Oak Ridge Today

Tennessee Secretary of State presents archives grant to Anderson County historian

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Anderson County Archives Grant

From left are Sen. Randy McNally, Rep. John Ragan, Rep. Dennis Powers, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, County Historian Mary Sue Harris, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County government)

 

CLINTON—Anderson County government has received a $3,100 archives grant from the Tennessee State Library and Archives, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett last Tuesday personally presented the grant award to Mary Sue “Susie” Harris, Anderson County’s longtime archivist and historian.

State Sen. Randy McNally and State Rep. John Ragan, both Oak Ridge Republicans, and State Rep. Dennis Powers, a Jacksboro Republican who represents part of Anderson County, joined Hargett and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank for the presentation.

A full-time historian and part-time sleuth, Harris has dedicated more than 50 years of service to Anderson County as a historian, archivist, author, and genealogist. She has helped thousands of citizens track the history of their ancestors—and even find long-lost relatives—in Anderson County and East Tennessee.

“The importance of history can never be overstated—and Mrs. Harris is one of the best ambassadors we have for keeping the flames of the past alive,” Frank said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering highlighted in Tennessee Business Spotlight

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Terry Mullins, the chief executive officer of Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering, Inc., has a pretty simple business philosophy:

“We just go after where the money is,” Mullins said. “We’re able to pick and choose which markets are hot.”

While the philosophy may be simple, the services the company provides are anything but. Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering designs and builds equipment used on some of the world’s most complex machinery—everything from submarines to the International Space Station. [Read more…]

Norris archives receive $4,000 state grant

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The City of Norris Archives in Anderson County has received a $4,000 grant to help improve the storage conditions of and access to local government records, a press release said.

“I am proud to award this grant to the City of Norris Archives,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. “Archives are important because they store and preserve historical records for our county and municipal governments. It is my hope that this grant will help the city with its archival development.” [Read more…]

State official: Voter ID not expected to be a problem in Nov. 6 election

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Tre Hargett and John Ragan at Emory Valley Center

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, left, and Rep. John Ragan, right, tour the workshop at Emory Valley Center on Wednesday with David Brooks, Work Training Center coordinator.

Secretary of State Tre Hargett said he doesn’t expect a new voter identification law to be a problem in Tennessee in the Nov. 6 election.

It hasn’t been an issue in two other elections in Tennessee this year, Hargett said after a Wednesday morning tour of the Emory Valley Center in Oak Ridge.

He said about 300 people didn’t have photo identifications in the March and August elections, but roughly half of them—or 150 voters—later returned to their local election commissions and presented IDs, which allowed their votes to be counted.

Others might have decided not to come back when they saw that their votes would not have made a difference, even if they had been counted.

The new voter ID law went into effect on Jan. 1. It requires voters to show an ID that includes their name and photograph.

[Read more…]