Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Yager’s experience, education help make him best-qualified for AC Commission

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To the Editor:

We support Phil Yager for Anderson County Commission’s Eighth District. Phil has a long list of experience, education, and attributes that make him easily the best-qualified candidate in this election.

In the area of finance, his B.S. degree in Business Administration coupled with 30 years of work in financial management and investment give him a great background for making wise and prudent decisions about budgets and fiscal decisions. Phil’s work as Director of Mediation and Arbitration for the Better Business Bureau give him insight into the importance of making impartial and fair decisions after careful consideration of multiple sides of an issue.

To say that Phil Yager cares about the community he lives in is an extreme understatement. In the 10 years that he and his wife have owned a home in Oak Ridge, he has amassed an impressive list of boards and organizations that he has been appointed to or has joined. Included in this group are the Industrial Development Board, the Board of Housing Code Appeals, the City Charter Review Committee, and the Site Specific Advisory Board. He also has volunteered in various capacities with Emory Valley Center and the Emory Valley Center Foundation; the Rowing Association; Keep Anderson County Beautiful; United Way of Anderson County; and Neighborhood Watch. [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…]

Reminder: Anderson County Commission candidates at Thursday forum

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Reminder: A Thursday morning forum will feature three candidates for Anderson County Commission.

The three candidates are Myra Mansfield, Angeleque McNutt, and Phil Yager. They are running for one of two seats in District 8, which includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts in Oak Ridge.

The candidate forum is from 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday, July 14, at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which is at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Gene Patterson will be the moderator. The forum is free and open to the public.

See previous story here: [Read more…]

Candidate forum for Anderson County Commission District 8 to be held July 14

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Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce building is pictured above.

 

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Advocacy Committee will host a series of candidate forums during the election season this year, and the first forum, for three Anderson County Commission candidates, will be in July.

That first forum will be for candidates running in the special election for Anderson County Commission District 8. The forum will be held from 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday, July 14, in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which is at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

All three candidates for the office—Myra Mansfield, Angeleque McNutt, and Phil Yager—have indicated that they will be present for the forum, a press release said. All candidate forums are free and open to the public. [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…]

Small business owner seeks to retain seat on County Commission

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Angeleque McNutt

Angeleque McNutt

Anderson County Commissioner Angeleque McNutt wants to keep her seat on County Commission, and she has announced that she is a candidate in the August 4 election.

McNutt, who owns Rainbow Florist in Oak Ridge, was appointed to replace Robin Biloski on Anderson County Commission when Biloski resigned on August 3 because she and her husband Bill moved to Madeira Beach, Florida.

McNutt now represents District 8, one of two commissioners in that district (Myron Iwanski is the other commissioner). The district includes Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland in Oak Ridge.

McNutt’s appointment to the seat by the County Commission in August 2015 was through the August 2016 county general election. [Read more…]

Phil Yager announces candidacy for Anderson County Commission

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Phil Yager

Phil Yager

Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m. June 5.

Phil Yager has announced that he is a candidate for Anderson County Commission in District 8, which includes the Woodland, Hendrix Creek, and Emory Valley precincts.

“I am running for this position because I want to work hard on issues that are important to all of us: safe neighborhoods, economic development, quality education, and improving our housing stock,” Yager said in a press release. He wants to help expand business and industrial opportunities, maintain the county’s quality of life, and make sure children have excellent schools.

Community service is important to Yager, who has served as a community volunteer for a number of organizations, the press release said. He was appointed by Oak Ridge City Council to serve on the Industrial Development Board and serves as treasurer on that board. He was also appointed to serve on the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code of Appeals.

Serving on those boards, Yager has been actively involved in important issues facing Oak Ridge—industrial and retail growth, as well as the issue of distressed housing, the press release said. Yager was also selected to serve on the Oak Ridge Charter Review Committee. [Read more…]

Photos: Alexander Guest House ribbon-cutting, open house

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Tom-Beehan-Mark-Dover-Mark-Watson-Alexander-Guest-House-Nov-5-2015

Pictured above during a ribbon-cutting and open house at the Alexander Guest House on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, are former Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left; Rick Dover of Dover Development, the East Tennessee company that converted the historic two-story hotel into an assisted living center; and Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, November 5, celebrated the conversion of the former Alexander Inn, a historic two-story hotel in central Oak Ridge, into an assisted living center called Alexander Guest House.

The ceremony, which was organized by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, included an open house. Guests toured the new 64-apartment assisted living center, which is located at 210 East Madison Road in Jackson Square.

Preserving the former Alexander Inn had been a dream for years, and those who have toured the two-year, $8 million conversion, completed by Dover Development of East Tennessee, have described it as “lovely” and “absolutely tremendous,” among other superlatives. [Read more…]

McNutt appointed to replace Biloski on AC Commission

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Angeleque McNutt of Rainbow Florist

Angeleque McNutt of Rainbow Florist in Oak Ridge was appointed to the Anderson County Commission on Monday, replacing Robin Biloski, who resigned August 3. (Angeleque McNutt via Facebook)

Business owner Angeleque McNutt has been appointed to replace Robin Biloski on Anderson County Commission. Biloski resigned on August 3 because she and her husband Bill are moving to Madeira Beach, Florida.

McNutt, who owns Rainbow Florist in Oak Ridge, will represent District 8. That district includes Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland in Oak Ridge.

McNutt will serve until the August 2016 election, the next county general election. She told commissioners on Monday that she will seek re-election in that election.

McNutt was appointed in a 8-6 vote after a first-round 7-7 tie between her and candidate Phil Yager. [Read more…]

Board orders demolition of Tyrone Road building, but Magic Wok excluded

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Wender Building

A city board on Thursday ordered the demolition of this building on East Tyrone Road within 30 days. The Magic Wok restaurant, which is in a separate diner on the western side of the building, is not affected.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:55 p.m. Nov. 14.

Despite a plea for another extension, a city board on Thursday ordered that a commercial building on East Tyrone Road be demolished within 30 days. The demolition order does not apply to the popular Magic Wok restaurant, which is in a separate diner on the western side of the building.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals had previously given the building owners more time to develop a repair or demolition plan, including a five-month extension in June. At Thursday’s meeting, board members suggested they hadn’t seen enough work take place since then.

“I’m seeing very little progress,” said board member Joe Lee, who made the motion to demolish within 30 days, which is what the city staff had requested. “This has been an ongoing issue for a decade or more.”

The city staff said the partially occupied commercial structure has been declared unfit for human occupation or use because of code violations, and a demolition deadline expired Thursday. The staff said the estimated cost of repairs exceeds 50 percent of the building’s value, which is an important benchmark for issuing a demolition order. The staff has said the building is in a state of disrepair, lacks adequate fire and panic exits, and the roof and interior have not been adequately maintained for several years.

The motion to demolish the building at 123 and 135 East Tyrone Road was approved in a 6-0 vote on Thursday. Voting in favor of that motion were Chair Bruce LeForce, Vice Chair Philip Nipper, Secretary Amy Seiber, Lee, and board members Phil Yager and Leonar Vaughen. Board member Aaron Wells was not present. [Read more…]