Oak Ridge Today

New citizens group will serve as county government watchdog, spokesman says

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Anderson County General Sessions Flagpole

Lynn Byrge, back left, spokesman for a new political study group in Anderson County, watches above as Brad Heun, right, commander of Oak Ridge Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Leon Jaquet, director of Anderson County Veterans Office, raise the flag on a new flagpole at the General Sessions Courthouse in Oak Ridge in September.

A new community organization formed to study contentious political issues in Anderson County will be modeled after the PolitiFact fact-checking website, a spokesman said Monday.

The group of Anderson County residents is called Friends of Anderson County Taxpayers, or FACTs, spokesman Lynn Byrge said in a press release. The release said members are concerned about county spending, debt, and the threat of property tax increases.

The formation of the new group comes just before the start of what is expected to be a busy election year in Anderson County, with candidates already announcing they’re running for election or re-election on county commission and for various seats ranging from juvenile court judge to chancellor to sheriff.

Byrge, who helped lead the effort to install “In God We Trust” signs on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, said FACTs has already organized study groups around specific areas of concern, including county commission’s legislative process, the sheriff’s department’s burgeoning budget, the role of the county law director, and the responsibilities of the county mayor. [Read more…]

DOE announces new investment in small modular reactors

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mPower Containment

Conceptual drawing of an underground containment structure housing two B&W mPower reactor modules. (Image courtesy B&W)

The U.S. Department of Energy last week announced a second round of funding for small modular reactors.

The first award, announced earlier this year, provided support to Babcock and Wilcox Co. through a program that could result in small modular reactors at the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor site in west Oak Ridge. In November, B&W announced it had already invested more than $360 million in that project, and the North Carolina company was looking for investors and possibly majority owners.

DOE said the new award was given to Oregon-based NuScale Power LLC to support a new project to design, certify, and help commercialize innovative small modular reactors in the United States.

The department said the reactors could provide clean, safe, and cost-effective nuclear energy, and build on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to “continue America’s leadership in clean energy innovation.” [Read more…]

House-passed budget could avoid second shutdown; Senate may vote this week

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

A bipartisan budget bill being considered in Congress could avoid a second government shutdown and provide relief to federal employees and government contractors in Oak Ridge, including at the Y-12 National Security Complex, which was prepared to furlough up to 3,600 workers during the first shutdown in October.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a budget bill that could avoid a second government shutdown in mid-January, a development that will likely offer some relief to federal employees and government contractors in Oak Ridge—and to the businesses that support them.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, said he supported the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 in the House on Thursday.

“Tonight, the House took a modest step toward reforming spending and setting our government on a more stable path,” said Fleischmann, a second-term congressman whose district includes Oak Ridge.

But the bill still has to pass the deeply divided Senate, which is preparing to take up the budget bill this week. The Washington Post reported that Democrats are still trying to come up with the 60 votes necessary to break a GOP-led filibuster in the Senate. [Read more…]

ETEC presents 2013 Muddy Boot Awards

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On Friday, the East Tennessee Economic Council named three new recipients of the Muddy Boot Award: Bill Biloski, Ray Smith, and Barry Stephenson.

The Muddy Boot Award is a tribute to people who, through their work and community activities, make East Tennessee a stronger region.

Also Friday, ETEC presented two Postma Young Professional Medals to husband and wife Colin and Sherith Colverson.

The council’s annual celebratory event was keynoted by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. [Read more…]

Colversons win 2013 Postma Young Professional Medals

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Sherith and Colin Colverson were presented the 2013 Postma Young Professional Medals on Friday for their outstanding accomplishments at work and in the community, a press release said.

The Postma Medal was created by the East Tennessee Economic Council to honor the accomplishments of young professionals who have made an impact and fostered a community culture in the region. Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory director Herman Postma epitomized this spirit during his life, and his wife Pat continues the tradition of service today through her involvement in the Oak Ridge community, the press release said.

Pat Postma and Tim Myrick presented the awards to the Colversons at ETEC’s annual meeting on Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel. [Read more…]

String of beer permit hearings ends with no action against three restaurants

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Lincoln's Sports Grille

The city’s beer board took no action against Lincoln’s Sports Grille on Monday, the board’s third show cause hearing of the year for the restaurant and bar on South Illinois Avenue.

The city’s beer board ended an unusual string of hearings for local restaurants and bars this year by taking no action in its last two meetings. Most of the hearings were called after establishments sold beer to a minor during a state sting in March, but a few were related to bar fights.

The final show cause hearing, held Monday, was called after a Nov. 2 fight at Lincoln’s Sports Grille on South Illinois Avenue. The fight started after a highly intoxicated North Carolina man who had refused to pay his bar bill “came after” a male acquaintance who volunteered to cover his tab, the restaurant manager and police officers said.

The previous two show cause hearings in November were for Aubrey’s and Ruby Tuesday, which both sold beer to a minor during a March 18 compliance check by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The two restaurants were among seven establishments cited for selling alcohol to a minor after that sting. The other five were Applebee’s, Hacienda DeGollado, Hidalgo, Lincoln’s, and Moose Lodge No. 1316. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Christmas Parade still on—rain or shine

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Oak Ridge Christmas Parade

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade is at 6 p.m. Saturday. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade will take place rain or shine Saturday evening, officials said.

The parade is organized by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and it starts at 6 p.m. Saturday.

“According to the hour-by-hour forecast, the rain should be out of here before the parade takes place—keep your fingers crossed!” the chamber said.

This year’s theme is “Inside Santa’s Workshop,” and the parade promises to provide spectators with plenty of music, lights, and beautiful floats, a press release said. [Read more…]

State trooper, former marshal running for Anderson County sheriff

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Anthony Lay

Anthony Lay

An Anderson County man who is a state highway patrolman and former federal deputy U.S. marshal has announced he is running for sheriff.

Anthony Lay is seeking the Republican nomination for Anderson County sheriff in May 2014.

Lay is an officer with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, a press release said. He has served as Scott County sheriff, and when he was 33, was appointed as a federal U.S. marshal in Atlanta.

Lay returned to Anderson County to help his parents after his father suffered a health event, the release said.

“I am announcing my candidacy out of my love for public service and the people who live here,” Lay said in the press release. “Anderson County is a wonderful place to live and work, and the people of Anderson County deserve a safe community and leadership they can trust.” [Read more…]

Report: Child hit by car escapes with scrapes, bruises

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A child who was hit by a car on Johnson Road on Wednesday appeared to escape serious injury, according to a police report.

The accident happened at about 4 p.m. Wednesday at Jay Lane, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said.

The report said the 10-year-old darted out from behind a parked car and was hit by an eastbound Chevrolet Impala driven by a 63-year-old Oak Ridge woman, who was not injured.

The child was knocked to the ground and had scrapes and bruises, but the parents declined transport or treatment, according to the report by ORPD Officer Benjamin Haines. The report said the injuries were “non-incapacitating,” or non-disabling.

City officials clash over Secret City Festival spending costs

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Rick Springfield at Secret City Festival

The Rick Springfield concert at the Secret City Festival in June was the largest ever for the annual festival, an organizer said.

Debate over the costs of the Secret City Festival—and whether the city can afford a $160,000 “party” every year—was briefly renewed again on Monday.

The sometimes-rancorous debate came up as the Oak Ridge City Council considered whether to approve two resolutions laying the financial foundation for the June 2014 festival.

Early in the debate, Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn moved to reallocate the Secret City Festival money and use it instead for a school resource officer in each middle school, or two SROs total.

But Council member Charlie Hensley said Baughn was essentially asking the city to take money it would collect from festival sponsors and use it instead for SROs.

“I think that’s fraudulent,” Hensley said. [Read more…]

Feds, local law enforcement dismantle $17.5 million cocaine trafficking ring

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Federal officials on Thursday announced they had dismantled a Knoxville-based cocaine ring that is accused of trafficking $17.5 million worth of drugs and distributing more than five kilograms of cocaine and 280 grams of crack cocaine.

A federal grand jury returned a 58-count indictment on Dec. 3 against 21 Knoxville residents, charging them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, money laundering, and gun charges, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release.

The 21 members of the alleged drug ring appeared in court before U.S. magistrate judges this week and entered pleas of not guilty to the charges in the indictment, Killian said. All of them have been ordered held without bond pending trial, which has been set for Feb. 11 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

Among the law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation were the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Roane County Sheriff’s Department, Killian said. [Read more…]

Alexander, Feinstein introduce bill to stop cell phone calls on planes

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander on Thursday introduced legislation to prohibit cell phone conversations on commercial airline flights, a possibility the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to consider today (Thursday).

“Keeping phone conversations private on commercial flights may not be enshrined in the Constitution, but it is certainly enshrined in common sense,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. “This legislation is about avoiding something nobody wants: nearly two million passengers a day, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch-wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, is an original cosponsor of the legislation. [Read more…]