Oak Ridge Today

Donations of $25K given to start AC animal shelter

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Anderson County Animal Shelter Eagle Bend Donation

Ed Steinebach, right, general manager for Magna International’s Eagle Bend Manufacturing plant located in Clinton, announces a $10,000 donation to start an animal shelter in Anderson County. Also pictured are Anderson County Commissioner Robin Biloski, left, and Mayor Terry Frank, center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—A total of $25,000 in donations was announced on Monday to help start an animal shelter in Anderson County.

The first donation of $10,000 was announced by Ed Steinebach, general manager for Magna International’s Eagle Bend Manufacturing plant in Clinton. Steinebach said his company is number two in the world for automotive manufacturing, and it is very important to give back to the community.

A matching donation of $10,000 was announced by Eileen Slater from her and NOAH Companion Animal Center in Marlow. Slater said it is very urgent to set up a holding facility at Blockhouse Valley Road.

The third donation of $5,000 was announced by members of S.A.R.G. (Shelter Animals Rescue Group), a nonprofit organization. [Read more…]

Moody’s upgrades Anderson County’s rating, removes ‘negative outlook’

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

CLINTON—Moody’s Investors Service announced from New York that they have affirmed the Aa2 General Obligation, or GO, rating of Anderson County and have upgraded Anderson County’s rating by removing the “negative outlook,” officials said.

During bond issuance for rural elementary and rural high school bonds, as well as tax anticipation notes, Moody’s assigned Anderson County an Aa2 “negative outlook” rating in the 2010/2011 budget year, a press release said.

Highlights from Moody’s rating report of July 9, 2015, noted that the company lifted the negative outlook and that “improved financial performance” led to “reserve and liquidity growth,” the release said. [Read more…]

Frank to host two information sessions to discuss county budget

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Terry Frank and Connie Aytes

Mayor Terry Frank and Connie Aytes, deputy budget director, review Anderson County financial documents. (Submitted photo)

 

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank will host two special budget discussions to give the public a chance to hear and see a financial snapshot of Anderson County’s health, and to provide the public an opportunity to ask questions, a press release said.

Both an evening and a day meeting are scheduled. The evening meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Club Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The day meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 17, from 12-1 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. The public is invited to attend. [Read more…]

Anderson County teachers disappointed as commissioners delay vote on budget, pay raise

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Anderson County Budget Committee and Rachel Minardo, Chris Phillips, and Connie Aytes

Rachel Minardo, right, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association, asks for a 4 percent pay raise for county teachers and school staff during a May 28 public hearing on the county budget. Also pictured are Chris Phillips, left, director of accounts and budgets for Anderson County, and Connie Aytes, deputy budget director.

 

CLINTON—Anderson County teachers were disappointed as they watched county commissioners postpone a vote on the budget and a possible 4 percent pay raise on Tuesday.

But they’ll be back on Monday, June 29, for the next meeting of the Anderson County Commission, said Rachel Minardo, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association.

It’s not clear if the 16-member Commission will agree to fund the school system’s request for a 4 percent raise for all teachers and staff. That’s what the Anderson County Board of Education unanimously recommended last month. The request could require the equivalent of an 18-cent increase in the property tax rate.

But during debate over proposed pay raises for some county employees on Tuesday, several commissioners said they want to be consistent and fair to all workers. [Read more…]

Emory Valley Early Learning Center receives ‘Gold Sneaker’ designation

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In front row, left to right, are Nina Vasquez, Kwan Davis, Brock Smith, and Tommy Meredith. In back, from left to right, are Patty Campbell, Anderson County Health Department nutritionist; Terry Frank, Anderson County mayor; Terry Peek, director of the Emory Valley Early Learning Center; and Jennifer Enderson, president of the Emory Valley Center. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County Health Department)

In front row, left to right, are Nina Vasquez, Kwan Davis, Brock Smith, and Tommy Meredith. In back, from left to right, are Patty Campbell, Anderson County Health Department nutritionist; Terry Frank, Anderson County mayor; Terry Peek, director of the Emory Valley Early Learning Center; and Jennifer Enderson, president of the Emory Valley Center. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County Health Department)

 

The Emory Valley Early Learning Center in Oak Ridge recently completed all requirements to be considered a “Gold Sneaker” facility by the State of Tennessee.

And on June 10, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and employees of the Anderson County Health Department presented Emory Valley Learning Center with its Gold Sneaker incentives. The Gold Sneaker Initiative designation, developed by the Tennessee Department of Health, is an enhanced certification for daycares in Tennessee and requires that these centers maintain rigorous standards of physical activity, nutrition, and a tobacco-free campus, a press release said.

“The team at Emory Valley Center was so proud of their recognition, as they should be,” Frank said in the press release. “A focus on health and wellness during the early years is assuredly an investment in a healthy adulthood. I congratulate their wonderful team’s hard work and commitment meeting the standards of the governor and the Department of Health.” [Read more…]

AC Senior Center continues march to fruition

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission approved a measure Monday night that knocks down one more hurdle in senior citizens’ quest for a new senior center.

Commissioners voted unanimously to ask Mayor Terry Frank to formally request, in writing, that ETHRA voluntarily end its contract to operate the Office on Aging and instead cede control to the county. That, coupled with the formality of submitting a request for proposals—or RFP—for vendors with a possible site, means that the Office on Aging is indeed one step closer to moving into a new and larger building.

Currently, they have an offer for a lease on a building on South Seivers Boulevard in the heart of Clinton to serve as a new senior center and all indications are that once the bureaucratic hurdles are cleared, they could begin moving in by the end of this summer. [Read more…]

Emory Valley Center has fundraising pancake breakfast on Saturday

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2014 EVC Pancake Fundraiser and Randy McNally

Tennessee Senator Randy McNally, right, serves members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department at the Emory Valley Center pancake breakfast fundraiser in 2014. (Submitted photo)

 

A fundraising breakfast at Applebee’s restaurant in Oak Ridge on Saturday will support Emory Valley Center’s Capital Campaign.

It’s an “All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast,” and it’s scheduled from 8-10 a.m. Saturday, June 13. Applebee’s will be providing the breakfast food items and staff members to cook the pancakes and sausage, a press release said.

“Please make plans to attend,” the release said.

Tickets are $5 for children and adults, and they may be purchased at Emory Valley Center, 715 Emory Valley Road, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and at the door Saturday morning. [Read more…]

Photos, remarks: Memorial Day in Anderson County

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Anderson County Memorial Day at Courthouse

Pictured from left near the Veterans Memorial are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, Anderson County Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet, Tennessee Representative John Ragan, Clinton American Legion Post 172 Vice Commander Zach Farrar, and Pastor Tim Shelton, who is also Anderson County register of deeds. (Photo by John Huotari)

 

CLINTON—Anderson County honored the men and women “who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy the freedoms so many take for granted” on Memorial Day on Monday.

It was the seventh annual Memorial Day Ceremony. They are held at the Veterans Memorial next to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. They include a wreath-laying ceremony.

The ceremony this year also included the presentation of the colors by the Navy JROTC Maverick Unit from Anderson County High School and a few songs, including the national anthem by the Oak Ridge High School Choir.

Here a few pictures and remarks by the guest speakers on Monday:

Anderson County Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet [Read more…]

Anderson County celebrates Memorial Day on Monday

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Anderson County Memorial Day Wreath-laying

From left, Anderson County Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet, Mayor Terry Frank, and Tennessee Representative John Ragan take part in a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony on Memorial Day 2014 at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. (File photo)

 

CLINTON—On Monday, May 25, Anderson County will honor the men and women “who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy the freedoms so many take for granted,” officials said.

Anderson County will conduct its seventh annual Memorial Day Ceremony, beginning at 10 a.m. Monday at the Veterans Memorial next to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, 100 North Main Street.

Guest speakers will include American Legion Post #172 First Vice Commander Zach Farrar and District 33 State Representative John Ragan. There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at the Veterans Memorial by official guests and Anderson County officials.

And, thanks to generous donations from Hardees and Bojangles restaurants in Clinton, veterans and citizens who attend the Memorial Day Ceremony will receive free sausage biscuits beginning at 9:15 a.m. at the Courthouse, a press release said. Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank will also provide free coffee and bottled water.

Anderson mayor: Budget proposal holds spending steady, no tax increase

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

The budget proposed by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank for the next fiscal year would keep most county departments at current-year spending levels and it includes no tax increase, a press release said.

The proposed general fund budget was presented to the Anderson County Budget Committee on Tuesday afternoon, and it was unanimously approved at Thursday evening’s budget meeting, the Mayor’s Office said in the release.

The next fiscal year begins July 1.

The balanced $25,088,157 budget for the county’s general operating fund proposes maintaining a focus on stabilizing spending levels until “we have full economic recovery,” the press release said. [Read more…]

State grant of $250K will help build eighth lane at Oak Ridge rowing course

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Oak Ridge Rowing Lane Announcement

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, announces a $250,000 state grant for an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course on Sunday. Also pictured from left are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, Sen. Randy McNally, Anderson County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Meredith, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau President Marc DeRose, Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, and Oak Ridge Rowing Association President Russell Byrd.

 

A $250,000 state grant announced Sunday will be used to help build an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course. And that’s expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas, officials said.

The eighth lane has been on the city’s wish list for years, and it will allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events like this weekend’s SIRA Regatta.

According to rough estimates, the eighth lane could cost about $350,000 total, said Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, the father of two former rowers and a rower himself. That means the City of Oak Ridge might have to contribute up to $100,000 to complete the project.

Tennessee Representative John Ragan, the Oak Ridge Republican who spearheaded the effort to get state funding, said the regional impact of the regattas in Oak Ridge is estimated at $13 million now, but it could increase to $33 million, according to a University of Tennessee study. [Read more…]

Frank, Gooch talk to Anderson County Tea Party on Tuesday

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

The next monthly meeting of the Anderson County Tea Party will feature Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at Clinton Church of God.

Frank and Gooch will discuss their goals for 2015 and the difficulties they see in reaching them, a press release said. [Read more…]