By Sally Absher By Sally Absher sallyabsher@knoxfocus.com Dr. Candice McQueen, who was sworn in as Tennessee’s new Commissioner of Education in January, was in Knoxville last week. She visited Pond Gap and South Knoxville Elementary, two of Knoxville’s Community Schools before addressing a group of educators, community leaders, and school administrators at the Downtown Marriott. […]
By Sharon Frankenberg, Attorney at Law Many of us remember the case of Terri Schiavo, a 26-year-old married woman living in Florida who collapsed on Feb. 25, 1990. She had lost consciousness for an unknown reason and spent the final 15 years of her life in a persistent vegetative state. Doctors determined that she was […]
By Sally Absher BEP Funding Lawsuits Officially Begin. Superintendents from Knox, Hamilton, Davidson, and Shelby Counties met with Gov. Haslam last week hoping to avoid a potential inadequate funding lawsuit against the State of Tennessee. It’s no secret that Tennessee schools have been underfunded since the Basic Education Plan, the state’s funding formula, was […]
By Sally Absher The General Assembly continued hearings on voucher bills last week. HB1049 (Dunn) (SB0999 by Gardenhire) was in the spotlight as the House Education Planning and Administration committee continued hearings from the prior week. If you can’t attend these committee meetings in person, the videos stream live on the General Assembly website. HB1049 […]
By Joe Rector A trip to middle Tennessee showed just how much damage the recent snow and ice storms have caused. The roadsides along Interstate 40 were littered with limbs and downed trees. For some reason, the sight of such damage brought on sadness. Trees are one of the few things in our lives that […]
By Steve Williams It’s not unusual for two people to have the same name, but it is really interesting when that name is Joshua Dobbs. If you’re a University of Tennessee football fan, I know you know who Joshua Dobbs is. But the Vols’ starting quarterback is not the only ball player in town with […]
By Alex Norman Recently the only constant in coaching a revenue sport at the University of Tennessee, has been change. Since 2008 Phillip Fulmer, Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, and Butch Jones have been the football coaches. Bruce Pearl, Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall have been the men’s basketball coaches. And now, a new contestant will […]
By Ralphine Major She already fills many roles in her daily life—Christian, wife, mother of two, and hairdresser. Now, she has added a new title after her name: published author. Kat Chandler was born in Austin, Texas. Her family moved to East Tennessee when she was five years old, and she grew up in Knoxville. […]
By Rosie Moore A dear friend of mine passed away a few days ago. He was not a “boyfriend” but he was a boy and a friend. He was seven years older than me and had a car. I was around fourteen when I met him at church. He would pick me up and bring me home […]
By Dr. Jim Ferguson I’ve been thinking about swimming lately. Not because I like to swim because I don’t. Swimming for me is not the fluid or powerful strokes of an Olympian, but struggling to avoid drowning. I remember my mother taking a station wagon load of us kids to swimming lessons one summer […]