Free flu shots will be offered at a free community meal on Friday, February 27.
The community meal will be at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Oak Ridge Turnpike. Everyone is invited, a press release said.
The Stone Soup Ministry team will be serving a homemade meal of minestrone soup, cornbread, cookies, and fruit. Dine-in or take-out will be available in the ORUUC Social Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Snow in Oak Ridge on Feb. 25, 2015. Forecasters said heavy snow was expected across the region from Wednesday night through midday Thursday. (Photo by Mike Mahathy)
Note: This story was last updated at 9:02 a.m. Feb. 26.
Schools in Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Anderson and Roane counties will be closed on Thursday, February 26, because of the weather and road conditions.
The Anderson County Schools Central Office and Roane County Schools Central Office will both be closed.
Roane State Community College campuses will also be closed because of the weather.
ORAU’s Oak Ridge offices will open at noon on Thursday. Employees are urged to drive safely to the office. [Read more…]
Rodney Archer
Anderson County Trustee Rodney Archer understands citizens’ frustrations and concerns about being able to pay their property taxes on time, a press release said.
“With county offices being closed much of last week, and again yesterday, because of inclement weather and dangerous road conditions, it has made people nervous about being able to pay their property taxes by the February 28 deadline,” Archer said Wednesday morning. “The inclement weather that’s predicted for tonight doesn’t help that.”
The National Weather Service is predicting a 40 percent chance of snow today after 4 p.m., with increasing chances overnight, mainly between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. New snow accumulation of one to three inches is possible. A chance of snow continues through Thursday as well. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
No one was injured in a fire early Wednesday morning at a house on Briceville Highway that is believed to have started near a dryer.
Firefighters and other emergency personnel responded to 1433 Briceville Highway just after midnight and spoke with resident Zeb Trett, who told them that he had been almost asleep on his couch shortly before midnight when he heard a loud popping sound coming from the back of the house. He got up to investigate and saw clothing in a laundry basket on fire, woke up his wife, and got her out of the house.
Briceville firefighters extinguished the blaze and told deputies that it appears to have started near the dryer. There was no indication on the incident report of how much damage was done to the house.
Information from WYSH Radio
Anderson County property taxes are due on Saturday, February 28, but with the winter weather in the area, officials are making plans to allow citizens to pay those taxes without undue stress.
The Courthouse is open today (Wednesday, February 25), and County Trustee Rodney Archer’s staff is exceptionally busy as residents who have been snowbound have been paying their taxes steadily all day.
County Mayor Terry Frank said this morning on WYSH’s “Ask Your Neighbor” program that the Trustee’s office will be open—weather permitting—on Saturday in Clinton, Andersonville, and Oak Ridge so that you can pay your taxes before the deadline.
If the weather does not permit, property tax payments will be accepted as “on time” by mail as long as they are postmarked no later than Monday, March 2.
For more information, call the Trustee’s office at (865) 457-6233.
Information from WYSH Radio
The Clinton Police Department is investigating the theft of more than $1,800 worth of digital cameras from the Walmart in Clinton.
Police were called to the store on Saturday afternoon and told by a loss prevention officer that a white male had opened an unlocked display case, removed a Sony camcorder, four Canon digital cameras, and a Samsung digital camera. The items were valued at $1,804 total.
The suspect then allegedly took the cameras to the sporting goods department, removed them from their packages, and concealed them in his clothing before walking out with out paying for them. The suspect was seen getting into a car and driving off, but the tag came back as being registered to a black male from Knoxville.
The investigation is ongoing.
Shamrock Road will play at A Taste of Ireland on Saturday, February 28, in Oak Ridge.
A Taste of Ireland on Saturday will feature Irish food, drink, music, dancing, and a silent auction.
It’s presented by the Ulster Project of East Tennessee, and it’s scheduled from 6-10 p.m. Saturday, February 28, at St. Mary’s Family Life Center in Oak Ridge.
The dinner will feature Irish specialties that include shepherd’s pie, potato and salmon pie, and lentil soup. Dessert will be just as special, with Bailey’s Irish Crème bars and Andes Mint Chocolate brownies, among other options, a press release said.
The silent auction will include a bed and breakfast getaway, a variety of gift baskets including a sandalwood fragrance basket donated by the Ferell Shop in Oak Ridge, and a basket of goodies and gift cards donated by the Casual Pint in Knoxville. [Read more…]
Bill Henry
Oak Ridge resident, whittler, and woodworker Bill Henry was one of 10 people to earn a Governor’s Arts Award for representing the best in arts and culture in Tennessee in 2015.
Henry won a Folklife Heritage Award. He will receive the award, considered Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts, from Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam on March 17.
Distinguished artists honored include Mary Costa, Dr. Bobby Jones, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, and Cormac McCarthy, a press release said.
“We want to congratulate the recipients for their incredible work adding to the rich cultural heritage of Tennessee,” Governor Haslam said. “Their dedication, leadership, and contributions to the arts have enhanced our way of life and will continue to influence Tennesseans for many years to come.”
The 2015 recipients are: [Read more…]
A paralegal from Tennessee Taxpayer Project will discuss the fate of immigrant women in a lunchtime lecture in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.
Paula R. Murphy Trujillo will speak at the Wednesday meeting of the Altrusa Club.
Murphy Trujillo began work in 1996 as a volunteer at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee in the Oak Ridge office.
She was then hired in 2000 as a paralegal for the Tennessee Taxpayer Project, and she continues in this capacity today. [Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 8:14 a.m. Feb. 24.
Schools in Clinton and Anderson, Roane, Morgan, Campbell, Scott, and Union counties are among those closed again Tuesday because of the weather.
Anderson County Schools said schools will be closed due to icy conditions on many of the county’s back roads. The Central Office will follow the inclement weather procedure, and principals should report to their schools.
Oak Ridge Schools said they plan to be open. Update: Oak Ridge Schools are also closed Tuesday. Please see newer story here.
“At this point, school will start on time tomorrow, but weather will be monitored during the night,” Oak Ridge education officials said. “We will alert you if there are changes.” [Read more…]
The Anderson County Legal Services Advisory Committee will meet on Monday, February 23, at 5 p.m. in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
This meeting will be for any other issues, not included in the ouster suit submission or its appeal, which is now before the state courts, that the public or any committee member wishes to address to the committee regarding the Anderson County Legal Services Advisory Committee and its responsibilities.
Inputs to the committee required written submission in advance (not less than 48 hours prior to the meeting) to allow review before the meeting, or be approved by a majority vote to be added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting, a meeting notice said.
Issues involving the law director may be included as long as they are not already included the Ouster court case documents, the notice said.
Aubrey Maples
Aubrey Maples, training specialist for the Safety Education Unit of the Knoxville Police Department, will speak at the Monday, February 23, luncheon meeting of the Oak Ridge Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) in Room 102 of the Activities Building at First Presbyterian Church, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Maples, who is a civilian educator with the KPD Safety Education Unit, will talk about the Department’s “Take a Stand Against Bullying” Program. Also present will be Officer Lori Banks of the Safety Education Unit.
Maples received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and is currently pursuing her master’s in applied behavioral science, with an emphasis on criminal justice and social problems, a press release said. [Read more…]
