Oak Ridge Today

Rezoning could allow homes on Warehouse Road

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A rezoning could allow about a dozen single-family residential lots on about five acres of currently vacant land on Warehouse Road. A conceptual plan is shown above.

A rezoning that could be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission could allow a dozen single-family residential lots on roughly five acres of currently vacant land on Warehouse Road.

The rezoning request, which does not obligate the property owner to build the homes, was presented to the Planning Commission during a non-voting session Thursday evening.

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Weigel’s proposed at Union Valley

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A Weigel’s store site plan for about 3.6 acres at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road, as presented to the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

A new Weigel’s store has been proposed along South Illinois Avenue.

The 6,600-square-foot store would be on about 3.61 acres at the intersection with Union Valley Road.

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New apartments possible on South Illinois

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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on about 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue headed toward Knoxville. (Map by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on roughly 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue.

The property is bordered by South Illinois Avenue, Mitchell Road, and Centrifuge Way (at the top of the hill headed out of Oak Ridge to Knoxville on South Illinois).

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Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

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This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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After guilty plea in fatal hit-and-run, man faces separate traffic charges

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Dannon Cole pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death or injury in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.

After pleading guilty to a fatal hit-and-run crash, a 51-year-old man is facing separate criminal charges after he was allegedly found passed out behind the wheel with an open bottle of whiskey and a bag of a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine.

This alleged case of driving under the influence (third offense) occurred in downtown Clinton on Halloween day 2021, just three weeks before the fatal hit-and-run crash in south Clinton.

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Evaluation ordered for teen who allegedly shot mom over cell phone

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Shawn Willis

An evaluation was scheduled Wednesday for an Anderson County teenager who allegedly shot and killed his mother while she was sleeping after she punished him by taking away his cell phone, according to court records.

The evaluation for Shawn Tyler Willis, 19, of Rocky Top, had previously been ordered by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Ryan Spitzer at the request of defense attorney Brennan Lenihan.

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Y-12 replacing old, high-risk water lines

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Sixty-year-old water lines are being replaced at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and 27 of the old lines are identified as high-risk and a Top 10 threat.

Work to replace the pipes began in July 2022 and will continue in April 2023, according to an emailed response to questions provided by spokesperson Kathryn King. The water line replacements are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2025 at a projected cost of $38.9 million. The old cast iron pipes will be replaced with new ductile iron pipes.

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TWRA tests birds after dead vultures reported

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A black vulture is pictured above perching on a tree between Edgemoor Road and Haw Ridge across from the Bull Run Fossil Plant on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has tested birds after black vultures were reported dead between Edgemoor Road and Haw Ridge, but the state agency does not have test results yet.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge Today counted at least a dozen dead birds in the brush and submerged near the shoreline along the concrete portion of the trail across from the Bull Run Fossil Plant. There were also at least four dozen live vultures perched nearby in trees close to the high-voltage power lines from Bull Run.

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Packard accused of filing false tax returns

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Russell Barker, who is now Anderson County sheriff, and the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force executes search warrants at McGuire Used Books on Thursday afternoon, May 24, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Already charged with money laundering and retail crime, an Oak Ridge business manager has been accused by the state of filing false tax returns and not paying sales taxes.

John McGuire Packard, 38, was indicted on nine counts by the Anderson County Grand Jury in June. The indictment charged him with one count of evade/defeat use tax for each month from September 2017 to May 2018. Those are Class E felonies.

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NRC will prepare environmental statement for nuclear fuel facility

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TRISO-X has proposed a nuclear fuel fabrication facility on 110 acres at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. (Photo from TRISO-X environmental report to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Friday that it will prepare an environmental impact statement for a proposed nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge that could help power advanced reactors for electrical and chemical use, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The project could partially benefit from last year’s federal infrastructure law, specifically about $1.1 billion appropriated for a clean energy supply.

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Man sentenced to 11 years for attempted rape with knife

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Michael C. Simonds

A 42-year-old man was sentenced to 11 years on Monday after being convicted of attempted aggravated rape in Anderson County during a jury trial in June.

It was the same sentence the prosecution had asked for, with the time to be served in prison.

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Lawsuit filed by terminated employee who refused COVID-19 vaccine

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The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A lawsuit was filed this year against a federal contractor in Oak Ridge that terminated an employee after she refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

In her lawsuit, the former employee argued that it is illegal under state law to compel her to provide proof of vaccination if she objects to the vaccine.

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