Oak Ridge Today

Charges pending after head-on crash on South Illinois

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Charges are pending against one driver after a head-on crash on South Illinois Avenue early Sunday caused one vehicle to start on fire and pinned a driver in a second vehicle, Oak Ridge police said.

The crash occurred on South Illinois Avenue at about 1:35 a.m. Sunday, when the Oak Ridge Police Department received a report of a vehicle traveling the wrong way. The vehicle was described as a silver sport utility vehicle traveling north in the southbound lanes. 

When they arrived, police officers found a head-on traffic crash in the southbound lanes of State Route 62, South Illinois Avenue, near Centrifuge Way. It involved the same vehicle (a silver 2016 Subaru) and a 2007 Toyota, the ORPD said.

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Updated: Twenty-eight COVID-19 cases reported among students, schools staff

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Twenty-seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Oak Ridge Schools student and staff members, according to data posted by the school system. Note: One new case affecting an ORHS student was reported Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2020, bringing the total to 28. (Chart by Oak Ridge Schools)

Note: This story was updated with a new case at ORHS at 5:15 p.m.

Twenty-eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools this school year, and six of those are current cases, according to data published by the school system.

The majority of the cases, 23 of the 28, have been among students. The most cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, with nine student cases and two staff cases, or 11 total.

Jefferson Middle School has had the second-highest total of cases, with five student cases and two staff cases, or seven total.

No cases have been reported at Linden Elementary School, Secret City Academy, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

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COVID positivity rates high in Anderson, surrounding counties

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COVID-19 data for Anderson County as reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee Department of Health)

The COVID-19 positivity rates in Anderson County and surrounding counties have been high recently, and one additional death and five more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County in two days this week.

The positivity rate in Anderson County was close to 10 percent on Thursday and higher than 10 percent in five of the seven surrounding counties. It was highest in Union County, where the positivity rate was 18.4 percent.

The 14th death in Anderson County was reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, and the five new hospitalizations were reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

The positivity rate measures the percentage of new daily tests that return positive results out of all the new daily tests. A higher positivity rate means more people are testing positive out of those who are tested each day.

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Robbery reported at One Bank

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A bank robbery was reported at One Bank in Oak Ridge on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching for a suspect. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

A bank robbery was reported in Oak Ridge on Friday, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching for a suspect.

The robbery was reported by a silent alarm at One Bank on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 8:35 a.m. Friday, and dispatchers then received a phone call reporting the robbery, a press release said.

Officers responded and determined a white male, in his 20s, wearing a black knit watch cap, red face mask, black or dark gray hoodie, and blue jeans presented a note to tellers advising it was a bank robbery and demanding money, the press release said.

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Council approves $175,000 settlement with Billy Casper Golf Management

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Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council last week approved a $175,000 settlement to resolve a dispute between the city and Billy Casper Golf Management over the termination of the agreement to manage Centennial Golf Course.

The city owns the golf course, which is in east Oak Ridge. The city notified Billy Casper Golf Management in October 2017 that it was going to terminate the management agreement “for cause,” Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said in a memo to Council. But Billy Casper Golf Management contested the termination of the agreement, and the company’s attorney claimed that the city owed more than $520,000 in termination fees, Krushenski said.

The two sides negotiated, and the management company accepted the city’s offer of $175,000 to settle all claims, Krushenski said.

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Smoke lingers over west Oak Ridge due to barn fire

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Smoke was lingering over west Oak Ridge today (Wednesday, October 21) due to a barn fire off Johnson Road in Oliver Springs yesterday.

The smoke was lingering over west Oak Ridge because of heavy fog Wednesday morning, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said.

Library to partially re-open in November

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The Oak Ridge Public Library will have new hours beginning Monday, November 2.

The Main Library will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Main Library will also be open from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings for patrons at high risk of COVID complications only.

The Children’s Room will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Smith estimates 600-700 COVID cases in Oak Ridge zip code

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Image courtesy Ellen Smith

Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith has estimated there could have been between 600 to 700 cases of COVID-19 in the city’s main zip code through October 14.

Oak Ridge’s main zip code is 37830.

The Tennessee Department of Health does not publish the number of COVID-19 cases by city or zip code. It does publish the number of COVID-19 cases by county, and it publishes trend maps by zip code, although it doesn’t give the precise number of cases per zip code.

Smith has analyzed the data and the maps to come up what she calls her best-guess estimate: 600 to 700 cases. That’s a bit more than 2 percent of the city’s population.

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Sewer testing finds significant increase in COVID particles in east plant

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A chart by the Oak Ridge Public Works Department shows the results of testing wastewater for COVID-19. The particles per liter have increased significantly in the east plant during the past week, putting it in the red zone for uncontrolled transmission. The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The most recent testing for evidence of COVID-19 in the city’s sewer system documented a significant increase in particles per liter in the east plant, putting that area in a red zone for uncontrolled transmission.

The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike.

In the last test, the east plant was up to 2.4 million positive genetic particles per liter. That was an increase of almost 35 times from the prior weekly test result of 69,000 positive genetic particles per liter, according to information provided by Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters at a City Council work session on Tuesday evening.

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Construction could start on water plant in spring

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Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.

Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters provided an update about the water plant to the City Council during a non-voting work session on Tuesday evening.

Plans could go the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation this week, and then the project could go out to bid, McWaters said.

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Updated: COVID-19 cases appear to be trending back up in Anderson County

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A graph shows confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m. Oct. 16

After peaking in July and falling in August, the average number of new COVID-19 cases per day appears to be trending back up in Anderson County.

In the past two weeks, the seven-day average of new cases in Anderson County was more than 15 per day, according to calculations by Oak Ridge Today. The county had 100 new cases between Friday and Wednesday.

Twice in the past three days, the number of new cases reported in one day has been 30 or more. The Tennessee Department of Health reported 30 new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County on Monday. Thirty-five more new cases were reported on Wednesday.

That’s a level generally not seen since late July, the worst month of the pandemic so far. The highest number of cases reported in the county in one day was 39 on July 23 and again on July 27.

The average number of new cases per day fell in August after the July peak and then appeared to generally plateau for a month or so. But now the overall trend seems to be one of rising new case numbers, especially since an early September low.

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ORNL engineer dies of COVID-19

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William “Bill” Lee Collier

An engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory died of COVID-19 on Saturday.

It’s the first death of an ORNL employee due to COVID-19.

The engineer, William Collier, 59, became sick the last weekend of August. He appears to have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community, the lab said Tuesday.

Collier worked in the Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities Division at ORNL. His obituary said he grew up in Oak Ridge, graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1979, and graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for 37 years at ORNL and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The loss of a coworker was a possibility we have feared since the pandemic began, and our hearts go out to their family, friends, and colleagues,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a message to staff members Tuesday. “This news tragically underscores the significance of the lab’s efforts to understand and combat COVID-19 and hardens our commitment to preventing its transmission and spread, through our own behaviors on campus and through research that is aiding the global fight against the virus.”

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