Comment on this story Wednesday, June 2 • The Cingular Wireless company says it has decided not to pursue building three 170-foot cell towers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Smokies officials decide they had best consult the experts in Knoxville if they’re really serious about erecting gawky, landmark eyesores that people will ridicule for years to come. Thursday, June 3 • Monroe County officials lose the first round in a federal lawsuit over whether they can keep a display of the Ten Commandments mounted in their courthouse. ACLU attorneys pressing the suit say they simply want to make sure the Monroe-ly rollers have a sufficient understanding of “Thou Shalt Not...” Friday, June 4 • A group of attorneys petitions President George W. Bush to hold TVA to stricter pollution standards on the same day the Pope asks Bush to change his policy in Iraq. It should go to show that Bush doesn’t play favorites. He will doubtless ignore the requests of both the lawyers and the Pope, thereby affording equal treatment to representatives from both ends of the divinity spectrum. Saturday, June 5 • The News Sentinel reports that the state’s college students will likely face yet another tuition hike (of 7 percent) in 2005, although the mark-up will be smaller than other tuition increases they’ve endured over the last decade. Guess being a college student in Tennessee is a lot like being married, in that you get screwed a little bit less as years go by. Sunday, June 6 •An Associated Press business story tells us that the only occupational category where females earn significantly more money on average than their male counterparts is waste clean-up. Further proof that in our culture, women who want to get ahead have to take a lot of shit. Monday, June 7 •The News Sentinel reports that Knoxville residents will be asked to vote on whether the city can use public money to fund a convention center hotel, even though local officials say they have no plans to do so. Yeah, and that panhandler who asks for your wallet on Market Square only wants to hold it for safekeeping. Tuesday, June 8 •According to the Associated Press, city and county officials in Memphis are balking at the prospect of funding a health department rat-control program. But then, relying on a group of politicians to get rid of vermin is sort of like picking a chain-smoking fat guy as surgeon general. Knoxville Found 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 photo to the left is located on the sign in front of the Black Box theater on Homberg Drive in Bearden. The work is informally called “Take a Bow,” and we exclaim the same to Jason Griffith for spotting the icon. We are quite pleased to award you with a promotional copy of the Robert Bradley and Blackwater Surprise release Still Lovin’ You. Meet Your City A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend JAMES WHITE PARKWAY/CHAPMAN HIGHWAY TASK FORCE AND MOBILITY SUBCOMMITTEE Monday, June 14 • 5:30 p.m. • South Doyle Middle School • Library • 3900 Decatur Rd. JAMES WHITE PARKWAY/CHAPMAN HIGHWAY TASK FORCE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE Tuesday, June 15 • 6:30 p.m. • South Doyle Middle School • Library • 3900 Decatur Rd. JAMES WHITE PARKWAY/CHAPMAN HIGHWAY TASK FORCE COMMUNITY IMPACT AND OPPORTUNITIES SUBCOMMITTEE Wednesday, June 16 • 5:30 p.m. • South Doyle Middle School • Library • 3900 Decatur Rd.

Is it the Beer Talking?
Trouble brews around NooKaBooCa

When he came to town a few months ago, Brett Redmayne-Titley was eager to revive the New Knoxville Brewing Company, and scores of Knoxvillians’ were thrilled to be getting a local beer again.

In the past few weeks, that budding affair has soured slightly, with anonymous accusations circulated about the California transplant, and his growing disgust with what he calls the business ethics and politics of Knoxville.

Redmayne-Titley—who moved here from San Diego—took over the facilities of the New Knoxville Brewing Company, which brewed from 1996 until 2001. The brewery went out of business that year. A bank foreclosed on the building and sold it and the equipment to an Oak Ridge developer, who is now leasing it to Redmayne-Titley.

Redmayne-Titley has decided to keep the name New Knoxville, which was resurrected from a brewery that operated from 1886 until 1910.

Redmayne-Titley also plans on using much of the artwork, designs and promotional material of the prior New Knoxville.

After a short-lived period of excitement over the new brewery, bad blood started to flow. In the past few weeks, there have been accusations against Redmayne-Titley. An anonymous “press release” was sent out to people around Knoxville, alleging that Redmayne-Titley was brewing beer illegally, because he didn’t have the proper permit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. “This untaxed beer is being sold in local stores and bars by Cherokee Distributing,” the press release reads.

Redmayne-Titley admits that he didn’t yet have the permit, but says it was an honest mistake. He called the BATF in Nashville and told them he was brewing, but hadn’t distributed anything.

“I told [the BATF agent] that we have beer in the tanks and it was an honest mistake,” he says. “It was brought to my attention that we weren’t allowed to brew any beer until we have our permit.

“For Memorial Day weekend, we did say we would have beer ready. But keep in mind, not one drop of beer left here. The reason for that is we didn’t have the BATF permit,” he adds. “We should not have actually brewed the product prior to getting the BATF license.”

It’s not an uncommon scenario in the brewing business, says Al Krusen, former co-owner of New Knoxville and the current brewmaster for the Downtown Grill & Brewery. Excises taxes are paid on alcohol when it’s put into containers, whether those are barrels or bottles. He says he’s known a number of brewers who have had to pay back taxes on alcohol they’ve brewed. As long as the taxes are paid, the BATF is generally forgiving.

Getting a permit from the BATF can take some time. It took the former New Knoxville about six to eight months to get its license, Krusen says. The BATF permit involves a long list of requirements, most of which involve the payment of taxes.

Redmayne-Titley says he knows who is behind the anonymous press release, but he wouldn’t give Metro Pulse a name.

Other accusations have floated around as well. Mike Burmil posted on Metroblab—Metro Pulse’s on-line message board—that Redmayne-Titley owes him more than $4,000 in San Diego. Burmil would talk to Metro Pulse only on the condition that the paper provide a list of New Knoxville’s investors, in hopes that he could recover some of his money. Redmayne-Titley says that Burmil is disgruntled because “I won a judgment against (him).”

Redmayne-Titley says he’s been treated badly in Knoxville and that he’s been deceived by a number of people. “I came here to relax,” he says. “I wish people would be a little more forthcoming. I’m trying to rise above it. I’m very dissatisfied with the treatment that we’ve received in Knoxville. I don’t think we’ve been treated fairly by anybody in Knoxville.”

He says he’s had problems with the city of Knoxville and KUB. A bill from the utility was three times what he was told it would be. He says he has also spent a lot of time and energy working on the facility.

“The people who owned this company didn’t do a good job of maintaining it,” Redmayne-Titley says. “A lot of my time has been spent getting it up to industry standards.

“I can tell you in complete honesty that if I knew two months ago what I know today, I would not be involved with New Knoxville. I still like the town and the people. But I’m now at the point where I have to continue moving forward, absorbing these exorbitant costs because people were not up front with me,” he says. “If I sound a little disgruntled, oh, yeah. Our project has cost us substantially more than we expected.”

Krusen says that he’s tried to help Redmayne-Titley as much as he can, but admits that their relationship has chilled somewhat. Still, he would not say anything critical of Redmayne-Titley and says he hopes he succeeds.

“I wish him all the success in the world because I want to see a package brewery in town,” Krusen says. “Beer should be a local product. I want to be able to go to my Food City and buy a six-pack of local beer. So I want Brett to succeed.”

—Joe Tarr

Destination Infestation
Teens from around the world descended on Knoxville

In late May, downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee were overrun by more than 18,000 students, parents and teachers affiliated with the Destination Imagination program. You probably saw some of them. Their vans were all around town, their windows bearing DI symbols and otherwise sloganized in grease paint.

The global finals drew upwards of 470 teams of teens competing in problem-solving competitions and they and their families were housed in university dorm rooms and local hotel accommodations, including the downtown Holiday Inn, Hilton and Radisson. Seven countries and 44 states were represented, with 15 teams from Tennessee.

Headquartered in Glassboro, N.J., Destination Imagination is in the middle of a multi-year contract with the University of Tennessee that runs out in 2007.

The program is open to all teens and not limited to academic success stories.

“There are a lot of bright kids, but the great thing about DI is that it brings kids together,” says Lisa Lilienthal, a spokesperson for the organization. “They can work together and leverage each other’s strengths. Some kids may be very strong academically, and other kids may be stronger artistically.”

Cathy Harthorn with the University of Tennessee Marketing Services Group says, “All the kids were great, really talented, and we enjoyed having them... They give you a sense that humanity is off to a good start.”

The competition lasted from Wednesday, May 26 through Saturday, May 29, with a graduation ceremony on Friday, May 28. “We always have a graduation ceremony for the high school seniors,” Lilienthal says. “A lot of them miss their own graduation because it is the same weekend. We also always have a valedictorian chosen by a questionnaire essay that they write.” The top candidates are chosen by the organization to represent each graduating class.

One of this year’s valedictorians was Stephanie Simerly of Louisville, Tenn. A graduate of William Blount High School in Maryville, Simerly has been involved since fourth grade and says, “It’s been a huge part of my life. It really changed who I was. I wasn’t outgoing when I started, but it opened my whole life for me among other things: my friends, my family and God.”

At William Blount, she graduated just shy of the top 10 in her class, and she also was the drum major in the marching band. Her father, Tony, works as an auto body technician, and her mother, Wanda, works as a computer operator. She has a younger brother just starting high school.

Simerly grew up in Louisville and loves the area, but she says, “[It] is slowing becoming industrialized. People keep coming in, and I wish they would leave.”

In August, she will leave for Purdue University to study aerospace engineering, but Simerly hopes to continue working with Destination Imagination. “I will always be involved with DI, whether I’m in Tennessee or Indiana, as a coach or judge.”

—Clint Casey

June 10, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 24 © 2004 Metro Pulse