Clinton City Manager said this building in Jaycee Park, which will serve as a daycare for city of Clinton employees was about 90% completed and will open Aug. 1. - Ben Pounds
The city of Clinton expects a new daycare center for the children of city employees to open at the former National Guard armory in Jaycee Park on Aug. 1.
City Manager Roger Houck made that announcement at the City Council meeting on Monday.
He said the project is about 90 percent complete.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley plans to run the daycare, and it will also serve children of some companies in the Eagle Bend Industrial Park.
At the same meeting, Mayor Scott Burton spoke in general of the progress on that project and the Historic Downtown Clinton infrastructure projects that are also underway.
“The sun is rising and things are getting better, I hope,” he said. “A lot of good things are going on and I’m proud of that.”
Vape stores
The council did not vote on two proposed ordinances that would have regulated specialty shops with 25% or more of their space dedicated to vape or cannabis-derived products, as originally planned.
The ordinances, as passed on first reading, would only allow three such shops per 10,000 residents, although it would make an exception for existing ones or ones reopening after being forced to close.
Houck told The Courier News that the council postponed its vote due to legislative actions from the state of Tennessee, which might affect some of the ordinances’ provisions.
Early voters line up outside the Anderson County government office in Norris on Wednesday, April 15. - G. Chambers Williams III
The final day of early voting for the May 5 Anderson County primary election will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 30.
Locations for early voting are the Anderson County Fair Association building, 218 Nave St., Clinton; Midtown Community Center, 102 Robertsville Road, Oak Ridge; and the Anderson County government Offices in the Anderson Crossing Shopping Center, 3324 Andersonville Highway.
The key race is for the Republican nomination for county mayor, in which incumbent, Terry Frank faces challenger Joshua Anderson, who is now a District 3 county commissioner.
Early voting began on Wednesday, April 15.
As of the end of the day Monday, April 27, there had been 3,825 people voting by machine at the three early-voting polling sites, and an additional 171 by mail-in ballots, for a total early-vote count of 3,99.
Of that total, 3,448 voted in the Republican primary, while 548 had cast their ballots in the Democratic primary.
TVA Police Inspector Steve Ward, second from right, hands over the keys to a 2018 Dodge Durango police cruiser to Norris Police Chief Michael Poole on Wednesday, April 22, in front of the Norris police and fire building. Looking on next to Poole is Norris City Manager Bailey Whited. TVA donated the retired cruiser to the city of Norris for use by its Police Department. - G. Chambers Williams III
Norris will soon have another police cruiser in its fleet, thanks to the donation of a used 2018 Dodge Durango by the Tennessee Valley Authority last Thursday.
TVA officials turned the keys to the Durango to Norris Police Chief Michael Poole during a ceremony in front of the city’s fire/police building. It still has to be given Norris Police markings and equipped with a two-way radio and other equipment before it is placed in service, Norris officials said.
The vehicle had recently been retired from the TVA Police fleet, and rather than sell it at auction, TVA decided to give it to Norris, which provides 24-hour patrol and emergency services to the Norris Dam area – most of which is within the city limits.
TVA Police Investigator Steven Ward, who is based in the Norris area, turned over the keys as several TVA and city of Norris officials looked on.
A dump truck full of rock drops its load off the side of Park Road just inside the Anderson County Park on Friday, April 24, as part of the ongoing work to repair the area where part of the road slid down the bank of Norris Lake in 2025, temporarily closing the park until a detour could be set up. The Anderson County Commission recently ap- proved funds to make the repairs, which includes filling in the slide area and rebuilding the missing part of the road. - G. Chambers Williams III
