Comment on this story Seven Days Wednesday, Nov. 24 • Even though a Central High School teacher is reprimanded for showing portions of Fahrenheit 9/11 to her students, Knox County Superintendent Charles Lindsey maintains that most school system policies “encourage the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom.” Like that whole round-earth thing, for instance, or whether that fella Darwin was really in league with the Devil. Thursday, Nov. 25 • A former Memphis police officer says in federal court that he’s “sorry” for stealing more than $1 million and 150 kilograms of cocaine from a police department property room since 2000. Sorry hell. “Thank you!” would have been more appropriate. Friday, Nov. 26 • Other news from Memphis: A News Sentinel headline tells us that Memphis City Council has decided to “end [a] probe of the mayor.” The story, however, doesn’t tell us whether the mayor is relieved or disappointed by this turn of events. Saturday, Nov. 27 • In college football, the University of Tennessee barely defeats the perennially pathetic Kentucky Wildcats on a touchdown in the game’s final minute. An object lesson in football relativity: They say playing to a draw is like kissing your sister. Well, beating Kentucky is like punching your sister out. But losing to Kentucky would be like having your sister ram a sharp stick up your ass. Sunday, Nov. 28 • Reports say that 12,800 Tennessee Valley Authority employees will receive holiday bonuses averaging $3,500 each. The rest of us working schlubs get a big-ass utility bill and a @#$% turkey. Merry @#$%-ing Christmas. Monday, Nov. 29 • According to reports, 16 counties in East Tennessee are requesting more than $5 million in federal homeland security funds to be used for high-tech defense devices such as bomb robots and specially equipped military vehicles. Pardon our skepticism, but we don’t think the feds need to pony up a million bucks just so some dillhole in Vonore can ride to the Quik-Mart in a hot-zone tank. Tuesday, Nov. 30 • Records show that Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist’s campaign committee fell short of repaying a bank loan due in August. Is there any chance his Senate seat might be repossessed? Street Talk Entrepreneur Andie Ray discusses Market Square’s holiday season Andie Ray is proprietor of Vagabondia, a boutique she opened on Market Square earlier this year. She lived on the square before opening her business and has watched its redevelopment as a festive retail and restaurant center. What does it mean to you personally and commercially to be entering this Christmas season downtown? It still somehow doesn’t seem real; I have to pinch myself every so often. To finally have my dream up and running is overwhelming. Downtown has never been more vibrant and beautiful than this holiday season, and I am thrilled to be a part of this burgeoning community. What are the advantages and disadvantages for a small merchant on Market Square this season? The great advantages are serving the downtown office worker and discerning Knoxvillian with unique clothing and having my neighboring merchants offering their out-of-the-mainstream products, as well as having downtown and Market Square so beautifully decorated. The only disadvantage is more of a perception issue—free parking. Thanks to the City of Knoxville, parking is now free at all meters and at Locust Street and State Street garages after 6 p.m. weekdays and all weekend. What has the city’s devotion of resources and emphasis on the Square meant to its businesses and you, personally? The massive overhaul of utility and infrastructure improvements were absolutely necessary for the square to revive. Completion of the garage that is currently under construction is another positive and crucial step towards the square’s success. Yet with all of these greatly appreciated improvements I hope that the city doesn’t feel we can declare “Mission Accomplished” as yet. MSDA, the CBID and the city need to cooperate on developing and implementing a retail strategy to ensure that Market Square can fulfill it greatest potential both as a commercial center and as an integral part of the larger community. Are you expecting a good sales season this year? This being my first holiday season as a retailer leaves me guessing, but I think that all of the Market Square merchants will do well. I constantly hear from my customers that they are tired of the mall and have embraced shopping in a special environment and are enthusiastic about supporting local businesses. If a shopper is seeking the unique, Market Square has it. Do you feel a synergistic relationship among the retail and restaurant interests that have taken to Market Square? The Market Square District Association has worked long and hard to create a group that works together to balance all of the interests on the square, including residential, retail and property owners. We continue to grow our organization and our connections within our district and with our community at large.

Quiet Protest, Roaring Response
National Coal sues Katuah Earth First for harassment

It was a chilly and tranquil Sunday in October when a meager turnout of three Katuah Earth First (KEF) members gathered to protest the National Coal Company’s mining of Zeb Mountain in Campbell County.

It was so quiet, in fact, that Chris Irwin of KEF calls it an embarrassment compared to the organization’s usually spirited but peaceful protests. “First of all, we went to the wrong office. We didn’t hand out a single pamphlet, and no media showed up. It was Sunday, so no one was even there. It was a lame demonstration,” Irwin says.

KEF may not have gotten much attention that day, but it is certainly getting it now. Eight members are being sued by National Coal Corp. because of the demonstration and for inundating the company with calls, faxes and emails protesting its actions.

The protests were aimed at National Coal’s recent acquisition of 7,000 acres in Anderson, Campbell, and Scott counties (adding to the 75,000 acres it already owns in East Tennessee). NCC purchased the land from Robert Clear Coal Corp.

“It’s a slapsuit—a strategic lawsuit,” says Irwin, who is the principle defendant in the case. “They want to silence public participation.”

The lawsuit boils down to the NCC’s request for injunctive relief, which is basically a court order to prevent further contact from KEF. National Coal’s Kearsten Patterson says their problem with KEF was the deluge of emails, faxes, and phone calls. “They were really hindering our daily operations, so we had to take action,” she says.

But Mike Whalen, the attorney defending KEF members, counters, “I don’t think [NCC] has any leg to stand on. I would suspect that people have every right to make phone calls.”

Patterson says that the calls from the environmentalists were foreboding. “They were getting fairly belligerent on the phone and making threats. On their website, they were encouraging people to go to our president’s home.”

However, in the preliminary hearing, “[NCC] didn’t testify that anyone was harassed or even that traffic was slowed,” says attorney Whalen. Irwin calls the harassment claim “an utter lie.... We have a 22-year record of non-violence.”

“The NCC is basically going after environmentalists who are raising awareness about the horrors and destruction of mountaintop removal,” adds KEF member Amanda Womac.

Mountain-topping is a common coal excavating process often criticized by environmentalists for disrupting forest ecosystems by removing the tops of mountains to get at the coal underneath, and then dumping the leftover soil into valleyfills, burying streams and leaving the mountain barren.

Patterson is clear on the NCC’s strategy. “Our goal is strategic acquisitions,” she says. “We look for mines that aren’t being used to their potential. Maybe we can produce more coal from those locations.”

However, she says National Coal does not use mountain-topping practices. “We do cross-mountain mining. We take a sliver off the top of the mountain, mine under it, then put the mountain top back on. We literally reclaim the land piece by piece,” she says.

However, environmentalists are wary of the word “reclaim.” “Coal companies will say that it’s reclamation, but it’s really just delayed valleyfill,” Irwin says. He encourages people to view pictures at www.ohvec.org of previous mining projects in West Virginia that have been reclaimed.

“We are a hill people, the mountains are part of the culture. These corporate carpetbagging coal companies know that if word gets out that they are blowing off the tops of mountains, there will be a bunch of pissed-off hillbillies,” says Irwin.

Because some rural areas in Kentucky and West Virginia are populated by people desperate for jobs, they welcome coal companies as a source of revenue. But, in regard to Tennessee, Irwin says, “They only think they can get away with it because it’s Southern Appalachia, but we are going to take back these mountains.”

National Coal plans to move forward. Its website states: “The majority of this property has been mined minimally over the last 100 years or so, but nowhere near the extent to which NCC plans on mining it.”

“Coal is abundant, cheap, and domestic,” Patterson says. “It’s a way of life in this country.”

Unfortunately, environmentalists say there is simply no good way to extract it. “You can’t do this mining process in a sustainable way, without protecting the watershed or the mountains,” says Irwin.

KEF’s Womac reiterates her belief in cleaner energy sources. “We just need to get off coal. We need to stay away from non-renewable resources. But 60 percent of our energy comes from coal, and we have the TVA to thank for that.”

TVA’s coal-fired power plants provide a relatively cheap source of energy, keeping citizens’ utility bills affordable. But if faced with the prospect of paying more for alternate sources of energy versus losing mountains, many people would probably think twice. With the pressing demand for coal, the NCC is probably in no danger of going under. Even so, the KEF is not likely to back down. “This lawsuit has only strengthened us. They don’t get our mountains and our silence at the same time,” says Irwin.

—Molly Kincaid

December 2, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 49 © 2004 Metro Pulse