The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church has a free community meal this evening, a press release said.
It’s the Stone Soup Ministry meal, and it’s held the last Friday of every month in the Social Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Church. Food for the free monthly meal is provided by the ORUUC congregation with financial help from Oak Ridge community members. [Read more…]
A new fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex would enclose this field near the entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads, and the nonprofit organization that organizes demonstrations and vigils here plans to challenge the fence.
After three trespassing incidents involving five people in the past year, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced plans on Thursday to extend the boundary fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex along Scarboro Road.
The new fence will be relatively close to the road, an NNSA spokesman said. A field traditionally used for protests near the Y-12 sign at the entrance on Bear Creek Road would be behind the fence. The new fence would run along Scarboro Road from Bear Creek Road to New Hope Road, and it would also enclose New Hope Center, which is often used for public events.
The new fence, which would run along the U.S. government property line, is expected to be in place by April 4, the NNSA said.
“Events of the past several months have shown that there is a greater threat of trespassing on the site, and the costs for responding to this threat are increasing,” the NNSA said in a Thursday afternoon press release. “Y-12 is taking conservative and appropriate measures to make such illegal actions more difficult.” [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge municipal staff has posted yellow “Danger” signs on units at four Applewood Apartment buildings on Hunter Circle.
A few days after a city board declared them unfit, the Oak Ridge municipal staff posted yellow “Danger” signs on four Applewood Apartment buildings on Hunter Circle, officials said.
Posted on Tuesday, the placards say the 48 apartment units have been deemed unfit for human occupation or use, said Denny Boss, Oak Ridge code enforcement supervisor. The notices cannot be removed until the structures are repaired or demolished.
Joe Levitt, the Knoxville attorney who owns the apartments, disagrees that they are dangerous.
“The buildings are in satisfactory engineering and architectural condition,” he said Thursday. “There’s no question about that.” [Read more…]
Clifton Truman Daniel
The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association is hosting journalist Clifton Truman Daniel, oldest grandson of former U.S. President Harry S. Truman, at a special speaking engagement at 7 p.m. Thursday at the New Hope Center.
Tickets to the lecture are $20, but the ORHPA is providing complimentary tickets to school teachers and their families, a press release said. [Read more…]
Note: This is an edited version of a letter submitted by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn at a March 25 work session.
Mr. Watson and Fellow Council Members:
At our last retreat, I proposed that we each share our specific positions regarding the Economic Diversification Fund. A successful economic development strategy must focus on both retaining and increasing business and residents with a primary goal of establishing a more competitive financial position. For Oak Ridge, that means becoming a more affordable place to live and work. With that in mind, I present my point-by-point response to Mr. Watson’s Eight Point Economic Statement:
1) I support the city manager’s proposal to eliminate this fund and distribute the costs within the general fund if that distribution includes some reduction and/or reallocation of funds to the direct benefit of our taxpayers. Of the $1.4 million we currently spend, I recommend that we attribute half toward a reduction in the property tax rate (the equivalent of 7.7 cents). Such a reduction will benefit every existing and future business and home owner. [Read more…]
Students at two local schools spent the past month patiently awaiting a potential classroom-altering announcement, and last week their patience was rewarded.
ORAU made surprise classroom announcements and presented each a $5,000 grant as runners-up in the 2013 Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. Courtney Batchelor, an eighth-grade teacher at Lake City Middle School in Anderson County, and Kristan Headrick, a sixth-grade teacher at Coalfield School in Morgan County, will use the grants to purchase technology to outfit their classrooms. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to many calls each day and provides a variety of services to residents throughout the city. One of the keys to providing successful services to citizens is having the best plan possible ahead of time, a press release said.
In addition, one of the most important pieces of home fire safety is having a home escape plan, and the Fire Department said it would like to work out a plan ahead of time for residents who have special needs and would need additional assistance evacuating their house in the event of an emergency. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and local law enforcement agencies have announced a partnership designed to reduce traffic fatalities in East Tennessee.
In a Friday press conference at the Knoxville office of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Steve Dillard, East Tennessee Law Enforcement Liaison Officer for the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, reported an increase in fatalities last year in four East Tennessee counties: Anderson, Blount, Campbell, and Sevier. During the last five years, Anderson County alone has averaged 11 fatal crashes per year, with 13 fatal crashes in 2012, a press release said.
In response, Dillard and GHSO Director Kendall Poole outlined traffic safety activities for the next six months in the four counties. Authorities will focus on impaired and distracted drivers, and those violating speed limit and seatbelt laws. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge National Laboratory honored seven small businesses and their supporters at its annual small business awards ceremony on March 22. The winning firms were nominated by ORNL staff in recognition of the companies’ exceptional service during the 2012 fiscal year.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and John Hale, deputy director of DOE’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, were guest speakers at the breakfast event. [Read more…]
Roy Herron, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, will be guest speaker at a Thursday meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Party.
It’s the party’s annual chili supper and potluck, and it starts at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Claxton Elementary School Cafeteria. [Read more…]
Bill Haslam
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday said he will not expand TennCare rolls under the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, the governor said, he wants to use federal dollars as part of a plan to purchase private health insurance for Tennesseans who would not otherwise have access to coverage.
In a Wednesday press release, Haslam called his plan “real health care reform.” [Read more…]
A tax break recommended by an Oak Ridge board on Monday could help a parts manufacturer more than double the size of its plant and add 20-30 workers, an executive said.
The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board endorsed the five-year, 100 percent property tax break for Protomet—which makes marine, automotive, and homeland security equipment—in a special meeting Monday.
But Oak Ridge City Council member Anne Garcia Garland suggested there could be some opposition later. She said residents want to know why Protomet, which has become successful with the help of one tax abatement, should receive another. [Read more…]
