The Top News Stories of 2017 included People, History, Eclipse, Lawsuits and more.

While 2017 was a busy news year for Crossville, the stories that readers read the most included both good and bad news and some history too.

Crossville Eclipse Diamond Ring Effect

Photo by Jim Young

One of the biggest events to come through Crossville was the total eclipse of the sun and with several stories published on the blog leading up to the event, the subject of the eclipse was the most read topic on jimyoungreporter.blogspot.com and the most read single story from 2017 was the story about the new president of the Crossville Tennessee College of Applied Technology Cliff Wightman.

Link to story

The second most read single story was a recent one about a pedestrian, 85-year-old Vertie McNeeley being struck and killed by a semi truck on Main Street in November.  Link to story

The third most popular story was a history flashback story that incldued photos of the lost art of Joe Ed Hodges and Crossville Elementary School. Hodges was the husband of Principal Maureen Hodges and the long time art teacher at the school. Over the years Mr. Hodges had created art on the walls of the halls of the school. All the art was painted over when the building became the school administration building. Link to story

Other big stories from 2017 included protests as a white supremacy group held a meeting at the state park, the death of Crossville police dog K-9 Cain, Downtown Crossville events like Friday at the Crossroads and Rock the Block continue to be very popular.

Huge Turnout for October's 

Friday at the Crossroads.

Other stories that received a lot of readership included controversial items like the Shooting Sports Park, changes to Garrison Park and the First Amendment lawsuit filed against the city of Crossville by J. R. Blankenship and a suit filed against the city by former police chief Rod Shoap. Both men's suits also name former council member Jesse Kerley as a defendant. .

Early in 2017, the Crossville city council was interviewing candidates for city manager and fired interim manager Steve Hill after several incidents including an embarrassing series of emails and internal text messages were revealed between Marketing Director Billy Loggins and the secretary for Parks and Recreation Director Tami French. French filed complaints after the information was revealed.    

Photos of the eclipse from Crossville August 21, 2017

The total eclipse has come and gone now, but it was spectacular and made a vast majority of folks stop and watch a shared experience that for many they may only get to see once in their lifetime.

The following series of photos shows the early partial period moving to totality and the diamond ring effect that is the very flashy part of the eclipse for most folks.  Many cheered as the eclipse went total with the sun completely hidden behind the moon allowing the sun's corona to be seen and the darkness to come at the odd time of day.

All photos copyright 2017 Jim Young.

Near the start of the eclipse

The moon covering about 1/2 the sun

Note the crescent shadow effect under the trees.

Clouds passed over the eclipse from time to time

The sun is almost completely covered.

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Totality, showing the sun's corona

More of the sun's corona during totality. 

The sun starts to shine through the mountains 

on the moon

The full diamond ring effect

There will be another eclipse in 2024 and it will be partial for Crossville and total to the west of us. 

Area schools closed on eclipse day. Some businesses, government offices closed between 1 and 2 PM for eclipse peak.

Local officials are making plans for an influx of visitors on Monday, August 21 for the Total Eclipse of the sun and traffic could be heavy.

With Crossville being very close to the center line of totality a large influx of visitors is possible with most all hotel rooms locally already reserved but many others could just drive in for the day.

Everything you need to know about the eclipse.

After several weeks of holding the line, the Cumberland County school system announced they would close for the day of the eclipse on Wednesday evening. All schools and central offices will be closed for the day. Crossville private schools will also be closed, Crossville Christian School and Christian Academy of the Cumberlands. Other area schools that will be closed include Morgan, Fentress, Putnam, Roane and Rhea Counties.

In addition, the Crossville city hall and city offices will be closed between 1 and 2 PM at the height of the eclipse. Also closed for that peak eclipse hour is the Progressive Bank, Highland Federal Savings & Loan, Cumberland Co. Bank, First Bank, and the Upper Cumberland Federal Credit Union.  

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Art Circle Library eclipse glasses were purchased from Amazon.com and may not be safe.

DO NOT use the Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses that were recently distributed by the Art Circle Public Library (purchased from Amazon.com) to view the sun or the eclipse.

The following is the official word from the Art Circle Library:
While the advertisement stated the glasses were certified at the time of purchase, Amazon has since sent out a notification that they have not received confirmation from the supplier of the solar glasses from which they had sourced the item that they meet ISO and CE standards. They highly recommend that the glasses purchased and distributed by the library should not be used. To protect your eyes when viewing the sun or an eclipse, NASA and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) advise you to use solar eclipse glasses or other solar filters from recommended manufacturers. Viewing the sun or an eclipse using any other glasses or filters could result in loss of vision or permanent blindness.

Video's on other safe ways to watch the eclipse are at this link.

Also, the eclipse can be safely watched with the naked eye during the 2.5 minutes of totality.  

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Total Solar Eclipse passing through Crossville August 21-You don't want to miss it.

A big event passing through Crossville on August 21 as it speeds along at 1600 MPH, a total eclipse of the sun.

I would strongly encourage you not to miss seeing this event since it is coming right through Crossville and should be spectacular to see unless the weather doesn't cooperate.

Path of totality across the United States for the August 21

total eclipse.  Most of the rest of the US will see

at least a partial eclipse.

I see it being called a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and for some that might be the case, but it will be a twice in a lifetime opportunity for me. I can talk about the eclipse because I have already seen one previously and it is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive astronomical events you will ever see. You will need special glasses, welding glass or completely exposed and processed black and white film to safely look at the eclipse except during the time of totality.

The gray area is the total eclipse coverage area and 

the blue line is the center of the totality path.

Everywhere in the gray will see a total eclipse of the sun.

link to Crossville eclipse map

The eclipse starts about noon and becomes total at about 1:30 PM CDT. The eclipse remains total for 2 and one-half minutes. The sky will get dark and the temperature could even drop and if you are near any roosters, they will crow as if it is morning when the sun starts to come back out from behind the moon. The eclipse happens when the moon passes in front of the sun casting its shadow on the earth.

Up until the eclipse becomes total, eye protection is required to look at the sun. In addition to the protective glasses there are ways to watch the eclipse using pinholes or reversed binoculars projecting on paper etc. Check out some resource links below explaining those techniques. During the period of totality you can safely look at the sun because it will be completely blocked by the moon for that 2 and a half minutes in Crossville.

March 7, 1970 when I was 13 years old, my parents took us to South Carolina to see the total eclipse that happened then. We were driving through a fairly rural part of South Carolina when we stopped to see the eclipse. We had fully exposed film that we used at the time for watching the eclipse through and I was a rank amateur photographer using an old Kodak 127 film Brownie Fiesta camera to shoot pictures.

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The eclipse was a fascinating event. Things began to get darker as more and more of the sun was covered by the moon until the eclipse became total and it was almost like dusk. The most interesting thing was right before it went total there is a point where only a tiny part of the sun remains unblocked by the moon and it creates what is called the “diamond ring effect.” You see just a bit of light around the sun and at one end a bright part of the sun that looks like a stone. You have to be quick to see it as it only lasts a very short time. There is another chance to catch “the diamond ring” comes as the totality ends and the sun starts to emerge from behind the moon.

The Diamond Ring effect of an eclipse.

I hope you'll be watching. I know I will be.

keep your eyes open during the partial phases that lead up to and follow it. As you view the beginning through a safe solar filter, the universe will set your mind at ease when you see the Moon take the first notch out of the Sun’s disk. Around the three-quarters mark, you’ll start to notice that shadows are getting sharper. The reason is that the Sun’s disk is shrinking, literally approaching a point, and a smaller light source produces better-defined shadows. At about 85 percent coverage, someone you’re with will see Venus 34° west-northwest of the Sun. If any trees live at your site, you may see their leaves act like pinhole cameras as hundreds of crescent Suns appear in their shadows.

Below are some safe ways to view the eclipse.

View eclipse with cereal box.

View the eclipse using reverse binoculars