Weather cooperates for annual Veterans Day celebration
by G. Chambers Williams III
Clinton High School Air Force JROTC members march on North Hicks Street during Saturday’s Veterans Day Parade. - G. Chambers Williams III
Mild weather with some fog but no rain helped draw crowds to downtown Clinton on Saturday morning for the 18th-annual Anderson County Veterans Day parade.
The parade began shortly after 10 a.m. on Gilliam Street at the rear of the Clinton Community Center, right after the November veterans breakfast.
Because of downtown street closures for construction, the parade moved north along Gilliam Street, turned right onto West Broad Street, turned left onto South Hicks Street, then right onto Church Street and left onto Commerce Street before ending at the city parking lot.
Honoring all who have served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Veterans Day Parade was sponsored by Anderson County American Legion Post 172 and Legion Riders Post 172, in conjunction with VFW Post 12051, Amvets Post 2 and DAV Tri-County Chapter 26.
The bands of Clinton and Anderson County High School combined to march together in this year’s parade.
Anderson County Director of Schools Tim Parrott honors Grand Oaks Elementary School’s Jessica Conatser as District Principal of the Year and for being one of the state Education Department’s eight finalists for 2025-2026 principal of the year. The award ceremony for Top 8 Director and Principal of the Year honorees, for which Conatser is a finalist will be held the first week of December. - Ben Pounds
Many members of the Anderson County Schools staff will receive bonuses this year.
The state of Tennessee provided funding to give $2,000 to each classroom teacher.
During its Monday, Nov. 10, meeting, the county Board of Education voted to allocate $850,000 from funds previously marked for capital projects to provide $1,500 bonuses to other full-time staff — including nurses, custodians and cafeteria personnel — who did not receive the state bonus.
To qualify, employees must have been employed full time on both Nov. 1, 2024, and Nov. 15, 2025.
Director of Schools Tim Parrott proposed the bonuses, calling the state’s decision to exclude non-teaching staff “unjust and discouraging.”
Board member Don Bell made the motion, and member Dail Cantrell seconded it. The measure passed unanimously.
“A successful education system relies on the dedication and hard work of all staff members,” Parrott said. “Overlooking their contributions sends a disheartening message about their value to our schools and community.”
Parrott said he also intends to propose an additional $500 bonus next May for those who receive the $1,500 this fall.
Duracap Paving moves heavy equipment onto East Norris Road in Norris on Monday morning in preparation for paving a section of the road beginning this week. - G. Chambers Williams III
A contractor hired by the city of Norris began moving heavy equipment into the city Monday morning to begin work on repaving a portion of East Norris Road from Norris Square to Pine Road, and part of Dogwood Road, under a contract approved in June by the Norris City Council.
The contract with Duracap Asphalt Paving Contractors of Knoxville includes $119,000 to grind off part of the current surface and add a new 1.5-inch asphalt overlay to East Norris Road.
It also includes repaving a section of Dogwood Road from Norris Square to 36 Dogwood Road, at a cost of $58,000, said Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited.
The griding work was to begin Wednesday, with the paving on Thursday and Friday, Whited said during Monday night’s City Council meeting.
City Manager Adam Ledford said earlier that Norris already had enough money in its current budget to cover the repaving on those sections.
But the city plans to extend the project on East Norris Road from Pine Road to Cedar Place, near Andersonville Highway, when money is budgeted for that.
The Norris City Council on Monday signaled its intention to promote Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited to the position of city manager, and set a special meeting for 7 p.m. Dec. 1 to make it official.
Whited, who has been assistant city manager since early 2023, will replace City Manager Charles “Adam” Ledford, who handed council members a letter of resignation on Sept. 8, effective Jan. 2.
The assistant city manager’s position was created by the council on Ledford’s recommendation in November 2022, just over a month after Ledford had been hired as city manager. But during the Sept. 8 council meeting, the council voted to eliminate the assistant’s position, as of Jan. 1, in the same motion that accepted Ledford’s resignation.
Ledford, who had been facing increasing scrutiny by Mayor Chris Mitchell and some others on the City Council, said in his letter of resignation that he was leaving for personal reasons.
Monday night, Mitchell made the motion to hold the special meeting Dec. 1, following the city Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m., for the express purpose of making Whited’s promotion official as of Jan. 2, or earlier if Ledford should choose to leave the job in advance of that date.
Residents to see $5 increase every three months through September
by G. Chambers Williams III
Norris residents will pay an additional $20 a month on their sewer bills beginning in $5 increments starting next month, according to an ordinance passed 4-0 on second and final reading by the City Council on Monday evening.
The council voted to finalize the rate increase proposal after a brief public hearing on the ordinance, which was held just prior to Monday’s regular November council meeting.
Last month, the council approved 4-0 on first reading the ordinance to begin a special sewer-rehabilitation charge for all sewer customers, beginning Dec. 1 with the first $5.
The full $20 would kick in as of Sept. 1, 2026. The additional charges are designed to help the city finance state-mandated environmental upgrades to the decades-old sewer system.
Residents will see the first $5 on their December utility bills, followed by an additional $5 every three months through Sept. 1.
That would raise the base sewer rate from the current $55.01 a month for the first 2,000 gallons to $60.01 on Dec. 1, $65.01 on March 1, $70.01 on June 1, and $75.01 on Sept. 1.
Any usage in excess of 2,000 gallons a month would continue to be billed at $9.44 per 1,000 gallons for the next 7,000 gallons, then $12.48 per 1,000 gallons beyond the first 9,000 gallons.
Motorists entering downtown Clinton on Monday morning found all of Main Street open to traffic as the cold and snowy weather apparently delayed work that had kept part of the street closed for the past several weeks.
But Market Street continued to be closed to vehicles, even though downtown stores remain open and ready for customers.
The recent Main Street closures are part of a schedule announced in mid-August that said it would be shut down in three sections and phases, two times each, from Aug. 24 through mid-December.
In the first phase, Main Street was closed from Cullom to Church streets Aug. 24 until mid-October, then the work moved south two blocks.
The next phase moves the work even slightly farther south, as part of Phase 3.
When that is completed, the three-section shutdown process will repeat, with the final work planned to be finished in December, weather permitting.
Traffic disruptions are the result of street, sidewalk and utility construction work that has already kept most of Market Street shut down since mid-July, blocking vehicular access to the fronts of most of the downtown businesses along Market Street.
