StoryTown Radio Show launches 10th season with online fundraiser
From STAFF REPORTS
Jonesborough’s StoryTown Radio Show will begin its 10th season on Jan. 25, 2020, as it debuts …
From STAFF REPORTS
Jonesborough’s StoryTown Radio Show will begin its 10th season on Jan. 25, 2020, as it debuts …
From STAFF REPORTS
A product of Depression-Era workmanship will be but a memory when the Boones Creek Middle School …
From STAFF REPORTS
Executive Director Cherel Bolin Henderson announced her plans to retire from the East Tennessee Historical Society …
From THE KINGS MOUNTAIN CHAPTER OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
On Saturday, Jan. 9 at the old …
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
The Town of Jonesborough is starting off its new year in good financial …
By JOHN KIENER
Associate Editor
Anyone who has ever listened to Country Music knows what a guitar is.  …
By JOHN KIENER
Associate Editor
Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy III has received official notification that the former …
From STAFF REPORTS
The second year of the International Storytelling Center’s Freedom Stories series kicks off on Saturday Jan. …
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
Bing Crosby might be “dreaming of a white Christmas” as the classic Christmas …
By LISA WHALEY
Publisher
Christmas may be over, but Jonesborough’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen are already looking …
For the past twelve years, I have had the privilege of representing Tennessee’s First Congressional District in the United …
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
Christmas came early for Central Baptist Church this year.
The church recently added …
By LISA WHALEY
Publisher
Jonesborough’s dog park has been put on temporary hold.
In a lively discussion at the Dec. 16 Jonesborough Board of Mayor & Aldermen meeting, board members debated the best site for the park — the Rosenbaum property as originally proposed and a part of Plan A and B — or at a new location in Persimmon Ridge Park, now called Plan C.
In the end, more time to reach the right decision seemed to be the consensus of the board.
“Giving ourselves a little bit of time to determine what our potential can be, I don’t think that would hurt us,” said Vice Mayor Adam Dickson.
Issues included cost, accessibility— and whether Randy Boyd and the Boyd Foundation would approve the possible change in location.
The Town of Jonesborough was awarded a $25,000 grant for the construction of a dog park by the Boyd Foundation in 2018.
After potential costs for the dog park rose to up to $300,000, Mayor Chuck Vest suggested looking for another, less expensive location.
“One of the best thing about (Persimmon Ridge) is people use it as a dog park right now,” Vest said. “We have all the acreage there for a dog park, not just where we are going to build this facility. You’ve got trails throughout the park that people walk on now.”
Persimmon Ridge would also come in at a more comfortable $75,000, allowing for the Town to use saved funds for Persimmon Ridge athletic site improvements.
According to Town Operations Manager Craig Ford, the problem was high construction costs for the first two plans which both needed new access points, plus restroom facilities..
“You already have available restroom facilities at Persimmon Ridge,” Ford said. “The construction costs to do a high quality park is minimal at that Persimmon Ridge site versus the other two sites.”
Countermine was not convinced, citing a reduction in size at just three acres and concerns about ADA accessibility.
“I do not want us to do C,” Countermine said. “I have checked the site. In fact, I went out with Craig and at first I thought, this might work. But then I went out again and again and then I went out to where the three acres were – and again that is much smaller – and I worry about ADA, people with disabilities being able to use it because it is steep. Dogs run and you like to keep an eye on them and it is hilly there.”
Countermine also believes that the park, done right, can be a huge draw for Jonesborough.
For Alderwoman Virginia Countermine, however, the main issue remains the Boyd Foundation reaction to the changed plan.
“I think the first thing we need to do is back up and stop until we see if the Boyd Foundation is going to agree to move this park,” Causey said. “We can’t do anything on this right now. If we do it now, and they come back and they say, you can’t have the money, we’re stuck with nothing.
“I think we need to postpone this until we get the answers from Boyd first.”
A motion from Causey to table the discussion until next month pending a response from the Boyd Foundation was approved unanimously by the board.
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
The Jonesborough School Design Committee has officially selected its schematic design for the …
By LISA WHALEY
Publisher
BrightRidge is now offering broadband to Bowmantown and Pleasant Valley, as well as opening …
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
Washington County Schools are operating on a virtual schedule at least through Jan. …
By LISA WHALEY
Publisher
Progress marches on, even during a pandemic.
Despite continuing challenges due to COVID-19, the …
(UPDATE: Main Street Cafe and Catering has now reopened.)
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
As COVID-19 numbers climb …
From STAFF REPORTS
Twinkling lights, the scent of Fraser firs, handcrafted ornaments and lovely Christmas decorations are filling the …
By MARINA WATERS
Staff Writer
Small Business Saturday has likely never been more important to Downtown Jonesborough store …