The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 53

The Knoxville News-Sentinel 'SWlVs- 1s a iWt ii'- igwintonjto send more KSte2- fc --ft 1 troopSf Set end dateAl quitsbutleaves laf LlUt' "iai'Vlft a IV "--to return New portion of Pellissippi Parkway opens sor the other safety features-are in place Hopefully (there will be) a minimum (May hi making a left turn off of Kingston During heavy traffic periods there may be some delay in getting on and off the parkway Corum said With the new link motorists win have a 106-mile drive between Alcoa Highway and Kingston Pike cutting in half the driving time between Blount County and West Knoxville'S commercial business NmfrtaUM Btount County txnau The newest section of Pellissippi Parkway between Northshore Drive and Kingston Pike is now open State Department of Transportation officials had said earlier the road would open Friday but work was completed Wednesday afternoon and officials decided to go ahead and open it The opening of the four-mile section had been ex pected by late September but was delayed because workers hadn't received the controller for new traffic signals at the Kingston Pike intersection A traffic signal from the off ramp onto Kingston Pike now is in operation A second signal which would assist drivers westbound on Kingston Pike trying to turn left onto Pellissippi will be in operation in about two weeks feel like we can go ahead and open to said Fred Corum regional engineering supervi During the parkway's second week of use officials will be conducting a traffic count on the newest section to determine its use Two projects remain before completion One is from Kingston Pike to Truckers Lane in West Knox County The second is the bridge over 1-40 to connect with the existing Pellissippi Parkway All of the projects are to be completed by 1905 When finished the parkway will provide a direct route to McGhee Tyson Airport from Oak Ridge Fire takes possessions Hatcher enters race for circuit court clerk mission to fill the unexpired term of William Brewer who had been appointed Sessions Court Judge Hatcher won election to a four-year term on County Commission 1990 A law enforcement officer for eight years Hatcher served as director of Blount Metro Narcotics Unit for more than two years Voters next year will elect a circuit court clerk county derk county executive trustee highway superintendent school superintendent register of deeds and sheriff to four-year terms All of the incumbents except Highway Superintendent Leonard Dunlap and Register of Deeds Howard Loveday have indicated they are seeking re-election Dunlap and Loveday have announced they are retiring Voters will also elect four county school board members and 21 county commissioners NwadonSMi Btount County bureau A Blount County commissioner has filed his qualifying petition to run in the Republican primary for Blount County circuit court derk next year Tom Hatcher a detective with the Blount County Sheriff's Department filed his petition Wednesday with the Blount County Election Commission A resident of Sevierville Road in Maryville Hatcher becomes the latest candidate to file well in advance of the February deadline for candidates in the May 3 1994 primaries Hatcher a county commissioner for the 9th District will be seeking to unseat incumbent Enoch Simeriy a Republican seeking his eighth consecutive four-year term Hatcher was first appointed in 1989 to the Blount County Com- Firefighter wrote the book on safety After kids put material down Nashvillian picked up a pen Margaret BandogoMowi Bwittnal Halt Steven Steele of the FriendsviUe Volunteer Fire Department strips rubble from a mobile home after fire destroyed It Wednesday morning Roger Thomas owned the home on Love Road I FriendsviUe blaze claims his mobile home savings fire officials said The book tells the story of a boy who gets a gift of a smoke detector Laster said The smoke detector named Beeping Ben in the boric is wrapped up and placed beside the television until the next morning "Dining the night the television catches fire and the smoke detector goes off through the paper and saves the Laster said Each page has illustrations drawn by a friend to show the children about fire-safety procedures and techniques he said The boric also contains pictures of fire trucks firefighter's clothing and equipment used by firefighters It also shows young readers what to do in a fire including the drop and roll" technique used if clothing catches fire he said "Fm in the sixth Laster said for had about 10000 copin of the boric He said he has had orders from fire departments in almost every state and from many military bases where the books are given By Kan Garland NowaJtonHml Btount County bureau As a fire educator Nashville firefighter Jim Laster got tired of Bering all the brochures and other material on fire safety he gave schoolchildren thrown away He began looking for books and literature on fire safety that would interest the children enough to get his message across When he could not find what he wanted he decided to write his own book Birthday Gift That aimed at young readers is the result Laster a 20-year-veteran with the Metro Nashville Fire Department was in Maryville and Alcoa Wednesday on a tour through East Tennessee to talk to firefighters and government officials about using his boric in their fire-safety programs The visit is part of National Fire Prevention Week being celebrated this week in Blount County The Maryville and Alcoa fire departments have purchased copies of the book to be placed in all the school libraries and the Blount County Public Library left about 7:20 this morning to go to work at the he said Wednesday was fink had stopped to see my mother she's been rick and I was going to the courthouse" Thomas who lived alone at the mobile home said he saw the smoke as he left his mother's home thought it was fog over near Academy Farms he said always getting fog over Thomas' mobile home sat on ridge behind a partly completed log home he said he has been building for two years been saving for two years to finish he said probably never get to finish it now had some money I had scrounged and saved to finish it in a closet It was in a glass jar I don't know if anything left or not They said 1 could look in there in a little He said the fire destroyed his guitar and a coin collection He said he had recently purchased new fiuniture for the three-bedroom mobile home Thomas said he had lived in the mobile home for seven years By Kan Garland Nw OonMnM Btount Ootmty i A fire destroyed the mobile home of a FriendsviUe area man while he was visiting his sick mother Roger Thomas owner of the mobile home at 480 Love Road Just off Dunlap Hollow Road said the Wednesday fire destroyed everything he had including some money he had been saving to build a house even the Thomas said as he watched firefighters spray water onto the smoldering ruins The fire was reported to the FriendsviUe Volunteer Fire Department at 9:10 ajn by a neighbor who spotted the smoke fire officials said Members of the Blount County Fire Department were called to assist in fighting the fire Firefighters said the fire had spread throughout the mobile home by the time they arrived Some firefighters said they spotted smoke from the fire station in downtown FriendsviUe but thought it was coming from a brush fire Officials had not determined the cause of the fire Wednesday Love said it is possible it could have been started electricaUy Margaret BonUagaNawa-BanlbMl itaff Roger Thomas watches as firefighters extinguish flames Wednesday at his mobile home on Love Road Please see BOOK page BC4 tm Uj -vV Ss-' IE 1 ifciaaM Index News of RecordBC2 School LunchesBC2 SportsBC3 Sports Calendar BC3 This Week In BlountBC2 Deaths MARYVILLE: Ted Glenn Nu-chols52 For latest death Hat and obituaries see page A15 In todays Nows-8entJnoL Gas company is sued over residential fire A Maryville company was negligent when it hooked up its propane tank to a manufactured propane gas line and the resulting fire destroyed the residence claims a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Blount County Circuit Court The lawsuit filed by Knoxville attorney David Buuck on behalf of Gary and Shelby Jones of Blount County names Empire Gas Inc of East Lamar Alexander Parkway Maryville as the defendant The complaint seeks $1389947 in damages A Jury trial is demanded Blount Stocks Weather Today will be partly sunny and dellghtfuL High 77 low 57 Complete weather Birth class to cover types of deliveries A new class called Birth Alter is being offered by the Family Birthing Center from 6:30 to 9 pan Thursday at Blount Memorial Hospital According to Stacey Marks a registered nurse and clinical educator at Blount Memorial the class is meant to help dispel some of the myths surrounding this type of birth Designed to assist in the decision-making process the class will cover both the benefits and risks of each type of delivery The class is being recommended during the first and second trimester of pregnancy The will meet in the education classroom on the third floor of the hoapitaL The cost of the class is $10 per couple and pre-registration is required More information is available by calling the Family Birthing Center at 977-5555 Judge will not dismiss nursing home lawsuit A Blount County Circuit Court Judge has overruled a motion seeking to dismiss a lawsuit alleging a 97-year-rid patient was abused by an employee of a Maryville nursing home Judge Dale ruling on a motion for summary Judgment was filed Wednesday Asbury Acres Health Center Sevierville Road was sued by the next of kin of Ethel Parris Henry The complaint alleges Henry was injured in April 1992 when she was allegedly abused Criminal charges against a woman accused of abuse were dismissed in Sessions Court because Henry was unable to identity her as the alleged assailant The motion for summary Judgment contended the nursing home should not be liable because the injuries were inflicted outside the scope of the 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