Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs' Weekly Update.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs' Weekly Update.

TRANSCRIPT:

It’s Friday! Time for another weekly update.

For all the bad news that is out there currently, there are some good things happening. For instance, though, the first two months of the fiscal year, Knox County sales tax revenue is up approximately 8.75 percent from this time last year. Property tax collections are also up year over year. Through the end of the first quarter, overall revenue is up 1 percent while expenditures are down 1.25 percent.

Our great credit rating has allowed us to refinance some debt, saving four-and-a-half million dollars in interest costs, as well as receiving a1.92 percent interest rate on our newly issued debt. According to the latest unemployment figures, Knox County has the lowest unemployment of the big four metro counties in Tennessee at 4.6 percent.

Also, the Board of Education voted to add six classrooms to the new Lonsdale Elementary School. Now something that you should know is Medic Regional Blood Center has a critical need for blood. Please go to medicblood.org to find a donation location near you and make an appointment.

The Masters Starts this weekend. Originally slated for April, the Masters this year will be the last major tournament of 2020, and its' going to be the first time the tournament takes place when the azaleas are not in bloom. Tiger Woods is the defending champion, but he’s not favored to win this week.

Researchers from Hungary are holding the Genius Dog Challenge, which pits six of the world’s smartest dogs against one another to show who is able to best learn the names of new objects. The competition runs through Monday, Nov. 16 and will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. All the dogs participating are border collies from countries around the world.

Finally, my friend Billy Kidd passed away this week. Billy was a long-time DJ on WIMZ and a tremendous supporter of Second Harvest of East Tennessee. I used to hang out with Billy when he was Camping for Cans, his annual food drive that took place Thanksgiving week.

Like so many other East Tennesseans, I am going to miss Billy both on the radio and with his work in our community.

Until next Friday, I hope everyone has a great week.