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Seven Days

Wednesday, May 16
A poll by state income tax supporters says that 58 percent of Tennesseans favor an income tax if it's combined with other cuts. Which, maybe not coincidentally, is about the same percentage that would theoretically see a reduction in their tax burden under the plan. Who says Tennesseans can't do math?

Thursday, May 17
The family of a woman killed by a black bear last year sues the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for negligence. If the suit is successful, they're considering further litigation against the entire Ursus americanus species, the process of evolution, and the creator of the known universe for recklessly allowing the development of animals with claws and teeth.

Friday, May 18
About 60 people turn out for a ride around downtown Knoxville on National Bike-to-Work Day. Notice to alarmed Knoxville motorists: They're called bicycles. Ask your grandparents about them.

Sunday, May 20
The National Safety Council releases a study giving Tennesseans an 'F' for their seat-belt use. Hey, we're tryin', but it makes it hard to sit side-by-side in our pickups.

Monday, May 21
UT officials issue a memo responding to "rumors" that President J. Wade Gilley may resign at the end of the summer. 'Tis not so, they say. And what are these "rumors"? Well, you know. Don't you? You don't? Well, uh, we can't really say...But they're not true. Just take our word for it. Nothing to see here. Move along.
County Commission forms a committee to study what kind of board should run the prospective Universe Knoxville planetarium complex. Supporters urge Commission to make the board "non-political." OK, OK, stop laughing.

Tuesday, May 22
Legislative update: No new taxes yet. Also no budget yet. The one thing we do have so far is an $800 million deficit for next year. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

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:
The dogwood statuary in question adorns the side of the Howard Baker Jr. Federal Courthouse, née the Whittle Communications building, a.k.a. Historic Whittlesburg. When the two-block-long brick edifice was constructed in the early '90s, much was made of a renewed commitment to architecture that reflected local character and heritage. This was, apparently, a short-lived phenomenon. Anyway, first right answer came from Rachel Oakes of Knoxville, who wins a promotional medallion from the forthcoming Disney film Atlantis. It lights up!

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

KNOX COUNTY COMMISSION
THURSDAY, MAY 24
1 P.M.
CITY COUNTY BUILDING
400 MAIN ST.
Knox County Executive Tommy Schumpert will present his budget for the 2001-02 year to commissioners.

METROPOLITAN PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC WORKSHOP
THURSDAY, MAY 24
6:30 P.M.
DOGWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
705 TIPTON ST.
This is the first in a series of workshops for input on MPC's update of the South Knox Sector Plan, a guide to development in South Knoxville and southern Knox County. Topics at this meeting: the South Knoxville Boulevard and West Moody Avenue extensions. Call 215-2500 for more information, or visit the MPC web site.

KNOX COUNTY COMMISSION
TUESDAY, MAY 29
2 P.M.
CITY COUNTY BUILDING
400 MAIN ST.
Commissioners are expected to request a report from the Knox County Parks and Recreation Department on possible uses for the Farmers Market property in East Knox County.

KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, MAY 29
7 P.M.
CITY COUNTY BUILDING
400 MAIN ST.
City Council will vote on a plan to redraw council district lines based on last year's census.

Strike One

A critic says city plans for Caswell Park ignore the people who live nearby.

The announcement that the city is planning to invest $4 million in the next year for redevelopment of East Knoxville's Caswell Park is, in many ways, welcome news. Especially since the departure of the Knoxville Smokies for their new stadium in Sevier County, the recreational complex around the old Bill Meyer Stadium on Winona Street has needed...well, something there.

But is the city's plan to build four new softball fields on the east side of Winona, near Bill Meyer Stadium, really the best use for Caswell Park?

City officials, of course, say it is. But Jeff Talman, a Fourth and Gill resident and a member of the 1999 task force that suggested designs for the redevelopment, says the softball fields are just another example of the city's refusal to work with residents of inner-city neighborhoods.

Talman's chief complaint with the Caswell Park plan is that additional softball fields will add little to the Parkridge neighborhood near the park, or to other inner-city neighborhoods nearby, such as Morningside, Fourth and Gill, and Old North Knoxville.

"Softball is great stuff," Talman says. "But I wanted to see something that could redefine what living downtown means...Softball fields can be anywhere. Softball players don't care where they're going to play. We should be trying to restore neighborhoods."

Talman says the task force suggested turning Caswell Park into an urban park for downtown and inner-city residents, with green space and walking trails to better connect adjacent but separate communities, and with some tie-in to the nearby John T. O'Connor Senior Center.

Talman also complains that the city's efforts aren't in line with plans to use up to $100 million in federal Empowerment Zone money for economic development in Knoxville's inner city.

Joe Walsh, deputy director for the city's Parks and Recreation Department, says the new softball fields are simply the first of three phases that will eventually meet the goals set out by the task force. The second phase will include improvements to the west side of the park, turning an existing softball field into an open, urban park with green space and greenway trails. Walsh contends that the redeveloped park with "active recreation" features will make it more attractive to residents from across the city, while the still-to-be-designed second phase will be geared toward local residents.

"Jeff represents Fourth and Gill, and his feeling was that it should be more geared to local community use," Walsh explains. "But overall it's worked out well. It will certainly have a different aspect for the community citywide, with a good mix of an active athletic area and a passive park area."

Rob Frost, a Fourth and Gill resident and candidate for the 4th District seat on City Council, shares some of Talman's concerns. "You can't push a baby stroller through a softball field. I guess it's not perfect in that way," Frost says. But there are already greenways and a park on Padgett Street in Parkridge, and the YMCA's proposal for a new $5 million facility near Caswell Park could be a "great asset to the community," he adds.

But Talman still isn't convinced. "I've never seen a young couple in love having a picnic at a softball field."

—Matthew T. Everett

'Gay Town U.S.A.'

Knoxville Pride celebrates its 10th anniversary with a week of gay pride activities

In 1992, the fledgling Knoxville Pride held its first Pride March, a small parade of about 75 gay and bisexual men and women and their supporters from Market Street to the City County Building, where they held a brief gay pride rally.

Since then, Knoxville Pride's annual celebration has grown into a full week of activities, from art shows and pub crawls to formal dinners and drag shows. This year, the group will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the biggest Pride Week yet, kicking off with a formal Rainbow Cotillion dance on Saturday, June 2, and concluding a week later with Pride Fest 2001 on Market Square—which organizers say will transform downtown Knoxville into Gay Town U.S.A.—on Saturday, June 9.

"The reason I got involved with this is when I came out, my family abandoned me," says Dr. Ed Bolden, executive director of Knoxville Pride since 1999. "I didn't have anybody, and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, specifically Pride and the Metropolitan Community Church, embraced me. I really hope that I can set an example and can be an influence on somebody's life in the same positive way. I don't want [it] to sound like a cliché, but I want to give something back."

A significant part of past Pride celebrations, the parade down Gay Street, will not be held this year. Bolden says the parade rarely draws attention from the media or the straight community, so Knoxville Pride leaders have decided to turn inward.

"For the past five or six years we've come out and marched down the streets, but we've had very few bystanders," he explains. "So instead of spinning our wheels trying to show a presence when people aren't there, we decided to hold a festival for us. It's still a visible reminder, and we invite the whole community, but it's a time for us to get together and celebrate as a group."

One other minor change Bolden points out: Beer will be served at Pride Fest this year, for the first time.

The schedule of Pride Week events:

Rainbow Cotillion, Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at the Candy Factory. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Disc Exchange, the Rainbow Club in the Old City, and Adrian's Cafe.

Ms. Knoxville Pride Pageant, Sunday, June 3 at 10:30 p.m. at the Carousel II.

Rainbow Youth Night, Monday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at the Candy Factory.

Arts and Culture Night, Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at the Candy Factory.

Spirituality Night, Wednesday, June 6 at 7 p.m. at the Candy Factory.

Heritage Night, Thursday, June 7 at 7 p.m. at the Candy Factory.

Night on the Town, Friday, June 8 at 11 p.m., various locations.

Pride Fest 2001, Saturday, June 9 at 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Market Square

Pride Picnic, Sunday, June 10 at 1 p.m. at Concord Park.

—Matthew T. Everett

Swing Low

Farewell to blues powerhouse Sara Jordan

Knoxville's blues community lost its queen, sadly and unexpectedly, on Tuesday, May 22 when singer Sara Jordan died of cardiac arrest resulting from an asthma attack. She was only 40.

Well-known hereabouts for her resonant, powerful voice, Jordan sang blues, gospel and R&B in Knoxville-area clubs for the better part of 10 years. She performed and recorded with any number of well-traveled local musicians as well as fronting her own bands, including the Jordan Project and, more recently, Sara Jordan and the Leftovers.

"She didn't have some sweet, pretty little voice," says Leftovers' guitarist Labron Lazenby, the first musician to perform with Jordan when she began singing with instrumental accompaniment. "It moved you. It was like thunder."

Lazenby met Jordan more than eight years ago at what is now the blues club Sassy Ann's. The two became fast friends; they talked music until the wee hours of the morning, then went on a post-bar jaunt that took them to Denny's for breakfast and nearly ended in disaster when a policeman pulled them over.

"She was pretty mad about that," says Lazenby, chuckling a little despite being palpably shaken Tuesday afternoon. "She was a fireball of fun, a great person and a hell of a singer..."

"She was larger than life, too large for this town," says Sassy Ann's owner Vicki Vinson, who describes Jordan as her "best friend."

"I always measured the bands that played our club by Sara Jordan and the Leftovers."

A chronic asthma sufferer, Jordan had endured several hospitalizations related to previous attacks. Boyfriend Brett Spaulding called an ambulance at the onset of the Tuesday attack, but Jordan's heart failed on the way to St. Mary's Hospital. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate her.

"She was a woman full of love, wisdom and compassion," says Spaulding. "And she had no greater passion than sharing her music."

Truly, now, will Knoxville know the Blues.

—Mike Gibson