News and events in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Bill Haslam
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday signed legislation that reduces the state sales tax on groceries from 5.25 percent to 5 percent in July.
It was the last step in a two-year effort to cut the state portion of the grocery sales tax to 5 percent, a press release said.
Haslam held a ceremonial bill signing on Monday at Sloan’s Grocery in Vonore in Monroe County. [Read more...]
Bill Haslam
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has vetoed a controversial bill that would have required anyone who visually recorded livestock abuse to turn over the images or videos to law enforcement officers within 48 hours.
Haslam said the Tennessee attorney general has questioned the constitutionality of the bill, and it appears to repeal parts of Tennessee’s Shield Law without saying so. In addition, Haslam said, there are concerns from some district attorneys that the legislation would actually make it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases, an unintended consequence.
In a Monday press release, he said he wants the Tennessee General Assembly to reconsider the legislation, which critics had labeled the bill the “ag gag” bill. There had been an intense campaign urging the governor to veto the measure, with most people expressing opposition, The Tennessean reported. Celebrities such as Carrie Underwood and Emmylou Harris had weighed in as well. [Read more...]
Christopher Michael Ward
Note: This is an edited copy of a Thursday announcement from the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder regretfully announce the loss of Tennessee soldier Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward of Oak Ridge.
Ward was fatally injured when his patrol was struck by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which detonated on Saturday, April 6, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Ward was serving with Troop A, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Ga.
The 24-year old soldier grew up in Arcadia, Fla. However, Ward moved to Tennessee with his mother, Joyce Ward, and attended Oak Ridge High School before earning his General Educational Development, or GED, diploma and enlisting in the United States Army in November 2006. [Read more...]
Bill Haslam
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday said he will not expand TennCare rolls under the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, the governor said, he wants to use federal dollars as part of a plan to purchase private health insurance for Tennesseans who would not otherwise have access to coverage.
In a Wednesday press release, Haslam called his plan “real health care reform.” [Read more...]
Gary R. Lownsdale of Plasan Carbon Composites, right, talks to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, center, near a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hood at the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility on Tuesday as federal, University of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory officials listen.
A unique manufacturing plant in west Oak Ridge that started operating about six weeks ago can make 25 tons of carbon fiber each year. It’s material that could be used for prototype parts in products ranging from cars and airplanes to wind turbine blades and natural gas tanks.
The $35 million Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Horizon Center Business Park is designed to “scale up” laboratory research on low-cost carbon fiber, make enough material to help industrial partners build prototype carbon-fiber composite parts, and develop a skilled manufacturing workforce.
Carbon fiber is strong and lightweight, but it is also expensive and that has limited its use.
Officials hope to use the 42,000-square-foot Carbon Fiber Technology Facility to change that. They want to make producing carbon fiber as cost-efficient as manufacturing steel or aluminum. [Read more...]
Bill Haslam
Gov. Bill Haslam will be the featured speaker at an annual Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday, and the Eugene Joyce Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented posthumously to longtime Chamber board member and volunteer Kerry Trammell.
The Tuesday luncheon is the Chamber’s kickoff ceremony for the 2013 Program of Work. The annual event marks the beginning of the Chamber’s program year, and all Chamber member representatives are encouraged to attend, a press release said. [Read more...]
Daniel B. Poneman
The federal funding cuts that went into effect March 1 could result in 1,400 furloughs or layoffs for U.S. Department of Energy contractors in Tennessee, an official said this week. The furloughs could start as early as April 1.
There could also be spending reductions of about $90 million for DOE contractors in the Volunteer State, DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said in a March 5 letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
Funding for contractors at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge could be cut by roughly $41 million, and more than 1,000 contractor employees could be furloughed, Poneman said.
A concept plan by Benefield Richters of Knoxville for the $1 million revitalization of historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge.
After a brief discussion Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council unanimously agreed to award a $150,000 contract to a company that will help in the first phase of a $1 million project to redevelop Jackson Square, the city’s original town center.
The contract for design services was awarded to Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineering Inc. of Knoxville. V&M will help with services ranging from deed research and field surveys to preliminary plans and construction estimates.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said V&M has helped with the redevelopment of Gay Street in Knoxville.
The work is part of a project funded with help from a Tennessee Department of Transportation Enhancement Grant that was announced by Gov. Bill Haslam in Jackson Square in June 2012.
Gov. Bill Haslam
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam this week announced his priorities for the 2013 legislative session, building on momentum from his past proposals focused on attracting and growing Tennessee jobs, pursuing meaningful education reform, managing an efficient and effective state government, and strengthening public safety.
“In working together over the past two years with the Legislature, we’ve accomplished a lot for the people of Tennessee, and I look forward to working with the 108th General Assembly in the same way,” Haslam said. “Our proposals represent our top priorities of making Tennessee the No. 1 state in the Southeast for high quality jobs, continuing to improve education, being the best managed state in the country, and keeping our citizens safe.”
The governor’s legislation:
Gov. Bill Haslam
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday delivered his 2013 State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly, contrasting Tennessee with Washington, D.C., and other states across the country that have struggled to keep their fiscal houses in order.
“Unlike the news coming out of our nation’s capital and so many other states around the country, good things are happening in Tennessee,” Haslam said. “We have a long history of fiscal restraint that crosses party lines. We have been deliberate about not spending money we don’t have and in making a concerted effort to save for the future…And now we are well-positioned to continue to invest in a thoughtful, strategic manner.”
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