The City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee and Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated School Health are teaming up to host a Community Wellness Fair. It will be held Wednesday, May 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Admission is free, and everyone is invited, a press release said.
The Civic Center is located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Demonstrations, informational booths and health screenings will be set up inside the gymnasium. Topics to be covered include:
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Information from WYSH Radio
Meeting in a special-called session on Monday, the Anderson County Finance Committee voted to accept the resignation of Natalie Erb as the county’s finance director, effective May 23.
The Committee also voted to name Robby Holbrook, who is currently deputy finance director in charge of payroll, as the interim finance director upon Erb’s departure.
The third piece of business taken care of on Monday saw the Committee vote to authorize the Human Resources Department to begin the search for a new finance director by modifying the job description to incorporate the duties of the county purchasing agent.
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Three U.S. senators, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Maine on Thursday will announce a $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership that will help the forest products industry, officials said Wednesday.
The announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Washington, D.C. You can watch it here.
The three U.S. senators joining ORNL and the University of Maine at the announcement will be Susan Collins, a Maine Republican; Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican; and Angus King, a Maine Independent.
They will announce the launch of a large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, program. 3D printing prints items a layer at a time.
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The developer of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday said it has an “immediate opportunity” for a climate-controlled self storage facility at the 58-acre site.
The self storage facility, which could be along Rutgers Avenue, could be three stories, with a maximum height of 35 feet. It could have about the same “footprint” as Dick’s Sporting Goods. It would have internal elevators and minimal parking, and it would be very attractive and have a minimal impact, said Brett Rogers, construction director for RealtyLink, the developer. There would be a sales office on the bottom floor. RealtyLink would self-develop the facility.
Rogers showed examples of two similar facilities in Knoxville and one each in Hardin Valley and Farragut during an Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission meeting on Thursday evening.
A market study showed high demand for this type of facility, Rogers said.
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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission voted 7-1 on Thursday to recommend a revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge to the Oak Ridge City Council.
Among the requested changes are building four stores along a sidewalk between PetSmart and JCPenney, removing the access road from Rutgers Avenue to the roundabout at Main Street Oak Ridge to allow those four stores to be built, removing the multi-family residential units that had been proposed in the area between Walmart and JCPenney, and including mixed-use development areas along Wilson Street as part of the third phase of the project.
Voting to recommend the revised plan were Planning Commission Chair Stephen Whitson and planning commissioners Jim Dodson, Charlie Hensley, Sharon Kohler, Claudia Lever, Roger Petrie, and Todd Wilson. Planning Commissioner Jane Shelton cast the only “no” vote.
Planning Commission approved the revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge during a roughly 1.5-hour discussion on Thursday. The meeting included discussions of sidewalks, parking lot configurations, pedestrian connections, and a possible traffic study.
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RealtyLink, the company developing Main Street Oak Ridge, is negotiating leases with three national tenants, an executive said Thursday.
Brett Rogers, RealtyLink construction director, was responding to a question from former Oak Ridge City Council member Anne B. Garcia during a Planning Commission meeting on Thursday. She wanted to know if RealtyLink has contracts to occupy the four new proposed stores, or if changes to the project plan were being proposed on speculation.
Responding to that question, Rogers said the three large national tenants are committed to be in Oak Ridge.
“We just have to get them across the finish line,” he said in a brief interview after the meeting.
[Read more…]The Tennessee Department of Health on Wednesday said that a man infected with the measles may have infected people at two convenience stores in East Tennessee, including one in Clinton.
In a press release, officials said the Department of Health is continuing to investigate a case of measles in a resident of East Tennessee and notify people who may have been exposed to the illness through contact with the patient. This investigation has identified two locations the patient visited in Tennessee where members of the public may have been exposed to measles.
People who were at either of these locations during the dates and times specified below may have been exposed to measles:
[Read more…]The four new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could create 150 jobs and generate more than $600,000 in sales and property tax revenues for Oak Ridge and Anderson County, according to calculations by the city’s economic development consultant.
The estimated new revenues could include $572,096 in sales tax revenues and $116,965 in property tax revenues for Oak Ridge and Anderson County, according to the calculations. The portion of new sales tax revenues for just Oak Ridge could total $385,158, according to the calculations.
The four new stores are part of a revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.
A new version of that plan is scheduled to be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday. The economic benefit calculations for the new stores are included in the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.
Here is the specific breakdown of the economic benefits of the four new stores, which could total 75,000 square feet, according to the calculations:
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The Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library 2019 Spring Book Sale will begin on the evening of Thursday, May 2, and end on Sunday, May 5.
Every day will have a special emphasis, a press release said. Thursday is the Members Sale, when you get to select from all of the books that will be available during the sale. Friday is Facebook Day; “like” Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library on Facebook (www.facebook.com/foloakridge) and receive a coupon for a free regular-priced item. (You can also use the discount at the Book Nooks later.)
On Saturday, all non-auction items (including the special price items) will be half price. Sunday continues to be the Buy-A-Bag-of-Books Sale, when $3 buys everything you can put in the bag we provide. Pricing for most of the titles will continue to be 50 cents or $1 each, the press release said. Withdrawn library titles will be half price Thursday through Saturday.
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The Tennessee Valley Authority is proposing changes to plans for closure of a coal ash storage area and wastewater treatment at its Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton. TVA is asking the public to comment on those revisions in a draft supplemental environmental assessment issued on April 22. That document is available at www.tva.com/nepa.
The revised draft supplemental environmental assessment will consider the potential environmental impacts of several alternatives for closure of the main ash impoundment, a press release said. The project would include turning a portion of the impoundment into a temporary process water basin during construction of a permanent basin for wastewater and storm water at the site. The current stilling pond would be closed, with ash removed to an existing onsite landfill, and turned into the permanent process water basin, the press release said.
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The opening session for Safety Fest TN this year will feature a panel on regional workforce development.
The kick-off event is from 8:30-11 a.m. Tuesday, April 30, at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex.
That opening session will include a discussion by influential educators and employers on regional workforce development challenges, a press release said. The panel will be called, “Facing Future Workforce Development Needs Today.”
“Panelists will discuss the challenges associated with attracting, hiring, and retaining the brightest and best of all skill levels to our region while exploring approaches they are implementing to meet those challenges,” the press release said.
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will host Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, April 22. The meeting will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served, a press release said.
Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about this session of the Tennessee General Assembly and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, the press release said. The public is invited to attend.
“The popular community event offers firsthand information on upcoming legislation and House and Senate committee activities, while prompting dialogue among legislators and citizens, and providing a great networking opportunity for members of the community,” the press release said.
Breakfast with the Legislators is held the fourth Monday of each month while the Tennessee General Assembly is in session.
