Oak Ridge Today

TDEC provides violation notices, timeline on pet crematory where remains excavated

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Elliott Pet Service Excavation

Dump trucks remove pet remains on Wednesday that had been excavated from Elliott Pet Services in Morgan County. (Photo courtesy WATE-TV)

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on Wednesday provided copies of the violation notices sent to the Morgan County crematory where animal remains were excavated last week after a state investigation.

TDEC also provided the media with an event timeline for September and October at Elliott Pet Services on Grouse Ridge Road, copies of annual inspection reports, and a state response to complainants Dana and Fegan Kenny.

You can read the documents here: [Read more…]

Lake City Christmas Parade rescheduled to Friday, Dec. 13

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Due to the expected rainfall in the area, the Lake City Christmas Parade, which had been scheduled for this evening (Friday evening), has been postponed until next Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m.

For more information, call the Lake City Chamber of Commerce at (865) 426-9595 or visit http://www.lakecitychambertn.com/parade/.

Information from WYSH Radio

Impossible to identify animal remains excavated at pet crematory, state says

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Elliott Pet Service Excavation

Dump trucks remove pet remains on Wednesday that had been excavated from Elliott Pet Services in Morgan County. (Photo courtesy WATE-TV)

It will not be possible to identify animals buried at a pet crematory in Morgan County where remains were excavated this week after a state investigation, officials said Wednesday.

News of the investigation and excavations this week has left many pet owners, including in Anderson County, wondering whether animals they paid to have cremated might be among those buried at the rural wooded site near the Roane County line.

The crematory site on Grouse Ridge Road is operated by Elliott Pet Services. It was the subject of a citizen’s complaint in September that alleged animals were being dumped on the site.

In September, the business also received an open dumping violation notice from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. And in October, the company was cited for not maintaining logs.

Business owner Cameo Farr and her attorney, Kevin Angel of Oak Ridge, told several Knoxville television stations that burying animals is part of her business, and she has always cremated animals that were supposed to be cremated. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge officials warn of utility billing scam

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Oak Ridge officials on Wednesday warned of a utility bill scam happening in the area.

In the scam, a customer receives a call from a person claiming to be from the utility calling about missed payments, a press release said. The caller threatens to cut off utilities unless payment is made immediately.

In some cases, the caller will accept a credit card number, bank routing and account number, or other payment information on the phone, while in others an accomplice will appear at the customer’s door to collect the payment. [Read more…]

Dog park ribbon cutting is Monday

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Oak Ridge Dog Park Entrance

The city will have a ribbon-cutting for the new dog park at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge on Monday. Above, the park is pictured under construction in October.

The city will have a ribbon-cutting for the new dog park at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge on Monday.

The ribbon-cutting is at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Construction has been under way since this summer at the city’s first dog park, which is being built with help from a $100,000 donation from Radio Systems Corp. through Legacy Parks.

The park is roughly one acre, and it includes one fenced-in field for small dogs and another for all dogs, said Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Parks Division supervisor. [Read more…]

Youth Board buys Christmas gifts through Mission of Hope

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Youth Advisory Board and Mission of Hope

Pictured above from left to right are Abby Douglas, Lara de Almedia, Ellie Brown, Wes Robinson, Koren Foglesanger, Jared Galloway, Candace Pang, Shichen Zhang, Ricky Goyette, Peter Magill, Laura Skipper, Shelby Chambers, Curtis Rookard, Lauren Collier, Megan Peters, Caroline Bradshaw, Lewis Wang, Ashley Riedy, Shane Harris, and Esten Dunn. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board members recently agreed to spend time and money Christmas shopping at Kmart for area children through Mission of Hope.

The board raises funds at events throughout the year to make this possible and spent $1,639.78 on gifts, a press release said.

The YAB would like to encourage other student groups and families to consider holiday projects that help those in need, while also reminding everyone to shop in Oak Ridge this holiday season, the press release said.

For more information about the Youth Advisory Board, visit www.orrecparks.com or contact Matt Reedy at (865) 425-3442.

Atomic Heritage still hopeful that Manhattan Project Park legislation will pass

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 4.

A bill to create a Manhattan Project National Park that would include Oak Ridge has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives, but now it’s tied up in the Senate.

Still, the nonprofit Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., remains hopeful that the legislation will pass.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act was included as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House passed in June.

The Senate is now negotiating the procedure for considering 507 amendments that have been offered to that legislation, the Atomic Heritage Foundation said in a Tuesday e-mail. [Read more…]

Friendship Bell closed while city makes repairs

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Friendship Bell Repairs

A symbol of the friendship between Oak Ridge and Japan, the 20-year-old Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park is closed while the city make repairs to the structure holding up the bell.

A 20-year-old symbol of the friendship between Oak Ridge and Japan is closed while the city makes structural repairs.

The Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park was designed in Oak Ridge and cast in Japan in 1993. It’s mounted inside a wooden pavilion at the park in central Oak Ridge, but there is some rot in the wooden columns holding up the bell, said Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Parks Division supervisor. A structural engineer and an architect are evaluating the pavilion’s condition, and the city is waiting for their report.

Oak Ridge and Japan have a history dating back 70 years, when Manhattan Project production sites in the Secret City enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in war. That bomb, code-named “Little Boy,” was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, three days before a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and just days before World War II ended. [Read more…]

Free screening of ‘Chasing Ice,’ global warming discussion on Wednesday

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Chasing Ice

Volunteers will show an award-winning movie on global warming and its effects on the world’s glaciers in Oak Ridge on Wednesday evening.

The movie “Chasing Ice” was filmed by Jeff Balog, a photojournalist working for National Geographic, a press release said. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

Balog filmed the movie in the “stunningly beautiful and dangerously challenging Artic landscape, in search of the truth about global warming and its effects on the world’s glaciers,” the press release said. Released in 2012, “Chasing Ice” received the Excellence in Cinematography Award from the Sundance Film Festival.

“Ninety seven percent of scientists agree that manmade climate change is real, and is happening now,” the release said. “A majority of Americans accept the science of climate change, but many do not fully understand its impacts. Jeff Balog himself was once a skeptic, until he saw firsthand how the warming planet is losing ice, even in the planet’s most brutally cold lands.” [Read more…]

County, school officials start campaign to protect children from online predators

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Officials in Anderson County and at local schools have announced an educational campaign designed to protect children from online sexual predators.

Among the concerns are sexting, or the exchange of explicit photos, usually using smart phones, District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release.

Clark is working with Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and the Anderson County, Clinton, and Oak Ridge school systems. He said a letter is being sent out to the parents of every child in grades five through 10 in those three systems.

“We want to make parents aware of the dangers posed by online predators and provide them with some strategies to help keep their families safe,” Clark said. [Read more…]

Federal safety board to discuss Y-12 nuclear safety

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

A federal board meeting on nuclear safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been rescheduled for Dec. 10.

A federal board meeting on nuclear safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been rescheduled for Dec. 10.

The day-long public meeting and hearing of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board had originally been scheduled for Oct. 22. But it was postponed because of the partial federal government shutdown that started Oct. 1 and ended Oct. 17.

The board will still meet at the Knoxville Convention Center, and the meeting will still include two sessions. The first is from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, and the second is from 2 to 6 p.m. [Read more…]

Secret City Half Marathon this weekend features 5k, 10k races; health, fitness expo

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Secret City Half Marathon Course Map

The Secret City Half Marathon course map is pictured above.

The Secret City Half Marathon this weekend will feature 5k and 10k races, and a new health and fitness expo.

The first-ever Secret City 5k and 10k races start at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The inaugural Health and Fitness Expo is scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, also at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The event will include booths and exhibits from fitness and health professionals around the region.

“The Secret City Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo provides the perfect setting to promote Oak Ridge as a top-notch visitor destination,” said Katy Brown, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Around 600 runners from around the Southeast have registered to participate in the Half Marathon, and we hope every one of them will check in at the Health and Fitness Expo.” [Read more…]