Oak Ridge Today

Planning Commission approves Weigel’s site plan

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The proposed Weigel’s site at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road is pictured above on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission approved a site plan Thursday evening for a new Weigel’s at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road.

The plan for the 6,600-square foot store on an undeveloped 3.6-acre site was approved 9-0 in a voice vote Thursday.

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President appoints ORNL researcher to National Science Board

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Image courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m. Jan. 22.

President Joe Biden will appoint Merlin Theodore of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the National Science Board, the White House said in an announcement last week.

Theodore is the first full-time researcher from a national laboratory to serve on the National Science Board, the governing board for the National Science Foundation, according to ORNL.

“Merlin’s appointment to the National Science Board is indicative of her accomplishments as a researcher, her contributions to national missions, and her advocacy for women and minorities in science,” said interim ORNL Director Jeff Smith.

Theodore is one of eight new board members. The National Science Board is made up of 25 members appointed by the president, and they serve six-year terms.

The National Science Board pursues the goals and function of the NSF, including the duty to “recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering,” according to the White House news release.

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Railroad could jeopardize airport

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If not removed, this section of railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, would be a “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport because the runway would be built in this area but could not be with the railroad tracks there. This is looking east across the main entrance to Heritage Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, have emerged as a potential “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport.

On Tuesday, Oak Ridge city leaders said a new company in west Oak Ridge might want to use the rail line to ship materials, but the tracks run through and roughly perpendicular to where the airport runway would be. Officials had expected the rail line, which had been “very inactive,” to be transferred.

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ORPD working with national center to identify newborn, find missing child

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Images from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The Oak Ridge Police Department is working with a national center to find a child who was last seen in Oak Ridge in 2016 and to identify a newborn baby found floating along the shoreline of Melton Hill Lake almost three years ago.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has posted information about the two children on its website, which is partially funded through a U.S. Department of Justice grant.

In the first case, investigators said Maria Contreras Lopez was last seen in Oak Ridge on September 29, 2016. She was born August 9, 2000, and was 16 years old when she was last seen. She would be 22 now. Maria is female and Hispanic with brown hair and eyes. She could be about 5’3″ and 115 pounds.

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Oak Ridge city manager retiring

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Mark Watson

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is retiring in May.

Watson, who has been city manager since 2010, announced his May 5 retirement during an Oak Ridge City Council work session on Tuesday.

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CTF: Drugs for sale, cash, gun found in home with young children

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More than 100 pills and about 100 grams of marijuana along with $9,000 in cash and a Glock 26 9 mm pistol were found in a home with three children younger than eight this month, law enforcement officers said.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force searched the home on Utica Circle with a narcotics warrant on January 10.

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Fentanyl, meth allegedly found during narcotics search

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Fentanyl, methamphetamine, other suspected drugs, and a gun were found during a narcotics search of an Oak Ridge home this month, according to law enforcement officers.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County searched the home on Jasper Lane on Monday, January 9.

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Lawsuit seeks 2020 election audit, voting machine restriction

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The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An unconventional 483-page lawsuit filed in Anderson County Circuit Court seeks an audit of the 2020 election, asks for the results to be re-counted and possibly decertified, accuses federal legislators of treason, and demands a restraining order against electronic voting machines.

Two of the three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit are Oak Ridge residents. One of those plaintiffs has also unsuccessfully filed federal lawsuits in Washington, D.C., against the president and vice president, chief justice, a former acting attorney general, and many members of Congress, according to court records.

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ORNL isotope center estimated to cost $250 million

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 24, 2022, for the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center. A design image of the new center is pictured above.

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

A new center to research and produce isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could cost an estimated $250 million.

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Man received 3-year sentence for assault on officer

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A man who had been accused of fighting with Oak Ridge police officers and significantly injuring one of them was sentenced to three years in prison when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment against one of the officers.

That officer had been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a significant arm injury, and two other officers had been taken to Methodist Medical Center to have their injuries evaluated, the City of Oak Ridge said at the time. One had been hit with a taser taken by the defendant, according to affidavits filed at the time.

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Cold, powerful magnet will help control hot plasma in fusion reactor

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A team at ITER, an international experimental fusion reactor in southern France, prepare on Feb. 10, 2022, to move one of six modules for a central solenoid, a powerful superconducting magnet being built by General Atomics in California under the management of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo used with permission. © ITER Organization, http://www.iter.org/)

A magnet so powerful it could lift an aircraft carrier six feet into the air was designed in a project managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It will be used in an international experimental reactor in southern France to produce energy using fusion, the same process used by the sun and other stars to create heat and light. If successful, the reactor could revolutionize energy production, potentially showing how to provide a nearly limitless energy supply without planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions or long-lived radioactive wastes.

Six modules for the reactor’s central superconducting magnet, plus a spare, are being made by General Atomics in Poway, California. Two of the modules have already been shipped to France. Two more are completed, with one of those expected to ship this year. The remaining three are more than 60% complete, and manufacturing should be done this year, said John Smith, General Atomics senior director of engineering and projects. 

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City Council approves rezoning for trade school

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A rezoning allows a plumbers and steamfitters union to use a former hardware store on Oak Ridge Turnpike for a trade school. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved a rezoning that allows a former hardware store to be used for a trade school.

It was the second and final reading of the rezoning request. The city staff had recommended the change.

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