Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Motorcyclist thanks medical responders, travelers, THP Trooper Kennedy

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Note: This letter was submitted by John Such. He was part of the motorcycle group involved in one of the two crashes that injured eight people on Interstate 75 near Rocky Top on Saturday morning.

I was part of the mororcycle group yesterday involved in the crash on I-75. The semi crash happened immediately after the bikes went down. Cars traveling southbound stopped to either look and/or offer assistance to our riders down. The semi that was unable to stop crashed into traffic that had slowed down or stopped.

I can’t thank all those medical responders and travelers who offered hope, encouragement, water—anything they could to comfort all those in need. [Read more…]

Letter: McNutt an involved citizen, small business owner with desire to serve District 8

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To the Editor:

I would like to ask other District 8 voters to join me in supporting Angeleque McNutt for County Commissioner.

While I certainly don’t want to discredit the other candidates who are running for this seat, and I appreciate their willingness to be involved in our county operations, I do feel that Angeleque has handled herself in a professional, informed, and non-confrontational manner since she was appointed in August 2015, and has proven herself to be a quick study on the issues affecting Anderson County, and in particular District 8.

In addition to her sworn duties as our District 8 representative, she has also demonstrated her desire for a deeper level of involvement through her participation in several committees within county government, as well as her general involvement in many community events/activities throughout Anderson County. [Read more…]

Letter: Yager has experience, education, volunteer spirit for District 8 seat

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To the Editor:

I am writing this letter in support of Phil Yager, candidate for County Commission in the Eighth District. In the past year, I have come to know Phil, and having attended the recent Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Candidates Forum and listening to Phil discuss his experience, education, and volunteer spirit, he is the best candidate to represent our district on the Anderson County Commission.

Phil and his wife have been homeowners in Oak Ridge since 2006. He has a B.S. degree in Business Administration and has had a 30-year career in the investment industry. His background in financial management will be a great asset to the County Commission. He also has experience in the areas of mediation and arbitration, having served as Director of Mediation and Arbitration for the Better Business Bureau. This position gave him experience in conflict resolution and will enhance his ability to work with other commissioners and city, county, and state official to facilitate positive opportunities for our residents. [Read more…]

Letter: Yager’s experience, education help make him best-qualified for AC Commission

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To the Editor:

We support Phil Yager for Anderson County Commission’s Eighth District. Phil has a long list of experience, education, and attributes that make him easily the best-qualified candidate in this election.

In the area of finance, his B.S. degree in Business Administration coupled with 30 years of work in financial management and investment give him a great background for making wise and prudent decisions about budgets and fiscal decisions. Phil’s work as Director of Mediation and Arbitration for the Better Business Bureau give him insight into the importance of making impartial and fair decisions after careful consideration of multiple sides of an issue.

To say that Phil Yager cares about the community he lives in is an extreme understatement. In the 10 years that he and his wife have owned a home in Oak Ridge, he has amassed an impressive list of boards and organizations that he has been appointed to or has joined. Included in this group are the Industrial Development Board, the Board of Housing Code Appeals, the City Charter Review Committee, and the Site Specific Advisory Board. He also has volunteered in various capacities with Emory Valley Center and the Emory Valley Center Foundation; the Rowing Association; Keep Anderson County Beautiful; United Way of Anderson County; and Neighborhood Watch. [Read more…]

Chief Deputy Lucas thanks community for support of Sheriff’s Department

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Mark Lucas

Mark Lucas

To the Anderson County community:

These are difficult times for the law enforcement profession. Since July 1, 10 officers have lost their lives in shootings. Two others died from vehicular assaults and two more from car crashes. Many others have been hurt or injured while performing their duties. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all officers that have died or been injured in the line of duty.

Our deputies are reminded to always be vigilant as they go about our duties—perhaps even into harm’s way—something they do every day without hesitation. Being safe and going home to their families at the end of the shift must remain foremost in their thoughts.

We have received many messages from our community extending their support for us, thanking us, and praying for our deputies. We are blessed to have a good relationship such as this in Anderson County. This is a direct result of what our deputies do—and how they do it—every single day. Our community supports us, and we support them. [Read more…]

Column: Oak Ridge Elks celebrate 70 years, $1 million in charitable donations

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By John Calvert

Oak Ridge Lodge Number 1684 of the Benevolent and Protective Order for Elks, or BPOE, is celebrating its 70th birthday this week. The lodge was formally chartered on July 11, 1946.

Many people have probably passed by the local lodge located at the corner of Emory Valley Road and Briarcliff Avenue many times and wondered: Who are the Elks and what do they do?

Oak Ridge Lodge 1684 is one of the nearly 2,000 BPOE lodges located across the country that have a combined membership of nearly 800,000 members. The Elks organization was founded in New York City on February 16, 1868, under the name “Jolly Corks” by 15 actors, entertainers, and others associated with the theater. In ensuing years, membership expanded to other professions.

The Order spends more than $80,000,000 every year for benevolent, educational, and patriotic community-minded programs. These may be in such fields as benefiting physically handicapped children, sponsoring Elks National Foundation scholarships, scouting, athletic teams, veterans’ works, a national “Hoop Shoot” free-throw contest involving more than three million children, physical and occupational therapy programs, and patriotic programs. For many years the Elks were second only to the federal government in the dollar amount of college scholarships awarded annually. [Read more…]

Letter: Pleased to announce sale of Oak Ridge City Center to RealtyLink

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To the Editor:

We are pleased to announce the sale of Oak Ridge City Center to RealtyLink. This is the moment that everyone has been waiting for, and finally, the transition of the Oak Ridge City Center Mall will begin. RealtyLink is a great company and will be a fantastic partner with Oak Ridge throughout the process.

As sellers, we want to extend our greatest appreciation to the leadership of Oak Ridge and to the citizens of Oak Ridge for your patience and commitment to helping realize the highest potential of this important property.

This could not have happened without the vision and tireless efforts of Mayor Warren Gooch and the elected officials; Mark Watson, Kathryn Baldwin, and the city staff; Parker Hardy, Chamber of Commerce; and the behind-the-scenes efforts of Ray Evans. We have all been at this a long time, and without everyone’s support, this important day for Oak Ridge would not have been possible. [Read more…]

Letter: Asked Council to proceed with caution on AMSE transfer

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Note: This letter was sent to Oak Ridge City Council members before the Monday evening vote on a property transfer resolution related to Main Street Oak Ridge and American Museum of Science and Energy.

Members of Oak Ridge City Council:

I have several questions regarding the proposed transfer of the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) land and surrounding property to the newest mall developers. My questions arise from 45 years of tax-paying residency in Oak Ridge, and decades of hearing  many eventually broken promises about mall redevelopment.

(1) What will happen to the Museum? The AMSE has been a showcase (somewhat faded in recent years due to DOE neglect) for Oak Ridge’s proud history. With the advent of the Manhattan Project National Park, its significance would seem to be enhanced. It will take  years for the National Park Service to finalize its plans and perhaps develop a local headquarters for the park, and so the Museum would appear to be especially important now. If the mall developers do take possession, will the Museum simply be bulldozed, in the hope of attracting more retail establishments? Given the city’s previous experience with organized retail development, I can easily imagine a large pile of bare dirt sitting undisturbed for decades, perhaps with an abandoned rusty earthmover on top, where we once had a monument to our history and scientific leadership, and a resource for teachers and tourists. [Read more…]

Letter: Community Mediation appreciates support, enthusiasm at Big Ed’s Golf Tournament

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To Oak Ridge Today:

Community Mediation Services of Anderson County deeply appreciates the support and enthusiasm of golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and the Oak Ridge Country Club at the 15th Annual Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament.

Thanks to you, at-risk youth and families in Anderson County continue to have a way to peacefully resolve difficult issues with solutions they themselves determine. The golf tournament also honors Big Ed Neusel and David Neusel and their legacy of giving much to others while seeking recognition from none.

We look forward to seeing you in 2017 on the last Friday in April at the 16th Annual Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament. [Read more…]

Opinion: A tale of three cities

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By Trina Baughn

As we delve into what could be the last city budget I work on as a council member, I reflect upon both the state of the city and my contributions thus far. I could boast that, during my tenure, no property taxes were raised, and we’ve reduced total debt levels. However, those claims would be misleading given that council has so steeply expanded their reach into your pocket by other means. In fact, council is considering doing that very thing, yet again, with this budget. More on that in a moment.

Property taxes and debt paint only a partial picture of a city’s financial health. While both are very important, consideration must be given to their utility and return on investment. For many years, I have published in-depth analyses of some of the major expenditures that have brought us to the point we are today, such as:

  • How you were sold a $40 million high school that will, in the end, cost you over $126 million.
  • The fact that the city, not the EPA, was at fault for your water and sewer rates doubling in only a few short years, thereby incurring $33 million worth of debt on top of  the $24 million we’d already spent to avoid the EPA mandate.
  • An accounting of the $10 million you’ve paid on a golf course you were assured would pay for itself but hasn’t and won’t for many more years to come, if ever.
  • Your annual $175,000 subsidy (compare to Farragut, which only spends $15,000) of a Chamber of Commerce that is largely made up of nonprofits, government organizations, and non-Oak Ridge businesses that regularly pressure council to increase your property taxes.
  • Frequent disclosures of excessive, non-essential spending such as a $275,000 parking lot, a $1 million fountain, a $300,000 bathroom and much, much more.
  • How crony capitalism has run amuck, forcing you to offset the extensive corporate welfare the city doles out on your behalf.
  • Demonstrating that you are likely overpaying for your trash services with Waste Connections, which is charging less in communities where they had to compete.
  • Reminding you of the broken promises of Partners for Progress, which cost you $15 million on the failed Rarity Ridge/Horizon Center development 16 years ago and warning of similar pitfalls in the $13 million mall TIF (tax increment financing).
  • And, because half of your property taxes fund our schools, I frequently challenged our superintendent and school board when they would demand more of your money on the grounds that, in spite of being the one of the most heavily funded systems in the state, much of your money is not making it into the classroom where it belongs.

Some will view the above examples through a different lens if they rely upon what they see around town. We have certainly seen an uptick in eateries, and we can all appreciate the aesthetic value of some of the new developments. Those new developments have, however, displaced some pre-existing businesses, leaving us with an abundance of vacant properties. [Read more…]

Myers: Community should do more to honor former Wildcat Jennifer Azzi

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Jennifer Azzi

Jennifer Azzi, left, is pictured above in this photo from a gold medal celebration in 1996. (Photo courtesy David Clary via Alex Myers)

 

Growing up in Oak Ridge, I learned quickly that the folks here love their high school athletics. All it takes is one trip to historic Blankenship Field on a fall Friday night to get a sense of how this town feels about sports.

However, recently it’s occurred to me that there has been a terrible injustice to one of our own. One of Oak Ridge’s most decorated athletes has gone relatively unrecognized to my generation.

Jennifer Azzi is the athlete I’m talking about. From right here in Oak Ridge, Azzi graduated and went on to play Division One basketball at Stanford. While at Stanford, she compiled a list of accomplishments that would impress any sports junkie. Helping Stanford to win their program’s first women’s basketball national championship, Azzi was also named Final Four MVP. While this alone should be enough for her to be celebrated around town, Azzi didn’t stop there. She was named the 1990 Naismith National Player of the Year, and for those who are unaware, that’s essentially college basketball’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy. Azzi was also named Pac 10 player of the year for the 1989-90 season. She was a two time Kodak All-American for her play during the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

Azzi went on to be an eventual first-round draft pick in the WNBA draft.

And if that didn’t make your jaw drop, here’s the icing on the cake. In 1996, Azzi helped make not only East Tennessee proud, but her country proud as well when she and her teammates on the USA Women’s National Basketball Team won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta. Let’s face it, she wasn’t good; Jennifer Azzi was simply amazing. [Read more…]

Opinion: Making positive strides in elementary literacy

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Oak-Ridge-Schools-Keys-Fillauer-March-28-2016

Keys Fillauer

By Oak Ridge Board of Education

We have been reading a lot lately about the dire straits of reading instruction and students’ abilities in reading, especially at the early grades. Although there are challenges, there is also momentum to make positive impacts on students’ reading proficiencies in all grades.

What is happening with elementary literacy?

Two school years ago, the state changed (for the better) the English Language Arts and math standards to make them more rigorous in order to ensure that Tennessee high school graduates will be better prepared in the future for college and careers. Most public schools welcomed the change because the former standards just weren’t serving Tennessee students well. However, changing standards also meant changing state assessments.

In Oak Ridge, we saw a drop in our elementary reading results on state exams after these changes. The drops in reading results were especially evident with our economically disadvantaged students.

Oak-Ridge-Schools-Bob-Eby-March-28-2016

Bob Eby

For us, this was and is unacceptable. We believe that all students can succeed, and we have expanded our literacy initiative as a result. This literacy initiative includes providing additional time and support starting in kindergarten all the way through high school to students who struggle in reading. We have trained reading specialists who provide intensive instruction to struggling students. We have a summer bookmobile program that is expanding to multiple elementary schools in order to help reduce summer reading setback. We have professional development for teachers on improving reading and writing instruction in the classroom, and we have purchased research-based materials to support them. In addition, we have recently been provided an opportunity to work with the Carnegie Foundation and the Tennessee Department of Education to systematically analyze our early literacy efforts in order to improve student outcomes. This work will begin in April 2016 and will last through September 2018.

But what about testing? [Read more…]