Oak Ridge Today

School board has special meeting Thursday to discuss re-opening plan

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Board of Education will have a special meeting this afternoon to discuss the plan to re-open schools next week.

The meeting to discuss schools re-opening is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 23. The school board will meet electronically under an executive order signed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. The order relates to protecting public health, safety, and welfare in response to COVID-19.

Oak Ridge Schools are scheduled to start July 29 with two options for students and families: 1) attending classes at school with new safety measures and contingency plans, and 2) online instruction through ConnectOR.

[Read more…]

Oliver Springs mayor feeling fine, out of quarantine

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oliver Springs Mayor Omer Cox (Photo courtesy Omer Cox)

Oliver Springs Mayor Omer Cox on Wednesday said he is feeling fine, does not have any symptoms of COVID-19, and is out of quarantine.

Cox tested positive for COVID-19 before a scheduled surgery. He learned of the test result on Monday of last week. The surgery was canceled.

Oliver Springs announced after the positive diagnosis that it was closing City Hall until August 3.

[Read more…]

COVID-19 cases triple in county, hospitalizations double

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A graph showing total cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The number of COVID-19 cases has tripled in Anderson County since early July, and the number of hospitalizations has doubled.

Anderson County had 105 total cases of COVID-19 on July 2, when the growth in cases started to accelerate. On Tuesday, it had more than three times as many cases, 327.

The number of active cases—total cases minus recoveries and deaths—has increased even faster. The number of active cases in Anderson County on July 2 was 32. On Tuesday, the county had about five times as many active cases, 154.

The number of total cases and active cases—now 327 and 154, respectively—have both increased about 50 percent in one week.

Anderson County hospitalizations increased to 21 on Tuesday. That’s up from 10 on July 5, meaning more than half of the county’s hospitalizations have occurred in less than three weeks. Seven of the hospitalizations have been in the past week.

Anderson County has reported a third death due to COVID-19, the first since June 4. Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy executive and a founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died of COVID-19 on Friday at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

Separately, an Oak Ridge employee who worked at the Y-12 National Security Complex and lived in Maryville died of COVID-19 on Wednesday at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville.

[Read more…]

Y-12 employee dies of health issues related to COVID-19

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

William Mark Easterly

A project controls manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex has died of health issues related to COVID-19, the nuclear weapons production plant said Tuesday.

The Daily Times has identified the employee as Mark Easterly of Maryville. The newspaper said Easterly was employed by Bechtel for almost 30 years, and he began working at Y-12 as a project controls manager in March.

His death is the first death due to COVID-19 at a National Nuclear Security Administration site. Y-12 is an NNSA site. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Daily Times reported that Easterly’s wife, Brandee, is principal of John Sevier Elementary School in Maryville.

[Read more…]

Roane County will not require face masks

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ron Woody (Screenshot from video posted by Woody)

Roane County will not require face masks or face coverings, County Executive Ron Woody said Friday.

In an online video, Woody said most essential businesses are now requiring face coverings. That means a mask requirement by the county may not be necessary anymore, Woody said. Stores that require face coverings now include Kroger, Lowe’s, and Walmart.

“The decisions were made the businesses, which we think was the best decision anyway,” Woody said. It’s better than a government mandate, which no one wants, the county executive said.

“Our businesses should step up and be the responsible party, and they were,” Woody said.

[Read more…]

Updated: Former DOE research director, CROET founder dies at 91

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Joe Lenhard, right, is pictured with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch at the dedication of Main Street Oak Ridge in July 2016. (Photo courtesy Warren Gooch)

Note: This story was last updated at 11:10 a.m. July 19.

Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy research director and founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died Friday of COVID-19, a family member said. He was 91.

Lenhard died Friday evening at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, his daughter Andrea Lenhard said in a Facebook post.

My father, Joseph Lenhard, died Friday evening at MMC of Covid. He went quickly. Rest in peace, Daddy. You were always my hero.

Posted by Andie Lenhard on Friday, July 17, 2020

Lenhard was a research director for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. He had oversight of DOE research activities and served as the federal contracting officer for major federal facilities in the city, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked for DOE for about 32 years, from 1957 to 1989.

Lenhard served as president of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce in 1992, and he was chair of the East Tennessee Economic Council in 1993 and 1994.

He helped found CROET in 1994, and he was the founding chairman. CROET helps find ways to re-use former federal property, not just real estate but also equipment and other federal assets. A tribute to Lenhard’s service is noted on a plaque in the Horizon Center Industrial Park in west Oak Ridge.

His daughter Andrea said her father loved the natural world, and she became a biologist and veterinarian because of him. Her father used to take them on long rambles in the woods, Andrea said, and he would pick up animals like snakes and frogs and tell the children what he knew about them.

“He loved nature, and that was very infectious,” she said.

Andrea said Oak Ridge was very important to her father.

“He always wanted to promote Oak Ridge and take care of Oak Ridge,” she said. “He was very devoted to the city.”

Lenhard could often be found walking in local grocery stores. He was very conscious of his health, Andrea said, and he would walk every day at stores that included Walmart, Kroger, and Food City. He would sometimes stop to talk to people, including an Oak Ridge Today reporter.

Andrea said her father was a lot of fun, full of life, and he loved everybody.

She recalled the trips her family used to take to Norris Lake on weekends when she was a child—playing in the water, climbing trees, telling jokes—and she said her father spent as much time as he could with his grandchildren as well.

A statement from the family of Lenhard’s daughter Michele said Joe Lenhard was very supportive of higher education.

“He gave substantial sums of money to the University of Tennessee and Roane State Community College,” the statement said. “Roane State dedicated a room to Joseph Lenhard for his outstanding contributions. Joe came from an economically disproportionate background and saw the benefit of higher education. He wanted to provide educational opportunity for the young people of East Tennessee.”

[Read more…]

ASAP of Anderson 50/50 Raffle is Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The annual ASAP of Anderson 50/50 Raffle will be hosted virtually at 10 p.m. Saturday.

It will raise awareness and money for substance misuse prevention efforts in Anderson County.

The event is usually held at the Anderson County Fair, but the fair has been canceled.

Ticket buyers can view the drawing through ASAP’s Facebook and Instagram pages. ASAP encourages you to buy tickets.

The drawing itself will be streamed live on Facebook and Instagram. The winners will be announced Saturday evening on all of ASAP’s social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

[Read more…]

Kroger will require face masks starting Wednesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Kroger Marketplace at Westcott Center in Oak Ridge is pictured above on April 4, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Kroger stores will require all customers in all stores to wear a face mask starting Wednesday, July 22.

The change is in response to the increase in COVID-19 cases across the country, Kroger said.

“We are taking this extra step now because we recognize additional precautions are needed to protect our country,” the company said.

Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kroger said there are three actions that have been scientifically proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Besides wearing a face covering, they include frequent hand washing and social distancing (generally staying at least six feet away from people outside your home).

[Read more…]

ORHS band camp instructor tests positive for COVID-19

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 5:45 p.m.

An instructor at the Oak Ridge High School band camp has tested positive for COVID-19, Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a letter to parents on Wednesday.

The band camp instructor, who worked with multiple students and staff members, had no symptoms before learning of the positive test result Wednesday morning, Borchers said.

The instructor, who isn’t being publicly identified, was immediately separated from the band camp and told to contact the appropriate county health department to report the diagnosis and ask for guidance, Borchers said.

[Read more…]

ORNL Federal Credit Union temporarily closing lobbies Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge branch of ORNL Federal Credit Union on Rutgers Avenue is pictured above on Friday, July 3, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

ORNL Federal Credit Union will temporarily close its lobbies on Monday.

The temporarily closures were announced after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week declared the Knoxville market a “hotspot” for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the credit union said.

“With the exponential increase in the number of cases, we are changing which services are available in branch lobbies,” ORNL Federal Credit Union said. “Lobby access will not be granted for routine transactions that can be performed at an ITM/ATM, drive-through lanes, or through online and mobile banking.”

Beginning Monday, customers should use digital services, drive-throughs, or ATMs and ITMs (automated teller machines and interactive teller machines) for:

[Read more…]

Starbucks requiring face coverings

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Starbucks on Oak Ridge Turnpike on April 4, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Starbucks started requiring customers to wear face coverings in its stores on Wednesday.

The policy applies to all company-owned café locations in the United States, Starbucks said. The policy is to protect the health and well-being of employees and customers, the company said.

A representative at the Starbucks on Oak Ridge Turnpike, near Main Street Oak Ridge, said the store is company-owned and requiring face coverings. Oak Ridge Today was not able to reach a representative at the other Starbucks, which is inside the Kroger store at Westcott Center, late Wednesday afternoon.

[Read more…]

Walmart, Sam’s Club stores will require face coverings starting Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Walmart store in Oak Ridge is pictured above on April 4, 2020.

All Walmart and Sam’s Club stores will require face coverings starting Monday, July 20.

The new policy was announced Wednesday by Dacona Smith, chief operating officer of Walmart U.S., and Lance de la Rosa, chief operating officer of Sam’s Club.

They said about 65 percent of their more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings. They said the number and types of face mask mandates has spiked across the country along with the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19.

“To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, July 20,” Smith and de la Rosa said in a press release published online. “This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage, and train associates on the new protocols.”

[Read more…]