About Washington County, TN

Good morning all, and welcome to the middle of the week. This exercise tests everyday things that we see in the world. How well do you pay attention. I thought it was fairly east while I was doing it. To my surprize, I scored a lowly 15 out of 25. Good Luck!

http://www.oldjoeblack.0nyx.com/thinktst.htm

Area homebuilders in the Tri-cities area started slowing down on building in 2007 and have continued to pull back into todays market. There was an upward trend 2004 through 2006 in Washington and Sullivan Counties. Both counties saw 2008 permit totals more than a third lower than 2004's numbers and even steeper pullbacks from 2006, the top year in residential building boom.

In 2006 a whopping 1,009 permits were issued in Washington County and 688 in Sullivan County. 2008 slowed down to 515 in Washington County and 378 in Sullivan County.

It's a great time to be a dog in Johnson City. Legion Street Pool hosted it's annual Dog Swim event Tuesday. The dogs basicly take over the pool for two days. (it continues today) The cost is $7.00 per dog and all the proceeds go to the Willow Springs Dog Park. What a terrific way to raise money for our furry friends. The pictures are pretty neat. The dogs are having a blast. I think I'll take Max over there later.

By a vote of 4-1, the Johnson City Commissioners approved a motion to move forward in the process of bringing an on-campus stadium to the grouds of Science Hill High School. (Please see previous blog)

$5million has been budgeted for this project in this fiscal year.

The next step is going to be, what do we do with the current Memorial Stadium and its site. Recently a citizen group, 'Committee of Preservation and responsible Spending', submitted an application to have the stadium recognized historically on the state and national level.

In my opinion, this is a great move forward for Johnson City.

Established in the mid 1930's, Memorial Stadium was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was originally operated independently as "Roosevelt Memorial Stadium." The stadium came under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department in 1961 and consists of a 6-acre football stadium used primarily for Science Hill High School home football games. Amenities include a lighted football field, concession area, restrooms, spectator seating, and 1/4 mile track. Memorial Park, adjacent to the stadium, is a 1/2 acre special use park located on Main Street.

As a tribute to Steve Spurrier the playing field was named in his honor on March 12, 1997.

Johnson City has a dilemma on its hands. The problem is, the stadium sits 3 miles away from the high school that calls it home. There is money ear marked in the budget for the stadium. The question is, do they take that money and restore the old stadium, or do they build a new stadium at the high school. The amount needed is approximately the same.

City council met last night. That was quite the meeting. The city is split half and half. There was one gentleman that came to the lecturn with an old pony tail that belonged to a cheerleader 50 years ago. His point, memories. The other sides argument is location. The students have to be bussed across town for home football games. Believe it or not, the students are divided as well.

The vote comes tomorrow night. I'll keep you posted!