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Sometimes You Eat the Bear, and Sometimes....
Since tourism is the lifeblood of the commercial interests ringing the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and since ogling the cute, furry Smoky Mountain black bear is a traditional staple of any visit to the area, it's no surprise that the recent unpleasantness involving a bear and a hiker would be a source of consternation for the tourist industry.
So what's a spin doctor to do?
Here is one way of dealing with the issue, in an appropriately-titled "Survival Kit" from Internet site www.smoky-mountains.com, which offers discount coupons and useful advice about the weather, road conditions, the Gatlinburg midnight parade, the telephone area code change, and the possibility of getting eaten by a bear. Here is how they handled the bear part:
"We recently had a tragedy in the park. A local person was supposedly killed by a bear. We checked this out as we have not had a bear death in the history of the park that we know of. Black bears are very docile & will retreat, even those sows that have cubs. The theory of this death, as there were no witnesses, is that the person was killed by a human & the bears came along later. Unfortunately the bears had to be destroyed. Don't let this dissuade you from going into the park. You are more likely to be hit by a falling spaceship than injured by a bear. Of course we can't guarantee you won't be if you do something stupid like try to kiss or hug one."
No word on whether this cybermessage has been forwarded to Park Service investigators.
Roasting Mrs. Greene
Anybody know how Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School got its name? You would, if you'd attended the NAACP's roast honoring Greene last weekend. Greene, a longtime leader in that organization on both the local and national level, was honored by a few close friends, including Charles Frazier, who brought a roast in a pan for the honoree.
It was Greene's former colleague on the old Knoxville city school board Charlie Burchett who spilled the beans about the naming of the school. Burchett spearheaded the effort to name the school, and to head off opposition, he and his co-conspirators concocted a counter movement to name the school after Malcolm X, Burchett said. Another presentation of interest was lawyer Herb Moncier accompanying himself on the guitar and singing "We Shall Overcome."
Curious, we asked our Source how he sounded:
"Like a white guy from Sequoyah Hills."
It Sounds Like Greek
The News-Sentinel's news columns have extensively covered the budgetary struggles that pit Gov. Don Sundquist vs. the state Legislature on the one hand, and County Executive Tommy Schumpert vs. County Commission on the other. But the paper's editorial voice has remained strangely silent on these crucial issues.
On Sunday, an editorial headlined "Two sides must talk" made it seem as if the News-Sentinel was finally speaking out. But the editorial turned out to be a call for rapprochement between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus aimed at ending Turkish occupation of the northern part of that ethnically divided island.
On Tuesday, the paper weighed in for the umpteenth time in favor of returning the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum to the Parthenon in Athens, from which they were stripped in 1806. (Do they read the News-Sentinel in London?) And as of Wednesday, still nary a view on how the state or county should resolve their budgetary crunches.
Doesn't leave much room for doubt about Editor Harry Moskos' priorities.
June 8, 2000 * Vol. 10, No. 23
© 2000 Metro Pulse
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