Mark Watson
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson will speak to the Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.
The meeting starts at noon, and the program begins at 12:10 p.m. at the Super China Buffet, a press release said. Topics that could be discussed include city functions, the city staff, the city manager’s office and its activities, and local areas of interest and concern.
Members of the Oak Ridge High School Class of 1960 will be turning 70 this year, so they are having a 70th birthday party, a press release said.
Class members are meeting for a Wildcats football game on Friday, Oct. 5, and a luncheon at the Elks Club in Emory Valley on Oct. 6 from noon until 3 p.m.
Workers from Tennessee Towing of Powell pull a coal truck out of a ditch on Highway 95 near Bethel Valley Road on Friday afternoon.
A coal truck overturned on Highway 95 near Bethel Valley Road about noon Friday.
The truck ended up on its side and spilled coal in a ditch west of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The condition of the driver wasn’t immediately available. The Oak Ridge Police Department declined comment, saying an accident report would be available early next week.
An elderly man drowned in the Clinch River Friday afternoon after his fishing boat capsized and he fell into the frigid water about a half-mile downstream of the Norris Dam, Anderson County Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen said.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending family notification, Allen said.
The man’s body was found in the River Road boat launch area, about a half-mile downstream from where he was first reported in the water near a weir dam, Allen said.
The Y-12 Public Warning Siren System located around Oak Ridge is being replaced this month, and a new system will be tested, a press release said.
A private contractor was scheduled to begin replacing the electronic sirens on Tuesday, and work could be completed on Sept. 14. As part of the replacement project, Y-12 will test the system by sounding the new sirens at noon on Sept. 26, the release said.
Paul Phillips
Paul Phillips, retired district attorney general for the 8th Judicial District, has been named executive director of the Roane State Foundation, a press release said.
The foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides financial support for Roane State Community College students and programs. As executive director, Phillips will serves as chief administrative officer for the foundation’s board of trustees and direct the foundation’s programs.
Phillips succeeds Melinda Hillman, the college’s vice president for advancement and community relations. Hillman had served as the foundation’s executive director in addition to her responsibilities as leader for Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus and seven more satellite centers. Hillman will continue to lead the Oak Ridge campus and satellite centers.
The fourth annual Taste of Oak Ridge on Sept. 22 in Jackson Square will feature food samples from local restaurants, music, and the opportunity to help a local medical facility, a press release said.
Restaurants that will take part include Dean’s Restaurant, Gondolier, The Market House, Razzleberry Lab and Kitchen, The Soup Kitchen, Time Out Deli, and The Other One. RNfit Weight Management will be offering samples as well.
Music Arts will present a faculty recital on Sept. 15 at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge.
Participating faculty members include Sam Chen, Warren Clark, Jennifer Ownby, Erin Bray, Ilia Steinschneider, Cheryl Scappaticci, Shannnon Hamblen, Lisa Griggs, and Rudolph Nemeth.
Admission to the recital will be free, but donations to the school’s Mary Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund will be appreciated, a press release said.
The Oak Ridge High School Class of 1982 will be holding its 30th reunion on Sept. 28 and 29.
Activities include a Friday night social and a Saturday night dinner and dance, a press release said. A tour of the renovated high school also is scheduled for Saturday morning.
Kroger Marketplace Site Plan
Note: This story was last updated at 12:09 p.m.
A Kroger Marketplace store could be the primary tenant at a new $30 million shopping center on the northeast corner of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.
The new 113,000-square-foot store could open in the spring of 2014, according to a Thursday morning press release from the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
The announcement ends months of community speculation about what was being proposed at the busy intersection.
Terry Frank
New Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank announced staff changes Tuesday and pledged to focus on jobs and economic prosperity.
Frank said she will no longer work at her family-owned business, Nature’s Marketplace, and will push to make government more transparent while trying to cut illegal drug use in Anderson County.
Frank is Anderson County’s first female mayor. She was sworn in Friday evening and took office at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1.
Note: This story was updated at 1:49 p.m. Sept. 6.
The new director of the protective force at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been reassigned after a federal inspector allegedly found papers in a patrol vehicle that included answers to a test scheduled to be given to guards as part of an investigation following an unprecedented July 28 security breach.
A U.S. Department of Energy official said the stack of papers found last week also included a copy of a test designed to quiz a random sample of a few dozen guards on policies and procedures, as well as a “post check” interview sheet. The “post checks” question security officers on procedures and performance tests, such as deploying gas masks. The papers were not supposed to be shared, said the DOE official, speaking on background.
