Oak Ridge Today

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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Oak Ridge Fire Department puts out car fire on West Outer

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Car Fire West Outer Drive

The Oak Ridge Fire Department puts out a car fire on West Outer Drive at Westlook Circle on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Tom Scott)

The Oak Ridge Fire Department put out a car fire on West Outer Drive on Wednesday morning.

The 7:04 a.m. fire was in the engine compartment of a 2001 Chevy Impala and could have been caused by a mechanical problem, said Josh Waldo, Oak Ridge assistant fire chief.

No one was injured in the fire, which was on West Outer Drive near Westlook Circle.

The estimated damage to the vehicle was unknown.

WYSH: Tennessee courthouses, including Anderson’s, receive false bomb threats

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Information from WYSH Radio

More than 30 courthouses and other government buildings across the state—including the courthouses in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, and Knox counties—received hoax bomb threats on Tuesday, spurring evacuations, and in at least one case, the closure of the building for the day.

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Ride with Santa on Secret City Scenic Excursion Train

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Santa on Secret City Excursion Train

Santa will be on the Secret City Excursion Train in west Oak Ridge for the next two weekends. (Submitted photo)

For the next two weekends, a train ride that starts in west Oak Ridge and rolls north of the former K-25 site in Roane County will feature a special guest—Santa.

“Santa will leave his sleigh in the garage and climb aboard the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train,” a press release said. “He’s sure to delight all the children as he and Mrs. Claus make their way through the coaches passing out Christmas gift bags and posing for pictures with the children.”

Santa will be the excursion rides that run Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 1 and 2, and again Dec. 8 and 9.  The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum volunteers will have the train “all decked out in true holiday style to add to the enjoyment of the trips and the season.”

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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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After two target failures, user research resumes at SNS this morning

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Spallation Neutron Source Target Bay

A mercury target at the Spallation Neutron Source is pictured in the target bay area during a 2009 changeout. A Oak Ridge National Laboratory spokesman said the sloped part of two SNS targets failed in September and October. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

Its mercury targets have failed twice in the past two months, but the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is available for user research again.

The program resumed at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

The $1.4 billion research facility is used to help scientists study material structures and properties.

The failures of its targets 6 and 7 in September and October have been attributed to an apparent failure in a weld joint.

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Free movie and AMSE admission Friday

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is offering free admission and a free movie Friday night.

The free movie is “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” a 1962 film about a pharmaceutical company that captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released Godzilla.

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B&W Y-12 receives American Heart Association award

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Y-12 and American Heart Association

Kathy Jetton, senior regional director of the American Heart Association, right, presents the platinum award to Chuck Spencer, B&W Y-12 president and general manager. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 has been honored as a platinum-level award recipient of the American Heart Association’s Fit-Friendly Companies program, a press release said.

Only eight companies in the Knoxville area are Fit-Friendly workplaces, and B&W Y-12 is the only company to achieve the platinum level, the release said.

The Fit-Friendly Companies program recognizes employers who work hard to make sure their employees are healthy and create a culture of physical activity and health in the workplace. Last year, Y‑12 received gold recognition.

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Rain brings relief to East Tennessee firefighters

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Scattered light rain finally brought some relief to state and local firefighters who have fought 67 fires since Nov. 10 in upper East Tennessee.

The fires have burned more than 6,300 acres, according to the Tennessee Division of Forestry, and many of them, including three in Anderson County, have been suspected arsons.

Firefighters were still working to contain one large fire on Cross Mountain near I-75 on the Anderson-Campbell county line, said Nathan M. Waters, Tennessee Forestry Division assistant district forester in Knoxville.

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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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WYSH: ETHRA van driver busted for pills at hospital

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Information from WYSH Radio in Clinton

A van driver for the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency was arrested last week after he allegedly bought pain pills from a confidential informant in a bathroom at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.

Leonard Shannon Ellis, 33, of Rockwood and Keith Edward Sackett, 55, of Kingston are each in custody at the Anderson County Jail on charges of criminal conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance.

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WYSH: Black Friday meets road rage

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Information from WYSH Radio in Clinton

The desire to find a deal on a gift for his grandson early on Black Friday landed a Clinton man in jail.

According to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, 62-year-old Jerry Leon Poe allegedly fired a pistol at a woman driving in front of him on Oak Ridge Highway shortly before 5 a.m. Friday to, as he put it to deputies, “scare her into moving.”

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