Oak Ridge Today

WYSH: Clinton bridge replacement contract awarded

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Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge

The Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on Clinch Avenue near downtown Clinton is pictured above in December 2013. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

WYSH Radio has reported that the contract to replace the Lewallen Bridge on Highway 25W/State Route 9 (Clinton Highway/Clinch Avenue) over the Clinch River near downtown Clinton was awarded on August 17 to Charles Blalock and Sons Incorporated of Sevierville. Their bid for the replacement of the bridge, known to locals as the “green bridge,” came in at $27,735,269.72.

The bridge connects downtown Clinton and north Clinton to south Clinton.

The aging bridge is due for replacement, according to the state, and while it is still considered safe, the replacement will address looming concerns regarding the structure due to its age. [Read more…]

Sam Venable to speak at Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club meeting

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Sam Venable

Sam Venable

 

Sam Venable, a humor columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel, will be the guest speaker at the August 27 meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The club will host a light supper and silent auction at 6 p.m. Monday in a meeting room of the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

Venable, a University of Tennessee graduate, has written for the Knoxville News Sentinel since 1970, first as outdoors editor and later as a columnist specializing in humor. He retired from daily duties at the newspaper in 2014 but continues to write a twice-weekly column.

The winner of more than three dozen state, regional and national writing awards, Venable is a member of the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame (Class of 2009) and the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame (Class of 2014). His six-part News Sentinel series “Fragments of Hate,” published during Black History Month in 2014, won the Sigma Delta Chi feature reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Investigative Reporting award from the Tennessee Press Association, and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. [Read more…]

Weinberg papers preservation project seeks community support

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Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

 

As the city celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is soliciting the community’s support to ensure the legacy of a famous Oak Ridger is preserved for posterity.

Alvin Weinberg, a renowned nuclear physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project, became head of the Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then research director, and ultimately the director of the laboratory for 18 years. He donated his personal papers to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge when Selma Shapiro, the museum’s founder, was serving as its executive director. Now Shapiro’s daughter, Rhonda Bogard, is part of a core team working to permanently preserve the papers.

The goal of the project is to ensure Weinberg’s work and legacy are preserved for future generations, a press release said. Bogard thinks his work speaks for itself. “His work will be remembered for the vision and leadership it symbolizes,” she said. [Read more…]

Children’s Museum offers kids’ healthy living workshop for teachers in August

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The Children’s Museum garden at the Kids Go Green Environmental Center gives children the opportunity to grow, harvest, and eat fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. (Submitted photo)

The Children’s Museum garden at the Kids Go Green Environmental Center gives children the opportunity to grow, harvest, and eat fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. (Submitted photo)

 

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is offering teachers of kindergarten through grade 5 the second of two Saturday morning workshops on healthy living and eating for kids on Saturday, August 25. The workshop will bring teachers to the Museum’s Kids in Action! Healthy Living exhibit and to the garden in the Kids Go Green Environmental Center.

The free workshop was offered from 8:30 a.m.-noon on Saturday, August 25, and it is being offered again on Saturday, August 25. Kids in Action and Kids Go Green staff and volunteers will lead the workshops and garden activities. These trainings are approved for in-service credit for teachers in the Oak Ridge school district, a press release said. [Read more…]

Smoke alarm likely saves life in East Drive house fire

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A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. (Photo by Tom Scott/ORFD Photographer)

A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. (Photo by Tom Scott/ORFD Photographer)

 

A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said.

The fire was reported at the home at about 1:52 a.m. Thursday. The first Fire Department unit was at the house within minutes and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the home.

The resident was outside when fire crews arrived, the ORFD said. He said a smoke alarm woke him up.

The home received extensive damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the ORFD said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department said it would like to remind everyone of the importance of having a smoke alarm in their home. [Read more…]

Green McAdoo now part of TN State Museum system, U.S. Civil Rights Trail

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Photo via Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge

Photo via Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge

 

The Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton has become a part of the Tennessee State Museum system in Nashville and the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, according to Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge.

It’s a significant announcement, and Green McAdoo invites all those that have aided in their success to celebrate by attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 25, with a pre-celebration reception at 9 a.m. at the Green McAdoo Museum, an electronic newsletter said. [Read more…]

Save the Date: Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration 2018

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Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program are teaming up to host a Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration this year. The date is set for Saturday, October 6.

Everyone is invited to participate and support this free event, which combines the police department’s annual National Night Out and the fire department’s Fire Prevention Parade into one big community celebration, a press release said. Goals of the Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration include: [Read more…]

Next City Blueprint Open House is Thursday

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Photo by City of Oak Ridge

Photo by City of Oak Ridge

 

The next Oak Ridge City Blueprint Open House is Thursday. City residents and property owners are invited to participate in envisioning the future of the City Center Subarea, a press release said.

The open house is hosted by the Oak Ridge Community Development Department and Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission. It is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 23, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. A brief presentation during the meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

The City Center Subarea involves a triangular area defined by three major street corridors: Oak Ridge Turnpike, South Illinois Avenue, and Rutgers Avenue, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge police host Ask an Officer event on Aug. 28

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The Oak Ridge Police Department will offer an educational Ask an Officer session on personal safety at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Tuesday, August 28, at 1 p.m.

You can join Oak Ridge Police Department Sergeant Shannah Newman and Investigator Wendy Zolkowski for this special program sponsored by the Oak Ridge Senior Center, a press release said. This event is open to participants of any age. Everyone is invited to come out and learn how to become safer and more secure in everyday life, the press release said.

A question and answer session will follow the presentation if time allows. There is no cost for the program, but please call the Oak Ridge Senior Center at (865) 425-3999 to reserve a spot.

Community meeting next week to discuss new preschool, amenities at Scarboro Park

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An image showing what the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool could look like in Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge and Studio Four Design)

An image showing what the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool could look like in Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge and Studio Four Design)

 

Project could move into bid phase in September

As plans progress for the new Oak Ridge Preschool and Scarboro Park improvements, Oak Ridge municipal leaders will provide an update on the project during a community meeting on Thursday, August 30. The meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Scarboro Community Center. Discussions will focus on recreational amenities in Scarboro Park as well as the current status and next steps for the preschool, a press release said.

WHAT: Community meeting on Scarboro Park and new preschool

WHEN: Thursday, August 30, at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Scarboro Community Center, 148 Carver Avenue, Oak Ridge [Read more…]

‘Sergeant York: The Play’ to benefit hurricane relief in Puerto Rico

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First United Methodist Church Sergeant York The Play 0818 500x333

The touring play, “Sergeant York: The Play,” will be presented in Oak Ridge on Friday and Saturday, and proceeds will benefit hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

The play will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 17, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 18, in the Multi-Purpose Room at First United Methodist Church.

It’s a one-man show starring Greg Helton as Sergeant York, and it was written and directed by Lisa Soland.

Sergeant York grew up on a farm in Pall Mall, Tennessee, and he was the most highly decorated veteran of World War I, a press release said.

It said Soland did two years of research to put the play together, and it will travel across the United States. [Read more…]

Rope rescue used to remove injured Jeep driver from steep hill

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A rope rescue system was used to help remove an injured Jeep driver who had driven over a steep hill near Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge at about 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, authorities said. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

A rope rescue system was used to help remove an injured Jeep driver who had driven over a steep hill near Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge at about 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, authorities said. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

 

A rope rescue system was used to help remove an injured Jeep driver who had driven over a steep hill in east Oak Ridge on Sunday, authorities said.

Oak Ridge 911 dispatchers received a call at about 7 p.m. Sunday that a 4×4 that had driven over a steep hill near Edgemoor Road. The Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Anderson County Emergency Medical Services responded. When crews arrived, they found a Jeep that was occupied by two adults and two dogs about 50 feet down a steep grade, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. [Read more…]