Oak Ridge Today

Candidate forums this week

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There are two forums this week in Oak Ridge featuring candidates in the Tennessee primary election and Anderson County and Roane County general elections in August.

The forums have been organized by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, and the public is invited.

Early voting begins in both counties on Friday, July 12.

The Anderson County forum is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 9. It will take place at the Oak Ridge Campus of Roane State Community College in Room 107 in the Goff Building.

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Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

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This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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Creswell, new Roane Co. executive, to talk to League

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Wade Creswell

Wade Creswell, who was elected Roane County executive this year, will talk to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

Creswell’s presentation is scheduled to start at noon Tuesday, November 15, in person at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Church Social Hall. It will also be available on Zoom. A link for Zoom access will be distributed later.

It’s a Lunch with the League hosted by the League of Women Voters.

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Read more about the Roane County mask order

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Roane County on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

The executive order for face coverings that was issued by Roane County Executive Ron Woody on Monday could be in effect through December 29 unless Woody and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee extend the order.

Woody announced Monday morning that he was going to invoke the authority to mandate face masks in Roane County as authorized by Lee’s order in July.

The mask mandate does not apply to:

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Roane County requires masks

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A graph shows the number of new COVID-19 cases in Roane County by month since the pandemic began in March. Note: The data for November is through Nov. 22, a partial month. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Face masks are now required in Roane County to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Roane County Executive Ron Woody announced the mask mandate on Monday morning. It is effective immediately.

“I hope this community will take this order without causing more divisions among our citizens,” Woody said. He hopes no law enforcement will be needed.

The west end of Oak Ridge is in Roane County, although most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County.

Roane County’s cases and deaths have risen during the past month, Woody said. Roane County has reported almost four times as many COVID-19 deaths so far this month, 15, than in the previous high month—four in September. The county has reported more new cases so far this month, 717, than in the previous high month—543 in October.

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Anderson, Roane report record highs in new COVID-19 cases

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Free drive-through testing for COVID-19 is pictured above on Wednesday morning, April 15, 2020 in the Oak Ridge High School parking lot. Note: Some faces have been blurred in the photo above to protect patient privacy. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m.

Anderson County reported 39 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, another record. And Roane County reported 33 new cases, also a record.

Oak Ridge is in Anderson and Roane counties. Most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County, but the west side of the city and some large federal sites are in Roane County.

Anderson County now has 374 COVID-19 cases, with 171 active cases, and Roane County has 189, with 111 active.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County has more than tripled since early July, and the number of active cases has more than quintupled. The number of hospitalizations has more than doubled this month.

The last record of new daily COVID-19 cases in Anderson County was Tuesday, when 27 new cases were reported. Before that, the previous high was 23 new cases on July 8.

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COVID-19 cases triple in county, hospitalizations double

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A graph showing total cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The number of COVID-19 cases has tripled in Anderson County since early July, and the number of hospitalizations has doubled.

Anderson County had 105 total cases of COVID-19 on July 2, when the growth in cases started to accelerate. On Tuesday, it had more than three times as many cases, 327.

The number of active cases—total cases minus recoveries and deaths—has increased even faster. The number of active cases in Anderson County on July 2 was 32. On Tuesday, the county had about five times as many active cases, 154.

The number of total cases and active cases—now 327 and 154, respectively—have both increased about 50 percent in one week.

Anderson County hospitalizations increased to 21 on Tuesday. That’s up from 10 on July 5, meaning more than half of the county’s hospitalizations have occurred in less than three weeks. Seven of the hospitalizations have been in the past week.

Anderson County has reported a third death due to COVID-19, the first since June 4. Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy executive and a founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died of COVID-19 on Friday at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

Separately, an Oak Ridge employee who worked at the Y-12 National Security Complex and lived in Maryville died of COVID-19 on Wednesday at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville.

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Roane County will not require face masks

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Ron Woody (Screenshot from video posted by Woody)

Roane County will not require face masks or face coverings, County Executive Ron Woody said Friday.

In an online video, Woody said most essential businesses are now requiring face coverings. That means a mask requirement by the county may not be necessary anymore, Woody said. Stores that require face coverings now include Kroger, Lowe’s, and Walmart.

“The decisions were made the businesses, which we think was the best decision anyway,” Woody said. It’s better than a government mandate, which no one wants, the county executive said.

“Our businesses should step up and be the responsible party, and they were,” Woody said.

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Roane County not requiring face masks, not clear if that could change

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As of Monday, Roane County had not invoked its ability to recommend or require face masks or coverings in the county, County Executive Ron Woody said in a video posted online.

On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee granted county mayors in most of the state’s counties the authority to recommend or require face masks.

In a video posted on Facebook on Monday, Woody said there are two issues that have to be resolved before Roane County considers invoking the mandate.

First, Woody said the order, Executive Order 54, hasn’t been officially published, at least not as of Monday afternoon.

Second, the county will wait for guidance from the regional health director, Woody said.

“Generally, a regional health director would make a recommendation to a county saying (there) is a health issue to invoke a mandate or some type of action,” Woody said. “The health department has made no recommendation at this time.”

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COVID-19 count up to 371 as Roane, Scott report first cases

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Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. March 22.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Tennessee increased to 371 on Saturday, up from 228 on Friday, as Roane County and Scott County reported their first cases.

That’s a 63 percent increase from Friday to Saturday. It followed a 48 percent increase from Thursday to Friday and a 57 percent increase from Wednesday to Thursday.

Anderson County reported its first case of the contagious respiratory illness on Thursday.

The list published by the Tennessee Department of Health at 2 p.m. Central time on Saturday included two cases in Scott County and one case in Roane County. No additional information was immediately available about the three cases.

Cases in Knox County and Campbell County were reported earlier.

There are now COVID-19 cases in 33 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. The largest number of cases is still in Davidson County, which includes Nashville. There are 140 cases there, or about 38 percent of the state’s total. That’s up from 101 cases on Friday.

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Guidebook highlights Oak Ridge’s natural assets

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Oak Ridge Natural Assets Guidebook
Image by Legacy Parks Foundation

A new guidebook highlights Oak Ridge’s natural assets.

The “Oak Ridge Natural Assets Guidebook” by Legacy Parks Foundation is a collaborative project created at the request of the City of Oak Ridge, Roane County, and Anderson County civic and business leaders, a press release said. It’s in response to recommendations from the Oak Ridge Blueprint Plan that urged the exploration of both recreational opportunities and enhancement of the area’s natural assets.

“The Guidebook is intended to be a living, working document that will serve as a philosophical and practical set of guidelines for how to maximize the area’s natural assets so that they provide a sustainable foundation to engage residents, promote wellness, attract tourism, and increase economic development,” said Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks Foundation.

The Guidebook identifies natural assets and related opportunities on public land in Oak Ridge, including U.S. Department of Energy land, but it does not consider future uses of that land for mission-related or growth purposes, Evans said.

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Ribbon-cutting for renovated K-25 Visitor Center & Overlook is April 25

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K25 Ribbon Cutting Invitation

A ribbon-cutting has been scheduled at the renovated K-25 Visitors Center and Overlook in west Oak Ridge on Thursday, April 25.

The ceremony has been scheduled from 4-6 p.m. April 25. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

“This project has been a labor of love between Bionomics and Roane County Visitors Bureau/The Roane Alliance, and we are excited for you to see all the changes that have already taken place,” a press release said. [Read more…]