Oak Ridge Today

House of Bryant files another ‘Rocky Top’ legal challenge

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Lake City to Rocky Top Vote

The Lake City Council in June agreed to rename the town as Rocky Top as part of an effort to attract a multi-million dollar development that could include a water park, interactive theater with children’s museum, and coal miners music theater, among other things. (File photo)

Information from WYSH Radio

The owners of the iconic bluegrass song “Rocky Top” have filed another legal challenge to prevent the recently-renamed Anderson County town of Rocky Top from cashing in on the name change.

Earlier this year, Lake City changed its name to Rocky Top, a change widely seen as the first step in revitalizing the town’s economy. The House of Bryant owns the rights to the “Rocky Top” song and is suing city leaders and the developers of several proposed attractions for trademark infringement.

This spring, the company sought an injunction aimed at preventing the then-Lake City Council from changing the town’s name to Rocky Top until the lawsuit was heard, saying it could do irreparable damage to the brand that family created.  That request for an injunction was rejected in May and the city officially changed its name in June.

This latest legal challenge comes after Monday’s announcement that marketers with the city had reached an agreement with a Knoxville fashion designer to manufacture “Rocky Top, Tennessee” merchandise.  House of Bryant has filed another request for the courts to step in, saying Monday’s merchandise deal is “new information” that constitutes grounds for a temporary injunction. [Read more…]

Beat the heat with cool summer eats, help ADFAC

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ADFAC Dine and Donate at Riverview Grill

With an expansive view of the Clinch River, Riverview Grill features a variety of family-friendly menu items such as barbeque, burgers, seafood, and much more, a press release said. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

With daily temperatures averaging around 90, we could all use some relief from the heat. Why not treat yourself to a feel-good meal?

On Monday, July 14, five local restaurants will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC.

Officially launched last October, “Dine and Donate” is a year-long event, with different restaurants participating on the second Monday of each month. Monday’s participating restaurants are:

  • Hoskins in Clinton,
  • Papa Murphy’s in Oak Ridge (please use the register marked for ADFAC),
  • Razzleberry’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Riverview Grill in Clinton, and
  • Subway in Clinton (both), Lake City, Oak Ridge (Four Oaks Center), and Oliver Springs.

[Read more…]

Honors: Retired Powell-Clinch VP receives Silver Flame Award

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Richard McIntosh and Family

Richard McIntosh, recipient of the Tennessee Gas Association Silver Flame Award, with his wife Joan and their family. (Photo courtesy PCUD)

 

Powell-Clinch Utility District Vice President Emeritus Richard McIntosh was awarded the Tennessee Gas Association’s 2014 Silver Flame Award, the state natural gas industry’s highest honor. The award is in recognition of McIntosh’s distinguished service, community involvement, and pioneering efforts in the state gas industry during his 41-year career. McIntosh retired from PCUD in 2013 after 28 years of service. Under his leadership, PCUD grew from 3,500 customers to more than 17,000, a press release said.

The Tennessee Gas Association represents the state’s gas utilities, pipelines, and affiliates who provide natural gas service to more than 1.2 million customers in Tennessee. TGA’s mission is to promote the value and growth of the natural gas industry in Tennessee by enhancing the overall performance, safety, competitiveness, and public awareness of its members and their products and services.

“PCUD congratulates Richard McIntosh for receiving the state gas industry’s most prestigious award and extends its heartfelt thanks to McIntosh for his leadership, vision, dedication, and hard work for PCUD and its customers,” the release said.

Lake City is now Rocky Top, Tennessee

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Lake City to Rocky Top Vote

The Lake City Council on Thursday agreed to change the town’s name to Rocky Top as part of an effort to attract a multi-million dollar development that could include a water park, interactive theater with children’s museum, and coal miners music theater, among other things.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:10 p.m. June 28.

LAKE CITY—Lake City is now Rocky Top, Tennessee.

For most people, Rocky Top has been, until now, the name of a bluegrass song that is wildly popular in East Tennessee and the unofficial anthem of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Hikers might know it as a sub-peak of Thunderhead Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. And shoppers might recognize it as the name of a bookstore, or gas station, or wine trail, or one of many other businesses registered in Tennessee.

But officials and business leaders here have worked for months to make their town to first to use it in a city name.

The idea is to use the name change to spur developments along Interstate 75 that could be worth up to $237 million. Proposed projects include an indoor and outdoor water park, interactive theater with a children’s museum, a coal miners music theater, and laser tag, among other things. Officials have said those developments—which have also included other options such as a hotel, restaurant, and candy company—won’t happen without the name change.

Residents hope the change and subsequent developments will create jobs, add sales tax revenues, and provide a vital economic boost to this depressed town of 1,800 people in northern Anderson County. [Read more…]

Lake City-to-Rocky Top vote set for June 26

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Tim Isbel at Hearing on Lake City Name Change to Rocky Top

Tim Isbel, president of the Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., at a federal court hearing in May on Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top.

Information from WYSH Radio

Officials in what is now called Lake City have announced that the City Council will meet on Thursday, June 26, at 5 p.m. to ratify the town’s name change to Rocky Top.

The name change is considered vital for the development of several attractions aimed at turning the sleepy town into a tourist destination for travelers along I-75, and it cleared its most significant hurdle a couple of weeks ago when a federal judge refused to issue an injunction to prohibit the name change from going forward.

The request for a preliminary injunction  had been filed by the owners of the copyright to the song “Rocky Top,” who had argued that the name change amounted to a trademark violation. [Read more…]

U.S. judge denies request to stop Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top

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Tim Isbel at Hearing on Lake City Name Change to Rocky Top

Tim Isbel, president of the Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., at a federal court hearing in May on Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top.

A federal judge on Wednesday denied for now a request to stop Lake City from changing its name to Rocky Top.

The preliminary injunction had been requested by House of Bryant Publications LLC, the Gatlinburg publisher of “Rocky Top,” a well-known bluegrass song closely identified with the University of Tennessee and its Volunteers athletics program.

The Lake City Council could reconsider the name change as early as June. The council endorsed the name change in November, and it was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly this year in a bill that has already been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam. Anderson County Commissioner Tim Isbel has said Lake City could become Rocky Top on July 3 under the new state law.

Isbel is president of Rocky Top Tennessee Marketing and Manufacturing Co. That company has proposed a development that could be worth up to $450 million over six years and include an indoor and outdoor water park, coal miners theater, children’s museum, train rides, restaurant, and a candy company on some 300 acres near two exits off Interstate 75. Officials have said it could bring 200 new jobs to Lake City and generate another $6 million in sales tax per year. But the project hinges on the name change. [Read more…]

Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top on hold for now

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Tim Isbel at Hearing on Lake City Name Change to Rocky Top

Tim Isbel, president of the Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., at a federal court hearing on Monday on Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top.

Note: this story was updated at 2:52 a.m.

KNOXVILLE—Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top is on hold for now as a federal judge considers a request to stop the move.

The name change has been proposed as part of an expensive plan to convert the former coal mining town in northern Anderson County into a tourist destination. But it has been challenged by the publisher of “Rocky Top,” a well-known bluegrass song and unofficial University of Tennessee anthem.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a bill that allows the name change, but the proposal has not yet gone back to the Lake City Council for final approval. Under the state law, Lake City could become Rocky Top on July 3, said Tim Isbel, an Anderson County Commissioner and president of Rocky Top Tennessee Marketing and Manufacturing Co.

That company has proposed a development that could be worth up to $450 million over six years and include an indoor and outdoor water park, coal miners theater, children’s museum, train rides, restaurant, and candy company on some 300 acres near two exits off Interstate 75. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday, officials said it could bring 200 new jobs to Lake City and generate another $6 million in sales tax per year. But the project hinges on the name change. [Read more…]

Senate approves Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he had draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the Tennessee General Assembly. (File photo)

WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

A bill that will allow Lake City to officially change its name to Rocky Top was unanimously approved in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday, three days after the state House of Representatives also unanimously voted to support the measure.

Lake City Council members approved the name change, seen as a vital first step toward developing a Rocky Top theme park in the former coal mining town, in November. The bill will now go to Gov. Bill Halslam’s desk for his signature, then the Lake City Council must ratify it by a two-thirds majority.

The name change is seen as a necessary first step toward turning the former coal mining town into a tourist destination, taking advantage of its two exits off of I-75. Plans call for an interactive 3-D theater, a restaurant, a water park and a hotel, as well as other attractions. [Read more…]

Six clerks cited for selling beer to minor

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Six clerks in Anderson County were cited to court after businesses in Lake City and Oliver Springs sold beer to a minor during a compliance check in February, authorities said.

The sting was conducted on Feb. 20 and 21 by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, with help from the Lake City Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit visited 24 businesses to try to buy beer. Six sold beer to the underage person, the department said in a press release. Two of the six businesses did not check identification showing the person to be under 21, and four checked but sold the beer anyway. One on-premise business served the underage person, but the server realized the age before the sale was completed. [Read more…]

Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top challenged in federal court

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he has draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the state legislature.

Note: This story was last updated at 6 p.m.

The Gatlinburg publisher of “Rocky Top”—a bluegrass tune, state song, and unofficial anthem for the University of Tennessee—filed a federal lawsuit on Monday that seeks to prevent Lake City from changing its name to Rocky Top as part of a plan to turn the former coal mining town into a tourist destination.

The publisher, House of Bryant Publications LLC of Gatlinburg, also owns many Rocky Top trademarks, and it believes that the proposed name change for Lake City “is an attempt to unfairly exploit the fame and goodwill of House of Bryant’s intellectual property,” according to a press release from Waddey Patterson, an intellectual property law firm based in Nashville.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday. The defendants are Lake City, Rocky Top Tennessee Marketing and Manufacturing Co., Anderson County Commissioner Tim Isbel, Franklin resident Brad Coriell, Lake City businessman Mark Smith, Lake City Vice Mayor Michael Lovely, and Knoxville resident Carl “Buddy” Warren. [Read more…]

Lake City Christmas Parade rescheduled to Friday, Dec. 13

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Due to the expected rainfall in the area, the Lake City Christmas Parade, which had been scheduled for this evening (Friday evening), has been postponed until next Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.

For more information, call the Lake City Chamber of Commerce at (865) 426-9595 or visit http://www.lakecitychambertn.com/parade/.

Information from WYSH Radio

Lake City recommends Rocky Top name change, but receives copyright warning

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 on Thursday to recommend changing the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan, right, said he has drafted legislation to approve the rechristening in the state legislature.

LAKE CITY—Just hours before a historic vote to change this town’s name for the second time in less than a century, Lake City Mayor Tim Sharp received a legal letter warning him that a proposal to build a Rocky Top theme park here could violate trademark rights and should be dropped.

But project supporters packed City Hall on Thursday, and the Lake City Council pressed on, voting 4-0 to recommend changing the name of this former coal mining town to Rocky Top. It’s the first step in a project to build a multi-million dollar theme park that could include an interactive Knotty Pine 3-D theater, water park, hotel, and restaurant.

The last-minute letter from an intellectual property attorney in Nashville could have Lake City officials and the park’s investors scrambling to answer legal questions. The notice was “very unexpected,” Sharp said. [Read more…]