Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Commissioner Isbel asks President Obama to visit Rocky Top

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Tim Isbel

Tim Isbel

Mr. President:

I am writing this letter to respectfully ask for your assistance in the resurgence of a small impoverished coal mining community that was very instrumental in the development of this great nation, during the Industrial Revolution, due to the ability to produce coal. Since the decline of the coal industry, this community has suffered economically and 50 percent of the current population lives below the poverty level.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tim Isbel, the Anderson County commissioner that represents this community of Lake City, Tennessee.

Just over a year ago, the mayor and city council of Lake City and myself set out to change the direction of the city. This city, nestled between Norris Lake and the Cumberland Mountains, has the assets of having two major interchanges off the I-75 corridor, an abundance of uninhabited property, existing infrastructure, and just 25 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee, and Interstate I-40. [Read more…]

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…]