Oak Ridge Today

JMS Principal Phil Cox inducted into basketball hall of fame in Kentucky

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Phil Cox, principal of Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, has been inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame. (Photo courtesy Kimberly Cox)

Phil Cox, principal of Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, has been inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame. (Photo courtesy Kimberly Cox)

 

Phil Cox, principal of Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, has been inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame, according to the Middlesboro (Kentucky) Daily News.

The newspaper reported that Cox, a high school basketball legend, was one of 19 inductees in the 2017 class.

Cox was a standout at Loyall Elementary School, where he played for Hall of Fame member Billy Hicks, and he earned all-state honors by the time he was a junior at Cawood High School, where he averaged 35 points a game, the Daily News said. He was Mr. Basketball in Kentucky as a senior and was, at the time, the all-time leading scorer in Harlan County, with 2,401 points. [Read more…]

ORHS WildBand has preview show this evening

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The Oak Ridge High School WildBand trombone section is shown above during a practice in 2017. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge High School WildBand trombone section is shown above during a practice in 2017. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge High School WildBand Preview Show is at 6 p.m. today (Friday, July 28) at Blankenship Field.

If it’s raining at 4 p.m. today, the show will be presented in the ORHS Performing Arts Center Auditorium.

The students have been working hard to prepare “Danza del Toro” for the fall marching season, a press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge cross country team has pancake breakfast Aug. 5

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The Oak Ridge cross country team will have its annual pancake breakfast on Saturday, August 5, at First United Methodist Church next to the high school. Breakfast will be served from 8-10 a.m.

Tickets are available from any team member or at the door for $5.

“So come on out and support ORXC,” a press release said. “We look forward to seeing you there and thanks for your support!”

Fulmer to be keynote speaker at Industry Appreciation Breakfast in September

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Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Industry Appreciation Breakfast Sept 12 2017

Former University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer will be the keynote speaker at an Industry Appreciation Breakfast in Oak Ridge in September.

The invitation-only breakfast is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Utility District and the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. It will be at ORUD on Tuesday morning, September 12.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool expands schedule for 2017

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge Outdoor Municipal Pool will be extending open hours into August of 2017. New hours will begin Monday, July 31, a press release said.

For the dates of Monday, July 31, through Friday, August 18, the extended hours are as follows:

  • Monday-Friday: 100-meter lap swim and kiddie pool open 9 a.m.-12 p.m.*
  • Wednesdays: After school open swim 3 p.m.-8 p.m.
  • Saturday and Sunday: Open swim 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

* Note: The 100-meter lap swim and kiddie pool will be closed for a special event on August 2, 2017. [Read more…]

Senior Citizens’ Day at Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Wednesday, Aug. 2

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will be hosting its first-ever Senior Citizens’ Day at the city’s outdoor pool next month.

The pool will be reserved exclusively for seniors age 50 and older on Wednesday, August 2, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., a press release said. The pool facility is located at 172 Providence Road.

Local life insurance company WoodmenLife will be on site as a sponsor, providing music and food for the event. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis while it lasts. [Read more…]

UCOR Oak Ridge Velo Classic bike races are July 22-23

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2017-Oak-Ridge-Velo-Classic-Family-Wellness-Festival

The Tenth Annual UCOR Oak Ridge Velo Classic bicycle racing event will take place on Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23. It will feature the 2017 State Championship Road Races.

The Velo Classic has become a “must-do” event for hundreds of competitive cyclists from throughout Tennessee and around the Southeast, a press release said.

The road races will be staged from the East Tennessee Technology Park on Saturday, July 22, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The final road race that day begins at 1 p.m. The time trial event is also staged at ETTP and begins on Saturday at 3:30 and runs for about an hour.

The criterium races, likened to “NASCAR on bikes,” will take place on a one-mile course at the Horizon Center on Sunday, July 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m., with the last race of the day beginning at 4:20 p.m. [Read more…]

Council to consider contract to convert former railroad into greenway

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The former CSX railway is pictured near Jefferson Middle School in central Oak Ridge on Dec. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The former CSX railway is pictured near Jefferson Middle School in central Oak Ridge on Dec. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a $1.5 million contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation that would allow a former railroad to be converted into a greenway.

The so-called Rails to Trails project would convert about 4.85 miles of unused CSX railroad into a pedestrian and bicycle trail.

The former railroad starts at Elza Gate Park at Melton Lake Drive in east Oak Ridge, runs past the Emory Heights neighborhood and Jefferson Middle School, crosses Emory Valley Road near Hank’s Market, and then continues through the Hendrix Creek neighborhood along Lafayette Drive before ending near South Illinois Avenue, Scarboro Road, and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) approved $1.224 million for the project in October 2016 through the Transportation Alternative Program, or TAP. There is a local match of $306,000. The combined funding from the TAP award and the local match is $1.53 million.

In an interview after the grant was awarded, Ellen Zavisca, senior transportation planner for the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, said it’s federal funds disbursed in the area specifically for projects that provide safe places for bicycle and pedestrian projects. [Read more…]

Xavier Harper, 9, of Linden, competes at USA Gymnastics Championships

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Xavier Harper

Xavier Harper

 

Xavier Harper, a rising fourth-grader at Linden Elementary School, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from June 27-July 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Xavier finished second in the nation on trampoline for level 9 in the 10 and under age group. He is affiliated with Premier Athletics in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Dick’s Sporting Goods now open in Oak Ridge

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Dick's Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Dick’s Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday. A grand opening featuring former University of Tennessee football player Derek Barnett is scheduled for this weekend.

The store, roughly in the area where Sears used to be between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office on South Tulane Avenue, is 35,000 square foot. It sells equipment for team sports, footwear, apparel, hunting and fishing gear, and bicycles and fitness equipment, said Brian Johnson, community marketing manager for Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The store offers top national brands and in-store services such as a glove steamer, a gate analysis for runners and walkers, an archery lane to test bows, and bow stringing, Johnson said.

There are about 62 employees, both full-time and part-time, Johnson said.

He said many Oak Ridge customers shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods in West Knoxville.

“Now they’ve got it here,” Johnson said. “Oak Ridge is a thriving market. Oak Ridge is an outdoor community.” [Read more…]

Butch Jones, UT football coach, to be special guest at Blankenship Field fundraiser

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Martin McDonald and Butch Jones at Blankenship Field on Sept. 18, 2015

University of Tennessee Volunteers Coach Butch Jones, right, is pictured above with Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald at Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. (File photo courtesy Martin McDonald)

 

University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones will be the special guest at a July 11 fundraiser for Blankenship Field.

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally will also be there. So will board members of the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation.

The fundraiser will start at 11:30 a.m. July 11 in the banquet room of the DoubleTree Hotel on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. Tickets are $100 per person for this buffet lunch, and they include an opportunity to hear from Jones, an event notice said. [Read more…]

Seven pro bowlers in Oak Ridge for clinic on Saturday

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Seven professional bowlers will be in Oak Ridge on Saturday for a clinic at Oak Ridge Bowling Center.

The bowlers will include Jason Belmonte, the number one bowler in the world, said Craig Porter, general manager of the Oak Ridge Bowling Center. The bowlers will also include E.J. Tackett, Sean Rash, Ronnie Russell, Dominic Barrett, Tommy Jones, and Bill O’Neil.

The players are arriving Thursday and Friday. The clinic is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It will provide access to professionals for seven hours, Porter said. The seven hours will include five hours of on-lane instruction and one hour of classroom instruction. There will also be an hour lunch.
[Read more…]