Information from WYSH Radio
A Heiskell man was killed and a 12-year-old boy was injured in a single-vehicle crash last week, according to a report released Sunday by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Ronald Henderson, 65, of Heiskell was not wearing a seat belt when his 1994 Ford Mustang ran off the road and struck a utility pole Wednesday morning, according to the THP. The investigating trooper indicated in his report that a seat belt could have saved Henderson’s life. [Read more…]
James Downs, Crosland Southeast partner, gave an update on the Main Street Oak Ridge project, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, during a Monday evening work session.
Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 p.m.
The North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall as Main Street Oak Ridge could close on the property in June, an executive said Monday.
The mixed-use project could include retailers, restaurants, and residential units, as well as a hotel. Belk and JCPenney, the two remaining anchor stores at the mostly empty mall, would remain, said James Downs, partner in Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that has proposed the long-awaited redevelopment of the roughly 60-acre site.
Downs said Main Street Oak Ridge will include a total of about 325,000 square feet of retail space, or about 200,000 square feet of retail space more than what Belk and JCPenney have now. There would then be a total of about 600,000 square feet in the area. [Read more…]
CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.
Michael Hargett, president of CVMR-USA, which announced Friday that it’s moving from Toronto to Oak Ridge, will be the keynote speaker at an Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday, March 19.
The One Voice—One Vision Luncheon will be at noon Thursday, March 19, at the Riverside Grille in Oak Ridge.
CVMR announced at a special event on Friday that the company will be locating its international headquarters in Oak Ridge. The company plans to invest $313 million and will bring 620 new jobs to the city. [Read more…]
The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will host a SciGirls Professional Development Training from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, March, 21, for educators interested in teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM.
“SciGirls” is a PBS Kids television series that aims to change how middle school age youth think about STEM. In each episode, bright and curious girls put STEM to work. The show’s web site offers games and projects to connect students in a safe social networking environment. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will discuss the proposed traffic signal on Oak Ridge Turnpike at the High School and a proposal to extend the lease on the Senior Center for five years through 2019.
Those are two of the agenda items for a Tuesday evening work session.
The City Council postponed a vote last week on a contract to install a stoplight on the Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. The light could eliminate the need for a crossing guard.
City officials had said the light could be installed by August 2015, but the postponement of the contract vote to the April meeting will likely delay the completion date, possibly until after school starts later this year. [Read more…]
Cypress String Quartet
The Cypress String Quartet will perform in Oak Ridge on Saturday, March 21. The quartet features Cecily Ward on violin, Tom Stone on violin, Ethan Filner on viola, and Jennifer Kloetzel on cello.
The quartet will play at Pollard Auditorium in a concert presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. The program will include Beethoven’s “Quartet Op. 18 No. 3,” Bartók’s “Quartet No. 4,” and Beethoven’s “Quartet Op. 59 No. 1.”
Beethoven’s “Quartet Op. 59 No. 2” is featured on the Cypress’ newest album, “Beethoven: Middle Quartets,” released on November 11. The Cypress Quartet has steeped itself in performing Beethoven’s string quartets over the last 18 years.
“Hardly a week has passed that we haven’t been studying or performing one of Beethoven’s string quartets,” Kloetzel said in a press release. “Our first 12 years together were spent exploring, performing, and crafting our ‘take’ on the Late Quartets, and then we made the choice to move backwards in time to these robust, earthy pieces—the Middle Quartets—so rich and massive after the more spiritual Late Quartets.” [Read more…]
Demolition work has started on a commercial building on East Tyrone Road just east of the Magic Wok restaurant. Demolition work on the east end of the building is pictured above on Friday afternoon.
Demolition work has started on a commercial building on East Tyrone Road behind the popular Magic Wok restaurant. On Friday, an excavator had started demolishing the eastern part of the small shopping center. A demolition permit was reportedly issued this week.
In November, a city board ordered the building demolished within 30 days. The demolition order does not apply to the Magic Wok, which is in a separate diner on the western side of the building.
The building owners had previously considered preserving about 5,500 square feet in three units on the western side of the property, among a few options. But on Friday, Oak Ridge Community Development Housing Specialist Matt Widner said that portion won’t be preserved. Instead, the entire building will be demolished, Widner said. [Read more…]
Pictured above is the new Bear Creek Road extension and bridge on the west side of the Y-12 National Security Complex.
They called it their first major milestone: the completion of site readiness work, delivered on time and under budget. The work included the relocation of Bear Creek Road, a new bridge, and construction of a haul road.
It’s part of the project to build a Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. UPF could replace World War II-era buildings at Y-12. The project has been capped at $6.5 billion, and it’s expected to be completed by 2025.
Federal officials and contractors celebrated the completion of the site readiness subproject in a Friday morning ceremony at Y-12. [Read more…]
CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.
Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.
A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.
CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.
The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.
The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.
“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]
Gregory Scott Tyree
Oak Ridge police officers arrested a violent sex offender after a church alleged that he stole mail, officials said Friday.
The Oak Ridge Police Department was dispatched to the Heritage Fellowship Church on North Illinois Avenue at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday to respond to a report of mail theft, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.
ORPD Sergeant Robert Pitts located the suspect, Gregory Scott Tyree, 48, of Oak Ridge fleeing westbound on Robertsville Road near Willow Brook Elementary School, the press release said. Pitts also recovered evidence along Robertsville Road across from Robertsville Middle School with the help of the pastor who witnessed the theft and followed the suspect, the release said. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Schools used nine snow days this year but only needs to make up two, an official said Thursday.
“As we have gone through the process of examining our snow day allocation, we discovered that, in addition to the three extra student instructional days we had built into our calendar, we were also entitled to three stockpiled snow days because of our longer school days as compared to state minimum requirements,” said Chris Marczak, assistant superintendent of Oak Ridge Schools. “The state acknowledged on March 9 that these three stockpiled snow days were due to Oak Ridge Schools for this school year and for future school years. We therefore have six total possible snow days, rather than three.” [Read more…]
A view of Melton Hill Lake near a boat ramp and between two picnic areas at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge.
Federal officials have finished significant cleanup work at Clark Center Park after the winter weather a few weeks ago, and they are re-opening the park.
John Shewairy, assistant manager for administration in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, said workers have roped off one area of the 80-acre park where a large tree fell. They won’t be able to clear that area until the ground dries up. [Read more…]
