Chuck Fleischmann
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann said he is shocked and disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of a health care overhaul that includes an individual insurance requirement.
“In my view, the entire law was unconstitutional,” said Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge.
The decision was announced Thursday morning. The justices voted 5-4 to leave in place the basic provisions of the controversial health care overhaul.
It is illegal to set off fireworks in Oak Ridge or even have them, city officials said Thursday, a week before July 4.
The Oak Ridge Police Department can arrest anyone who has fireworks or sets them off, a city press release said.
Two candidates for Anderson County mayor sparred over their support for the U.S. Department of Energy during a Tuesday forum at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
Democrat Warren Gooch said Republican Terry Frank has a low regard for DOE and has said so publicly.
But Frank said Gooch had mischaracterized her position.
For the second year in a row, Clinton officials have approved a budget that does not include a property tax rate increase.
However, it does give 103 municipal employees a 2 percent pay raise, City Manager Roger Houck said Wednesday.
Two nonprofit organizations have released the testimony they are submitting to Congress this week for hearings on a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan will testify at a Senate hearing at 3 p.m. today on behalf of the nonprofit Energy Communities Alliance. His testimony is available here.
The nonprofit Atomic Heritage Foundation has also released its testimony to the Senate and House, where Y-12 National Security Complex D. Ray Smith will testify at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The House testimony is available here, and the Senate testimony is available here.
Former Lake City Mayor Virgil E. “Buck” Wilson died Sunday at the North Knoxville Medical Center in Powell. He was 83.
Wilson was a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Korean War and later served two terms as Lake City’s mayor, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
Girls Inc. has received a $46,000 state clean energy grant to replace the roof at the former National Guard Armory on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Tennessee officials have announced a $46,164 clean energy grant to Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge to replace the roof at the former National Guard Armory.
The roof renovations will prepare Girls Inc. to complete other projects at the building on Oak Ridge Turnpike, such as installing a solar panel array and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, lighting, and energy-efficient windows, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in a press release.
The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has scheduled two forums in July for political candidates in Anderson and Roane counties.
The first forum starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, at the Clinton Community Center. Participants could include candidates for Anderson County mayor, property assessor, County Commission District 8, School Board District 3, and Oak Ridge City Council.
The second forum starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 12, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room. The forum could feature candidates for Roane County offices including property assessor, road superintendent, school board districts 5 and 6, as well as the two Oak Ridge City Council candidates.
Congressional hearings on bills to set up a Manhattan Project park that includes Oak Ridge can be watched online Wednesday and Thursday.
A Senate hearing on the bills that starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday can be watched live at http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/live-webcast, the nonprofit Atomic Heritage Foundation said in a press release.
A House hearing that starts at 10 a.m. Thursday can be watched at http://naturalresources.house.gov/Live/.
State authorities are investigating a midnight joyride by two Stardust Marina employees who wrecked a tenant’s personal watercraft on Norris Lake this past weekend, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
The workers allegedly took a watercraft belonging to one of the marina’s tenants and crashed it into a floating sign anchored along the marina harbor’s “no wake” line, WYSH reported.
Oak Ridge Utility District Operations Director Jeff Patterson, center, explains a new compressed natural gas fueling station to Breakfast Rotary Club members. (Photo by Nick Morris)
Oak Ridge Utility District has installed a compressed natural gas fueling station behind its office on South Jefferson Circle to power a growing fleet of vehicles that can run on natural gas or conventional fuel.
ORUD already has a Ford Fusion car and an F-150 truck that can use either fuel, and a second truck will be converted this week, General Manager Ben Andrews said.
Mayor Tom Beehan will testify before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, advocating for a Manhattan Project national historical park that would include Oak Ridge.
Beehan will represent Oak Ridge and two other Manhattan Project cities—Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M.—as well as the nonprofit Energy Communities Alliance.
He will testify before the National Parks Subcommittee on a bill filed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat. That bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, would set up a national park for Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Los Alamos.
