Brian Hunt
Attorney Brian Hunt, a candidate for Anderson County Juvenile Court judge, has a March 13 meet-and-greet barbecue in Clinton.
The barbecue is scheduled from 5-7 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. There is no charge to the public, a press release said. Make reservations by sending an e-mail to huntforjuvenilejudge@gmail.com.
The second Breakfast with the Legislators of 2014 is on Monday morning.
The Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville has been in session since Jan. 14, a press release said.
“Bills dealing with election laws, Common Core Standards, Medicaid expansion, charter schools, Hall Income Tax, and the Affordable Care Act are being considered,” the release said. “Breakfast with the Legislators provides a forum to get to know key legislative decision makers and to ask questions on issues moving forward in state government.”
Monday’s monthly breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served. [Read more…]
Jim Hackworth
Former Tennessee Rep. Jim Hackworth has qualified to run in the May 6 Democratic primary for Anderson County mayor. He could take on the winner of the Republican primary—either the incumbent, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, or her challenger, Commissioner Zach Bates—in the Aug. 7 county general election.
Hackworth is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The deadline to qualify as a candidate in the May 6 primaries was noon Thursday. There were four last-minute qualifiers, including Hackworth. Here are the others:
David Dunkirk
Longtime attorney David Dunkirk has announced he is seeking the office of Anderson County Juvenile Court judge.
Dunkirk has been practicing law since 1986 and is licensed in three states: Tennessee, California, and Washington.
“When young families and children come before the Juvenile Court, it’s usually because they’re in difficult circumstances,” Dunkirk said. “And I’ve found that this is when they most need good role models. I have done that as guardian ad litem, and if elected I believe I can also do that as juvenile judge.”
Guardians ad litem are appointed for children who have been removed or could potentially be removed from their families due to violations of the Tennessee Code. [Read more…]
Ryan Spitzer
Ryan Spitzer, an Anderson County assistant district attorney general, has announced that he will be a candidate for judge in General Sessions Court, Division I in Clinton. Spitzer, an attorney with more than a decade of legal experience in criminal and civil law, filed his petition to seek the judicial position last week with the Anderson County Election Commission.
After four years in private practice, Spitzer joined the staff of District Attorney General Dave Clark in 2007, a press release said. Serving as an assistant DA, he prosecutes those charged with crimes in the General Sessions, Juvenile and Criminal Courts of Anderson County.
“I have practiced in all of the criminal courts in Anderson County, and I have prosecuted the full range of cases, dealing with crime victims from every walk of life,” Spitzer said in the press release. “I have worked closely with our local law enforcement to make Anderson County safer for everyone.”
Spitzer, a Democrat, could oppose Republican Don Layton in the August general election. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library will offer two opportunities for the public to enroll in the Affordable Care Act on Saturday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, March 8, from 2-5:30 p.m.
These events will be held in the auditorium and manned by volunteers who will provide both ACA information and ACA enrollment assistance for those interested in signing up for health insurance under the new ACA Exchanges. Individual computer stations will be available, and volunteers will be on hand to assist as needed. In addition, a Spanish-language translator will also be available.
The official website for enrollment is www.healthcare.gov; this site also contains detailed information about the ACA, and its costs and benefits. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Democratic Party will host a potluck supper and “Meet the Candidates” evening at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at 1660 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge.
County Democratic Party Chair Catherine Denenberg invites all Democrats to attend and meet candidates seeking office in this year’s elections, a press release said. The primary election date for county offices is May 6, and the general election is Aug. 7.
Those planning to attend should RSVP to Jean Hiser at 361hiser@comcast.net or (865) 272-3077.
Municipal and school officials could resolve a long-running dispute over sales tax revenues and how they should be used to repay the debt on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School, pictured above.
Oak Ridge municipal and school officials could resolve a long-running dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt payments, and they will discuss a proposed resolution during a joint work session Friday.
The non-voting work session will include the Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education. Also on the agenda is an update on the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field, which are being demolished. It’s not clear yet how replacement bleachers will be funded.
The meeting starts at noon Friday in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room.
The sales tax dispute has centered on how to spend new revenues collected in Anderson County, but outside Oak Ridge, under a sales tax increase approved by county voters in a May 2006 referendum. School officials had argued they can keep that money, but municipal officials had said the revenues should be used for debt payments on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School. [Read more…]
Volunteers have organized two press conferences today (Thursday) to challenge Tennessee congressmen John Duncan and Chuck Fleischmann to accept and then work to stop human-caused climate change, a press release said.
The first press conference is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Duncan’s Knoxville office at the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse. The second is at 2 p.m. in front of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton.
The press release said the press conferences will include prominent business people, clergy, a fossil fuel technologist, a child advocate, environmentalists, educators, and students. [Read more…]
Connie Aytes
CLINTON—Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has named Connie Cook-Aytes as the county’s interim director of accounts and budgets.
Aytes will take the interim position effective Monday, Feb. 24, Frank said. Aytes was appointed after Budget Director Chris Phillips announced he is resigning to take a job as city recorder for Lake City.
Aytes has worked as the deputy director in the Anderson County Budget Office since May 2008. [Read more…]
William C. “Bill” Killian
U.S. Attorney William C. “Bill” Killian commended the sentences given to the three Y-12 protesters on Tuesday, and he said he hoped it would send a strong message.
“The Y-12 National Security Complex plays a critical role in our country’s national defense,” Killian said in a Wednesday statement. “People cannot take the law into their own hands and unlawfully intrude upon sensitive government facilities. Those who violate the law and compromise the security of the Y-12 National Security Complex will be vigorously prosecuted.”
The three anti-nuclear weapons activists were convicted of sabotage in May 2013 for breaking into Y-12 on July 28, 2012, cutting through high-security fences, and splashing blood and spray-painting slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The fortress-like HEUMF stores most of the nation’s bomb-grade uranium. [Read more…]
Gloria Johnson
Tennessee Rep. Gloria Johnson, a freshman legislator representing Knoxville House District 13, will report on the current legislative session in Nashville as guest speaker when the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.
The meeting will be held in the Club Room of the Clinton Community Center, 101 S. Hicks Street. Cost of the dinner is $10 per person. For reservations, e-mail Ann Mostoller at amostoller@msw-law.com or call Mary Matheny at (865) 483-8937.
Johnson, who is seeking re-election this year, supports empowering communities to strengthen neighborhood public schools, preparing youth to win good-paying jobs, and expanding Medicaid so every Tennessean can see a doctor if they get sick, a press release said. [Read more…]
