In Blount County, the powers that be want to build this fantastic boondoggle known as the Civic Arts Center. The scam was supported last week by the city (my the city) of Maryville who agreed to waste $9M of tax payer money on this fiasco. Now, the city (not my the city) of Alcoa has decided to pony up nearly $4M. All that’s left is convincing Blount County to foot part of the bill of $11M. It looks like that will happen:

“Three unanimous votes, the college, Maryville and Alcoa have all been totally unanimous. The (Blount County Commission) budget committee passed it unanimously, even without recommendation, to the full commission for a vote,” said Carolyn Forster of Citizens for a Civic Arts Center. “Now all the (county) commissioners will have the chance to vote on it.”

If you feel the need to contact the County Commission, their number is (865) 273-5830. Make sure you ask them:

Why is our government willing to fund a project to be turned over to the local college?

The Knoxville Convention Center is a failure and their calendar of events may as well be blank. Why do you think people would come to Maryville for an event?

Also, are there plans to build convenient hotels to the center? Right now, there’s nothing particularly convenient.

Do you really believe this thing is going to bring industry into the county? Other than the jobs of staffing the place, of course.

The people selling this thing are really convinced that this will bring high tech jobs here. Seriously:

City Manager Mark Johnson said the center would be more than a cultural jewel to the county, it would help bring industry.

“I think it’s an important asset to have on your balance sheet when you’re trying to offer the community as an attractive place for high-tech research and development firms.”

According to Johnson, high tech research and development industries are the focus for the future of Blount County.

Manufacturing jobs the United States has enjoyed over the past 100 years are going to other countries with cheaper labor.

“If we don’t get our act together and capitalize on our technical ability, we’re going to fall behind other countries in the world,” he said. “We’re going through a paradigm shift. We’ve got to emphasize education and look for that niche of being able to maintain our hold on technology.”

According to Johnson, the Oak Ridge National Lab is going to make this area a focal point for high tech industry. Blount County has to be ready to participate in that industry, he said.

Yes, come to Blount County, where we have a building.

A couple of times, I’ve mentioned this proposal for a civic arts center in my hometown. I’ve said it’s a waste, won’t be successful and that it basically is a way for taxpayers to foot the bill for Maryville College. Well, it looks like this soon-to-be-known-as-a-colossal-failure is moving forward:

The city of Maryville on Tuesday committed the first share of public funds toward construction of a $55 million civic arts center on the campus of Maryville College.

City Council members agreed to issue $9,375,000 in bonds as the city share of the cooperatively funded arts center, which will contain a performing arts center, theater, academic space, and banquet and museum space.

Blount County and the city of Alcoa will be approached this month for funding commitments of $11.87 million and $3.75 million, respectively, said Maryville College Vice President for Advancement and Finance Mark Cate.

The college board of directors has already agreed to allot $20 million in privately raised funds to the project; federal and state funds will round out the funding plan. The project will be managed by Lawler-Wood.

Cumberland Securities will issue the bonds through the Blount County Economic Development Board at a variable rate of 4.5 percent payable over 25 years, Cate said. The governments’ share of the debt will not become payable until the $20 million in college funding is applied to the cost of the bonds. Maryville College President Dr. Gerald Gibson told City Council the fund-raising effort has already garnered $9.5 million.

So, the city (my the city) is going to go into debt to fund this thing and basically turn it over to Maryville College. The convention/arts center is being built for different types of entertainment and educational and conference activities. Who is going to come to Maryville for those things? The much larger city of Knoxville already has its own boondoggle err convention center and it’s largely unused. Seriously, check out their calendar. People don’t come to East Tennessee for conferences, they go to touristy places like, say, Las Vegas or Orlando.

Mark my words, in a few years this will be an burden on the city (my the city), the county and the city of Alcoa.

SayUncle interviewed David Anderson, the owner of Sunshyne Video – a local adult video store. David’s business has been under attack by local authorities and I’ve covered this issue many times before. On to the questions (and some of the links are not safe for work):

Let’s get the free plug out of the way, tell me about your business, where you’re located, business hours, and contact info.

Ok great! I love free plugs. Just helps to brand Sunshyne Video even further as household name. Sunshyne Video is located in Maryville at 3531 HWY 411 South and can be reached at 865-983-9705 or 865-982-6662. We are open 6 days a week and the main hours are 9 Am to 11 PM. Closed Sundays and holidays.
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The owners of two Blount County adult-oriented businesses have been indicted.

The Blount County grand jury indicted two business owners Monday on charges of operating adult-oriented businesses without a license.

Donald Ray Wilson, 54, East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Walland, and David E. Anderson, 42, Sevierville, were each cited twice by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office in February 2005 on the charge of operating without a license, according to the indictments.

Wilson owns Pure Pleasure Video, 4541 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, in Walland, and Anderson owns Sunshyne Video Two, 3531 U.S. 411 South, Maryville.

Anderson wasn’t surprised by the indictments. The citations he said were an attempt to force him to close his business.

“It was a direct effort to try and shut me down,” said Anderson. “It had nothing to do with what was right and what was wrong.”

The Blount County Adult-Oriented Establishment Board denied both Wilson and Anderson’s requests for operating licenses April 1, 2005, for not meeting county zoning regulations related to their businesses. The board reversed the decision the same month and granted the licenses.

I’ve covered this for a while. Basically, this sham of a board appears to have been set up specifically for the purpose of shutting down existing adult businesses. The good ol’ boys, with their religion and superior morals on their side, don’t want you or anyone else looking at dirty pictures. I don’t know that this sham of a board has actually approved anyone. And it probably won’t because that’s not its purpose. If you want more proof that it’s a sham, the article also states:

If convicted, Anderson said he’ll get a $50 fine, a misdemeanor.

“They spent, literally, thousands of dollars on a $50 citation,” he said.

Yes, with all the other things happening in the County (like the fact the population is outgrowing the schools), it’s good to see that they’re willing to spend thousands of my bucks to stop an adult, who is capable of deciding for himself, from looking at nekkid pictures of people doing it.

Shame on the county.

The local Board of Education has banned the Confederate flag at events:

The Rebel flag will no longer be allowed at any Maryville school system events.

The Maryville Board of Education voted on first reading to ban flags, noisemakers, sirens, whistles, laser-pointers and hand-held signs Monday night during its monthly meeting.

“This would prohibit bringing in any kind of flags,” Director of Schools Mike Dalton said.

The exemption to this policy will be equipment, approved by the principal and Dalton, used by groups such as cheerleaders and the flag team.

The no-flag policy eliminates the use of a symbol long associated with the school system but one that has caused growing concern over the years.

The local high school is known as The Rebels. I wonder if they’ll change the name. This comes in light of recent race related crimes in our area, some of which occurred at schools. This policy seems a bit overreaching though:

The event safety policy also prohibits any action “associated with oppression, hate, or anything else that may cause other students, parents, visitors, constituents, school district employees, spectators, or any other individuals to feel uncomfortable based on race, color, creed, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious belief/non-belief… This includes verbal, non-verbal, and physical acts.”

The city of Maryville has annexed a portion of land to build a Wal-Mart. WATE says they can’t confirm that it will be a Wal-Mart but my inside sources tell me it’s pretty much a done deal and there will be a Wal-Mart put there.

Aside from offering tax incentives, I’m not sure why the city would annex it.

There’s a push for a local Civic Arts Center in Blount County. Supposedly, it exists to bring culture to our fair county.

They way the scam works is that our local college will put up some money, as will the County and a few cities. They’ll build it and the college will assume responsibility for it and, of course, get the most benefit from it. Then, so I hear, they’ll use it for symphonies, arts shows and other stuff that won’t be popular or make money. Several local folks support this boondoggle that is in the works. I don’t.

If the county and city I’m in have the extra dough laying around to build this fiasco, then I’m paying too much in taxes and want my money back. Or they could put street lights in some county areas that need them. Or any other useful, meaningful thing (such as county trash pick up and re-paving some of the older roads). This thing will not bring substantial revenue to the city. If you don’t believe me, look at Knoxville’s mostly unused convention centers or go to a Knoxville Symphony Orchestra show. Unlike Blount County, Knoxville is actually on the map.

If you ever sell a computer that has illegal stuff on it, wipe the hard drive clean first:

A Maryville man was arrested Tuesday on a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor and may face additional charges regarding child pornography found on a computer he sold to another individual.

People think Blount County has a strong market for an expo/convention center:

Traditional fairgrounds, the kind of places where you find county fairs and equestrian events, have given way to a more sophisticated type of community gathering spot: the expo center and arena.

After months of work, Charles Johnson, of Johnson Consulting Inc., gave Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County officials an idea Tuesday of what an expo park and arena offers this area, and how other communities are using them for their needs.

For the region’s equestrians, it could be a place for year-round shows. Roger Elder, a Blount County resident and president of Tennessee’s Quarterhorse Association, said there’s enough interest in horses here to keep such a facility busy all year.

“Within two years, we could book it every weekend,” said Elder.

An expo center and arena, with horse barns and adjacent softball and baseball fields, could host multiple community events, like high school graduations or year-round trade shows, according to Johnson. Some of the centers also include commercial venues, like retail stores and hotels.

Perhaps they should peruse the Knoxville Convention Center’s extremely sparse schedule?

Guys, you should try to take the airport back first.

It’s not a big deal, but this story on the nacho-cheese covered naked man refers to my town of residence as Marysville. The name of the town is Maryville and it’s pronounced Murvul.

Via Ravenwood.

A guy in Maryville (where I live) running for school board is nicknamed Booty. So says our election commission.

On the way home yesterday, there was a vehicle in front of me with a personalized license plate that read:

MURVUL

Oh, for you non East Tennesseans who won’t get it, I live in the city of Maryville. The locals pronounce it Murvul. I thought it was hysterical.

In Maryville, nothing happened.

There is a new pet store in Maryville called Pet Land. The Mrs. went to check it out, hoping that it would be like PetsMart. It wasn’t. The sold all kinds of purebred dogs that likely come from puppy mills, purveyors of misery. We won’t be back.

I like PetsMart because they only have adoption services and don’t sell purebreds. They also let you take your dog (it’s a great place to go to socialize your dog with people and other dogs, cats don’t do so well).

As Bubba tells us, the other pet store in Maryville is not better.

Bubba alerts us to the fact that the Blount County School Board has rejected books that discuss evolution but not creationism. Mrs. Uncle and me moved to Maryville because they have the best school system in the state. Apparently, that was in terms of funding and ratios and not in terms of teaching children useful and objective things. Teaching children about God and religion is a personal matter and should not be incorporated into public education. This is 2003, right?