Cades Cove Loop to
close for a week
The 11-mile loop road circling Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed to vehicle traffic for a week beginning next Monday.
Officials say that a portion of the road had been damaged at a stream crossing towards the end of the loop. The loop road will be closed from Monday, Feb. 27 until Sunday, March 5.
Pedestrian and bicycle traffic will be allowed through the duration of the construction but they will be routed down Sparks Lane to avoid the construction area.

Black History speaker at Walters State today
Brenda White Wright will speak at Walters State Community College at 10:30 a.m. on today, as part of the college’s observance of Black History Month.
“A lot of things in our history, we don’t want to revisit, but we don’t ever want to forget those people who worked so all of us could be where we are as a community, as a region and as a nation,” she said. While much of the month’s focus is on national civil rights leaders, Wright encourages people to look around for heroes in their own families and communities.Wright served as president and CEO of Girls Incorporated of Kingsport for over 20 years and has been named as one of the regions “25 Most Powerful Female Executives” by the “The Business Journal of the Tri-Cities.” Recently, she was appointed to the Citizens Advisory Commission on Ethics in State Government by Gov. Phil Bredesen.Wright’s speech will be in the theatre of the Judge William H. Inman Humanities Complex on the Morristown campus. The public is welcome to attend and there is no admission charge.

UT Ranks among top
50 “best values”
The University of Tennessee provides students one of the top 50 best values in public education according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.The magazine’s annual “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” ranks American colleges based on academic programs and affordability. Academic quality measurements make up two-thirds of the total score, costs and financial aid factors count for one third of the scoring.The “Best Values” program this year evaluated 130 public colleges and universities. UT was the only Tennessee public university to make the top 50, placing 48th overall. Kiplinger’s considers characteristics that include entrance exam scores, student-faculty ratios, total cost for in-state students and average debt of students upon graduation.“This ranking speaks to the great strides UT has made in recent years to increase our academic quality and our efforts to ensure that we are accessible to all students who want to attend the state’s flagship university,” said UT President John Petersen.

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