Oak Ridge Today

New tax revenues plus cuts will fund pay raises in Anderson schools

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, had advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, she talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday, July 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—New tax revenues of about $700,000 plus about $100,000 in cuts will allow Anderson County Schools to fund 2 percent pay raises for teachers and staff, the county budget director said Wednesday.

The Anderson County Commission approved a 10-cent increase in the property tax rate on Monday, July 20, and eight cents of that was for schools. Anderson County Schools will get about $700,000 from the tax rate increase, but at last week’s meeting, school officials said they still had to come up with another $100,000 or so to fund the 2 percent raises.

Chris Phillips, Anderson County accounts and budget director, said the school system was able to do that in a revised budget submitted to the county government on Wednesday. [Read more…]

Despite lobbying, Manhattan Project park HQ proposed in Denver

Posted at
By 1 Comment

K-25 Building Aerial View

Now demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, pictured above, was once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Located in west Oak Ridge, the site could become part of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve the site’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:10 p.m. July 29.

Local officials had proposed locating it in Oak Ridge, but federal officials have proposed locating the headquarters for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Denver.

The new park, which is still in the planning stages, would include three sites: Oak Ridge; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

A National Park Service release on Tuesday said there would be a site manager for each location who will coordinate with local U.S. Department of Energy staff, Tribes, community members, and area partners. The site managers will report to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park’s superintendent, who will be located at an NPS central office that has been proposed in Denver. [Read more…]

ADFAC school supplies distribution under way

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Clinton Fire Department and ADFAC School Supplies

Members of the Clinton Fire Department spend a morning packing school supplies, loading the fire truck, and delivering them to Clinton schools. (Submitted photo)

 

Since Thursday, July 9, volunteers from all over Anderson County have been sorting donated school supplies for Oak Ridge and Anderson County schools, packing them in bags and backpacks that are loaded into vehicles and distributing the packed items to classrooms.

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties has been coordinating the collection, packing, and distribution of school supplies for 26 years. As a result, teachers aren’t obliged to spend their hard-earned money on items needed by their growing number of students from disadvantaged families.

Last year. ADFAC provided school supplies to more than 2,500 area students from disadvantaged families. This year, the local nonprofit service organization’s staff hopes to increase the number of school supplies by 12 percent with the help of ongoing support from the community. [Read more…]

Large tree falls on power line, causes outage for about 7,150

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A large tree fell on a power line in west Oak Ridge early Saturday morning, causing an outage that affected about 7,150 customers, officials said.

The tree fell on a subtransmission line that runs over the top of a ridge south of Oak Ridge Turnpike on the west side of town at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday, July 11.

The tree shorted out the feeds to two substations, which caused a power outage roughly from Tulane Avenue westward, the Oak ridge Electric Department said. [Read more…]

Guest column: All AC communities decreased in assessed value, which is unprecedented

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Note: This is a copy of a letter from Leonard A. Abbatiello, Anderson County/Oak Ridge Equalization Board representative, to Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Council regarding the 2015 Board of Equalization results.

Dear Honorable Mayor Gooch and Members of City Council:

I currently serve as the Oak Ridge representative on the Anderson County Board of Equalization.

The Anderson County Board of Equalization has completed its task of appraisal hearings for 2015. Attached is our report which has been sent to the Tennessee State Appraisal Office. It is the first year ever when there has been a decrease in the total appraisal base, Anderson County’s first in history.

This is also the lightest Board workload in recent history. This year, we evaluated 208 cases totaling $125,886,000 of appraised value, reducing their total to $95,781,000. Commercial appeals are now dominating Anderson County appeals, with the requests for changes in commercial exceeding residential values by 5.6 times. Some commercial cases are expected to also appeal to the state for additional relief. [Read more…]

Guest column: Won’t support tax increase, urges residents to prevent further waste

Posted at
By 15 Comments

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Sixteen years ago, Partners for Progress successfully lobbied the city to spend over $15 million of your (the taxpayer) money to launch a major development on the West End of Oak Ridge. The promises were enough to make people starry eyed. There was to be a picturesque subdivision of nearly 4,000 homes along with an industrial complex that, when all was said and done, would produce 17,000 jobs, $1 billion in payroll, and nearly $13 million in additional annual property taxes.

Three years ago, many of the same folks behind Partners for Progress began a similar PR campaign touting the sale and redevelopment of the mall. “More shopping choices are coming!” they proclaimed. To date, the city has approved the use of $1.5 million of your money for infrastructure costs and a $13 million TIF (tax increment financing), which will  suppress property tax revenue at current levels for the next 30 years. In other words, no matter what happens, the 64 acres will continue, as it has for the last decade, to produce only 10 percent of its original value because any increases will be used to repay the TIF loan. Developers and city officials claim that the project will produce $1 million (or 20 percent) in additional sales tax revenue to the city, though, historically, the national retail sales growth rate range is between -11.51 percent to +11.18 percent. Even if we find a way around the notoriously stringent Wal-Mart non-compete covenants and actually bring in real retail, it is absolutely impossible to expect these projections to materialize, since, even in the best of times, we’ve not seen half that level of growth. [Read more…]

Photo: Independence Day fireworks

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Fireworks

A picture of the Oak Ridge fireworks display on Saturday, July 4, from Oak Ridge Turnpike near Illinois Avenue. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Oak Ridge’s fireworks display was on Saturday, July 4, at Alvin K. Bissell Park. Here is a picture by Julio Culiat taken from Oak Ridge Turnpike near Illinois Avenue.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Man dies, others injured in multi-vehicle crash at Midtown Community Center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Midtown Community Center Crash Reconstruction

A man died and at least a half-dozen people went to the hospital after a mutli-vehicle crash in the parking lot of Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night. Above, an accident reconstruction team works in the pouring rain at Midtown Community Center on Robertsville Road at about 2 a.m. Sunday. At right is Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Grant Gouldie.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 p.m.

One person died after a multi-vehicle crash in the parking lot of Midtown Community Center sent at least a half-dozen people to the hospital after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night, authorities said.

The man who died has a Knoxville address, but police aren’t identifying him yet because family members are still being notified. It appeared that the man was on foot at the time of the crash, authorities said. The man who died was with his wife and children, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

Akagi said at least six people, including two children, were sent to three hospitals in three ambulances. The injured were taken to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge and Children’s Hospital and University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Their names and conditions weren’t immediately available.

Akagi said a pickup involved in the crash hit several vehicles, although it’s not clear how the man who died was injured.

It’s also not clear how fast the red Dodge pickup truck was going or whether it was backing up, he said. Witnesses said the truck had been parked at the east end of the parking lot facing east, or away from the entrance, and the driver backed up to leave as soon as fireworks were over. Witnesses said the truck was in reverse and driving fast. So far, authorities have been unable to confirm that.

“We don’t know what happened,” Akagi said.

But the truck’s back end appeared to have struck at least one vehicle.

Akagi said there were at least a half-dozen vehicles involved in the crash. He said he didn’t know if any other vehicles were moving at the time of the collision. [Read more…]

Authorities investigating multi-vehicle parking lot crash, at least one injury reported

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Midtown Community Center-crash

Authorities are investigating a multi-vehicle crash that occurred in the parking lot of the Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night.

 

Authorities are investigating a multi-vehicle crash that occurred in the parking lot of the Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many vehicles were involved in the crash, which was reported at about 10:30 p.m., although there appeared to be at least three. There were reports of at least one injury.

Authorities had requested help from a Lifestar medical helicopter, although one was apparently not available.

Note: We have published a new story with more information. Please see most recent story here. This story should automatically redirect to the new story.

Reminder: Oak Ridge fireworks show, Community Band tonight

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Fireworks Preparations

A work crew prepares for the Oak Ridge fireworks show at A.K. Bissell Park on Saturday, July 4. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The fireworks display sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge will begin at 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 4. The display will be shot from A.K. Bissell Park.

The fireworks will be accompanied by music played live on-site by Merle 96.7 FM. Radio host Jack Ryan will be transmitting live from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude the live broadcast with a patriotic medley as the fireworks are shot.

The countdown to the fireworks begins at 9:30 p.m. Listeners can tune their radios to 96.7 Merle FM and enjoy the show.

The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its annual Fourth of July concert at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Read more…]

DOE names IIa as woman-owned small business of year

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and CEO, center, receives the DOE Woman-owned Small Business Award for Fiscal Year 2014 from John Hale III, director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for DOE. (Photo courtesy IIa)

Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and CEO, center, receives the DOE Woman-owned Small Business Award for Fiscal Year 2014 from John Hale III, director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for DOE. (Photo courtesy IIa)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has named Information International Associates, or IIa, its Woman-owned Small Business for Fiscal Year 2014.

Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and chief executive officer, accepted the award at the 14th Annual DOE Small Business Forum and Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 17, 2015, from John Hale III, director of the DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

Each year, DOE recognizes the exceptional performance of a woman-owned small business directly contributing to the accomplishments of core DOE mission objectives and requirements, a press release said. In presenting the award, Hale cited IIa’s innovation and technical solutions, which exceeded contract requirements in responding to cyber security concerns, as well as its exceptional customer service and efficiency, the release said.

DOE, the largest civilian contracting agency within the federal government, awarded a total of $6.6 billion in contracts in FY 2014 to prime and subcontracts. [Read more…]

Attorney: Police chief did not violate federal law by carrying firearm

Posted at
By 20 Comments

James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 p.m.

Answer pending on question of state law; POST has no current investigation

Federal officials have concluded that Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi did not violate federal law while carrying a firearm during divorce proceedings several years ago, the chief’s attorney said in a letter received by state officials this month.

In April, the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, asked state and federal authorities to investigate whether Akagi violated state and federal laws by possessing a firearm after being issued an ex parte order of protection during divorce proceedings in Blount County three years ago.

Tasha C. Blakney, Akagi’s attorney, summarized a conversation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Cook about the inquiry in a June 12 letter that was copied to Ray Farris, assistant director of POST. On Monday, Oak Ridge Today requested an update from POST, which certifies law enforcement officers in Tennessee, and received a copy of the letter.

[Read more…]