Oak Ridge Today

City Council agrees to give $30K per year for five years to General Sessions Court

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The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday, April 10, 2017, to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The interior of the current courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The money will be used for court operations and capital costs for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

Council approved the funding in a 6-0 vote, with Council member Hans Vogel absent.

The city and the Oak Ridge City Council have supporting having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since it started in 1993, according to City Manager Mark Watson.

“We believe that it is important to have that here,” Watson said. “It does save us a little bit of time.” [Read more…]

City to consider giving $30,000 per year to General Sessions Court

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The 18-month lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires in June, and Anderson County commissioners are taking steps to move the court to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. The interior of the courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider approving $30,000 in funding per year for five years for the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

The money would be used for court operations and capital costs. Council will consider the funding during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, April 10, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

Anderson County commissioners have cited the expected Oak Ridge contribution in their discussions of keeping the court in Oak Ridge and moving it from a private building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owed building on Emory Valley Road.

The City of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge City Council have supported having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since its start on February 1, 1993, City Manager Mark Watson said in an April 4 memo to Council members. [Read more…]

Anderson County Commission allocates $10,000 to Friendship Bell fund drive

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Anderson County Commissioners present a $10,000 check for the new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell to Shigeko Uppuluri, left, and Pat Postma, right. Commissioners are Theresa Scott and Steve Emert, Commission chair, front; and in back from left, Jerry Creasey, Myron Iwanski, Phil Yager, Whitey Hitchcock, and Steve Mead. (Submitted photo)

Anderson County Commissioners present a $10,000 check for the new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell to Shigeko Uppuluri, left, and Pat Postma, right. Commissioners are Theresa Scott and Steve Emert, Commission chair, front center; and in back from left, Jerry Creasey, Myron Iwanski, Phil Yager, Whitey Hitchcock, and Steve Mead. (Submitted photo)

 

Several Anderson County Commissioners recently gathered at the International Friendship Bell in Oak Ridge to present a $10,000 check for the new Peace Pavilion that will become the Bell’s new home in Bissell Park.

The Commission voted unanimously earlier this year to allocate $10,000 to help replace the pavilion housing the Bell after structural beams in the original pavilion deteriorated and the structure had to be demolished in 2014.

“We have to preserve the Bell,” said County Commission Chair Steve Emert. “It is important for tourism, for history, and especially for its message of friendship.”

“The Bell will be a key part of the story that the Manhattan Project National Historical Park is going to tell. This benefits the whole county, not just Oak Ridge,” added County Commissioner Myron Iwanski. [Read more…]

Emert running for Anderson County mayor

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Steve Emert

Steve Emert

Steve Emert, chair of the Anderson County Commission, is running for Anderson County mayor as a Republican in the 2018 election.

Emert has served the last five years as a county commissioner from District 3, which includes Norris and Andersonville. He has been county commission chair for the past two years.

When he was elected to County Commission in 2012, Emert said in a press release, he immediately started furthering his education in every aspect of the local government, and he earned the CPA designation (certified public administrator).

Emert is a longtime local businessman and entrepreneur, the press release said. [Read more…]

Council to discuss General Sessions Court, legislative updates

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The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in December 2016. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council is scheduled to discuss a project to relocate the Anderson County General Sessions Court from a private building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road during a work session on Monday evening.

Council is also scheduled to receive a legislative update and possibly discuss issues of interest to Oak Ridge, including bills related to the Industrial Development Board, school financing bills, and other bills of interest to cities.

The work session will follow a special meeting scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. The one item on the special meeting agenda is a vote on whether to build the new preschool at Scarboro Park. [Read more…]

Democratic Women’s Club to discuss organizing a political campaign

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Kris Murphy

Kris Murphy

Kris Murphy, senior political director for the Tennessee Democratic Party, will be the guest speaker for the Monday, March 27, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The group will meet at 6 p.m. at Swifty’s Atomic Bar and Grill, which is at 119 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Murphy’s topic will be “Organizing a Political Campaign,” a press release said. Born into a political family, Murphy started campaigning when he was a one-year-old in his father’s state representative campaigns. Since then, he has worked on a number of campaigns and consulted for labor unions and progressive organizations across Tennessee, the press release said.

No reservations are necessary. Those attending may order from the menu at Swifty’s. For more information, please email Ann Mostoller at amostoller@msw-law.com or call Mary Matheny at (865) 483-8937.

This press release was submitted by Kay Brookshire.

County taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge

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Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road, pictured above, to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:50 p.m.

Anderson County officials are taking steps to move General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.

An 18-month lease on the current privately owned building, where the court has been since 2009, expires in June, officials said Wednesday.

Renovations are planned at the county-owned building on Emory Valley Road before the court moves there. Bid packages for the renovation work could go out to contractors this week, and the bid could be awarded in mid-April, said Anderson County Commissioner Phil Yager, one of two commissioners who represent District 8 in Oak Ridge.

The renovation work could take two to three months, Yager said. Michael Brady Inc., a Knoxville architectural firm helping Anderson County, has estimated the renovations could cost around $300,000. [Read more…]

Community listening event in Rocky Top to focus on painkillers, substance abuse, addiction

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Terry Frank

A community listening event in Rocky Top in April will focus on painkillers, substance abuse, addiction, and overdoses.

The listening event will be at the Rocky Top Community Center on Monday, April 3, from 6-7:15 p.m. It will be hosted by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and concerned citizen Patricia Adkins, a press release said.

“The open invitation event will focus on receiving community comments about opiate abuse, addiction issues, and/or treatment, and any concern surrounding substance abuse issues in the community,” the press release said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses now account for more deaths in the U.S. than motor vehicle accidents, with 52 percent attributed to prescription medications. [Read more…]

Anderson County Democratic Party to elect new leaders at reorganization convention

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Image by Anderson County Democratic Party

Image by Anderson County Democratic Party

 

The Anderson County Democratic Party will have a Biennial Reorganization Convention to elect new leaders at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 25, a press release said. The meeting will take place in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. All county Democrats are welcome, the press release said.

Local Democrats will elect a new chairperson, first vice chair, second vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and the Executive Committee, which is comprised of 16 members. Executive Committee members will be elected from each district in Anderson County for 2017-2018, and they will serve two-year terms.

“All Democratic residents who are eligible voters of Anderson County are urged to attend to discuss the party’s agenda and events scheduled for 2017-2018,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Task force to meet for first time to discuss feasibility of justice center

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The Facilities Consolidation Task Force, a group of Anderson County officials who will study the feasibility of a justice center, will meet for the first time on Thursday, March 23.

The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. March 23 in the Emergency Management Agency Headquarters at 111 South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton.

Gene Caldwell—retired pediatrician, former state representative—dies at 84

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Photo courtesy Amanda Caldwell

Photo courtesy Amanda Caldwell

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:40 a.m.

Dr. Gene Caldwell, a retired pediatrician and former Tennessee state representative, died Saturday, March 4. He was 84.

Caldwell, a beloved pediatrician who often said he was the luckiest guy in the world, died at NHC of Oak Ridge from congestive heart failure, according to his obituary. He would have turned 85 in 10 days.

Caldwell, a Democrat, served three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing the 33rd District from 1996 to 2002.

“Gene Caldwell was a great public servant and did much for our community,” said Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican. “He will be missed, but his contributions will live on.”

The district lines have changed a bit since then, but at the time, the 33rd District included part of Anderson County, including Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Norris, said Jim Hackworth, who is also a former state representative in District 33. Caldwell preceded Hackworth.

“He was a good friend and will be sorely missed,” said Hackworth, who served the district for eight years.

Caldwell and his family had moved to Oak Ridge in 1966, when he began his practice with the Children’s Clinic of Oak Ridge. He retired in 1994 after 27 years. [Read more…]

Repairs made to Andersonville road that had washed out

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Byrams Fork Road was closed in Anderson County on Thursday, March 2, 2017, about three-quarters of a mile from Hickory Valley Road due to a washout. The road had collapsed at a culvert, and the Anderson County Highway Department was making repairs. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff's Department)

Byrams Fork Road was closed in Anderson County on Thursday, March 2, 2017, about three-quarters of a mile from Hickory Valley Road due to a washout. The road had collapsed at a culvert, and the Anderson County Highway Department was making repairs. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:10 p.m.

Repairs have been made to a road in Andersonville that had been temporarily closed Thursday due to a washout, authorities said.

Byrams Fork Road has re-opened near Hickory Valley Road, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said late Thursday afternoon. The road had been closed about three quarters of a mile from Hickory Valley Road. It had collapsed at a culvert.

The Anderson County Highway Department made repairs.

Byrams Fork Road is south of, and runs parallel to, State Route 61 in Andersonville.