Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Give Protest a Chance

Members of the newly formed Knoxville Area Coalition for Compassion, Justice and Peace say they've been largely neglected by the media as they protest bombing of Afghanistan and call attention to alternatives to war. The group has been holding weekly peace vigils at Cumberland Avenue and James Agee Street every Friday at 4:30 p.m. The vigils draw anywhere from 30 to 60 people, the group's leaders say.

The city's only daily, The News-Sentinel, once sent a photographer, but never published any pictures. Protestors say calls to meet with editor Harry Moskos or anyone else from the paper's editorial staff have been ignored. Aside from Channel 6, all TV media have ignored the group. Only UT's Daily Beacon has given significant coverage. So last Friday at noon, about a dozen of the group's members picketed the Sentinel's office on Church Street.

"The paper's covered a lot of things but they haven't covered people saying, 'violence is not the answer,'" says group member Shelley Wascom. "We don't think the paper has to agree with us, but we think it is news." They then carried in a letter-to-editor and asked to speak to the editor, but were told they couldn't. There was a two-paragraph brief on the protest buried in Saturday's paper, but as of Wednesday, the letter hadn't run. However, the peace protesters indirectly had their views expressed on the paper's editorial page Sunday—it published two letters criticizing them.

Pennies Down the Aisle?

State senator Tim Burchett is 37 and famously single. He used to brag that his most enduring relationship with a woman lasted two weeks. For the past couple of years however, he's been keeping company with a tall, stunning traffic-stopper who has salvaged his social life and reputation. For the past few months, she has been sporting a ring. So we asked Holly Kennedy what this could mean.

"Well," she said, "Tim and I were with Ben Atchley one night during the budget crisis, and we were walking out of our favorite Mexican restaurant in Nashville. Tim's always looking for stuff on the ground because he's so cheap. You wonder who picks up all those pennies? It's Tim. He loves his metal detector.

"He saw this ring and picked it up. I stuck out my hand, and he put it on my finger. I said 'Look, Ben, Tim finally gave me a ring.' Tim said, 'Hey, it's a start.'"

Burchett claims it's a toe ring, something Kennedy denies, although she does admit the silver plate is wearing off and turning the inside of her finger charcoal gray. How long will she wear it? "Until it dissolves, or I get a real one."

Has she shown it to her mom, Gayle Kennedy? "She's horrified. She said 'Holly, you're not going to be able to embarrass him into giving you a ring. He wears his thriftiness like a badge.' "

Skip the Formalities!

Market Square property owners who have been poring over the recently-published Request For Proposals published on the KCDC web site were surprised to see that the city's Market Square redevelopment plan, which includes hiring of someone called a "co-ordinating developer" vested with the power to take property by condemnation, was approved by Knox County Commission at its September meeting.

Why surprised? Because nobody told them that County Commission approval was necessary. A check with the commission office showed that it was approved without discussion because it was on the consent agenda, which is reserved for uncontested, non-controversial issues. It was placed on the agenda at the request of County Exec Tommy Schumpert, who said he was asked to do so by KCDC's Dan Tiller. "He told me it was just a formality," Schumpert said.

Market Square property owner Susan Key said she would have appreciated being informed that the redevelopment plan required County Commission's approval, and that she would have attended the commission meeting to voice the same concerns she aired at City Council.

Hey, Neighbor!

It's started to become common for people hereabouts to refer to downtown Knoxville as a "neighborhood." Even some of the current crop of City Council candidates are using the tag. Here's your chance to find out why—on Sunday, Oct. 28, the downtown group City People will host its biannual Home Tour from 1 to 5 p.m. The self-guided walk will begin at Macleod's Restaurant (a.k.a. downtown's neighborhood bar) at the corner of Market Street and Union Avenue. There, you can pick up tickets ($5) and guidebooks that will take you through some of the city's spectacular urban dwellings, including lofts on Gay Street and galleries on Market Square. Also on the schedule are some nearly-finished and pending apartment renovation projects. So if you see something you like, you can just move right in.

Requiem

Knoxville Opera supporters sang a sad aria for Sammie Lynn Puett last week; the long-time board member and former president of the local opera group died Oct. 11 after being struck by an automobile while crossing a street in Arlington, Texas.

KO director of development and administration Brandon Slocum called Puett a "remarkable woman, a leader and a motivater. When I started here last year, she was my mentor, so it's been very hard."

Puett was a board member for 16 years, and was president-elect for the company's upcoming 25th anniversary season. Funeral services were held Oct. 15, with graveside services the following day at Greenwood Cemetery. The family requests that well-wishers make donations to Fountain City United Methodist Church, where Puett worshipped, or to the charitable organization of their choice.