Oak Ridge Today

State Building Commission approves new Anderson County TCAT campus

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The State Building Commission on Thursday unanimously approved funding for a new Anderson County satellite campus of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology—Knoxville. The new campus will be located in the city of Clinton.

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, presided over the meeting in which the project was approved, a press release said.

“I am extremely excited about the prospect of a TCAT satellite campus in Anderson County. Our technical colleges provide students the invaluable skills they need to compete in today’s job market,” McNally said in the press release. “Tennessee works hard to attract high-quality jobs to our state. It is important that those jobs go to Tennesseans. We have some of the hardest-working people in the nation right here in Anderson County. This new campus will give our outstanding people a chance to develop the skills they need to survive and thrive in the modern workforce.” [Read more…]

Down payment assistance of $15,000 available for qualified home buyers in Clinton zip code

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This the map of targeted zip codes where $15,000 in down payment assistance is available to qualified home buyers. (Map by Tennessee Housing Development Agency)

This is the map of targeted zip codes where $15,000 in down payment assistance is available to qualified home buyers. (Map by Tennessee Housing Development Agency)

 

A program that kicked off in March offers $15,000 in down payment assistance to certain qualified home buyers in a Clinton area zip code and 54 other zip codes across Tennessee.

The down payment assistance is available through the Hardest Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance program, a federal program administered in the Volunteer State by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA.

The help is available in Anderson County in the 37716 zip code. That zip code includes an area north and east of Oak Ridge, extending to Clinton and beyond along State Route 61 and north and south of the highway.

To qualify, home buyers must purchase an existing home in one of the 55 targeted zip codes. The purchase requires a THDA Great Choice Home Loan. [Read more…]

Center for Leadership & Community Development starts ‘Encounter Oak Ridge’ program

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The Oak Ridge Center for Leadership and Community Development, an organization affiliated with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, has announced a new program, Encounter Oak Ridge.

Encounter Oak Ridge is a new four-session program designed to introduce Oak Ridge to new residents, new employees, and everyone interested in learning more about the community where they live or work. Participants will be introduced to the unique aspects of Oak Ridge. Sessions will take place on four consecutive Mondays, beginning on April 24 and concluding on May 15. Encounter Oak Ridge is sponsored by NSPS.

“Participants in this new program will benefit from learning about our community and from the new business and personal contacts they will make through Encounter Oak Ridge,” said Bonnie Hebert of Oak Ridge National Laboratory/UT-Battelle and chair of the Encounter Oak Ridge program.

“Encounter Oak Ridge is our organization’s latest offering to inform and empower Oak Ridge’s workforce and residents to be engaged in the community where they live and/or work,” said John Garrity of NSPS LLC and chairman of the Center for Leadership and Community Development.

Each session will focus on different aspects of the Oak Ridge community, the press release said: [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Farmers Market opens Saturday

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Farmers Market

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opens for the season in Jackson Square at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 15. It will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, and from 3 p.m. to sellout on Wednesdays starting June 7. (File photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opens for the season in Jackson Square on Saturday, April 15.

The Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. It will be open from 3 p.m. to sellout on Wednesday starting June 7.

The farmers markets are operated by the East Tennessee Farmers Association for Retail Marketing, or FARM. FARM celebrated its 40th anniversary last fall.

According to FARM history, two law students from the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University organized Food Fairs in 1976 that would bring farmers together to eventually create the Farmers Association for Retail Marketing.

“The primary objectives of the project were to increase income for family farmers in Tennessee by providing new markets and to get fresh, homegrown produce to urban consumers at fair prices,” the FARM history said. [Read more…]

Second year of Arts & Antiques in the Square kicks off April 29

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The second year of Arts & Antiques in the Square kicks off Saturday, April 29, in Jackson Square. Vendor spaces are available, and you can have items appraised at the kickoff. Pictured above are Linda Johnston, right, owner of Through the Looking Glass Antiques and Collectibles and Meghan O'Neal of Southern Bliss Boutique. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The second year of Arts & Antiques in the Square kicks off Saturday, April 29, in Jackson Square. Vendor spaces are available, and you can have items appraised at the kickoff. Pictured above are Linda Johnston, right, owner of Through the Looking Glass Antiques and Collectibles, and Meghan O’Neal of Southern Bliss Boutique. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The second year of Arts & Antiques in the Square kicks off Saturday, April 29, in Jackson Square. Vendor spaces are available, and you can have items appraised at the kickoff.

The appraisals will be done by Case Antiques Inc. of Knoxville. It’s the Tennessee Treasures Appraisals Fair, which is part of the April 29 kickoff of Arts & Antiques in the Square. Items can be appraised for $10 per item, or $50 for six items. The appraisals will be done from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in Jackson Square.

“Browse our shops and Arts & Antiques vendors while your items are appraised,” the Jackson Square Merchants Association said. If you have furniture to be appraised, you don’t have to bring it. You can bring photos or send them in advance.

Arts & Antiques in the Square itself is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 29.

The series is usually, but not always, held on the last Saturday of the month. The events highlight the arts: dance, music, visual arts, and theater. They also allow vendors to showcase and sell their products.

“We’re trying to revitalize Jackson Square to its former glory,” said Linda Johnston, owner of Through the Looking Glass Antiques and Collectibles. “This used to be where everybody came.” [Read more…]

City board rejects request for more time for repairs at Applewood

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An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-empty Applewood Apartment building on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle. The request came from property Joe Levitt, right, a Knoxville attorney. At left is Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-vacant Applewood Apartment building on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle. The request came from property Joe Levitt, right, a Knoxville attorney. At left is Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:10 a.m.

An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-vacant Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals rejected the request from Applewood Apartments owner Joe Levitt in a 5-1 vote on Thursday.

Levitt had asked for a waiver or one-year extension for time to paint or stain the exteriors of the apartment buildings.

The condition of the exteriors had been cited in code violation notices issued by Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley on February 6. She said the exteriors of the apartment buildings need to be stained or painted. The siding on the buildings is chipping and fading, and it is disrepair in places, Crumpley said.

She also said trash and debris are accumulating at the apartments.

Levitt said the debris at the apartments is being addressed bi-weekly. [Read more…]

City alleges code violations at Applewood; Levitt asks for waiver or extension

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applewood-apartments-1-oct-7-2016

The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle moved out Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge inspector has alleged code violations at Applewood Apartments, and owner Joe Levitt has asked for a waiver or one-year extension for time to paint or stain the exteriors.

Besides the alleged exterior violations, the city also alleged code violations due to the accumulation of trash and debris at the 13 buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle.

In his responses, Levitt said the debris is being addressed bi-weekly.

While Levitt wants a waiver or one-year extension on the exteriors, the city staff has requested an order for compliance within 60 days.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals will hear Levitt’s appeal at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Room 104. [Read more…]

TSBDC hosts free export seminar

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The Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Roane State Community College is hosting a free workshop for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to learn more about succeeding in the global marketplace.

The free workshop covers export financing options (Ex-Im Bank), logistics and freight forwarding, compliance, legal issues, and information about export assistance available, a press release said.

If you are just exploring exporting, or have done international business in the past, this workshop is for you, the press release said. [Read more…]

Cybersecurity brown bag lunch on Monday: ‘Cyber Hygiene for Individuals and Small Businesses’

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The Cyber and Information Security Consortium, or CISC, and the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy have partnered to hold monthly brown bag lunches to hear talks on key topics regarding cybersecurity, a press release said.

The next lunch will take place next week in the UT Outreach Center in Oak Ridge, and it will be on the subject of cyber hygiene.

Topic: “Cyber Hygiene for Individuals and Small Businesses”

Speaker: Scott Partelow, managing consultant for enterprise solutions at Sword and Shield Enterprise Security [Read more…]

Sears’ future won’t affect Sears Hometown Store in Oak Ridge

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Sears Hometown Store on Fairbanks Road in Oak Ridge had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, March 17, 2017. (Photo by Kay Brookshire)

Sears Hometown Store on Fairbanks Road in Oak Ridge had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, March 17, 2017. (Photo by Kay Brookshire)

 

With the recent news surrounding Sears Holdings Corporation, the Sears Hometown Store in Oak Ridge said Wednesday that it wants to assure local residents “they are going strong and will continue providing the community access to the brands they love and need.”

Sears Hometown locations operate under Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc., which separated from Sears Holdings Corporation in October 2012 and is a completely separate, publicly-traded company, a press release said.

“With this, news reports from Sears Holdings Corporation about its performance or store closings are in no way a reflection of the health of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores or the Oak Ridge Sears Hometown Store,” the press release said. “Plus, unlike most retail concepts, Sears Hometown Stores combine the value, selection, and services associated with larger retail stores but are owned and operated by a member of the local community.”

The Oak Ridge store is locally owned and operated. [Read more…]

Downtown Hardware having Truckload Sale, Customer Appreciation Days

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Downtown Hardware has been serving the community for 62 years, and the store is having a Truckload Sale through April 8 and two Customer Appreciation Days on Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1, 2017.

Downtown Hardware has been serving the community for 62 years, and the store is having a Truckload Sale through April 8 and two Customer Appreciation Days on Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1, 2017.

 

Downtown Hardware has been serving the community for 62 years, and the store is having a Truckload Sale through April 8 and two Customer Appreciation Days on Friday and Saturday.

The Customer Appreciation Days are Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1. Downtown Hardware will have free hot dogs and drinks both days, and draw hourly for door prizes.

The Truckload Sale started March 30 and ends April 8. [Read more…]

Roane State health care job fair matches employers with students

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Covenant Health employees Nelson Leiser and Liz Floyd talk with Roane State students on the verge of graduating in healthcare fields during the annual Healthcare Job Fair, held March 29 at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. (Photo by Roane State)

Covenant Health employees Nelson Leiser and Liz Floyd talk with Roane State students on the verge of graduating in health care fields during the annual Healthcare Job Fair, held March 29 at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. (Photo by Roane State)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

When it comes to the burgeoning health care field, there are plenty of jobs out there.

That became obvious to some 200 Roane State students on the verge of graduating who took advantage of the college’s annual Healthcare Job Fair, held March 29 at the Roane State campus in Oak Ridge.

“There are a lot of potential job openings,” said Trista Murrell, set to graduate from the college’s physical therapist assistant program in August. She was handing out resumes to prospective employers and, she said, “everyone has been very helpful.”

Some 50 companies and institutions set up displays in the atrium and hallways of the college’s Coffey-McNally Building.

Employers included hospitals, medical clinics, nursing homes, health care recruiting firms, and companies involved in medical record-keeping. Even representatives of the Army and the state’s prison system had displays. Prison nurses start out at $26.50 an hour, a spokeswoman said. [Read more…]