Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County Commission candidates at forum Thursday; Roane County forum on July 19

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Voter Registration Month

The League of Women of Voters of Oak Ridge will present two forums featuring candidates on the ballots in the August 4 elections in Anderson and Roane counties. The first forum, featuring candidates for Anderson County Commission, District 8, is tonight (Thursday, July 14).

Tonight’s forum will be held at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College in Room-111. It starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14.

Three candidates are running to fill the unexpired term of Robin Biloski, who resigned from her District 8 in Oak Ridge in August 2015. The three candidates are Myra Mansfield, Angeleque McNutt, and Phil Yager. McNutt was appointed to the seat by Anderson County Commission in August, and that appointment was to last through the county’s general election this August.

District 8 includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Learn what’s being done to address addiction, recovery at July 14 storytelling event

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Drug Addiction Recovery at Princess Theatre in July 14 2016

A community storytelling event on July 14 will share information on what’s being done to address addiction and recovery in East Tennessee. National Public Radio, which has been covering Roane County Recovery Court, will serve as the master of ceremonies, a press release said.

The storytelling event is titled “Roane is Better Together!” It’s scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14, at the Princess Theatre in Harriman.

It’s sponsored by Russell Johnson, district attorney general of the Ninth Judicial District, and Roane County Public Defender Kim Nelson, a press release said.

The press release said the Roane County Recovery Court launched in January, and NPR has shared several video and audio clips with its listening audience. [Read more…]

Roane Co. budget: Public hearing, work session on June 27

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Roane County officials will have a public hearing and work session on June 27 for the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 27, in the Qualls Commission Room in the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The Roane County Budget Committee will meet immediately after the public hearing, also in the Qualls Commission Room. [Read more…]

Roane County executive to speak at Lunch with the League

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Ron Woody, Roane County

Ron Woody

Ron Woody, Roane County executive, will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, April 19. The program will begin at noon in the Social Hall at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Woody will address issues of importance to the county such as where your tax dollars go, problems the county has solved, and problems it is still facing, according to information provided by his office. Among the topics he will address or update in his presentation, “The State of Roane County,” are education, property appraisal, business recruitment, and development of tourism and funding of public services.

What happens in Roane County is of importance to Oak Ridge since a significant portion of Oak Ridge is located in Roane County, and present and future planning affect the lives and wellbeing of these residents and, consequently, all of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Today: Roane County Recovery Court team will discuss work at Lunch with League

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Roane-County-Drug-Court-Team

Roane County Recovery Court for drug-related offenders has now been in operation for six weeks. The drug court team, led by General Sessions Court Judge Dennis Humphrey, will discuss their work with the court in the second part of a two-part program at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday, March 15.

The first part of the program was presented on March 1. The Tuesday meeting starts at 12 p.m. March 15 in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Humphrey will be accompanied by District Attorney General Russell Johnson, Public Defender Kim Nelson, community relations for the district attorney Charlene Hipsher, Probation/Corrections Officer Chanel Finnell, Recovery Court Coordinator Ashley Freeberg, WestCare treatment staff Janeece Foust, and law enforcement liaison Lieutenant Rick Baker.

Lunch with the League is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Schools in Oak Ridge, AC, Roane, Clinton closed again Thursday; county offices also

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Oak Ridge Schools Logo

Schools in Oak Ridge, Anderson County, Clinton, and Roane County will be closed again Thursday, January 21, because of the winter weather and hazardous road conditions.

“Please stay warm and if you must travel, please do so safely,” Roane County Schools said.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said county government will also be closed Thursday. [Read more…]

Roane Commission to appoint General Sessions judge on Monday

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Jeffery-Wicks

Jeffery H. Wicks

The Roane County Commission will appoint a new General Sessions Court judge during a special session on Monday.

The new judge will serve until the next general election in August and fill a vacancy created when Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed General Sessions Court Judge Jeffery H. Wicks as Criminal Court judge for the Ninth Judicial District. Wicks is replacing former Criminal Court Judge E. Eugene Eblen, who retired December 31.

The Ninth Judicial District serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties. Eblen had been Criminal Court judge since 1978. [Read more…]

Wicks appointed Criminal Court judge in 9th District, which includes Roane

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Jeffery-Wicks

Jeffery H. Wicks

NASHVILLE—Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam on Thursday appointed Jeffery H. Wicks of Rockwood as Criminal Court judge for the Ninth Judicial District, replacing Judge E. Eugene Eblen, who is retiring effective December 31.

The Ninth Judicial District serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties.

Wicks, 52, has served as General Sessions Court judge in Roane County since 2006. He was an attorney in Kingston from 2003 to 2006, operating a law practice that included criminal, civil domestic, juvenile, and probate matters, a press release said.

“We are fortunate to have a public servant with such a depth of experience as Judge Wicks to fill this role,” Haslam said. “He will serve the Ninth Judicial District well in this capacity.” [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

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Ed Westcott and National Park Staff at Celebration on Nov. 12, 2015

Ed Westcott, left, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during World War II, is pictured above with National Park Service staff members during a celebration of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This post was last updated at 8:05 a.m. Nov. 13.

Oak Ridge residents and officials celebrated the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, two days after the park was formally established in a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. Here are photos of Thursday’s celebration at Oak Ridge High School and Jackson Square by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today.

We will add captions to the photos as we can.

The new park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons in World War II, before Germany could. The new park is the first of its type to commemorate the Manhattan Project, which is considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century.

The new park includes four buildings in Oak Ridge: the Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the footprint of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park, and Building 9731 and Building 9204-3, or Beta-3, at Y-12 National Security Complex. The Alexander Inn, which is not a U.S. Department of Energy building, is also eligible for inclusion.

See a story on the establishment of the park on Tuesday here, and see a story on Thursday’s celebration here.

Colin Colverson, Tracy Atkins, and Warren Gooch at Manhattan Project Park Celebration on Nov. 12, 2015

From left above at a celebration for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, are Colin Colverson, Oak Ridge Reservation lead for the park in the DOE Oak Ridge Office; Tracy Atkins, project manager for the agreement between DOE and the National Park Service; and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

[Read more…]

New Roane tax rate could mean another $95 for OR homeowner

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David Morgan

David Morgan (File photo/2012)

The new certified property tax rate and tax rate increase in Roane County could cost the owner of a $100,000 home in Oak Ridge another $95 per year, according to data provided by the Roane County property assessor.

That’s a 19.29 percent increase, according to the information from Property Assessor David Morgan. Here’s the breakdown of the increase: 4.37 percent was due to the increase in the state-certified rate—Tennessee officials call it a tax-neutral rate—and 19.29 percent was due to the 29-cent increase approved by the Roane County Commission on Monday and anticipated in a budget passed in July.

The tax-neutral rate in Roane County went up because the total overall property assessment went down 3.47 percent. The tax-neutral rate is the rate meant to bring in the same amount of revenues after a reappraisal as before. If the overall property assessment goes down, the tax-neutral rate goes up, and vice versa.

The additional $95 per year assumes the property assessment stayed the same, at $100,000, in the five-year reappraisals completed this year. [Read more…]

WYSH: Roane Commission passes tax increase

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Roane County Courthouse

The Roane County Courthouse in Kingston is pictured above. (File photo)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The Roane County Commission approved a property tax rate increase at its meeting Monday night by a vote of 8-6.

Property taxes will go up by about 30 cents per $100 of assessed value. The increase was needed to support the fiscal budget.

Commissioners approved the county’s budget back in July. Twenty-two cents of the tax increase will go toward the county schools. County Executive Ron Woody said commission members knew the schools needed the money.

Approval of the property tax comes after months of waiting for the state to finish its assessments after the state comptroller’s office took over for the Roane County Assessor’s Office.

BBB-TV owner Ron Berry was elected commission chairman on Monday, and Harriman’s Randy Ellis was elected to his fifth term as vice chairman.

Three apply for 9th Judicial District Criminal Court opening; district includes Roane

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NASHVILLE—The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will consider three applicants when it meets September 25 in Harriman to select nominees for the impending criminal court vacancy in the 9th Judicial District, which serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties.

The impending vacancy has been created by the announcement by Judge E. Eugene Eblen that he is retiring effective December 31, 2015.

The applicants are:

  • Walter B. Johnson II, of Lenoir City,
  • Porsche Lyn Shantz of Lenoir City, and
  • Jeffery H. Wicks of Rockwood.

[Read more…]