Good Monday morning! Welcome to a brand new week. This is The Daybreaker, the first of several newsletters that will be published this week by the Independent Herald. The Daybreaker (Monday morning) and The Weekender (Thursday evening) are our two news-first newsletters. We publish several other newsletters throughout the week, as well as our regular E-Edition on Thursday and our Varsity E-Edition on Sunday (during sports season). If you’d like to adjust your subscription to include (or exclude) this or any of our other newsletters, please do so here. If you need to subscribe, it’s as simple as entering your email address:
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Two prime commercial lots on the market in Scott County
Amid a spate of ongoing building projects in Scott County, two prime pieces of commercial real estate — one in Oneida and one in Huntsville — are currently on the market.
In Huntsville, a 3.25-acre tract on the north side of the U.S. 27/S.R. 63 intersection is being offered for $1.4 million. It is considered some of the most potent commercial real estate in Huntsville, with frontage on both U.S. Highway 27 and S.R. 63, as well as National Drive. It is currently used for residential, with a 1,700-square-foot home that was built in 1980.
The current owner is Dina Potter. It is listed through Ayers Auction & Realty on Friday.
And in Oneida, a 20,100-square-foot shopping center in the Oak Grove district has been listed for $1.2 million. It is currently home to Lee’s Food Mart and several other businesses on 1.76 acres of land at the Alberta Street/Litton Road intersection.
The current owner of the Oneida property is the F.H. Shoemaker Trust. It was listed through Ayers Auction & Realty on March 16.
The listing agent for both properties is Melissa Fancher.
The Oak Grove district has undergone significant changes in the past several years, with the former Omedco medical complex being razed for the building of First National Bank’s new main office, and the old A.Z. Long building up the street also being razed. The former pharmacy building on the opposite corner of the intersection from Lee’s Food Mart was purchased by the TN Dept. of Transportation and removed to make way for improvements to the intersection.
A series of ongoing commercial building projects throughout the county include:
• A new Dollar General at the intersection of Coopertown Road and Smith Road in the Coopertown community of West Oneida.
• A new Long John Silver’s at Oneida Plaza on Alberta Street.
• A new Zaxby’s just north of the Oneida Municipal Services Building on Alberta Street.
• A new Casey’s convenience store across from the intersection of Alberta Street and Paint Rock Road in Oneida that is close to opening.
There has been considerable speculation the past couple of years about a tract of property at the intersection of S.R. 63 and Scott High Drive in Huntsville, which is currently owned by Dr. Spencer Ellis and is located adjacent to his medical office complex that includes his dental practice. However, there has been nothing locked down so far. There has also been plenty of speculation regarding the Brewco-owned former Napa Auto Parts building on S.R. 63 in Huntsville, which is currently being remodeled by its owner. However, officials say there’s nothing finalized with that property, either.
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No interest from data center, mayor says
A few local residents objected Sunday after a link circulated on Facebook indicating that Scott County might be the future home of a data center.
Data centers have been the source of much controversy in recent months as they spread into rural America, their owners buying up huge chunks of farmland and other undeveloped real estate while also taxing local utilities, though the trade-off is usually a not-insignificant number of new jobs.
In this case, though, the data center appears to be much ado about nothing. Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers said his office is aware of no such plans.
“I have no knowledge of a data center wanting to be built in Scott County,” Jeffers said. “This is a false flag site and spreads all kinds of stuff.”
The link is entitled “Data Center Program Development And Planning Scott County TN” and is simply a solicitation for information from prospective owners of future data centers. It is hosted by Data Centers Deployed, a Chandler, Ariz.-based firm that states its mission is “to plan and lead data center programs with clarity, discipline, and accountability.”
Data centers are facilities housing computing and networking infrastructure to store, process and manage digital data for businesses, governments, and cloud services. They’ve been around since the 1940s but are rapidly expanding today due to the rise in the AI market and other cloud-based services.
Scott County hikes!
It was another spectacular weekend for being outside, and the Independent Herald’s Spring Hiking Challenge continued with a short hike to Angel Falls in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. If you didn’t get a chance to hike over the weekend, it isn’t too late. The weather looks great today and tomorrow before rain chances begin later in the week. Hike #3 of the 14-week challenge will drop on Thursday. Meanwhile, here are some photos of Scott Countians taking part in this past weekend’s hike to Angel Falls.
The Week Ahead
🌥️ Weather: Our warming trend continues the next two days. We’ll get to about 72° today with a slight chance of showers, then we’ll push to near 80° tomorrow with mostly sunny skies and a stout southwest breeze. Rain becomes likely Wednesday, and rain chances will continue through the end of the week and the weekend. Check out our daily Eye to the Sky updates on our Facebook page — published each morning at 7 a.m. on the dot — or always available at indherald.com.
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📅 Community Calendar
Monday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center (Monticello Pike, Huntsville) offers a walking program, puzzles and games, and massage chairs every week day (Monday-Friday) from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Monday: Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services’ Mobile Health Clinic will be in the Walmart parking lot in Oneida from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering integrated primary care and behavioral health. No insurance is not a problem. Call (866) 599-0466 for more information.
Monday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out. Phone: (423) 569-5972.
Tuesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Tuesday: Pinnacle Resource Center’s food pantry (1513 Jeffers Road, Huntsville) will be open beginning at 10 a.m. There are no income guidelines; however, a photo ID and a piece of mail with a Scott County address are required.
Tuesday: Boy Scout Troop #333 will meet at the Oneida War Memorial Building on Alberta Street in Oneida beginning at 6 p.m.
Tuesday: Wall Builders will meet from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church (1611 Glass House Road, Helenwood) for those struggling with addiction or striving to keep off drugs. There will be preaching, teaching, food, fellowship and personal counseling.
Tuesday: Alcoholics Anonymous will meet at 7 p.m. at the Highway 27 Unity Club (17737 S. Alberta Street, Oneida).
Wednesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out.
Wednesday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center in Huntsville will host Golden Grooves Exercise at 1 p.m.
Thursday: The Gerry McDonald Mission House, located on Church Avenue, directly behind First United Methodist Church, is open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. You are eligible to receive food once per month. 569-8828.
Thursday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Thursday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center in Huntsville will host Tai Chi at 11 a.m.
The Community Calendar is presented by Citizens Gas Utility District. Citizens Gas Utility District will be closed April 3, 2026, in observance of Good Friday. Call 811 before digging. It’s the law! Visit citizensgastn.com.
Thank you for reading. Our next newsletter will be Echoes From the Past tomorrow. If you’d like to update your subscription to add or subtract any of our newsletters, do so here. If you haven’t yet subscribed, it’s as simple as adding your email address!
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Our Newsletters:
• Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
• Tuesday: Echoes from the Past (stories of our history)
• Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
• Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
• Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
• Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)