The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is closed today (Saturday, January 7) due to the weather. The Amateur Radio Kids Day scheduled for this afternoon is canceled.
The museum will call those who had birthday parties scheduled for today to reschedule.
“The safety of our visitors and staff are important to us,” the Children’s Museum said.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson delayed the opening of the Civic Center, Scarboro Center, and Senior Center until noon. The library also opened at noon.
More snow fell in Oak Ridge on Friday night, and parts of many roads, including Pellissippi Parkway going into Knox County, were slippery. Pictured above is South Illinois Avenue at Weigel’s gas station and convenience center just before midnight on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More snow fell in Oak Ridge on Friday night, and parts of many roads, including Pellissippi Parkway going into Knox County, were snow-covered and slippery.
Before midnight Friday, sections of roadway were clear on Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue in central Oak Ridge, but many side streets, including heavily traveled roads like Tennessee Avenue and New York Avenue, were covered by a layer of snow. Other snow-covered roads included Tulane and Rutgers avenues, and Providence and Robertsville roads.
The National Weather Service in Morristown advised people to stay off the roads, unless travel is absolutely necessary. [Read more…]
Pictured above are Oak Ridge cross country coach Allen Etheridge, center, and assistant coaches Ed Wright, left, and Tom Sauer at the Class AAA cross country meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 7.
Allen Etheridge has resigned as cross country coach at Oak Ridge High School after 13 years as head coach and six state titles.
His resignation is effective today (Friday, January 6). Etheridge was an assistant cross country coach for five years before he became head coach.
“I just have the sense that with cross country this was the end of the road,” Etheridge said. “I don’t know that I could bring anything new to the table.”
Besides the six state titles, Etheridge’s teams have won five runner-ups, three third places, one individual state championship, and 15 regional titles. The state championships were in 2005, 2006, and 2007 for the boys, and 2007, 2009, and 2010 for the girls. The individual state champion was John Sharpe in 2009.
The boys’ team finished second in the state meet in 2015 and third in 2016. The team won the Region 2-AAA meet for the third year in a row in October. [Read more…]
Snow was falling in Oak Ridge at noon Friday, and more was expected through Saturday morning. Schools and government offices have announced closures and early dismissals, and sporting events have been canceled.
Oak Ridge Schools said it has staff closely monitoring the weather and the roads. If a decision is made to dismiss early, a notification will be posted on Twitter and through Skylert.
The Oak Ridge-Halls basketball games scheduled for Friday night at Wildcat Arena have been canceled and rescheduled for Monday, January 23. [Read more…]
Snow will move into the area later Friday evening and night (Jan. 6, 2017), and this map shows the current forecasted snowfall totals expected. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia. With surface temperatures below freezing, snow will accumulate on untreated roads. This may result in in negative travel impacts to motorists. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)
Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m. Jan. 6.
A few inches of snow are possible in the Knoxville area from Thursday through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The potential snowfall ranges from 1.7 inches in Norris to 3.0 inches in Knoxville from Friday to Saturday morning, the NWS said.
The forecast calls for a possible 2.2 inches in Kingston, 1.6 inches in Wartburg, 3.7 inches in Maryville, and 5 inches in Gatlinburg.
A winter weather advisory was in effect from 7 p.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday.
Then, a winter storm watch is in effect from 1 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. [Read more…]
The Robertsville Middle School basketball games against Clinton tonight (Thursday, January 5) have been postponed.
New dates will be determined later.
The postponements were announced by The Rambler, the online newspaper of Robertsville Middle School.
Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge
The Oak Ridge Senior Center will move to the Oak Ridge Civic Center this month, officials said Thursday.
The Senior Center will be open at its current site on Emory Valley Road through Saturday, January 21, the City of Oak Ridge said in a Thursday press release.
The Senior Center will move to the Civic Center Recreation Building during the week of January 23 to January 28, and it will be closed to the public. [Read more…]
The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in east Oak Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider approving $120,000 to continue operating the Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in east Oak Ridge off Edgemoor Road.
The request comes about one year after Council approved, in a 6-1 vote, a $325,000 transfer for operations at the golf course. About $225,000 of that transfer, a cash infusion, was for outstanding accounts payable, including for expenses that included clothing in the pro shop, a management fee, fertilizer, and irrigation costs. Another $100,000 was operational funding for the winter, including maintenance of the greens.
The request is smaller this year, but the golf course is still short of money needed to operate, despite all marketing efforts, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in a Wednesday memo to City Council members.
“The slow winter season now requires funding to pay necessary costs and salaries through the winter quarter (January-March 2017),” Watson said.
Most of the $120,000 in funding—or $70,024 of it—would be used for accounts payable. The rest would be used for cash flow and salaries, Watson said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in December 2016. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge City Council will consider elections and appointments to 23 boards and commissions during its Monday night meeting.
The boards and commissions include the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Industrial Development Board, Land Bank Corporation, and Beer Permit Board, among others.
The Monday meeting starts at 7 p.m. January 9 in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. You can see the agenda here. See information about the elections and appointments here.
A fast moving clipper will push across the southern Appalachian region late this afternoon through Friday morning. Rain showers will change to snow across Southwest Virginia this evening and snow showers will continue to spread across the area overnight. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia where 1 to 3 inches are possible. Elsewhere, up to 1 inch of snow is expected across valley locations, before tapering off around sunrise Friday morning. With surface temperatures below freezing, snow will accumulate on untreated roads. This may result in in negative travel impacts to motorists, especially during the Friday morning commute. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)
Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m.
A fast-moving weather system could bring snow to East Tennessee as it pushes across the southern Appalachian region late Thursday afternoon through Friday morning, forecasters said.
Rain showers will change to snow across Southwest Virginia on Thursday evening, and snow showers will continue to spread across the area overnight, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia, where one to three inches are possible.
Elsewhere, up to one inch of snow is expected across valley locations, before tapering off around sunrise Friday morning. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) had another big night for the Wildcats, scoring 27 points and pulling down 16 rebounds in a 97-68 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Behind Young is Cole Cooper (34) of Karns. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young had another big night on Tuesday as the Wildcats gave Karns its first district loss of the season.
Last week, Young scored 29 points, a personal best, during a 64-56 win over Science Hill in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on December 27.
On Tuesday, he almost matched that, scoring a game-high 27 points during a 97-68 win over Karns. He also had 16 rebounds.
“He’s playing really, really well,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
Young said he was surprised by his 29 points against Science Hill.
“We’ve always had the ability to play well,” Young said. “It’s not unexpected. I’ve just got to step up and play harder.” [Read more…]
Oak Ridge was led by sophomore Jada Guinn (24) with 30 points, the most for one of the Lady Wildcats since 2014, in a 104-19 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats scored more than 100 points for the first time since 2003 in a 104-19 win over Karns at home on Tuesday.
The girls were led by sophomore Jada Guinn with a game-high 30 points, the most for a Lady Wildcat since Mykia Dowdell, who is now a junior, scored 32 against Central in 2014, according to broadcaster David Clary.
It’s the 11th time the Lady Wildcats (14-2, 6-0 District 3-AAA) have scored more than 100, Clary said. The last time was in 2003 against Alcoa.
Coaches said the 30 points for Guinn, including 17 in the first quarter alone, was likely a personal best. [Read more…]
