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Today's News

  • More than 700 appeal property assessments

    After three months of hearings, the work could finally be winding down for the Roane County Board of Equalization.
    “Our last day is the 27th or 28th of September,” said board member Wilma Walker. “We hope.”
    Roane County is on a five-year reappraisal cycle. Notices of new property values were mailed out in May.
    Despite an economic downturn and an environmental disaster of national proportions, property values have risen in Roane County — some by huge amounts.   

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  • Volunteer fire departments may get more money

    The county’s budget, whenever it’s passed, could include additional money for the volunteer fire departments.
    Blair, East, Midtown, South and West are Roane County’s five volunteer departments. Each receives $35,000 a year in contributions from the county for operating expenses and capital outlay.
    Earlier this year the budget committee voted to recommend that the amount be increased to $40,000.      

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  • Mason confident about Harriman downtown's future

    Confident would be a good word to describe how Harriman Mayor Chris Mason sounds when he talks about drawing developers downtown.
    He even sees future progress on a number of buildings owned by a man the city has bumped heads with on compliance before, including on a building that has roof problems that have caused water to run into a neighboring owner’s store.
    “If we can find an interested developer, we’re 160 days away from taking ownership,” Mason said.

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  • Fundraisers planned to help injured salon workers

    Area salons have come together to support the victims of a crash at Classic Styles salon.
    A fundraiser for the victims has been set up for Friday, Sept. 3, from 3-6 p.m. at the site of Classic Styles, 138 S. Kentucky St.
    Many of the stylists have no health insurance and now have no place to work.
    Richard L. Ward, the driver who slammed into the salon after he suffered some kind of medical condition, has been charged with failure to carry insurance.

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  • Free smoke alarms from West Roane Volunteer Fire Department

    STAFF REPORTS
    According to the U.S. Fire Administration, most home fire deaths occur in residences that don’t have a working smoke detector.
    The West Roane County Volunteer Fire Department wants to make sure residents have this important device.
    The department is planning to give away smoke detectors this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fire Station 1, which is located at 1303 Pumphouse Road, Rockwood.
    The devices will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to low-income families with no smoke detectors.

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  • Litter summit scheduled in Oak Ridge

    On Sept. 13, Keep Tennessee Beautiful will hold the first of four 2010 Regional Litter Summits in Oak Ridge from 12-3 p.m. at DoubleTree Hotel.
    Each Litter Summit’s agenda will include a luncheon and keynote presentation featuring Judge Larry Potter, of the Memphis-Shelby County Environmental Court.
    Potter will discuss the Tennessee Litter Law TCA 39-14-5, including current enforcement issues and success stories.

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  • Former Roane State president writes of husband accused of murder

    Sherry Hoppe made history in 1988 when she succeeded Roane State Community College founding president Cuyler Dunbar.
    The esteemed college administrator — Roane State’s first and only woman president to date — brought a dark secret with her to Roane County.
    “My husband Bobby shot a man, and he died,” she writes in the foreward of “A Matter of Conscience: Redemption of a Hometown Hero, Bobby Hoppe.”

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  • Roane woman rides into literary world

    Mary Lou Wells has been a horse enthusiast for as long as she can remember.
    “Ever since I was a little child,” the 1985 graduate of Roane County High School said. “I got my first horse when I was 13. It was a half-Arabian pinto.”
    Wells, who still lives in Roane County, said her affinity for horses has driven her interest in learning more about the animals over the years.
    Now she’s sharing her knowledge in a new book, “The Illustrated Guide to the Morab Horse.”  

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  • 'Dub' sets good example for officials, us

    After decades serving the public as a county commissioner, James “Dub” Harmon is no longer an elected official.
    Instead of tucking tail over his recent election loss, Harmon is, instead, stepping up.
    “That stage of my life is probably through,” the 83-year-old said recently in a Roane County News interview about his failure to get re-elected. “But there are many things for Roane County I can work for.”
    Harmon has not been afraid to champion what, to some, have been unpopular causes.

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  • IMPRESSIONS: Rebel Johnny's biker days have long roared past

    Harold Ray Lester, 74, died Friday at his home in Seymour.
    It’s been something in the neighborhood of five or six years since I last visited with him while we were standing in a grocery store checkout line.
    I’m going to miss him.
    Apparently, so are many of our friends here in Roane County.
    You see, across his three score and 14, in one way or another he touched several of our lives.
    If you caught one of my recent blogs on roanecounty.com, you’re well aware of the “six degrees of separation” concept.

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Copyright © 2013

The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.