The Blount County Democratic Party held a successful Chili Social and Candidate Forum yesterday.

Tony Webb, Blount County Democratic Party Chair and Gary Wynn, one of only two Blount County Commission Democratic candidates.

There were approximately 75 attendees, from all around East Tennessee. The chili and sides along with the desserts made by local Democrats were excellent.

Attendees included Knoxville attorneys Terry Adams and Gordon Ball, both running for the U.S. Senate seat against Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Democratic Party chair Roy Herron, Democratic Party leaders from all over East Tennessee, including Blount County, Knox County, Loudon County, Monroe County and Roane County, TN Rep. Gloria Johnson, along with State Senate candidate Cheri Siler and other notables including Sylvia Woods.

For more details...

The Blount County primary for County Mayor, County Sheriff, County commissioners and more will be Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

Friday, February 20, 2014, at 12 Noon is the deadline for turning in a petition to run for one of these Blount County offices/seats.

Below are the current incumbents/candidates for some of these offices as of Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, at 10 AM.

Note, there are a variety of other office up for election, e.g. Judges, District Attorney, Trustee, Register of Deeds, Highway Superintendent, Circuit Court Clerk, County Clerk, Public Defender, and Chancellor.

The majority of potential candidates have not turned in their petitions to get on the ballot. Two county commission seats are running unopposed, both are the incumbents.

County Commission, District 5 (Maryville College, Maryville High School, Maryville Middle School), Seat B, currently has only one candidate, Richard Carver, the incumbent, thus he is running unopposed.

County Commission, District 9 (Porter, Rockford County-Alcoa, Rockford-City, Rockford-County, Rockford-20th, Rockford-20th Alcoa, Shooks Gap), Seat A, currently has only one candidate, Ronald W. French, the incumbent, thus he is running unopposed.

Contact the Blount County Election Commission for details.

The Rockford City general election for city commissioners will be Tuesday, May 6, 2014.

Friday, February 20, 2014, at 12 Noon is the deadline for turning in a petition to run for Rockfor City Commission.

There are two Rockford City Commission seats up for election.

Roy Lawson is an incumbent. He has picked up a petition to be re-elected but has not yet turned it in.

Denise Birdwell is an incumbent. She has not yet picked up a petition to run for re-election.

Sandra Hitson has turned in a petition to run for office.

Jennifer Brown has picked up a petition to run for office but has not yet turned it in.

Contact the City of Rockford at 865-970-9665 or the Blount County Election Commission for details.

The City of Alcoa will be upgrading recycling carts starting next week, February 11, 2014. The current brown recycling carts and small blue bins will no longer be used. The initial delivery of the new carts will be limited to residents/businesses that returned the postcard requesting a new cart.

Recycling pickup will be once every two weeks for everyone. There will no longer be weekly recycling pickup.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014: delivery of new blue carts will begin.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014: all customers currently receiving recycling pickup on Wednesdays must place their existing brown recycling carts and/or small blue bins at the curb. The containers will be emptied and removed.

Friday, February 14, 2014: all customers currently receiving recycling pickup on Fridays must place their existing brown recycling carts and/or small blue bins at the curb. The containers will be emptied and removed.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014: recycling pickup will commence using the new blue carts for those people receiving recycling pickup on Wednesdays.

Friday, February 21, 2014: recycling pickup will commence using the new blue carts for those people receiving recycling pickup on Fridays.

If you did not receive the City of Alcoa 2014 Recycling Schedule, contact the Public Works & Engineering Department to get a copy.

Contact the City of Alcoa Engineering & Public Works department with questions (865-380-4800 or 865-380-4815).

There will be a parade from Alcoa to Maryville in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The parade begins at 12 Noon in Alcoa, TN, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. The parade terminates at Maryville College.

Dorothy Kincaid is the keynote speaker at 2 PM.

Subs & Such is the only East Tennessee restaurant to make Southern Living's "South's Best Cheap Eats Under $10.

Good work and congratulations!

We noticed Friday that the Dead End BBQ location in Maryville was finished and there appeared to be training or something going on there. We called to ask and were told they are opening this Tuesday, December 3rd.

Early voting has started for the Maryville sales tax referendum.

The referendum proposes to increase Maryville sales tax by 0.50%, the sales tax rate would increase from 9.25% to 9.75% (local sales tax rate of 2.25% would increase to 2.75%). On a $10 purchase the sales tax would increase by 5 cents. On a $100 purchase the sales tax would increase by 50 cents.

It is estimated the sales tax increase would generate about $2.5 million per year, half would go to City of Maryville schools and half would go in the city's general fund.

Early voting runs:
November 20, 2013 through December 5, 2013, except for November 28th and 29th, Thanksgiving holiday.

Early voting hours are:
Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM.
Saturday, 8 Am to 11 AM.

You can early vote at the Blount County Courthouse.

The City of Alcoa is using eminent domain to purchase a lot in the St. Ives neighborhood. The lot will be used to connect the St. Ives neighborhood with the new St. Thomas neighborhood. According to the State of Tennessee Real Assessment Data website, the current owners of the lot are the developers.

We spoke with city representatives about this issue five years ago. The St. Ives developers are planning approx. 70 new homes with a single outlet. The new St. Thomas neighborhood is planned for approx. 40 new homes with a single outlet. We suggested to the city representative that the neighborhoods should connect to provide alternate outlets for both neighborhoods. According to the city representative we spoke with five years ago, this was not a possibility. They said the developers did not want to connect the neighborhoods, thus the city had no option. What changed?

Additional dates have been scheduled at the Blount County Library for those wanting more information or help with enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace exchange plans.

Tennessee Health Care Campaign volunteers will be at the Blount County library to assist.

Saturday, Nov 16, 2013 (10 AM to 2 PM)

Saturday, Nov 23, 2013 (10 AM to 2 PM)
Sunday, Nov 24, 2013 (1 to 5 PM)

Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 (4:30 to 8:30 PM)

To complete enrollment you will have to have payroll and/or federal tax filing forms and information on your current health insurance plan, if applicable.

Residents who need health care coverage will be able to find answers to their questions about the Affordable Health Care Act and other assistance this weekend at the Blount County Library.

Tennessee Health Care Campaign volunteers will be at the local library.

Friday, Nov. 8, 2013 (12-4 PM)
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 (10 AM to 2 PM)
Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013 (1-5 PM)

To complete enrollment you will have to have payroll and/or federal tax filing forms and information on your current health insurance plan, if applicable.

The City of Alcoa has hired retired Huntersville, NC, chief of police Philip Potter to be the chief of police for the City of Alcoa.

Chief Potter originally worked at the Piqua, Ohio, Police Department for about 30 years, the last 11 as police chief. He then took a position as the police chief in Huntersville, NC, where he stayed for nine years then retired. Potter "led the City of Alcoa assessment team last summer which culminated in the city’s successful re-accreditation."

Welcome, Chief Potter.

Click for bigger and a couple more pocketcam/cellphone photos...

We made a quick stop by the new Calhoun's in Maryville, which just opened this afternoon. It was a soft opening without much (any?) publicity, but it was already getting crowded by around 3:30.

They've done a great job with the remodel of the former Ruby Tuesday and later Marlin and Ray's site. It's right next door to Smoky Mountain Brewery, another Copper Cellar Group property in the previous Pizzeria Uno site.

The outdoor deck/patio is really nice. There's a full bar (in addition to the even bigger, snazzier one inside), a fireplace, a covered portion, big screen TVs everywhere showing sports channels, and a decent sound system playing country and blues favorites. It's close to the Alcoa Highway/129 bypass, but the music and ambient noise drown out the traffic. Bonus, they have a permit to allow dogs. (See above photo of Gracie, the very first dog on deck.)

As for the food, it's Calhoun's. I'm guessing everyone reading this has been to a Calhoun's somewhere. They have pretty much the same menu of decent casual dining fare. Prices might be a little higher than what the Maryville/Blount Co. crowd is used to, but portions are generous and they have some great happy hour drink specials. The service was outstanding.

I'm guessing it will be a hit in Blount Co., and we're happy to have another casual dining venue, especially one that allows dogs on the patio.

Once again, the Foothills Fall Festival organizers have been successful in providing a weekend of entertainment. Congrats to all!

Blount County Schools has an $8.6 million budget shortfall. It costs $17,000 a day for Blount county to run the buses. To save money, bus service won't be provided four days this school year. That means parents will have to find another way to get their kids to class.

Mayor Ed Mitchell is requesting the federal government let Blount County open and maintain the park roads during the [U.S. government] shutdown.

Blount County needs to get their act together. They can't provide the services needed to educate children. They need to stick to stick to their knitting. If they can't provide necessary services now, they don't need to be offering to provide non-essential services.