Oak Ridge Today

Signal timing project would be eligible for 100 percent federal funds

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The intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Tulane Avenue is pictured above in this file photo from December 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A $2.8 milion signal timing project that could affect traffic lights on Oak Ridge Turnpike would be eligible for 100 percent federal funding, according to a resolution to be considered by Oak Ridge City Council members on Monday.

The project, the second phase of a project to improve the city’s traffic signal system, could cost $2.86 million, and it would focus on 14 locations along a 2.7-mile section of Oak Ridge Turnpike between Illinois Avenue and Florida Avenue. It would include:

  • the installation of advanced traffic controllers at 11 intersections,
  • the installation of aerial and underground fiber optic cables to connect all 14 signals within the city’s existing fiber network,
  • the replacement of loop detectors with radar vehicle detection at stop lights, and
  • the establishment of a traffic operations center that would be located in the Oak Ridge Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane to manage the signals.

In addition, the city would replace older existing traffic signal heads with LED signals that operate more efficiently, more reliably, and provide better visibility, according to a memo that accompanies the resolution and was written by Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters. She said new pedestrian-accessible signals would be installed at appropriate locations along with new signing and pavement marking upgrades. And two signals would also be reconstructed to receive new mast arms. [Read more…]

DNFSB: Moving fissile materials, operations from Y-12 building improves nuclear safety, reduces risk

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Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

 

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

 

Nuclear materials and operations have been removed from an old building at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and that improves safety and reduces the risk to workers and the public, a federal safety board said.

The building, 9204-2, or Beta 2, is on the west side of Y-12. It’s one of nine buildings at the 811-acre site that once used machines known as calutrons to enrich uranium for atomic bombs as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. It’s now used to produce lithium for nuclear weapons.

In an early September report, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Consolidated Nuclear Security and the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office had officially downgraded Building 9204-2. It had been a category two hazard, but it is now less than category three. It’s considered non-nuclear.

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Centrus Energy has $15 million project to prepare K-1600 for demolition

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The "footprint," the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the "footprint." The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The K-25 “footprint,” the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the “footprint.” The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4, and it includes the K-25 History Center. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

Centrus Energy Corporation has a $15 million project to prepare K-1600, a building in the middle of the historic K-25 “footprint,” for demolition.

On Tuesday, Centrus announced that it had received a work authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) work at the building. The work will include removing and disposing of equipment and materials to make K-1600 non-radiologically contaminated and non-possessing (i.e. unclassified), a press release said. The work will occur between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

After the work is completed, DOE will be able to turn over K-1600 to a contractor to demolish it, the press release said. It’s one of the last remaining “legacy structures” on the 2,200-acre site of the World War II-era K-25 uranium enrichment plant, now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park, the press release said.

Many other buildings have been demolished there, including the five large gaseous diffusion buildings once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. ETTP is now being converted into a large industrial park in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Football photos at Karns by Houchin

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Oak Ridge senior Herbert Booker (13) throws against Karns during a 48-7 win over the Beavers on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

Oak Ridge senior Herbert Booker (13) throws against Karns during a 48-7 win over the Beavers on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

 

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season. Here are photos from the September 28 game at Karns, courtesy of Barry Houchin.

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play next at Clinton on Friday, October 12. [Read more…]

Football photos at Sevier County by Houchin, Simmons

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Oak Ridge senior Jordan Graham (8) runs during a 41-13 win at Sevier County on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

Oak Ridge senior Jordan Graham (8) runs the football during a 41-13 win at Sevier County on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

 

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season. Here are photos from the September 21 game at Sevier County, courtesy of Barry Houchin and Luther Simmons.

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play next at Clinton on Friday, October 12. [Read more…]

Football photos by Houchin

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Oak Ridge senior quarterback Herbert Booker (13) scrambles during a 20-14 loss to Farragut on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

Oak Ridge senior quarterback Herbert Booker (13) scrambles during a 20-14 loss to Farragut on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

 

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season. Here are photos from some of their first seven games, courtesy of Barry Houchin.

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play next at Clinton on Friday, October 12. [Read more…]

Football: Oak Ridge Wildcats 6-1 so far this season

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats walk down the stairs at Jack Armstrong Stadium before a 41-12 win over Dobyns-Bennett on Blankenship Field on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats walk down the stairs at Jack Armstrong Stadium before a 41-12 win over Dobyns-Bennett on Blankenship Field on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

 

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season.

The Wildcats have had three wins and no losses in Region 3-5A. They have defeated Campbell County at home and West and Karns on the road.

Their other three wins were in non-regional games, with victories at Hardin Valley, at home against Dobyns-Bennett, and at Sevier County.

Their one loss, a non-regional game, was to Farragut on Blankenship Field.

All three games remaining in the regular season are regional games: Clinton (1-5, 0-2); Powell (6-1, 3-1); and Fulton (5-1, 2-0).

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play at Clinton on Friday, October 12. Their final two games, against Powell and Fulton, will be at home on October 19 and 25.

Here is a summary of the first seven games. [Read more…]

Warrants: Clinton man arrested after AC man shot in leg, stomach

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Alexander William Carter

Alexander William Carter

 

A Clinton man has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment after an Anderson County man was allegedly shot in the stomach and left leg after an argument early Monday morning, court records said.

The shooting was reported at about 3:30 a.m. Monday on Leach Lane in Anderson County, north of Clinton and west of Highway 25.

The injuries to the male victim, Nathan Robert Gifford, appeared to be non-life threatening, according to a Monday press release from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. Gifford was alert and taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he had to have a surgery to treat his injuries, the press release said.

Warrants filed in the case said the alleged shooter, Alexander William Carter, 20, had been arguing with Gifford, who lives in the Leach Lane home, when Gifford told Carter to leave.

Carter left but returned less than five minutes later and started shooting, said the warrants, which cited Gifford. One bullet struck Gifford in the stomach, and another round hit him in the left leg, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Pavement patching under way in Oak Ridge

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Pavement patching and repairs are under way across Oak Ridge, and the work is expected to continue during the next three months, a press release said.

The work is being done by PRI of East Tennessee Inc., working under contract for the City of Oak Ridge.

The repairs are part of an effort to assist the Oak Ridge Public Works Department street crews with a backlog of approximately 140 open work orders for pavement repairs associated with water main breaks, the press release said. More than half of the repairs needed are the result of the more than 80 water main breaks from January 2018. [Read more…]

Man shot during argument, after crash at Maytag Laundry

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At least one person was injured after a vehicle was reported to have crashed into the Maytag Laundry near South Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening, Sept. 18, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

At least one person was injured after a vehicle crashed into the Maytag Laundry near South Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening, Sept. 18, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A man was shot in the arm during an argument and after the crash into the Maytag Laundry on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Before the crash, two men had been arguing, according to the Oak Ridge Police Department. The argument turned into a physical altercation, the ORPD said.

“During the altercation, one man appeared to reach inside the other man’s vehicle and held on as the vehicle was in motion,” the ORPD said in a press release. “The vehicle struck two other vehicles before crashing into the front of the building.”

The man outside the vehicle then fired a handgun at the male driver, hitting him once in the arm, the ORPD said. The male driver fled the scene on foot, but was soon located near the Oak Ridge Civic Center, the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Update: One injured after vehicle crashes into laundromat

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At least one person was injured after a vehicle was reported to have crashed into the Maytag Laundry near South Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening, Sept. 18, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

At least one person was injured after a vehicle was reported to have crashed into the Maytag Laundry near South Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening, Sept. 18, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 19.

At least one person was injured after a vehicle crashed into the Maytag Laundry near South Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The crash was reported at the Tulsa Road business around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately clear. It also wasn’t clear if more than one person was injured.

The man who was injured was transported from the crash in an ambulance.  [Read more…]

Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries opens in Oak Ridge

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Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries opened Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. It's the fifth Hwy 55 restaurant in Tennessee, and it will add 35 jobs to the Oak Ridge community, the company said in a press release.

Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries opened Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. It’s the fifth Hwy 55 restaurant in Tennessee, and it will add 35 jobs to the Oak Ridge community, the company said in a press release.

 

Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries opened Monday on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

It’s the fifth Hwy 55 restaurant in Tennessee, and it will add 35 jobs to the Oak Ridge community, the company said in a press release.

Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries is an All-American, retro-themed diner, the press release said.

“Located at 441 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge, Hwy 55 will provide residents and visitors with an inviting dining experience featuring fresh, never-frozen burgers, premium sliced cheesesteaks piled high on steamed hoagies, and frozen custard made in-house every day,” the press release said. “With its open-grill design, the kitchen’s dedication and care when handcrafting meals is front and center.” [Read more…]