Oak Ridge Today

City: Higher energy bills on the way again due to cold weather

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Electric power bills for residents across the region for energy used in December were much higher than normal as a result of the extreme winter temperatures experienced in the area, officials said Monday.

“Judging from the local weather patterns, customers will continue to see significant increases in their utility bills for energy used in January,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

“We frequently receive calls from customers who say they have not changed the temperature on their thermostat, but their bill has increased,” said Marlene Bannon, manager of the Oak Ridge Utility Business Office. “Although you may keep the thermostat temperature consistent, your HVAC unit has to work harder to heat the air when temperatures drop, therefore using more power.”

The “degree-days of heating” is used as a measure for how hard your unit has to work to keep your home at a set temperature. In Oak Ridge during December 2017, there were 591 degree days of heating—almost twice the number from November, the press release said. [Read more…]

Clinton Library has new Chess Club, Teen Book Club

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Clinton Public Library

Clinton Public Library

 

There is a new Chess Club at the Clinton Public Library and the first Teen Book Club.

In a press release, the library said it is offering more new programs and welcoming a new staff member.

The Chess Club met Saturday, February 3, and will meet again on Saturday, February 17, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“Join us to learn chess or brush up on your skills,” a press release said. “This club is for all ages from pros to beginners.”

Chess Club will take place every first and third Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge city manager to discuss issues facing the city on Tuesday

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

 

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson will give his perspective on issues facing the city at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, February 6. The program will be held at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

In August 2010, Watson was selected as the city manager of Oak Ridge after a 30-year career in local government, a press release said. Prior to coming to Oak Ridge, he served as city manager of six cities in Texas, Montana, and Arizona. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration.

Watson is a credentialed public manager as accepted by the International City/County Management Association, where he previously served as vice president, the press release said. He has received numerous awards and has issued numerous publications, the most noted being the “Cities that Think” program, the release said. [Read more…]

Friends of Oak Ridge Library has book sale through Sunday

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Friends of the Oak Ridge Library (FOL) is having its Winter 2018 Book Sale from Thursday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, in the Oak Ridge Public Library Auditorium. (Submitted photo)

Friends of the Oak Ridge Library (FOL) is having its Winter 2018 Book Sale from Thursday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, in the Oak Ridge Public Library Auditorium. (Submitted photo)

 

Friends of the Oak Ridge Library is having its Winter 2018 Book Sale from Thursday, February 1, to Sunday, February 4, in the Oak Ridge Public Library Auditorium.

The sale includes fiction and nonfiction books, magazines, audiovisual materials, and other publications covering almost every subject. Most titles are 50 cents or $1 each, a press release said. Titles withdrawn from the Library are half-price Thursday through Saturday.

There was a Thursday evening preview sale for members, and memberships were available at the door ($5/individual; $10 family). (Please contact Friends of the Library for more information about memberships.)

The Silent Auction began on Thursday evening, and it ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Friends of the Oak Ridge Library can now accept Visa and MasterCard during its sales, the press release said.

The sale opens to the general public on Friday, February 2, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday’s sale (February 3) is from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with all non-auction titles selling for half price. Sunday (February 4) is the Buy-A-Bag-of-Books sale from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. with each bag (provided by Friends of the Oak Ridge Library) costing $3. [Read more…]

Rep. Fleischmann says he’s OK after train collides with truck

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Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was last updated at 1:35 p.m.

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, said he is okay after a train collided with a large truck in Virginia while carrying Republicans to a retreat on Wednesday morning.

“I was standing up when the accident happened,” Fleischmann said on Twitter. “A little bit shaken up, and praying for all of my fellow colleagues.

“I am ok, and working with doctors that have arrived.”

An Amtrak spokesman said the train hit a vehicle on the tracks at 11:20 a.m. in Crozet, Virginia, northwest of Charlottesville, according to The New York Times. There were no immediate reports of injuries to passengers, crew members, lawmakers, or their staff, but one person reportedly died in the train crash and another was seriously injured. [Read more…]

Atomic Heritage Foundation launches new audio, visual program on Oak Ridge

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Bill Wilcox 90th Birthday Party

Oak Ridge City Historian Bill Wilcox, who died in 2013, was a longtime advocate for preserving the city’s history, including parts of its federal facilities. Wilcox is pictured above at his 90th birthday party in the spring of 2013.

 

Submitted

“There was construction going on everywhere you looked,” Bill Wilcox remembered, describing his first impressions of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “Trucks and people just crawling all over the place, hammers and banging. Wooden structures going up everywhere. Nothing was paved, and there weren’t any sidewalks.”

Wilcox was one of the thousands of people who moved to the new “Secret City” of Oak Ridge to work on the Manhattan Project, the top-secret World War II effort to develop an atomic bomb.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation has launched a new online interpretive program on Oak Ridge with 16 audio/visual vignettes. This beta program is part of AHF’s “Ranger in Your Pocket” series on the Manhattan Project, which focuses on former Manhattan Project sites and features vignettes with eyewitness accounts and expert commentary. AHF welcomes feedback and will improve and expand upon the program over the next year, a press release said.

In September 1942, Manhattan Project director General Leslie Groves designated “Site X,” approximately 59,000 acres of land on the Clinch River in rural eastern Tennessee, as the site for the project’s uranium production facilities. Approximately 3,000 people living in the area in five small farming communities were forced to leave their homes and land with minimal compensation. Construction of a new city began at breakneck speed. By the end of World War II, some 75,000 people would call Oak Ridge home, making it the fifth-largest city in Tennessee. [Read more…]

Centennial Golf Course names new general manager

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Mike Callender (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Mike Callender (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge has completed its management transition at Centennial Golf Course and has announced the new general manager: Mike Callender.

Callender has 18 years of experience in the golf industry, a City of Oak Ridge press release said. He is a certified Class A PGA Professional with 10 years as a head professional and is certified in golf operations, the release said.

“I am very excited to make Centennial Golf Course the place to go in East Tennessee, not just for golf, but also for business meetings, casual outings, and eventually dining,” Callender said.

“Our goal is to establish Centennial as one of the premier public golf courses in the region, and the addition of Mike Callender to the team as general manager will help us get there,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. “With his leadership and the ongoing reinvestment by the city, we are now poised to provide a quality experience for all golfers in the greater Knoxville region.” [Read more…]

Regular operations resumed at Manhattan Project Park when shutdown ended

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National-Park-Service-Employees

National Park Service employees are pictured above at the American Museum of Science and Energy. (Submitted photo)

 

The three-day federal government shutdown ended Monday, and staff at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, resumed regular operations, officials said.

Congress passed a short-term spending bill on Monday that will fund the government through February 8, and President Donald Trump signed it Monday night.

On Tuesday, the National Park Service said employees of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park are “happy to be back at work, serving the American people and welcoming visitors to their national parks.”

The Park Service said it appreciated the support of local partners who “stepped up to offer support and continue to serve our visitors over the last few days,” and the NPS thanked the following partners: [Read more…]

Breakfast with Legislators on Monday

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League Women Voters Oak Ridge Logo

The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will have this year’s first Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, January 29. The meeting will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served.

Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about the legislative outlook for this session of the Tennessee General Assembly and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, a 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. [Read more…]

Demolition starts at Applewood Apartments

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Demolition work by Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tenn., was under way on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 25, 2018, at an Applewood Apartments building on Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Demolition work by Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tenn., was under way on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 25, 2018, at an Applewood Apartments building on Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 a.m.

After years of court cases and codes enforcement battles, demolition work has started at the Applewood Apartments in Oak Ridge.

Demolition work started Tuesday at the 13-building apartment complex on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood, just north of Oak Ridge Turnpike in central Oak Ridge. Two of the buildings had been knocked down as of Thursday afternoon.

Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tennessee, plans to demolish two buildings per week, weather permitting. It could take 2.5 months or so to complete the job. The demolition company is working for First Place Finish of Oak Ridge.

Asbestos abatement work started earlier this month at the vacant buildings. [Read more…]

Government shutdown: How it affects Manhattan Project Park

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National-Park-Service-Employees

During the federal government shutdown, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park location at the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue will remain open to the public and continue to provide visitor services, but there will be no visitor services provided by the National Park Service. (Submitted photo)

 

The federal government shut down this weekend after federal funding expired Friday, and an official outlined the impacts to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, on Sunday.

During the shutdown, there will be no visitor services provided by the National Park Service at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, including public information, said Kris Kirby, superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Denver. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Because of the federal government shutdown, National Park Service social media and websites are not being monitored or updated and may not reflect current conditions, Kirby said. All park programs have been canceled.

Kirby said national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures.

“During this time, the following locations will remain open to the public and continue to provide visitor services,” Kirby said: [Read more…]

With government shut down, Y-12 employees still working

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

With some apparent exceptions, employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge will continue working even after the federal government shut down after federal funding expired Friday.

Y-12 posted an announcement after the federal government shut down early Saturday. The announcement said workers at Y-12 and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, are expected to report to work on their next scheduled work day unless they have previously approved leave or have been given formal notice by their management to not report to work.

A few other federal organizations and federal contractors didn’t immediately appear to have posted notices as of early Saturday afternoon, about 12 hours after the shutdown began. Those include Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]