.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Today's News

  • County courting industry

    Officials are considering a package of incentives to try and land a new industry.

    The Roane County Industrial Development Board and The Roane Alliance are recruiting a distribution industry for Roane Regional Business and Technology Park.

    To try and help that effort, a resolution asks the Roane County Commission to waive the building permit fees.

    “Our industrial folks say that could be significant,” Roane County Executive Ron Woody said. “It could be the icing on the cake that helps them go here.”

    Click here to read more...
  • Scammers try spiel on Roane detective

    Scammers have gotten so bold that they even tried to pull one over on a law enforcement officer.

    Bryan Walker, an investigator with the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, received a call last week from someone purporting to be from his credit card company.

    “I knew it was a scam, because I don’t even have the particular credit card they were asking me about,” Walker said.

    Click here to read more...
  • Give Kingston employees bonus from scrap sale

    Things are tight all over.
    With that in mind, we can understand the debate over a recent proposal to sell scrap metal the city of Kingston has accumulated in order to give employees an extra pay boost.
    The idea, proposed by Councilman Kevin McClure, would raise enough to add an extra $98 or so to the approximately $400 bonus each employee will receive. Other than the bonus, the employees are not getting a raise.
    Normally, we might agree with Councilman Brant Williams that the scrap-metal money could be put to better use.

    Click here to read more...
  • A view from Lick Skillet by Gerald Largen

    Regular reader, you will recall that in the column entitled “Social Security not to blame for deficit or debt”, published 19 November, we wrote at length on the fact that the Social Security programme does not contribute to the deficit nor to the debt, and explained how the so-called “Unified Budget” caused many to be confused about this fact.

    Click here to read more...
  • Operation REACH continues to grow

    Bobby Collier had just finished handing out Christmas baskets with another Jaycee member 36 years ago when he discovered something disturbing on the drive back to Kingston.
    He saw one of the basket recipients at a bar.
    Collier knew the bar owner and decided to inquire further.
    “I said, ‘That guy who just pulled in, what did he get?’” Collier remembered.
    The bar owner told him the man got a 12-pack of beer.
    “I said, ‘What did he pay for it with?,’” Collier recalled.
    The bar owner pulled out the Christmas basket.

    Click here to read more...
  • Congress: No boost to Social Security

    A move to provide people on Social Security with a financial boost was stymied in Congress on Wednesday.
    There will be no cost-of-living adjustment increase for Social Security recipients in 2011.
    However, there was legislation pending in Congress to provide a one-time payment of $250.
    The measure fell short of the two-thirds majority vote it needed to pass the House.
    In the Senate it failed to reach the 60-vote filibuster-proof margin.
    House Republicans said the possible cost of $14 billion was a concern.

    Click here to read more...
  • RCSO part of area drug bust

    The Roane County Sheriff’s Office was one of about a dozen law enforcement agencies credited with helping bust up a multi-state drug conspiracy.
    According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the conspiracy involved trafficking cocaine and crack as well as money laundering.
    “It took some major drug traffickers off the street, and they’re facing 10 years to life in federal prison,” Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton said.
    A federal grand jury returned a 76-count indictment on Nov. 16. Federal search warrants were executed at locations in Knoxville, Alcoa and Rockford earlier this month.

    Click here to read more...
  • How Nutcracker ballet made us nuts

    Each holiday season, many families attend the only ballet they’ll see all year: “The Nutcracker.”
    But how did “The Nutcracker” become such a popular tradition?
    The story itself is quite old, and the one we see onstage is a popular adaptation by the French author Alexandre Dumas, best known for writing “The Three Musketeers.”
    Once the story made the leap from page to stage, history was in the making.
    Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky composed “The Nutcracker” as his final ballet, taking on the project with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

    Click here to read more...
  • Rockwood Christmas Parade
    Click here to read more...
  • Scoliosis screenings recently completed on sixth-graders

    In addition to the mandated health screenings each year, Roane County Schools was able to offer scoliosis screenings this year for sixth-grade students.

    The screenings are recommended by the state and were offered to the sixth-graders compliments of Dr. Linda G. Hunter at Kingston Chiropractic.

    “Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine that affects up to 10 of every 100 young people at a time when the bones are growing the fastest — ages 9-14,” Hunter said.

    Click here to read more...