John Huotari - Author at Oak Ridge Today

Alexander, Corker vote to end shutdown, prevent default

Posted at 11:15 pm October 16, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Lamar Alexander

Bob Corker

Tennessee’s two U.S. senators voted Wednesday to reopen the federal government and raise the nation’s debt limit, a deal likely to have a major impact in Oak Ridge, where federal facilities and contractors had been preparing for possible shutdowns and furloughs.

The last-minute agreement keeps the government open through Jan. 15 and raises the federal government’s debt ceiling through Feb. 7, avoiding a default for now. The bill was approved 81-18 in the U.S. Senate and 285-144 in the House of Representatives.

Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, voted for the legislation. A statement from Rep. Chuck Fleischmann’s office did not say whether the congressman voted for or against the bill.

President Barack Obama said he would sign the bill immediately and begin reopening the government immediately, ending the 16-day shutdown.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

TVA ash spill cleanup continues despite government shutdown

Posted at 12:43 pm October 16, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Cleanup work at the Kingston Fossil Plant, pictured above, continues despite the federal government shutdown. Workers are cleaning up the largest ash spill in U.S. history. Roughly 5.4 million cubic yards of ash spilled in December 2008 when a storage cell failed.

Work to clean up the ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant continues despite the federal government shutdown, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The partial government shutdown shouldn’t affect the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns and operates the plant, because the public utility doesn’t receive federal funding, spokesman Duncan Mansfield said Wednesday.

Agencies involved in the cleanup project, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Corps of Engineers, have furloughed some workers. But there are still many workers at the Kingston ash spill site, Mansfield said.

“The majority of the work is being performed by contractors,” he said. [Read more…]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park to reopen tonight

Posted at 6:28 pm October 15, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most visited national park, will reopen for five days starting tonight and continuing through Sunday.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation’s most visited national park, will reopen for five days starting tonight (Tuesday night/Wednesday morning) and continuing through Sunday, Gov. Bill Haslam said.

The park has been closed because Congress has failed to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. The closure came during the peak fall tourist season.

“The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America’s most visited national park, and for the Smokies and the people around it, the month of October is the most important time of the year,” Haslam said. “I remain hopeful that an end to the federal government shutdown will come this week.”

The park will reopen at 12 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 16, and stay open until until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 20, if the shutdown has not ended by then. [Read more…]

EDi buys former IMPACT Services site from CROET

Posted at 4:53 pm October 15, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

State and contractor officials lead tours of the IMPACT Services Inc. site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge in June. More than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste has been shipped from the site.

An environmental services company that helped clean up the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center has purchased the seven-acre property from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee.

The company, Environmental Dimensions Inc., is headquartered in Alburquerque, N.M., but has offices in Oak Ridge.

The cleanup work at the site started in May 2012 after IMPACT Services, which processed low-level radioactive waste, declared bankruptcy. The company had leased the site—which is at the northwest corner of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge—from CROET.

“We are fortunate to have a partner like EDi who has not only helped us address the environmental liabilities of the property, but that has a vision for its future that will help our community, bring jobs to the area, and further our reindustrialization efforts at East Tennessee Technology Park’s Heritage Center,” said Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer. [Read more…]

Alexander introduces bill to reimburse Tennessee for reopening Smokies

Posted at 1:34 pm October 15, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is pictured above in the fall of 2010.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Tuesday introduced legislation in the Senate to reimburse states within 90 days for all state funds used to reopen national parks while the federal government is shut down.

“I voted against shutting down the government, and I’m doing all I can to reopen it—and assuring states that the federal government will reimburse them for funds used to reopen our national treasures is a good step in the right direction,” said the senator, a Tennessee Republican. “For the surrounding communities, the Smokies closing is like a BP oil spill for the Gulf. This is the prime tourist season for the Smokies, when many of the small businesses around the park make most of their money, and I urge Congress to pass this legislation quickly.”

Alexander said the shutdown of the federal government has affected Tennessee’s other national park facilities in addition to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park. [Read more…]

With thousands of Oak Ridge jobs at stake, union leader, nonprofit urge Congress to reopen government

Posted at 11:47 am October 15, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

About 3,600 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be furloughed starting Monday if Congress doesn’t reach a budget deal, and Steve Jones, center, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, urges legislators to reopen the government during a Tuesday press conference at the ATLC union hall.

With the clock ticking on negotiations and thousands of Oak Ridge jobs at stake, a union leader and nonprofit volunteers on Tuesday urged Congress to reopen the federal government, now shut down for more than two weeks.

If Congress can’t settle its budget disputes by Monday, roughly 3,600 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be furloughed, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council. Thursday would be their last day at work.

The high-stakes negotiations between Democrats and Republicans continued Tuesday, with the U.S. Senate moving toward a deal, just two days ahead of a possible default on the nation’s debt. But it remained unclear whether the House of Representatives, particularly its conservative Republican members, would support the deal by the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Jones said Y-12 will go into a “safe and secure” shutdown mode starting Thursday if Congress hasn’t passed a budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. [Read more…]

Grandmother facing death penalty in murder case indicted on new child abuse charges

Posted at 9:52 pm October 14, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Valerie Stenson

An Oak Ridge grandmother who is already facing the death penalty and charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter has been indicted on nine new counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children, court records said.

Valerie Stenson, 49, of Teller Village Apartments, was indicted and arrested last year in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and an Anderson County grand jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in 2012.

The new indictments were filed Sept. 3. They include four counts of aggravated child abuse, two counts of aggravated child neglect, and three counts of aggravated child endangerment. The offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims are under 18, the indictments said. [Read more…]

With Y-12 furloughs pending, union leader, activists to urge Congress to resolve fiscal disputes

Posted at 4:36 pm October 14, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

Thousands of furloughs are expected at the Y-12 National Security Complex later this week, and on Tuesday, a union leader and political activists will urge Congress to reopen the federal government, pays the nation’s bills, and “get back to work.” An aerial view of Y-12 is pictured above. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

Thousands of furloughs are expected at the Y-12 National Security Complex later this week, and on Tuesday, a union leader and political activists will urge Congress to reopen the federal government, pay the nation’s bills, and “get back to work,” a press release said.

Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, will be the featured speaker at a 10:30 a.m. Tuesday press conference organized by Organizing for Action. The press conference is at the ATLC union hall at 109 Viking Road in Oak Ridge.

Y-12 started an “orderly shutdown” on Monday, Oct. 7, because Congress has not passed a budget in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. The press release said Y-12 will go into a safe and secure shutdown mode on Thursday, and only essential personnel—about 900 people, with half of them being security forces—will remain. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker vote against 14-month debt limit increase

Posted at 8:50 am October 14, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Lamar Alexander

Bob Corker

Tennessee’s two U.S. senators both voted on Saturday against raising the nation’s debt limit for 14 months, and Congress remained at an impasse over reopening the government and preventing the nation’s first default on its debt.

“The bill we considered today would have raised the debt ceiling for more than a year without implementing the spending restraints Congress needs to force us to deal with our fiscal issues, so I couldn’t support it,” Sen. Bob Corker said in a statement Saturday. “I’m optimistic that bipartisan discussions in the Senate will eventually produce a solution that reopens the government and strengthens our country fiscally.”

“I voted against a 14-month increase of the debt limit that took no steps to reduce out-of-control mandatory spending,” Sen. Lamar Alexander said.

Alexander and Corker are both Tennessee Republicans. [Read more…]

Wildcats beat Karns 56-28; three ‘big’ district games remain

Posted at 9:43 am October 12, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Jaleel Luster, right, a junior running back, was one of six Oak Ridge Wildcats to score during a 56-28 win over the Karns Beavers on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:47 a.m.

Six players scored eight touchdowns as the Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Karns Beavers 56-28 on Blankenship Field on Friday.

It was the third time this season that the Wildcats have scored more than 50 points.

Coach Joe Gaddis said the Wildcats (5-2, 4-1 in the district) played well on offense, but he was troubled by a few passes the defense allowed when Oak Ridge was in control of the game.

“We don’t want to give up those long touchdowns,” Gaddis said. [Read more…]

Congressman: House votes to fully fund Y-12 during government shutdown

Posted at 12:09 pm October 11, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was last updated at 5:22 p.m.

The federal government remains shut down over a funding dispute, but the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday morning that would fully fund the Y-12 National Security Complex and other security functions, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann said.

Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, called it a matter of national security. Y-12 is one of the nation’s nuclear weapons plants, but it started an “orderly shutdown” on Monday because Congress has failed to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

Fleischmann expressed concern about the shutdown in a speech on the House floor. [Read more…]

« Previous Page