Editorâs note:
In this column, former journalist Bob Robinson remembers a trip behind the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union.
Bob Robinson
It was a cold and rainy evening at LaGuardia Airport in New York City when we boarded the overnight TWA flight to Brussels, Belgium and then on to Moscow. I was the youngest of 25 Tennesseans traveling to the Soviet Union as part of President Dwight Eisenhowerâs People to People Goodwill trip. It was an agriculture mission led by the director of the Tennessee Dairy Association.
Most in the group were state legislators, including my dad, Sen. Herman Robinson of Elizabethton. I was a student at the University of Tennessee and a news reporter for WBIR Radio and TV Station in Knoxville. The 1963 trip was paid by each participant, approximately $2,500, which included airfare, hotel and food, a cheap price compared to todayâs standards.
This summer finds one local lawmaker working on initiatives to expand Tennesseeâs alternatives to prison incarceration, as well as programs to expand vocational education opportunities in the state.
State Rep. Tim Hicks, R-Gray, said he is working with local judges to transform the Northeast Correctional Complex Annex at Roan Mountain into a substance abuse rehabilitation center. Hicks said the prison work annex is set to close, and judges in the area hope the facility can be used for a 60-day drug and alcohol recovery program that could serve as an alternative to jail time.
âThe program could be tied to existing recovery courts,â Hicks said last week.
A plan to turn the old Boones Creek Elementary School into a satellite campus for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Elizabethton was given the green light by the Washington County Board of Education on Thursday.
The school board approved the concept of leasing the former elementary school property to the state to allow the Elizabethton TCAT to expand its workforce development training programs.
Board members said they wanted to see the wording of the agreement modified before giving the deal their final approval.
Jason Day, the boardâs chairman, suggested the school system should reserve the right to use other portions of the Boones Creek school property for any purpose it might deem necessary in the future.
ELIZABETHTON â It is quite a gratifying experience for a teacher when one of his or her students receives a high honor. Toni Campbell, cosmetology instructor at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton, had that experience this past week when one of her students, Kenlee Blake Hall, won the gold medal in the National SkillsUSA competition on June 24. Hallhad alreadywon the gold medal in state competition earlier.
Both teacher and student were unavailable for comment on Friday as Hall was at the beach on a much deserved break and her teacher was taking care of personal matters prior to starting another session this week. The following information was provided by the school prior to the announcement of the winner of the national competition:
Washington Countyâs elected government and education leaders were told Thursday the regionâs workforce has not seen the type of growth that is being experienced in other parts of Tennessee.
Jon Smith, who heads East Tennessee State Universityâs Bureau of Businesses and Economic Research, said the labor market in Johnson City and Kingsport has been declining for nearly a decade.
âOur region has been left out of the explosive gains that have been seen in Knoxville, Nashville and other parts of the state,â Smith told County Commissioners and county Board of Education members at a joint workshop held at the Jonesborough Visitors Center.