Oak Ridge Today

Girl Scouts looking for adult volunteers in Anderson County

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Submitted

With many girls looking for Girl Scout troops to become a part of amid a shortage of adult volunteers, the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians invites adult volunteers to apply for a role within Anderson County’s network of active troops.

GSCSA reports that there is a waiting list of girls who want to become part of a troop within Anderson County but cannot due to a lack of enough adult volunteers.

“A lot of people don’t know that you don’t have to be the mom of a girl to be a Girl Scout volunteer,” said GSCSA Chief Executive Officer Booth Kammann. “Dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or anyone else looking to help girls in their community to learn and grow within a troop’s many activities and adventures is invited to apply for a volunteer role.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Selling Oak Ridge to the DOE workforce

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Change in DOE Payroll Chart

by David Stanley

Our city urgently needs to market Oak Ridge to the local U.S. Department of Energy workforce. That workforce brings a billion dollar payroll into East Tennessee each year. Unfortunately, the Oak Ridge economy sees very little of this money.

Over the last two decades, the erosion of DOE residency has cost the City of Oak Ridge a great deal of payroll. The problem looks even worse when one considers the concurrent payroll increase of our city’s competition. For example, over those two decades the gap between the annual Oak Ridge and Knox County DOE payrolls grew by $130 million dollars. That’s just the growth in the gap. The total gap in DOE payroll between Oak Ridge and Knox County is now approximately $270 million dollars per year.

No wonder Turkey Creek and so many new housing developments have gone over there. That’s where the DOE payroll went! [Read more…]

Literacy grant applications now available from Altrusa, Breakfast Rotary

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Applications are now available for about $17,000 worth of literacy grants awarded by Altrusa International of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club.

The grants are used to help improve literacy in Oak Ridge and Anderson and Roane counties, and they will be awarded to selected recipients. Applications and award criteria may be found on the Altrusa International website or Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club website. Hard copies are also available at the Oak Ridge Public Library.

Applications must be submitted by Nov. 1.

[Read more…]

Fifth ‘In God We Trust’ sign, flagpole, vets memorial celebrated at courthouse

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Anderson County General Session Court In God We Trust Sign

Steve McDonald of Calvary Baptist Church introduces a new “In God We Trust” sign on the side of the Anderson County General Sessions Division II Courthouse in Oak Ridge.

A sign inscribed with the national motto “In God We Trust” was unveiled on the side of a Anderson County courthouse in Oak Ridge on Friday.

It’s the fifth “In God We Trust” sign to be posted on a county courthouse since July in a citizen-led initiative that has prompted a debate over the proper separation of church and state.

Also celebrated during a lunchtime ceremony Friday were a flagpole and memorial to five Anderson County veterans killed in the past decade in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Read more…]

Senate passes Alexander, Udall resolution for nuclear workers’ Day of Remembrance

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, and U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, to designate Oct. 30, 2013, as the fifth National Day of Remembrance for nuclear weapons program workers.

“In Tennessee, more than 14,000 workers have made claims for compensation, many of whom worked countless hours with little-understood hazardous materials to build our country’s nuclear deterrent,” Alexander said. “Many Americans labored behind the scenes, and Tennesseans—like those from Anderson and Roane counties, for example—filed more claims than any other state. It’s these workers, and those all around the country, whose sacrifice we seek to honor with this day of remembrance.” [Read more…]

United Way of Anderson County sets fundraising goal at $1.3 million

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Crowe Family

The 2013 United Way of Anderson County Campaign Family—Charles, Edwena, Nick, and Rebecca Crowe—ask everyone to join the UWAC family this year. (Submitted photo)

“The measure of a community is how it treats its vulnerable members.”

~ Various people including Gandhi and Pope John Paul

By Edwena, Charles, Rebecca, and Nick Crowe, the 2013 Campaign Crew for United Way of Anderson County

The United Way of Anderson County board of directors—under the leadership of the campaign crew of Edwena, Charles, Rebecca, and Nick Crowe—has established a fundraising goal of $1.3 million for the fall 2013 campaign.

“We recognize this is a bold goal, one that may be difficult to achieve,” said Charles Crowe. “Yet, we are all in this together, and together, we can begin the recovery that is so important to our county.” [Read more…]

Nothing to report yet on Oak Ridge Schools funding, state official says

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Tennessee officials had little to say on Wednesday about the potential loss of state education funding that Oak Ridge school officials have said could cost the school system $1.87 million per month—and lead to a temporary school shutdown on Oct. 1.

“We are starting to have meetings with various people regarding this situation, but at this point, we don’t have anything to report,” said Kelli Gauthier, communications director for the Tennessee Department of Education. [Read more…]

School officials say millions in state funding at risk, could close schools Oct. 1

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Bruce Borchers and Mark Watson

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, left, and City Manager Mark Watson have had a series of meetings concerning the school system’s failure to pass a state maintenance of effort test, and a possible resolution of a $250,000 shortfall to avoid a potential loss in state funding of up to $1.87 million per month.

Schools want city to cover $250,000 shortfall, could require 2.5-cent tax increase

It’s a high-stakes battle between the city and the schools, with a potential loss of up to $1.87 million per month in state funding—and a possible shutdown of the school system on Oct. 1.

School officials said the Oak Ridge system has failed a state maintenance of effort test that requires local funding to remain at least the same from year to year. After some budget adjustments, there is a $250,000 shortfall, school officials said, and they want the city to cover it. It’s the equivalent of a 2.5-cent property tax rate increase.

“Unfortunately, we’re just in the position to ask the city to help us,” Oak Ridge Superintendent Bruce Borchers said Thursday. “They’re going to have to find that $250,000.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Oak Ridge Schools explain funding issues, maintenance of effort test

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In the spirit of collaboration, the Oak Ridge Schools would like to share pertinent information in regard to the current maintenance of effort (MOE) issue that faces our community. Tennessee law requires that local governments fund local school systems by at least the same amount each year.

In August, Oak Ridge Schools were notified by the State Department of Education, Office of Local Finance, about the failure to pass the MOE test. Failure to correct this problem by Oct. 1 will result in a loss of Basic Education Program (BEP) funding at a rate of $1.87 million per month.

The only possible resolution to satisfy state law is an increase in local funding from the city general fund in the amount of $250,000. This budget amendment would need to be approved in two readings by City Council, and two readings by the Board of Education.

Numerous meetings have occurred between city and schools staff. In addition, the “high school debt/potential failure of MOE” item has been an ongoing discussion for the past two years. To date, no meetings have been scheduled by the City Council to make the necessary budget amendments. [Read more…]

ORAU awards $39,000 in education grants to East Tennessee schools

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ORAU Education Grants

Oak Ridge Associated Universities awards 27 teachers from 17 East Tennessee schools more than $39,000 during a recent grants ceremony. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded more than $39,000 to more than two dozen teachers in 17 schools in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Anderson County in a recent grants ceremony.

It was the 12th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony, and 27 teachers received awards, a press release said.

The grant money can be used to buy educational materials and equipment such as microscopes, iPads, robotics kits, and computers that will help teachers “continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards and enhance the learning experience of their students,” the release said. [Read more…]

Lake City man convicted of conspiracy to make 50+ grams of meth

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Jeffery Scott Braden

Jeffery Scott Braden

He was the only one of 42 people indicted earlier this year to go to trial in an unprecedented meth-making conspiracy, and now the Lake City man has been found guilty, authorities said Friday.

After a three-day federal trial, a jury convicted Jeffrey Scott Braden of conspiracy to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; the possession of equipment, chemicals, products, and materials that can be used to make it; and being a felon in possession of ammunition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Braden was tried in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. [Read more…]

State grant to be used for sidewalks, crosswalks at Andersonville Elementary

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A $242,256 state grant announced Thursday will be used for sidewalks, crosswalks, signs, and pavement markings in the school zone near Andersonville Elementary School, Tennessee officials announced Thursday. It will also fund educational programs and activities that encourage walking and biking as a practical and healthy initiative.

The Anderson County grant was part of $2.1 million in grants awarded to 15 municipalities across Tennessee and announced Thursday under the Safe Routes to School program. That nationwide initiative is designed to make bicycling and walking to school safer, more appealing, and healthier for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. [Read more…]