The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 15

I Sunday June 20 1993 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Section tLAST 0bituariesB2 Knox Br lefsB8 I NewsmakersB6 Oq express concerns needed to be focused on the has not been attention given to the plight of the daughter who is autistic and once a patient at Lakeshore Her daughter graduated from high school this year "That was one of the things that I really pushed saidthe mother- "I wanted my daughter to graduate from a regular high "The children are getting lost in the mother said Members of the Knox County legislative delegation present included Sen Ben Atchley Sen Bud Gilbert Repi Joe Armstrong HE Bittle Repi Jim Boyer Mental Retardation moves to replace institution-based care with community-based cam The cuts are to be made in July Anna Brawer'has a brother who has been at Lakeshore for 25 years He was placed in Lake-shore by a court order He is one of the 50 chosen to be released from the institute Preliminary plans call for him to be placed in an apartment He win receive care from Overlook Center She is worried that he wffl be placed without any kind of and win be forced to for himself "At first they wanted (Overlook) to Just put him in an apartment on Mb own and check on him once a week" said Brewer "He is on medication and wfll not take his medicine without supervision Now they said that someone will live with him until he learns how to cook and do the things he needs to know how to do to survive "He does not need to be in an apartment by himself at Several of those in attendance said they believe money is ing a major role in the that are being made "The driving force behind the decision is said Michael Willard of the Knoxville Coalition for the Homeless He cited that a good number of the homeless in Knoxville suffer some sort of mental flbieasi "About 35 percent of the homeless in Knoxville have been treated for mental illness and my biggest concern ia that the reduction would discharge even more of the mentally ill onto the said Willard Joyce Judge director of the Tennessee Alliance for the Mentally HI said that more attention The future of Lakeshore Mental Health Institute weighs heavily for many concerned citizens The Knox County legislative delegation met Saturday at the City County Building to hear the concerns or the community in regard to Tennesson'S master plan for mental health care and Lake-shore About 30 citizens attended The master plan requires that Lakeshore cut 50 staff positions and 50 beds as the state Department of Mental Health mi i and mentally 11 She said that the TAMI board believes that reorganization should not occur until high quality hospital services are in place and must be provided fte'eachfad! vidual before discharge from an institute Another area of concern not mentioned in the master plan is how children will be affected One woman who spoke has a Westmoreland has praise for veterans Gen William Westmoreland former chief of staff for the UJS Army opened the 75th annual American Legion State Convention in Gatlinburg Saturday with a blessing and a warning am here to convince you that you are the reason this world is safe for democracy today" he told the group of about 350 Tennessee veterans "We have power But what does the future hold? on earth as long as we do not play on our influence with arrogance and try to throw our weight around" Westmoreland commanded forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968 before becoming the chief of staff il until 1972 when retired general lives in South Carolina where he grew upi Westmoreland's address served as the keynote for the opening session of the convention The Legion represents more than 35000 veterans in the state The conference began Friday and ends today The American Legion a national organization works for rights and sponsors programs to promote patriotism youth uplift and community service Several local dignitaries came Saturday to welcome the convention guests including US Repi James Quillen Charles Bradley mayor of Gatlinburg and Larry Waters Sevier County executive In his address Westmoreland traced the influence of the military from World War I to the Gulf War Vmi rmdfNMB Oiniw Bfff at the University of Tennessee Medical Center starting July 1 He Dr Christopher Brooks will be the new director of Aeromedical wilt oversee the UfeStar air-ambulance program "Throughout the 20th worked to make this world safe air- Brooks to By Stephanie SpeBeri RMfOwUnB Mi wIMr America has said doctrine in the world Why? Because of 1 States But who did the Job? You the veterans made this world safe for While he said he recognized that there are problem areas including Saddam Hussein in Iraq Westmoreland said he believes the military has stabilized most world conflicts in the emergency department Since April 1992 Brooks has cooperated with a team of doctors to co-direct the LifeStar program Dr Blaine Enderson will continue as medical director of Aeromedical tures a helicopter with paramedics on board has helped save the lives of thousands of people throughout the region Brooks 40 received his degree at UT-Knoxville in 1976 and his medical degree from UT-Memphis in 1981 before heading to the Medical College of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to do his residency in program continue to operate the best air-ambulance service that we In addition to his position at UT Brooks also serves as the medical director for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the co medical director at the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad a volunteer physician at the Interfaith Health Clinic and a board member of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center Brooks is married to Mari Brooks They have three children: Katie 11 Karen 8 and Paul 4 Dr Christopher Brooks will take over July 1 as director of Aeromedical Services at the University of Tennessee Medical Center In his post Brooks will direct the UfeStar air-ambulance program He succeeds Dr Robert Lash the founder of UfeStar who died in April 1992 at 67 UfeStar was established in 1982 Since then the service which fea- When he assumes his new position Brooks said he plans to maintain the tradition of excellence established by Lash Lash built a very good program and it was highly Brooks said "In the future I hope to By maintaining its strength and flexing it necessary he said the nation has that we have the ability to move all over the world as well as the will as a nation to do so As long as there is that national will there will be peace on this Westmoreland charged America to continue to the civilizations of this Earth in the proper and he said it is up to future generations of soldiers to pick up where the legionnaires had left ofl He returned to Knoxville in 1984 to join the UT Medical Center staff where he has worked as a physician -s' loO Gty county auto dub drop wrecker firm sv i m'- Parkway work linking pike with interstate may start soon canceled because of overcharging of storage and towing foes violation of state law regarding sale of towed vehicles failure to respond timely when called refusal to tow some vehicles and failure to notify police when some vehicles were towed Mr Townsend's own admission he had overcharged people according to our contract Pinkston said In another instance Pinkston said Townsend sold a motorcycle he had towed that police later learned had been stolen from the Two construction projects linking Interstate 4075 with Kingston Pike Northshore Drive and Alcoa High- "After I found out it was stolen I made restitution to everyone involved" Townsend said On May 1 AAA East Tennessee Automobile Chib canceled Western Avenue contract signed in June 1990 Cathy motoring services director with AAA said the cancellation occurred because of 19 By Don Jacobs Ml UtiMi Weston Avenue Wrecker Service established in 1967 has been dropped from towing contracts by the city of Knoxville Knox County and AAA East Tennessee Automobile Club for alleged overcharging and other alleged impro- prwiwii "There were several things that made it a severe case where we felt we had to cancel the contract" said Greg Pinkston wrecker inspector for the Knoxville Police Department According to Pinkston this is the first time the city has canceled a wrecker contract Western Avenue Wrecker1! three-year contract was in its third year when revoked Pinkston said the city first notified Lewis Town- soid owner and operator of Western Avenue Wrecker Service 1501 Western Ave oh Jan 29 of problems that required correction Even a personal visit by Pinkston to Townsend foiled to make matters better Pinkston said On May 13 after Townsend met with the city law department the contract was canceled "I think they had it in their mind to do it no matter TOwnsend said of the May 13 meeting Townsend either denied allegations by the dty or said he simply made an honest mistake Pinkston said the contract was way via the Pellissippi Parkway extension could be under way by the end of the year according to a state official The projects represent two-thirds of the work phases that will make Pellissippi Parkway an uninterrupted thoroughfare from Oak Ridge to Alcoa The third phase to improve the parkway northward from 1-4075 to Dutchtown Road is under development said Oellon LoveaU assistant director for planning and development at the Tennessee Department of Transportation in Nashville Loveall said funding is not yet available for that project so the ari0 date construction could would 1 be after July 1 1994 On Friday TDOT officials opened bids for Phase which will finish a parkway interchange now under construction at Kingston Pike Charles Blalock and Sons Inc of Sevierville was the apparent low bidder at $1917488 said TDOT spokeswoman Louanne Grandinetti Although state officials win review all the bids a contract could be awarded within a few weeks Construction is expected to begin within 30 days and take about one year Phase which coukl begin by late fall and will taka two yean to finish includes a new Pellissippi Parkway interchange at 1-4075 west of Mabry Hood Road Both projects should be under way when construction crews open a new leg of the parkway extension Pleasi see ROAD page B7 "We told him what we wanted and we saw no said Townsend said a price disagreement with an AAA member concerning major engine work was the cause or the problem "I negotiate with them It worth it to he said The Knox County Sheriffs Department notified Townsend that his company would no longer be called to tow cars after June 8 said Sheriffs Department spokesman Dwight Vends Veto "We have served against the company and we have had complaints of price gouging" Vairde Vata said.