The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 49

JrA" -3 Inside today Johnny Majors coach Vols in bowlAI ricr 7 Bush orders US i- Jf- 'Vf Florida Alabama set Jfr imjijiiiu Traffic travels over mm part ofPellissippi More than 1500 cars an hour figured School to be paid for with capital Interest would add up to $13 million Inside Officials track the traffic on the extensionBC4 By Bob Womack NmeOenOnal sUff wttar No formal ceremonies were held Friday to mark the opening of the new stretch of Pellissippi Parkway between Northshore Drive and Alcoa Highway However it appeared from the volume of vehicles that none was needed The 66 -mile segment connecting West- Knox County with -Blount County officially opened at noon but it began carrying heavy traffic as soon as the barriers to the entrance ramps were removed by midmoming "There were a lot of people on it at said a state Transportation Department employee who asked not to be identified "But about twice now what it was then and the only been officially open about 20 min- he said shortly after noon The employee eyeing activity near the Topside Road exit added looks like going to carry a lot of During an unofficial five-minute count at the Topside ramp 130 cars passed that point That would be an hourly rate of over 1500 cars But the volume was expected to be much heavier as the first rush-hour drivers headed home from West Knoxville and Oak Ridge late Friday afternoon The new stretch of road is not expected to provide a lot of relief until sometime next year Department of Transportation officials say the extension from Kingston Pike to Northshore Drive is expected to open in late 1993 --r -v'- Meanwhile they said travelers will have to contend with con- "Instruction on Ebenezer Road from Northshore Drive to Westland Drive '-Y- Friday afternoon traffic was snarled at the Northshore-Eben- ezer intersection located eight- VY tenths of a mile east of the newly opened north end of the Pellis- sippi Parkway Cars backed up on both Northshore and Ebenezer Fred Corum engineering di- rector of the Knoxville DOT re-gional -office said that construe- tion will not be completed until about next August It already has been delayed by heavy rains and Corum expects more delays be- cause of increased use of the road to get to the parkway extension By Bob Fowter NiwtaM Btount County buraau If the Blount County Commission agrees Monday to fund $17 million for a new elementary school in Townsend the commie Budget Committee is rec ommending funding through capi tal outlay notes The 10-year notes would in-r dude an anticipated $13 million in interest payments for a total project cost of $4078097 accord mg to figures compiled byJdm r'i Troyer the countyh budget di-rector- The cost of paying off the notes is equal to about 5 cents on the current property tax rate Troyer told budget committee members Thursday' The alternative financing method issuing longer-term bonds was ruled out by budget i committee members State law would require the county to split tax dollars used to pay for the longer-term bond issue with the Maryville and Alcoa school systems Splitting those tax dollars would boost the amount of money that would be involved in the overall project committee mem- bers were told While- Budget Committee members Thursday discussed us-ing part of the dwindling fund balance to help pay for the school no action was taken Members were given charts depicting the recent year-to-year declines in that fluid balance County Commissioner Craig Gar- rett described the trend as yyo 1 School board members have committed future anticipated 'S state Better Education Program funds to help pay for the new school and have already allocated $91000 in this BEP funding to pay for the construction r- Future allocations hinge on the continuation of the half-cent state sales tax hike that was passed by the state Legislature on a tempo- rary basis last year Blount Coun-ty School Superintendent John Davis said --S School board members have been wrestling with the Town- send school project for months and have had to trim original plans substantially to come within 'budget In other matters Thursday Budget Committee members recommended full commission ap- proval of the school re-quest to take up to $170000 from I Please see SCHOOL page BC4 1 action at work sessions By Bob Fowler NMwSantM Blount County buraau A change in its rules may streamline the operation of the Blount County Commission by altering work sessions members of the Legislative and Resolutions Committee agreed -Committee members meeting Thursday recommended the change to allow limited action at what are now strictly work sessions Work sessions are held several-days before each regular meeting' At present commissidfiers merely discuss items listed on the regular agenda during work sessions According to the current rules no votes may be taken during work sessions no sense in having a wok session if we have to rehash the whole nine yards again in regular committee Chairman Steve Samples said' "Work sessions are one of the '-V most useless tools the commission said Commissioner Mike Walker- Y'- The commission Walker said could take some limited action on its agenda by convening instead as a "committee of the in advance of its regular meeting The committee of the whole' consisting of all 21 commissioners could send some agenda items to committee table others and decide which items commissioners should take action on in the upcoming regular session Walker said Members of the committee said many agenda items are now extensively discussed in work sessions brought up again in the regular session the following week and then referred back to committee The recommendation to revise commission rules so the committee of the whole replaces work sessions will go before the foil commission during its regular meeting in January 3 MNaa CaryNN-SntM atefl Hometown events under way Christmas season at the Blount County Courthouse as of Friday night when the Hometown Christmas celebration had its tree-lighting event Above the trees illuminate the courthouse square shortly after the 6:15 pm lighting Activities planned for the event included a Courthouse Choir performance a Christmas Market inside the courthouse and wagon rides down historic High Street and Indiana Avenue ILOUNTfAREA' IE MfetMfeMMMMMiMIMWM Habitat workers to discuss efforts Rick Phelps formerly of Maryville and the son of the Richard Phelpses of Maryville wiU be the "Noonday spotlight segment Tuesday on WKXT-TV Channel 8 He will be accompanied by Bemie Starrier also of Maryville Phelps is working with Habitat for Humanity International of Americus GaH In late January he will go to Africa for involvement in home building mission work there Phelps and Starner will discuss Habitat for Humanity in this area There are chapters in Blount Knox Loudon Sevier and Monroe counties Habitat for Humanity uses donations of finances materials and labor from the community to build new houses for low-income families 4-H public speaking contest set Tuesday The Blount County 4-H public speaking contest has been scheduled for Tuesday at Mary Blount School Registration will begin at 6 pm Two 4-H winners have been selected from the local 4-H clubs Junior speeches should be two to four minutes in length Junior high speeches should be three to five minutes in length 1 Senior members should be prepared to give a five- to seven-minute speech related to their 4-H experiences Members have recently received a speaking project book and should refer to it for instructions on writing their speech A winner in each grade wiU be selected Those in grades seven through 12 will participate in the district contest Further information is available by calling the Blount County Agricultural Extension Service office at 982-8430 Orchestra chorus Christmas show set The music of Christmas by the Maryville-AIcoa College-Community -Orchestra the College-Community Chorus and two children's choirs will perform at a "Family program Monday The program is the second of the season for the groups The concert is at 8 Sm in the Theater Complex at Maryville allege The lobby will feature art work by area high school students and the work of MadisonviUe artist Sharon Evans Before the concert brass and woodwind choirs willplay Christmas music in the lobby The orchestra is under the direction of Bin Robinson Dr Daniel Taddie directs the College-Community Chorus Tickets are $7 for adults $5 for students and senior citizens and $1 for children under 1L They will be on sale at the door before the performance s5 3 Index News of RecordBC4 Religion EventsBC2 School CatendarBC2 SportsBC3 Sports CalendarBC3 This Week In BiountBC4 Weather Today in Blount County should bo partly cloudy and braety with a high In the low 40s Tonight will bo cold with a low of 17 Winds during the day should be between 10-20 mph Sunday should bring Increasing cloudiness with a high In the mld-40a and a low In the upper 20s A mix of precipitation Is possible Monday morning The nigh will bo In the 40s and the low In the upper 20a Tuesday should bo fair and warmer with the high In the upper 40s and the low In the low 30s Complete weather Vi Deaths Blount County FRIENDSVILLE: Mark Mur- aiy67 ARYVILLE: David Shelton 69 i Area GATUNBURQ: Francos Odom LENOIR CITY: Robert Rabem91 For latest death list and obituaries see pages C9-10 In News-Sent! net 11 Blount Stocks CHS ASM Signal SSte 57 Vk TOte 70 ltte 30 SOW Site IS 17 MW 11 1310 150b 15W 3314 3314 5514 54 1414 57 Ih TOW MW 11 SOW 4 3SW MW 12M 15W 3314 S5W OlW 14W Broniwick Corp BankofET OavlonHomM FlrdAmarkan UbmAj UMMtee Moooy a nonvion Krogar Rubbarmald TRW Inc United CWw Got For complete stock Ratings see pages C7-9 In News-Senti neL.