Yager addresses dump, school vouchers, other topics at Chamber of Commerce meeting
Plus: Photos from TCAT's summer academy for middle school students, and Big South Fork Medical Center announces a new Wound Care Center.
Good Monday morning! Welcome to a brand new week. This is The Daybreaker, the first of several newsletters that will be published this week by the Independent Herald. The Daybreaker (Monday) and The Weekender (Thursday evening) are our two news-first newsletters. We publish several other newsletters throughout the week, as well as our regular E-Edition on Thursday and our Varsity E-Edition on Sunday (during sports season). If you’d like to adjust your subscription to include (or exclude) this or any of our other newsletters, please do so here. If you need to subscribe, it’s as simple as entering your email address:
Since 1904, First National Bank has been a part of Scott County. First National is local people — just like you. Visit fnboneida.com or call (423) 569-8586. (Sponsored content.)
Yager addresses a variety of issues at Chamber of Commerce meeting
ONEIDA | State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, addressed a range of topics with Scott County Chamber of Commerce directors here Thursday, from a proposed landfill at Bear Creek to Gov. Bill Lee’s controversial school vouchers program that took effect earlier this year.
Appearing at the Chamber’s monthly luncheon, Yager first spoke with a few local residents who had gathered across the street from the Scott County Senior Citizens Center to protest the proposed landfill, then delivered prepared comments and took questions from directors inside.
On the landfill: Calling landfills “really largely a local matter,” though the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation “has some authority in the permitting process,” Yager made it clear that he will not support the landfill that has been proposed for the Bear Creek area. “All of your local government bodies are absolutely in opposition to this,” Yager said. “I’m not going to do anything to stand in opposition to local government.”
On school vouchers: After years of steadfastly opposing Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher program, Yager flipped his vote this year, and the voucher plan narrowly passed the state legislature — providing taxpayer funds to students who attend private schools. This year, 20,000 vouchers will be available, with half earmarked for low-income families. The income requirement will go away after year one, however.
“The reason for my steadfast opposition in the past has been the hemorrhaging of funding to county school systems,” Yager said, highlighting the fact that school funding is tied to student enrollment. “I talked to the governor and he fixed the problem. This bill will not cause a loss of revenue to Scott County or Oneida or any public school.”
Supporters of the bill say it will not hurt public schools because the funding tied to a student who leaves the public school to enroll in a private school will continue to go to the public school the student was last enrolled in.
Yager said he had met with Dr. Jeanny Phillips of the Oneida Special School District and Bill Hall of the Scott County School System, and said both presented him with hard questions about the legislation. He credited them with standing up for their school systems.
One issue that Yager said both Phillips and Hall presented to him was that the legislation, as passed, ignores students with intellectual disabilities — which he called a legitimate concern. “We’re doing considerable research, and we’re going to offer a fix,” he said.
Yager also highlighted the legislature’s commitment to provide new funding for public schools — up to one-half billion dollars, he said.
On roads: Yager announced that the TN Dept. of Transportation will resurface U.S. Highway 27 through Oneida next spring. He said Scott County Road Superintendent Kelvin King has contacted him relentlessly about the issue, and that he has met with new TDOT Commissioner Will Reid several times in recent weeks. He said TDOT will bid the project this winter, which will allow work to begin when asphalt plants reopen with the warmer weather in Spring 2026.
U.S. 27 has been a subject of concern throughout much of Scott County, as has S.R. 63 through Huntsville. Although sections of both highways have been resurfaced in recent years, the new asphalt hasn’t lasted, and the highways are pitted with potholes. The worst section, U.S. 27 south of the S.R. 63 intersection in Huntsville to Robbins, which had not been resurfaced in recent years, was resurfaced earlier this summer.
On disappearing farmland: Yager said that Tennessee’s declining farmlands are a major problem. He pointed out that the state has lost 1.5 million acres of open farmland since 1997, adding that agricultural land is being “eaten up by development.” He said the Farm Bureau is pushing the issue, and pointed out that Tennessee’s No. 1 industry is agriculture, generating $89 billion annually.
“We’re a free society,” Yager said. “The right to own property is a constitutional right. It’s a God-given right. We tried to come up with a solution to protect property rights (while addressing the issue).” Part of that fix, he said, is a supplement. If landowners grant a conservation easement to nature conservancy groups or other non-profits, the difference in the easement purchase and the property’s value will be paid by the state to the landowner as part of the assistance program.
The Chamber of Commerce meets monthly. For more information on joining the Chamber, visit scottcountychamber.com.
Need a good rate on your auto insurance? Contact your local State Farm agent, Roger Baldwin. (Sponsored content.)
TCAT summer camps
BSFMC announces Wound Care Center
ONEIDA | Big South Fork Medical Center announced Friday the opening of its new Wound Care Center, which it says will offer much-needed specialty services to residents of Scott County and surrounding communities.
BSFMC’s Wound Care Center will provide advanced treatment for chronic and non-healing wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, pressure injuries, surgical wounds, infections, and wounds related to poor circulation. The hospital says patients will benefit from specialized care plans that may include wound debridement, specialized dressings, infection control, and patient education to promote long-term healing and prevention.
“By opening the Wound Care Center in Oneida, we’re providing high-quality, specialized treatment locally, and helping our friends, families, and neighbors heal close to home,” said Big South Fork Medical Center CEO Hal Leftwich.
Emergency room providers often see delays in wound treatment lead to more serious health issues, including infection, hospitalization and even amputation. The new center will provide timely care in a familiar, trusted setting — something that BSFMC says is important in smaller communities where relationships matter and travel can be a barrier to care.
Patients can be referred to the Wound Care Center by a primary care provider or specialist, but self-referrals will also be accepted. Call (423) 286-5317 for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Big South Fork plugs abandoned oil wells
ICYMI from our Friday Features newsletter:
BANDY CREEK | Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area encompasses 125,000 acres of rugged terrain within the Cumberland Plateau in southeastern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. It is the fifth-largest National Park Service (NPS) unit east of the Mississippi River. It attracts more than 800,000 visitors annually. They can enjoy fishing, hunting, rafting, kayaking, horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, wildlife viewing, nature photography, and more.
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area also includes more than 275 permitted oil and gas extraction sites, most of them drilled in the 1970s and ‘80s. Many are abandoned sites known as orphaned wells.
“It’s truly a recreational destination for people – and oil and gas just happens to be here as part of our history,” says Tom Blount, Chief of Resource Management at the park.
The NPS and partners recently completed work at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area to plug six orphaned wells, remove often-rusted wellhead equipment, and restore affected land to a more natural state. The work’s primary goals were to protect groundwater from any oil, gas, or brine seepage; to eliminate public safety threats from derelict equipment; and to enhance visitors’ experience aesthetically.
Oil and gas restoration is complex work involving several steps: planning, access, plugging, and reclamation. Once logistical planning is complete, access – getting necessary heavy equipment in and out – is difficult and time-consuming because well sites often are remote. Plugging is laborious, too. It involves relieving any pressure in the wellbore, removing liquids and adding layers of cement. Reclamation involves removing wellhead equipment and creating conditions that let nature restore itself.
As of summer 2025, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area contains 146 orphaned wells that have been plugged (including six from the recent work), 16 active wells; 50 shut-in (temporarily inactive) wells; and 75 permitted wells that were not drilled or have not been verified in the field. “We’re very proud of our working wells, and the work being done to plug the orphaned wells,” says Niki Stephanie Nicholas, the park’s Superintendent.
The recent work at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is one of about three dozen oil and gas restoration projects ongoing at 10 NPS units across the nation.
“Plugging these wells prevents contamination of soils, water, air, and it allows the ecosystems to recover and thrive,” says Forrest Smith, NPS lead engineer on oil and gas matters.
The benefits are widespread. Visitors “get to experience the natural beauty and enjoy the recreation without being inhibited by oil and gas infrastructure,” Smith says. Local communities benefit because methane and fluid leakage beyond the parks’ boundaries subsides. Taxpayers benefit from acting now, Smith says, because the longer the wells sit, the more expensive they become to clean up and the more dangerous they are to human and environmental health.
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Blount says, conserves “the last piece of free-flowing river on the Cumberland River system.” The park is home to 91 fish species and 40 mussel species, many of them rare. Two endemic rare plants are Cumberland rosemary and Virginia spirea. Restoration of the oil and gas sites provides habitat for that wildlife and clean water for everyone downstream.
It’s not a stretch to say the two million residents of the Nashville metro area – a couple hundred miles down the Cumberland River – have oil and gas reclamation efforts at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area to thank, in part, for their clean drinking water. “You bet,” says Blount, “groundwater and surface water protection from us is protecting all the residents downstream.”
For more information, contact Big South Fork NRRA at 423-569-9778.
The Week Ahead
⛈️ Weather: Thunderstorms are likely this afternoon as we begin a hot start to the week. Temps will be in the low 90s each day through Wednesday. But we should see cooler temperatures by the end of the week that will last through the weekend. Check out our daily Eye to the Sky updates on our Facebook page — published each morning at 7 a.m. on the dot — or always available at indherald.com.
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📅 Community Calendar
Monday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center in Huntsville will offer its walking program, puzzles and games, and massage chairs from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. today and every weekday this week. There will also be Tai Chi at 11 a.m. today and Bingo at 1 p.m.
Monday: Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services’ Mobile Health Clinic will be in the Walmart parking lot in Oneida from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering integrated primary care and behavioral health. No insurance is not a problem. Call (866) 599-0466 for more information.
Monday: Huntsville Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and every day this week ($3). The Oneida Splash Pad is also open.
Monday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out. Phone: (423) 569-5972.
Monday: The Scott County Airport Authority will meet at the Scott County Airport this afternoon, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Tuesday: Pinnacle Resource Center’s food pantry (1513 Jeffers Road, Huntsville) will be open beginning at 10 a.m. There are no income guidelines; however, a photo ID and a piece of mail with a Scott County address are required.
Tuesday: The Oneida City Park Farmers & Makers Market will be from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Call (423) 569-8300 for more information about becoming a vendor.
Tuesday: Boy Scout Troop #333 will meet at the Oneida War Memorial Building on Alberta Street in Oneida beginning at 6 p.m.
Tuesday: Wall Builders will meet from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church (1611 Glass House Road, Helenwood) for those struggling with addiction or striving to keep off drugs. There will be preaching, teaching, food, fellowship and personal counseling.
Wednesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out.
Wednesday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center will offer Silver Stitches from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursday: The Gerry McDonald Mission House, located on Church Avenue, directly behind First United Methodist Church, is open from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. You are eligible to receive food once per month. For more information or requirements, call the church office at 569-8828.
Thursday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Thursday: The Scott Appalachian Industries Senior Center in Huntsville will offer Tai Chi at 11 a.m., Healing Hearts at 1 p.m. and Seniors in Scripture at 2 p.m.
The Community Calendar is presented by Citizens Gas Utility District. Before you dig, call 811. It’s the law! You can help prevent pipeline damage and leaks by calling 811 before doing any excavating or demolition and submitting a utility locate request. Visit citizensgastn.com.
Thank you for reading. Our next newsletter will be Echoes in Time tomorrow. If you’d like to update your subscription to add or subtract any of our newsletters, do so here. If you haven’t yet subscribed, it’s as simple as adding your email address!
◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes in Time (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)
And mum on the rails to trails land grab.