Oak Ridge Today

Reporter taken off government beat after mayor files missing keys report

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

A reporter at the Clinton Courier News will be taken off the county government beat for now as authorities investigate a missing keys report filed Monday by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, the newspaper’s publisher said Tuesday.

Frank filed the missing keys report after the Monday night meeting of the Anderson County Commission in Clinton. She told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Bradley A. Prewitt that she had stored her keys under a desk and noticed them missing sometime after 10:30 p.m. Monday. She said she had left her seat during the meeting to address the commission and for a break, and Courier News reporter Chris Silcox had sat in or near her seat at some point during the meeting, Prewitt wrote in an incident report.

After the meeting, Frank said Silcox contacted her and explained, via text message, that he had unintentionally grabbed her keys, mistaking them for his wife’s. Silcox made arrangements to return the keys to Richard Burroughs, Frank’s chief of staff, Prewitt said, but only the auto key fob and business key were returned.

“Ms. Frank advised that her home and office keys were still missing,” Prewitt said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Land Bank to be discussed Tuesday

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Charlie Jernigan, board chairman of the Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp., will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

The meeting will be in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp. is a unique governmental organization in Tennessee that grew out of the need to address the problem of blighted housing in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The concept of a land bank was introduced in 2011 as part of the “Not in Our City” plan. It became a reality in September 2013 when City Council approved Ordinance 08-2013. The Land Bank Corp. will work to support economic revitalization through returning vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use, the press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County budget process under way

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s no-frills budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

The proposed budget keeps the property tax rate at its current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.

Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said the budget does include provisions for a possible 1 percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.

The budget committee has also recommended that the county’s fund balance be increased from $3.5 million to $4 million. Budget discussions will continue during the next few weeks.

Oak Ridge city, schools have Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Wellness Fair 2011

Flu shots are given at an Oak Ridge Wellness Fair in November 2011. (File photo)

Oak Ridge Schools and the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee are co-sponsoring a Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The entire community is invited to attend between 3 to 5 p.m.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the fair will be open only to Oak Ridge School employees and City of Oak Ridge workers. There will be many door prizes and a variety of vendors, a press release said.

More than 60 vendors are expected to take part, and activities including chair massages, pain assessments, ear canal screenings, power tool safety, resistance exercises, blood pressure screenings, grip strength, mobile mammography, medic, healthy food choices from local restaurants, Tennessee Highway Patrol and safe driving, Jazzercise, outdoor sports, varicose vein ultrasound, and much more, the press release said. [Read more…]

Residents file ouster petition against Anderson County law director

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Twenty-two Anderson County residents have filed a petition in Chancery Court seeking to remove Law Director Jay Yeager from office, alleging misconduct that includes perjury, forgery, and having pornography on a county computer.

The ouster petition was filed Friday afternoon in Anderson County Chancery Court in Clinton. It alleges Yeager, who became law director in September 2006, committed perjury on his sworn application to become law director eight years ago, forged the signature of retired Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Avery Johnson two years ago, and had a pornographic image on a county computer that was found about three years ago.

The petition asks the court to immediately suspend Yeager from his official duties pending a decision by the court, and it requests a trial. If Yeager is guilty of one or more of the charges, the petition said, he should be ousted from office.

“I’m devastated,” Yeager said Friday evening. “It’s just another assassination on my character and on my good reputation and all I’ve done for Anderson County.”

He said he thinks the ouster suit is politically motivated, and he called it “baseless and unwarranted.” [Read more…]

Clinton Public Library seeking teen volunteers for summer

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Submitted

The Clinton Public Library is seeking teen volunteers to assist with its Summer Reading Club.

Volunteers are needed to register children for the Reading Club, assist at programs, help prepare for story times, and more!  All teens interested in volunteering at the Library this summer must attend an informational session on Monday, May 19, at either 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. Please bring your calendar with you!

The Clinton Public Library is located at 118 S. Hicks Street in Clinton.  For more information, call the library at (865) 457-0519.

Sewer rehab work continues next week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue next week.

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…]

Formall Job Fair joins Career Coach at Oak Ridge Library on Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Public Library Career Coach

The Career Coach will be coming to the Oak Ridge Public Library parking lot from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to help with online job applications, sprucing up resumes, and more, a press release said.

In addition, Formall, a locally based family-owned and operated production company, will be hosting a job fair during the Career Coach event. Formall is seeking more than 40 machine operators and other positions for the facility at 1709 Lake City Highway in Clinton. Interested candidates are encouraged to bring a resume and apply online at www.jobs4tn.gov (search for job #51927). The starting pay is $9.50 per hour, with an additional $0.50 per hour for second and third shifts. [Read more…]

Sewer rehab work continues this week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week.

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…]

Roane Commission sends ‘In God We Trust’ proposal to committee

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Roane County Courthouse

An “In God We Trust” sign could be placed above the main entrance of the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston under a proposal being considered by county officials. The signs could also be displayed in the Roane County Commission chambers. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

KINGSTON—The Roane County Commission voted on Monday to defer a resolution to the property committee that would place signs that say “In God We Trust” on the County Courthouse in Kingston.

The vote to defer was closely split, at 8-7. Commissioners James Brummett, Ray Cantrell, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, Jerry Goddard, Chris Johnson, and Fred Tedder all voted not to defer the resolution.

Many commissioners who voted against deferment argued that deferral would only delay the process further. Others, however, felt that the issue should have gone through the committee before the commission had any say in the matter.

Ellis, who filed the resolution in favor of the signs, said that the resolution would reach the committee either way, and that the committee would have the final say in the design and placement of the signs.

“Roane County is deep in its faith,” he said. “Not one of my constituents…has come to me against this.” [Read more…]

Lincoln’s to have beer permit suspended at least one week

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Lincoln's Sports Grille

Lincoln’s Sports Grille will have a one- or two-week beer permit suspension depending upon improvements made before a June 9 meeting. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge Beer Board voted on Monday to suspend the beer permit of Lincoln’s Sport Grille for one or two weeks, depending upon improvements made before the board’s June meeting.

Lincoln’s has met with the board four times within the past two years. Monday’s meeting was in response to an April altercation between two male patrons.

The motion to allow Lincoln’s the opportunity for a reduced suspension was passed in a 4-3 vote, with opposition from Theresa Scott, Barton Bailey, and Randy Tedford.

The vote requires that Lincoln’s provide proof that they have made efforts to improve their business before the beer board’s next meeting on June 9. If they can not meet the board’s requirements for improvement, they will face a two-week suspension.

Tedford, who is Beer Board chair, said Lincoln’s must provide “a more comprehensive plan” to fix problems involving over-service and the patio gate at the popular restaurant, and add eight surveillance cameras around the premises and at least two more staff members to make sure the patio is adequately monitored. [Read more…]

Former home of Oak Ridger, shops near Magic Wok could be demolished

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Wender Building

Most of a commercial building that once housed The Oak Ridger on Tyrone Road near Jackson Square could be demolished in six months under a plan proposed to a city board on Thursday. The Magic Wok restaurant, which is separate from the building, would remain, as would a small portion of the building.

 

Magic Wok

The detached Magic Wok diner would remain and so would the western portion of the building near the restaurant.

Note: This story was updated at 2:35 p.m. May 10.

Most of a commercial building that was once home to The Oak Ridger newspaper and other businesses on Tyler and East Tyrone roads could be demolished later this year, an engineer and surveyor told a city board on Thursday.

The western part of the building near the Magic Wok restaurant would remain, and so would the diner itself.

Roughly 26,000 square feet of the building, which has housed a wide variety of businesses since the 1940s, would be demolished down to the slab. The demolition of the property, which is also known as the Wender Building after a former owner, would include the space occupied for decades by Classic Cleaners.

Noel M. Peterson, owner of Coal Creek Surveying and Engineering of Lake City, briefly outlined the plans of the owners—Jia-Chao and Ming-Wha Wang—during a Thursday meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals.

Many of the details still have to be worked out with the Oak Ridge municipal staff, and the board gave the owners another 30 days. But it’s considered a last-chance extension. [Read more…]