Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County Democrats host chili cookoff, auction on Thursday

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The Anderson County Democratic Party will host its annual chili cookoff and live auction from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, February 20, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Gym at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Clinton Auctioneer Bear Stephenson, of Stephenson Auction and Realty, will conduct the live auction, a fundraiser for the Democratic Party. Homemade desserts and other items will be offered during the auction.

Chili chefs will bring meat and vegetarian chili to the gathering. Attendees will vote on their favorite chili prepared by local Democrats. Chili fixings, cornbread, desserts, iced tea, and other beverages will be served. The admission charge is $5 per person.

For more information, contact Ellen Faby at elfab418@gmail.com.

This press release was submitted by an advertiser or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

U.S. Census seeking workers in Anderson County

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The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking census takers in Anderson County for this year’s census.

Larry Carignan, a recruiter for the census in Anderson County, will be at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on two dates this month to answer questions and help anyone who might be interested in applying to work as a census taker, a press release said.

Carignan will be at the Courthouse from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, February 4, and Thursday, February 13, to recruit potential workers for the federal census in Anderson County. He will be set up next to the Courtesy Booth on the Courthouse’s first floor near the elevators.

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AC Commission schedules public hearing on TVA request for landfill at Bull Run

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Commission has scheduled a public hearing to discuss a request from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a 60-acre landfill on the Bull Run Fossil Plant site in Claxton.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse at 100 North Main Street in Clinton.

The proposed new landfill is known Site J, and it has been characterized as a three-cell unit capable of holding eight to nine million cubic yards of coal combustion residuals, according to a public hearing notice.

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Blockhouse Valley Recycling Center now open 6 days per week

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The Blockhouse Valley Recycling Center, on Blockhouse Valley Road in South Clinton, has expanded the hours that it is open to the public, a press release said.

The recycling center, once open to the public only on Wednesdays and a few Saturdays each month, is now open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, the press release said.

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AC Animal Shelter has new hours

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The Anderson County Animal Shelter has new hours, a press release said. The Shelter, located at 1480 Blockhouse Valley Road in South Clinton, is now open to the public six days a week.

The new public hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

“Since the small shelter first opened in 2016, due to staffing restrictions, the facility was only open to the public for limited hours on Wednesdays,” the press release said.

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Anderson County will also stop recycling glass

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Like other counties and Oak Ridge, Anderson County will stop recycling glass.

The county announced the suspension of glass recycling in a press release on Monday.

The press release said Anderson County Solid Waste was notified on August 15 that WestRock, the county’s recycling vendor, would suspend the “receiving, handling, and marketing of glass bottles and jars collected at (the) county’s drop off centers” effective September 1.

To prepare for the change, the Marlow Convenience Center will stop accepting glass for recycling on August 29, the press release said. Residents should place glass in their regular garbage for disposal, the release said.

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Knoxville Mayor Rogero to speak to Democratic women Monday

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Madeline-Rogero

Madeline Rogero

 

The Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club will host an evening with Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero at 6 p.m. Monday, August 26, in the Club Room of the Clinton Community Center at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

Elected in November 2011, Rogero was the 68th Knoxville mayor and the first woman to hold the office, a press release said. She was re-elected to a second term in November 2015. She is the first woman to be elected mayor in the four big cities in Tennessee—Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville, the press release said. She is term-limited, and her term will end later this year.

The press release said Rogero has focused on promoting a vibrant local economy, strong neighborhoods, a high quality of life, a thriving downtown, and a greener Knoxville. She believes Knoxville’s strength comes from the diversity of its people and the beauty of its natural resources. [Read more…]

Anderson County plans $2.8 million animal shelter

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The proposed Anderson County Animal Shelter is pictured above in this plan by Blankenship and Partners LLC of Knoxville on Thursday, July 25, 2019.

Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m. July 26.

A $2.8 million animal shelter is planned in Anderson County, possibly inside the city of Clinton.

The current animal shelter is on Blockhouse Valley Road in the Claxton community. It has 12 dog runs and 12 cat cages. It’s a 720-square-foot animal holding facility, the first in the county, and it cost about $25,000 to build. It was built by the county on county property with help from local contractors and inmate labor. It opened in the fall of 2015, about six months after Anderson County Commission approved an animal task force, said former Anderson County Commissioner and Oak Ridge resident Robin Biloski, who has helped lead the animal shelter project, including through fundraising.

“It was little, but it spoke volumes,” Biloski said during an unveiling ceremony for the plans for the new shelter at Calhoun’s restaurant in Oak Ridge on Thursday evening.

The new shelter would be much larger than the current facility. It would be more than 10,800 square feet, including about 2,900 square feet for kennels. It could have 20 dog kennels—30 total including kennels for animals that need to be quarantined and for miscellaneous animals such as pigs—and space for 20 to 30 cats, said Brian Porter, Anderson County Animal Control and Shelter Director.

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Commission to discuss county budget, possible 18-cent tax rate increase

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Anderson County Courthouse
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above. (File photo)

The Anderson County Commission will discuss the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and a possible 18.25-cent increase in the property tax rate on Thursday.

The special meeting is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 27, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

The meeting will focus on the budget proposal, and it will include time for elected and appointed officials, as well as department heads and citizens, to address the Commission with comments and concerns about the proposed budget.

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TDEC to attend county’s Bull Run meeting on June 10

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will attend a June 10 meeting where the planned closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton will be discussed, a county commissioner said.

It will be the June 10 monthly meeting of the Anderson County Commission’s Intergovernmental Committee. The public is encouraged to attend, said Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg of District 6 in Oak Ridge.

TDEC is the state department that is responsible for monitoring the Tennessee Valley Authority, Denenberg said.

“They will have a Power Point presentation and will be there to answer questions about their involvement with the closing of the Bull Run Fossil plant in Claxton,” Denenberg said.

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For members: With no increase, AC schools budget could have $1.4 million in cuts

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Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said during an Anderson County Board of Education meeting on Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said Thursday.

There are already $650,000 in cuts included in the budget, according to information presented by Tim Parrott, director of Anderson County Schools, during an Anderson County Board of Education meeting on Thursday. That budget, which the school board approved last month, would have required about $820,000 in new revenue, said Scott Gillenwaters, chair of the school board’s Budget Committee.

Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said during an Anderson County Board of Education meeting on Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said Thursday.

The cuts could include reductions in elementary school, middle school, and high school positions, and Central Office, technology, custodial, and maintenance staff; cuts to materials and supplies, and band equipment at the high schools; not finishing the gymnasium at Grand Oaks Elementary School; cutting a full-time nurse, high school coaching supplements, and a school resource officer vehicle; and reductions to transportation safety, special education assistants, and City of Rocky Top field maintenance, among a long list of potential cuts.

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Democratic Women’s Club meets Monday at The Other One

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The Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club will host a social and brainstorming session at 6 p.m. Monday, May 20, at The Other One, a deli at 178 Randolph Road in Grove Center, Oak Ridge. Those attending will be invited to gather in small groups to discuss issues that will be presented, as well as activities and the role of the Democratic Women’s Club as the country approaches the 2020 elections. The group will gather together after the small groups to develop plans based on the discussions. The meeting is being held a week earlier than usual because of Memorial Day weekend. No reservations for the meeting are necessary. Those attending may order dinner from the menu. For more information, send an email to Ann Mostoller at amostoller@msw-law.com or call Mary Matheny at (865) 483-8937. This press release was submitted by Kay Brookshire.