Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats freshman scores three TDs in 55-15 win over Lenoir City

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Wildcats Jordan Graham Touchdown and Panther

With UT Coach Butch Jones watching from the sidelines, Oak Ridge freshman running back Jordan Graham (30) runs for his third touchdown, a 60-yard sprint, in a 55-15 win over Lenoir City on Homecoming Night at Blankenship Field. Blocking at right are senior Darel Middleton (9) and junior Tee Higgins (5). Middleton and Higgins both had TD catches on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:15 p.m. Sept. 19.

Wildcats freshman running back Jordan Graham scored three touchdowns, including one on the opening kickoff return and another in front of University of Tennessee Coach Butch Jones, during a 55-15 win over Lenoir City on Homecoming Night at Blankenship Field on Friday.

“It was a great experience,” Graham said. He gave credit to his teammates and their blocking for setting up his first three Wildcats touchdowns.

Graham, who ended with more than 100 yards rushing, started the scoring on a 91-yard kickoff return on the first play of the game. He initially fumbled the ball, but he recovered his own fumble and raced to the Panther end zone, first making defenders miss and then outrunning them.

Graham, a small, fast 14-year-old, scored again at 5:51 in the second quarter, sweeping around the right side of the offensive line after a toss from senior quarterback Jordan Dunbar, weaving through defenders in the center of the field, and running 59 yards to score inside the left pylon, making it 21-8. [Read more…]

Photos: Jackson Square parking lot work continues Thursday

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Jackson Square Fountain and Landscaping

New landscaping is in the foreground and the interactive fountain is in the background at Jackson Square as construction continued on the $1 million parking lot renovation on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The $1 million renovation of the Jackson Square parking lot continued Thursday, with the goal of finishing the project in time for Taste of Anderson County on Saturday.

Construction started in January on what has turned into one of the most closely watched projects in Oak Ridge. Work is funded with help from a $741,609 Tennessee Department of Transportation Enhancement Grant that was awarded to the city in June 2012. The TDOT grant covers 80 percent of the work, and it requires a 20 percent city match.

The work is reported to be the first major renovation at Jackson Square in 70 years. It includes a landscaped pedestrian plaza with parking, an interactive fountain, stone pavers, curbing, asphalt paving, utilities, benches, sidewalks, and upgrades under the American with Disabilities Act. [Read more…]

Children’s Museum Offers Camps during Fall Break

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Children will have opportunities to dance, cook, create pottery and explore the natural world during Oak Ridge Schools’ fall break at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. Week-long Imagination Station Intersession Camps for elementary and middle school students will be held Oct. 5-9 and Oct. 12-16.

Exercise guru Leah Chance will lead special Kids in Action activities on Saturday, Oct. 10. For children in the 1st-4th grades, activities include moving feet and working up a sweat, going on a scavenger hunt in the garden for a cool down, and games that teach about nutrition, burning calories and foods to eat before exercise. Each session is limited to 20 children.  Join Chance from 10:30 a.m.-noon or 1-2:30 p.m. for Kids in Action, free with admission to the museum.

“Imagination Station campers learn and grow through play in a fun and safe environment,” said Lorraine Bowen, museum educator. “Through our wide range of themes and activities, as well as our hands-on exhibits, we hope to foster campers’ imaginations and passion for lifelong learning.”

To register for a camp, stop by or call the museum at (865) 482-1074 or see www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/classes/. Fees for week-long camps are $125 for members and $135 for non-members. Campers staying all day should bring lunches. To pay in person or by mail, download a PDF of the registration form at the web site. A number of scholarships are available. An application is on the web site. Deadline to apply is Oct. 2.

Camps offered Oct. 5-9 are:

  • Mud Pies, 9 a.m.-noon, ages 5-8. Children will explore ways to build and make unique works of art, using pinch and coil techniques to make wacky creatures from clay. They will create pieces from nature, hand-build a funky mask and make a one-of-a-kind creation, with clay artist Sherrie Carris. Camp limit is 12.
  • Cookin’ in the Kitchen with Kids, 1-4 p.m., kindergarten-3rd Children will make fun, kid-friendly recipes while practicing kitchen safety and learning cooking fundamentals. They will prepare several breakfast dishes and create Mexican, Italian and Asian recipes with culinary specialist and caterer Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.
  • Kids Go Green “Explore the Green World around You,” 9 a.m.-noon, 3rd-4th Youth will explore the natural world as they discover the balance needed to be in harmony with nature. With Bucky Smith, the museum’s garden manager, they will learn about living in a healthy environment through Kids Go Green’s eco-action. Camp limit is 10.
  • International Cooking, 9 a.m.-noon, 4th – 7th Youth will take a culinary journey around the world with Rachel Reagan as they prepare different recipes from Italy, France, India, Greece and China. Class limit is 12.
  • Jazz Pop, 1-4 p.m., 4th-7th Kids will join Danya Spratling to learn basic dance steps and a routine. They will make a hip hop hat, and for Halloween, create a dance to “Thriller” and “I’m a Monster.”
  • Spin Me a Tale, 1-4 p.m., ages 9-12. Youth will learn the basics of throwing on the pottery wheel and discover ways to tell stories using etching and stenciling techniques on clay. Class limit is 5.

 Another camp will be held Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Oct. 5, 7 and 9.

  • Build your own Bear, 3-5 p.m., ages 8-12. Youth will create and design their own hand sewn, stuffed bear, led by Frances Gross. They will cut a pattern, choose fabric, cut out a bear shape, pin it together, then hand sew and stuff the bear. Class limit is 8. Fee for members is $50, and non-members, $60.

Camps offered Oct. 12-16 are:

  • Expressions, for kindergarten-3rd graders, 9 a.m.-noon. Children will engage in art in a new way each day as they experiment, play, and create connections between their own creative explorations and the ideas and techniques of great artists. Camp limit is 15.
  • Creepy Cooking,for kindergarten-3rd graders, 9 a.m.-noon. Children will whip up some spooky veggies and dip, Freaky Fingers and Ghouls Brew, snake bites, Hootwiches, Zombie toast and more, with Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.
  • Fall Clay, for ages 5-8, 1-4 p.m. Young clay artists will hand-build a pumpkin, spooky bat wind-chimes, ghost foot, mask, candy dish, and monster pot sculpture, and then glaze the pieces. Museum resident clay artist Sherrie Carris leads the camp. Camp limit is 12.
  • Spooktacular Clay, ages 9-13, 9 a.m.-noon. With Sherrie Carris, young potters will hand-build spooky pumpkins, ghosts, cats, masks, monster sculpture, candy dish, and more, and then glaze the pieces and have them fired in time for Halloween. Camp limit is 12.
  • Jazz Pop,4th-7th grades, 1-4 p.m. Young dancers will join Danya Spratling to learn basic dance steps and learn a routine, make a hip hop hat, and for Halloween, create a dance to “Thriller” and “I’m a Monster.”
  • Haunted by Cooking!4th – 7th grades, 1-4 p.m. Young chefs will create scary treats for fall: yummy lungs, finger food, and intestines to drink bloody hand punch with, led by Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.

The Children’s Museum is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $7for seniors ages 62 and older, and $6 for children ages 3-18. Admission is free for children under 3 and museum members. For more information, call (865) 482-1074 or see the web site at www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org.

 

With few games left, JMS Eagles football team 5-0

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JMS Jack Replogle and CAK Sept. 10, 2015

Jefferson Middle School quarterback Jack Replogle (18), an eighth-grader, runs against CAK on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. (Photo by Heather Hartman)

 

The Jefferson Middle School Eagles are undefeated, and the 5-0 team will play Webb at home on Thursday. It will be one of the last few games of the football season.

“It’s going to be a competitive, tough game,” said Brian Wilson, Eagles football coach and JMS physical education teacher.

The Eagles will play the Robertsville Middle School Rams on Thursday, October 1.

The Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference will have its league championship on Thursday, October 8, although it’s not clear yet who will play. The team that is ranked number one will host it. That will be the end of the middle school season. [Read more…]

Council doesn’t change Secret City Festival date, leaves it up to new nonprofit board

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City Council Chuck Hope, Warren Gooch, and Ellen Smith on Sept. 14, 2015

Pictured above at the Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, when changes to the annual Secret City Festival were made, are Council members Chuck Hope, left, Mayor Warren Gooch, and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:36 a.m.

They’ve heard concerns about moving it to the fall, and the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday did not change the date of the annual Secret City Festival. Instead, Council left any potential date change up to a new nonprofit board that could be appointed in October.

It was one of a series of steps meant to make the Secret City Festival less costly for the city and less labor-intensive for the municipal staff, to rethink how it’s organized, and to make it self-sustaining. The festival could be incorporated into a new, expanded Secret City Celebration that could include other events.

A Special Events Advisory Task Force appointed by City Council in February had recommended moving the festival to the fall as part of a celebration that would last at least a week, start in October, and continue through Veterans Day, November 11.

But Council members and a few residents laid out some objections to the proposed date change, including “dicey weather” in the fall; the potentially cold temperatures, especially for nighttime concerts; conflicts with football and other fall events; and concerns over the possibility that the festival could again become saturated with political candidates in election years, now that municipal elections have been moved to November. There were also concerns about whether some organizations that now participate in the June festival, including artists and World War II re-enactors, could take part in the fall. [Read more…]

Crosland Southeast ‘disappointed,’ invested more than $1 million in mall redevelopment

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Tim Sittema

Tim Sittema

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The North Carolina firm that has been replaced as master developer at Main Street Oak Ridge, the project to redevelop the former mall, said it has invested more than $1 million in the project and is “sorely disappointed” that it won’t be able to finish it.

Crosland Southeast, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said it has been engaged in more than “two years of tireless work,” and the project was in its final stages.

“This was one of the most difficult turnaround developments that we have encountered or seen, and we are sorely disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to finish what we started,” said Tim Sittema, managing partner of Crosland Southeast. “We had just negotiated the last piece of an incredibly complicated project with numerous moving parts, and had invested well over a million dollars into making this project a success. The situation is complicated. Nevertheless, we hope for the best outcome for the community of Oak Ridge. We have very much enjoyed working with city staff and community leaders.”

Oak Ridge City Center LLC, the current owners of the property, announced Monday that RealtyLink, a South Carolina real estate development firm, will replace Crosland Southeast as the master developer of the 60-acre Main Street Oak Ridge project. RealtyLink is based in Greenville, South Carolina. [Read more…]

Wildcats have first shutout, roll over Mavericks 41-0

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Mavericks Sept. 11, 2015

Oak Ridge junior receiver Tee Higgins (5) had two touchdowns against Anderson County in a game that started Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, but was suspended because of lightning, and then resumed Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. Higgins has seven touchdowns this season, leading all Wildcats. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 15.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats had their first shutout of the football season, rolling over Anderson County 41-0 in a game that resumed Monday after being suspended because of lightning on Friday.

For the third time this year, junior receiver Tee Higgins had two touchdown catches. He has a total of seven this year, leading all Wildcats.

Oak Ridge senior running back T.J. Allison, who hadn’t scored before Friday, had two touchdowns on Friday and Monday, including his first touchdown catch of the season.

Senior running back and safety Gavin Warrington also scored his first touchdown of 2015, and so did senior running back and defensive back Davon Middleton. [Read more…]

RealtyLink replaces Crosland Southeast as Main Street developer

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Oak Ridge Mall

The Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as a multi-use town center known as Main Street, is pictured above. Also known as the former Oak Ridge Mall, the L-shaped building is at center. The white building at center left is Walmart, and it is not part of the proposed redevelopment. Neither is the white building at center top, the Tinseltown Theater. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:51 p.m.

RealtyLink, a South Carolina real estate development firm, will replace Crosland Southeast as the master developer of the 60-acre Main Street town center project in Oak Ridge, the property owners said Monday.

RealtyLink is based in Greenville, South Carolina.

“RealtyLink first showed interest in the project as early as 2012,” said Steve Arnsdorff, the chief manager for Oak Ridge City Center LLC, the current owners of the property. “We are delighted that they have had continuing interest and are now able to assume the position of the previous developer.”

RealtyLink currently has nearly two million square feet of space in various stages of development including The River Landing, a 16-acre retail project on Winfield Dunn Parkway in Sevierville. In addition to Greenville, South Carolina, RealtyLink has offices in Charleston, South Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [Read more…]

Photos: 9/11 memorial ceremony at ORHS on Sept. 11

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ORHS 9/11 Memorial Moment of Silence

Oak Ridge High School students and staff and police officers and firefighters have a moment of silence at the 9/11 memorial at ORHS on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A September 11 memorial ceremony at Oak Ridge High School paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, and it honored military personnel.

Here are pictures from the Friday morning ceremony.

ORHS 9/11 Memorial Shichen Zhang and Melissa Yuan 2015

Shichen Zhang, Student Council president, left, and Melissa Yuan, Student Council vice president, raise the United States flag to half-staff during a 9/11 ceremony at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

[Read more…]

Delayed for lightning, OR-AC game will resume Monday, will be free

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Wildcats Davon Middleton and Mavericks on Sept. 12, 2015

Oak Ridge senior running back Davon Middleton (32) picks up a big first down on a fourth-and-2 near the Mavericks’ end zone, setting up a touchdown catch by Wildcat T.J. Allison in the first quarter at Anderson County High School on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Friday night football game between Oak Ridge and Anderson County was delayed because of lightning, and it will resume at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Anderson County High School.

It will be free and start where it ended, with Oak Ridge leading 7-0 at 1:28 in the first quarter, Wildcats Coach Joe Gaddis said Saturday.

He said lightning was last spotted at about 9:30 p.m. Friday at ACHS. A 30-minute delay is required each time lightning is spotted, meaning the game could not have restarted any earlier than 10 p.m.

But if officials had observed more lightning before the restart, they would have had to wait another 30 minutes, Gaddis said.

“It kept happening over and over,” he said. [Read more…]

TDOT: Replacing ‘green bridge’ on US 25W in Clinton could cost $18.8 million

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Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge

The Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on US 25W in Clinton is pictured above. Also known as “the green bridge,” it could cost $18.8 million to replace, state officials said Thursday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Replacing the Lewallen Bridge—known as “the green bridge” to locals—on US 25W in Clinton could cost $18.8 million, state officials said Thursday.

The bridge, officially known as the Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge, crosses over the Clinch River, and it connects downtown Clinton to South Clinton.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation said preliminary plans are under development to replace the major bridge, which connects the main route from Clinton to Knoxville. South of Clinton, the road is known as Clinton Highway.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer gave an update on that and other projects when they sat down with local and state officials in Knoxville on Thursday to discuss the region’s transportation and infrastructure needs, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL to extend contract for uranium centrifuge work, but at reduced level; could require layoffs

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American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy USEC/Centrus Energy Corp.)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory intends to extend its contract with Centrus Energy Corporation for research on uranium enrichment centrifuges, but at a reduced level, with funding cut by about 60 percent, the company said Friday. Layoffs could be required, Centrus said in a press release.

The contract extension continues technology development activities at Oak Ridge facilities for advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges, but revenues won’t be used for operations in Piketon, Ohio, the press release said.

The new contract will cover a one-year period from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016, with the possibility for additional extensions, the release said.

It said the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to provide reduced funding will support continued developments of the company’s American Centrifuge technology—which has long-term importance for national and energy security. [Read more…]