A fire ant hill in a transformer caused a major power outage on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, in the Clifton Circle area of Oak Ridge. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
A fire ant hill in a transformer caused a major power outage on Tuesday night in the Clifton Circle area, officials said.
If you see an ant hill near any of the city’s transformers, you are asked to please contact the Oak Ridge Electric Department at (865) 425-1803.
More information will be added as it becomes available. [Read more…]
A tree was down on Nebraska Avenue on Wednesday morning, Feb. 24, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 1:15 p.m.
Officials reported that trees were down across Oak Ridge and Anderson County on Wednesday morning, there were several power outages in Oak Ridge, and flooding was reported at some spots in Anderson County.
The flooding, fallen trees, and power outages were reported after a round of storms came through Wednesday morning.
Crews from the city and county are responding. [Read more…]
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer presents a signal optimization grant check to former Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (File photo from September 2014 courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A traffic light timing study is under way, and new plans could be implemented early this year, city officials said in December.
Oak Ridge Today asked about the signal timing project during a December interview with Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs and Jon van Eek, power utilization program supervisor in the Oak Ridge Electric Department. That interview focused on radar-based traffic detectors at six intersections in Oak Ridge.
The City of Oak Ridge announced in September 2014 that it had been awarded a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant for $237,500 for a signal timing optimization project.
Suggs and van Eek said the timing study is under way, and they hope to have new plans implemented after January 1, 2016. The plan is to move the maximum number of cars in all directions and to move the maximum number of vehicles, Suggs said. [Read more…]
Radar-based traffic detectors can replace in-pavement loops used to detect vehicles at stoplights, and the City of Oak Ridge has long-term plans to move to the radar systems. Above is a radar detector at Oak Ridge Turnpike and West Main Street, in front of Walgreen’s, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Radar-based traffic detectors at six intersections in Oak Ridge can replace in-pavement loops used to detect vehicles at stoplights, and the city has long-term plans to move to the radar-based systems.
The detectors will be installed on the new stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. They are also included in a plan to improve two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, one at South Tulane Avenue and the other at East Division Road/Tennyson Road.
“We have kind of adopted them because they just work,” said Jon van Eek, power utilization program supervisor in the Oak Ridge Electric Department.
The city has previously tried video detection systems and microwave systems. The video systems did not work well in heavy rain and fog, and had some angle of light issues, according to van Eek and Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs.
“It was not reliable,” van Eek said Friday. [Read more…]
The wife of a city employee has alleged that she has essentially been held captive in a home that operates under Sharia law, been physically abused, not allowed to work or go to school, and deprived of food and medical care.
But her husband, an Oak Ridge Electric Department project manager, said he can prove that the charges are unfounded. He called the allegations, which were publicized in a newspaper story last month, “salacious accusations.” The allegations sparked a social media backlash against the city employee, Oak Ridge Electric Department Project Manager Ardo Isma Ba.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has investigated some of the allegations against Ba, including the charge that he held his wife, Madina Sall, against her will for the past three years. That information was reported to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, where Ba is a reserve deputy.
Ba was not charged after the investigation. Officers said Sall’s definition of abuse is different than what is defined in Tennessee law. Also, detectives appeared to have questions about the accuracy of some of the information, and they warned Sall of the consequences of reporting false information to law enforcement.
“The matter did appear to be a non-criminal matter due to the initial information given to (the Knox County Sheriff’s Office) not being accurate and no proof that any physical abuse has occurred,” the ORPD said. [Read more…]
A mother and her son were taken to the hospital with injuries reported as non-life threatening after a small sport utility vehicle hit a utility pole on California Avenue, flipped, and landed on its top Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Note: This story was updated at 12:46 a.m.
A mother and her son were taken to the hospital with injuries reported to be non-life threatening after a small sport utility vehicle hit a utility pole on California Avenue, flipped, and landed on its top Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. The SUV was reportedly driving north on California Avenue when it crashed.
Authorities temporarily closed a short section of California Avenue at West Arrowwood Road as utility workers repaired the pole.
In a text alert at 10:08 a.m. Tuesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said there was a power outage in east Oak Ridge from California Avenue east, and it could affect traffic signals. The signal at Melton Lake Drive and Oak Ridge Turnpike was reported to be out.
At about 11 a.m., the Oak Ridge Electric Department said there was damage to a substation as well.
“As a result, power is expected to be off east of Florida Avenue on both sides of the Turnpike, including residents and businesses along East Emory Valley Road, for the next few hours in order to make the necessary repairs,” the Electric Department said.
The ORED reported at about 12:30 p.m. that power had been restored on the east end of Oak Ridge.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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A fire destroyed an unoccupied rental home on West Outer Drive early Saturday morning, authorities said. (Submitted photo)
A fire destroyed an unoccupied rental home on West Outer Drive early Saturday morning, authorities said.
The fire was reported at about 4:25 a.m. Saturday, October 31, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.
Flames were coming through the roof of the house when the Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived, the press release said.
The city said the home was unoccupied at the time of the fire, and the cause is still under investigation. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas, front left, invites children to meet one of the ORPD’s K-9s at last year’s crime prevention celebration. Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi is pictured at back left. (Submitted photo)
The first annual Party in the Park on Saturday will feature family-friendly activities for children and adults, crime prevention presentations and information, free food, and more. It’s scheduled from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, October 17, at A.K. Bissell Park near the Oak Ridge Civic Center.
The Oak Ridge Police Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program will host the 2015 Party in the Park, with activities celebrating the partnership between the community and the police department. The focus of the event is crime prevention, safety, health, and wellness.
Kristine Kinsey will serve as master of ceremonies and comedian. Magician Danny Whitson will perform feats of magic during the celebration. Festivities will also include Oak Ridge Police K-9 demonstrations, safety and health exhibits, Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket rides, and drug abuse prevention information. [Read more…]
Mark Watson
The City of Oak Ridge has been selected for a $2.9 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority that will “undoubtedly change the lives of people living in legacy Oak Ridge homes by helping them save money on their utility bills,” officials said Friday.
This grant is part of TVA’s Extreme Energy Makeover project and will allow the start of an unprecedented revitalization of the legacy homes in the Oak Ridge community and provide assistance to those that need it the most, a press release said.
“The City of Oak Ridge is honored to be selected for participation and award for use in the Extreme Energy Makeover program, which will be used to encourage use of the legacy housing of the city when it was a ‘Secret City,’” City Manager Mark Watson said. “This investment will demonstrate our housing’s continued value for residents for years to come. As historical housing, our demonstration project has shown that electrical usage can be substantially reduced creating a ‘win-win’ for our residents, TVA, and the Oak Ridge electrical system alike. We look forward to the challenge and partnership with TVA to become a model for the entire TVA service region.” [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Electric Department crews work to restore electricity to Frank Callaghan Towers on Fairbanks Road after a power failure was reported early Friday morning. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Oak Ridge Electric Department crews worked to restore electricity to Frank Callaghan Towers on Fairbanks Road after an early morning power failure on Friday.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the report of a fire alarm at Callaghan Towers on 115 Fairbanks Road at approximately 3:31 a.m. on Friday, September 18. When they arrived, ORFD firefighters investigated and found the elevator mechanical room was filled with smoke. ORFD entered into the room using a thermal imaging camera and found elevator motor number one to be smoking and elevator motor number two to be overheating, a press release said.
Firefighters disconnected power to the elevators and set up exhaust fans in the outside doorways to clear the building of smoke. Residents from the first floor were evacuated from the building until the building was cleared of smoke. Residents on floors two through six were sheltered in place in their rooms during the event. [Read more…]
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a DEEM van, pictured at center behind the Oak Ridge Electric Department truck, crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning. Above, a tow truck, right, responds to remove the van, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department, foreground, responds to repair the pole. (Photo by Daniel Powers)
Note: This story was last updated at 7:43 p.m. June 8.
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a van crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning.
The crash was reported at about 9:05 a.m. Saturday.
Kristin Nevius said she was driving a Chrysler Town and Country van southbound toward Oak Ridge Turnpike on New York Avenue when the other van narrowly missed her vehicle and crashed into the pole while headed north on New York Avenue. Nevius and passenger Peggy VandenBurg and Nevius’ two children were not injured, but they said they were upset by the close call and subsequent crash. [Read more…]
Linemen Michael Goodpaster, left, and Steve Wilson prepare to demonstrate the Oak Ridge Electric Department’s new hybrid bucket truck, which uses electricity rather than diesel to operate its bucket boom.
The Oak Ridge Electric Department has a new hybrid bucket truck that uses quiet electricity rather than noisy diesel to power its bucket boom, making it easier for workers to communicate and reducing emissions and neighborhood noise.
Workers said the electric-powered boom is as fast as traditional diesel-powered booms, and the improved worker communications with the new, quieter booms helps them stay safe.
“It’s been a great thing for us,” Oak Ridge Electric Department Director Jack Suggs said. “The linemen really like it.”
Officials said the city’s Electric Department is one of several local power companies partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority to bring energy-efficient, hybrid electric-powered bucket trucks to the Tennessee Valley. The new trucks are funded in part by a grant from TVA, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge received one plug-in hybrid bucket truck in October and is awaiting delivery of a plug-in hybrid pickup truck. [Read more…]
