The Weekender: 12/27/2024
Gooooood Friday morning, Scott County. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Christmas season, some much-needed time off work, and plenty of fellowship with family and friends. Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in Scott County this weekend, though it won’t be very much, given that we’re still in the middle of the holiday season.
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Weekend Weather
🌧️ Rainy with gusty winds today!
Almanac: Sunrise/Sunset: 7:47/5:31 • Records: 71° (1982), 2° (1983) • YTD Rainfall: 53.0” (Normal: 57.4”).
Details: We'll see an 80% chance of rain today with winds gusting to 25 mph. Otherwise, it'll be mild. Temperatures will be in the mid 50s during the day, and will hold mostly steady tonight. The rain should hold off until near lunchtime — around 11 a.m., give or take — and then we'll see light to moderate rainfall for several hours. The bulk of the rain will fall between about 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. today, although rain showers will remain likely tonight. Up to half an inch of rain is possible today. Rain showers will redevelop Saturday afternoon, and some rumbles of thunder will also be possible as warmer air surges forward from the southwest. We'll get into the low 60s tomorrow. Tomorrow's rainfall should hold off until mid afternoon or so. There's a chance for some heavy rain and thunderstorms tomorrow night, as a cold front moves nearer. Sunday will see a continuation of likely rain chances and gusty winds. Around two inches of rain from this morning through the end of the day Sunday seems like a really good bet.
Further Out: We'll see a brief reprieve from the rainy weather Monday, with a continuation of the mild temperatures. Then rain chances will return for New Years Eve as another cold front approaches the region. Much cooler temperatures will follow the cold front. We'll struggle to get out of the 40s on New Years Day and again the day after. It currently looks like we may stay in the 30s for the rest of next week before a warming trend kicks in during the weekend. Another blast of cold air is possible the next week — around Jan. 8-9. This setup is still evolving, but there are some indications that we could potentially see what would easily be our coldest weather of the winter season for a couple of days. Winter storm signals continue to show up for the first week of January, too ... but, again, the details continue to evolve and will change between now and then.
Snow Watch: Some accumulating snow could occur at some point between Jan. 3-10 as a couple of waves of cold air approach East Tennessee. However, there's little confidence in when, where, and how much snow will occur — if it occurs at all.
You can always find the latest forecasts and weather analysis on our Eye To The Sky page.
The Latest
» Our Winter Hiking Challenge kicks off this weekend with a 4.9-mile hike to O&W Bridge in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. The weather doesn’t look great, but if you want to make the hike you’ll have a chance first thing this morning, and early tomorrow morning, with the rain occurring primarily during the afternoon hours. And if you can’t make the hike this weekend, don’t fret: the Winter Hiking Challenge is set up to allow two weeks to complete each hike. A new hike won’t drop until Jan. 9. In the meantime, be sure to read the details of the hike and post the picture as described to social media using the hashtag #WinterHikingChallenge. We’ll be giving away a $25 Visa gift card next week.
» The rain won’t be welcomed but it is needed, as Scott County is now in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with extreme drought developing to our south across much of Morgan, Roane and Cumberland counties.
» ICYMI: A motorist was fatally injured in a crash on S.R. 63 east of Huntsville Sunday morning. It was the second fatality on Scott County’s roadways in a less than 72-hour period.
Weekend Happenings
⦿ Friday: Scott High’s girls will begin play in the Faris McDonald’s Christmas Shootout at Carter High School in Strawberry Plains today. The Lady Highlanders will face Unicoi County at 5 p.m. The winner will play at 12 p.m. tomorrow and the loser will play at 9 a.m. tomorrow. The Lady Highlanders will also play Monday, at a time to be determined.
⦿ Friday: Oneida’s boys will play at 2:15 p.m. at Eagleton Academy in Maryville. The Lady Indians will face Thomas Nelson (Ky.) at 4:45 p.m.
⦿ Saturday: Fourth Saturday night worship services will be held at Straight Fork Baptist Church (7 p.m.), and Antioch Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.). See our Church Directory for more.
⦿ Sunday: Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program designed to help with addiction, co-dependency and domestic abuse, will be hosted by Fire & Purpose Ministries from 5 pm to 8 pm at 27192 Scott Highway in Winfield. There will be food, fellowship, praise and worship. Childcare is provided.
The Time Capsule
‘I WANT TO BE PRESIDENT,’ BAKER TELLS HARTMAN
From the Dec. 27, 1984 edition of the Independent Herald — 40 years ago this week.
By Paul Roy
HUNTSVILLE — Even befroe the formal end to his 18-year career in the U.S. Senate, Howard Baker appears to have made the transition from senior Senator to senior statesman.
Although looking a little tired and a little puffy, that’s how Tennessee’s retiring senior Senator came across in a nationally televised interview with David Hartman, host of ABC’s Good Morning America program.
A seven-minute segment of that interview was aired Friday morning, two days after camera crews, the production staff and the host of the popular ABC morning show set up in a make-shift studio in the Baker Guest House just off the Courthouse Square in Huntsville.
Hartman indicated that other portions of his interview with Sen. Baker would be televised over the next two weeks.
Baker told Hartman that he wants to be President of the United States, that he will probably be campaigning for that job in 1988, but that there are more immediate and pressing problems he and other national leaders on both sides of the poltical fence should try to tackle in the interim.
At the top of Baker’s list was the national deficit — a deficit growing out of control, to a great extent, by federal entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare-Medicaid and welfare programs.
It’s Baker’s belief that as unpopular as it might be, everybody from Tip O’Neil to President Reagan ought to begin looking seriously at where federal spending for entitlement programs can be cut and by how much.
As a “civilian,” Baker indicated he would be ready to serve on a bipartisan task force which he feels should be established to arrive at a possible solution to these and other spending programs which fuel the runaway deficit.
He predicted that while President Reagan will not propose increased taxation in his second term in the White House, Americans could look for increased spending in several areas, including national defense. He also predicted that the national deficit would continue to grow unless a united effort was made to bring it under control.
Hartman, leading Baker into a discussion about his aspirations for the presidency, reminded the Senator that in 1973 he was quoted as having said he didn’t want that jobs.
“I guess I did say that,” said Baker, adding that there were a lot of statements he would like to take back over the last several years of public life. “I used to be a young man, but I recovered from that,” he added.
Baker said that during the course of his career in Washington, he has known a number of presidents and that he felt he could handle the job. He hastened to add ,however, that if any members of the federal election commission happened to be watching, “That’s not an announcement!” for the presidency.
More than a year ago, when Baker made his surprise announcement that he was giving up his job as the Senate Majority Leader and status as Tennessee’s senior Senator, he said, “There is life after the Senate.” And while next month marks the official end to Baker’s Senate career, he has already reinstated himself in his Huntsville-Knoxville law firm, hooked up with another law firm in Texas, and become a part of several major boards of directors — where, it is assumed, he will be paid, and paid handsomely, for his services.
He and his wife, Joy, will maintain their homes in Huntsville and Washington, and are reportedly building another residence in Knoxville.
“Life after the Senate” to Baker appears to be getting into the mainstream of life — making money, making contact, making friends and making no secret of his aspirations for this nation’s highest elected office.
That’s it! Have a great weekend, and look for The Daybreaker in your email inbox Monday morning as you get ready to head off to school or work.
And if you have an event coming up or news to share, reach out to us by email at newsroom@ihoneida.com or visit indherald.com/community-calendar-2.
— Ben Garrett, Publisher