Post-Election Odds and Ends

Only pre-election thing Democrat and Republican pollsters agreed about: GOP nominee Wayne Houser enjoyed a fairly comfortable lead over Democrat Daryl Fansler until Houser started running a Cathy Quist-style up close and personal TV spot explaining why he'd make the best chancellor. Sources say the bottom dropped out once the ad started running.

Best election season yard sign: 19th District state House candidate Chad Campbell's highly collectible soup can signs. "Can't keep 'em up," says Campbell Crew co-ordinator Scott Frith (formerly of ConQUISTadore fame). Campbell lost in his effort to unseat incumbent Jim Boyer.

Most interesting political future: Ivan Harmon, lame-duck councilman seeking to boost GOP identity for a future County Commission race by running for Republican Executive Committee, took Democrat Tommy Schumpert around before the election, causing Sheriff Tim Hutchison to send him a message that he'd better think about running as a Democrat in 2002. Harmon won the GOP seat, despite telling people he considers himself an independent.

Dashing to Glory

It was a good week for Andersons. Dad and mom, Sam and Jean, drove 9-year-old twins Jeanae and Anthony up to Norfolk for the Junior Olympics. Anthony, who had been within 1/10th of a second from breaking the national record in the 400 meter dash, came away with a bronze medal Tuesday. Sam then flew home for last-minute campaigning and was re-elected to the Knox County school board Thursday. He hopped another flight and got back to Norfolk in time to see Jeanae win a silver in the 200 meter dash and then break the national record for 9-year-olds in the 100 meter dash—she ran it in 14.25 seconds, the record was 14.29.

Although Sam was a track star in high school and college, the Andersons are still amazed at the accomplishments of Anthony and Jeanae, who will start the 4th grade at Chilhowee Elementary this week. They were sickly babies—preemies, whose very lives were in doubt. Now, says Sam, it's time to think about how to best prepare them for the future. They train at Knoxville Track Club and both play a number of other sports.

Jeanae won second place last year and her father says she "is sort of different from most children. She said 'I really think I can win a gold medal.' She doesn't really get nervous, even with 10,000 people in the stands. Her best time had been 14.5, and she beat that in the nationals."

So what was more fun, winning the election, or watching the twins? No competition, says Sam.

"Winning the election was important, but nothing compares to your children doing well."

This Am Bizarro Bike Trail

The original part of the Third Creek Bike Trail, the part paralleling Kingston Pike, had been closed for most of the summer as the city has been (and is still) constructing a new link in the trail, connecting it to Tyson Park for the first time. When they reopened it on August 1, we were in for a surprise.

At the bottom of the bike trail's Cherokee Boulevard exit, a large wooden sign mounted on two posts pointed directions to Tyson Park, West High, Sutherland Avenue, Neyland Drive, and even Volunteer Landing, with precise mileages. We liked the sign very much—that is, until we tried to follow its directions, which for several days had us riding around lost all over West Knoxville. By the sign, Neyland Drive was somewhere near Homberg Place. Tyson Park was about where West High is, and vice versa. Volunteer Landing was clearly somewhere out toward West Town, but we couldn't find it anywhere.

The sign stood that way for several days until late last week, when someone re-installed the sign backwards—or, as it turned out, frontwards—and suddenly everything made sense. We're glad to see the city's finally developing a strong sense of direction.