The Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board on Monday will have a hearing for an Oak Ridge restaurant and bar that reportedly sold beer to a minor in March.
The board agreed last month to have the show cause hearing for Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill during a meeting that starts at noon Monday. [Read more…]
An apartment manager who saw her son struck by a car at an Oak Ridge apartment complex in June has filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the driver and the driver’s husband.
Kimberly Roark filed the complaint on behalf of her and her son in Anderson County Circuit Court on July 19. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
A local attorney who practices primarily in Anderson County Juvenile Court has organized a stuffed animal drive to help calm the fears and anxiety of children who have to testify in court.
Rebecca Franklin is celebrating her birthday this year by spearheading a drive to collect new stuffed animals that will be placed in a toy box that was custom-built by her husband and will find a permanent home in the juvenile courtroom where children must speak to the judge. Franklin said she has seen a similar program work in Knox County and the stuffed animals helps children feel more comfortable and open up about the issues that have brought them to the courtroom. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge officials have asked Anderson County to consider donating up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road for a sewer system holding tank.
Oak Ridge officials have asked Anderson County to consider donating up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road for a sewer system holding tank east of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Oak Ridge to stop all sewer system overflows by 2015, and studies have shown that several holding tanks are required at critical locations “to equalize and detain excess flow during heavy rain events,” Public Works Director Gary Cinder said in a July 26 memo. One equalization tank would be required near the county-owned Daniel Arthur Center, which is used by satellite county offices, the Oak Ridge Senior Center, and the Emory Valley Center.
The Anderson County Operations Committee will consider the request during a Monday evening meeting. [Read more…]
A city board has declared Price Florist on Oak Ridge Turnpike a nuisance and unfit for human occupation and use, and members have given the property owner another 30 days to develop a repair plan, get a demolition permit, or reach an agreement to sell it.
The owner of the Price Florist property on Oak Ridge Turnpike has already been given two 30-day extensions to make repairs, demolish the building, or sell it.
On Thursday, the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals gave property owner Patricia Warren of Crossville one last extension.
“There’s no more 30 days,†board member Joe Lee said. “We’ve burned them up.†[Read more…]
The last of more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste at the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge was scheduled to be shipped out at the end of June.
The board of directors of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee honored Roger Fenner, consultant to the director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and Judy Hardt, senior project manager for Science Applications International Corp., for their leadership and success in closing out some 1.2 million pounds of radioactive waste left after Impact Services LLC declared bankruptcy in May 2012, a press release said.
Fenner and Hardt led the team of professionals that successfully closed out a performance bond required by TDEC as part of a state radiological materials license held by Impact Services, a lessee of CROET at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site), at the time of bankruptcy. TDEC contracted SAIC to return to the waste generators and clean up the waste, the press release said. [Read more…]
James T. Akagi
School safety has been a high-priority issue for many people across the country since the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut in December.
It’s been an issue in Oak Ridge as well, with proposals to increase the number of school resource officers, or SROs, and a vigorous debate in July that was sparked by a controversial guest column written by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn.
On Thursday, Oak Ridge municipal and education officials announced a cooperative effort to govern the city’s SRO program. They said an agreement has been reached between city officials and school officials on a memorandum of understanding, or MOU.
The former Super 8 motel that is expected to be demolished to make way for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.
Blasting at the construction site for the Kroger Marketplace shopping center will begin next week, Oak Ridge officials announced Thursday.
“All blasting will happen at 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” a city press release said. “Depending on the location of the blast, there may be temporary road closures in the area.”
The release said a blast survey was performed. “No collateral damage has been predicted,” it said. “The explosions may be heard and felt. During the blasts, it is not necessary to contact emergency dispatch services, unless an emergency has occurred. The City of Oak Ridge Fire and Police will be present for the blasting.” [Read more…]
Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (Photo courtesy of NNSA/B&W Y-12)
Workers have repaired a roll-up door that failed to close when a fire alarm system was activated at a high-security uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in May.
“The fire alarms were activated due to smoke from a belt of a fan with a failed bearing, but there was no fire,†the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a May 24 report. “The signal to the door closure device should cause a cable to release, allowing the door to close, but this did not occur because permanent deformation (kinks) in the cable caused it to knot when tension was released.” [Read more…]
Pictured above is one of three conceptual drawings for the project to revitalize Jackson Square, the city’s original town center. The drawings will be on display during an open house at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce this evening. (Submitted image)
During a meeting this evening, residents will be able to view and comment on three conceptual drawings for the project to revitalize Jackson Square, the city’s original town center.
The open house meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
The Community Development staff will record public comments and provide feedback to project team members Hedstrom Design LLC, Landscape Architects, and Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineers Inc. The design will be finalized, and construction is anticipated to begin in January 2014. [Read more…]
Ken Mossman
KNOXVILLE—President Barack Obama recently nominated University of Tennessee alumnus Kenneth L. Mossman to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Now a professor of health physics at Arizona State University, Mossman is an expert in radiation health and safety. He received his master’s degree in 1970 and doctorate in 1973, both in radiation biology, from UT and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Arts and Sciences. He established the Ken and Blair Mossman Professorship in Biomedicine, currently held by Associate Dean and Professor Cynthia Peterson.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is a five-member executive branch agency with safety oversight of all U.S. nuclear weapons facilities. Its mission is to identify potential threats to public health and safety at the U.S. Department of Energy’s defense nuclear facilities and to make safety recommendations to the secretary of energy and to the president. Among other things, the DNFSB issues weekly reports on Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]
Taylor Atchley
On Aug. 22, from 6 to 7 p.m., the United States Peace Corps will be interviewing Knoxville-area residents who would be interested in using their education, work, and volunteer experience to help those who live in developing countries.
The organization needs 1,000 new volunteers to replace current volunteers who are completing their two-year commitment.
The agency’s Southeast Regional Recruitment Office will be visiting Knoxville to answer questions about the opportunities it has for citizens of all ages and backgrounds. [Read more…]
