Clinch Avenue in Clinton will require repairs after heavy rains on Saturday caused the road bed to fail in the northbound lanes just north of the Lewallen Bridge, according to the Clinton Police Department.
The bridge is not affected, but the traffic lanes on Clinch Avenue (State Route 9) near South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard (State Route 61).
The Tennessee Department of Transportation currently has traffic restricted to one lane traveling in each direction, the CPD said Monday.
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Note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m.
The Freels Bend Cabin, Oak Ridge’s oldest structure, was recognized with a historical sign in October.
The historical sign by the Tennessee Historical Commission said the Freels Bend Cabin, next to Melton Hill Lake east of Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge, is the only Oak Ridge home that is still standing that was built in the 1800s.
It was one of the earliest cabins built in Anderson County. It’s on the National Historic Register.
[Read more…]Tennessee officials on Friday announced a $500,000 loan for water system repairs in Oliver Springs.
The loan was announced by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers. It’s a Clean Water State Revolving Fund, or SRF, planning and design loan. It’s meant to remediate water losses in the Oliver Springs water system in what is being described as a pilot project.
The loan consists of 100 percent principal forgiveness in the amount of $500,000 with a five-year term and a 0 percent interest rate, a press release said.
“We are pleased we can assist local communities with important infrastructure improvements,” Lee said in the press release. “This loan directly addresses a need and will improve quality of life.”
[Read more…]Ann Coria has been appointed public defender in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.
A Republican, Coria replaces Tom Marshall, a Democrat who was re-elected to a fourth eight-year term in 2014. Marshall, who had served as Anderson County public defender since 1989, retired at the end of September.
Coria, who has been an assistant public defender and worked in the office for about 20 years, applied for the position. After an interview process and background check, she was appointed district public defender by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday, October 15.
“I believe that I have the skills to run the office and the knowledge of what’s needed,” Coria said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “It is a unique set of skills.”
There will be a special election in 2020 to choose someone who will serve the last two years of Marshall’s eight-year term and a regular election for an eight-year term in 2022.
[Read more…]Note: This story was last updated at 4:50 p.m.
The vast majority of the material tested in Claxton, after residents raised concerns about an unidentified substance falling around the Bull Run Fossil Plant, was soil, a state official said Thursday.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said it sampled material in the area, and TDEC Deputy Communications Director Kim Schofinski released a short statement Thursday.
“TDEC takes the concerns of citizens very seriously, and in response to their direct requests, we independently conducted sampling of the material in the area,” the statement said. “We also reviewed lab results from samples taken by TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and citizens…All results indicated the vast majority of the material was soil. As it relates to coal ash, sampling results ranged from non-detectable amounts, amounts too low to quantify, or trace amounts.
[Read more…]The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has scheduled two scout days and three quota hunts on the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area this fall.
During the scout and quota hunt days, these greenways and this park will be closed: Gallaher Bend Greenway, North Boundary Greenway, Haw Ridge Park, and the section of Melton Lake Greenway adjacent to Haw Ridge Park.
The hunts, which are open only to those with a valid TWRA quota permit, will take place on the following weekends:
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The Tennessee State Building Commission in Nashville on Thursday approved the early design phase of the new TCAT Knoxville Higher Education Center in Anderson County, a press release said.
The 47,603 square-foot technology training facility will be located in the city of Clinton. It will be a shared-use building for TCAT Knoxville and Roane State Community College dedicated to training students for the modern workforce, the press release said.
TCAT is the Tennessee College of Applied Technology.
Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, presided over the State Building Commission meeting approving the design and was integral in getting the project approved, the press release said.
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Anderson County Solid Waste Management and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation are sponsoring a household hazardous waste collection event on Saturday, September 14, in Oak Ridge.
The collection is scheduled between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge Central Services Complex at 100 Woodbury Lane, behind the Hobby Lobby shopping center. This is a state-sponsored household hazardous waste event, and it is open to all Tennessee residents, a press release said.
Household hazardous waste is anything generated in the household that has a hazardous property. Examples include household disinfectants, drain cleaners, adhesives, pesticides, old gasoline, and pool chemicals, the press release said. A material is considered hazardous if it is flammable, corrosive, toxic, or reactive with heat or contact with metals.
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Note: This story was updated at 1:50 p.m.
The YWCA has received funding that will expand its victim advocacy services to families with a history of domestic violence and who work with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services East Region in Anderson, Loudon, and Roane counties.
The award—$179,795 during a three-year period—was received by YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley.
The DCS liaison victim advocate will be co-located at the YWCA’s Oak Ridge location and the DCS East Region site in Anderson County, a press release said.
YWCA is one of only four organizations across the state to receive Victims of Crime Act funding from the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs, the press release said.
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The Technology Building at Roane State Community College’s main campus in Harriman has been renamed in honor of Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager. (Photo by Roane State)
By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer
One of the first buildings constructed on Roane State Community College’s Roane County campus has been renamed in honor of a lifelong public servant who is now a state senator.
The Tennessee Board of Regents has approved the community college’s request to rename the 41-year-old Technology Building the Ken Yager Building.
“Senator Yager has been an advocate for Roane State students for many years, as Roane County Executive, as a Roane State faculty member and dean, and now as a member of the Tennessee General Assembly,” Roane State President Chris Whaley said. [Read more…]
Edwena L. Crowe of Oak Ridge has been appointed to Tennessee’s reconstituted Board of Judicial Conduct.
The appointment was announced in a Wednesday afternoon press release from the office of Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican.
The Board of Judicial Conduct was created by the Tennessee Legislature to investigate complaints against judges and ensure accountability and ethical conduct in the judiciary, the press release said.
“Edwena Crowe is a pillar of this community and a woman of strong ethical character,” McNally said in the press release. “The Board of Judicial Conduct needs citizens who are able to look at the evidence, make decisions, and stand by them. Edwena is a highly skilled executive who understands how to make good decisions based on the evidence presented. The Board will be stronger with her contributions. I am confident she will do well.”
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The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will attend a June 10 meeting where the planned closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton will be discussed, a county commissioner said.
It will be the June 10 monthly meeting of the Anderson County Commission’s Intergovernmental Committee. The public is encouraged to attend, said Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg of District 6 in Oak Ridge.
TDEC is the state department that is responsible for monitoring the Tennessee Valley Authority, Denenberg said.
“They will have a Power Point presentation and will be there to answer questions about their involvement with the closing of the Bull Run Fossil plant in Claxton,” Denenberg said.
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