Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Vote for Nolan if you support schools, teachers, students

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To the Editor:

Like many of you, I received a campaign postcard promoting the re-election of Rep. John Ragan. My first reaction was, “Who are these kids?” Obviously, with their emblazoned uniforms, they did not look like students I know from Anderson County, Clinton, or Oak Ridge schools.

Look at the fine print on the postcard, and you’ll see it’s paid for by the Tennessee Federation for Children PAC. This is a Washington D.C.-based group that spends lavishly to pass unlimited school voucher legislation. Its ally is the controversial Michelle Rhee’s Students First that gave Ragan an award last year for his efforts to dismantle public education. They later rescinded it after an Oak Ridge resident launched a petition drive that garnered 57,000 signatures from people protesting Ragan’s efforts to legislate bigotry.

My question to voters is this: Whose interests is Ragan representing? The answer is clear: Out-of-state interests seeking to exploit our children for their own profits. [Read more…]

Anderson County Commission approves budget, tax rate unchanged

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Anderson County Commission in June 2014

The Anderson County Commission is pictured above during a June meeting. (Photo by Sara Wise)

CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 during a special meeting Tuesday. The budget will not raise property taxes in the county.

Commissioners Tracy Wandell, Rick Meredith, Zach Bates, Jerry White, and John Shuey did not attend, but the other 11 commissioners voted unanimously to approve the budget. Commissioners had called the special session during their June meeting.

Under the budget approved Tuesday, the Oak Ridge property tax rate will remain at $2.347 for every $100 of assessed property value, while property owners in Clinton will continue to pay $2.50 per $100 value. All other property owners in Anderson County pay $2.529 for every $100 of their assessed property values. [Read more…]

Guest column: Anderson County election ballot explained

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Submitted

The August 7 ballot for the state primary and local general election will be an important and complex ballot. You will find three main sections to the ballot.

First will be the state and federal primary, second will be the county general election, and third will be the retention questions for Tennessee Supreme Court judges and appellate court judges.

The first eight offices on the ballot are the contests for the state and federal primary election. They are governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate, Tennessee House of Representatives, and state executive committeeman and committeewoman. These eight offices are the ones a person must declare whether they are voting in the Democratic or Republican primary.

After these eight offices come the candidates for the Anderson County general election. It does not matter which party primary you selected to vote in, Democrat or Republican, you are now free to vote for the candidate of your choice no matter to which party you belong. The county general election offices are: [Read more…]

Clinton’s July 4 includes family fun, food, music, fireworks

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The city of Clinton’s annual July 4 event starts at 5 p.m. and ends with fireworks at 10 p.m. at Lakefront Park.

The city said there will be activities for the whole family, including a 68-foot Army Boot Camp Obstacle Course, bounce house, three-lane mega water slide, bungee run, home run baseball game, and module combo with water slide. All of those attractions will be available to the public at no charge. There will be free laser tag as well for those kids up for the challenge, the city said on its website.

There will be several food vendors set up in the lower Lakefront parking lot. A corn-hole tournament will start at 7 p.m., with registration beginning at 6 p.m. Trophies will be awarded for first and second place. [Read more…]

Anderson County sheriff warns of jury duty fraud scam

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Paul White

Paul White

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is warning the public about a phone scam involving a claim of missed jury duty and a request to buy a money order to pay fines.

In a Thursday night press release, the Sheriff’s Department said it has received a report of a man who placed a phone call to a victim and identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy. The scammer informed the victim they have missed jury duty, and he asked them to buy a money order to pay the fines. He then asked the victim to meet him to pay and avoid going to jail. This scam has apparently been attempted in Anderson County and in the Clinton area.

The caller ID of the scammer shows “Warrants Division,” but that is fake and this is a scam, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in the press release.

“This is the same scam that has been circulating this week in Knox County,” he said. “There are several variations of scams targeting our area. The callers are claiming to be officers with various law enforcement agencies and are collecting funds for missed jury duty or outstanding warrants. In most of the scams, the caller request that funds be paid by purchasing either a prepaid credit card or money order.” [Read more…]

Clinton to receive Municipal League award for police service

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Clinton Police Department Badge

Clinton will receive a Tennessee Municipal League award for police service during a conference in Chattanooga on Tuesday, a press release said.

The 2014 Tennessee Municipal League Achievement Award for Excellence in Police Service will be presented at 8 a.m. Tuesday during TML’s 75th Annual Conference at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga.

The award is being presented in recognition of the city’s efforts to provide a model police department to the community, the release said.

“A culture of planning, caring and excellence; it’s what takes a municipal Police Department from ordinary to outstanding,” the release said. “And the Clinton Police Department is all that. A model of efficiency and outreach, officers—several with advanced specialty degrees—strive to provide the utmost in community service and training to area schools and other agencies, while being good stewards of the community resources. An extraordinary focus on communication among the department’s command staff is reflected in the city’s reduction in crime rate.” [Read more…]

No change in Anderson County property tax rate, officials say

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Anderson County Commission in June 2014

The Anderson County Commission is pictured above during its Monday night meeting. (Photo by Sara Wise)

CLINTON—The property tax rate will remain unchanged in Anderson County in the fiscal year that begins July 1, officials said.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and the Budget Committee had both presented a no-tax-increase budget, and on Monday, the Anderson County Commission set the property tax rate for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

The tax rates for the new fiscal year will stay the same as the rates for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Property owners within the city of Clinton will pay $2.50 per $100 of assessed value on their property, Oak Ridge property owners will see a tax rate of $2.347 per $100, and property owners in Lake City, Oliver Springs, Norris and unincorporated areas of Anderson County will pay $2.529 per $100 of assessed value.

While Anderson County Commission voted to approve the tax rate resolution, the legislative body has not yet approved an operating budget for the new fiscal year, the Anderson County Mayor’s Office said in a press release. [Read more…]

Guest column: Anderson communications center very busy during Tuesday storm

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Anderson County Commission and Mark Lucas

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas is pictured above at right during a special County Commission meeting in November. Also pictured are Anderson County Commissioners Rick Meredith, center, and Jerry White.

To All:

(Tuesday) evening was very, very busy. From 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., our communications center received 589 telephone calls, of which 143 were on 911. The overwhelming number of calls were between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., when 365 calls came to our dispatch center. Of these 365 calls, 109 were on 911.

Comparing to last Tuesday from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., we received 156 total telephone calls, of which 20 were on 911. The two-hour period from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. last week was only 41 total calls, of which five were on 911.

For the entire shift from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., that was a 288 percent increase. For the two hours from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., the increase was 790 percent.

We had four communications officers working (Tuesday) when the storm hit. A fifth came into work on her own to help out. Many of these 911 and non-emergency calls required dispatching of emergency personnel from law enforcement, fire, or EMS. Others required notifications to the state and county highway departments and the utility companies. It was non-stop for hours. [Read more…]

WYSH: Storm damage follow-up; EF0 tornado confirmed in Kingston

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Mike Marsh Home Storm Damage

One of several pictures showing the storm damage Tuesday to the home of Mike and Wanda Marsh on Timbercrest Drive in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy Mike Marsh)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The National Weather Service has confirmed the powerful storms that rolled through the area on Tuesday included an embedded tornado in Kingston.

Officials with the NWS office in Morristown assessed the damage and said an EF-0 tornado touched down along 3rd Street in Kingston. The winds of an EF-0 tornado are around 65-85 miles per hour.

The NWS said the widespread damage throughout East Tennessee was almost entirely from straight-line winds and down-bursts. Kingston is the only site suspected of sustaining tornado damage.

The Weather Service says straight-line winds estimated at 80 mph packed a destructive punch in Clinton, which appeared to bear the brunt of the damage from Tuesday’s severe weather. [Read more…]

American Legion has fundraiser, flag disposal ceremony on Saturday

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Submitted

The commander of Clinton American Legion Post 172 would like to invite everyone to an open house fundraiser and flag disposal ceremony on Saturday, June 14.

The open house fundraiser will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., with the flag disposal ceremony at 12 p.m. at the American Legion Post home at 436 Spring Street in Clinton. The fundraiser is to help the American Legion Post raise funds to help the veterans of Clinton and Anderson County, and the flag ceremony is designed to ensure the proper disposal of all worn U.S. flags in accordance with the U.S. flag code.

Anyone interested in attending these events is welcome. Anyone having old, worn U.S., state, or any other type of flag that needs to be disposed, can drop them off at the office of the director of Anderson County Veteran Services in Room 114 of the Anderson County Courthouse, or bring it to the ceremony on Saturday, June 14.

Oak Ridge: 4,000 lose power, 70 homes damaged

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Wadsworth Circle Home Tree

One of two trees that fell on a home on West Wadsworth Circle. The second tree, visible on the ground in the background, punched a hole in the roof and displaced a mother, grandmother, and two children.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2:40 p.m.

Roughly 4,000 customers lost power in the Tuesday evening storm, and about 70 damaged homes will require repairs by an electrician before power can be restored, an Oak Ridge official said Wednesday morning.

Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs said he doesn’t recall ever having 70 homes damaged in one storm, although the Electric Department has experienced worse storms when many utility poles were broken. But the brief, fierce Tuesday storm, which brought severe winds and driving rain, was significant in terms of its damage to homes and its far-reaching nature, from Blair Road on the west end of town to east Oak Ridge and beyond—into Clinton and Anderson County, Suggs said.

“It was pretty widespread,” Suggs said.

Janet Bowker on Plymouth Circle and Storm Debris

Janet Bowker, left, walks through debris on Plymouth Circle in front of her home, where a tree fell into her bedroom during the Tuesday evening storm. Her home is at right but not visible in this picture. There were no injuries, but Bowker does not have power now.

 

The storm, which ripped through Oak Ridge at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, left a trail of debris: scattered branches and limbs, broken trees, fallen power lines, and damaged buildings and homes. It also triggered a flood of calls to the city’s 911 call dispatch center.

About 500 customers remained without power around noon Wednesday, including the 70 damaged homes. [Read more…]

DA: Crime rate in Anderson County drops seven consecutive years

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The crime rate in Anderson County has dropped for seven consecutive years, District Attorney General Dave Clark said.

Crime in Anderson County was down by 10.1 percent in 2013, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation numbers, Clark said in a recent press release. Crime in the county is down by more than 37 percent in the past seven years, he said.

“There are thousands of fewer crimes in Anderson County now, as compared to 2007,” Clark said.

“This is great news for the people of Anderson County because we are safer from crime and can enjoy the benefits of having a crime rate that is below average for the state,” Clark said. “This is also great news for recruiting good industry and retail jobs to Anderson County and a variety of other benefits. [Read more…]