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Kingsport – The Kingsport Police Department received notification of a federal award today in the amount of $939,012 from the COPS grant program through the Department of Justice, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.‚  The grant provides funding for local governments to add and retain manpower with an emphasis on effective crime fighting through community policing strategies.‚  Positions awarded are fully funded for three years, with the organization providing funding for a fourth year.‚  Police agencies throughout the State of Tennessee will receive a total of $21,521,764.00.

We have been notified by Russ Deadrick, US Attorney, and the Department of Justice that our agency has received funding for six (6) full-time police officers. The amount awarded to the Kingsport Police Department is the fourth largest award in the state.‚  This award is the result of efforts of various organizations and agencies throughout Kingsport area.‚  We currently partner with a variety of non-profit and for profit community groups including: Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority (KHRA), South Central Kingsport Community Development Cooperation (SCKCDC non-profit), South Central Kingsport Weed and Seed (non-profit), Downtown Kingsport Association,‚  local law enforcement via the Second Judicial Drug Task Force, and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce.

The community policing program continually enhances relationships with citizens.‚  This funding will allow those efforts to expand department wide.‚  The Kingsport Police Department is currently working with the South Central Kingsport Community Development Corporation and the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority in a Weed and Seed area in the south central area of Kingsport.‚  The Weed and Seed Steering Committee is planning a second site; the new site includes 3 schools, and a much larger geographical area including the Highland, Borden Park and Cloud Apartments areas.‚  Through this funding the Kingsport Police Department will develop and integrate a department wide strategy of community policing; this will work hand in hand with new site development.

Gale Osborne, Chief of Police

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Kingsport – The Kingsport Greenbelt is highlighted in an article in the August edition of Southern Living.  This month Southern Living published a bonus section called Tennessee Living: People & Places, where The Greenbelt is featured in an article called, Hit the Trail in Kingsport.  The article highlights the beautiful scenery of the fitness trail, the many ways it is traveled.

The Greenbelt is a scenic, nine-mile paved fitness trail that stretches across Kingsport.  The trail is full of beautiful scenery, and travelers of the Greenbelt see an array of interesting sites and people.  Along the scenic Holston river route, one can see gorgeous historical buildings and houses that have been preserved and restored. 

The people of the Greenbelt come in all shapes and sizes and bring their own perspective to the trail.  Some may bicycle or roller-skate, while others may run or walk.  Some may just be there to help Keep Kingsport Beautiful by planting flowers and keeping brush clear.

Southern Living interviewed Kingsport Parks and Recreation Manager, Kitty Frazier, who was involved in the creation of the Greenbelt twenty years ago.  In the article she describes the Greenbelt as, Its a cross section of the community, and in a few miles they find flat land and hills, urban areas and forests, busy zones and quiet ones.  This used to be a wasteland, and now its a playground with something for everyone.

To read the entire Southern Living article, please purchase a copy of Southern Living from your favorite Kingsport market.

To learn more about the Greenbelt click here.

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Kingsport – The staff at the Kingsport Public Library have shuffled around some numbers and changed some schedules and have found time and money to open up shop on Sundays.  A new reference librarian position will allow for the change.  The library has not been open on Sundays since 2002.  Since then circulation, building attendance, internet use, the number of programs and number of people attending these programs have all substantially increased.  The City, however, has not had to increase library funding to enable this change.  Library administrators have normally held the facility open for 61 hours a week, but new hours of operation will total 62 hours per week.  Now the library will be open from 2:00pm to 5:30pm on Sundays, but will only be open until 5:30pm on Thursdays.  New hours at the library will be Sundays from 2:00pm – 5:30pm, Monday – Wednesday from 9:00am – 8:00pm and Thursday – Saturday from 9:00am – 5:30pm.  If you are returning books on a Thursday evening remember an after hours book drop is available.

To view a presentation on this proposed change click here.

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KINGSPORT –‚  A number of different road projects kick-off Wednesday in and around Kingsport, with city officials asking motorists to use extra caution in all work zones. Over the next week or so, resurfacing in the Harbor Chapel Road area of Fall Creek will impact specifically on Harbor Drive, June Drive, Rustic Way and Briarwood Road, in that order. The Briarwood resurfacing also will include the application of skid resistant surfacing that is not currently in place. Flag men will in place while road surfacing is underway.

Meanwhile, spray injection pavement rejuvenation, which restores oils to the asphalt, will take place on Charlemont Avenue, East Sevier Avenue from Broad Street to Center Street, Willow Street, Pine Street, Federal Street, Bays Cove Trail and Wateree Street on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. After the rejuvenator is applied, a coating of sand is spread over the roadway to ensure traction and keep the material from getting on vehicles. The contractor will come back the next day and remove the sand. Again, motorists are asked to use extra caution of avoid these areas when possible this week.

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KINGSPORT  Students living in areas of Rock Springs the city plans to annex by Jan. 1 will receive free tuition this fall, but only if they attend John Adams Elementary School, Robinson Middle School or Dobyns-Bennett High School.

In addition, the Kingsport Board of Education Thursday night decided those tuition waiver students  along with tuition students living in other Rock Springs areas to be annexed between Jan. 1 and July 2011  will receive free bus transportation to one of those three schools  if Superintendent Richard Kitzmiller deems it feasible.

Normally, tuition and out-of-zone students do not receive transportation.

The board voted 4-0 with one abstaining on both proposals.

A third motion, also by BOE member Randy Montgomery, would have guaranteed placement in one of the three schools for tuition students in the 2011 group but failed 0-4 with one abstaining.

Im not against it. Im not for it. I dont know where it leads, BOE Vice President Wally Boyd said.

The BOE addressed the tuition issue after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in June approved a resolution saying it would not oppose waiving tuition for any students to be annexed in the Adams area by July 2011.

Montgomery and Boyd said they had problems giving a two-year tuition waiver to an area the city has not formally annexed or started proceedings to annex, although city leaders at the June 16 meeting said they intend to annex the entire area of almost 1.5 square miles by July 2011.

Weve seen through the years a lot of intent to annex, said Montgomery of annexations that did not come to fruition or were delayed by lawsuits.

City Manager John Campbell has suggested the waiver as a way to increase the population at Adams  a school designed for about 500 but with an expected population of between 200 and 240 this fall  as well as a way to make it easier for families to keep their children in the same school system K-12. All lawsuits challenging the Rock Springs annexations to date were dismissed.

Sullivan County residents outside Kingsport must pay….

To view the entire Times-News article click here.

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