Oak Ridge Today

Spotlight: Leadership Anderson County visits state government in Nashville

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Leadership Anderson County Nashville Trip

The Leadership Anderson County Class of
2014 recently visited Nashville on a state government trip.
Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers are also in the photo with the class. (Submitted photo)

Leadership Anderson County Class of 2014, a program of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Leadership Anderson County board of directors, visited Nashville for their state government trip in March.

The class, shown at left with Rep. John Ragan, Sen. Randy McNally, and Rep. Dennis Powers, participated in a mock session, visited the Tennessee Fusion Center, toured the Capitol and Supreme Court, and met with Comptroller Justin P. Wilson and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 class. For more information, contact the Chamber at (865) 457-2559 or visit www.andersoncountychamber.org.

Nolan, a state House candidate, has meet-and-greet on Thursday

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Caitlin Nolan

Caitlin Nolan

Caitlin Nolan, a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives, has a meet-and-greet on Thursday in Clinton.

It’s scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at 364 Market St. in Clinton.

Nolan is challenging the incumbent, Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge, in the Aug. 7 Republican primary in the state’s 33rd District. The 33rd District includes Oak Ridge, Clinton, and most of Anderson County.

Visit www.caitlinnolan.com for more information.

Tennessee House gives Rocky Top go-ahead

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WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

On Monday, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted unanimously to allow Lake City to change its name to Rocky Top. The House bill sponsored by Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge passed 89-0.

The name change is seen as a necessary first step toward turning the former coal mining town into a tourist destination, taking advantage of its two exits off of I-75. Plans currently call for an interactive 3-D theater, a restaurant, a water park and a hotel, as well as other attractions.

The state Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the companion bill to the House version, which is being sponsored by Sen. Randy McNally of Oak Ridge. If the Senate approves the measure as expected, the Lake City Council will have to vote again on the name change to ratify the private act that was endorsed Monday by the state House. [Read more…]

K-25: Large, flat, close to ORNL, interstate—good for economic development

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Gov. Bill Haslam Visits ETTP/K-25

Sue Cange gives Gov. Bill Haslam, right, an update on the almost-completed demolition of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. Cange is deputy manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Also pictured are Leo Sain, left, president of cleanup contractor UCOR, and Jeff Tucker, UCOR deactivation and decommissioning manager.

It was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs. Then, it helped win the Cold War. Now, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge presents a giant opportunity for economic development in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam said during a tour last Friday.

“We have a real interest in what happens here,” Haslam said in a short meeting with reporters before getting a brief update on the demolition of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The governor said the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, has 2,000 flat acres with infrastructure already in place, including roads and rails, and it’s three miles from Interstate 40 and seven miles from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory.

“We don’t have that opportunity in a lot of places,” Haslam said. “Finding 2,000 flat acres in East Tennessee is virtually impossible.” [Read more…]

Breakfast with Legislators on Monday

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The Tennessee General Assembly is halfway through this year’s legislative session, and important bills are in committee or being brought forward for vote. On Monday, you have a chance to ask local legislators about the issues during the March Breakfast with the Legislators.

The breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The public is invited, and a free continental breakfast will be served, a press release said.

Numerous issues impacting the education system are on the legislative agenda, including vouchers, charter schools, Common Core standards, and textbook commission composition, a press release said. Among the bills being considered are changes to lobbying law, the eligibility for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), and the distribution of information relating to the Affordable Care Act and other child health programs. [Read more…]

Rocky Top name change advances

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he has draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the state legislature.

Information from WYSH Radio

A legislative proposal that would allow Lake City to officially change its name to Rocky Top will soon be debated by the Tennessee House of Representatives.

On Thursday, the House Calendar and Rules Committee voted to put the plan, also known as HB 1469, on the House’s agenda for Monday, March 31.

This comes after The House of Bryant Publications filed a lawsuit against the city to stop the name change. The House of Bryant owns the trademark to the song “Rocky Top.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Saint Patrick’s day thoughts

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John Ragan

John Ragan

About 1,500 years ago, pirates forced a teenage boy from his home in Britain and enslaved him in pagan Ireland. He lived there six years, toiling at the whim of his masters. His name was Patrick.

Patrick’s masters believed they had the right to demand his labor and services whether he agreed or not. He was their slave. But Patrick rebelled against the injustice of bondage, escaping and completing a perilous journey back to his home.

Years later, he answered a call to the clergy and nobly returned to the land of his enslavement—on a mission to spread Christianity. His preaching and life example were so powerful that, by popular approval, he came to be regarded as the patron saint of Ireland. That regard and tradition continue to this day. [Read more…]

Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top challenged in federal court

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 in November to change the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan said he has draft legislation to approve the name change to introduce in the state legislature.

Note: This story was last updated at 6 p.m.

The Gatlinburg publisher of “Rocky Top”—a bluegrass tune, state song, and unofficial anthem for the University of Tennessee—filed a federal lawsuit on Monday that seeks to prevent Lake City from changing its name to Rocky Top as part of a plan to turn the former coal mining town into a tourist destination.

The publisher, House of Bryant Publications LLC of Gatlinburg, also owns many Rocky Top trademarks, and it believes that the proposed name change for Lake City “is an attempt to unfairly exploit the fame and goodwill of House of Bryant’s intellectual property,” according to a press release from Waddey Patterson, an intellectual property law firm based in Nashville.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday. The defendants are Lake City, Rocky Top Tennessee Marketing and Manufacturing Co., Anderson County Commissioner Tim Isbel, Franklin resident Brad Coriell, Lake City businessman Mark Smith, Lake City Vice Mayor Michael Lovely, and Knoxville resident Carl “Buddy” Warren. [Read more…]

YAB, Youth Leadership take educational trip to Nashville

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Youth Advisory Board on Nashville Trip

Members of both groups are pictured above in the State Senate Chamber with Sen. Randy McNally and Rep. John Ragan. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board and Youth Leadership Oak Ridge groups combined forces and took an educational trip to Nashville on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

While in Nashville, students attended a state committee meeting and participated in a mock Senate session led by Sen. Randy McNally and Rep. John Ragan, a press release said. The group also toured the State Capitol Building, the Tennessee State Museum, and LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.

For more information about the Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board, contact Matt Reedy with the Recreation and Parks Department at (865) 425-3442. For more information about the Youth Leadership Oak Ridge group, contact Greta Ownby at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at (865) 483-1321.

Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday

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The second Breakfast with the Legislators of 2014 is on Monday morning.

The Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville has been in session since Jan. 14, a press release said.

“Bills dealing with election laws, Common Core Standards, Medicaid expansion, charter schools, Hall Income Tax, and the Affordable Care Act are being considered,” the release said. “Breakfast with the Legislators provides a forum to get to know key legislative decision makers and to ask questions on issues moving forward in state government.”

Monday’s monthly breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served. [Read more…]

Lake City to Rocky Top: Bill clears first hurdle

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Lake City Rocky Top Meeting

A standing-room-only crowd assembles to watch the Lake City Council vote 4-0 in November to recommend the town’s name be changed to Rocky Top.

Legislation that could clear the way for Lake City to be rechristened Rocky Top cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday as it was approved by the Tennessee House of Representatives’ Local Government Committee in Nashville.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge, is a private act requested by Lake City officials as the first step toward developing Lake City and its two exits off I-75 into a tourist destination.

Developers say that without the name change, the project—which could include a theater, a restaurant, and other amenities—cannot move forward. [Read more…]

First Breakfast with the Legislators of 2014 is Jan. 27

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Tennessee Legislators

From left are senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee.

The first Breakfast with the Legislators of 2014 is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

“While a good breakfast is considered to be the best way to start the day, attending Breakfast with the Legislators may be the best way to get to know key legislative decision makers and to ask questions on issues moving forward in state government,” a press release said.

The hour-long breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served. [Read more…]