UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, will be closed Tuesday because of the weather.
“Only essential personnel should report,” UCOR said in a post published on Twitter.
The closure applies to UCOR employees at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and “offsite locations,” UCOR said. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy NOAA/National Weather Service
Snow is possible, and temperatures are expected to plunge in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The snow is expected starting overnight Monday and continuing into Tuesday morning. The low on Wednesday night is forecast at 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
“An arctic cold front will move across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians late tonight and Tuesday morning, bringing with it widespread precipitation,” the National Weather Service said in a winter weather advisory. “The precipitation will likely begin as a mixture of rain and snow but quickly transition to all snow around daybreak Tuesday morning. Snow and ice-covered roadways are expected area-wide, causing travel problems.”
A winter storm warning is in effect for the Great Smoky Mountains in Blount, Cocke, Sevier, and southeast Monroe counties from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, with heavy snow expected. [Read more…]
The partial government shutdown that started Dec. 22, 2018, and ended with a temporary spending measure approved Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, affected the National Park Service in Oak Ridge. During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, as pictured above on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Federal employees of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, are back at work after the partial government shutdown ended Friday.
The shutdown started Saturday, December 22, and it lasted 35 days. It was the longest government shutdown ever.
During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. The National Park Service did not monitor or update social media and websites during the shutdown, and it did not provide visitor services at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, including public information. Also, all park programs were canceled.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park said its staff resumed regular operations on Sunday after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a short-term continuing resolution that re-opened the government for three weeks. [Read more…]
Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.
Oak Ridge City Council members on Tuesday suggested next steps for Main Street Oak Ridge. The discussion occurred about a week after Council rejected a revised plan for the second phase of the project in a 4-3 vote, creating uncertainty about what will happen next. The Tuesday evening discussion was meant to help guide Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson in his conversations with RealtyLink, the developer.
The four City Council members who voted against the revised plan expressed a range of concerns on Tuesday that included having a main entrance, ensuring that there is a way to get into and see the center of Main Street, and making sure the project is walkable and has a comprehensive system of sidewalks. Individually or collectively, they objected to the proposed layout of the buildings as the site prepared to welcome a second wave of tenants, advocated for a public forum on the project, and mentioned the importance of mixed-use development. (Mixed-use developments can include retailers and residential and commercial units, among other possibilities.)
The three Council members who voted for the revised plan continued to stress the potential benefits of welcoming four new national retailers to Oak Ridge, pointed out that RealtyLink has spent tens of millions of dollars here, and emphasized the importance of the potential sales tax revenues. They said those revenues will be crucial to help pay off such debts as the renovation of Oak Ridge High School. That debt is expected to spike in 2022 and 2023, about the same time as the city will permanently lose its revenues from the state’s Hall income tax, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said.
Gooch issued a dire warning about the possibility of city inaction bringing the project to a standstill on Tuesday.
“The clock is running, and it’s going to impact us going forward,” Gooch said. “I view this as absolutely imperative to go forward. The fiscal viability of this city is at risk.”
The Council members who have raised concerns and voted against the revised plan on Monday, January 14, have stressed the importance of making sure that the city and developer pursue the best development option. They have said they want to ensure the project’s long-term success.
Here is a summary of some of the city officials’ comments from the Tuesday night non-voting work session: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge basketball games that had been scheduled for Tuesday at Karns have been moved to Monday because of the threat of snow and cold winter weather on Tuesday.
There is an 80 percent chance of snow in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday, and the low Tuesday night could be 16 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown. [Read more…]
Image by Oak Ridge Police Department
The Oak Ridge teenager who had been reported missing this month was safely located in Campbell County on Saturday night, police said.
The teen, Devin Davis, 17, of Oak Ridge, had been last seen on January 8, the Oak Ridge Police Department said last week. He was reported missing by his legal guardian. The ORPD asked for help locating Devin and said he could be in the Campbell County/LaFollette area.
“Thanks to all who shared this information during the search,” the ORPD said Sunday.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Brady Hutton
The Anderson County Grand Jury has indicted Brady Daniel Hutton, 27, on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect after a child who is less than eight years old was reported to have had serious injuries.
Hutton was arrested at his work last week by the United States Marshals Service and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, a press release said.
Before his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department had received a referral from the Department of Children’s Services on October 24 about a severe child abuse complaint they received from the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital staff in Knoxville, the press release said. At the hospital, Hutton was interviewed by DCS and ACSD Detective Darrell Slater, and it was determined there was enough probable cause to present the case to a grand jury, the press release said. [Read more…]
The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
U.S. nuclear forces could cost about $494 billion during a 10-year period if current plans are followed, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO is required by law to estimate the 10-year costs every two years. The new estimate is $494 billion for work between 2019 to 2028, the CBO said in a report published this month. That’s an average of just under $50 billion a year.
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge participates in the nuclear weapons work along with other U.S. Department of Energy sites and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The CBO said nuclear weapons have been an important part of U.S. national security since they were developed during World War II. Oak Ridge was the main production site for the top-secret project to build those first weapons, and Y-12 continues to work on nuclear weapons. One modernization program for the W76-1 warhead was recently completed, and another for the B61-12 bomb has started.
The CBO said nuclear forces were central to U.S. defense policy during the Cold War, and a large arsenal was built. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge’s Tee Higgins (5), who was then a senior, talks to a television reporter after a 56-21 rout at Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Higgins had two touchdown receptions and two interceptions that set up Wildcat scores in that game. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 9:45 p.m. Jan. 26.
Oak Ridge will retire the number 5 football jersey of Tee Higgins, a star football and basketball player who now plays as a wide receiver for the Clemson Tigers and caught a touchdown pass in the national championship win over Alabama on January 7.
Higgins’ football jersey will be retired during halftime of the Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ basketball game against Campbell County at Wildcat Arena on Friday, February 1, Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald said. That game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
“Congratulate our hometown hero on his national championship and watch as his #5 becomes only the third number to be retired in our 76-year school history,” McDonald said in a post published on Twitter. [Read more…]
Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
ORAU on Friday reported that the partial shutdown of the federal government has had, for the most part, a minimal impact on its operations.
The partial government shutdown is now in its 35th day. It’s the longest shutdown ever, and it includes about 25 percent of the federal government.
ORAU has a customer base that includes more than 20 federal agencies.
“The impact to date has been varied, but for the most part minimal,” ORAU spokesperson Pam Bonee said in an emailed response to questions on Friday. “The majority of our work is funded or had sufficient funds to carry the work into the first quarter of 2019.” [Read more…]
CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.
The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.
Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.
Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.
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Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 24.
Local law enforcement officers haven’t noticed an impact on investigations or criminal proceedings from the partial shutdown of the federal government, but agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has helped investigate crimes in Oak Ridge, are working without pay.
The shutdown is in its 33rd day, and it is the longest ever. It began Saturday, December 22, and it affects about 25 percent of the U.S. government, including the departments of Homeland Security and Justice, among other federal agencies. The shutdown hinges on a dispute between President Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress over whether to spend $5.7 billion to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
On Wednesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said it has not observed any impact from the partial government shutdown, and the ORPD continues to work with its federal partners. Besides the FBI, the ORPD also works with, for example, the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said he is not aware of any impact at this time, including on investigations or criminal proceedings. Clark said he just met with the Anderson County sheriff and the county’s police chiefs on Tuesday, and “there was no mention of anyone experiencing issues.” [Read more…]
