It isn’t hardly worth cheering, but it’s notable nonetheless: Scott County’s unemployment rate no longer threatens to be the highest such rate in the state…at least for now.

After being announced at a seasonal unadjusted rate of 18.8% in December (2nd-highest in the state), Scott County’s seasonally-adjusted rate dropped all the way to 17.9% in December. That rate rose to 18.3% in January, according to figures released yesterday by the Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development.

At 18.3%, Scott County’s jobless rate is good enough for 8th-highest in the state…and for the first time in over a year, it isn’t the highest unemployment rate in the region. That dubious distinction goes to Pickett County, which has an unemployment rate of 18.7%.

Total unemployment in Scott County rose from 1,550 in December to 1,560 in January.

With major layoffs coming that aren’t factored into that unemployment rate and won’t be for a few more months, our slide down the Top 10 list probably won’t last.

There are two sides to almost every issue, and the proposed Roberta Phase II Landfill at Bear Creek in north Oneida is no exception.

On the one hand, the lifestyle that we live as a “civilized” society produces tons of trash each and every day; trash that has to be placed somewhere. And it’s impossible to blame the business partners of Roberta Phase II for seizing on an opportunity to make money. They’re good men; men who have dedicated much to the local community, not only professionally but through their personal acts of good will towards fellow Scott Countians. If you’re looking for something negative to be said about them, it won’t be here or by me.

On the other hand, it’s human nature to have a NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude. If someone were proposing to build a landfill just down the street from me, I would be the first one to turn in my comment card to speak at the public hearing. You can’t blame Bear Creek residents for being up in arms about this proposed landfill. And you can’t blame Scott Countians who are, quite frankly, sick and tired of seeing this rural community used as a dumping ground by outside interests.

The primary problem here is the mandated permit process. Ideally, each county would be responsible for its own waste. As Scott County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Valentine said at Monday’s public hearing, let Scott County take care of its trash disposal, and let everybody else take care of their trash disposal. A simplistic approach to a complicated problem? Perhaps. But it certainly beats the alternative: Where counties can pay a little more to truck their waste away from their back yards and dump it in the back yards of their neighbors.

Unfortunately, no one can tell a private landfill whose trash it will accept and whose trash it will reject. And county and municipal governments have no say-so in whether a private landfill is approved.

Therein lies the problem. Local governments should have the authority to approve or reject a proposed landfill. Instead, the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation serves as the sole authority on the matter and can single-handedly approve or reject an application (though the department is mandated by state statute to issue the permit if the proposed landfill meets technical requirements).

It shouldn’t be this way. Say what you want to about private property rights. But the fact of the matter is that a proposed landfill doesn’t only impact the landowners. Their neighbors have to see it, smell it and, eventually, maybe even drink a little of it. Although water quality issues tend to be blown out of proportion in emotional public hearings, the fact remains that the EPA says that all landfill liners will eventually leak. It was telling that, at last night’s hearing, Dr. George Hyfantis, the engineer hired to design the landfill, was pointedly asked whether he could personally guarantee that the landfill would never contaminate the ground water and he could not answer in the affirmative.

The question fielded by Dr. Hyfantis was one of many inquiries lobbed by citizens from the standing-room-only crowd. Of those who took the podium, the lone voice of support for the landfill was former Huntsville alderman Wes Riggins, who correctly stated that “you have to put a dump somewhere.” Granted, 60 or 70 citizens showing up at the Oneida Municipal Building at supper-time on a Monday evening don’t represent the 22,000 or so folks who make up Scott County. But every measure of public opinion on this matter—whether it’s newspaper polls, public hearings or coffee-shop chatter—has found an overwhelming majority in opposition to the proposed landfill.

But the court of public opinion doesn’t matter in the landfill approval process. TDEC representative Tommy Himes said as much when he told the gathering of concerned citizens at last night’s meeting that the state has already “tentatively approved” the landfill. The only thing that can derail the process, he said, is if technical information can be offered to the contrary; if something can be said that indicates the landfill would violate the state’s clean water and solid waste disposal standards. Folks who turn out for public hearings, for the most part, aren’t experts on clean air or waste disposal standards. They can’t offer the contrary technical information that the state is looking for. All they can do is offer an impassioned plea that trash not be dumped in their back yard. Their opinions don’t fall on deaf ears. But they might as well.

And what we’re left with is a landfill that Scott County and its leaders have no voice in. A landfill that will accept trash from 11 neighboring counties in addition to Scott County. A landfill that will collect somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 tons of trash per day…taking only 2.5 years to fill to capacity. Roberta Phase I is nearly full. Roberta Phase II (24 acres in size) will be full in less than three years. And, by the admission of the engineering firm, another landfill will be applied for, and then another, until the entire 308 acres is eventually filled to capacity.

And there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

The NIMBY arguments might not be grounded in sound technical reasoning. But if Scott County is going to be used as a dumping ground for our neighbors’ trash, is it too much to ask that we be given a say-so in the matter?

Even as a standing-room-only crowd turned out at the Oneida Municipal Building tonight in overwhelming opposition to the proposed Roberta Phase II Landfill, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation spokesman Tommy Himes said TDEC has “tentatively decided” to grant the permit application.

Tonight’s public hearing was conducted by TDEC in response to written requests by area residents. The landfill, which would be located on a 24-acre parcel adjacent to the existing Volunteer Regional Landfill at Bear Creek, was applied for by Oneida businessman Johnny King.

Dozens of residents turned out for the hearing, with several taking the opportunity to voice their displeasure at the prospects of a new landfill, which as proposed would accept solid waste from 12 counties across the region and would be a candidate for TVA fly ash disposal. Officials with Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, the McCreary County (Ky.) Water District and Town of Oneida voiced their opposition to the proposed landfill.

However, Himes pointed out that unless technical information can be provided to show why the landfill shouldn’t be granted, TDEC is required by state statute to issue the permit.

It appears the Scott County School System will lose its week-long spring break in early April.

Director of Schools Sharon Wilson announced to faculty yesterday that she will recommend to the Board of Education at its March meeting (March 11) that the spring break be eliminated.

Previously, Wilson had said she hoped to avoid using spring break to make up days missed due to snow and illness, due to the need for construction crews at Robbins Elementary to demolish part of the existing facility while students are away from school.

However, a deal has apparently been worked out with the construction company that will allow that work to be done on weekends.

Scott County is currently six days over the limit. Three of those days are likely to be excused by the state. However, Wilson told instructors, there’s no guarantee that the commissioner of education will excuse those days (which were missed due to illness), and a plan needs to be in place showing the school system is making an effort to make up the days. Having classes the week of spring break will eliminate all but one day (plus any days missed going forward), which the school system will then request the state excuse.

If more than two more days are missed, those days will be tacked on to the end of the school year.

Is help on the way for struggling Scott County? Les Winningham thinks so.

Winningham, long-time state representative from Huntsville, says to “expect some announcements” from the state in the coming days about jobs help for Scott County.

“It won’t put everyone back to work and not everyone will have a great job, but there are going to be some opportunities,” Winningham said, as he escorted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter to Oneida.

Photo evidence of a cougar/mountain lion/panther/painter/wildcat in the Smokies?

Turns out, it’s probably a bobcat.

It does look too small to be a cougar, and if it were a cougar, it somehow got its tail got lopped of…but at first glance one could sure be fooled into thinking it wasn’t a bobcat, couldn’t they?

Photos like this probably explain why so many people are fooled into thinking they see cougars in places like the Big South Fork and the Smokies and other areas of East Tennessee. The first reaction of most folks who see that is going to be “cougar!” Certainly, that’s what my first reaction was, until looking at it closer. So, it’s just as wildlife experts have said all along: A lot of cougar sightings aren’t cougar sightings at all.

(I still believe there are a few cougars in East Tennessee, though…maybe they’re pets that have been turned loose, but cougars nonetheless. Does anyone remember the Scott County Cougar of 1977?)

Its whitewater is among the best-known in the Southeast. Its equestrian trail-riding opportunities are among the best-known in the entire eastern U.S. And, yet, you don’t have to leave East Tennessee to find people who don’t know what the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area is.

Some haven’t heard of it at all. Others have, but wrongly believe that it’s a state park rather than a national park. Still others know what it is but can’t locate it on a map.

At its peak a few years ago, the BSF boasted nearly one million visitors. That’s not bad for a 125,000-acre national recreation area tucked away in one of the most rural areas of the eastern U.S. And yet, it’s still one of the best-kept secrets around.

With thousands of miles of hiking, biking and equine trails, the BSF offers something for everyone. There’s an excursion train into a historic mining community, the whitewater rafting, good small river fishing (smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, muskie and channel catfish are the most notable species), and some of the best scenery around. It is also one of the only parks in the National Parks system to permit hunting.

The BSF is often referred to as a quiet alternative to the Great Smokey Mountains. But the BSF and the Great Smokies couldn’t be more different. With its unique sandstone formations, rock houses and waterfalls, the terrain and geological makeup of the BSF is more like the West than just about anything east of the Mississippi River.

The BSF is within an hour’s drive of Knoxville, two hours’ drive of Chattanooga, three hours’ drive of Lexington and Nashville, and a half-day drive of Cincinnati, Atlanta, Memphis and Charlotte. Outdoors types can find a different activity for each day of the week at BSF, but the adventure doesn’t stop within the park service’s boundaries. Thirty minutes away is the 25,000-acre Brimstone Recreation Area, a four-wheeling mecca. And Brimstone butts up against another popular ATV destination, the Coal Creek OHV reserve (Windrock) in Anderson and Morgan counties. The 140,000-acre North Cumberlands WMA is just a half-hour from the park’s boundary. Historic Rugby (the historic English village) borders the park on its south side, and the birthplaces of Sgt. Alvin C. York and United Nations founder Cordell Hull are just a hop, skip and a jump from the BSF’s best boundary.

Did I also mention that the BSF is squarely in the middle of the Great Lakes of the South? Dale Hollow—noted fishing destination and home of the world-record smallmouth bass—is 45 minutes west and Norris Lake is 45 minutes east. To the south are two more reservoirs that are on every serious angler’s short list: Fort Loudoun and Watts Bar (which will host this year’s Bass Federation national championship in April).

The point is this: In the middle of all this outdoors recreation goodness is tiny little Oneida, Tenn., population 3,500 and poised to benefit from anyone who spends their tourism dollars in our neck of the woods. All things considered, you could probably make an argument for Scott County as the adventure tourism capitol of Tennessee…and it isn’t too terribly outlandish to suggest that it’s the adventure tourism capitol of the South. Are we promoting it to its fullest? If not, why not? It isn’t going to replace 370 jobs at a flooring mill that’s been in existence since World War II or any of the other manufacturing jobs that have been lost and probably aren’t coming back. But it certainly couldn’t hurt anything to have folks spending a portion of their paychecks here?

Think adventure tourism can’t benefit Scott County? Grande Vista Hotel. Brimstone Recreation. Thompson’s Yamaha. Fireside Restaurant. Preston’s Longhorn Steakhouse. Wilderness Resorts. Tobe’s Motel. Miller’s General Store. Buckhorn Hunting & Fishing Supply. South Fork Tack. Those are but a few of the businesses that directly benefit every time a horseback rider or hiker or ATV rider crosses the county line. All of them pay taxes to the county and state. All of them employ. And that isn’t taking into consideration the convenience stores where tourists are gassing up, the grocery stores where they’re buying supplies, or the potential other businesses that could be established if adventure tourism were to increase.

So, the question bears repeating: Are we promoting adventure tourism to its fullest? If not, why not?

Oneida students should prepare to lose at least part of their spring break. While the board of education won’t officially act on a resolution to the over-the-limit snow days until it convenes March 4, word from inside the school system is that spring break will be used to make up those days.

Currently, Oneida is four days over the limit, unless the state Dept. of Education chooses to waive days that were missed due to illness.

Scott County Schools are hoping to avoid using spring break to make up snow days, due to the need of construction crews at Robbins to use the week off to demolish part of the existing school building. Scott County is five days over the limit, pending the state decision that could waive the three days.

This is just a guess, and not even an educated one at that, but it’s hard to imagine that the Commissioner of Education would choose not to waive those flu days for school systems across the state, given the way snow days are piling up in various school systems.

Great Dane Trailers laid off 19 workers at its Huntsville plant earlier this month, and now closure of the plant is apparently pending.

Confirming a rumor that had been circulating in recent days, Scott County Mayor Rick Keeton acknowledged earlier this week that his office has received notification from the state Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development that Great Dane has filed notice that it will layoff its remaining work force in Huntsville in March.

The move comes on the heels of an announcement that Armstrong is closing most of its Oneida plant, which will cost the county 260 jobs.

Meanwhile, Armstrong officials aren’t confirming or denying rampant speculation that the remainder of the Oneida plant—representing another 110 jobs—will close in early 2011.

The economic situation in Scott County is quickly going from depressing to downright frightening.

Scott County’s ATV issue is motoring to the state capitol.

State Sen. Ken Yager (R-Harriman) and state Rep. Les Winningham (D-Huntsville) are teaming up to sponsor legislation that would enable Scott County to be designated an adventure tourism destination…with ATVs permitted on public roads within the designated area.

The issue began late last spring, when Scott County Sheriff Anthony Lay announced that his deputies would begin strict enforcement of existing state ATV laws, which prohibit the operation of ATVs on public roadways. The announcement was in response to complaints from some Huntsville area residents about the prolific usage of ATVs on public streets, and it prompted an outcry from the pro-ATV community. Scott County Commission sided with the ATV riders and requested state legislators help to find a solution. For his part, Sheriff Lay said he wouldn’t have a problem with a new law that permitted ATVs on public streets.

In November, Yager and Winningham met with the public at an ATV forum in Huntsville. The meeting was attended primarily by ATV supporters.

Now comes Senate Bill 3651, filed by Yager on Jan. 28, which would direct the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation to study rural areas of the state to see if they would be suitable for adventure tourism destinations. Adventure tourism, as defined, includes trail-riding (equine and motorized), white-water rafting and kayaking, rock-climbing, hang-gliding, spelunking and related activities.

Once identified as a possibility, locations could be designated adventure tourism areas by a two-thirds majority vote of a county or municipal government. TDEC and other state agencies would then work with those areas to secure funding through grants and other means. And the kicker: Roads, streets and highways inside the adventure tourism area could be designated for use by ATVs and other off-highway vehicles.

Yager’s bill has been assigned to the Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee, of which Yager is vice-chairman. Winningham filed companion legislation in the House—HB 3904—on Thursday.