Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County candidate forum is Tuesday

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The Anderson County Candidate Forum will be held at the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater on Tuesday.

The forum is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 10.

Candidates who have opponents and are running for sheriff, trustee, mayor, Circuit Court clerk, and Anderson County Commission District 6 and 7 have been invited to speak and answer questions, a press release said.

Candidates who have no opposition and are running for county clerk, register of deeds, road superintendent, Anderson County Board of Education District 6 and 7, County Commission District 8, and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to be introduced. [Read more…]

Meet the candidates in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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There will be a Meet the Candidates event in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 12. It will allow residents of Oak Ridge and Anderson County to become acquainted with the candidates for contested offices in the August 2 state and federal primary and Anderson County general elections, a press release said.

The Meet the Candidates event is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 12, in the gymnasium at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. It’s sponsored by Democracy for East Tennessee.

Among the contested offices on the Anderson County general election ballot are mayor, commissioners for Districts 6 and 7 in Oak Ridge, Circuit Court clerk, sheriff, and trustee, the press release said. [Read more…]

Register to vote in August election by Tuesday

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The deadline to register to vote in the August 2 election is Tuesday, July 3.

WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that the rest of the Anderson County Courthouse will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 3 and 4) for the Independence Day holiday, but the Anderson County Election Commission office will be open for its regular business hours on Tuesday, July 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. so that you can register to vote.

The August 2 election includes the Anderson County general election and state and federal primary elections.

See the Anderson County Election Commission website here.

Meet candidates at Popcorn & Politics on Monday

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You can meet candidates for county and state elected offices at Popcorn and Politics at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

It’s scheduled from 4:30-6 p.m. Monday, June 25. It’s hosted by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Advocacy Committee. Popcorn and Politics will give you a chance to meet candidates running for office in the August election, a press release said.

“All local candidates as well as candidates running for state legislative offices have been invited to participate,” the press release said.

The public is invited. There is no charge to attend, but a reservation is requested. The event will be held in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Democratic Women’s Club hosts picnic Saturday at Clinton’s Jaycee Park

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The Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club will host a picnic for Democrats across the county at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at Jaycee Park, 314 Nave Street in Clinton.

The club will provide hotdogs, condiments, drinks, and paper products. Those attending are invited to bring side dishes and desserts to share, a press release said.

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.

Commission asks for citizen input on Anderson County EMS on Thursday

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The Anderson County Commission, which is pictured above on March 20, 2018, unanimously censured Anderson County Circuit Clerk William Jones on Feb. 20, and asked him to resign after sexual harassment allegations were reported. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Commission is pictured above on March 20, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Anderson County Commission is asking for citizen input on Anderson County EMS (emergency medical services) on Thursday.

The meeting is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at 728 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge.

“The purpose of this meeting is for input from citizens regarding emergency medical services,” a meeting notice said. [Read more…]

Updated: Frank, Barker, Lynch win Republican primaries

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Terry-Frank-Pain-Clinic-Zoning-Resolution

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank (Submitted photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. May 2.

CLINTON—Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank narrowly won the Republican Party primary on Tuesday, beating Anderson County Commissioner Steve Emert by 153 votes, according to unofficial results.

Frank, a former small business operator who was first elected in August 2012, had 4,771 votes, compared to 4,618 for Emert. That was a slim margin of 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent.

Frank has served one special two-year term as mayor and one full four-year term. There was no Democratic Party candidate for mayor in the Tuesday primary, meaning Frank won’t have a challenger on the ballot in the August 2 county general election and is essentially assured of serving again.

Emert is a small business owner who has served as Anderson County Commission chair. Like a previous candidate for mayor, former Tennessee Representative Jim Hackworth, Emert had emphasized what he characterized as dysfunction, including lawsuits, in the Anderson County Courthouse under Frank. Among other pledges, he had promised to restore civility to the county government.

But that and other campaign issues weren’t enough to give Emert the win, even if it might have helped to keep the election close. Emert initially had a narrow 63-vote lead after early and absentee voting results were counted. But the lead flipped when Election Day results started coming in from across Anderson County. [Read more…]

Emert, Barker, Lynch lead in early, absentee voting

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Steve Emert

Steve Emert

Note: This story was last updated at 8:48 p.m.

CLINTON—Anderson County Commissioner Steve Emert had a narrow 63-vote lead over Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank in the race for a four-year term as mayor in early and absentee voting results released after primary election polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Emert had 2,997 votes (50.53 percent) compared to 2,934 (49.47 percent) for Frank, who was first elected in August 2012. Both are candidates in the Anderson County Republican Party primary.

Election day votes have not been tabulated, so results could change. The results that follow are from the Republican Party primary. There are two candidates in the Democratic primary, Mark Lucas for sheriff and Ebony Capshaw for trustee, but they are unopposed in the primary election and are assured a spot in the August 2 county general election.

In the three-person Republican race for Anderson County sheriff, Scott Barker, a Clinton Police Department detective sergeant and director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, had a significant lead over Lewis Ridenour, an Oak Ridge Police Department officer and former chief deputy. Barker had 2,841 votes (49.88 percent), compared to 1,992 (34.97 percent) for Ridenour, according to the unofficial results. [Read more…]

Races on the ballot today include mayor, sheriff, others

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Note: This story was last updated at 11:50 a.m.

Among the races on the ballot in the primary election in Anderson County today (Tuesday, May 1) are mayor, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, circuit court clerk, and register of deeds.

At least three of the races—mayor, county clerk, and register of deeds—could be decided in the Republican Party primary today because there are no Democrats running for those offices. That’s assuming there are no write-in candidates for those races in the August 2 county general election.

The Republican candidates for mayor are Terry Frank, the incumbent, and Anderson County Commissioner Steve Emert. The GOP candidates for county clerk are Jeff Cole, the incumbent, and his challenger, businesswoman Leesa Arowood. Tim Shelton is running for re-election as register of deeds, and he is being challenged in the Republican primary by Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster.

There are no Democrats on today’s ballot for circuit court clerk, but there is a write-in candidate who plans to run as a Democrat in the August election. There is also a Republican write-in candidate in the race. It initially appeared this election could be decided today, but it now appears there could be the Republican nominee, either incumbent William Jones or former mayor Rex Lynch, plus two possible write-in candidates. [Read more…]

Despite censure, lawsuit, calls for resignation, Jones still running in May 1 primary

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The Anderson County Commission, which is pictured above on March 20, 2018, unanimously censured Anderson County Circuit Clerk William Jones on Feb. 20, and asked him to resign after sexual harassment allegations were reported. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Commission, which is pictured above on March 20, 2018, unanimously censured Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones on Feb. 20, and asked him to resign after sexual harassment allegations were reported. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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

CLINTON—He’s been accused of inappropriate behavior that includes unwelcome sexual advances, unwanted touching, and lewd and vulgar text messages. He’s been unanimously censured and asked to resign by the Anderson County Commission. He’s been sued in federal court. And some residents have joined commissioners in asking him to resign, or at least not seek re-election.

Despite those pleas, though, Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones, who has denied many allegations and called others false, is seeking re-election in the Anderson County Republican Party primary election on Tuesday, May 1. Jones has filed counterclaims in federal court and filed a defamation lawsuit in state court.

Some of the sexual harassment allegations appear to have been forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies, including the Tennessee Attorney General, Tennessee Department of Labor, and Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, according to records released by Anderson County. It’s not clear which outside agencies, if any, might be investigating the complaints, or whether the local district attorney general might be investigating.

Willliam T. Jones

Willliam T. Jones

Commission censures Jones, asks him to resign

The accusations against Jones, who is seeking his second four-year term, were publicly disclosed during a review of a sexual harassment complaint at an Anderson County Commission meeting on February 20.

During that meeting, Kim Jeffers-Whitaker, Anderson County’s chief deputy director of human resources and risk management, said her department had received five reports of inappropriate workplace behavior by Jones.

“The five reports create a harassing pattern,” Jeffers-Whitaker said.

She said the reports are supported by two affidavits and four sworn statements that the county’s human resources department obtained from the victims, who include four past or present employees and one citizen.

According to Jeffers-Whitaker, the alleged instances of unprofessional conduct include: [Read more…]

Democrats to discuss national debt Monday

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Economics educator Millicent Taylor will discuss the impact of the national debt with Democrats in Clinton on Monday.

Taylor will be at the Monday, April 23, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club, a press release said. The club will host a pot luck dinner at 6 p.m. in the Club Room of the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

“Our Deficit, Our National Debt and the Consequences for All of Us” is the title of the talk by Taylor, an adjunct instructor at Pellissippi State Community College. She will discuss how the federal budget differs from the national debt, and how a high national debt threatens the economy and government, the press release said. [Read more…]

Rally for Second Amendment, Constitution on Saturday

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Anderson County residents have organized a rally to show support for the Second Amendment and the U.S. Constitution in Clinton on Saturday.

“Aware of the threat to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of our great nation, some very concerned citizens of Anderson County, Tennessee, have banded together to demonstrate to those who attack our liberties that they will not be successful in their attempts to destroy America,” a press release said.

“While recognizing there is no immediate threat to to our liberties in East Tennessee, we feel strongly that we must stand with those in other parts of our county who are seeing immediate threats to their right to keep and bear arms, a right that is guaranteed and protected by the Constitution of our country,” the press release said.

The rally is scheduled to start at noon Saturday, April 21, on the steps of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. It is meant to “show support and solidarity with freedom-loving citizens throughout the United States,” the press release said. [Read more…]