Oak Ridge Today

Former AMSE building vandalized

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The former American Museum of Science and Energy building on South Tulane Avenue was recently vandalized, and it will cost the City of Oak Ridge several thousand dollars to re-secure the building, authorities said Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)

The former American Museum of Science and Energy building on South Tulane Avenue was recently vandalized, and it will cost the City of Oak Ridge several thousand dollars to re-secure the building, authorities said Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)

 

The former American Museum of Science and Energy building on South Tulane Avenue was recently vandalized, and it will cost the City of Oak Ridge several thousand dollars to re-secure the building, authorities said Thursday.

The vandalism was reported at about 9:19 p.m. Tuesday, when a person saw a broken window at the former AMSE, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

“When officers arrived, they discovered the interior and exterior of the vacant building, which is owned by the City of Oak Ridge government, had been damaged during a recent break-in,” the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Grace Lutheran has Advent Worship, Christmas Eve Services

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Grace Lutheran Church has mid-week Advent Worship Services and Christmas Eve Services this month.

The Advent Worship Services have been on Wednesdays, including on December 5 and 12. There is another service at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 19.

The church will also have Christmas Eve services. They will take place at 4 p.m. (Family) and 9 p.m. (Candlelight).

All services are free, a press release said.

The church presented the seasonal work of Heather Sorenson, “Little Lion, Little Lamb,” presented by Grace Lutheran Church’s Chancel Choir on Sunday, December 16, under the direction of Slade Trammell. Sorenson is a Dallas-based composer and highly accomplished pianist whose talents are heard in worship settings around the world, the press release said. [Read more…]

Holiday Concert at ORHS on Thursday

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On Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, the Oak Ridge High School Choral Department will present its Holiday Concert. (Submitted photo)

On Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, the Oak Ridge High School Choral Department will present its Holiday Concert. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge High School Choral Department will present its Holiday Concert on Thursday.

“Please come and celebrate the season with these very talented students,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Service of Memory & Hope on Tuesday at First Presbyterian

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Sharon Youngs

Sharon Youngs

 

This time of year is filled with twinkling lights, special music, and lots of eggnog. But some folks experience the holiday season as difficult for several reasons.

Sometimes called a “blue Christmas” gathering, First Presbyterian Church will hold a Service of Memory and Hope on Tuesday, December 18, at 6:30 p.m., in the sanctuary.

“Although the service is designed for those facing a holiday season that is not so merry and bright, everyone desiring a quiet, reflective worship experience will find it in this simple candlelight service,” said Sharon Youngs, church pastor. “It is a way to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, to gather strength for present challenges and to simply be still in the midst of a bustling, frantic season.”

This press release was submitted by Carolyn Krause.

Planning Commission to consider apartments at former AMSE site

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will consider a rezoning and planned unit development on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will consider a rezoning and planned unit development on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.

 

Oak Ridge officials will consider a proposal on Thursday that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.

Oak Ridge Today reported in November that the apartment complex could include 217 units in seven three-story buildings on the northern side of the former AMSE site. They would be built on about 10 acres where the former museum building and its big parking lot are now, just south of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building.

AMSE has moved across the street to Main Street Oak Ridge, the roughly 58-acre redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The rezoning and planned unit development, or PUD, have been requested by TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC and Mainstreet Capital Partners LLC. A total of roughly 11 acres would be included in the rezoning, including about 10 acres for the PUD. [Read more…]

Main Street developer asks for changes to plan recommendations

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Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

 

The developer of Main Street Oak Ridge has asked for changes or the removal of some conditions recommended by city officials as they consider possible changes to the master plan for the 58-acre project.

The developer, TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC, said last week that it will not be able to comply with a request from the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission to include a significant central gathering space as part of Phase III. It has asked to remove language calling for a commitment to create a mixed-use center along Wilson Street. It also wants to remove language calling for significant multi-family residential units as part of the potential mixed-use center along Wilson Street.

TN Oak Ridge Rutgers, which is affiliated with RealtyLink of Greenville, South Carolina, was responding to 10 conditions recommended by the Planning Commission when it approved a revised master plan in a split 5-4 vote during a special meeting on Wednesday, December 5.

What happens next will be up to Oak Ridge City Council, which will consider the proposed revisions during a special meeting Tuesday evening.

One revision that initially caused concern appears to have been accepted, at least so far. That’s the closure of the access road from Rutgers Avenue to the roundabout at Main Street Oak Ridge. That access road would be removed to allow four new stores to be built between PetSmart, a new store, and JCPenney, an anchor store remaining from the former Oak Ridge Mall. The conditions recommended by Planning Commission did not mention the access road. It’s not clear what Council’s position will be. [Read more…]

New class of Y-12 employees being evaluated for worker compensation program

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Y-12 Aerial Photo June 2012

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

A new class of employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex is being evaluated for possible inclusion in a worker compensation program that involves certain illnesses and work at sites affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The class of employees being evaluated now would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, through December 31, 1976, and they would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday. The class could change, however, based upon the evaluation.

The decision to evaluate the petition for the Y-12 employees was announced by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It’s not clear when the petition was filed, who filed it, or how long the evaluation might take. Oak Ridge Today has requested more information from the CDC. [Read more…]

Crews finish preparing site for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

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Site preparation crews constructed two secant pile retaining walls to retain soils, control water seepage, and provide a deep, secure foundation for the water intake structure at the new Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo via DOE's EM Update on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018)

Site preparation crews constructed two secant pile retaining walls to retain soils, control water seepage, and provide a deep, secure foundation for the water intake structure at the new Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo via DOE’s EM Update on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it has completed the site preparations for the construction of the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will allow DOE to clean up and demolish several large Y-12 buildings that used mercury to separate lithium for use in nuclear weapons during the Cold War (in the 1950s and 1960s). It’s part of a large-scale cleanup and demolition project at Y-12 and an effort to reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, which flows through Oak Ridge.

DOE announced on Tuesday, December 4, that it had awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12. The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC.

DOE said early site preparation activities were started by other contractors in December 2017. A groundbreaking was held at the site in November 2017, and UCOR, DOE’s lead cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, began work at the treatment facility site with a subcontractor after the groundbreaking, the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management said in a story published Tuesday in an EM Update.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will have two components: a headworks facility and a treatment plant connected by a pipeline. The headworks facility will capture creek flow on the west end of Y-12, store excess stormwater collected during large rainfalls, remove grit, and pump water through the pipeline to the treatment plant on the east side of Y-12. The treated water will then flow into East Fork Poplar Creek. [Read more…]

Roane State campuses will be closed Dec. 18-Jan.1 for holidays

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Roane State Community College campuses will be closed Tuesday, December 18 through Tuesday, January 1 for the holidays.

The college will reopen Wednesday, January 2, and spring classes will begin on Monday, January 14.

Registration and other self-service options are available through the Roane State website at www.roanestate.edu.

For more information, visit www.roanestate.edu or call 1-866-GO2-RSCC (1-866-462-7722).

Earthquake in East Tennessee felt in Oak Ridge

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A U.S. Geological Survey Community Internet Intensity Map after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur, Tenn., on early Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey)

A U.S. Geological Survey Community Internet Intensity Map after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur, Tenn., early Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

The earthquake near Decatur early Wednesday morning was felt in Oak Ridge, according to social media reports. Oak Ridge Today readers reported feeling the earthquake in other communities such as Clinton, Hardin Valley, Harriman, Oliver Springs, Sevier County, and Atlanta.

The 4.4 magnitude earthquake was also felt in other areas across the Southeast, including in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Some people in the region described it as like a train or truck driving by, and they said homes shook, and doors and windows rattled. Some said it woke them up, and others said they didn’t feel it. (Oak Ridge Today did not feel it.)

The earthquake was reported about nine kilometers underground at 4:14 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was 11 kilometers north-northeast of Decatur. Oak Ridge is about 45 miles northeast of Decatur.

It was reported to be the largest in Tennessee since a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in Maryville in 1973 and the second strongest on record in East Tennessee. The Maryville earthquake 45 years ago was the strongest in East Tennessee. [Read more…]

Council gives final approval to new housing development in east Oak Ridge

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Oak Ridge officials approved a plan in November 2018 that would allow a new residential development on more than 100 acres off Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge. This is the view looking toward the part of the development that would be called Harbour Pointe A and Harbour Pointe B on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge officials approved a plan in November and December 2018 that will allow a new residential development on more than 100 acres off Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge. This is the view looking toward the part of the development that will be called Harbour Pointe A and Harbour Pointe B on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

In its second and final vote, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved a plan that will allow a new residential development on more than 100 acres off Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge.

It’s a significant change to what had originally been expected on the property in a master plan adopted in 2009. That was for a planned unit development called Centennial Village.

The new development, which required changes to the Centennial Village master plan, will be called Harbour Pointe. It could include 310 lots on 117 acres. Of the lots, 186 could be single-family and 124 could be multi-family.

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission unanimously approved re-zonings and a preliminary master plan for Harbour Pointe, subject to certain conditions, during a special meeting on Monday, November 5. The Oak Ridge City Council then unanimously approved them, with the Planning Commission conditions included, on Monday, November 12. [Read more…]

Tractor-trailer overturns with 6,500 chickens

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A truck carrying about 6,500 chickens overturned on South Illinois Avenue at Bethel Valley Road on Monday night, Dec. 10, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A truck carrying about 6,500 chickens overturned on South Illinois Avenue at Bethel Valley Road on Monday night, Dec. 10, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A tractor-trailer carrying about 6,500 chickens overturned on South Illinois Avenue on Monday night, authorities said.

Several of the holding pens broke free from the truck, and an unknown number of chickens were lost, the Oak Ridge Police Department said in a statement.

The crash was reported at about 8:25 p.m. Monday at Bethel Valley Road in the lanes headed toward Knox County. The semi truck veered off the right side of the roadway and flipped, the ORPD said. [Read more…]