Maryville Fire Department receives grant ... and more
Originally published: November 18. 2008 3:01AMLast modified: November 17. 2008 11:44PM
Maryville Fire Department receives grant
The Maryville Fire Department has received a $23,740 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The funds will be used to purchase two vehicle exhaust systems at John Sevier Station 2 and at Sandy Springs Station 3. The stations do not have any kind of filtering system and are exposed to high levels of diesel particulate and gases when the engines are started inside the bays.
"Our firefighters work, live, and sleep at the station during their 24-hour shifts," Public Safety Director Tony Crisp said. "Adding the exhaust systems to our two fire stations will certainly enhance the working and livings conditions.
"When applying for the grant, the department also noted that as a first responder, their volume of calls has increased which only adds to the amount of start ups of the vehicles and even more exposure of firefighters to exhaust fumes."
Station 1, located at the Municipal Center and built in 2005, already has an exhaust system.
According to the grant, the City of Maryville will have to match 10 percent of the cost of the equipment, or $2,374.
FOP seeks aid, applications for Shop with Cop
The Fraternal Order of Police Bud Allison Memorial Lodge #9 in Maryville is seeking applications and donations for its annual Shop With a Cop Program, which will conclude Dec. 13 at Shop With a Cop's corporate sponsor, Alcoa Wal-Mart. On this day, area law enforcement officers take the youngsters shopping.
Applications are available at all Blount County, Alcoa and Maryville elementary schools as well as the Alcoa and Maryville Police Departments and the Blount County Justice Center. The deadline to return applications is 4:30 p.m. Nov. 26.
For 16 years, Shop With a Cop has given needy children a chance to buy gifts for themselves and others. Lodge #9 held the Bud Allison Memorial Lodge #9 Golf Benefit in June, with proceeds going directly to Shop With a Cop. In addition, the proceeds from a benefit concert held in August were donated to the cause.
For more information regarding the Shop With a Cop program, call the F.O.P. information line at 273-5345. Tax deductible donations to the Shop With a Cop program can be mailed to the F.O.P. Lodge #9, P.O. Box 5256, Maryville, TN 37802. You can also leave a check made out to Shop With a Cop at the Blount County Sheriff's Office.
Folks collect for Operation Christmas Child
Blount Countians are participating in Operation Christmas Child this week to provide simple shoe box gifts to needy children around the world.
Since 1993, the project of international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, has delivered more than 61 million gift-filled shoe boxes to needy children in some 130 countries.
"My family packs around 100 boxes, but as a coordinator with OCC, I have the added joy of helping to send thousands of boxes out into the world," said Sherrill Ford, who is hoping to collect some 5,000 shoe box gifts at Office Depot during national collection week now through Monday.
Office Depot, 727 Brenda Dr., Alcoa, is the local collection site.
Volunteers are asked to fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items, candy and a letter of encouragement. ¬
For more information on how to participate, call (800)¬ 798-7849¬ or visit www.samaritanspurse.org
TDEC hearing on quarry canceled
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Water Pollution Control, has canceled today's 7 p.m. public hearing at the Maryville Municipal Building.
The hearing was scheduled to consider an application for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit renewal and modification submitted by Vulcan Construction Materials for its Maryville quarry facility located at 1965 Court Street.
Vulcan Construction Materials has withdrawn its application for renewal and modification. The company is not renewing, modifying or proposing any expansion or changes to the NPDES permit at this time.
Toys available for disabled kids
If you have a child who cannot use his or her hands to play with typical toys, the East Tennessee Technology Access Center has been collecting and adapting battery- operated toys with special switches.
ETTAC will have a holiday distribution party Dec. 15 at the United Way of Blount County, 1615 E. Broadway Avenue, Maryville, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. where these children can select the adapted toy of their choice. Parents are requested to call (865) 219-0130 ahead of time to register their child for a toy even if they cannot attend the party.
ETTAC is a United Way of Blount County nonprofit agency serving people with disabilities in 24 counties of East Tennessee.
Lincoln Avenue lane closure set
The eastbound lane of West Lincoln Avenue in Alcoa will be closed to through traffic from Calderwood Street to Rankin Road from 7 a.m. Thursday to 5 p.m. Saturday while utility crews cut into storm drains.
There will be a detour at Avenue B to Glascock Street or Telford Street.
Supercomputer at UT ranks 15th
KNOXVILLE — In a race for the world's fastest supercomputer, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jaguar is getting a run for its money from a University of Tennessee stablemate named Kraken.
Jaguar was ranked No. 2 in the world in the latest Top500 list of the world's fastest computers released Monday by University of Tennessee expert John Dongarra and colleagues at the University of Mannheim in Germany and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Kraken, named after a mythical Norse sea monster, was ranked No. 15. The machine is housed at UT's National Institute for Computational Science at the Oak Ridge lab. It is capable of 125 trillion calculations per second.
Jaguar, also housed at the Oak Ridge lab, is about 10 times faster with more than 1,000 trillion calculations per second, also known as 1 petaflop.
Both machines are engaged in non-classified research.
Public Meetings
Maryville
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS: will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Maryville Municipal Center Council Chambers, 400 W. Broadway Ave., to discuss a variance 13 feet from the front-yard setback for location of a pavilion in a neighborhood park located along Miller Avenue in the College Hill Historic District.
Blount County
BOARD OF EDUCATION: Will meet at 6 p.m. Monday to review the 2008 State Report Card.
Corrections
— There was incorrect information in Monday's story about the Smoky Mountains Heritage Center regarding two of the historic structures relocated to the site this year. The cantilevered barn was donated by Howard and Kathy Long Jr. in honor of Isaac Long, and it was a granary, not a grocery, that was moved to the property.
— Nick Halsey of the Blount County Sheriff's Office was pictured in Monday's edition receiving a law enforcement academy diploma. His name was incorrect in the caption.
We apologize for these errors.