Oak Ridge Today

Gooch seeks re-appointment as mayor

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Warren Gooch

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is seeking a fifth two-year term as mayor. Gooch has asked the other six members of Oak Ridge City Council to re-appoint him to that position on Monday. He is the only council member seeking to be appointed mayor.

Meanwhile, there are two candidates for mayor pro tem, which is like vice mayor. Council members Jim Dodson and Chuck Hope have both asked to be appointed to that position.

The council member who had been mayor pro tem, Rick Chinn, did not seek re-election in November after two four-year terms on council.

In his letter of intent for mayor, Gooch said Oak Ridge is headed in the right direction, with good news across the city from Elza Gate in the east to The Preserve in the west.

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Fire damages home on Lansing Road

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A fire on Friday afternoon damaged a home on South Lansing Road, according to the City of Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the fire at 12:45 p.m. Friday.

“Multiple callers to 911 reported fire was visible through the windows and roof,” the city said in a press release. “ORFD crews arrived within five minutes of the call with 17 personnel. The first unit arrived on scene and found heavy fire from the rear of the structure. A hose line was taken in the home to begin suppression efforts. The Oak Ridge Electric Department also responded to secure power to the affected building. The fire heavily damaged one half of the building, while the other half had smoke and water damage.”

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New supervisor named for Manhattan Project National Park

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Wendy Berhman

A new supervisor has been named for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The selection of Wendy Berhman as the new superintendent was announced by National Park Service Acting Regional Director Kate Hammond.

Berhman succeeds Kris Kirby, who served in the position for six years before accepting a position as associate state director for the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office, the NPS said.

Besides Oak Ridge, the three-site national park includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The three sites were part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. The park was established in 2015, and it is administered through a collaborative partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy.

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IDB endorses overhead power lines for Horizon Center project

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An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, at Horizon Center. The company’s site is pictured above on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route that could be less controversial to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company at Horizon Center.

Environmental advocates, ecologists, and trail users had objected to an earlier proposal to run overhead power lines along a U.S. Department of Energy patrol road on the back side of Horizon Center. Among other objections, those lines would have been relatively close to the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement, and opponents said the power lines would have decreased the area’s recreational value.

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Edgemoor Road widening estimated at $175 million

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The widening of Edgemoor Road between Pellissippi Parkway and Clinton Highway, including this bridge over the Clinch River, could cost an estimated $175 million, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The widening of Edgemoor Road between Pellissippi Parkway and Clinton Highway could cost an estimated $175 million, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

Planning for the six-mile project, which will include replacing the bridge over the Clinch River, was completed in August.

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Oak Ridge designated World War II Heritage City

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Y-12 Calutron Girls
Women enriching uranium in calutrons at Y-12 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. (Photo by Manhattan Project photographer Ed Westcott)

The City of Oak Ridge has been designated a World War II Heritage City, the only city in Tennessee to receive that designation.

The National Park Service has notified the city of the designation, Oak Ridge said in a press release Tuesday.

“The American World War II Heritage Cities Program honors the contributions of local towns, cities, (and) counties, and commemorates the stories of the men, women, and children whose bravery and sacrifices shaped the U.S. home front during World War II, and still impact our nation today,” the press release said. “Only one American World War II Heritage City can be designated in each state or territory. Oak Ridge played a critical role in history and has been designated Tennessee’s American World War II Heritage City through the program. ”

Oak Ridge was a key production site during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could. Among other work, Oak Ridge enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime and had the first reactor to make plutonium-239. A plutonium sample was sent to scientific facilities at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and more of that isotope, the fuel used in the second bomb, was produced at Hanford, Washington.

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Appeals court upholds 30-year robbery sentence

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A Tennessee appeals court this summer upheld a 30-year prison sentence against an Oliver Springs man convicted of aggravated robbery in Clinton, finding that the Anderson County trial court did not err in sentencing him as a career offender.

Wallace Wade Tidwell, 44, had been accused of robbing a Shell gas station on Charles Seivers Boulevard in Clinton in June 2015. A clerk testified at trial in April 2019 that Tidwell came out of the store’s bathroom, ordered her to give him the money in the cash register, lifted his shirt, and showed her what she thought was the butt of a gun in his waistband, according to a 14-page opinion filed by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville.

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Learn about secrecy, spies on Dec. 17

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The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

You can learn about secrecy, security, and spies during the Manhattan Project in World War II in Oak Ridge on Saturday, December 17.

This National Park Service program is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. December 17 at the Oak Ridge Turnpike gatehouse on the west end of town.

“The program is accessible to all visitors and will give insight to what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project with heightened security, need for secrecy, and worry of spies,” the NPS said in a newsletter.

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Early Oak Ridge to be discussed during NPS hike

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A photo by Ed Westcott of Cedar Hill Elementary School in Oak Ridge in 1945. (Photo credit: U.S. Department of Energy/Westcott)

Early Oak Ridge, including its school system, shopping centers, and housing, will be discussed during a hike with National Park Service rangers on Saturday, December 10.

The hike is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. December 10 at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School.

“Along the hike, we’ll discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works (a name for Oak Ridge during World War II),” the NPS said.

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Indoor pool to close temporarily for resurfacing

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The Oak Ridge Indoor Swimming Pool will close on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, and will remain closed through at least January 2023 for resurfacing. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Indoor Swimming Pool will close on Monday, December 12, and will remain closed through at least January 2023 for resurfacing.

An exact re-opening date has not been set because of the uncertainty that comes with construction and delays in product delivery, a press release said.

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Court defers decision on separate trials for Finnegan, Dishman

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A motion hearing is pictured above for Sean Shannon Finnegan and Rebecca Elizabeth Dishman in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

A decision was deferred Thursday about whether to separate the trials of a man and woman charged in a gruesome rape and murder case in Oak Ridge three years ago.

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Library will be renovated during holidays

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Oak Ridge Public Library
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

The Oak Ridge Public Library will be renovated during the holidays, and the library will be closed several days around Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The restrooms will be completely rebuilt, and the Children’s Room will be “getting an all-new look that will help everyone discover new ways to read, learn, and play,” a press release said.

The library will be closed for the Christmas holidays from December 23 to 26 and for the New Year’s holiday from December 31 to January 2, the press release said.

“Over the few days immediately before Christmas and in between Christmas and New Year’s, the library building will be closed to public traffic,” Oak Ridge Public Library Director Julie Forkner said. “However, patrons will be able to check out materials through our curbside service. Mobile printing will be available, and library staff will be available via phone and email. Patrons needing a wireless connection can place a Hotspot on hold with their library card or use the library’s public Wi-Fi, which extends to the plaza and into the library’s parking lot.”

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