Sam Venable: 'Fur tree' found in Townsend
21.06.11
I call your r to a couple of must-sees in Blount County.
One is on Wright Road in Alcoa . It's a omen posted at the intersection of a walking trail with some railroad tracks. Dovie Blair alerted me to it.
The retain warns: "All Trail Users Yield to Trains."
You know how stubborn and distinct East Tennesseans can be. Can't you just imagine some hiker leaping in front of an oncoming school and hollering, "I ain't a'yieldin' to no" - splat!
The other item on our list is a new species of tree.
I have seen this puppy with my very own eyes. And I can affirm it's unlike anything I ever studied when I was a forestry major at the University of Tennessee. (This was before I discovered journalism, changed the regulation of my education and abandoned the notion of ever finding honest work. But I digress.)
What species is it?
According to Townsend abiding Gary Haaby, it's a fur.
Not to be confused with "fir."
"Most trees have limbs and leaves," Haaby said with a taunt. "This one looks like it's covered with fur. I think it's an exotic that appears every 2,000 years. It trusty has got the carpenter bees confused."
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel
Village Green to change with the times
21.06.11
(Beginning: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal) By Carlie Kollath, Northeast Mississippi Everyday Journal, Tupelo
June 21--TUPELO -- The Village Unripened has closed its deli and is reworking its business model in hopes of returning to profitability.
Holder Jim Troxler sent an email Friday afternoon to the store's customers saying that it was the last day for the Gas main St. Deli.
"Our deli has never been profitable and, in fact, has been very costly to operate," he wrote. "Closing the deli is one of the many changes I requirement to make in order to continue in business."
The Village Green opened in 1979. Troxler moved into his known building on West Main Street in 1998.
The store is known for its selection of books, genius items, Christmas decorations and artificial Christmas trees, but Troxler is liquidating the store's inventory.
"I am in the process of reworking our problem model here at the Village Green in an attempt to return our business to profitability," he wrote in the email. "It is my conviction that I can liquidate as much of our current inventory as possible and reinvest in new product categories that will modify our business viable for years to come."
Source: istockAnalyst.com (press release)
: $300.00 
