Oak Ridge Today

Snow starts, heavy snowfall expected across region

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Widespread Heavy Snow

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

 

Heavy snowfall is expected across much of the region starting tonight and continuing through midday Thursday, forecasters said.

Snow had already started falling in Oak Ridge sometime around 8 p.m. Wednesday. The new snow follows a few inches of snow that fell on Tuesday morning, and other wintry precipitation last week, including an icy mix on Monday and snow on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said there could be between three to six inches of snow across much of the Tennessee Valley, Cumberland Plateau, and Smoky Mountain foothills between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Higher amounts of five to eight inches are expected across southwest North Carolina and the high elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains, including U.S. Highway 441 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A winter storm warning has been issued for many counties across East Tennessee, including Anderson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, and Union.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

After days of delays, Oak Ridge boys advance, girls eliminated

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Dunk against Lenoir City

Sophomore Tee Higgins (5) led all Wildcats with 18 points, including three dunks and two three-pointers. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:57 p.m.

After days of delays because of winter weather, the Oak Ridge boys’ basketball team advanced to the regional semifinals on Wednesday, while the girls were eliminated from the playoffs. The Wildcats walloped Lenoir City 81-37, while the Lady Wildcats lost to Farragut 57-17.

Oak Ridge, which was the number one seed from District 3, will move on to play either Heritage or Halls in the Region 2 semifinals, although it’s not clear when because of the weather. The semifinal game could be played as early as Friday or as late as Sunday.

Wednesday’s game at home at Wildcat Arena was the only boys’ game in Region 2. Oak Ridge hasn’t played since Valentine’s Day, or 11 days, mostly because of the weather. [Read more…]

Basketball: Boys play at home at 4:30, girls at Farragut at 4:30

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The Region 2 basketball tournament games have been rescheduled for this afternoon.

The Oak Ridge girls are scheduled to play at Farragut at 4:30 p.m. (Wednesday, February 25), and the boys are scheduled to play at home at 4:30 p.m. against Lenoir City.

There are reports that some games have been postponed or moved, including the Karns-Maryville boys’  game, Maryville-Powell girls’  game, Halls-William Blount girls’ game, and Anderson County-Bearden girls’ game. We suggest you check in advance for more specific information on your game. PrepXtra, the high school sports section at the Knoxville News Sentinel, is posting updates on Twitter.

The Wildcats were supposed to play Karns in the District 3 championship last week, but that game was canceled because of weather. And the Lady Wildcats were supposed to play Anderson County in the District 3 consolation game, but that match was also called off.

The regional games have already been rescheduled several times because of winter weather.

Wednesday closings, delays: Anderson, Roane, Clinton, Oak Ridge

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Snow Sweeper at Oak Ridge High School

A tractor with sweeping equipment helps remove snow from the Oak Ridge High School parking lot on Tuesday. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Anderson County Schools will be closed Wednesday, February 25, due to the snow received overnight and this morning. The Central Office is also closed.

Clinton City Schools will be closed on Wednesday due to winter weather conditions.

Oak Ridge Schools will start two hours late on Wednesday, weather permitting and with no roads refreezing, but will dismiss at the regular dismissal time—not the typical Wednesday dismissal time. [Read more…]

Snow: Oak Ridge Schools closed, city opens late, Discovery Ed Livestream postponed

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Snow Sweeper at Oak Ridge High School

A tractor with sweeping equipment helps remove snow from the Oak Ridge High School parking lot. (Photo by Julio Culiat) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:52 p.m. Some of these announcements continue to change. We will update this story as we can.

Oak Ridge Schools are closed today (Tuesday, February 24), and the City of Oak Ridge offices will open at 10 a.m.

Oak Ridge Schools said the Discovery Ed Livestream that had been scheduled for today has been postponed until May.

Anderson County Courthouse is closed due to weather. So is Roane State Community College. [Read more…]

Tennessee Taxpayer paralegal to discuss the fate of immigrant women

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A paralegal from Tennessee Taxpayer Project will discuss the fate of immigrant women in a lunchtime lecture in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.

Paula R. Murphy Trujillo will speak at the Wednesday meeting of the Altrusa Club.

Murphy Trujillo began work in 1996 as a volunteer at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee in the Oak Ridge office.

She was then hired in 2000 as a paralegal for the Tennessee Taxpayer Project, and she continues in this capacity today. [Read more…]

Guest column: Moving forward in Oak Ridge

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With the recent uproar centered around the Police Department in our rear view mirrors, I think it is important to review what was accomplished and why.

The decision to perform a functional audit on the Police Department is a good step especially when taken in context. These kinds of audits focus on best practices, applied over the department’s field of responsibility that need to be reviewed periodically depending on a department’s complexity and size. Besides just by a calendar rotation, other events to trigger such reviews may include leadership turnover in the department to give incoming management a clean slate of actions and priorities.

I believe that since this door has been opened, it would be wise to broaden it city-wide. Think about whether such an audit could have raised awareness of our lack of proper sewer maintenance over the decades and prevented the rush and financial inconvenience that the mandate from the EPA imposes. [Read more…]

Letter: City willing to address questions, wishes county could say the same

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To the Editor:

I can’t help but comment on the difference between our county government and the government of the City of Oak Ridge.

In Oak Ridge, questions have been asked about the city government, and most of the City Council said they had a duty to look into the issues and either address real problems or clear the names of the those being accused of wrongdoing.

Now look at our county government. I have been to too many committee meetings and full commission meetings to even count. We have meeting after meeting where the benches in the room are filled with concerned citizens. Many of us believe there is ongoing wrongdoing and abuse of our tax money in the office of the law director.

I and almost two dozen citizens put our names to paper to officially raise these issues, and there are many more who have given us support or who feel the same way. But no one on county commission seems to care. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats play Farragut in regional Monday, boys play LC Tuesday

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Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats Caelyn Thompson and Courtney Ellison

Oak Ridge junior Caelyn Thompson (22) had seven points during a district tournament semifinal game against Powell on Saturday, February 14, and sophomore Courtney Ellison, seen here running slightly behind Thompson, led all Lady Wildcats with 17, including three three-point shots. The Wildcats haven’t played since because of weather. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:21 a.m. Feb. 24.

The final district tournament games were first postponed and then canceled, and the Oak Ridge Wildcats’ basketball teams will start the Class AAA regional tournament this week.

Update: These games have been postponed again as of Tuesday, February 24, due to weather. The latest is that the games will be played Wednesday.

The Lady Wildcats (19-11) play at Farragut (21-8) in the Region 2 quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Monday.

The Lady Wildcats are the number three seed from District 3, and Farragut is the number two seed from District 4. The games are played at the higher seed. [Read more…]

Waste Connections to resume normal schedule Monday, Feb. 23

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The normal schedule for trash and recycling pickup in Oak Ridge has been affected by the winter storm this week and continually changing weather conditions, and regular collection is expected to resume on Monday.

“We are working diligently to service as many streets as quickly as possible but we always place the safety of the public and our employees first,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

Some residents might not have had their trash or recycling picked up this week. [Read more…]

TVA sets all-time power demand record; stores sell out of heaters

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Downtown Hardware on Nov. 2013

The Downtown Hardware crew is pictured above in November 2013. Co-owners Ann Clary Bratton and Roger Clary are pictured second from right and at left. (File photo)

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority set an all-time record for power demand in February on Thursday morning, and local stores have sold out of heaters.

TVA said the record set at 7 a.m. Thursday was 32,109 megawatts, with an average temperature of 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Downtown Hardware in Oak Ridge reported that they were down to two electric heaters.

“We’re completely sold out of kerosene and propane,” said Ann Bratton, who co-owns the store with her brother Roger Clary. “That seems to be what people are asking for.” [Read more…]

Dangerous wind chills Wednesday night, Thursday

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Dangerous Wind Chills

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

 

The National Weather Service in Morristown has issued a wind chill advisory for Wednesday night and Thursday, with the wind chill forecast at five below zero to 15 below in parts of East Tennessee and southwest Virginia.

The wind chill advisory is in effect until 1 a.m. Friday, and it applies to Anderson, Campbell, Morgan, Scott, and Union counties. It includes Clinton, Oak Ridge, LaFollette, Maynardville, Oneida, and Wartburg.

There is also a winter storm watch in effect from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, bringing a threat of wintry precipitation. [Read more…]