Oak Ridge Today

COVID cases surge among school students, staff

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 15 started Wednesday, Nov. 4, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported among students and staff members surged in Oak Ridge Schools during the past three weeks.

There have been 27 cases reported since October 15. That’s an average of nine new cases per week during a three-week period.

It’s about triple the average number of new cases reported during the previous high period in August, when roughly 3.3 new cases were reported per week during a three-week period.

The increase in new cases in the school system has occurred as the number of new cases has also risen significantly in Anderson County and Tennessee, surpassing the July peak.

The 27 cases reported in the past three weeks in Oak Ridge Schools represents about 57 percent of the total 47 cases reported since the school year started July 29.

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Updated: Dodson, Hammond, Hope re-elected to City Council

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Jim Dodson

Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 8.

Oak Ridge City Council members Jim Dodson, Derrick Hammond, and Chuck Hope were re-elected Tuesday.

They had one challenger, Edward Jackson Jr.

Oak Ridge Board of Education members Angi Agle and Keys Fillauer were also re-elected.

In the City Council election, Dodson received the most votes, 8,253, in Anderson County. He received the second-most votes in Roane County, 1,499. He had a total of 9,752 votes in the two counties, giving him the most total votes of any candidate and 852 more than the second-place finisher.

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Temporary road closure on Saturday for Halloween House

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A temporary road closure is planned along part of Nebraska Avenue for Saturday, October 31, for the annual residential “Halloween House,” a press release said.

The temporary, partial road closure is scheduled for about seven hours, between 5 p.m. Saturday and 12 a.m. Sunday. It is necessary to create a safer environment for drivers and pedestrians expected to visit the “Halloween House,” which is on Nebraska Avenue between Newridge Road and Newhaven Road, the press release said.

“The small stretch of road will be blocked to through traffic,” the press release said. “However, residents will still be able to get to and from their homes during this time.”

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Young patients have largest number of COVID cases in Anderson County

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The largest number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County is among young patients, with the 11-20 age group now reporting the most cases of any age group. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today using information from Tennessee Department of Health)

The largest number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County is among young patients, with the 11-20 and 21-30 age groups now reporting the most cases of any age groups.

For more than a week, the case count among the 11-20 age group has been higher than the case count among the 21-30 age group.

That’s a change since earlier in the pandemic, when the 21-30 age group usually had the most cases of any age group, followed by several older age groups. It’s not clear what accounts for the change.

The 21-30 age group still has a high number of cases, and that age group still has close to the same number of cases as the 11-20 age group, according to information published by the Tennessee Department of Health. And on some recent days at least in the past month, the total number of cases among the 21-30 age group has been higher than the number among the 11-20 age group.

The two groups together now account for about one-third of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County.

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Ten COVID cases reported among students since Friday

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. We have defined weeks as Wednesday-Tuesday. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Ten COVID-19 cases have been reported among students in Oak Ridge Schools since Friday. That’s the highest number of cases reported in any seven-day period so far this school year.

The 10 new student cases were reported between Friday and Wednesday. Six of the cases were reported among students at Oak Ridge High School. It’s not clear yet if the surge is an anomaly or part of a trend.

There are currently 46 students and five staff members who are not allowed to attend school because they have been in close contact with someone at school who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in response to questions Wednesday.

The surge in new cases has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to classes five days per week starting Monday.

Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools were due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive.

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Christmas Parade will be reverse parade

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A float is pictured above in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. (File photo by Eli Welton)

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade will be a reverse parade this year because of concerns about COVID-19. That means the floats will be stationary and spectators will drive the parade route.

In normal years, the spectators are stationary, and the floats are driven down Oak Ridge Turnpike.

This year, floats will line the northbound lanes of Lafayette Drive (heading toward Oak Ridge Turnpike), and spectators will drive down the southbound lanes (heading toward Illinois Avenue) to enjoy the festivities from the safety and comfort of their own cars, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, announced the change on Monday. [Read more…]

COVID positivity rates high in Anderson, surrounding counties

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COVID-19 data for Anderson County as reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee Department of Health)

The COVID-19 positivity rates in Anderson County and surrounding counties have been high recently, and one additional death and five more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County in two days this week.

The positivity rate in Anderson County was close to 10 percent on Thursday and higher than 10 percent in five of the seven surrounding counties. It was highest in Union County, where the positivity rate was 18.4 percent.

The 14th death in Anderson County was reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, and the five new hospitalizations were reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

The positivity rate measures the percentage of new daily tests that return positive results out of all the new daily tests. A higher positivity rate means more people are testing positive out of those who are tested each day.

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Robbery reported at One Bank

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A bank robbery was reported at One Bank in Oak Ridge on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching for a suspect. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

A bank robbery was reported in Oak Ridge on Friday, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching for a suspect.

The robbery was reported by a silent alarm at One Bank on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 8:35 a.m. Friday, and dispatchers then received a phone call reporting the robbery, a press release said.

Officers responded and determined a white male, in his 20s, wearing a black knit watch cap, red face mask, black or dark gray hoodie, and blue jeans presented a note to tellers advising it was a bank robbery and demanding money, the press release said.

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Council approves $175,000 settlement with Billy Casper Golf Management

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Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council last week approved a $175,000 settlement to resolve a dispute between the city and Billy Casper Golf Management over the termination of the agreement to manage Centennial Golf Course.

The city owns the golf course, which is in east Oak Ridge. The city notified Billy Casper Golf Management in October 2017 that it was going to terminate the management agreement “for cause,” Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said in a memo to Council. But Billy Casper Golf Management contested the termination of the agreement, and the company’s attorney claimed that the city owed more than $520,000 in termination fees, Krushenski said.

The two sides negotiated, and the management company accepted the city’s offer of $175,000 to settle all claims, Krushenski said.

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Street Painting Festival honors pandemic heroes while raising funds for Roane State scholarships

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Best of Show winning chalk art by The Yaun Ladies. (Photo courtesy Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Crisp, clear weather greeted a fall tradition in Oak Ridge’s historic Jackson Square on Saturday, October 17, with artists of all ages creating colorful chalk art on the sidewalk.

By mid-morning during the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge’s annual Street Painting Festival, many of the participant’s creations were taking form, and each artist’s hands were covered with a chalk patina.

Launched in 2000, the festival is facilitated by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge to support scholarships for Roane State Community College students through the nonprofit Roane State Foundation. Both participants and onlookers followed pandemic guidelines, wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

“We are so fortunate to continue our partnership between Roane State Community College, The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, and the Jackson Square Merchants Association to present the annual Street Painting Festival,” said Rotarian Jim Dodson, the event’s creative director.

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Smith estimates 600-700 COVID cases in Oak Ridge zip code

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Image courtesy Ellen Smith

Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith has estimated there could have been between 600 to 700 cases of COVID-19 in the city’s main zip code through October 14.

Oak Ridge’s main zip code is 37830.

The Tennessee Department of Health does not publish the number of COVID-19 cases by city or zip code. It does publish the number of COVID-19 cases by county, and it publishes trend maps by zip code, although it doesn’t give the precise number of cases per zip code.

Smith has analyzed the data and the maps to come up what she calls her best-guess estimate: 600 to 700 cases. That’s a bit more than 2 percent of the city’s population.

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Construction could start on water plant in spring

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Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.

Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters provided an update about the water plant to the City Council during a non-voting work session on Tuesday evening.

Plans could go the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation this week, and then the project could go out to bid, McWaters said.

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