Oak Ridge Today

Most Anderson commissioners seek re-election, six running in District 7 in OR

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Anderson County Courthouse

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

There are six candidates running for Anderson County Commission in District 7 in Oak Ridge in August, and a Democrat has joined the race for Tennessee House of Representatives in the 33rd District.

Meanwhile, an Independent, Bradley S. Rickett, has joined the race for Anderson County mayor, competing against Democrat Jim Hackworth and the winner of the May 6 Republican primary, either the incumbent, Terry Frank, or her challenger, Commissioner Zach Bates.

Fourteen of the 16 Anderson County commissioners are seeking re-election to a four-year term. But Bates, from District 4 in the Lake City area, is not. And neither is Commissioner John Shuey. Shuey is one of two commissioners in District 7, which includes the Glenwood, Highland View, and Pine Valley precincts in Oak Ridge.

District 7 is the most competitive in terms of number of candidates. In addition to the incumbent, Jerry Creasey, other candidates include Jimmy Bouchard, Michael Marsh, Denny Phillips, Kevin Rice, and Theresa Scott.

District 3—which includes Andersonville, Fairview, Glen Alpine, and Norris—has five candidates, including the two incumbents, Steve Emert and Dusty Irwin. The other three candidates are Josh Anderson, David Farmer, and Philip Warfield. [Read more…]

Senate approves Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he had draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the Tennessee General Assembly. (File photo)

WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

A bill that will allow Lake City to officially change its name to Rocky Top was unanimously approved in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday, three days after the state House of Representatives also unanimously voted to support the measure.

Lake City Council members approved the name change, seen as a vital first step toward developing a Rocky Top theme park in the former coal mining town, in November. The bill will now go to Gov. Bill Halslam’s desk for his signature, then the Lake City Council must ratify it by a two-thirds majority.

The name change is seen as a necessary first step toward turning the former coal mining town into a tourist destination, taking advantage of its two exits off of I-75. Plans call for an interactive 3-D theater, a restaurant, a water park and a hotel, as well as other attractions. [Read more…]

AC man pleads guilty in assault, kidnapping case

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, a Clinton man pleaded guilty to charges that he threatened a woman with a knife and held her against her will in November.

Eric Jason Lawson, 31, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault and a reduced charge of attempted aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to six years in prison on each count, to be served concurrently. As a multiple offender, he will have to serve at least 35 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The incident occurred in November 2013, and the victim told authorities that Lawson had threatened her with a knife, locked her in a bedroom and a bathroom, and forced her to crawl under a bed. At one point, the woman escaped the home only to be caught by Lawson, who reportedly showed her the knife and said, “This is what I will kill you with.”

Butterflies for Hope for lupus research at Hot Bagel on Saturday

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Butterflies for Hope at Hot Bagel 2012

Riders in Butterflies for Hope at Hot Bagel in April 2012.

Butterflies for Hope, a benefit for lupus research, starts Saturday morning at Hot Bagel in Oak Ridge.

Registration for the bike rides begin at 8:30 a.m. with bagels and coffee. The 50- and 62-mile bike rides start at 10 a.m., and the 20-mile ride begins at 10:15 a.m.

Kent Bostick, who has won many national titles, will lead the race with his wife Rhonda, a press release said.

There will be free food and drinks after the ride beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Butterflies for Hope is for research on lupus, an auto-immune disease that affects joints and organs. More than 35,000 Tennesseans are battling this disease and hoping that a cure can be found, the press release said.

Lightning strike may have caused house fire on Graceland Road

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Graceland Road Fire

A lightning strike may have caused a house fire on Graceland Road on Thursday morning. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Thursday morning fire possibly started by a lightning strike likely destroyed a home in west Oak Ridge and caused a few hundred thousand dollars in damage, authorities said.

The residents of the home at 118 Graceland Road knew their home had been hit by lightning at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. They heard the strike and found siding blown off the side of their house. They used a ladder to climb on the roof and check the home. Then, they re-checked it later before the man who lived there went to work.

But at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday, neighbor Chris Wetherall reported the roof of the house was on fire. The female resident, Yvonne McClellan, remained asleep inside, Kerley said.

Wetherall went to the burning home and banged on the door until McClellan woke up and answered the door, Kerley said. Wetherall moved a pickup truck out of the home’s garage and turned off the power. He took McClellan next door to his house, where she was evaluated by the fire department and Anderson County Emergency Medical Services. [Read more…]

Train rides resume in Oak Ridge

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Southern Appalachian Railway Museum

SARM offers spring colors, Easter dinner trains

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum, or SARM, kicks off its 2014 excursion train schedule in Oak Ridge with one-hour Spring Colors trips and an Easter Weekend dinner train for April.

The narrated one-hour Spring Colors train rides will depart at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, and Saturday, April 19. Ticket prices are $19 for adults and $15 for children three through 12. Popcorn, refreshments and railroad souvenirs will be available in the train’s commissary car. During the rides, a short narrative will describe the historic Manhattan Project and the historical significance of the railroad that served it. Reservations are suggested and can be made by calling the museum at (865) 241-2140. [Read more…]

ORHS students work on branding, design ideas with mall redevelopment company

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ORHS Students Work on Mall Redevelopment

Standing from left to right are Buddy McWilliams, Payne Adkins, Abigail Clanton, and Chris Giese. Seated from left to right are Wesley Robinson and Alex Tavangaran. (Photo courtesy J. Clint LaFollette)

Submitted

For three classes at Oak Ridge High School, the future of the old Oak Ridge Mall property is something the students are taking personally. Nearly 60 students in the Digital Arts and Design and Virtual Enterprise classes have been working on a branding strategy for the once-thriving retail site, and their top ideas will be presented to Crosland Southeast, the Charlotte-based firm that has been working with the City of Oak Ridge to develop a plan to establish a multi-use work-live-play-shop destination.

“It has been an exciting project to work on, because there have been several attempts to revitalize this property, and all have failed due to, among other things, the lack of focus on the specific interest of Oak Ridge residents,” said Buddy McWilliams, an ORHS senior who is working on the project. “Crosland Southeast has shown that they want to be successful by looking at the interest of students and others who will be using the property.”

Crosland Southeast approached Oak Ridge School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer with the idea to work with the students, and an enthusiastic Fillauer discussed it with ORHS Principal David Bryant and teachers Linda Ousley and Clint Lafollette, and the project was off and running.

Ousley is the facilitator of the school’s Virtual Enterprise program. Ousley said that Crosland Southeast will get a good cross-section of Oak Ridge opinion by talking with the students, and the students are getting excellent experience they can use on their future resumes. [Read more…]

State selling award-winning ‘green’ house in Norris

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New Norris House

The state of Tennessee is selling the award-winning “green” New Norris House in Norris. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—The state of Tennessee is selling one of the greenest homes in the state—the New Norris House.

Sealed bids will be taken through 1:30 p.m. (CST) on May 5. An open house will be held April 12, 2-4 p.m., at 143 Oak Road in Norris.

The New Norris House was completed in 2011 after a student-led team at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville worked for three years to bring the concept, first conceived in a classroom, to a modern and appealing home.

The house is a technologically advanced reinterpretation of the historic homes first built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 as part of the Norris Dam project. It has become a nationally recognized model for efficient and sustainable living. [Read more…]

ORISE: Number of health physics degrees up for undergrads, down for grads

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Enrollment data suggests current trend likely to continue in 2014 and 2015

The number of college students graduating with majors in health physics has increased slightly for bachelor’s degrees, but decreased for both master’s and doctoral candidates.

The report, titled “Health Physics Enrollments and Degrees Survey, 2013 Data,” surveyed 22 academic programs with enrollment and degree data between Sept. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2013, including both students majoring in health physics or those enrolled in an option program equivalent to a major.

Undergraduate degrees increase while graduate degrees fall slightly [Read more…]

Spotlight: Leadership Anderson County visits state government in Nashville

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Leadership Anderson County Nashville Trip

The Leadership Anderson County Class of
2014 recently visited Nashville on a state government trip.
Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers are also in the photo with the class. (Submitted photo)

Leadership Anderson County Class of 2014, a program of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Leadership Anderson County board of directors, visited Nashville for their state government trip in March.

The class, shown at left with Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers, participated in a mock session, visited the Tennessee Fusion Center, toured the Capitol and Supreme Court, and met with Comptroller Justin P. Wilson and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 class. For more information, contact the Chamber at (865) 457-2559 or visit www.andersoncountychamber.org.

CONTACT Care Line has annual flea market Friday, Saturday

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CONTACT Care Line has its annual flea market on Friday and Saturday.

You can bring donations to First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge on from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, April 3, or from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 4.

The flea market is from 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 4 (buy at twice the price), and from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 5.

The First Baptist Church is at 1100 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Call the CONTACT office at (865) 312-7450 for earlier pick-up of large items.

ORHS Class of 1984 has 30th reunion in July

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The Oak Ridge High School Class of 1984 has scheduled a 30th Reunion Celebration for July 18-20. All 1984 ORHS graduates are asked to save these dates on their calendar and help spread the word to others, a press release said.

Class members who have not already received e-mail notification should contact Lynda Van Winkle at lvw@akcountrygirl.com to be added to the distribution list.

An evening event will take place at the Doubletree Hotel on Saturday, July 19.

Additional activities, including a tour of the renovated ORHS campus and a family picnic are currently being planned. All 1984 graduates are encouraged to participate in a weekend of great fun catching up with old classmates, a press release said.