Oak Ridge Today

Anderson commissioners approve new jail fees for inmates, new costs covered by Time magazine

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The Anderson County Commission on Monday approved three new sets of fees for inmates, including charges for supplies ranging for pants and shirts to toothpaste and toilet paper. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—Anderson County inmates could soon pay for items such as pants and shirts, bras and underwear, and toothpaste and toilet paper, with costs ranging from three cents for soap to $24.65 for a coat.

The new fees were approved with no opposition by the Anderson County Commission on Monday. The money would be deducted from the inmate’s jail trust account or any other account or fund set up for the prisoner. The fees would not be added to court costs.

The supply fees were one of three new sets of inmate fees approved by commissioners on Monday. [Read more…]

Legal fees add up as officials try to ‘stop the bleeding’ in dispute between mayor, sheriff

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Anderson County Detention Facility

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White are engaged in a legal fight over a two-page salary agreement that includes, among other things, six months’ worth of funding for 36 new employees at a new jail pod at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—The legal fees might already exceed $20,000, and they could continue to mount in a bitter dispute between the mayor and sheriff over a $7.7 million salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Efforts to “stop the bleeding”—and avoid extra expenses for Anderson County residents—were unsuccessful after a lengthy, heated debate on Monday night. During that debate, Anderson County commissioners rejected several proposals to cover some legal fees of Mayor Terry Frank in her response to a salary suit filed in July by Sheriff Paul White. Among the rejected options were proposals to pay Frank’s fees so far but no more, capping them at $40,000, or covering all expenses until the matter is resolved.

Frank has refused to sign the salary agreement, saying it includes about $1 million more for salaries and overtime than was approved by commission in June. But the Sheriff’s Department has said the salary agreement is routine and was drafted according to state law, and actual spending will be closer to the $6.6 million approved by the commission as part of this year’s budget. [Read more…]

Memory Magic Scrapbook event Sept. 27 and 28

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The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department is sponsoring a Memory Magic Scrapbook event, Scrapping on the WILD Side, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Sept. 27 and 28. The event will include vendors, classes, and a large crop area.

Online registration started Aug. 19 and will continue until Sept. 22. Walk-in registration will open on Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. There is limited seating in the crop area and in each class. For a listing of classes check the website listed below. [Read more…]

Higher ticket prices for Oak Ridge Transit System on Nov. 1

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ETHRA Van

One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, and additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1. (Submitted photo)

One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, officials said.

Additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1, and extra stops must be scheduled when reservations are made, a city press release said.

The Oak Ridge Transit System is a fixed-route transportation service for the city, and it is operated by East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, or ETHRA. [Read more…]

Anderson County agrees to buy Lake City bank building for coal mining museum

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Bank of America Lake City

The Anderson County Commission has agreed to buy this former Bank of America building in Lake City for a Coal Mining Museum, storage space, and satellite county offices.

CLINTON— The Anderson County Commission agreed in a 13-1 vote on Monday to buy the former Bank of America building in Lake City for a Coal Mining Museum.

The two-story brick building will be purchased using $100,000 from the sale of property in the David Jones Industrial Park. Lake City will own the former bank, and it could also be used to store excess county supplies and as a satellite office for county departments. Organizers hope to open the museum eight months after Lake City receives the building.

Most of the initial revenue for museum operations would come from Lake City’s lodging tax. The Lake City Council has agreed to use one-third of that hotel and motel tax for the museum for at least the next three years, said Stephanie Wells, director of the Anderson County Tourism Council. [Read more…]

Emory Valley Road land could be donated for Oak Ridge sewer system tank

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Emory Valley Equalization Basin

Anderson County commissioners have endorsed donating up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road for an Oak Ridge sewer system holding tank.

CLINTON—Despite a few concerns about whether the tank would be an eyesore, Anderson County officials on Monday endorsed a request to give up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge for a sewer system holding tank.

The tank would be east of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center, and it would be used to help Oak Ridge stop all sewer system overflows by 2015, as required by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order.

The Anderson County Commission endorsed the land donation in a voice vote Monday night. [Read more…]

Four Anderson County schools among top in state for growth, achievement

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Norris Middle School

Norris Middle School in Anderson County was among the top 5 percent of schools in Tennessee for annual growth and academic achievement in 2012-13, state officials said Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 8:45 a.m. Aug. 21 to add Clinton Elementary School.

Four Anderson County schools were among the top 5 percent of schools in Tennessee for annual growth and academic achievement in 2012-13, state officials said Monday.

They were Clinton Elementary School, Grand Oaks Elementary School, Norris Middle School, and Norwood Elementary School.

The four were among 169 schools in 52 districts recognized as Reward Schools in the past year, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said in a press release. The list includes 70 schools that serve mostly economically disadvantaged populations. [Read more…]

Anderson County Commission considers coal mining museum tonight

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Bank of America Lake City

Bank of America has agreed to sell this two-story brick building on Main Street in Lake City for $100,000 for a Coal Miners’ Museum and county storage space and satellite offices.

The Lake City Council on Saturday developed a plan for operating and maintaining a coal mining museum, a proposal that will be presented to the Anderson County Commission this evening, a nonprofit organization said this weekend.

The Commission will consider buying the former Bank of America building in Lake City as a home for the Coal Miners’ Museum during a meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday. [Read more…]

Corker returns from Middle East, visits East Tennessee on Tuesday

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Bob Corker Meets Nouri Al-Maliki

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, left, a Tennessee Republican, meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, second from right. (Submitted photos)

After a week-long trip to the Middle East that ended Saturday, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said the recent expansion of violence there threatened the region’s security and America’s national interest.

Corker is a Tennessee Republican and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From Aug. 10-17, he visited with U.S. and foreign officials in Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan. The trip focused on regional political and security issues important to the United States, including the violence in Egypt, the conflict in Syria, and the threat of sectarian violence and terrorism in the region, a press release said.

Corker will be in East Tennessee on Tuesday, with stops in Knoxville and Maryville. He spent the first week of the Senate’s August recess in Middle Tennessee and will be making stops throughout Tennessee this coming week. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge launches new GIS website

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The City of Oak Ridge recently released a new and improved geographic information system, or GIS, website. A press release said it functions like Internet map applications such as Google Maps or Bing Maps.

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Streets being resurfaced in north Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Clinton Public Works Department has announced a street resurfacing project that is beginning in the residential areas of north Clinton.

The work will continue through mid-September and will require temporary street closures and detours. The city’s contractor, Rogers Group, has one crew performing street preparation ahead of a second crew that is applying asphalt. [Read more…]

Organizers forming ‘human chain’ to move Briceville Library books Aug. 24

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Briceville Library Construction

Construction work at the new Briceville Public Library in July. (Photo courtesy Coal Creek Watershed Foundation)

After years of work, it’s almost moving day at the new Briceville Public Library.

Supporters are looking for about 150-175 people to form a “human chain” at 10 a.m. Aug. 24 to move about 1,100 books from the old library to the new one. The library is now housed in a 20-foot by 22-foot room at the Briceville Friendship Center. It will move into a new 2,000-square-foot building at 111 Slate Stone Road, next to Briceville School.

[Read more…]