Oak Ridge Today

Ten city boards, agencies discuss PlanET Wednesday

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An unusual collection of 10 local boards and agencies will meet at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Wednesday to discuss a sometimes-controversial five-county regional development plan known as PlanET.

Boards and agencies invited to take part in the Wednesday evening meeting at the Oak Ridge Civic Center include the City Council, Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Municipal Planning Commission.

Officials helping to develop the three-year plan say they are asking East Tennesseans to share their vision for the future of the region, but opponents say they are concerned about losing their property rights.

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Rain water leaks into Anderson County records vault

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Rain water leaked into the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton during storms on Thursday and Sunday nights, and records stored in boxes on shelves and the floor got wet, county officials said Monday morning.

Records stored in a dozen or fewer boxes from Anderson County Chancery Court and Circuit Court sustained “mild dampening,” Circuit Court Clerk Barry Pelizzari said.

“They’re in the process of restoring that and getting everything dried out,” he said.

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House committee to vote on Manhattan Project historical park Wednesday

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park House Hearing

Pictured above at a June 28 U.S. House hearing on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act are, from front left, Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation president; Heather McClenahan, executive director of the Los Alamos Historical Society; and D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian. Gary Petersen, Tri-City Development Council vice president, is pictured in the background. (Photo courtesy of Atomic Heritage Foundation)

A U.S. House committee will vote Wednesday on a bill to create a Manhattan Project historical park that would include Oak Ridge, Rep. Doc Hastings announced Friday.

The legislation will be considered by the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Hastings is chair of that committee and sponsor of the bill, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act. He represents the Hanford site in Washington, which would also be part of the national park.

“I expect the Committee will vote to favorably advance the bill to the full House for consideration,” Hastings said in a news release. “A great many volunteers have been working for years to bring this idea into reality, and I’m pleased that progress is being made in the law-making process to preserve this amazing and important piece of our nation’s history.”

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Education could be key battleground in Tennessee House race

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Jim Hackworth TEA Endorsement

Clinton High School English teacher DeWayne Emert, left, announces that a Tennessee Education Association organization has endorsed Democrat Jim Hackworth, center, in his campaign for the state House of Representatives. Also pictured is Ryan Mackay, Tennessee Democratic Party deputy field director.

CLINTON — Education could be one of the key battlegrounds in Anderson County’s hotly contested race for Tennessee House of Representatives.

This week, Democratic candidate Jim Hackworth said teachers are unhappy with changes made during the past few years and are “tired of being treated like second-class citizens.

“They want someone who will listen to them and ask them what they think to improve education,” said Hackworth, a former four-term legislator who is trying to take back his old seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

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Unitarian church to consider moving for commercial development

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

The congregation of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will consider a commercial development company’s request to move.

A commercial development firm based in Georgia has asked members of a well-used Oak Ridge church if they would be willing to relocate, moving away from a busy intersection where a shopping center is planned.

The board of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church has agreed to have the congregation consider the offer, which was proposed by Blanchard and Calhoun of Augusta, Ga., minister Jake Morrill said Friday.

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UT-Battelle donates $150,000 to Boy Scouts classrooms

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UT-Battelle Donation to Boy Scouts

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason presents Larry Brown, executive director of the Boy Scouts of America’s Great Smoky Mountain Council, with a $150,000 gift from UT-Battelle for the council’s ongoing campaign to renovate Camp Buck Toms. Pictured from left are Paul Carter, Brown, John Cicaroi, Mason, and Philip Webb. (Photo submitted by ORNL)

UT-Battelle has donated $150,000 to the Boy Scouts of America’s Great Smoky Mountain Council for an ongoing campaign to renovate Camp Buck Toms near Rockwood.

The money will be used to help set up classrooms for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities at the camp.

“This corporate gift will help the local scouting organization establish quality STEM-related learning activities for the hundreds of Boy Scouts in our community who attend Camp Buck Toms,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a press release.

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Hollow Pointe, Third Degree play music at Throttle Down

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Throttle Down Bar and Grill on Warehouse Road in Oak Ridge has two bands this weekend.

Hollow Pointe plays tonight, Friday, July 6, and Third Degree performs Saturday.

The shows start at 9:30 p.m., and there is a $3 cover.

Electric Department: Power restored in Oak Ridge

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Oak Ridge Electric Department Crew

An Oak Ridge Electric Department crew works late into the night after a violent storm Thursday. Above from right are ORED Crew Chief Aaron England, lineman Tom Lance, and apprentice lineman Mike Goodpasture.

All power has been restored, the Oak Ridge Electric Department reported about midnight Thursday, roughly six hours after violent storms roared through East Tennessee, causing widespread damage and power outages, and trapping visitors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In Oak Ridge, the city staff reported outages in Rarity Ridge and on Berwick Drive, Bear Creek and Berea roads, Warwick and Hoyt lanes, and Andover, Iris, and East Wadsworth circles.

Residents reported outages in other locations from West Outer Drive and Montana Avenue to Grove Center and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Officials in the Oak Ridge Electric Department said they didn’t know how many customers lost power Thursday.

But a few hours after the storm, by 10:30 p.m., the Electric Department reported that only a few scattered small outages remained, and most, if not all of those, were due to fallen trees or branches.

Woodland Storm Damage

Oak Ridge Electric Department crews had to remove a tree limb that had fallen into power lines on South Purdue Avenue.

In Woodland around midnight, a three-man crew cut down a Bradford Pear tree limb that had fallen into a power line on South Purdue Avenue. Crew members had been working non-stop since about 6 p.m., when the ferocious storms blew south from the Ohio River Valley, bringing 70-mph winds and knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers in East Tennessee.

The city provided updates during the storm on Twitter. That Twitter feed is available at https://twitter.com/#!/corelectricdept.

Meanwhile, officials at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park confirmed that two people died during the storms.

 

Thunderstorms cause extensive power outages in Oak Ridge

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The storms sweeping through East Tennessee have caused extensive power outages in Oak Ridge, Electric Director Jack Suggs said Thursday evening.

However, Suggs is in Nashville until later tonight, and he said he couldn’t estimate how many residents have lost power, although the damage sounds very severe.

“Right now, I don’t know anything except we have a lot of problems,” Suggs said. “It’s not limited to any one section of town.”

Power was out along Oak Ridge Turnpike from at least Robertsville Road heading east to the Oak Ridge Mall, and there were reports of outages in other areas, including Grove Center, the Highland View neighborhood, the Central Services Complex, West Outer Drive, and New York and Jefferson avenues.

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Dangerous thunderstorms moving through East Tennessee

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The National Weather Service in Morristown has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several counties in East Tennessee, including Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties.

The warning remains in effect until 6:45 p.m. The storms are capable of producing quarter size hail and destructive winds with speeds that could exceed 70 mph.

Parts of Oak Ridge lost power Thursday evening, including an area around Oak Ridge Turnpike and Robertsville Road.

The National Weather Service said thunderstorms moving south from the Ohio River Valley this afternoon could produce damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and frequent lightning.

A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 11 p.m. for southwest North Carolina and East Tennessee.

July 4 fireworks, Independence Day photos from Oak Ridge, Kingston

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July 4 Fireworks

The half-hour July 4 show in Oak Ridge features many colorful fireworks at A.K. Bissell Park. (Photo by Charles Samuels)

July 4 Fireworks

Thousands of people watch the annual fireworks show in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Norris)

Thousands of people turned out Wednesday in Oak Ridge and Kingston to enjoy Independence Day celebrations and July 4 fireworks.

Here is a compilation of reader-submitted photos and a few taken by Oak Ridge Today.

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Tennessee House candidates allege legal violations, desperate attacks

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Jim Hackworth and Ryan Mackay

Former Tennessee legislator Jim Hackworth, a Clinton Democrat, left, and Ryan Mackay, Tennessee Democratic Party deputy field director, question whether Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, is following state law for campaign websites and literature.

Former Tennessee legislator Jim Hackworth this week accused his campaign opponent, Rep. John Ragan, of violating state ethics and finance laws, but Ragan said Hackworth was engaging in “desperate attacks.”

On Monday, Hackworth said Ragan’s campaign website violated state ethics and finance laws because it included his official office phone number and state e-mail address. By Tuesday morning, Ragan had removed that contact information, although he said including it was not illegal and he had removed it as a courtesy to Hackworth, a constituent.

That didn’t seem to satisfy Hackworth.

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