Oak Ridge Today

United & Strong: Roane County has community celebration on Aug. 1

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United and Strong Logo

Roane County leaders, churches, organizations, police officers, and firemen invite everyone to join them on Monday, August 1, at Roane State Community College as they unite together to celebrate the strength of Roane County while also praying for those communities who have had recent tragedies. The event will be held from 7:30-8:30 p.m. August 1 in the student lounge and will include a candle-lighting ceremony.

“The purpose of this event is to celebrate who we are and who guides us,” said Roane County Commission Chair Ron Berry. “That is what makes us stronger—standing united and loving one another regardless of our differences. So everyone is invited to come out and stand united, and help build an even stronger community.” [Read more…]

CNS reinforces commitment to small businesses

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Submitted

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC purchased more than $210 million in goods and services from small businesses during the first nine months of fiscal year 2016, including more than $149 million at the Y-12 National Security Complex and $61 million at the Pantex Plant. Small business contracting at Y-12 includes more than $10 million in small business obligations for work on the Uranium Processing Facility project, which is managed by Bechtel National Inc., through a subcontract with CNS, a press release said.

In recognition of the significant role small businesses play in the national economy—as well as the economies in East Tennessee and the Texas Panhandle—CNS uses small businesses in a variety of roles, from technical and administrative support to staff augmentation and construction support and strives to provide the maximum possible contracting opportunities to small businesses in a host of categories recognized by the Small Business Administration, the press release said. Those categories include 8(a), woman-owned, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), veteran-owned, service disabled veteran-owned small businesses, small and small disadvantaged businesses. [Read more…]

Scarboro Alumni Association celebrating with parade, Fun Day, Scholarship Banquet

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2014 Scarboro Reunion photo by Luther Simmons

2014 Scarboro Reunion photo by Luther Simmons

 

The Scarboro Community Alumni Association will hold a weekend of festivities July 29-30 that will include a parade, Fun Day, and Scholarship Banquet.

A Meet and Greet will be held Friday, July 29, starting at 6 p.m. at the Fraternal Order of Eagles located at 1650 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

Beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 30, organizations, churches, schools, political officials, and entertainers will participate in a parade starting from Spurgeon Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church, going left on Benedict Avenue, left on Dillard Avenue, right on Hampton Road (passing the old Scarboro School Site), right on Wilberforce, and ending at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, a press release said.

The Fun Day event will follow with an array of food and non-food vendors, music, and activities for youth and adults at the Scarboro Community Center, which is at 148 Carver Avenue, from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. [Read more…]

Anderson County gets $40,000 tourism grant

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Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (File photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd recently announced that 29 communities will receive close to $1 million in Tourism Enhancement Grants to assist communities with tourism infrastructure assets. Anderson County received a $40,000 grant.

“We want to congratulate all 29 communities on receiving Tourism Enhancement Grants,” Haslam said in a press release. “These grants showcase how great the partnership is between tourist development and economic development. With the support of these grants, each community will be better equipped to succeed in our state, and I look forward to seeing these Tennessee communities thrive.”

The grants assist counties and cities in improving local assets to increase the economic impact of tourism.

“I am pleased to announce these 29 communities that have been awarded the Tourism Enhancement Grant,” Boyd said. “It is always exciting when communities choose to invest in economic development initiatives to grow and succeed in our state. Tourism development is economic development, and with the assistance of the Tourism Enhancement Grant and our partnership with Commissioner Kevin Triplett and the Department of Tourist Development, each community will be able to invest in their assets and grow their local economy.” [Read more…]

Several roads closed Tuesday, maybe Wednesday for road, utility work

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Several roads will be closed near Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, and possibly Wednesday, July 27, for roadway and utility work, officials said. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)

Several roads will be closed near Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, and possibly Wednesday, July 27, for roadway and utility work, officials said. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)

 

Note: This road closure notice has been updated. See newer story here.

Several roads will be closed near Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday for roadway and utility work, officials said.

The roads will be closed for work by the Oak Ridge Public Works Department and Oak Ridge Electric Department. The closures will allow crews to patch a strip of the road on Pennsylvania Avenue and reset a utility pole on the island at the junction of the following roads: Pennsylvania Avenue from Hillside Road to Vermont Avenue, the east end of Pasadena Road, North Tulane, and the west end of Passmore Lane, a press release said. [Read more…]

Spontaneous combustion sparks small fire in warehouse

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Spontaneous combustion from oily rags discarded in a waste container appear to have started a Thursday morning fire at an Oak Ridge warehouse on July 21, 2016, authorities said. (Submitted photo)

Spontaneous combustion from oily rags discarded in a waste container appear to have started a Thursday morning fire at an Oak Ridge warehouse on July 21, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

Spontaneous combustion from oily rags discarded in a waste container appear to have started a Thursday morning fire at an Oak Ridge warehouse, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the fire after a sprinkler system activated at a warehouse at 342 Warehouse Road at about 6:50 a.m. Thursday, July 21.

Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the windows and doors of the building when they arrived, a press release said.

“The fire crew entered through the front door and quickly extinguished a fire in a waste container,” the press release said. [Read more…]

ORHS Boys Basketball Boosters have fundraising golf tournament Aug. 13

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The Oak Ridge High School Boys Basketball Boosters has a fundraising golf tournament on August 13.

The 19th annual golf tournament is a four-man scramble format that will be held at Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge. The tournament will begin at 8 a.m. August 13 with a shotgun start.

The tournament costs just $75 per person. Registration begins at 7 a.m. with breakfast and free range balls for participants. A Mulligan Package is also available for $25, which includes mulligans, a red tee, a door prize ticket, and a putting contest ticket, a press release said. [Read more…]

Butterfly Festival at UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge on July 30

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Butterfly Festival monarch (Submitted photo)

Butterfly Festival monarch (Submitted photo)

 

Monarch release and UT Insect Zoo are highlights

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will present a Butterfly Festival on Saturday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum Auditorium and surrounding grounds at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.  It is co-sponsored by the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. The gate will be open at 8:30 a.m. Coffee and donuts will be sold from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The event, designed for children and adults of all ages, will take place rain or shine. This educational and fun activity features four speakers, two local native plant vendor,s and artisans. Speakers will give their presentations in the air-conditioned comfort of the Arboretum’s new Auditorium. The food vendors, plant vendors, and artisans will be stationed near the Program Shelter. The monarch butterfly release will take place on the patio outside the Auditorium.

The day’s highlight will be the release of 100 butterflies at approximately 2 p.m., in honor of the 50th anniversaries of UTAS and the Arboretum. We invite children to help release the monarch butterflies, which will be offered at a cost of $10 per butterfly. [Read more…]

Three charged after robbery reported at Family Dollar in Oliver Springs

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Steven Scruggs

Steven Scruggs

Note: This story was last updated at 7:40 p.m.

Three people have been charged after a robbery was reported at Family Dollar in Oliver Springs on Wednesday night, authorities said.

The robbery was reported at about 10:04 p.m. Wednesday at the store, which is at 51 Edmonds Drive in Oliver Springs.

When they arrived, Sergeant Kevin Armes and Patrolman Nathaniel Nelson of the Oliver Springs Police Department were told that, after closing and while the cashiers were doing the money count, a masked man came from the back of the store and ordered both employees to the floor and demanded all the money and cell phones, a press release said. After receiving all the cash from the register and safe, he reportedly left the store through the back, the release said. [Read more…]

Seventeen pick up petitions for seats on Charter Commission

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Information from WYSH Radio

As of Thursday morning, 17 people had picked up qualifying petitions to run for seats on an Anderson County Charter Commission in November.

The Charter Commission will be comprised of one person from each of the eight Anderson County Commission districts, and it will be responsible for studying possible changes to the county government. Their recommendations would then be placed in front of county voters to decide in a countywide referendum that would most likely appear on a ballot in 2018. Once elected and sworn in, the Commission would have nine months to complete its work.

Some of the possible changes that could be made include slicing the number of county commissioners from 16 to nine members, establishing term limits for commissioners and the county mayor, and making the county law director position an elected office. [Read more…]

Black bear spotted in Clinton

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A black bear is pictured above in this file photo from Oak Ridge Today from October 2015.

A black bear is pictured above in this file photo from Oak Ridge Today from October 2015.

Information from WYSH Radio

A black bear was spotted in Clinton on Wednesday afternoon.

Police were called at around 4:10 p.m. Wednesday after a person reported seeing a black bear behind a building at 711 South Charles Seivers Boulevard. The bear was reportedly going down into a creek bed when it was seen. The caller told dispatchers that he got into his car and followed the animal until he lost sight of it when it disappeared into the woods near Susanne Drive. There was no contact between the bear and people before it trundled off into the woods.

Bears travel a lot this time of the year searching for food and new territory. [Read more…]

Heat index at 105 on Friday, so ORHS WildBand has preview show tonight at Blankenship

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Oak Ridge High School WildBand July 2016

The Oak Ridge High School WildBand practices at Alvin K. Bissell Park in July 2016, preparing for a preview show at Blankenship Field on Thursday, July 21, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The heat index for the traditional Friday preview is forecast to be over 100 degrees, so the Oak Ridge High School WildBand is going to have its preview tonight, Thursday, July 21, on Blankenship Field.

Step off time will be 9 p.m. today.

“Since the heat index for our traditional Friday event is going to be 105 degrees plus, the WildBand is going to kick off ‘Beatlemania’ a day early and in the cool of the evening,” a press release said. “Please come and enjoy the free show under the lights at Blankenship.”

The 2016 Oak Ridge High School Band is presenting “Beatles in Blue” for their Fall Marching Show. Tunes include “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Good Day Sunshine,” “Norweigan Wood,” and “Hey Jude.” [Read more…]