Oak Ridge Today

Officials to offer update on Alexander Inn project tonight

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Guest House

The Guest House in Oak Ridge, now known as the Alexander Inn, as it looked during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II. (Photo by Ed Westcott)

Rick Dover, general manager of the company converting the historic Alexander Inn into an assisted living center, will provide an update on the project during an Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association meeting this evening.

Also present will be Knox Heritage’s Ethiel Garlington, director of preservation field services for the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. today (Thursday, July 11) in the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road at the corner of Robertsville Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

DOE asks for more information on $2 million CROET grant

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The U.S. Department of Energy has requested additional information as it tries to close out a $2 million grant awarded 16 years ago to a nonprofit organization that owns, develops, and manages former DOE property.

The grant was issued in 1997 as part of a larger grant that the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee requested from DOE, said Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer. Most of the money was used for a high-risk loan program for small businesses. The purpose was to create jobs and promote economic development in East Tennessee, said Mike Koentop, spokesman for the DOE Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

Roane Chamber announces 2013 Youth Leadership Academy graduates

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Roane Chamber Youth Leadership Academy Graduates

The Roane Chamber’s 2013 Youth Leadership Academy graduates and their schools:
(Back row, left to right) Kara Brindley (Rockwood High), Samantha Schaefer (home schooled), Hunter McClure (Roane County High), Peyton Jones (Oliver Springs High), Shelby Dailey (Midway High), and Jordan Zurcher (Roane County High); (Front row, left to right) Sarah Hooper (Academy Director, Roane State Community College faculty), Jonathan Cate (Oliver Springs High), Bryce Laughlin (Rockwood High), Ian Barnett (home schooled), Hayden Hester (Midway High), Matt Snow (Harriman High), and Lindsey Seymour (Harriman High).

Twelve Roane County high school students graduated this year from Roane County Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Leadership Academy held at Roane State Community College. The students, representing the county’s five high schools and home-schooled groups, formed six school teams. As a part of the academy requirements, each team will be completing a community service project in the coming months.

The students and their school teams are: Lindsey Seymour and Matt Snow for Harriman High; Shelby Dailey and Hayden Hester for Midway High; Jonathan Cate and Peyton Jones for Oliver Springs High; Hunter McClure and Jordan Zurcher for Roane County High; Kara Brindley and Bryce Laughlin for Rockwood High; and Ian Barnett and Samantha Schaefer are home-schooled. [Read more…]

City board reconsiders Price Florist demolition, repair order

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Price Florist

A city board has declared Price Florist on Oak Ridge Turnpike a nuisance and unfit for human occupation and use, and on Thursday, members will reconsider a demolition or repair order for the building, which is now for sale.

A potential demolition order is looming, and the building is for sale.

For decades, it was home to Price Florist, but it’s now in “severe disrepair,” according to the Oak Ridge city staff.

In June, the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals declared the now-unused store on busy Oak Ridge Turnpike to be a nuisance and unfit for human occupation or use. The board stopped short of issuing a demolition order and gave the property owner 30 days to present a repair or demolition plan. [Read more…]

ORNL Federal Credit Union launches small business cash mob campaign

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ORNL Federal Credit Union recently announced it has launched a Small Business Counts cash mob campaign, and it was scheduled to start this month.

A cash mob is a group of people who assemble at a local business to make purchases as a gesture of support for that business as well as the overall community, a press release said. The credit union’s grassroots program, Small Business Counts, is designed to help local merchants in the 16 East Tennessee communities that it serves through the use of promotion, social networking, and even direct financial support. [Read more…]

Roane State to offer QuickBooks course

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Roane State Community College’s Community Outreach and Professional Training Department is offering a QuickBooks 2012 course on Friday, July 12, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The class will meet at the college’s Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave. The cost is $179. [Read more…]

Obama administration delays employer health care mandate until 2015

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Mark Mazur

Mark Mazur

Responding to business concerns, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would delay until 2015 the new health care law’s mandate that employers provide workers with health insurance.

New reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act will also be delayed a year. Questions about the new employer mandate and reporting requirements have been a concern for businesses across the nation, including in and around Oak Ridge.

“We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively,” said Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy. Mazur made the announcement on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website. [Read more…]

IDB endorses professional services contract with Chamber

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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce could provide an office for the Industrial Development Board, store its files, prepare its meeting minutes and agendas, and take care of its accounting under a proposal endorsed Monday.

The Chamber would do the work for $25,000 per year, IDB Chair David Wilson told board members. [Read more…]

Council to discuss electronic signs, land banks, mall partnership

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Rivers Total Car Care Electronic Sign

The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss proposed changes to the city’s electronic sign ordinance during a Monday evening work session. Pictured above is Toney Stevens of Rivers Total Car Care, who has participated in the discussion.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will discuss a proposed ordinance that would prohibit animated video and scrolling messages on electronic signs.

Council will also discuss economic development options related to a public-private partnership on Oak Ridge Mall properties, and commercial and industrial areas of the city.

During a non-voting work session Monday night, Council will also hear a presentation on land bank legislation. The work session starts at 7 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. [Read more…]

USEC donates to Emory Valley Center campaign

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USEC Donates to Emory Valley Center

Pictured above from left to right are Robin Biloski, Emory Valley Center development director; Dottie Thompson and Gene Caldwell, co-chairs of the EVC Capital Campaign; and Bob Eby of USEC Inc. (Submitted photo)

Emory Valley Center recently received a donation from USEC for its capital campaign to build a new facility on Emory Valley Road, a press release said.

“Emory Valley Center has always been such a vital part of our community in helping so many adults and children in our region,” said Bob Eby, director of Centrifuge Technology and Process Engineering of USEC in Oak Ridge. “All of us at USEC are so happy to play a part in providing a new center for the many who receive their services.” [Read more…]

IDB to discuss contract on Bethel Valley lot, agreement with Chamber

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The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board on Monday will discuss a contract to purchase a lot in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park and an agreement with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

The IDB meets at 4 p.m. Monday in the Municipal Building Training Room.

RSI awards eight $1,000 college scholarships

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RSI Scholarship Winners

RSI executives and scholarship recipients are pictured above. In the front row from left are Rick Ferguson, RSI vice president, and Kaitlyn Byrd, Stephanie Hanahan, Bethany Allen, and Jedidiah Long. In the back row are Peter Caswell, RSI vice president, and Joseph “Grant” Barbour, Jalen Carter, and Staci Ferguson, RSI president. Not pictured are Christiana Goode and Tyler Moore. (Submitted photo)

Restoration Services Inc., or RSI, and its voluntary Employee Outreach Committee have joined efforts to offer eight $1,000 college scholarships to “help students achieve their greatest potential through higher education,” a press release said.

The company announced this week that six scholarships were awarded to graduating high school students who will be attending college in the upcoming fall 2013 semester. The remaining two scholarships were awarded to children of RSI employees who are upcoming sophomores, juniors, or seniors currently enrolled in an accredited college for the 2013 fall semester. Scholarship recipients were selected from submitted applications that included academic accomplishments, community involvement and leadership roles, and an essay on current environmental threats. [Read more…]