Oak Ridge Today

Blasting on hold at Kroger Marketplace construction site

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Kroger Marketplace Site Work

Blasting at the Kroger Marketplace construction site in central Oak Ridge is on hold for now. A Kroger spokesman has said there is some rock on the 25-acre site, but blasting will be the company’s last option.

The contractors for the Kroger Marketplace shopping center have notified Oak Ridge officials that blasting at the 25-acre site may not be required for now.

“The City of Oak Ridge will notify affected businesses and citizens when, and if, blasting is required,” a Friday morning press release said.

Oak Ridge had previously announced that a blast survey was performed, and no “collateral damage had been predicted,” the release said. [Read more…]

Roane State to offer extended business hours starting Saturday

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Starting Saturday, Roane State Community College campuses will offer extended business hours to help students get ready for the fall semester.

Extended hours for the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses will be: [Read more…]

Patterson named executive director of CONTACT Care Line

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Deborah Patterson

Deborah Patterson

CONTACT Care Line, a crisis line that has provided a listening ear to East Tennesseans for 40 years, has named Deborah Patterson as its new executive director, a press release said.

Patterson is a University of Tennessee alumna with experience in a variety of social service settings and a master’s degree in business administration. She takes the reins at CONTACT as the Oak Ridge-based organization works to build a Knoxville presence and expand services to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12, ATLC continue tradition, donate $15,000 to March of Dimes

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B&W Y-12 and ATLC Donate to March of Dimes

B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer, left, March of Dimes Executive Director Susan Racek, and Atomic Trades and Labor Council President Steve Jones with a $15,000 donation to help improve the health of all babies. (Submitted photos)

Submitted

B&W Y-12 and Atomic Trades and Labor Council marked the 15th year of the Y-12 National Security Complex’s support of The March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter with a $15,000 donation to advance maternal and infant health in the East Tennessee Community.

“B&W Y-12 and the ATLC have been incredible supporters of our work to help fund research and projects in East Tennessee communities,” said Susie Racek, executive director for March of Dimes East Tennessee Divisions. “They have been instrumental in supporting projects in the local hospital NICUs (neonatal intensive care units) and, in particular, funding and helping create the ‘Butterfly Room’ in East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, where families of premature babies who will not be going home can privately spend their last moments with the child.” [Read more…]

ORNL superconducting wire yields unprecedented performance

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The ability to control nanoscale imperfections in superconducting wires results in materials with unparalleled and customized performance, according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Applications for superconducting wires, which carry electricity without resistance when cooled to a critical temperature, include underground transmission cables, transformers, and large-scale motors and generators. But these applications require wires to operate under different temperature and magnetic field regimes. [Read more…]

Man found with gunshot wounds in Ridgeview parking lot taken to hospital but dies

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Emergency workers were unable to save a man found with two apparent gunshot wounds in his chest on Tuesday in the rear parking lot of a mental health center in Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Police Department has not released the man’s name or age, and a report said the shooting remains under investigation. [Read more…]

Anderson County fire probed as arson

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Information from WYSH Radio

A fire that destroyed a vacant home on Back Vowell Road early Wednesday morning is being investigated as arson.

The fire was reported at around 4:15 a.m. Wednesday and extinguished by the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department. A neighbor told an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy the house had been foreclosed upon and had been vacant for about two years. Investigators reported that the house had an electric meter, but that the fire started at the other end of the building. The cause of Wednesday’s fire is under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Organizers forming ‘human chain’ to move Briceville Library books Aug. 24

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Briceville Library Construction

Construction work at the new Briceville Public Library in July. (Photo courtesy Coal Creek Watershed Foundation)

After years of work, it’s almost moving day at the new Briceville Public Library.

Supporters are looking for about 150-175 people to form a “human chain” at 10 a.m. Aug. 24 to move about 1,100 books from the old library to the new one. The library is now housed in a 20-foot by 22-foot room at the Briceville Friendship Center. It will move into a new 2,000-square-foot building at 111 Slate Stone Road, next to Briceville School.

[Read more…]

Youth Board starts 22nd year; welcomes new members, officers

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Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board 2013-2014

The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board for 2013-2014 is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board recently started its 22nd year with new members, the first meeting of the 2013-2014 term, and officer elections.

YAB member Kelsey Warmbrod, an Oak Ridge High School senior serving in her fifth term of office, was elected chairwoman, a press release said. In other elections, fourth-year member Shane Harris was elected vice chair, senior Abby Douglas was elected secretary, and Peter Magill was elected treasurer. [Read more…]

Lake City picked for PlanET demonstration project

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Information from WYSH Radio

It has already been a banner week for Lake City.

On Monday, the Anderson County Commission’s Operations Committee voted to recommend purchasing the old Bank of America building in Lake City for $100,000 using part of the proceeds of the pending sale of county-owned land to the Hollingsworth Company for $303,000. The remaining $203,000 would be used as seed money for the start-up Anderson County Economic Development Fund. Supporters of the bank building purchase foresee using it as the new home of Coal Miners’ Museum as well as for storage and use as a satellite office for some county government entities.

Now, PlanET, a regional partnership of East Tennessee communities in Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, and Union counties, has selected Lake City as one of its so-called Demonstration Project sites. The program will be funded through the Plan East Tennessee Grant and leverage in-kind services from the East Tennessee Community Design Center, or ETCDC, and the University of Tennessee School of Agriculture. [Read more…]

Follow-up: CPD seeks suspects in July theft

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Information from WYSH Radio

As reported last month, on Friday, July 5, a man and woman posing as contractors for the Clinton Utilities Board entered an elderly Clinton woman’s residence. While the female suspect distracted the victim by talking to her in the kitchen, it is believed that the male suspect entered the victim’s room, where several items were stolen.

A similar incident occurred in unincorporated Anderson County around the same time. [Read more…]

Pictures: Land being cleared quickly, hotels demolished at Kroger Marketplace site

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Kroger Marketplace Land Clearing

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing and cleaning up hotels and homes, remove trees, and clear land at the 25-acre site of a Kroger Marketplace shopping center northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The former Robin Lane is in the center of the picture.

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing hotels and homes, clean up debris, remove trees, and clear land for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Building construction could start in early October, and there could be some blasting at the 25-acre site starting at 2 p.m. Friday.

The $30 million shopping center will be named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott, and it is scheduled to open in August 2014. [Read more…]