The Oak Ridge Playhouse will have a Maskapalooza! fundraiser on Saturday, March 9.
It’s a fan favorite, a press release said.
“Dress to impress, don a creative mask, sample delectable heavy hors d’oeuvres, take home unique auction items, and dance the night away to the tunes of DJ Luther Simmons,” the press release said.
The party starts at 6 p.m. March 9 in Calhoun’s Banquet Hall in Oak Ridge.
[Read more…]
The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have a Third Saturday hike on Saturday, February 17.
The free, guided mid-winter hike is open to everyone. It will start at 9 a.m. February 17 at the 260-acre UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.
“Enjoy the forests and trails in this lovely, wooded setting,” a press release said. “Newcomers as well as previous participants are invited to join the hike. The hikes have been a staple of the UT Arboretum and UT Arboretum Society for over 15 years. This is a great opportunity to ‘walk off’ the holiday celebrations and get outside for some fresh air and exercise.”
[Read more…]
The fire on Friday at C&D Tire is under investigation.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived at the fire within two minutes after receiving the report of the fire, according to City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Lauren Gray.
The fire was reported at 6:27 p.m. Friday. It was under control in less than 10 minutes and extinguished in less than 15 minutes, Gray said.
On Sunday, the garage doors at the shop, a popular place to buy tires in Oak Ridge, were boarded up with yellow fire line tape strung across the doors.
[Read more…]
Yes! Go Travel, a company that specializes in motorcoach and cruise travel planning for large groups, has been named the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for January 2024. (Submitted photo)
Yes! Go Travel, a company that specializes in motorcoach and cruise travel planning for large groups, has been named the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for January 2024.
“With a leap of faith and love for travel, Suzie Housley opened Yes! Go Travel in August 2022,” a press release said. “They offer group travel opportunities, including one-day and multiple-day trips in the United States and international locations. Additionally, the company can assist in booking affordable motorcoach and cruise line transportation. The owner has even recently joined the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) to become further educated for her clients, reach new vendors, and ultimately expand her business.”
The press release said Housley has 14 years of travel industry experience as a travel director of a now-disbanded program. [Read more…]
A fire was reported at C&D Tire in Oak Ridge on Friday.
The fire was reported just before 6:30 p.m. Friday, City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Lauren Gray said.
“Crews have the fire under control,” Gray said at about 7:19 p.m. “Black smoke is visible in the area. ORFD (Oak Ridge Fire Department) is still on scene.”
No injuries have been reported.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
A historical walk through Jackson Square with the Manhattan Project National Historical Park has been rescheduled to February 10 due to the winter weather in January.
The walk with the National Park Service is titled “Building America’s Secret City: Ranger Walk Through Jackson Square.” It is now scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, February 10.
“Explore what it took to shape the farms and mud of East Tennessee into the Atomic City,” an event notice said.
[Read more…]Lunch with the League on Tuesday will feature candidates for Anderson County chancellor.
It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Anderson County will have its primary election on March 5. The four candidates for chancellor in the Republican primary will be James W. Brooks Jr. (the incumbent), Daniel Forrester, Evan Hauser, and Roger Miller, a press release said.
Brooks was appointed chancellor in April 2023 by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee after former Chancery Court Judge M. Nichole “Nicki” Cantrell resigned.
[Read more…]
Employees of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory donated more than $828,000 to local nonprofits through the lab’s employee giving programs in 2023, a press release said.
ORNL’s managing contractor, UT-Battelle, provided an additional $139,600 in support of employee efforts, bringing the total to more than $967,000.
In addition, ORNL employees recorded more than 1,497 volunteer hours while serving 56 nonprofits, the press release said. With the value of these volunteer hours estimated at $36,232, total employee-led contributions for 2023 were valued at more than $1 million.
[Read more…]
Workers have finished major pre-demolition work on a wartime building at Y-12 National Security Complex.
The deactivation work at the Beta-1 building included removing asbestos; old, brittle thorium-contaminated piping; and more than two million gallons of water.
The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have been working toward the deactivation milestone since 2020, a press release said. Workers finished deactivating the above-ground floors of the Beta-1 facility in December. Now, only deactivation work in the basement remains before the teardown can begin. Demolition of Beta-1 is expected to begin in 2026.
Beta-1 was built in 1944 to enrich uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That federal project built the world’s first atomic bombs. Beta-1, a 210,000-square-foot, two-story building, was later converted to laboratory space for fusion-energy technology.
[Read more…]
Oak Ridge Schools will be closed again on Monday due to unsafe road conditions, and City of Oak Ridge offices will open three hours late.
The schools were closed four days after the holiday last week due to the winter weather, as were many other schools, offices, and businesses. Some roads were also briefly closed. The winter weather has included more than eight inches of snow, freezing temperatures, below-zero wind chills, and slippery roads and sidewalks.
On Sunday, the Oak Ridge Police Department and City of Oak Ridge said many roadways were still very icy despite being treated and plowed.
“Conditions are expected to worsen once the sun goes down,” they said. “Stay home, if possible.”
The schools said temperatures are projected to warm on Monday.
[Read more…]
Cold temperatures and wind chills below zero are expected Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The NWS issued a wind chill advisory starting 11 p.m. Friday and continuing through noon Saturday.
Temperatures were forecast to continue to fall quickly with most places in the single digits by Saturday morning.
“Below 0 wind chills are also expected late tonight (Friday night) through Saturday with most places barely reaching 20 degrees on Saturday,” the NWS said. “Temperatures Saturday night will fall to near or even below 0 in most places. A warming trend will follow into next week.”
[Read more…]
Freezing rain Thursday night affected roads in the region, and crashes, road closures, and icy roads were reported.
The Oak Ridge Police Department said the rain had turned most roads to ice.
“We advise that you do not travel as conditions may worsen throughout the night,” the ORPD said about 10 p.m. Thursday.
Friday morning, the department said police officers had responded to several weather-related crashes.
“The roads have had minor improvements,” the ORPD said. “However, there are still a large amount of troubled areas.”
[Read more…]