Ridge City Ramblers
Anderson County Democrats are having a public rally and picnic at 6:30 p.m. today to celebrate the start of early voting Friday.
The rally and picnic have been moved from Gibbs Ferry Park to the Claxton Elementary School cafeteria because of the weather.
Four businesses in the county-owned David Jones Industrial Park have filed a lawsuit against Anderson County and the Anderson County Economic Development Association over the proposed relocation of the Glen Alpine Convenience Center.
Plans call for the convenience center to move from its current site on Seivers Boulevard in Clinton to a parcel of land in the industrial park, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
The plaintiffs in the suit are Carton Services, GWDU Leasing Inc., CMH Inc. and Seneca Medical Inc., WYSH said. They are seeking a temporary injunction preventing the move and seeking to rescind the County Commission’s vote from earlier this year to amend the covenants prohibiting trash collection sites in the park.
Two people have been arrested, and authorities are seeking a third suspect allegedly involved in a Craigslist rental scam involving a home on West Wolf Valley Road in Claxton, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said today.
More than a dozen victims responded to a Craigslist ad about renting the home, and they reportedly left deposits with a person they thought owned the home, but didn’t, White said in a press release.
He said the victims discovered the scam when some of them tried to move into the house.
Doc Hastings
A U.S. House committee approved a bill today to set up a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge.
In the works for years, the park would also include facilities in Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M.
The legislation, H.R. 5987, can now be considered by the full House.
Terry Frank
Warren Gooch
Like their counterparts running for Oak Ridge City Council, the two candidates running for Anderson County mayor disagreed on the use of tax incentives to assist commercial developments.
Warren Gooch, an Oak Ridge Democrat, said one type of tax incentive known as tax increment financing, or TIF, is “a tool that can be used to spur retail development.”
It has been used in Oak Ridge to help the developers of Woodland Town Center, a commercial project on South Illinois Avenue that will include an Aubrey’s restaurant and Panera Bread.
Chuck Hope
Trina Baughn
One candidate seemed more willing than the other to use tax incentives to spur commercial development in Oak Ridge, but neither appeared ready to build a senior center.
A difference also emerged between the two Oak Ridge City Council candidates, Chuck Hope and Trina Baughn, on paying off the debt on the $66 million renovation of the city’s high school.
Hope, owner of Chuck’s Car Care Center, called the question over whether higher Anderson County sales tax revenues should be used to help pay that debt the “800-pound gorilla in the room.”
“That’s our biggest divide,” he said. Sales tax revenues in Oak Ridge need to be increased to help solve the problem, Hope said.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved $450,000 worth of tourism and economic development contracts.
The city’s tourism agency, the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, got a slight increase in city funding compared to last year. Its new one-year contract is worth up to $410,000, up from a maximum of about $404,000 last year.
The second contract, valued at $42,000, is with economic development consultant Ray Evans.
Chuck Fleischmann
Paul Ryan, a top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, has endorsed Rep. Chuck Fleischmann in his re-election campaign, the congressman announced Tuesday.
Ryan is a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate. He is perhaps most well-known for developing a budget plan supported by Republicans and bashed by Democrats.
An Anderson County committee has unanimously recommended that Rouse Construction Co. of Knoxville be awarded the contract to build a 240-bed pod to help ease overcrowding at the Anderson County jail.
Rouse had submitted a bid of $9.66 million, the lowest of six proposals received, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has a forum tonight for Anderson County and Oak Ridge political candidates.
The forum starts at 7 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. It will feature candidates for Anderson County mayor, property assessor, County Commission District 8, School Board District 3, and Oak Ridge City Council.
Mark Watson
Oak Ridge City Council gave City Manager Mark Watson a 1.5 percent pay raise Monday and extended his contract by two years.
Council had been expected to consider a proposal, developed after committee and Council meetings, to have the city reimburse Watson for tuition and textbooks as he pursues a doctorate at the University of Tennessee. But Watson had withdrawn that request after a public outcry.
Council rejected a proposal by Council member Anne Garcia Garland to remove a provision that would pay Watson a cash equivalent for accrued emergency leave as part of his severance package.
Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties in Oak Ridge has its first distribution dates for its annual school supply program for low-income families on Tuesday, July 10, and Wednesday, July 11.
These dates are for Willow Brook students since they return to school earlier.
This program ensures that children from low-income families in Anderson County have the supplies needed to start school. Last year, almost 1,500 children were given necessary supplies such as backpacks, crayons, pencils, paper, scissors, notebooks, and basic calculators, according to an ADFAC press release.
