News

Leadership Blount Executive Director Cathy Cate has a job that each year allows her to see different people going through similar challenges and growing as individuals and as a group. The Leadership Blount experience allows a group of individuals to come together to learn about the leadership and the opportunities they have to serve in the community. “The fact that every class is very different, and they take on a totally different personality is fun to watch,” Cate says. Full story »

Sharon “Sissy” Ferguson is the new director at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Alcoa, and residents turned out April 28 to welcome her.
Natasha Hillsman with Denso associate relations, said a committee was put together to find a replacement for the late Anthony Dunnings, who died suddenly in February. Full story »

Two trends apparent since earlier this year can be seen on convenience store fuel price boards and jewelry store signs throughout the country.
Jewelry stores are advertising that they are buying back gold from customers and the practice is becoming more and more popular as the price of gold inflates, the value of the dollar drops and the price of fuel climbs. Full story »

Gov. Phil Bredesen presented a revised “live within our means” budget Monday night to a joint session of the state legislature and members of the Blount County delegation said, for the most part, they liked what they heard.
State Rep. Joe McCord said “conceptually” he agreed with what the governor is trying to accomplish and the manner in which he is doing it. “One quote was that it was a ‘Live within our means’ budget, and that’s how he tried to approach it and that’s how we’re approaching it,” McCord said. “We will find the detail, and there-in lies the Devil.” Full story »

The Maryville City School Board is running out of time.
The board only has a few weeks to come up with the $1,558,245 to break even on the 2008-2009 school budget proposed expenditures.
Director of Schools Stephanie Thompson said the budget will be getting some relief from the growth of Maryville’s population, but the extra students will not bring in enough money to prevent cuts. She said the board should expect an additional $86,000 in funds. Full story »

Setting priorities and making plans - those were the goals the Maryville City School Board set when they started a series of meetings that paired them with leadership teams, faculty and students to create a document that will pose priorities for future endeavors.
The meetings began in April and were scheduled to run through June. The May 13 meeting was the first meeting for public input.
Full story »

Dr. Jeffrey A. Fager, dean of arts and sciences and chief academic officer at Averett University in Danville, Va., has been selected as the next vice president and dean of Maryville College. Full story »

Do smart people attract smart spouses?
Maybe so, because the “opposites attract” rule certainly doesn’t seem to apply in the case of one couple who has graduated from Pellissippi State Technical Community College. Full story »

On May 6, State Rep. Doug Overbey gained passage on the floor of the House for his legislation placing additional disclosure requirements on convicted sex offenders. The bill passed by a vote of 97 to 0. Full story »

One day, the whole world will know Peggy Miller’s story. Full story »

Chris Flynn
Age: 29
Married to Leah McClanahan Flynn
Occupation: Project Manager for Joseph Construction
Full story »

For the sixth year, Keep Blount Beautiful and Little River Watershed Association have joined together to recognize those individuals, businesses and organizations that make significant contributions to the betterment of our Blount County environment. Full story »

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have announced that geological work will be performed to stabilize a large rock face along Little River Road for a two-week period, May 5-19. Full story »

Noise from a Blount County shooting range created much discussion during a two-hour commission work session Tuesday night. Full story »

A new course may be added to the Blount County School’s curriculum next year that will help students transition into higher level Spanish courses. Full story »