Doc Hastings
A U.S. House committee approved a bill today to set up a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge.
In the works for years, the park would also include facilities in Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M.
The legislation, H.R. 5987, can now be considered by the full House.
Terry Frank
Warren Gooch
Like their counterparts running for Oak Ridge City Council, the two candidates running for Anderson County mayor disagreed on the use of tax incentives to assist commercial developments.
Warren Gooch, an Oak Ridge Democrat, said one type of tax incentive known as tax increment financing, or TIF, is “a tool that can be used to spur retail development.”
It has been used in Oak Ridge to help the developers of Woodland Town Center, a commercial project on South Illinois Avenue that will include an Aubrey’s restaurant and Panera Bread.
Chuck Hope
Trina Baughn
One candidate seemed more willing than the other to use tax incentives to spur commercial development in Oak Ridge, but neither appeared ready to build a senior center.
A difference also emerged between the two Oak Ridge City Council candidates, Chuck Hope and Trina Baughn, on paying off the debt on the $66 million renovation of the city’s high school.
Hope, owner of Chuck’s Car Care Center, called the question over whether higher Anderson County sales tax revenues should be used to help pay that debt the “800-pound gorilla in the room.”
“That’s our biggest divide,” he said. Sales tax revenues in Oak Ridge need to be increased to help solve the problem, Hope said.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved $450,000 worth of tourism and economic development contracts.
The city’s tourism agency, the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, got a slight increase in city funding compared to last year. Its new one-year contract is worth up to $410,000, up from a maximum of about $404,000 last year.
The second contract, valued at $42,000, is with economic development consultant Ray Evans.
Chuck Fleischmann
Paul Ryan, a top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, has endorsed Rep. Chuck Fleischmann in his re-election campaign, the congressman announced Tuesday.
Ryan is a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate. He is perhaps most well-known for developing a budget plan supported by Republicans and bashed by Democrats.
An Anderson County committee has unanimously recommended that Rouse Construction Co. of Knoxville be awarded the contract to build a 240-bed pod to help ease overcrowding at the Anderson County jail.
Rouse had submitted a bid of $9.66 million, the lowest of six proposals received, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has a forum tonight for Anderson County and Oak Ridge political candidates.
The forum starts at 7 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. It will feature candidates for Anderson County mayor, property assessor, County Commission District 8, School Board District 3, and Oak Ridge City Council.
Mark Watson
Oak Ridge City Council gave City Manager Mark Watson a 1.5 percent pay raise Monday and extended his contract by two years.
Council had been expected to consider a proposal, developed after committee and Council meetings, to have the city reimburse Watson for tuition and textbooks as he pursues a doctorate at the University of Tennessee. But Watson had withdrawn that request after a public outcry.
Council rejected a proposal by Council member Anne Garcia Garland to remove a provision that would pay Watson a cash equivalent for accrued emergency leave as part of his severance package.
Mark Watson
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson has withdrawn a request to have the city reimburse him for tuition and textbooks as he pursues a doctorate at the University of Tennessee.
The tuition reimbursement proposal was expected to be considered at tonight’s City Council meeting. That’s when Council members will also consider whether to give Watson a 1.5 percent pay raise and a two-year contract extension.
The tuition reimbursement proposal had generated opposition. One of the primary concerns appeared to be that other city employees were not eligible.
Ellen Smith
Monday evening’s City Council agenda has drawn a lot more attention from media and citizens than usual—likely a result of the agenda having been published almost a week earlier than usual.
The item drawing the most attention (from the News Sentinel, Oak Ridge Today, the Observer, and the Oak Ridger, as well as a lot of negative comment from citizens)—whether to reimburse City Manager Mark Watson’s tuition for his Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee—came a surprise to me because it had been only lightly discussed by the Council committee that considered the city manager’s performance evaluation—and we had not voted on it, much less made a recommendation to the full Council.
Because of the number of questions and comments I’ve gotten on this item, I’m presenting my viewpoint on the tuition tempest here for everyone’s benefit.
An unusual collection of 10 local boards and agencies will meet at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Wednesday to discuss a sometimes-controversial five-county regional development plan known as PlanET.
Boards and agencies invited to take part in the Wednesday evening meeting at the Oak Ridge Civic Center include the City Council, Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Municipal Planning Commission.
Officials helping to develop the three-year plan say they are asking East Tennesseans to share their vision for the future of the region, but opponents say they are concerned about losing their property rights.
Rain water leaked into the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton during storms on Thursday and Sunday nights, and records stored in boxes on shelves and the floor got wet, county officials said Monday morning.
Records stored in a dozen or fewer boxes from Anderson County Chancery Court and Circuit Court sustained “mild dampening,” Circuit Court Clerk Barry Pelizzari said.
“They’re in the process of restoring that and getting everything dried out,” he said.
