek? Was this retreat at the expense of Erwin taxpayers? If so, I would be curious to know the total cost of the retreat. Could those monies not have been used toward funding of the shelter? As a public educator for 25 years, I’ve witnessed, time and time again, the enthusiastic spending of someone else’s dollars — i.e. wasting of taxpayers’ money. Perhaps cats aren’t the only “nuisance” in the town of Erwin. LORI HARRISLimestoneHidden agendaI’m absolutely sure the town’s officials have some hidden agenda. They couldn’t care less about the people of Erwin and Unicoi County, much less the animals of the community. They only care about lining their pockets and running the town into the ground and it’s pretty much always been that way. They refuse to do anything for the youth, nor are they interested in coming into the 21st century by bringing progress into this tourism-rich town. Erwin could have it all. We have the natural resources to be the next Gatlinburg or Lake Lure, but the town officials would rather secretly vote on important issues so the people of the town can’t voice an opinion.As you can tell I’m completely against dropping the town’s funding of the Unicoi County Animal Shelter, but the town’s officials will do what’s best for them — just as was the case of the Unicoi County Hospital.SUMMER DAY ErwinErwin dog poundLike most people in Erwin and Unicoi County, I was surprised and saddened by the news that the town has decided to break away from the Unicoi County Animal Shelter in order to operate its own dog pound. The animal shelter has been very successful in its bid to become a safe haven for dogs and cats. It has worked hard to see that as many dogs and cats as possible find their “forever homes.”Why would the Erwin Board of Mayor and Aldermen choose to pull out of such a great deal? I can only surmise that someone on the board is in a snit or someone is receiving a kickback of some sort for ending such a productive and valuable service to our community.I think the Erwin BMA should hold a public hearing about the decision in order to allow citizens to voice their concerns. If town officials do not allow any public input on this decision, then citizens of Erwin need to vote these people out.MICHAEL BRIGGSErwinGoodbye, ErwinSince the town of Erwin is now saving $23,000 on the animal shelter, they obviously don’t need any more of my family’s money. My car will not drive to Erwin anymore for gas. I will not shop for groceries in Erwin. Eat-out meals will not be in Erwin. Drugstores will be used in other cities. Gifts will be purchased elsewhere. One really bad decision has been made and Erwin has seen the last of us.LILLIAN McCAWUnicoiRescind the actionIt was with great disappointment that we read about the action of the Erwin Board of Mayor and Aldermen in voting to discontinue its share of the maintenance of the Unicoi County Animal Shelter. We are particularly concerned that the action was taken without consultation with the two other partners, Unicoi County and the town of Unicoi, who are equal contributors to the animal shelter. Nor was any notice given that this action was to be considered. The Johnson City Press aptly described the vote as blind-siding officials of the animal shelter.Mayor Hensley explained that it is the intent of Erwin to recreate the animal shelter the town maintained prior to the creation of the Unicoi Animal Shelter. It was the inadequacy of that prior facility that was one of the significant reasons that led to the creation of the county animal shelter. As residents of Unicoi County, we would hope that the Erwin Board of Mayor and Alderman would reconsider the damage they intend to do to the county animal shelter and rescind their previous action.We are grateful for the dissenting vote of Alderman Sue Jean Wilson, who opposed the action of the board.DR. and MRS. C.R. WETZELLUnicoiAnimals firstThe Unicoi Animal Shelter has done an excellent job in taking responsibility for the care of abandoned, hurt, sick and unwanted animals in recent years. Prior to this, the city was “taking care” of the problem, and the care of these poor animals was virtually non-existent.Please leave well enough alone. Put the animals, not politics, first.SHERRY HENEGARJohnson City
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$1.5 million pushes pace of Johnson City/ Washington County Animal Shelter move
A last-minute move by Johnson City commissioners this past week to include $1.5 million in the city’s budget to fund construction of the new Washington County-Johnson City Animal Shelter marked the most decisive and deliberate step taken in this quest so far, especially when it comes to dollars.
A third and final reading of the city’s roughly $208 million 2014 budget, including the animal shelter and other additions, took place early Friday morning in a brief special called meeting, and additional cuts in special appropriations are not part of the deal.
Mayor Ralph Van Brocklin, who the night before made an impassioned plea for other commissioners to go forward with the plan, said the next step is to meet with architect Thomas Weems and finish a workable design of an expanded shelter on the new site off North Roan Street that will allow animals to be held for a longer time, thus reducing the high euthanasia rate.
The cost of the basic structure, including site work, continues to hover around the $1.2 million mark.
Vice Mayor Clayton Stout came up with the idea of issuing debt to pay for the new shelter’s basic construction. Now a reality, it remains a bit unclear how Washington County officials will react, although the city and county are jointly responsible for the shelter’s well being.
“This has morphed into a multimillion dollar project,” County Mayor Dan Eldridge said Friday. “No one wants to see high euthanasia rates, but there needs to be some prioritizing of spending at this level. We’ve already got a lot of needs that are ahead of the shelter. Monday night we are going to consider more than $9 million in spending on capital needs. I can’t speak for the county commissioners, but I’m not sure they will see this as a priority.”
The Animal Control Board plans to continue its month-to-month contract with North Carolina-based Dickerson, Bakker and Associates — the company hired to head a capital campaign to raise money for the new shelter. It now also has a fully formed fundraising committee that includes some well-known people in the community.
Though the board’s building fund is just slightly above the $100,000 donated by the county, there is a general consensus that between donors drummed up by the company and local contributions, the net result could move the total amount garnered to about $1.9 million, meaning a new spay-neuter clinic would be added to the mix.
“Like it or not, that is our property,” Stout said at the commission’s Thursday meeting. “I don’t mean that as a negative against the county. But the city leads the way.”
The city last year gave $350,000 to the Animal Control Board, which went toward the purchase of the new property. The County Commission cut the board a $100,000 check to help with construction after passing a revised resolution. They also decided to hold in escrow an additional $150,000 that would be given to the board when $1 million in private funds was raised.
The board now will have well more than the $1 million needed, but questions remain.
“Obviously the city is not a private entity, but I don’t think that will change things,” Eldridge said.
The resolution said that if these funds are not used for construction within 24 months of last year’s resolution, the appropriation ($250,000) will expire and all monies will be returned to the county. Only 10 months remain on that commitment. The county also committed $100,000 for asphalt and paving services (in-kind), but this money only will be released when a construction contract is executed.
The dynamics at play in what appears to be on the surface the relocation of an animal shelter are, in fact, far-reaching and intertwined.
Economic development is undeniably a big part of the equation. Completion of the Lark Street Extension Project is contingent upon relocating the animal shelter and the Boys and Girls Club of Johnson City/Washington County.
By providing the money to build the new shelter, the city has quickened the pace on two two-lane roads through the now-rundown Optimist Park and across the current animal shelter property on Sells Avenue. Businessman Guy Wilson’s 11,000-square-foot pharmaceutical distribution and compounding facility, Clinical Management Concepts, was constructed with the expectation the new access road would follow to help serve his ProCompounding Pharmacy company.
It was Wilson who requested a new access road be built from West Market Street to North State of Franklin Road via Lark Street to facilitate truck traffic as the facility came online. Wilson helped the city qualify for a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant by building a $1.8 million structure last year and adding 25 new employees.
The access road project will lay the initial groundwork for a connection to the other side of West Market that will facilitate the infrastructure needed to develop the area and help open an economic door in and around 30 acres of city-owned land at the former National Guard Armory site.
Meanwhile, a replacement must be found for Optimist Park, since federal money was used for its construction and one of the caveats to that funding was that a new recreational site be acquired. City officials also are eager to open up an avenue, not only through which traffic can move, but more importantly, new development and additional tax revenues.
In October, commissioners announced they had a buyer lined up for the Boys and Girls Club. Just seconds before a vote to approve the consent agenda — an agenda that included a proposal from Johnson City’s Brumit Co. to buy the 6.3-acre lot — the City Commission deferred further discussion.
Commissioners voted to wait until updated appraisals were available on the city-owned site and a possible alternative location at the old Traco manufacturing property on Silverdale Drive — a site Brumit would have to pay for. That has been done, but no transaction has transpired.
That brings into focus what an expedient departure by the animal shelter really means. It provides relief for an aging and crowded shelter with undesirable kill rates while opening at least one of the necessary doors for completion of the road.
In turn, property in that area is valuable and desirable and could, in the future, mirror the expansive development that has occurred at and near the West Market/State of Franklin Road intersection. Related stories:Proposed animal shelter fundraising contract on holdJohnson City mayor apologizes for failure to clarify makeup of animal control board fundraising committee
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ETSU research tackling huge problem in state
East Tennessee State University has been awarded a $2.2 million grant for a five-year research project to tackle the problem of prescription drug abuse. The money from the National Institute on Drug Abuse is a good start, but we fear it might not be enough to lick the problem.Not nearly enough, judging by how big of problem prescription drug abuse is just here in our little corner of Tennessee.Prescription drug abuse has become a pervasive and costly epidemic in this state. According to a report issued just a few years ago by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the Volunteer State was ranked No. 1 for its use of prescription drugs. The plan is for ETSU researchers to study how improving communication among health care providers, pharmacists and patients can decrease abuse of prescription drugs. They will also study how well health care providers think they communicate with patients about substance abuse and how prepared and willing they are to intervene in cases of suspected drug abuse.Prescription drugs are quickly becoming this nation’s No. 1 drug abuse problem. Studies show there are 17 states where more people die from overdoses of prescription drugs than they do from car wrecks or any other form of accidental death. Tennessee is one of them. In fact, this state’s death rate from prescription drug overdoses has nearly tripled since 1999.Prescription drug abuse has long been a problem in this region, where painkillers have replaced heroin and cocaine as recreation drugs of choice. It is a problem that costs Tennesseans millions of dollars annually in inflated health care bills and crowded emergency rooms. And it is not just a law enforcement issue or public health problem. It is also an economic problem that robs employers of a sober and reliable workforce.That’s why the Tennessee General Assembly has passed a law to regulate pain clinics in Tennessee. Armed with new regulations, which will be overseen by the Tennessee Department of Health, the state is going after so-called pill mills where addicts can get prescriptions written by irresponsible doctors.Earlier this year, Tennessee began requiring pain clinics to use a database to track commonly abused drugs. This information should prove helpful to researchers at ETSU. And they are going to need all the help they can get. As we said earlier, prescription drug abuse is a huge problem here in Northeast Tennessee.
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