Note: This story was last updated at 5:38 p.m. March 6.
Eight of the 10 Applewood Apartments buildings could be demolished, and a new apartment complex could replace them under a plan proposed by an Alabama company.
The project, proposed by Huff Management Company of Opelika, Ala., is a “strong candidate” for a potential tax credit, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson said. He said Huff Management has a contract with the present owner, Knoxville attorney Joe Levitt.
Chuck Spencer
Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.
The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.
Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.
But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.
The automatic federal spending cuts set to start taking effect Friday could result in $23 million in budget cuts at the Tennessee Valley Authority, a spokesman said Wednesday.
But the federal spending cuts—also referred to as sequestration—would probably not lead to temporary layoffs at the public utility, TVA spokesman Duncan Mansfield said. The federal cuts would trim $85 billion from defense and domestic spending for the rest of the fiscal year.
“We anticipate that we would not have to do furloughs, and we would be able to manage that through head count attrition,” Mansfield said. “At this point, we are not seeing an immediate impact.”
Members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church have purchased this 4.6-acre site in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building on Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo courtesy of Jake B. Morrill)
The members of a heavily used church on busy Oak Ridge Turnpike have found a new home, part of a neighborhood exodus to make way for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center in the heart of the city.
Members of the Oak Unitarian Universalist Church had agreed in September to sell their current building and 3.6 acres at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Robertsville Road in a deal arranged by commercial developers Blanchard and Calhoun Commercial.
On Wednesday, roughly five months later, congregation members announced they had purchased a 4.6-acre parcel at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Laboratory Road, in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.
Pictured above are, standing, Avon Rollins, director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, and Jim Little, participant in the 1963 March; and, seated, are Helen Ashe, Love Kitchen director and founder, and Ellen Turner, Love Kitchen manager. They shared their thoughts on the 1963 March on Washington at ORNL’s Black History Month celebration event. (Photographer: Curtis Boles)
The theme of this year’s Black History Month activities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington.”
The lab had a Black History Month speaker event last week.
Proceeds from this year’s activities, including a soul food tasting, are being donated to the Love Kitchen. The committee presented a check for $3,000 to the Love Kitchen, and donations are still coming in, ORNL said.
Anderson County EMS director Nathan Sweet, left, recognizes Roane State student Amber Kennedy at the Anderson County Commission’s Feb. 19 meeting. (Submitted photo)
Anderson County Emergency Medical Services recently recognized a Roane State Community College student who provided assistance during a medical emergency.
EMS director Nathan Sweet honored Amber Kennedy of Sunbright during the Anderson County Commission’s Feb. 19 meeting. Kennedy is a waitress at Ruby Tuesday in Oak Ridge.
Last December, a customer collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Kennedy—who had taken a safety, first aid, and CPR course at Roane State’s Morgan County campus—stepped forward and administered CPR.
Robert Hatcher
A University of Tennessee scientist and professor on Thursday will discuss geology, petroleum resources in Tennessee, and the use of “fracking”—hydraulic fracturing—as a drilling tool.
The lecture by Robert Hatcher, a professor in the UT Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will start at 7 p.m. Thursday at Roane State Community College. Presented by the UT Arboretum Society, the program is free and open to the public.
The Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the City of Oak Ridge are sponsoring a 28th Annual Arbor Day Observance on Friday.
The ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m. at Willow Brook Elementary School, will also mark the 25th year that Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Tree City USA.
Information from WYSH Radio
The Tennessee Department of Transportation will spend more than $1.2 million to make safety improvements on Highway 116, also known as New River Highway, in Anderson County’s Briceville community.
After a string of accidents, including some fatalities, on the rural road, local officials began trying to find ways to prevent them in the future and those efforts paid off last August when a team of TDOT officials joined Anderson County commissioners Tim Isbel and Zach Bates, members of the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department, and deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department on a tour of the 11-mile stretch of road from Frost Bottom to the Campbell County line.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted against the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary on Tuesday.
Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, was confirmed in a 58-41 vote, ending a nearly two-month battle that included an unprecedented filibuster against the nominee.
“I consider Chuck Hagel a patriot,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. “But he is not the right person to lead the world’s largest military organization in these dangerous times.”
Myron Iwanski
Note: This story was updated at 1:40 p.m. Feb. 27.
Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski said the speech given by Mayor Terry Frank on Monday contained some “false and misleading” information.
Frank held a press conference at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Monday, saying she had to respond to accusations that she was taking advantage of taxpayers by using a county car and accepting travel payment.
In her speech during the press conference, Frank said the $400 per month that Anderson County Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts has accused her of receiving is not travel money. Instead, it is a salary supplement that was added to the mayor’s salary back in 1988 when David Bolling was county mayor, Frank said.
Cheryl “Shelly” T. George
In celebration of Black History Month, the Oak Ridge Chapter of Blacks in Government is sponsoring the Annual BIG Scholarship Luncheon on Thursday, a press release said.
It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.
The keynote speaker will be professor and author Cheryl “Shelly” T. George. She will discuss the 2013 Black History Month theme “Honoring Freedom: 150 Years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 Years after the March on Washington.”
