Information from WYSH Radio
Early voting for the November 4 general election in Anderson County begins Wednesday, October 15, and runs through Thursday, October 30.
Early voting hours Monday through Friday will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Clinton Community Center, the Midtown Community Center in Oak Ridge, and at the North Anderson Government Office in the Anderson Crossing Shopping Center in the Norris/Andersonville area. [Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m.
Ten candidates have qualified to run for Oak Ridge City Council in the November 4 municipal election, and there are nine candidates for Oak Ridge Board of Education—a total of 19 candidates.
It’s the largest field of candidates in recent memory, and it’s not immediately clear when, or if, there has been a field as large.
The deadline to qualify as a candidate in this fall’s municipal elections in Anderson County was noon Thursday.
There is a mix of incumbents and newcomers in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Rocky Top (Lake City), Norris, and Oliver Springs.
In Oak Ridge, two incumbents, including Mayor Tom Beehan and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller, are not seeking re-election. Meanwhile, the other two incumbents whose terms expire this November, Anne Garcia Garland and David Mosby, are running for another four-year term.
In addition to Garcia Garland and Mosby, the other Oak Ridge City Council candidates are:
The Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Wall wall is 31 feet long and includes the names of more than 1,000 miners.
WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Here are pictures from the dedication ceremony for the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial on Saturday and the groundbreaking ceremony in November.
Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.
Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.
WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Today, it’s home to giant wind turbines that tower high above the Tennessee Valley and off-road vehicles that race up and down its gravel roads and steep slopes.
But 50 years ago or more, this mountain a few miles north of Oliver Springs was home to as many as 700 coal miners and their families. The mines have been closed for decades, but the memories have lived on, mostly in fond recollections and old black-and-white photos.
Pictured above are Carl Lively, right, who started working in a mine in Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs in 1939, when he was 16, and Manuel Tinker, who was born on top of the mountain and later worked in the mines.
Now volunteers are taking action to help preserve the history of the miners and their families. As part of that effort, they unveiled a Windrock Coal Miners Memorial wall on Saturday. It includes the names of more than 1,000 miners who once worked on the mountain.
The red brick-and-granite wall has been under construction for about six months, and several hundred people turned out for Saturday’s dedication ceremony at Lower Windrock at the end of Windrock Road, about three miles from downtown Oliver Springs. Some wept softly as they gently caressed the names of their loved ones on the memorial wall. Others proudly posed for pictures. It was an important day for many.
“It’s one of the greatest things that’s every happened to me, to see this,” said Carl Lively, 91, who started working in the mines on Windrock Mountain in 1939 at the age of 16. “We’re happy as we can be today.” [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
During Thursday’s meeting of the Town Council, Oliver Springs Mayor Chris Hepler asked council members to accept a letter of resignation from Alderman James Brummitt, who has decided to resign his seat on the Council, effective immediately.
Brummitt, who also serves as chairman of the Roane County Commission, had served three terms on the Oliver Springs Town Council.
The mayor did not offer any specific reason for Brummitt’s decision to step down, but it’s been clear to many observers that he and new City Manager Tina Treece have differed on several policies and procedures since she replaced David Bolling. [Read more…]
The U.S. Department of Energy recently appointed seven new members to its Oak Ridge Environmental Management advisory board.
The new members fill vacancies on the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, a volunteer citizens’ panel that provides advice and recommendations to DOE on its environmental cleanup operations on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
The new members include Alfreda Cook, Chris Hepler, Bruce Hicks, Jennifer Kasten, Jan Lyons, Donald Mei, and Scott Stout, a press release said.
