The Oak Ridge City Council will consider accepting grants for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport on Tuesday.
The airport would be built along Highway 58 on the south side of the Heritage Center, the former K-25 site.
Council will meet online to consider accepting the airport grants in a special session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 19. You can watch the meeting here.
[Read more…]
David Lane Mason, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board and community volunteer, died of COVID-19 complications on Monday. He was 79.
Mason was a former deputy director of environmental management and enrichment facilities at the former K-25 site, and he retired from the United States Enrichment Corporation in 2005 as the director of Centrifuge Engineering and Manufacturing Project, according to his obituary.
As a founding member of the Oak Ridge Rowing Association, Mason helped develop and build the rowing course at Melton Hill Lake, his obituary said. As a member of the Sunset Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, he helped establish the annual Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair for elementary and middle school students, the obituary said.
A nuclear physicist and Oak Ridge resident, Mason died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville on Monday. He was a community advocate for more than 50 years, his obituary said.
Here is more information about Dave Mason from his obituary:
[Read more…]
The Which Wich restaurant on Oak Ridge Turnpike closed on Thursday, December 31.
The Which Wich corporate office and Oak Ridge location have not responded to emails asking about the closing this week, and Oak Ridge Today was not able to reach the company and Oak Ridge location by phone on Wednesday and Thursday.
Santa will be on hand at this year’s Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s “reverse” parade to be held Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, from 6-8 p.m. (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Parade will be held this year, but with a twist. This year’s offering will be a “reverse” parade, a press release said.
The event will be held on Saturday, December 12, from 6-8 p.m. The theme of this year’s “reverse” parade is “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” More than 40 individuals and organizations have signed up to display along the parade route, the press release said. [Read more…]
A temporary road closure is planned for Lafayette Drive on Saturday, December 12, to allow for the “reverse” parade to take place.
The northbound lanes of Lafayette Drive will be closed to traffic beginning around 3 p.m., a press release said. The southbound lanes and access roads will be closed to traffic beginning around 5 p.m. Both will remain closed to traffic until the parade ends at 8. [Read more…]
The fifth season of the Winter Farmers’ Market begins indoors Saturday, December 5, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and it is focused on safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, a press release said.
The market is open Saturdays through March (closed December 26), at St. Mary’s Catholic School at 323 Vermont Avenue in Oak Ridge.
All vendors and customers must wear masks, and vendors are spread apart for social distancing, the press release said.
New this year is a 100 percent touch-free curbside pickup program called Market-to-Go. Customers can shop farmers’ market products online during the week, and pick them up curbside on Saturday mornings, the press release said.
“We have been working all year to get ready for a safe, indoor market. Not many towns our size offer a Winter Farmers’ Market, much less one with more than 30 vendors and a convenient online store,” said Rebecca Williams, director of Grow Oak Ridge, the nonprofit organization that produces the market.
[Read more…]
A float is pictured above in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. (File photo by Eli Welton)
The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade will be a reverse parade this year because of concerns about COVID-19. That means the floats will be stationary and spectators will drive the parade route.
In normal years, the spectators are stationary, and the floats are driven down Oak Ridge Turnpike.
This year, floats will line the northbound lanes of Lafayette Drive (heading toward Oak Ridge Turnpike), and spectators will drive down the southbound lanes (heading toward Illinois Avenue) to enjoy the festivities from the safety and comfort of their own cars, a press release said.
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, announced the change on Monday. [Read more…]
An Anderson County man was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly robbed a credit union in Oak Ridge.
The alleged robbery of Enrichment Federal Credit Union on South Illinois Avenue was reported at about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Joshua Ryan Hutchins, 27, was arrested less than seven hours later, just before midnight, by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force.
According to a court affidavit, Hutchins allegedly entered the credit union during the Tuesday evening robbery and presented a note to a teller that said, “This is a Robbery…”
[Read more…]Law enforcement officers are investigating a robbery at Enrichment Federal Credit Union.
The robbery was reported at about 5:24 p.m. Tuesday at the credit union on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. It’s being investigated by the Oak Ridge Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
During the alleged robbery, a suspect handed a note to tellers demanding money, a press releases said. No weapon was displayed or threatened, the press release said.
The suspect left with an undisclosed amount of money and is described as a white male in his 30s with brown hair. He was last seen wearing a grey/white ball cap, black face mask, and a grey hooded sweatshirt, the press release said.
[Read more…]
The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Annual Plant Sale will be online only this year. It is scheduled from September 25 to October 10. You can shop for new plants from home.
The UT Arboretum Society’s plant sales are some of their biggest fundraisers of the year. They help support the arboretum’s community education, trail improvements such as its Nature Book Trail, and children’s programs, a press release said.
The online plant sale will give you a chance to enhance your garden this fall.
“Fall is always a wonderful time for planting as it gives your plants time to establish great root systems for the spring,” the press release said.
[Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has selected Christine Michaels as the new president and chief executive officer of the organization.
Michaels replaces Parker Hardy, who retired this summer after a 24-year career at the Chamber.
As president/CEO, Michaels will be responsible for advancing the business interests in the community and serving the membership in the areas of leadership growth, residential growth, advocacy, economic growth, and community alignment, a press release said.
Michaels comes to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce from within the chamber of commerce industry as president and CEO of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber in Fayetteville, North Carolina. While at the 700-member Greater Fayetteville Chamber, Michaels introduced new entrepreneurship opportunities for exiting military personnel and served on several task forces for city development, including as a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization advisory committee. During her tenure, she increased member retention by 15 percent, supervised a staff of five employees, and managed a $700,000 budget.
[Read more…]
The fourth annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival has been converted to a safer, spread out, open-air “Winemaker’s Market” on Saturday, September 12, a press release said. The festival is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge.
“All of our winemakers will be wearing masks, and we ask that the public does, too,” said event director Rebecca Williams. “They will be spread out in the park, with at least 10 feet between vendor tents, and we may have to limit ticket sales to allow for social distancing.”
The event will not offer wine samples to taste this year.
“The state will not allow it, and we agree it would not be a safe thing to do,” Williams said. “Instead, we’re offering a unique shopping event, sort of like a farmer’s market for wine. Tennessee wines are not generally sold in stores, so you really have to come to an event or drive out to a winery to find them.”
Thirteen local wineries will be represented at the event. General admission tickets are $10, and they benefit United Way of Anderson County. They include a wine tote and tasting glass to take home, the press release said.
[Read more…]