Archives for April 2012

Dogs get ‘big air’ at Earth Day festival

Posted at 11:00 am April 30, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Alex, a Weimaraner skilled at long distance jumping and speed retrieval, catches a football thrown by his owner, Trent Steele, during a DockDogs competition in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

More than 100 dogs from across the country competed in long-distance and vertical jump challenges in Oak Ridge this weekend in a first-time event that enthralled hundreds of people who encouraged the canines with loud cheers.

The three-day DockDogs competition, which also included a speed retrieval event, was part of the annual Earth Day festival at A.K. Bissell Park.

Children enjoy the animal petting zoo at Earth Day in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

Besides that competition, the festival also included a bike rodeo, petting zoo, musical entertainment, vendors, and recycling stations, including for shoes and computers. There was also a Green Mile Children’s Run at the Oak Ridge High School track.

One dog that competed this weekend, Wrigley, a Weimaraner from Chicago, has a 6-foot, 8-inch vertical leap, said Trent Steele, president of Smoky Mountain DockDogs in Knoxville, which organized the contest. By Saturday afternoon, Wrigley had jumped 27 feet and one inch in a “Big Air” long-distance competition.

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Teen bands battle in Oak Ridge

Posted at 12:05 am April 30, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

One of nine local bands compete in Oak Ridge on Friday in Battle of the Teen Bands. Prizes included gift cards and recording studio time at Big Head Records studio at Heritage Fellowship Church.

Guitar Player at Battle of the Teen Bands

A guitar player is pictured above at Friday’s Battle of the Teen Bands at A.K. Bissell Park.

Nine local bands from five high schools were scheduled to compete at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion in Oak Ridge on Friday. Here are pictures from the competition taken by William Terry Jr.

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School board considers debt proposal rejected by Council

Posted at 12:02 am April 30, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

It’s already been informally rejected by municipal officials, but the Oak Ridge school board will still consider a proposal that would allow them to keep more money collected from county sales taxes—and require the city to come up with extra cash to pay for the renovation of the high school.

The proposal, which the Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider tonight, would allow the schools to keep a portion of more than $700,000 in revenues generated by a 2006 increase in the Anderson County sales tax rate. Until recently, all the money had been used to help pay down the debt on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School.

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Young Professionals meet Tuesday

Posted at 12:01 am April 30, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Young Professionals of Oak Ridge will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

Fire destroys east Oak Ridge home

Posted at 10:47 pm April 27, 2012
By John Huotari 5 Comments

Fire destroys a home in east Oak Ridge on Friday

Firefighters battle a Friday evening blaze in east Oak Ridge that destroyed a home and left a mother and her two teenage sons with minor injuries.

A mother and her two teenage sons suffered minor injuries and their home was destroyed in a Friday evening fire in east Oak Ridge that was possibly caused by an electrical problem.

Vanessa Todd, 42, and her two sons, Takoda Todd, 14, and Tyler Todd, 13, tried to battle the blaze with a garden hose and rescue their two cats and one dog, but the flames were too powerful.

Two members of the Todd family at an East Drive fire

Vanessa Todd and her son Tyler are pictured above with Oak Ridge Fire Department firefighter Mark White. Not pictured is Todd's other son, Takoda.

“The fire just burned my head,” Vanessa Todd said as she watched firefighters extinguish the flames at 413 East Drive. “It was so hot. I just turned around and ran back out.”

The soot-covered family was able to escape the fire, which started just before 5 p.m. Friday, although their hair was singed and they suffered from smoke inhalation. They were able to rescue their dog Kibo and one of the cats, Syrvio. The other cat, Buddy, is still missing.

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Oliver Springs could pick new city manager Thursday

Posted at 12:11 pm April 27, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The hunt for a new city manager in Oliver Springs is down to two candidates, and the Town Council could interview the finalists during a meeting on Thursday.

The two finalists are Tina Treece, a former city recorder and interim city manager in Spring City, and Joe Abbott, a Lake City resident who is also a sales manager for East Tennessee Equipment-Kubota of Knoxville.

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EPA settlement could save Oak Ridge several million dollars

Posted at 2:00 am April 27, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A potential agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency settling fines for sewer system overflows in Oak Ridge could save the city several million dollars.

The fines during a five-year period ending September 2010 could have totaled between $4 million and $5 million, city officials said this week.

But under negotiations between the city and EPA, the penalties could be lowered to approximately $170,000, Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said Tuesday. The city would have to pay $102,000 in cash and might get a “dollar-for-dollar” credit for spending another $68,000 on a supplemental environmental project, or SEP.

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Oak Ridge begins brush pickup on Monday

Posted at 12:01 am April 27, 2012
By Dawn Huotari Leave a Comment

The City of Oak Ridge begins its annual brush pickup program on Monday. Brush includes tree limbs, bagged yard clippings and leaves. This schedule is a general guide, but it can vary due to weather conditions or the amount of brush to pick up.

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Property rights advocates oppose five-county plan

Posted at 2:06 pm April 26, 2012
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Residents discuss their vision for a five-county region that includes Anderson, Blount, Loudon, Knox, and Union Counties during a Tuesday forum at Anderson County High School in Clinton.

CLINTON — Although the two sides appeared to engage in a civil discussion, a Tuesday forum again pitted planners and property rights advocates against each other.

The property rights advocates oppose the drafting of a five-county regional development plan known as PlanET.

“I am concerned more about freedom of choice and personal property rights,” said Lynn Byrge, an Anderson County resident and owner of Active Electric in Oak Ridge. He attended a PlanET forum on Tuesday at the Anderson County High School in Clinton.

A protest car at the PlanET forum in Clinton

Those who protest the drafting of a five-county regional development plan are concerned about losing their property rights.

Opponents of the three-year plan, funded with help from a $4.3 million U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant, draw a connection between PlanET and an international resolution passed in 1992 that was designed to encourage nations to use fewer resources and conserve open land by steering development to already dense areas.

“It’s Agenda 21, straight out of the United Nations,” Byrge said.

That resolution has drawn greater scrutiny as activists across the country tie it to a range of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy, according to The New York Times.

But the officials helping to develop the local plan, and currently collecting public input in a week-long series of forums, say they are only asking East Tennesseans to share their vision for the future of the region.

“We have no preset goal,” planner Rob Kerns said. He works for Wallace Roberts and Todd, a planning and design firm based in Philadelphia that was hired to run the PlanET project.

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Open Mic night on Saturday at the Grove Theater

Posted at 12:01 am April 26, 2012
By Dawn Huotari 1 Comment

High Places Church at the Grove Theater is having an open mic night at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

Performances can include poetry readings, humor, and acoustic music, such as guitar and harmonica. This event is usually around the last Saturday of the month.

The Grove Theater is located at 123 Randolph Rd in Oak Ridge.

For more information, call (865) 719-4305.

Council rejects high school debt payment changes

Posted at 10:15 am April 25, 2012
By John Huotari 1 Comment

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday informally rejected a high school debt repayment proposal that officials said could have cost property tax payers an extra $10 million during the next few decades.

The proposal would allow the schools to keep a portion of more than $700,000 in revenues generated by a 2006 increase in the Anderson County sales tax rate. Until recently, all the money had been used to help pay down the debt on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School.

But, in a months-old dispute, school officials argue they ought to be able to keep that portion of the new county sales tax revenues generated outside the city of Oak Ridge.

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