U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and his Republican challenger Weston Wamp will take part in a question-and-answer session at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Monday morning.
The event starts at 7:30 a.m. Monday.
Fleischmann is running for his third term as a congressman in Tennessee’s Third District, which includes Oak Ridge. Wamp is challenging him for the second time.
The two are running in the Aug. 7 federal Republican primary. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Senior Center is offering free computer classes on Thursdays from 1:30–3:30 p.m. The classes will cover basic computer skills such as creating and using an email account and using the Internet safely and successfully.
The Oak Ridge Senior Center is open to anyone who is 50 years of age or older.
To register for the class, call the Senior Center at (865) 425-3999. “Space is very limited so reserve your spot soon!” a press release said.
For more information about this and other programs and activities at the Oak Ridge Senior Center, call the Center at (865) 425-3999 or visit our website at orrecparks.org.
More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week, starting Monday, July 14.
The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.
Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.
Amnesty Week was a great success at Oak Ridge Public Library. To celebrate the Library’s 70th birthday from May 27 to May 31, library patrons were invited to return any overdue materials and have the fines forgiven. A total of 145 overdue items were returned for a sum of $421.80 in cancelled fines.
The largest fine forgiven to one patron was $109.50. The most overdue items returned for one patron was 27 items. Four lost items that were due back in December 2011 were returned.
Libraries link people to the world of knowledge. Oak Ridge Public Library now has two databases online, making it easier for everyone to find local information. The Local Organization Index and the Obituary Index are searchable at the Library’s website at www.orpl.org. Library patrons can also get individual assistance with research, résumés, or online job applications. [Read more…]
KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge police lieutenant who sent deactivated .38-caliber pistol ammunition and live .223-caliber rifle rounds rather than blanks for use in a training session three years ago was negligent, an attorney said Thursday.
But the mistake was detected before the live rounds were put into guns, and there was no imminent danger or harm to anyone, said Benjamin K. Lauderback, who represented the City of Oak Ridge in oral arguments before the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville on Thursday.
The police officer who detected the error, former Oak Ridge Police Department Sgt. Mark Coffey, filed a formal complaint two days after the August 20, 2011, training session, known as an “active shooter” response. He resigned a few months later in October, and in August 2012, he filed a lawsuit in Anderson County Circuit Court alleging retaliation and wrongful discharge.
In the lawsuit, Coffey said other ORPD employees retaliated against him after he filed the complaint against Lt. Brad Jenkins, who supplied the ammunition. Coffey said he had been forced to resign and was “constructively discharged.” Before he left the job, Coffey said, he had been re-assigned to work under Jenkins, and he resigned because of the alleged retaliation and fears for his personal safety. He sought $600,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The city won a summary judgement, which is like a dismissal, in August 2013. Anderson County Circuit Court Judge Don Elledge did not find that Coffey’s working conditions were bad enough that an ordinary person couldn’t tolerate them, Lauderback said. [Read more…]
A city board declared four buildings on Hunter Circle to be unfit for human occupation or use in November 2010 and, after a Tennessee Court of Appeals opinion, reaffirmed the decision in March 2013. The case has been appealed back to the appellate court.
KNOXVILLE—More than three years after they were declared “unfit,” four dilapidated Applewood Apartment buildings have still not been vacated, an attorney said Thursday.
The Anderson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals have both affirmed a November 2010 decision by an Oak Ridge board declaring the dilapidated buildings on Hunter Circle to be unfit for human occupation and use—and calling for them to be vacated immediately, attorney Dan Pilkington said.
The 2010 decision was reaffirmed by the city board, the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, in March 2013, Pilkington said.
“We believe that this order is final,” he said in a 15-minute oral argument before a three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville on Thursday. “Despite that, the buildings have never been vacated.”
The 2010 Oak Ridge board hearing was held after notices were issued citing multiple deficiencies that were hazardous to tenants, said Pilkington, who works for Knoxville law firm Watson, Roach, Batson, Rowell, and Lauderback. That company represented the City of Oak Ridge in Thursday’s oral argument before a three-judge panel that included John W. McClarty, D. Michael Swiney, and D. Kelly Thomas Jr. [Read more…]
Joey Anderson
Longtime local businessman Joey Anderson has announced he is running for Anderson County Commission in District 6 in the Aug. 7 election. District 6 includes the City Hall, Robertsville, and West Hills voting precincts in Oak Ridge.
Anderson is a 1986 graduate of Oak Ridge High School and earned a BBA in business management from East Tennessee State University.
Growing up active in the Boy Scouts of America, earning the prestigious Eagle award, and being involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge has carried over to remaining active in the community, a press release said. He is currently serving as president of the Oak Ridge Boys and Girls Club Alumni. He was also treasurer for many years for the alumni. Anderson is also a member of the Oak Ridge Quarterback Club.
Anderson’s roots are deep in Oak Ridge, the release said. He operated and managed Anderson’s Hilltop Market for 18 years, carrying on the family business started in 1944 by his grandfather, Joe Anderson. Anderson said his small business background would help him navigate managerial and budgetary challenges on the Commission if elected. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has ordered Oliver Springs to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant or face a hefty fine. The state gave the town until August 31, 2015, to correct the problems outlined in the order, including several violations in the past few years dealing with system overflows and E. coli contamination.
The plant discharged water into Poplar Creek.
If the problems are not corrected by the end of August 2015, the town could face a fine of up to $175,000.
The state also issued a moratorium on adding any new sewer customers. [Read more…]
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)
KNOXVILLE—A Tennessee man who appeared on the television reality show “The Millionaire Matchmaker” has pleaded guilty in a $2.5 million extortion case involving the former managing contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.
Adam Winters, 26, of Robbins, Tenn., said he had copies of slides that would injure the reputation of the contractor, Babcock and Wilcox Y-12 LLC, and he met with undercover officers on May 23 to exchange the slides for the money he demanded, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a Thursday afternoon press release. Law enforcement officers revealed their identity during that May 23 meeting and arrested Winters.
Earlier, on May 8, Winters had e-mailed Babcock and Wilcox and attempted to email Vice President Joe Biden about the slides, Killian said. After he sent the email, Winters used the Internet and telephone to communicate his threat to injure their reputation through the use of the slides, according to the plea agreement on file with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Welcome Center at the Midtown Community Center on Robertsville Road is pictured above.
Katy Brown has accepted a new marketing and promotions job in East Tennessee, and her last day as president of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau will be Friday.
Brown started as a sales manager at the ORCVB in 2001, and she has been president since 2006, or about eight years.
Brown will now be a marketing and promotions specialist covering Knoxville and Chattanooga. She declined to identify her new employer, but she said it is an established company.
Brown might be most well-known for her work on the annual Secret City Festival, including her promotion of the two-day celebration. But she has also been involved in a range of other efforts to help promote and market the city, ranging from hosting travel writers from across the country to working a booth at the Oak Ridge Marina during rowing races. [Read more…]
Hallerin Hilton Hill
The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce is hosting a debate for candidates for mayor and sheriff on Thursday evening in Clinton.
The 6 p.m. debate at The Ritz Theater will be moderated by Hallerin Hilton Hill of NewsTalk 98.7. The public is invited.
The candidates for mayor participating in the debate are the incumbent, Terry Frank, a Republican, and her two challengers: Jim Hackworth, a Democrat, and Bradley S. Rickett, an Independent.
The candidates for sheriff are incumbent Paul White, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Anthony Lay. [Read more…]
Myra Mansfield
Myra Mansfield, a candidate for Anderson County Commission, will host two meet-and-greets this weekend. Mansfield is a candidate for Anderson County Commission in the Eighth District, which serves the communities assigned to vote at Jefferson Middle School, Emory Valley Center, and Woodland Elementary.
On Friday evening, Mansfield will be available to meet the public from 4–6 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Corporate Center at 151 Lafayette Drive. A short program will be featured at 5:15 p.m. Please enter the Oak Ridge Corporate Center from Lafayette Drive between Emory Valley Road and Laboratory Road, a press release said.
On Saturday morning, Mansfield will be available to meet the public from 10 a.m.–noon at her canopy in the parking lot at 699 Emory Valley Road, which is the old Paragon Health Club next to the Food Lion building. [Read more…]
