The Cleveland Daily Banner Sunday, January 10, 2016

S U N DAY

161st YEAR • NO. 217

Inside Today

ClEVElAND, TN 64 PAGES • $1.00

JANUARY 10, 2016

Veterans home drops on funding priority list
By JOYANNA LOVE
Banner Senior Staff Writer

The Cleveland Bradley County
State Veterans Home remains in
priority one on the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs
priority list for construction.
However, the home is now at
No. 66 compared to No. 54 on
the 2015 priority list.
State Rep. Kevin Brooks, RCleveland representing the 24th
Legislative District, said he was
“disappointed” in the drop in

ranking.
“I happened to be in
Washington, D.C., at the time
the list came out dropping us
from 54 last year to 66 this
year,” Brooks said. “I used my
time in Washington to speak to
our Tennessee delegation and
get their 100 percent support for
getting the Cleveland home
moved up the list.”
The federal priority list ranks
the order in which projects will
receive federal funding. Safety
related issues at existing state

veteran homes take precedence
over
new
construction.
Renovations account for Nos. 13
through 58.
“This ranking drop is in spite
of donated land, a $3 million
gift, $4 million local funding, $7
million state funding — all told,
over $14 million deposited funds
for the project. It is my impression we should be No. 1 on
paper for the Project Priority
List,” Brooks wrote to the
Tennessee
members
of
Congress. “I can find no other

Remember When

Cleveland and Bradley County
residents have shared a variety
of old family, school and place
photos in the annual “Remember
When” section of today’s
Cleveland Daily Banner. To bring
back memories of days gone by,
check out Photographs on Pages
37-56, and 59-60.

Early sheriffs

If you visit the lobby at the
Bradley County Sheriff’s office,
one of the first things you will see
are photographs of former county
sheriffs. Current Sheriff Eric
Watson said seeing those pictures
helps him think back to the early
days of the office and the progress
that has been made since WIlliam
Carter was first sworn in back in
1836. See Watson’s column in
People, Page 57.

Mazzolini balances

Michelle Mazzolini is a loving
mom and wife, a teacher and a
behavior analyst. She balances
all of these with her morning
exercise routine, and still “tries to
get better (and) not give up.” See
Lifestyles, Page 29.

Forecast
Winter emerges today as high
temperatures drop to 38 and
there is a 20 percent chance of a
few flurries or snow showers. The
skies will clear tonight, but the
temps will bottom out at 20.
Monday will see a few afternoon
clouds, but remain generally
sunny with a high of 43.

Index
Business news ........................26,27
Church............................................3
Classified.................................60-63
Comics..........................................53
Editorials..................................22,23
Horoscope....................................53
Lifestyles ................................29-33
Obituaries.......................................2
Stocks...........................................25
Sports..........................17-21, 25, 28
TV Schedule............................54,55
Weather........................................15

Around Town
Reed Blackmon taking over a
local steak house ... Nola Beth
Greene preparing for her special
day ... Cali and Michele Trotter
working on dog training ... Doug
Blackwell enjoying the Vols game
in Tampa ... Sally Hays getting
ready for a remarkable leadership
retreat ...Violet Nunn enjoying a
trip to Bald River Falls with Nanny
Barnes ... Carlene Grissom loving
grandbabies — Antonio Vargas
and Alyssa Gee ... Kenneth Roark
using his finest china ... T.J. Tate
learning to ride his new tricycle.

Cleveland home.
“Our veterans need and
deserve this state veterans home
in Bradley County. We owe it to
these brave men and women
who gave their all for our
nation,” Brooks said.
“We’ve been through this
before,” Southeast Tennessee
Veterans Home Council co-chair
Cid Heidel said. “We weren’t
really expecting to be funded
this year because the overall
See VETERANS, Page 7

In 2003, city
owned property
near Greenway

Mustangs round
up Soddy Trojans
The Walker Valley basketball
teams picked up a pair of key district wins against Soddy-Daisy
Friday night. The Cleveland Lady
Raiders fell on the road at
Ooltewah. Cleveland Middle
School standout football player
Caden Moore has been honored
as Player of the Year. The
wrestling Mustangs battled to first
place in the Walker Valley Duals
Saturday. See Sports, Pages 1721, 25, 28.

incidence of a veterans home
project that has all of these
items: donated land for veterans
home site, local donation of $3
million from donor, local match
of $4 million city and county
funds and state match of $7 million obligated and funded.”
The U.S. Department of
Veteran Affairs has allocated
$80 million to complete the projects on the list, meaning many
of them will remain unfunded
and not completed this year,
including
the
proposed

By BRIAN GRAVES
Banner Staff Writer

The questions about the value
of a strip of property on Keith
Street continue to mount as new
information comes to light.
In seeking to maintain a parking access to the Greenway, the
Cleveland City County voted in
October to purchase the property adjacent to Kingsway Press
from David Gilbert Jr. for
$200,000.
Banner photo, BRIAN GRAVES
Mayor Tom Rowland had sent
THIS PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE is now being cited as the reason for the land deal between the city of a request to the County
Cleveland and the Gilbert family. The location is on Keith Street next to Kingsway Press and is part of Commission asking they share
that amount.
the Greenway trail.

Cambridge
award given
Holley and
Halliday
Banner Staff Writer

See CAMBRIDGE, Page `