I'm Ellen Smith, member of the Oak Ridge City Council. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my views on public and private life in and around Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This website is my own; content here does not represent the official policies or views of the City of Oak Ridge. To add your own comments, click on the topic title to open a comment box. To read posts about a particular topic, scroll down to "Categories" (in the sidebar) or use the "Search" box in the sidebar. Look under "Archives" to see collections of past posts organized by date.
I got e-mail suggesting that Americans should find out where their water comes from in honor of World Water Day (today, March 22) and to help us watch out for our families’ health. It seems that many people don’t know. I do know where our water comes from — the Clinch River. The intake is [...]
The first 2010 Census data for Tennessee have been released — and they confirm that Oak Ridge is no longer “about 27,000 people.” The total population as of 2010 was 29,330 — an increase of nearly 2,000 people since the 2000 census count of 27,387. After decades of stability (the official population was 28,319 in [...]
For quite some time now, my household has been looking forward to acquiring a Nissan Leaf — the first mass-market plug-in electric car. On Saturday we finally had our first chance to see, touch, and drive one, when Nissan brought 14 cars to World’s Fair Park in Knoxville.
This car is an exciting opportunity for our [...]
Although I didn’t vote for the city’s Redflex contract that led to the installation of traffic cameras, one of these days the nastiness contained in the letters that City Council members receive regarding the cameras might just inspire me to head out on the streets carrying a sign in support of those cameras. Insulting remarks [...]
Friday evening I attended a most interesting panel discussion program at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, on the topic of homelessness in Oak Ridge and Anderson County. Based on the size of the crowd (yes, there was a crowd — and this was on a Friday evening), it’s clear that is is a subject [...]
With today’s news that Oak Ridge National Laboratory is closed due to snow, I’m remembering back to years past when ORNL was always open, regardless of the weather. I recall a parody of a memo (don’t remember I actually saw it, or only heard about it) from the Union Carbide days, to the effect that [...]
Stan Mitchell of the Oak Ridge Observer asked City Council members for our thoughts as 2010 ends and 2011 begins. Not enough people read Stan’s paper. Here are some of the things I told him.
In response to Stan’s request for the “most noteworthy things that happened” in Oak Ridge in 2010, I listed (not necessarily [...]
I’ve gotten these messages twice in the past week. The alleged sender is someone who has sent me e-mail in the past and is now supposedly stranded in London and is asking me for money. It looks like a scammer has gotten hold of people’s e-mail contacts lists and is spamming the contacts. My messages [...]
This announcement from this page should be welcome news to residents who have been asking me when Oak Ridge would be doing this:
On Saturday, November 13, 2010, the Oak Ridge Police Department will be conducting “Operation Medicine Cabinet” from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Residents will be able to drop off any [...]
This coming Saturday, area residents can drop off fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, and cell phones for recycling at the Oak Ridge Wal-Mart store, where Keep Anderson County Beautiful and Anderson County Solid Waste will be celebrating America Recycles Day with a collection event and educational activities for kids. It’s scheduled from 10 am to 2 [...]