The final day to register to vote in time to be eligible to cast a ballot in the Aug. 7 county general election is July 8.
In Anderson County, you can find out more by calling the Election Commission at (865) 457-6238 or by visiting the website at www.acelect.com.
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.
Information from WYSH Radio
As WYSH reported last week, the Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The proposed $25 million general fund budget keeps the property tax rate at current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.
Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said that the budget does include provisions for a projected half-percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.
When the various county departments submitted their initial budget requests, the total was about $2 million out of balance but “with understanding and help, we whittled that down,” according to Frank’s summary of the budget process released late last week. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.
A reporter at the Clinton Courier News will be taken off the county government beat for now as authorities investigate a missing keys report filed Monday by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, the newspaper’s publisher said Tuesday.
Frank filed the missing keys report after the Monday night meeting of the Anderson County Commission in Clinton. She told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Bradley A. Prewitt that she had stored her keys under a desk and noticed them missing sometime after 10:30 p.m. Monday. She said she had left her seat during the meeting to address the commission and for a break, and Courier News reporter Chris Silcox had sat in or near her seat at some point during the meeting, Prewitt wrote in an incident report.
After the meeting, Frank said Silcox contacted her and explained, via text message, that he had unintentionally grabbed her keys, mistaking them for his wife’s. Silcox made arrangements to return the keys to Richard Burroughs, Frank’s chief of staff, Prewitt said, but only the auto key fob and business key were returned.
“Ms. Frank advised that her home and office keys were still missing,” Prewitt said. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.
Information from WYSH Radio
The Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s no-frills budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.
The proposed budget keeps the property tax rate at its current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.
Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said the budget does include provisions for a possible 1 percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.
The budget committee has also recommended that the county’s fund balance be increased from $3.5 million to $4 million. Budget discussions will continue during the next few weeks.
Twenty-two Anderson County residents have filed a petition in Chancery Court seeking to remove Law Director Jay Yeager from office, alleging misconduct that includes perjury, forgery, and having pornography on a county computer.
The ouster petition was filed Friday afternoon in Anderson County Chancery Court in Clinton. It alleges Yeager, who became law director in September 2006, committed perjury on his sworn application to become law director eight years ago, forged the signature of retired Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Avery Johnson two years ago, and had a pornographic image on a county computer that was found about three years ago.
The petition asks the court to immediately suspend Yeager from his official duties pending a decision by the court, and it requests a trial. If Yeager is guilty of one or more of the charges, the petition said, he should be ousted from office.
“I’m devastated,” Yeager said Friday evening. “It’s just another assassination on my character and on my good reputation and all I’ve done for Anderson County.”
He said he thinks the ouster suit is politically motivated, and he called it “baseless and unwarranted.” [Read more…]
An “In God We Trust” sign could be placed above the main entrance of the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston under a proposal being considered by county officials. The signs could also be displayed in the Roane County Commission chambers. (Photos by Sara Wise)
KINGSTON—The Roane County Commission voted on Monday to defer a resolution to the property committee that would place signs that say “In God We Trust” on the County Courthouse in Kingston.
The vote to defer was closely split, at 8-7. Commissioners James Brummett, Ray Cantrell, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, Jerry Goddard, Chris Johnson, and Fred Tedder all voted not to defer the resolution.
Many commissioners who voted against deferment argued that deferral would only delay the process further. Others, however, felt that the issue should have gone through the committee before the commission had any say in the matter.
Ellis, who filed the resolution in favor of the signs, said that the resolution would reach the committee either way, and that the committee would have the final say in the design and placement of the signs.
“Roane County is deep in its faith,” he said. “Not one of my constituents…has come to me against this.” [Read more…]
Workers from Island Home Granite, Signs, and Monuments install the first of four granite “In God We Trust” signs over the entrances at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton in July 2013. (File photo)
Information from WYSH Radio
Roane County leaders are considering installing signs bearing the phrase “In God We Trust” at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.
Roane County Commissioner Randy Ellis said his proposal would have one sign installed above the main entrance to the courthouse, and another in the commission chamber. The signs would have to be privately funded as Anderson County’s signs were when a similar proposal approved last year.
“In God We Trust” signs now hang above all four entrances to the Anderson County Courthouse as well as at the Oak Ridge General Sessions Court building. The Roane County Commission is set to discuss the proposal at 7 p.m. Monday.
Here are the unofficial election results for the contested races in the Democratic and Republican primaries in Anderson County on Tuesday. The results include all 27 precincts, early voting, and absentee ballots.
Anderson County mayor—Republican primary
Anderson County chancellor—Republican primary
Nicki Cantrell, second from right, who is running unopposed in the Aug. 7 general election after winning the Republican primary on Tuesday, will become Anderson County’s first female chancellor. Also pictured at right is Michael Farley, one of her two Republican opponents. The three GOP candidates for Juvenile Court judge are also pictured. From left they are Vickie Bannach, Lauren Biloski, and Brian Hunt, the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Terry Frank
Note: This story was last updated at 4:10 p.m. May 7.
Primary Winners: Frank, Cantrell, Hunt, Lay, Clement
One is Anderson County’s first female mayor. The other will become the county’s first female chancellor.
The two candidates—Terry Frank and Nicki Cantrell—beat their opponents by significant margins in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Both said their victories were based in large part on running positive campaigns.
Cantrell’s victory over Clinton attorney and City Judge Michael Farley, who had the support of many other lawyers, appeared to be the big upset of the night in what had been the most heated race, with the two candidates clashing over their courtroom experience and trading accusations of false claims and “mudslinging.”
Zach Bates
Both were running to replace the current chancellor, William Lantrip, who is retiring at the end of June after 25 years on the bench. The chancellor hears cases in Chancery Court ranging from divorces and adoptions to lawsuits and contract disputes, but can also sometimes hear Criminal Court cases, sit as the Circuit Court judge, and hear Juvenile Court appeals.
“Nobody believed we could do this,” Cantrell’s husband Dail Cantrell said Tuesday night. “We refused to run a negative campaign and got the support of the people.”
Nicki Cantrell won by about 900 votes, collecting 3,895 votes to Farley’s 2,979, according to unofficial results with all 27 precincts reporting. That’s roughly a 54 percent to 41 percent margin.
A third candidate, Republican Phil Harber, who did not appear to campaign as hard as either Farley or Cantrell, received 368 votes. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.
The Anderson County Election Commission is experiencing technical difficulties with the voting totals that would ordinarily be displaying on its website.
Voting closed at 8 p.m. today in the Democratic and Republican primaries. Some voting totals were initially displaying on the website, although the early voting results were not. However, no results were displaying at about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The Election Commission said it is working to resolve the issue and hopes to have results posted soon.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Terry Frank
Zach Bates
CLINTON—She says she’s kept her promise to protect Anderson County from higher taxes and worked to make government more efficient while improving customer service.
He says the county needs a more targeted approach to bringing in new retail and rebuilding the housing market.
The two candidates, incumbent Terry Frank and her challenger Zach Bates, face off in the Republican primary in Anderson County on Tuesday.
Frank was first elected in a special election in August 2012. She is the first female mayor of Anderson County and running for her first four-year term. She is completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011.
Bates is a one-term Anderson County Commissioner who is not seeking re-election to that seat. [Read more…]
Michael Farley
Nicki Cantrell
Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m.
CLINTON—They’ve traded accusations of false claims and “mudslinging” and challenged each other on their courtroom experience. The debate has spilled over into mailed flyers, newspaper ads, and candidate forums.
On one side is Clinton attorney Michael Farley, a former Clinton City Council member and current city judge who is running for Anderson County chancellor in the Republican primary on Tuesday. On the other is Nicki Cantrell, who is also a Republican and Clinton attorney.
In particular, Farley has raised questions about the number of jury trials that Cantrell has handled and the number of contested hearings she’s had in Anderson County Chancery Court. He’s suggested she’s not telling the truth about her experience.
“If you check with the clerks, it’s not backed up,” Farley said. “She doesn’t have the experience I have.”
