Oak Ridge Today

Education Foundation gives city $400,000 for ORHS debt

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Mark Watson and Lila Metcalf

Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Executive Director Lila Metcalf presents a $402,611 check to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to help pay the debt on the renovation of the Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation recently made its eighth annual contribution for the rebuilding and renovation of Oak Ridge High School, a project that was completed in 2008.

In November, Lila Metcalf, the foundation’s executive director, presented a check for $402,611 to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to assist in the high school debt repayment. Since the payments began in 2005, the Education Foundation has presented the city with more than $3.5 million for the high school.

The Education Foundation raised $8 million in private funds for the high school, and that money provided the leverage for special bonds available for public schools. Together, the private funds and bonds provided the final piece of funding that made the renovation of Oak Ridge High School possible.

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Baughn asks for mayor’s travel records for past five years

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

After asking Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan to consider resigning, new City Council member Trina Baughn requested trip and cost information for all of his city-related travel in the past five years.

She asked Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson for the trip information in a Wednesday afternoon e-mail.

Baughn requested the mayor’s travel records for the dozen boards and committees she knows about, as well as any she doesn’t. She asked Watson to also give the total cost of each trip, including mileage, per diem, hotel expenses, entertainment, and other charges, as well as the funding sources.

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NNSA exceeds nuclear weapons dismantlement goal

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The National Nuclear Security Administration announced today that it exceeded its goal for dismantling nuclear weapons in the federal fiscal year that ended in September.

In a press release, the NNSA said it had reached 112 percent of its goal, although it didn’t give specific information on the number of dismantled weapons.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is one of the NNSA sites involved in the dismantlement work.

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Things to do in Oak Ridge and Clinton

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We’ve added several new events to our events calendar, including some happening this weekend. Take a look here.

Report: Man evades arrest, drives on sidewalk, backs toward officer

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An Oak Ridge man fleeing from undercover agents at Walgreens on Tuesday allegedly drove on the sidewalk and accelerated backward toward a police investigator, forcing the officer to run between two vehicles to avoid being hit, according to Anderson County court records.

The alleged driver, Frederick R. Black, 28, of West Pasadena Lane, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of evading arrest. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Thursday, and his bond has been set at $500,000.

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Oak Ridge school superintendent search down to three finalists

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Two candidates have dropped out, and the five-month search for a new Oak Ridge schools superintendent is down to three finalists.

They are:

  • Dan Lawson, superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn.;
  • Neyland Clark, superintendent of South Harrison Community Schools in Corydon, Ind.; and
  • Roger Collins, superintendent of Nelson County Public Schools in Lovingston, Va.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education had scheduled interviews with five finalists. Those interviews, which lasted a total of eight to 10 hours, began Friday and continued Tuesday and Wednesday.

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TVA high-voltage line fails, falls into city power lines

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TVA Transmission Line Fails

A 161-kV Tennessee Valley Authority transmission line failed Wednesday morning and fell into 13,200-volt city power lines below it, knocking out power to 154 customers in west Oak Ridge for four hours. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Electric Department)

A high-voltage Tennessee Valley Authority power line came loose and fell into Oak Ridge power lines below it Wednesday morning, and about 154 customers on the west end of town lost electricity for roughly four hours.

But power was restored to all customers just after 1 p.m. Wednesday, said Margaret Elgin, Oak Ridge Electric Department engineering manager.

Elgin said a 161-kilovolt TVA transmission line failed in a wooded area near Bear Creek Road in west Oak Ridge at about 9 a.m. Wednesday. As a result, a conductor came loose, and the line fell into 13,200-volt city electrical lines below it.

Elgin said there was no threat to public safety during the line failure or power outage.

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St. Stephen’s Church has Christmas bazaar this weekend

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The St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Oak Ridge has a Christmas bazaar this weekend.

The bazaar will feature a wonderful selection of gifts, gourmet foods, and holiday decor, a press release said. Featured items are expected to range from art, jewelry, books, and compact discs to baked goods, bird feeders, jewelry boxes, candy, and soaps and bath products.

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Work begins to move Oak Ridge homes for Kroger Marketplace

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Iris Circle Home Relocation

An Iris Circle home is held up by steel beams and wooden piers Monday, one of several homes that could be moved to make way for a 25-acre Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

Work has started to move homes on Iris Circle and Robin Lane to make way for a 25-acre Kroger Marketplace shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue.

Five homes were off their foundations in the small neighborhood in central Oak Ridge on Monday, raised on steel beams and stacked wooden piers. Work had started on a few others.

Among those relocating their homes is George Royster, a five-year neighborhood resident who helped lead the crusade against the $30 million development.

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Faith column: Looking into the faith community, tour of Covenant Presbyterian

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My husband Jack and I recently visited the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church. I had read his impressive bio on the church website and expected that a man with such a long list of accomplishments must be well into his senior years. However, when I met him, beneath the wise and aged appearance of his gray beard, I found a very humble, gracious man close to my own age.

Dr. Nick Willborn began our time together by giving us a tour of their new church facility. It’s the church that sits on the pinnacle of Commerce Park overlooking the Solway entrance to Oak Ridge. One of the first things mentioned is that they are already beginning to discuss Phase 2. I think they’ve only been in this facility for one year!

After enjoying the beautiful view and observing the cars racing by below, we entered the sanctuary from the narthex. Immediately, I noticed the calming soft green they chose for their carpet and chair coverings. “It’s warm in here”, I said, referring to the ambience rather than the temperature.

Dr. Willborn wasted no time explaining that everything about the design of this new sanctuary was intended to point each worshipper to ponder the attributes of God and of the Christian life. First, he pointed out the rays of sunlight beaming in through high windows intended to bring reflection on the “light” given to the Christian pilgrim from the “Light of the world.” He continued by explaining that the vaulted ceiling is designed to speak of the vastness of all that God is.

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Man rescued from lift after tree limb falls onto power line

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Culver Road Rescue

The Oak Ridge Electric Department, left, cut the power to a Culver Road home after a tree limb fell onto a line, knocking it to the ground and onto a boom lift, right, used by the homeowner trimming the tree. The man was stranded in the lift until city workers could turn off the power.

A Culver Road man trimming trees at his home was stranded in a boom lift Friday night after a tree limb fell onto a power line, knocking it to the ground and onto the lift, authorities said.

The man was able to be lowered to the ground after the Oak Ridge Electric Department disconnected the power. The man was not injured, but he was a little cold, Oak Ridge Police Officer Christopher Wallace said.

The man appeared to have been trapped about 20-30 feet in the air for about an hour on a chilly Friday night.

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Guest column: Vision for ‘something else’ in Oak Ridge

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

This is the first of several columns about a different vision for Oak Ridge than has previously existed.

The default development plan Oak Ridge has been operating under, to rely on federal subcontractor and spin-off industry growth, has stalled. The degree to which it will revive as the U.S. economy revives remains to be seen.

The U.S. Department of Energy says the Uranium Processing Facility they are just starting is their last big build in Oak Ridge. Upon its completion the number of employees in this function will decrease by about one-third. Given this and other concerns, it behooves us to consider other possible engines to fuel the Oak Ridge economy. We think that any successful replacement development plan will be woven from a combination of elements, rather than from one major thread alone.

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