Oak Ridge Today

Flashing pedestrian signs could be installed at three crosswalks on Melton Lake Drive

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Melton Lake Drive Pedestrian Warning Signs

New solar-powered pedestrian warning signs could be installed at three crosswalks on Melton Lake Drive under a contract to be considered by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday. (Submitted photo)

Solar-powered pedestrian warning signs and new pavement markings could be installed at three crosswalks on Melton Lake Drive.

The crosswalk improvements are proposed at Amanda Drive, Emory Valley Road, and Rivers Run. They will be considered by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday night.

The Oak Ridge city staff has recommended awarding a roughly $38,000 contract to First Place Finish of Oak Ridge for the crosswalk work, which could start in April and be completed in four to six weeks. The bid was the lowest of four received, City Engineer Steven R. Byrd said in a memo to City Manager Mark S. Watson.

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Anderson not included in latest judicial redistricting, but legislative session not over

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The most recent proposal to redraw judicial districts in Tennessee did not include Anderson County, but the battle isn’t over yet, an official said Wednesday.

Roane County also would not be affected under the proposal, announced Monday by Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican. The proposal could affect 22 of the state’s 95 counties, said Dave Clark, Anderson County district attorney general.

Still, there is a month or more left in the legislative session in the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville, and the proposals—there are more than a dozen—are subject to amendment, Clark said during a Wednesday morning presentation to the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club.

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After large disturbance, ORPD warns restaurant to avoid over-serving alcohol

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One month after a large reported disturbance, the city’s deputy police chief told the owners of a popular restaurant and bar in central Oak Ridge that they need to monitor customers who are drinking and not serve people who have consumed too much alcohol.

The warning to the owners of Lincoln’s Sports Grille came during a Monday meeting of the Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board.

That board had called a show cause hearing for Lincoln’s, which is on South Illinois Avenue, after a Feb. 10 fight that reportedly started as an argument between two men over a woman and escalated into a large disturbance that required an entire shift of police officers to respond.

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Teens raise money for Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge

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Bowl-a-Thon for Free Medical Clinic

Teens dressed in costumes at the Bowl-a-Thon are, front, Delaney Adler, Lloyd Adler-Lombardi, Lois Johnson, Cora Lay, Sojia Ma, and Aaron Chason; and back, Ryan Mihealsick, Adam Bejnod, and Ross Landenberger. (Submitted photo)

The lights went out, the pins lit up, lasers beamed around the room, and the music started. It was Cosmic Bowling, one of most innovative ways to have fun in the entertainment galaxy. That was the atmosphere on a recent Wednesday afternoon at the Oak Ridge Bowling Center, where about 30 teens held a Bowl-a-Thon to raise money for the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge Bowling Center owner Len Hart provided the use of the facility, the games, and shoes without cost for the fundraiser.

“I think it’s great that the kids organized this event to raise money for FMCOR,” Hart said. “I’ve been here all my life, I know the need and think that the community needs to be more involved in supporting what they do to help people.”

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Community health check screening held at Methodist Medical Center

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Covenant Health is offering a community program on Tuesday with free screenings and reduced-cost blood work, a press release said.

The health check will be from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Ridge Conference Room at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

Free screenings will include blood pressure, body composition and body mass index, heart rhythm, carotid artery ultrasound, and vision.

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Police: KKK-related fliers found in west Oak Ridge

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Fliers with a letterhead from the United Klans of America were left in driveways in a small west Oak Ridge neighborhood this week in zip-locked baggies anchored with rocks, authorities said.

“You can sleep well tonight knowing the UKA is awake,” said the fliers, which announced a neighborhood watch and provided a phone number and website address. The website consists of white supremacist propaganda related to the Ku Klux Klan, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Garrett L. Robbins wrote in a report Wednesday morning.

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Manhattan Project national park bill also reintroduced in U.S. House

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site has previously been identified for possible inclusion in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

A bill to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced on Friday in the U.S. House by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican;  Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican; and Rep. Ben Luján, a New Mexico Democrat.

The legislation—H.R. 1208—would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include facilities in Oak Ridge; Hanford, Wash.; and Los Alamos, N.M.

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Firefighters put out two-acre grass, brush blaze on Pine Ridge

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Summit Place Grass Fire

Oak Ridge firefighters respond to a grass and brush fire that grew to more than two acres on a vacant lot on top of Pine Ridge on Thursday afternoon. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A brush and grass fire on Pine Ridge in south Oak Ridge grew to more than two acres on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department was able to use tank water and a fire hydrant to battle the blaze, which was reported in a vacant lot off Summit Drive at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, a report said.

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Parks Board has March 21 open house on dog park

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Oak Ridge Dog Park Layout Draft

A draft layout of the proposed dog park at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted image)

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Advisory Board will have an open house on Thursday, March 21, to discuss the city’s first dog park, including a concept plan and proposed rules.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room.

Radio Systems Corp. has agreed to give the city $100,000 through Legacy Parks to help build the dog park, which could be at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge.

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Roane State students place in Top 10 in math contest

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Several students from Roane State Community College placed in the Top 10 in various categories in the annual Tennessee Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges Math Contest.

Students earned honors in the following categories:

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Controlled burns on Oak Ridge Reservation start Friday

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office is initiating a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation for prescribed burning at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during March and April.

On March 15, weather permitting, controlled burns are taking place:

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Jefferson Middle School 4-H GIS Club visits Roane State

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Roane State and Jefferson Middle School

In front, from left, are students Ty Dahl, Mikolai Jakowski, and Mollie Smith. In back, from left, are student Logan Ogle, Jefferson Middle School social studies teacher Brian Smith, student Haley Snyder, and Pat Wurth. (Submitted photo)

Jefferson Middle School and Roane State Community College are working together to help students learn about geographic information systems, or GIS.

Jefferson Middle School has a 4-H GIS Club, and Pat Wurth, Roane State associate professor of geographic information systems and geography, is mentoring the students. The middle schoolers visit campus and are working on a project to map bluebird houses thanks to a grant from software company ESRI.

Here is a photo from a recent visit.