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Seven Days

Wednesday, May 2
The Knox County school board renews the contract of Superintendent Charles Lindsey and gives him a raise, after rating his performance a 4.2 on a scale of 1 to 5. No word on how the County Commission-bashing Lindsey scored on "Plays well with others."
Knoxville city officials say their city court administrator has failed to properly log and collect on overdue parking tickets for the past three years. We're sure the rest of the general public will join us in expressing our outrage and our sincere hope that they get this travesty straightened out and the delinquents brought to justice sometime in the next decade or so.

Thursday, May 4
The Knox County Election Commission gives the go-ahead for KnoxRecall to start circulating petitions seeking ouster elections for Mayor Victor Ashe and City Council members Jack Sharp, Ed Shouse and Larry Cox. They need 15,617 valid signatures on each petition. Which, for the record, is 156 more votes than Sharp, Shouse and Cox combined received in their 1999 re-elections.

Knoxville's Tina Wesson wins Survivor! So which street will Mayor Victor Ashe rename for her?

Friday, May 5
TVA officials admit the agency benefits from a "misperception" among investors that TVA bonds are underwritten by the federal gummint. As opposed to being underwritten by a buncha dang hillbillies blasting our air conditioners and hi-fi stereos and beer coolers all summer long.

Tuesday, May 8
Knoxville City Council holds a special meeting to approve a ban on new billboards. Councilwoman Carlene Malone calls it "the beginning...of embracing the vision of a more beautiful Knoxville." Hear, hear! As a next step, may we suggest a committee to study the environmental impact of the color orange?

Knoxville Found

(Click photo for larger image)

What is this? Every week in "Knoxville Found," we'll print the photo of a local curiosity. If you're the first person to correctly identify this oddity, you'll win a special prize plucked from the desk of the editor (keep in mind that the editor hasn't cleaned his desk in five years). E-mail your guesses, or send 'em to "Knoxville Found" c/o Metro Pulse, 505 Market St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Last Week's Photo:
Well, 'tis the season to jog or walk or cruise down Cherokee Boulevard. That may be why so many readers were able to correctly place this bit of topiary trickery in front of one of those big ol' Sequoyah Hills homes. (And yes, as several people pointed out, there are actually two of the leafy sculptures on the lawn.) There was some uncertainty as to the form itself; some think it's a reindeer or elk; others, maybe mindful of the sophisticated surroundings, identified it as a poodle. In any case, the first right answer came from John Drafts. As a prize, he wins a copy of R. Scott Brunner's Carryin' On, which purports to be a celebration of "the culture, the food, the eccentricities, the habits, the language and the spirit" of the American South. Carry on.

Meet Your City
A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend

HISTORIC ZONING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING AND WORKSHOP
MONDAY, MAY 14
4 P.M.
SUSAN KEY GALLERIES
29 MARKET SQUARE
Commission members will present the proposed H-1 historic preservation zoning plan to the public for discussion and input before their vote on May 17.

KNOX COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
TUESDAY, MAY 15
5 P.M.
ANDREW JOHNSON BUILDING
912 S. GAY ST.
Work session.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS WORKSHOP ON "PUTTING THE CAR IN ITS PLACE: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE ROLE OF TRANSPORTATION"
TUESDAY, MAY 15
5 P.M.
THE FOUNDRY
747 WORLD'S FAIR PARK DRIVE
The League of Women Voters will host a workshop, led by Knoxville City Policy Analyst Kathy Darnell, on alternatives to traditional development. The workshop is free and open to the public; dinner will be available at 7 p.m. For dinner reservations, RSVP by May 10. For more information, call Shirley Keller at 690-0273.

KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, MAY 15
7 P.M.
CITY COUNTY BUILDING
400 MAIN ST.
Council will get its first official look at a census-mandated redistricting plan for the city. A second reading will be held on a proposed ordinance to broaden the required campaign funding disclosures for candidates for city office. It will also give a final reading to its new billboard ordinance.

HISTORIC ZONING COMMISSION
THURSDAY, MAY 17
8:30 A.M.
CITY COUNTY BUILDING
400 MAIN ST.
The city's Historic Zoning Commission will consider a proposal to enact an H-1 historic preservation zoning for Market Square. If the commission approves the designation, it will be forwarded to the Metropolitan Planning Commission for its June meeting.

BIKE TO WORK DAY DOWNTOWN RIDE
FRIDAY, MAY 18
8 A.M.
CIVIC COLISEUM
500 E. Church Ave.
Cyclists will meet at the Coliseum, then leave at 8 a.m. on a four-mile route around the UT campus and downtown, ending with a rally at the City County Building to encourage bike commuting.

The New Old City

Once more, a venue for top-name entertainers

Despite persistent misperceptions that the Old City is facing a terminal decline in interest, a minor revival has been under way in the entertainment enclave of night clubs, restaurants, and bars for the last year or so.

And now, with the opening later this month of a new live music venue in the old Ace of Clubs space on Jackson Avenue, across from Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria, some are predicting that the final ingredient could be on the way to make the Old City as popular a nighttime destination as it was during the late '80s and early '90s.

"This club could be the missing link to the whole thing," says Benny Smith of AC Entertainment, which will promote nationally-known club acts at Blue Cats.

Blue Cats will be run by Gary Mitchell, owner of the new dance club called Fiction in the old Underground building and former owner of Moose's Music Hall on Cumberland Avenue. Moose's closed earlier this month. Mitchell's decision to leave the Strip and open two new clubs in the Old City is a significant indication of the area's improving reputation.

"I didn't like the Strip at all," Mitchell says.

Over the last five years, the Old City was sometimes tarred—mostly by people who seldom went there—as run down, out of the way, and even dangerous.

"Quite frankly, I think a lot of the problem in the Old City has been that a lot of folks won't come down on a consistent basis because of news reports that nothing but bad's going on down there, or they have misconceptions about the clientele," Smith says.

But Blue Cats will just be the latest of several new clubs to open in the last couple of years. Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria draws steady crowds with a mix of local and regional acoustic music; the Platinum Lounge next door to Barley's, which finally got a beer license this year following a protracted battle with City Council, offers jazz, rhythm and blues, and old-school hip hop; the Pilot Light hosts indie rock shows and classic and experimental movies; and the dance clubs Banana Joe's and Fiction have both opened. Then there's the Thursday night biker crowd, the spillover from the Sundown in the City concert series, and the steady business of long-time Old City establishments Lucille's, Patrick Sullivan's, and Manhattan's.

All that's missing, Smith says, is a venue for high-profile, nationally-known music of the kind Ella Guru's provided during the Old City's heyday a decade ago.

"You have everything that was there then, except the national touring acts," he says. "That's what really topped off everything then. Hopefully this'll get people to come downtown again."

The patio at Blue Cats is scheduled to open on Thursday, May 17. The first scheduled performance is Friday, June 1, by the Faults.

—Matthew T. Everett