Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County budget process moving along

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

Information from WYSH Radio

As WYSH reported last week, the Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The proposed $25 million general fund budget keeps the property tax rate at current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.

Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said that the budget does include provisions for a projected half-percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.

When the various county departments submitted their initial budget requests, the total was about $2 million out of balance but “with understanding and help, we whittled that down,” according to Frank’s summary of the budget process released late last week. [Read more…]

Reporter taken off government beat after mayor files missing keys report

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

A reporter at the Clinton Courier News will be taken off the county government beat for now as authorities investigate a missing keys report filed Monday by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, the newspaper’s publisher said Tuesday.

Frank filed the missing keys report after the Monday night meeting of the Anderson County Commission in Clinton. She told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Bradley A. Prewitt that she had stored her keys under a desk and noticed them missing sometime after 10:30 p.m. Monday. She said she had left her seat during the meeting to address the commission and for a break, and Courier News reporter Chris Silcox had sat in or near her seat at some point during the meeting, Prewitt wrote in an incident report.

After the meeting, Frank said Silcox contacted her and explained, via text message, that he had unintentionally grabbed her keys, mistaking them for his wife’s. Silcox made arrangements to return the keys to Richard Burroughs, Frank’s chief of staff, Prewitt said, but only the auto key fob and business key were returned.

“Ms. Frank advised that her home and office keys were still missing,” Prewitt said. [Read more…]

Living Light solar-powered home moves to Children’s Museum

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Living Light House Trailer

The University of Tennessee donated the Living Light House to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, and the 750-square-foot solar-powered home was moved Saturday.

 

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville has donated its Living Light House to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, and the 750-square-foot solar-powered home was moved Saturday.

The award-winning home makes more energy than it uses, said James Rose, senior lecturer in UT’s College of Architecture and Design.

Moving the 80,000-pound house was a daylong project. The Children’s Museum is in a residential area in Oak Ridge, so the museum had to move trees, excavate a slope, and create a temporary road to get to the site.

Rose said the one-room home, which has mechanical and laundry areas, will be used at the Children’s Museum for outreach and to showcase the latest energy-efficient technologies.

“This is the perfect place for this building,” said Rose, the architect of record on the project and the leader of the student architecture studio that designed it. [Read more…]

Neurosurgeon to discuss pinched nerves, false symptoms at health lecture Tuesday

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Lawrence Maccree

Lawrence Maccree

A pinched nerve in the neck can cause pain, tingling, or numbness, which can even travel into the shoulder, arm or fingers. But how can you tell the difference between a pinched nerve and a problem that only acts like a pinched nerve, such as shoulder problems, bicep tendonitis, a heart attack, or a sprain or strain? Join Methodist Medical Center for Health Night on the Town as board-certified neurosurgeon Lawrence Maccree, DO, explains the difference.

Health Night will take place Tuesday, May 20, at 7 p.m. in the Ridge Conference Room, located in the hospital at 990 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The program is free and open to the public.

Dr. Maccree is a board-certified neurosurgeon who earned his degree from Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pomona, California. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the Garden City Osteopathic Hospital in Garden City, Michigan. Dr. Maccree is in practice with the Cumberland Neurosurgery and Spine Center.

For more information about Health Night on the Town, call (865) 835-4662.

Oak Ridge Land Bank to be discussed Tuesday

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Charlie Jernigan, board chairman of the Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp., will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

The meeting will be in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp. is a unique governmental organization in Tennessee that grew out of the need to address the problem of blighted housing in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The concept of a land bank was introduced in 2011 as part of the “Not in Our City” plan. It became a reality in September 2013 when City Council approved Ordinance 08-2013. The Land Bank Corp. will work to support economic revitalization through returning vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Two arrested, one with bulletproof vest, after guard chases burglary suspects

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Louis Edward Goodman

Louis Edward Goodman

Two Anderson County men, one wearing a bulletproof vest, were arrested Sunday after a security guard chased two burglary suspects from Southern Coal Co. on Airbase Lane in Briceville, authorities said.

The two men—Louis Edward Goodman, 24, of Oak Ridge, and Christopher Houston Harness, 24, of Briceville—fled into the woods after they were confronted, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said in a Monday morning press release.

Deputies responded to the burglary-in-progress report and located the two suspects after a search, authorities said. Goodman and Harness were taken into custody and charged with several offenses related to the burglary: burglary, felony property theft, and criminal trespassing. Goodman was also charged with the unlawful use of body armor “as he was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the offenses,” Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. Harness was also charged with the possession of burglary tools. [Read more…]

Anderson County budget process under way

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s no-frills budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

The proposed budget keeps the property tax rate at its current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.

Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said the budget does include provisions for a possible 1 percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.

The budget committee has also recommended that the county’s fund balance be increased from $3.5 million to $4 million. Budget discussions will continue during the next few weeks.

Ex-AC school bus driver indicted in May 2013 crash

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Information from WYSH Radio

A former Anderson County school bus driver has been indicted on charges related to a bus crash last year that injured four students.

Tammy Moore, 46, of Clinton was indicted by the grand jury on a charge of reckless endangerment and reckless driving in connection to a crash that occurred on May 21, 2013. Her bus, with 44 students aboard, was on Johnson Gap Road when the bus left the right side of the road and dropped off an embankment and turned over on to its side after traveling some 60 yards. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge city, schools have Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Wellness Fair 2011

Flu shots are given at an Oak Ridge Wellness Fair in November 2011. (File photo)

Oak Ridge Schools and the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee are co-sponsoring a Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The entire community is invited to attend between 3 to 5 p.m.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the fair will be open only to Oak Ridge School employees and City of Oak Ridge workers. There will be many door prizes and a variety of vendors, a press release said.

More than 60 vendors are expected to take part, and activities including chair massages, pain assessments, ear canal screenings, power tool safety, resistance exercises, blood pressure screenings, grip strength, mobile mammography, medic, healthy food choices from local restaurants, Tennessee Highway Patrol and safe driving, Jazzercise, outdoor sports, varicose vein ultrasound, and much more, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT Career Services leader to discuss ‘Negotiating for Women’ at AAUW meeting today

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Mary Mahoney, an assistant director for University of Tennessee Career Services, will discuss “Negotiating for Women” during an AAUW meeting at lunchtime today.

The AAUW Oak Ridge Branch meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. today in Room 102 of the Activities Building of First Presbyterian Church at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive. 

The public is invited to attend a potluck luncheon at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting, which begins at noon, a press release said. The luncheon will feature main dish salads prepared by AAUW members. Drinks, bread, crackers, and desserts will be provided. There is no cost, but donations to AAUW are welcome. Reservations may be made by calling either Mary Uziel at (865) 483-1043 or Marge Congdon at (865) 438-3120.

Mahoney has more than 20 years’ experience working as the assistant director of recruiting at the University of Tennessee, the press release said. She has certifications in salary negotiations and career coaching.

Before the program begins, Mayme Crowell, outgoing Tennessee State President of AAUW, will recognize the Education Award winner selected by Roane State Community College and will introduce the Roane State students who are winners of AAUW Educational Scholarships for this year.

Crowell will also install the Oak Ridge Branch AAUW officers for next year, including Peggy Emmett as president; Fay Martin as vice president for membership; Virginia Jones, vice president for programs; and Mary Uziel, treasurer. [Read more…]

Photos: Windrock Coal Miners Memorial

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Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Wall

The Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Wall wall is 31 feet long and includes the names of more than 1,000 miners.

 

WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Here are pictures from the dedication ceremony for the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial on Saturday and the groundbreaking ceremony in November.

Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Unveiling

Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.

[Read more…]

Windrock Memorial: ‘Proud to be a coal miner’s daughter’

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Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Unveiling

Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.

 

WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Today, it’s home to giant wind turbines that tower high above the Tennessee Valley and off-road vehicles that race up and down its gravel roads and steep slopes.

But 50 years ago or more, this mountain a few miles north of Oliver Springs was home to as many as 700 coal miners and their families. The mines have been closed for decades, but the memories have lived on, mostly in fond recollections and old black-and-white photos.

Windrock Miner's Memorial Groundbreaking

Pictured above are Carl Lively, right, who started working in a mine in Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs in 1939, when he was 16, and Manuel Tinker, who was born on top of the mountain and later worked in the mines.

Now volunteers are taking action to help preserve the history of the miners and their families. As part of that effort, they unveiled a Windrock Coal Miners Memorial wall on Saturday. It includes the names of more than 1,000 miners who once worked on the mountain.

The red brick-and-granite wall has been under construction for about six months, and several hundred people turned out for Saturday’s dedication ceremony at Lower Windrock at the end of Windrock Road, about three miles from downtown Oliver Springs. Some wept softly as they gently caressed the names of their loved ones on the memorial wall. Others proudly posed for pictures. It was an important day for many.

“It’s one of the greatest things that’s every happened to me, to see this,” said Carl Lively, 91, who started working in the mines on Windrock Mountain in 1939 at the age of 16. “We’re happy as we can be today.” [Read more…]