A large tree fell on a power line in west Oak Ridge early Saturday morning, causing an outage that affected about 7,150 customers, officials said.
The tree fell on a subtransmission line that runs over the top of a ridge south of Oak Ridge Turnpike on the west side of town at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday, July 11.
The tree shorted out the feeds to two substations, which caused a power outage roughly from Tulane Avenue westward, the Oak ridge Electric Department said. [Read more…]
Mark Watson
With help from a contractor, the City of Oak Ridge has upgraded the media equipment in the Municipal Building Courtroom to provide a better viewing experience during televised City Council meetings.
The city contracted with M&M Productions USA of Oak Ridge in June to help with the broadcast upgrades, a press release said. Part of the upgrade included permanently mounting pan, tilt, and zoom (PTZ) high-definition, robotic cameras that would “provide for better viewing angles of City Council, city staff, and audience members during televised City Council meetings,” the release said.
This recent broadcasting upgrade further complements the audio and City Council voting equipment improvements that were completed in 2014 as a result of deteriorating equipment and Courtroom needs, the release said.
“The PTZ cameras provide for better area coverage and greater detail of City Council meetings,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. “Additionally, there have been several broadcast efficiencies experienced with all of the media upgrades, not to mention that the upgraded equipment has added to the professional composition of the City Council meetings and the Courtroom.” [Read more…]
There will not be an Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission work session on Main Street Oak Ridge today (Thursday, July 9).
The city staff said the meeting will be rescheduled to a date to be determined later in July.
Main Street Oak Ridge is the $80 million, 60-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
A bridge repair project on Highway 61 will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction on the bridge over Interstate 75 beginning Tuesday, July 14, and continuing until the project’s scheduled completion date of October 31.
Mid-State Construction, based out of Livingston, sent a letter as required by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to the Clinton Police, Fire, and Public Works departments, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County EMS, the U.S. Postal Service, and both the Clinton and Anderson County school systems. All of them could be affected by the project, so they were informed of the upcoming lane restrictions. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Farmers Market is pictured above with Jackson Square in the background. The section of Broadway in front of Jackson Square will be closed on Saturday mornings for the Farmers Market until more parking becomes available. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The Oak Ridge Farmers Market will be set up differently at Jackson Square starting Saturday, July 11, and for the next six to eight weeks to provide additional parking for customers.
Because both Blankenship Field and Jackson Square parking lots are closed for repaving, the City of Oak Ridge will be closing Broadway Avenue every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon in front of Jackson Square until more parking becomes available.
This will allow some farmers to set up on Broadway Avenue, while others will remain in a smaller area of the Farmers Market parking lot, allowing more space for customer parking. The Farmers Market will not block any sidewalks in Jackson Square, so that customers can still get to the shops and businesses there, a press release said. [Read more…]
Mayor Terry Frank and Connie Aytes, deputy budget director, review Anderson County financial documents. (Submitted photo)
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank will host two special budget discussions to give the public a chance to hear and see a financial snapshot of Anderson County’s health, and to provide the public an opportunity to ask questions, a press release said.
Both an evening and a day meeting are scheduled. The evening meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Club Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The day meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 17, from 12-1 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. The public is invited to attend. [Read more…]
Randy McNally
Tennessee Senator Randy McNally will discuss recent Supreme Court decisions and what they mean for the state during an Anderson County Tea Party meeting on Tuesday, July 14, a press release said.
McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, is also expected to discuss how the Tennessee General Assembly plans to address the decisions, the press release said. Those are among the items McNally is expected to address as he talks about items concerning Anderson County and Eastern Tennessee.
The July 14 meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Clinton Church of God. [Read more…]
Angel Rich Johnson, left, president of Rich Construction Inc. of Lenoir City, and Roger Flynn, Oak Ridge Public Works engineer, are pictured above at Jackson Square on Monday, January 5, 2015. The Jackson Square renovations started in January.
Note: This story was updated at 2:15 p.m. July 7.
Installation of the interactive fountain at the center of Jackson Square could start July 27 and last four weeks, according to an estimated construction timeline.
The sidewalks and the majority of the parking lot have been finished, and Roger Flynn, acting Oak Ridge city engineer, said he has discussed project completion with Rich Construction, the contractor for the $1 million rebuild of the Jackson Square parking lot.
Construction started in January, and enough paving work was completed that merchants and vendors were able to have the annual Lavender Festival at Jackson Square on June 20. Renovations are expected to be complete by the end of August.
Flynn told merchants in a June 24 email that the remaining work is expected to take place in this order: [Read more…]
A picture of the Oak Ridge fireworks display on Saturday, July 4, from Oak Ridge Turnpike near Illinois Avenue. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Oak Ridge’s fireworks display was on Saturday, July 4, at Alvin K. Bissell Park. Here is a picture by Julio Culiat taken from Oak Ridge Turnpike near Illinois Avenue.
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A work crew prepares for the Oak Ridge fireworks show at A.K. Bissell Park on Saturday, July 4. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The fireworks display sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge will begin at 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 4. The display will be shot from A.K. Bissell Park.
The fireworks will be accompanied by music played live on-site by Merle 96.7 FM. Radio host Jack Ryan will be transmitting live from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude the live broadcast with a patriotic medley as the fireworks are shot.
The countdown to the fireworks begins at 9:30 p.m. Listeners can tune their radios to 96.7 Merle FM and enjoy the show.
The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its annual Fourth of July concert at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Read more…]
There has been some frustration among merchants at Jackson Square about not being able to use the partially paved parking lot while they wait for renovations to be completed. This protest sign saying “Free Our Parking Lot!!” was posted on Wednesday.
Merchants have grown frustrated with the pace of renovations at Jackson Square, and on Wednesday a protest sign was posted. “Free Our Parking Lot!” said the sign, which has since been removed.
For now, the parking lot inside Jackson Square remains closed off behind construction fencing as work continues on a $1 million renovation mostly funded by a state grant awarded in 2012.
But merchants wonder why they can’t use the parking lot since it was used for the Lavender Festival on June 20.
Compounding their frustration is the closure of the lower parking lot at Blankenship Field. It’s one of two lots on the north side of Broadway Avenue and Jackson Square. Employees at nearby businesses who used to park in the Blankenship Field lot are now using the second lot, the one used by the Farmers Market, reducing the parking spaces available there, one merchant said.
The Blankenship Field work, which was approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in June, is also causing concern for the Farmers Market. The Farmer Market’s vendors set up in the second parking lot on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and they now don’t have parking available at either the Blankenship Field lot or inside the Jackson Square lot. [Read more…]
Ray Evans
Note: This story was last updated at 7 p.m.
The six companies contributing $500,000 for public infrastructure at Main Street Oak Ridge approached the city and volunteered to help, a consultant said Friday.
The companies are Methodist Medical Center; Oak Ridge Associated Universities; UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor; Restoration Services Inc., a cleanup contractor; Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates Y-12 National Security Complex; and UT-Battelle, which operates and manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The companies understand how important the project is to the city and to them, said Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge.
“They approached us and said, ‘How can we help?'” Evans said. “They just want to ensure the success of this project.” [Read more…]
