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Normally not controversial, this proclamation, recognizing the sanctity of human life, was

Posted at 11:45 am January 12, 2016
By John Huotari 30 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, approved a proclamation that recognizes Sunday, January 17, as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Ellen Smith, third from right, cast the only vote against the proclamation, saying it was a controversial political statement. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:48 a.m. Jan. 13.

Proclamations by the Oak Ridge City Council are normally not controversial, but one that passed on Monday was. It was perceived by some as a controversial political statement that entered the abortion debate.

The proclamation recognizes Sunday, January 17, as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It says Tennessee residents “aspire to honor the dignity and worth of every person and to defend the sacredness of each human life.” Also, the proclamation says Tennessee residents care for “society’s weakest and most vulnerable, including the infirm, the elderly, and the unborn,” and no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property.

The question of what rights to grant to the unborn or fetuses can be controversial because of the impact they might have on abortion rights. There is also considerable debate about when life begins.

Tim-Stallings

Tim Stallings

Tim Stallings, executive director of Choices Resource Center in Oak Ridge, requested the City Council proclamation, and he did not think it weighed in on the political debate.

“It’s not just about the unborn,” Stallings said. “It’s about people with infirmities, the elderly.”

He said the day started with former President Ronald Reagan and has been recognized by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Reagan established National Sanctity of Human Life Day on Sunday, January 22, 1984, the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the still-controversial Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to an abortion in 1973.

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is on the third Sunday in January, near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Churches, Community, Faith, Front Page News, Government, Government, Health, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: abortion, abortion rights, Bill Haslam, Brent Shelton, Charlie Hensley, Choices Resource Center, Chuck Hope, Crosses for the Unborn, Ellen Smith, Kelly Callison, National Sanctity of Human Life Day, Oak Ridge City Council, proclamation, Rick Chinn, Roe v. Wade, Ronald Reagan, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tim Stallings, Trina Baughn, unborn, Warren Gooch

Candidate visit: Cruz vows to repeal ‘Obamacare,’ calls for abolishing IRS

Posted at 3:15 am December 27, 2015
By John Huotari 4 Comments

Ted-Cruz-Sign-Farragut-High-Dec-23-2015

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly called “Obamacare,” and he also called for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service during a stop at Farragut High School on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m.

FARRAGUT—Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” and he also called for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service during a stop at Farragut High School on Tuesday.

Cruz spoke for about 30 minutes in the Farragut High gym before a standing-room-only crowd of roughly 2,000 people, who helped him celebrate his 45th birthday with a birthday song and cake. The East Tennessee rally was held a little more than two months before the March 1 “SEC primary.”

A first-term Texas senator, Cruz said he plans to rescind every unconstitutional executive order, ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood, end the persecution of religious liberties, and “rip to shreds” the Iranian nuclear deal, which he called “catastrophic.”

Cruz also said the U.S. Department of Education should be abolished, and welfare benefits should end for people who are in the country illegally. He pledged to protect the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, called for killing the Environmental Protection Agency, and jokingly compared regulators to locusts, with a difference being that pesticides can be used to control locusts. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Affordable Care Act, Ben Carson, Betsy Grace, Bob Dole, Bryan Davis, Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency, Farragut High School, Internal Revenue Service, Iranian nuclear deal, IRS, ISIS, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, Republican presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan, SEC primary, Ted Cruz, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, Wall Street Journal

Remembering Howard H. Baker Jr., former U.S. senator, Reagan chief of staff

Posted at 2:06 pm June 30, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 1 Comment

Howard Baker

Howard Baker

KNOXVILLE—Howard H. Baker Jr., former U.S. senator and founder of UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, died on Thursday, June 26. He was 88.

Baker earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, in 1949. UT’s Baker Center was founded in 2003 as a nonpartisan institute devoted to education and research concerning public policy and civic engagement. Baker received the university’s first honorary doctorate in spring 2005.

“Our country has lost a great statesman and a great Tennessean,” UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said. “Senator Baker will live on in our hearts forever as a man who believed that government was to serve the people.”

Baker’s body will lie in state at the Baker Center at 1640 Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, June 30. His funeral will be on Tuesday, July 1, at First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Tennessee, where he was born. Huntsville is in Scott County, north of Oak Ridge and Anderson County.

Matt Murray, director of the Baker Center, said the senator’s work will continue to influence students and inspire aspiring public servants for generations to come. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Baker Center, Bill Haslam, Bob Corker, chief of staff, Chuck Fleischmann, civic engagement, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, College of Law, Cynthia "Cissy" Baker, Darek Baker, Democrat, Doug Blaze, Howard H. Baker Jr., Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, Howard Henry Baker Jr., Huntsville, Japan, Jimmy G. Cheek, Joe DiPietro, Joy Dirksen, Lamar Alexander, Matt Murray, Nancy Kassebaum, Panama Canal Treaty, public policy, public servant, Republican, Ronald Reagan, Senate, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, Senate Watergate Committee, Sept. 11, terrorist attacks, The Great Conciliator, U.S. ambassador, U.S. Navy, University of Tennessee, Watergate, Watergate hearings, White House

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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