Oak Ridge Today

Red Hot Horn Dawgs play at Secret City Sounds on Friday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Red Hot Horn Dawgs

The Red Hot Horn Dawgs will play at a Secret City Sounds concert on Friday, July 19. (Submitted photo)

Secret City Sounds continues its Summer Concert Series with The Red Hot Horn Dawgs on Friday, July 19. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Pavilion located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Red Hot Horn Dawgs are a nine-piece band with a full horn section and extroverted showmen, and the group’s musical library spans the best years of American popular music, from Otis Redding and Elvis Presley to Billy Joel, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Kid Rock, and Toby Keith, a press release said. [Read more…]

Reminder: Summer camps ongoing

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

There are still opportunities to enroll your children in summer camps.

The Summer Camps section on Oak Ridge Today includes information on upcoming summer camps at First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, Continuous Threads Sewing Studio, and the City of Ridge.

Freight Hoppers play at Secret City Sounds on Friday

Posted at
By 2 Comments

The Freight Hoppers

The Freight Hoppers play old-time string band music, and they will perform at Secret City Sounds in Oak Ridge on Friday. (Submitted photo)

Secret City Sounds continues its Summer Concert Series with The Freight Hoppers at 7 p.m. Friday at A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

It’s the second show in the 2013 series, and it’s presented by the Arts Council of Oak Ridge and the City of Oak Ridge.

The Freight Hoppers have been presenting old-time string band music for more than 20 years, a press release said. [Read more…]

July 4 fireworks at A.K. Bissell Park

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

July 4 Fireworks

The July 4 fireworks show in Oak Ridge starts at 10 p.m. at A.K. Bissell Park. (Photo by Charles Samuels)

Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley has announced that the fireworks display, sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge, will begin at 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 4. The display will be shot from A.K. Bissell Park.

The fireworks will be accompanied by music played live on-site by Merle 96.7 FM. Radio host Jack Ryan will be live from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude the live broadcast with a patriotic medley as the fireworks are shot. The countdown to the fireworks begins at 9:30 p.m. Listeners can tune their radios to 96.7 Merle FM and enjoy the show.

The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its annual 4th of July concert at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival features ‘something for everyone’

Posted at
By 5 Comments

Homemade Wine Band

The Homemade Wine Band played after the Friday morning opening ceremony at the Secret City Festival.

The annual Secret City Festival started today, and it features Manhattan Project bus tours and history displays, World War II living history activities and demonstrations, arts and crafts and antiques dealers, food vendors and exhibitors, a children’s festival area and youth events, and a car show and concerts.

“Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present,” a press release said.

Oak Ridge was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s atomic bombs, and the festival celebrates the city’s heritage.

Festival organizers have provided an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival:
 [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 again a premier sponsor of the Secret City Festival

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

B&W Y-12 Secret City Festival Check Presentation

Chuck Spencer, center, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presents a $25,000 sponsorship check for the Secret City Festival to Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 is returning to the Secret City Festival once again as the premier festival sponsor, a press release said.

“B&W has led the way in Secret City Festival sponsorships both financially and in kind for the past eight years,” the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a Wednesday press release. B&W Y-12 operates the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Chuck Spencer, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presented a $25,000 festival sponsorship check during a May 28 meeting. [Read more…]

Letter: Thanks Council for donating city lot to Habitat

Posted at
By 5 Comments

To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Oak Ridge City Council who voted in favor of donating a city-owned lot to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County (HFHAC). The board of directors, staff, and volunteers of HFHAC are incredibly excited and grateful to have the opportunity to partner with the City of Oak Ridge on our next building project.

We consider this a historic opportunity for community building through a true public-private partnership. As the City of Oak Ridge takes over blighted properties, HFHAC would like to offer our assistance at returning them to a taxable status. In 2011, Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County homeowners combined paid over $115,000 in city and county property taxes, supporting crucial services. [Read more…]

Resurfacing of 25 streets starts Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Resurfacing of parts of 25 Oak Ridge streets is scheduled to start Saturday.

“The project will begin on Wisconsin Avenue with repairs to correct surface and drainage problems, which will be followed by concrete work by city personnel to correct drainage problems,” a press release said. “This project will generally proceed from west to east.” [Read more…]

Secret City Sounds concert features The Freight Hoppers

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Freight Hoppers

The Freight Hoppers

The second show in this year’s Secret City Sounds concert series features The Freight Hoppers, a band that plays old-time string music.

The free concert starts at 7 p.m. today at the pavilion at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

A press release said The Freight Hoppers have been playing old-time string band music for more than 20 years. [Read more…]

Rick Springfield, The Dirty Guv’nahs to headline Secret City Festival

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield

Rick Springfield, the pop rock singer-songwriter and musician who won a 1981 Grammy for “Jessie’s Girl,” will headline the Saturday night concert at this year’s Secret City Festival, organizers said Thursday.

Springfield has sold 25 million albums worldwide, including 17 Top 40 hits, such as “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “An Affair of the Heart,” “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Love Somebody,” and “Human Touch,” a press release said. “Jessie’s Girl” was a No. 1 hit, and the song earned Springfield a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal.

The Friday night concert at the June 21-22 Secret City Festival features Knoxville-native rock ‘n’ roll band The Dirty Guv’nahs. [Read more…]

Alexander Inn on endangered places list again

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Alexander Inn

The Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge has again been named an endangered place in East Tennessee.

The Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge has again been named an endangered place in East Tennessee.

The vacant, two-story hotel was included on a list of 17 endangered places released by the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance on Monday. The Alexander Inn, which could soon be converted into an assisted living center, has been on the list in previous years as well.

Announced Monday in Knoxville, the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance’s list includes endangered historic buildings and places in a 16-county region.

[Read more…]

Report: Oak Ridge officials discuss wastewater issues with EPA in Atlanta

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: The Oak Ridge City Council recently established an ad hoc subcommittee to focus on issues related to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative order on inflow and infiltration of the city’s wastewater system. Councilman Chuck Hope, who is chairman of the subcommittee, provided the following report on its recent meeting with the EPA in Atlanta.

The subcommittee of City Council that was formed to address our EPA Administrative Order concerns, went to Atlanta, Ga., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, to meet with staff from the Southeast Regional (Region 4) EPA office.

The meeting was attended by four EPA staff members: Denisse Diaz, clean water enforcement branch chief; Maurice Horsey, municipal and industrial enforcement section chief; Michele Whetherington, assistant regional counsel; and Dennis Sayre, our assigned contact in municipal and industrial enforcement.

[Read more…]