Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Coal Mining Museum board wants to buy former Lake City bank building

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Note: This is a copy of a letter sent to Anderson County Commissioner Robin Biloski, who chairs the Operations Committee. During a Monday, Aug. 12, meeting, the committee will consider a request to buy the former Bank of America building in Lake City for services on the north end of the county and to house a coal mining museum.

The Board of Directors of the Coal Mining Museum in Lake City would like to encourage the Anderson County Commission’s Operation Committee to approve the purchase of the building formerly occupied by the Bank of America in Lake City in order to provide county services to the residents of north Anderson County and a home for the Coal Mining Museum.

The Coal Mining Museum has been looking for a home for several years. It is currently housed in the Lake City Community Center, which does not provide adequate space to display all of the artifacts. [Read more…]

Letter: UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, which was built to enrich uranium during World War II.

Note: This is an edited copy of a letter that UCOR President Leo Sain sent to company employees on Aug. 1.

To All UCOR Employees:

As we begin our third year on the job here at East Tennessee Technology Park, I want to thank everyone for an outstanding two years.

I am so very proud of this workforce. Our performance has been truly spectacular in every way. K-25, one of our nation’s largest deactivation and decommissioning projects, is nearly on the ground, and we’ve begun pre-demolition work in K-27 significantly ahead of schedule. We’ve disposed of over 120,000 cubic yards of waste while safely traveling over 1.5 million miles. [Read more…]

Letter: Open discussion of bullying is encouraging

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To the Editor:

I was fortunate enough to attend the Knoxville Police Department’s anti-bullying summit on July 30 at the Expo Center on Clinton Highway. The main message given at the summit was summarized really well by the headline in the Knoxville News Sentinel the next morning: “Expert: Confront, rehab bullies.”

Dr. Steve Edwards, a former teacher and school principal, talked about methods he developed in which he would get to know the bullies in a school and find out their interests and what they felt was wrong in their school experience. He would then engage them in some way in helping the school. He said also that bullies often have leadership qualities which need direction. [Read more…]

Letter: Country musician Tracy Lawrence plays at December fundraiser for Oak Ridge firefighters

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To the Citizens of Oak Ridge,

My name is Austin Keathley, and I am the president of the Oak Ridge Firefighters Association.

I would like to give some information about our concert fundraiser. This fundraiser has been a part of our organization for the past three years. The tickets are sold over the phone. This is done by employees of our association that work out of the Knoxville Firefighters Association’s office. The tickets are then mailed from the same location. You receive the tickets and then mail back your payment.

There are two shows per year: one is oldies in June, and the other is country in December. The calls have begun for the country show in December. The artist is Tracy Lawrence with special guest Rick Huckaby. [Read more…]

Letter: A very bright object (schools) sighted in Oak Ridge

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To the Editor:

Spotted: A very bright object sighted in Oak Ridge.

I am referring to the Oak Ridge school district. All four elementary schools, both middle schools, the high school, the preschool, and the alternative school. I am referring to every teacher, parent, student, and community member that works to make this school system an astounding success. I am referring to the number of high school graduates that go on to successful careers. I am referring to the very bright future ahead for students that attend the Oak Ridge school district.

It is easy to throw stones and try to tear something down. It is easy to blame a “system” for failure, to point fingers at mistakes, to shout obscenely out loud, and cause a fuss in a community. It is easy to cry “wolf” to the crowd. It is not easy to constructively work for change, toward goals of improvement, to help make something great even better. [Read more…]

Letter: ORPSEF thanks contributors to Dreams and Innovations

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Deirdre Barrett and ORPSEF Foundation

Deirdre Barrett, right, is pictured above with Alice Feldman, Linda Young, Anne Garcia Garland, and Margaret Gottshall. (Submitted photo)

To the Editor:

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation would like to extend its thanks to all who contributed to the Dreams and Innovation program honoring Oak Ridge teachers who received Foundation grants for the 2013-2014 school year.

Our thanks and appreciation goes to:

  • B&W Y-12, which provided the location, New Hope Center, for the celebration attended by more than 150 people. B&W Y-12 also provided assistance with sound and information technology for the event.
  • Aubrey’s Restaurant, one of Oak Ridge’s newest restaurants, for providing appetizers for the event.
  • Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc. (MCLinc), which provided booths for the event.
  • Deirdre Barrett, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, author, psychologist at Harvard Medical School, and graduate of Oak Ridge High School. She spoke on the theme of the event, describing how dreams contribute to innovation and problem solving, relating research from her book, “The Committee of Sleep.”
  • The Oak Ridge public schools teachers who provided demonstrations of materials and programs funded by past Education Foundation grant awards, showing how students have benefitted.
  • Oak Ridge JazzCats and Michelle Hairston, who provided entertainment during the event.
  • The ORPSEF board of directors, for their support for this event. [Read more…]

Letter: Thanks Barbara Ferrell and team for another great Lavender Festival

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To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Barbara Ferrell for all the hard work she put into pulling together another successful Lavender Festival this year. Judging from the crowd and the number of venders I witnessed on Saturday, I would venture to guess that the 15th annual event was the best yet. Barbara and her great team of volunteers are to be commended for their hard work and dedication to this community!

As a corporate sponsor for the Lavender Festival for several years, Cowperwood Company is proud to be associated with an event that celebrates good food; arts and crafts; great local entertainment; and locally grown herbs and produce. But more importantly, we are proud to be involved in an event that celebrates our great community by bringing people together for a common purpose. It seems we sometimes get caught up in the mess of making sure the city continues to prosper, and, as in most communities, we tend to “stake our sides and dig our heels in” on very important issues. So the Lavender Festival is a great opportunity for us to be involved in celebrating all that is good about Oak Ridge! [Read more…]

Letter: Cutting alternatives to incarceration may save money now, but will cost more later

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To the Editor:

Is it wise to downsize the Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) program? Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank wants to cut funding for this program by 80 percent. The program was intended to reduce the jail population by focusing on drug addiction in particular, thus preventing the need for building more expensive jail space in the future.

For those who have not kept up with these developments, the ATI program was put in place in Anderson County a year ago by Mike Baker, a longtime officer in the Iowa corrections system. His analysis of Anderson County’s constantly increasing number of jail inmates points to several problems, one of which is “recidivism” (when a former prisoner returns to jail).

He commented that “Anderson County has a tremendously high recidivism rate. When I looked at the jail stats this morning, the average number of ‘priors’ for the 348 inmates incarcerated was nearly 10, while the average age of the inmates is 31. Those numbers indicate that inmates between the ages of 18 and 31 are being arrested on average nearly once each year.” [Read more…]

Letter: Pays taxes but often doesn’t have access to wheelchair accessible parking

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To the editor:

The most troubling thing about the American with Disabilities Act civil rights laws is that there is no enforcement.

By this, I mean a way to show the public why certain logical decisions were made to benefit the public.

As an example: new and modern businesses are being built, but no one stops to thank the architect or craftsman for including these ADA civil rights regulations on paper.

Today, I ate at Zaxby’s, a chicken drive-through. Guess what they had? The correct ADA handicapped parking for wheelchair users. The city did their job by issuing a business license. A great addition to the Oak Ridge community. [Read more…]

Letter: Thanks Council for donating city lot to Habitat

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To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Oak Ridge City Council who voted in favor of donating a city-owned lot to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County (HFHAC). The board of directors, staff, and volunteers of HFHAC are incredibly excited and grateful to have the opportunity to partner with the City of Oak Ridge on our next building project.

We consider this a historic opportunity for community building through a true public-private partnership. As the City of Oak Ridge takes over blighted properties, HFHAC would like to offer our assistance at returning them to a taxable status. In 2011, Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County homeowners combined paid over $115,000 in city and county property taxes, supporting crucial services. [Read more…]

Letter: Fond memories of EVC prom, ‘An Evening with the Stars’

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To the Editor:

What a night May 11 was for over 100 individuals served through Emory Valley Center in its mission to enhance the lives of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities!

Maggie and Andy Owen, supported by many volunteers, led the charge to hold EVC’s second Prom, “An Evening with the Stars.” This year’s theme was a Hawaiian Luau, with decorations, food, and personal photos all relating to a fun adventure for our individuals.

The Y-12 National Security Complex graciously donated New Hope Center for our individuals to enjoy this evening in a way they had never experienced. Donations to underwrite costs by local businesses and private sponsors were greatly appreciated to make the evening possible. We are so fortunate to have the dedication of the Owen’s family and their circle of volunteers to help the Center further its quest for person-centered activities for those we are dedicated to support. Feel free to visit our website, www.emoryvalleycenter.com, to relive that night with photos, which I know will bring a smile to your face.

Robin Biloski

Development Director

Emory Valley Center

Letter: Recommends Anderson County establish fire district

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To the Editor:

This month’s Operations Committee meeting included discussion on a proposed resolution that would disqualify any fee- or membership-based fire department from participating in Anderson County’s annual appropriations plan for major asset purchases. Under the current agreement, property taxes fund equipment purchases for both the municipal and volunteer fire departments on a yearly rotational basis.

According to current state statutes, local governments have only two options available to fund or contribute to the county fire departments. Either a county fire district is established, whereby a separate account is created (for funding purposes), which allows for oversight and accountability, or the source of funding is limited to a donation which allows little input from the legislative body. [Read more…]