Oak Ridge Today

Main Street photos: Burkes Outlet under construction

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Construction work is under way at burkes outlets, a new store at Main Street Oak Ridge. Burkes will be next to Electronic Express, and the work is pictured above on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Construction work is under way at Burkes Outlet, a new store at Main Street Oak Ridge. Burkes will be next to Electronic Express, and the work is pictured above on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Construction is under way at Burkes Outlet, a new store at Main Street Oak Ridge. Here are photos of the construction on Tuesday, November 6.

Main Street Oak Ridge is the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. You can see the site plan here.

Burkes Outlet describes itself as a chain store where you can find name-brand products and fashions at a discount, and they sell women’s clothing, men’s clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories, bed and bath, and home and beauty products. [Read more…]

Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site

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The main parking lot and main entrance to the former American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue is pictured above on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The main parking lot and main entrance to the former American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue is pictured above on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Apartments could be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy site on South Tulane Avenue.

The apartment complex could include 217 units in seven three-story buildings on the 10-acre site. They would be built where the former AMSE building and its big parking lot are now. AMSE has moved across the street to Main Street Oak Ridge, the roughly 58-acre redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The apartment developer, Legacy Capital of Knoxville, anticipates that construction could begin at the site in the late spring or early summer of next year and last about 18 months, said company president Daniel Smith.

Smith and Mark Bialik, owner of GBS Engineering of Knoxville, presented information on the $25 million to $30 million project to the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission during a Monday evening work session. They plan to present what is known as a planned unit development for the project to the Planning Commission this month. [Read more…]

Election 2018: Progress PAC endorsements for City Council, School Board

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Note This story was updated at 10 a.m.

Four candidates for Oak Ridge City Council and all three candidates running for Oak Ridge Board of Education running in the election today (Tuesday, November 6) have earned endorsements by Progress PAC.

Three City Council incumbents—Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Ellen Smith, and Kelly Callison—received the PAC endorsements as did Tim Stallings, who previously served on the City Council in the 1990s.

School Board candidates Laura McLean, Ben Stephens, and Erin Webb—who are all serving on the BOE now and are running unopposed—also received the political action committee’s nod, a press release said.

Progress PAC, which was created by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce but which operates independently, endorses City Council and School Board candidates who ask for the committee’s support and who are supportive of the Chamber’s mission, vision, and key legislative priorities, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge shuts out Rhea County in first round of playoffs

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Oak Ridge shut out Rhea County 42-0 in a first-round Class 5A playoff game on Blankenship Field on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. Above, coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats after the game. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge shut out Rhea County 42-0 in a first-round Class 5A playoff game on Blankenship Field on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. Above, coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats after the game. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Nov. 3.

Oak Ridge shut out Rhea County 42-0 in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs on Blankenship Field on Friday.

“That was a complete game,” Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said. “It couldn’t have been more timely. No one has beaten them (Rhea County) like this.”

The Wildcats (9-2), a Region 3 team, advance to play at Soddy-Daisy (6-4), a Region 4 team, in the second round at 7 p.m. next Friday (November 9). Soddy-Daisy eliminated Clinton (a 4-7 Region 3 team) in another first-round game this Friday.

Winners of the second-round games advance to the state quarterfinals. The winner of the Oak Ridge-Soddy-Daisy game will play the winner of Catholic-Fulton in a quarterfinal game on Friday, November 16. [Read more…]

Football: Oak Ridge hosts Rhea County in first-round playoff game

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats walk down the stairs at Jack Armstrong Stadium before a 41-12 win over Dobyns-Bennett on Blankenship Field on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats walk down the stairs at Jack Armstrong Stadium before a 41-12 win over Dobyns-Bennett on Blankenship Field on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

 

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will host Rhea County in a first-round Class 5A football playoff game today. The game will start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 2, on Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.

The two teams last met in the playoffs four years ago, in November 2014, when Oak Ridge had a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback, narrowing a three-touchdown deficit to one. But the Wildcats were unable to make up for missed opportunities and turnovers and fell to the Golden Eagles 35-21 in a state quarterfinal playoff game. At 12-0, both teams were undefeated before the game, which made it a historic showdown on Blankenship Field.

This year’s Rhea County team has a losing record at 4-5 in Region 4, while the Wildcats are 8-2 and finished second in Region 3. [Read more…]

Anderson County Veterans Day Parade is Nov. 10

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Anderson County Veterans Day Parade Nov 10 2018

The 12th Annual Anderson County Veterans Day Parade is scheduled to start in Clinton at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 10.

The parade route will include West Broad Street, Main Street, and Market Street in Clinton.

The grand marshal will be World War II veteran Carson Baldwin, who served in the U.S. Army. [Read more…]

Man pleads guilty to reckless homicide in death of father after argument

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William Brent James

William Brent James

 

William Brent James

A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless homicide in the death of his father after an argument in an Oak Ridge parking lot in 2014.

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ACSD: Juvenile suspect confesses to making bomb threat at Claxton Elementary

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A juvenile suspect has confessed to making the bomb threat that forced the evacuation of Claxton Elementary School on Tuesday, authorities said.

The bomb threat to the elementary school was reported to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department just before noon on Tuesday.

The school was immediately evacuated, and students and staff were placed off property at Zion Baptist Church. Students were not able to return to school and were dismissed from the church, according to a press release from Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. [Read more…]

TVA, Fish & Wildlife Service announce trout stocking agreement

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The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout. The agreement was announced Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, at a press conference beside the Clinch River below Norris Dam. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)

The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout. The agreement was announced Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, at a press conference beside the Clinch River below Norris Dam. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout.

The partnership, which began in 2013, includes the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Since 2013, TVA has been funding trout production by the Service at three national fish hatcheries: Dale Hollow and Erwin in Tennessee, and Chattahoochee Forest in Georgia. The trout are then provided to the following tailwaters: Apalachia (Hiwassee River), Blue Ridge, Boone, Cherokee, Fort Patrick Henry, Normandy, Norris, South Holston, Tims Ford, and Wilbur. Trout-stocked reservoirs in the plan include Fort Patrick Henry, South Holston, Parksville, Watauga, and Wilbur reservoirs.

The four partner agencies announced the new agreement Tuesday at a press conference beside the Clinch River below Norris Dam. The agreement provides partnership funding through fiscal year 2021, a press release said. [Read more…]

Photos: Clinch River bridge work in Clinton

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Work is under way on the bridge to replace the Honorable William Everette Lewallen Bridge over the Clinch River on Clinch Avenue between downtown Clinton and South Clinton. The work is pictured above on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Work is under way on the bridge to replace the Honorable William Everette Lewallen Bridge over the Clinch River on Clinch Avenue between downtown Clinton and South Clinton. The work is pictured above on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Construction work has started on the replacement of the Honorable William Everette Lewallen Bridge over the Clinch River in downtown Clinton. Here are photos of the work, which could last three years, on Tuesday.

In August, WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that the contract to replace the bridge on Highway 25W/State Route 9 (Clinton Highway/Clinch Avenue) 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, WYSH said.

The bridge connects downtown Clinton to south Clinton. [Read more…]

Booker of Oak Ridge a Mr. Football semifinalist

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Oak Ridge senior quarterback Herbert Booker (13) runs during a 41-13 win at Sevier County on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge senior quarterback Herbert Booker (13) runs during a 41-13 win at Sevier County on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Herbert Booker, the senior quarterback and cornerback for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, has been named a Mr. Football semifinalist.

The semifinalists for the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Awards were announced Thursday by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, or TSSAA.

Booker, who also plays basketball for the Wildcats, was named a Mr. Football semifinalist in Division I, Class 5A.

He was one of five semifinalists. The other four are Michael Burdick of Page, Cade Larkins of David Crockett, Deshawn Page of Fulton, and Grayson Tramel of Shelbyville.

Stanton Martin, Anderson County’s quarterback, was named a semifinalist in Division I, Class 4A. [Read more…]

Claxton Elementary evacuated Tuesday after bomb threat; nothing found

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Note: This story was last updated at 9:15 a.m.

Claxton Elementary School was evacuated Tuesday when a bomb threat was reported, and the school was searched but nothing was found, authorities said.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to the school after the bomb threat was reported just before noon Tuesday.

All students were evacuated and moved to Zion Baptist Church on the other side of the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department on Clinton Highway, said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. [Read more…]