Oak Ridge Today

State trooper, former marshal running for Anderson County sheriff

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Anthony Lay

Anthony Lay

An Anderson County man who is a state highway patrolman and former federal deputy U.S. marshal has announced he is running for sheriff.

Anthony Lay is seeking the Republican nomination for Anderson County sheriff in May 2014.

Lay is an officer with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, a press release said. He has served as Scott County sheriff, and when he was 33, was appointed as a federal U.S. marshal in Atlanta.

Lay returned to Anderson County to help his parents after his father suffered a health event, the release said.

“I am announcing my candidacy out of my love for public service and the people who live here,” Lay said in the press release. “Anderson County is a wonderful place to live and work, and the people of Anderson County deserve a safe community and leadership they can trust.” [Read more…]

City officials clash over Secret City Festival spending costs

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Rick Springfield at Secret City Festival

The Rick Springfield concert at the Secret City Festival in June was the largest ever for the annual festival, an organizer said.

Debate over the costs of the Secret City Festival—and whether the city can afford a $160,000 “party” every year—was briefly renewed again on Monday.

The sometimes-rancorous debate came up as the Oak Ridge City Council considered whether to approve two resolutions laying the financial foundation for the June 2014 festival.

Early in the debate, Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn moved to reallocate the Secret City Festival money and use it instead for a school resource officer in each middle school, or two SROs total.

But Council member Charlie Hensley said Baughn was essentially asking the city to take money it would collect from festival sponsors and use it instead for SROs.

“I think that’s fraudulent,” Hensley said. [Read more…]

Feds, local law enforcement dismantle $17.5 million cocaine trafficking ring

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Federal officials on Thursday announced they had dismantled a Knoxville-based cocaine ring that is accused of trafficking $17.5 million worth of drugs and distributing more than five kilograms of cocaine and 280 grams of crack cocaine.

A federal grand jury returned a 58-count indictment on Dec. 3 against 21 Knoxville residents, charging them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, money laundering, and gun charges, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release.

The 21 members of the alleged drug ring appeared in court before U.S. magistrate judges this week and entered pleas of not guilty to the charges in the indictment, Killian said. All of them have been ordered held without bond pending trial, which has been set for Feb. 11 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

Among the law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation were the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Roane County Sheriff’s Department, Killian said. [Read more…]

Alexander, Feinstein introduce bill to stop cell phone calls on planes

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander on Thursday introduced legislation to prohibit cell phone conversations on commercial airline flights, a possibility the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to consider today (Thursday).

“Keeping phone conversations private on commercial flights may not be enshrined in the Constitution, but it is certainly enshrined in common sense,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. “This legislation is about avoiding something nobody wants: nearly two million passengers a day, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch-wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, is an original cosponsor of the legislation. [Read more…]

Passed in House, Manhattan Project Park amendment falls short in Senate

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K-25 Aerial

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

The legislation to create a Manhattan Project National Park that would include Oak Ridge has fallen short in the U.S. Senate, but the representative from Washington state who wrote the House amendment vowed to press ahead next year.

The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. But it was not included in the final text of the defense bill released late Tuesday night, said U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, the Washington Republican who wrote the amendment.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park would include Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M. The three cities played key roles in the Manhattan Project, a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

“I’m disappointed, but not deterred,” said Hastings, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. “To all the advocates for this park: You’ve given great energy, enthusiasm, and expertise to this effort to date, and I know that will continue until our goal is accomplished, which I am confident it will ultimately be.” [Read more…]

Alexander replaces chief of staff after child porn raid at former aide’s home

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has been taken off the payroll following a child pornography raid at the former aide’s home, and the Republican senator from Tennessee has already named a new chief of staff.

David Cleary, who has worked for Alexander for eight years, is the new chief of staff, Alexander said in a Wednesday evening press release. The senator said Cleary is well-prepared for the position.

Earlier Wednesday, Alexander said the Senate legal counsel’s office told him that law enforcement agents were searching the home of Ryan Loskarn, 35, who had been the senator’s chief of staff in his Washington, D.C., office. The search was related to child pornography allegations, Alexander said.

“I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned,” the senator said. [Read more…]

Sen. Alexander’s chief of staff placed on leave during child pornography investigation

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:52 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday said his chief of staff in Washington, D.C., has been placed on leave as law enforcement agents search the man’s home to investigate child pornography allegations.

“I was just informed by the United States Senate legal counsel’s office that law enforcement agents are conducting a search of the personal residence of Ryan Loskarn, the chief of staff of my Washington, D.C., office, regarding allegations involving child pornography,” Alexander said in a Wednesday morning statement. “I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned. Based on this information, I immediately placed Mr. Loskarn on administrative leave without pay. The office is fully cooperating with the investigation.”

U.S. Postal Inspectors conducted the raid of Loskarn’s home, according to NBC News.

“The Postal Inspectors Service was involved in a law enforcement action in Southeast D.C.,” a spokesman for the agency told NBC News, declining further comment.

Loskarn is a longtime Alexander aide and was named the Tennessee Republican senator’s chief of staff in 2012, according to Politico. [Read more…]

Council agrees to buy car wash to build sewer system tank

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Mullins Car Wash

The Oak Ridge City Council has approved the purchase of Mullins Performance Car Wash in south Oak Ridge to allow the city to build a sewer system holding tank.

A car wash in south Oak Ridge could soon be replaced by a sewer system holding tank.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday voted 5-1 to buy the car wash, owned by businessman Terry Mulllins, for $125,000.

The land is at the southern gateway to Oak Ridge, near the intersection of Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue. The city agreed to buy the property so workers can place the proposed tank, officially called an equalization basin, farther away from the busy intersection and make it less visible. The intersection is used by thousands of drivers every day, including workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The tank is one of three equalization basins that the city plans to build in order to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to repair all sewer system overflows by September 2015. [Read more…]

Anderson mayor used lawsuit agreement to settle scores, sheriff says

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The salary dispute between the Anderson County mayor and sheriff focused on the spending to hire up to 36 new jailers to staff a 212-bed expansion that is still under construction at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

CLINTON—He had reserved comment until a judge signed an order resolving a staffing dispute, but then Anderson County Sheriff Paul White accused Mayor Terry Frank of using a lawsuit agreement to try to settle perceived political scores—and he came to the defense of the two county officials that Frank attacked Friday.

“Sheriff White regrets that Mayor Frank has used the settlement of the salary suit, which (she) could have used as an event to set a more civil tone in Anderson County politics, as an opportunity to attempt to settle perceived political scores with Law Director Jay Yeager and Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski,” the sheriff said in a Monday afternoon press release, after the lawsuit order had been signed by Knox County Circuit Court Judge Dale Workman. “Sheriff White cannot express how much he believes that Director Yeager and Commissioner Iwanski are decent and selfless public servants and that the people of Anderson County are lucky to have such competent and dedicated individuals working for the efficient operation of their government. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge’s first dog park now open

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PetSafe Big Turtle Park Dog Park

The city’s first dog park is now open at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge. Officials and pet owners celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on Monday.

The city’s first dog park is now open at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge. Officials and pet owners celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on Monday.

The dog park has been planned for five years. It was made possible by a $100,000 donation by Radio Systems Corp.

The PetSafe Dog Park features include separate fenced areas for small dogs and large dogs, benches, water fountains, and a shade structure.

Community members and their dogs joined city officials and representatives from Radio Systems Corp. and PetSafe at a dedication ceremony on Monday morning to mark completion of the new park.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Mayor, sheriff reach agreement on salary suit, but war of words follows

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The salary dispute between the Anderson County mayor and sheriff focused on the spending to hire up to 36 new jailers to staff a 212-bed expansion that is still under construction at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

CLINTON—The Anderson County mayor and sheriff reached an agreement Friday that could end their five-month-old legal dispute over an annual salary agreement, possibly closing one expensive and contentious chapter in local government even as it opened a new war of words between top officials.

Knox County Circuit Court Judge Dale C. Workman could sign the agreement Monday morning.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White said the agreement allows the sheriff to hire 15 full-time permanent deputies and additional temporary deputies when the sheriff deems appropriate as he prepares to open a 212-bed jail expansion. But the hiring must stay within the spending limit approved by the Anderson County Commission this year, and the temporary employees cannot work more than six months.

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Frank and White announced the agreement in a one-page press release distributed Friday. The case had been scheduled to be heard in Knox County Circuit Court on Monday morning. [Read more…]

Temporary road closures on Georgia, Delaware avenues for sewer work

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The Oak Ridge gravity wastewater collection system will be under construction during the week of Dec. 9. Georgia Avenue and Delaware Avenue will be closed for the duration of the work. Hurst Excavating will be working under contract with the city to complete rehabilitation work.

Georgia Avenue between Tennessee Avenue and Outer Drive will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to through traffic to allow the contractor to replace an existing sanitary sewer main line located at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Gorgus Lane. The closure is expected to take two days. Local traffic may access residences in the area. Kentucky Avenue to the east of Georgia Avenue or Florida Avenue located to the east may be used as detours.

Delaware Avenue will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 10, for approximately eight hours. A gravity sewer line will be repaired located on Delaware Avenue at its intersection with Dixie Lane. Local traffic may access their residences; however, California Avenue is recommended as a detour for through traffic. The schedule is subject to change in case of bad weather. [Read more…]