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Local News for Monday, August 22nd

Here is your Cleveland, Tenn. | Bradley County, Tenn. news on mymix1041.com, sponsored by Toyota of Cleveland: From the Cleveland Daily Banner…

Here is your Cleveland, Tenn. | Bradley County, Tenn. news on mymix1041.com, sponsored by Toyota of Cleveland:

From the Cleveland Daily Banner…

Grant Bromley reports: In its last session before newly elected commissioners are sworn in Sept. 1, the Bradley County Commission is set to discuss recommendations for the Election Commission.

Meeting at 7 p.m. this evening, the commission will discuss options for increasing transparency at the Election Commission concerning its meeting times.

Presently, the Election Commission does not have meeting times listed on its website, though they are posted on the outside of the commission’s office at 155 Broad St. NW.

This discussion follows the Finance Committee’s decision to draft a letter to the Election Commission encouraging it to “practice financial management according to their budget,” as Commissioner Thomas Crye proposed.

In the past fiscal year, the Election Commission went $16,000 over budget on its deputy pay line and then gave three employees $2,550 bonuses each. There are concerns from commissioners and constituents that the Election Commission might repeat this in fiscal 2022-23.

Commissioners have struggled with how to approach concerns with the Election Commission, as it reports to the state rather than the county.

County Mayor D. Gary Davis will be absent from this session to attend orientation with the incoming commissioners, but reports will be given by commissioners and there will be time allotted for communication from the audience.

You can watch this session LIVE on MixTV.tv.

Also from The Banner…

Allen Mincey reports: Development of a portion of the Tri-State Exhibition Center campus for a livestock arena has been discussed for months, and through a donation from the George R. Johnson Family Foundation, that dream could become a reality by the end of the year.

Jordia Waller and Lydia Hollis with the center met with the foundation’s Janice Wilson Thursday morning to announce the $250,000 donation.

A donation from Helen Rich, great-granddaughter of William J. Wrigley, founder of the famous chewing gum company, this year to the Tri-State Exhibition Center for a new barn (dedicated to Rich and her daughter, Ali DeGray) and a multi-use facility such as the livestock arena. The donation from the Johnson Family Foundation will help complete the new addition.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press…

After rising to a record high in August, consumers across the Tennessee Valley will get a reprieve next month with a drop in their monthly power bills.

But even with the decline in the monthly fuel cost adjustment and milder temperatures forecast in September, the price of electricity in Chattanooga next month will still be up by more than 12% from a year ago, according to EPB.

Homeowners have felt the heat in their pocketbooks this summer from higher temperatures and higher power rates that have combined to push up power bills by more than 30% for many homeowners.

According to TVA, electric load hit a June record of 31,617 megawatts, and natural gas prices were 141% higher this June than a year ago.

Lower temperatures in September will limit both the price and consumption of energy for most customers next month to cut their power bills significantly from the record highs reached this summer.

TVA has pledged to keep its electric rates constant for at least a decade, and residential electricity prices in the Tennessee Valley are still well below the U.S. average, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In news today…

A new forest supervisor now leads the Cleveland-based Cherokee National Forest, which runs through much of East Tennessee.

Mike Wright began his official duties on Aug. 15 after serving in an acting capacity since April, the U.S. Forest Service said in a press release.

Wright has served as Cherokee’s Ocoee district ranger since 2012. During that time, he also served in acting roles as deputy forest supervisor and natural resources staff officer.

He served as park district ranger on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland for five years before coming to Cherokee.