Oak Ridge Today

Roads icy: Oak Ridge Schools, Roane State closed today

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A tractor-trailer jack-knifed on Interstate 40 West at mile marker 349 in Roane County. That roadway is closed, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. I-40 East at MM 349 has one lane open. Roads are very icy in this area, TDOT said Monday morning, Jan. 8, 2018. The Oak Ridge/Gallaher Road exit is Exit 356. (Photo courtesy TDOT)

A tractor-trailer jack-knifed on Interstate 40 West at mile marker 349 in Roane County. That roadway is closed, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. I-40 East at MM 349 has one lane open. Roads are very icy in this area, TDOT said Monday morning, Jan. 8, 2018. The Oak Ridge/Gallaher Road exit is Exit 356. (Photo courtesy TDOT)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m.

Oak Ridge Schools are closed today as a layer of ice coated the ground in Oak Ridge, making roads and sidewalks slippery.

The schools had originally planned to open two hours late.

Other local school systems are also closed today (Monday, January 8) as the forecast had called for freezing rain or a wintry mix of precipitation around school arrival time this morning. Among the other school systems closed are Anderson County, Clinton, and Roane County. Roane State Community College is closed today as well (see here for more information). [Read more…]

State appropriates $15 million that could be used for Oak Ridge Airport

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Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

 

KINGSTON—Tennessee officials have appropriated $15 million that could be used for the proposed airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The appropriation, which is pending approval of the Oak Ridge Airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, would be enough to cover about 33 percent to 38 percent of the current estimated project cost of $40 million to $45 million.

The appropriation was announced by Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John C. Schroer in a November 8 letter to members of the Tennessee General Assembly. Oak Ridge Today received a copy of the letter on Monday.

The $15 million that could be used for the Oak Ridge Airport is one half of a $30 million appropriation approved by the Tennessee General Assembly for the Aeronautics Economic Development Fund earlier this year, said Billy Stair, a former communications director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who is now a consultant helping with the airport project. That half was to support the construction of new general aviation airports like the project in Oak Ridge, and Oak Ridge received all of the $15 million for general aviation airports, Stair said.

“MKAA (Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority) is the only public entity in the state with planning documents for a new airport currently under review,” Schroer said in his November letter to legislators. The $15 million will be allocated to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, which would own and operate the Oak Ridge Airport, pending FAA approval. [Read more…]

Roane Co. budget: Public hearing, work session on June 27

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Roane County officials will have a public hearing and work session on June 27 for the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 27, in the Qualls Commission Room in the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The Roane County Budget Committee will meet immediately after the public hearing, also in the Qualls Commission Room. [Read more…]

Roane Commission to appoint General Sessions judge on Monday

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Jeffery-Wicks

Jeffery H. Wicks

The Roane County Commission will appoint a new General Sessions Court judge during a special session on Monday.

The new judge will serve until the next general election in August and fill a vacancy created when Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed General Sessions Court Judge Jeffery H. Wicks as Criminal Court judge for the Ninth Judicial District. Wicks is replacing former Criminal Court Judge E. Eugene Eblen, who retired December 31.

The Ninth Judicial District serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties. Eblen had been Criminal Court judge since 1978. [Read more…]

Roane County Budget Committee meets Sept. 14

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The Roane County Budget Committee will meet at 5 p.m. Monday, September 14, in the Qualls Commission Room at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The Budget Committee includes County Executive Ron Woody and County Commissioners Steve Kelley, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, and Ron Berry.

Roane County has public hearing, work session on budget on June 2

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Roane County will have a public hearing and work session on the budget for next year on Tuesday, June 2.

The public hearing on the budget for Fiscal Year 2016, which starts July 1, will start at 6:30 p.m. June 2 in the Qualls Commission Room at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The Roane County Budget Committee will meet after that public hearing in the Qualls Commission Room at the Courthouse.

Then, the Roane County Commission will meet in a work session to discuss the FY 2016 budget in the Qualls Commission Room at the Courthouse in Kingston.

The meeting is open to the public.

Roane County Budget Committee meets Monday

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The Roane County Budget Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, May 11, at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The Budget Committee includes Ron Woody, Steve Kelley, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, and Ron Berry.

The committee will meet in in the first floor conference room at the courthouse. The meeting on Thursday, May 7, was canceled.

The Budget Committee meetings are open to the public.

Roane County Budget Committee meets Monday

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The Roane County Budget Committee will at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 6, in the first floor conference room at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The meetings are open to the public.

The Budget Committee includes Ron Woody, Steve Kelley, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, and Ron Berry.

Anderson government closed; Y-12, Oak Ridge, UCOR, DOE, ORAU start late

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Snow in Oak Ridge on Feb. 26, 2015

Several inches of snow fell in Oak Ridge and across East Tennessee overnight. (Photo by Bruce Phillips)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:23 a.m.

Several inches of snow fell in East Tennessee overnight, and there are more closings and delays because of weather and road conditions.

The Y-12 National Security Complex is still clearing some areas at the site. Non-essential employees should delay arrival at the site until 11 a.m. UPF Offsite Offices also should delay until 11 a.m. Personnel are urged to use caution when driving and walking throughout the site and to use designated snow routes.

Anderson County government offices will be closed Thursday. The Roane County Courthouse is also closed. [Read more…]

Roane County Commission has work session on Feb. 24

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The Roane County Commission will meet in a general work session on Tuesday, February 24, at 6 p.m. in the Qualls Commission Room at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston.

The meeting is open to the public.

Roane approves ‘In God We Trust’ signs

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Roane County Courthouse

The Roane County Courthouse in Kingston is pictured above. (Photo by Sara Wise)

WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

The Roane County Commission voted 13-1 on Monday to place the words “In God We Trust” at three locations in the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston. The signs will be similar to those placed above all four entrances at the Anderson County Courthouse last year and the one placed above the entrance to the Oak Ridge General Sessions Court building.

The Roane County proposal was made earlier this year, but commissioners initially balked at approving it until it made its way through the property committee.

The black granite signs will be placed above the north and south entrances to the Courthouse. A bronze plaque inscribed with “In God We Trust,” which is the national motto, will also be placed in the Commission meeting room, which also serves as a General Sessions courtroom. As in Anderson County, the signs will be paid for by private contributions. [Read more…]

Roane Commission sends ‘In God We Trust’ proposal to committee

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Roane County Courthouse

An “In God We Trust” sign could be placed above the main entrance of the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston under a proposal being considered by county officials. The signs could also be displayed in the Roane County Commission chambers. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

KINGSTON—The Roane County Commission voted on Monday to defer a resolution to the property committee that would place signs that say “In God We Trust” on the County Courthouse in Kingston.

The vote to defer was closely split, at 8-7. Commissioners James Brummett, Ray Cantrell, Bobby Collier, Randy Ellis, Jerry Goddard, Chris Johnson, and Fred Tedder all voted not to defer the resolution.

Many commissioners who voted against deferment argued that deferral would only delay the process further. Others, however, felt that the issue should have gone through the committee before the commission had any say in the matter.

Ellis, who filed the resolution in favor of the signs, said that the resolution would reach the committee either way, and that the committee would have the final say in the design and placement of the signs.

“Roane County is deep in its faith,” he said. “Not one of my constituents…has come to me against this.” [Read more…]