Oak Ridge Today

Gillenwaters running for Anderson County trustee

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Scott Gillenwaters

Scott Gillenwaters

 

Scott Gillenwaters, vice chair of the Anderson County School Board and former Anderson County commissioner, has announced he is seeking the Republican nomination for Anderson County trustee.

Gillenwaters has served eight years on the Anderson County School Board. Currently, he serves as the vice chair and chairs the Budget Committee, a press release said. He has attained a Level IV Boardsmanship Award from the Tennessee School Board Association, the press release said.

Prior to his election to the School Board, Gillenwaters was elected to two terms on the Anderson County Commission, where he was the chair of both the Operations and Legislative Committees, the press release said. During his time on Commission, he was appointed parliamentarian by the Commission twice and served on various other committees. He also served as a regional board member for the Tennessee County Commissioners Association. [Read more…]

Yager wins special election for Anderson County Commission, District 8

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Phil Yager

Phil Yager

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:05 a.m.

Phil Yager beat two other candidates to win a seat on Anderson County Commission in District 8 in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The special election for the District 8 seat was held along with the county general election and state and federal primaries on Thursday, August 4. District 8 includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts in Oak Ridge.

Yager finished with 542 votes, compared to 239 for Angeleque McNutt and 227 for Myra Mansfield, according to unofficial results posted on the Anderson County Election Commission website.

The final results from all 27 precincts, plus early, absentee, and write-in ballots, were posted at 10:41 p.m. Thursday. [Read more…]

School board rescue: Bell saves life of Martin

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Don Bell

Don Bell

Don Bell, an Anderson County School Board member, used his Red Cross training and the Heimlich maneuver to save the life of Gail Martin, a former School Board member, during a recent meal at Applebee’s in Oak Ridge.

Bell was honored by the Anderson County Board of Education on Thursday. He has also been recognized at Anderson County Commission meetings.

On Thursday, Bell said Martin choked on a piece of steak during the meal at Applebee’s about a month-and-a-half ago. She grabbed her throat and started turning blue, Bell said.

Bell had taken Red Cross training near the end of his career at Oak Ridge Schools. He is certified in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, an emergency technique that uses abdominal thrusts to help clear someone’s airway. [Read more…]

Anderson County Commission candidates at forum Thursday; Roane County forum on July 19

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Voter Registration Month

The League of Women of Voters of Oak Ridge will present two forums featuring candidates on the ballots in the August 4 elections in Anderson and Roane counties. The first forum, featuring candidates for Anderson County Commission, District 8, is tonight (Thursday, July 14).

Tonight’s forum will be held at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College in Room-111. It starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14.

Three candidates are running to fill the unexpired term of Robin Biloski, who resigned from her District 8 in Oak Ridge in August 2015. The three candidates are Myra Mansfield, Angeleque McNutt, and Phil Yager. McNutt was appointed to the seat by Anderson County Commission in August, and that appointment was to last through the county’s general election this August.

District 8 includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Aug. 4 ballot: Competitive races for Congress, AC Commission in Oak Ridge

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Voter Registration Month

The ballot is set for the August 4 county general election and state and federal primary elections. The competitive elections include the Republican and Democratic primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Third Congressional District, which includes Oak Ridge, and the race for one of two seats in Anderson County Commission’s Eighth District, which includes the Woodland, Hendrix Creek, and Emory Valley precincts in Oak Ridge.

There is also competition for two seats on the Anderson County School Board, one in the Third District and the other in the Fifth District.

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, an Ooltewah Republican, is the incumbent in the House’s Third Congressional District. He has two opponents in the Republican primary on August 4: Allan Levene and Geoffery Suhmer Smith. (Signs for Fleischmann and Smith have both recently been posted in Oak Ridge.)

There are also three Democratic candidates on the ballot for U.S. House, Third District. They are Michael Friedman, George Ryan Love, and Melody Shekari.

The Republican winner will face the Democratic winner in the November 8 federal general election. [Read more…]

AC School Board OKs raises for employees

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Larry Foster

Larry Foster is director of Anderson County Schools.

Information from WYSH Radio

Thursday night, the Anderson County School Board unanimously approved pay raises for some 600 certified employees of the school system and about 400 classified employees.

Certified staff will receive a $1,000 raise, which equals about 2 percent.

Classified staff will receive a 48-cent-per-hour raise, which equals about $1,000 for all 260-day classified staff as well.

School officials point out that some staff members do not work the 260-day-a-year schedule, so their raise will not equal $1,000. [Read more…]

Steve Fritts seeks re-election to Anderson County School Board

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Steve Fritts

Steve Fritts

Steve Fritts is seeking re-election to the Anderson County School Board in District 7, which includes the Pine Valley, Glenwood, and Highland View precincts in Oak Ridge.

Fritts, who has lived in the district since his youth, was first elected in 2010, a press release said.

Fritts graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1967, and he was an All-State football player, the release said. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in history. Fritts also served as captain of the Vanderbilt Commodore football team in the early ’70s.

Fritts worked as a carpenter until his retirement and was a member of Local 50. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission, School Board candidates at Thursday forum

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Candidates in contested races for Anderson County Commission in Districts 6, 7, and 8 in Oak Ridge, and for Anderson County School Board in District 7 have been invited to take part in a Thursday evening forum.

The candidates are expected to speak and answer questions. The unopposed candidate for School Board in District 6 will be introduced.

The forum starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It’s been organized by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters has Anderson, Roane candidate forums in July

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The League of Woman Voters of Oak Ridge will have three candidate forums in July, two for Anderson County candidates and one for Roane County candidates.

The first Anderson County candidate forum will be on Tuesday, July 15. It will feature candidates for Anderson County offices and judicial positions. The second forum will be on July 17, and it will feature Oak Ridge candidates for the Anderson County Commission and Anderson County School Board. Both forums will start at 7 p.m., and they will be held in the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater. ORHS is located at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Roane County candidate forum will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, in the Roane State Community College City Room, A111. This forum will feature candidates for Roane County offices and judicial positions and candidates who would represent Oak Ridge districts on the Roane County Commission and School Board. RSCC is located at 701 Briarcliff Ave. in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

AC school board gives director new contract, raise

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, the Anderson County School Board voted to award Director of Schools Larry Foster a new contract that runs through June 30, 2017. Foster has indicated he would like to retire at the end of the new contract.

The new deal raises his annual salary to $128,000, increases his number of vacation days to 20, and provides up to $4,000 a year for school-related travel expenses, up to $1,000 a year for continuing training, and up to $3,500 a year to cover the dues in professional organizations and subscriptions to academic publications.

Foster has been director of schools since 2009.

Anderson County school board honors high school staffers who saved girl

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Information from WYSH Radio

During Tuesday’s Anderson County Board of Education meeting, a group of teachers, principals, and other staff members were honored for saving a student’s life.

Last month, Brittany Overton went into cardiac arrest in the school courtyard before classes began. On Tuesday, leaders honored the crew of teachers, principals, and staff members that helped bring her back to health. Overton attended the School Board meeting. [Read more…]

Anderson County school security good, improving

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Information from WYSH Radio

During a joint workshop between the Anderson County Commission and the Anderson County School Board on Thursday, schools’ security director Joe Fogerty outlined security measures already in place across the system and discussed future plans for school security.

Fogerty told a large crowd in the Clinton Middle School auditorium that there are currently eight uniformed, armed school resource officers and a DARE officer patrolling the county’s two high schools, four middle schools and alternative school, and those officers are available to answer calls at the nearby elementary schools. Fogerty also said that there are currently 259 surveillance cameras in nine of the county schools and that similar cameras are being installed on school buses.

[Read more…]