Oak Ridge Today

New sushi restaurant planned in Oak Ridge

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A sushi roll, the Special Roll, created by Ge "Jake" Moua. (Photo courtesy Tia Moua)

A sushi roll, the Special Roll, created by Ge “Jake” Moua. (Photo courtesy Tia Moua)

 

A new sushi restaurant is planned in Oak Ridge.

The new restaurant will be called I Heart Sushi. It will be owned and managed by Ge “Jake” Moua, who is from Oak Ridge and lives here.

It will be where China Wok used to be and next to the new Hobby Lobby store, which is in the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue. The restaurant will be at 382 South Illinois Avenue.

The restaurant hopes to open as soon as possible, said Tia Moua, Jake’s wife. The restaurant is currently working on the inspections required by the City of Oak Ridge.

The sign to the building will be going up this week, Moua said Wednesday. There has been renovation work inside the former China Wok, and the opening and grand opening banners are ready. [Read more…]

More than 8,000 cubic feet of natural gas leaked into former Kroger on Tuesday

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Kroger Gas Leak and ORFD and ORUD

Businesses around the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue were evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported.

 

If it had exploded, the 8,500 cubic feet of natural gas that leaked into the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue on Tuesday could have had a devastating impact on the shopping center and blown out windows in nearby businesses, possibly even across the street, a city official said Wednesday.

“Had it exploded, we would have been on national news,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “It could have been devastating for all the businesses in that complex.”

Authorities suspect that the gas slowly flowed into the 30,000-square-foot grocery store starting Tuesday morning through an uncapped gas line that was once connected to an oven.

By the time emergency workers responded to a report of a gas leak on Tuesday afternoon, Kerley said, “the store was almost completely filled with a dangerous concentration of natural gas.” [Read more…]

Shopping center evacuated after gas leak reported

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Kroger Gas Leak and ORFD and ORUD

A shopping center was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported at the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.

 

A shopping center was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported at the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.

Emergency workers remained on the scene for several hours and were still there as of about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The gas leak was reported at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, and Oak Ridge emergency workers quickly evacuated surrounding stores, including China Wok, Nixon’s Deli, Mr. K’s Used Books and CDs, and Big Kmart. They also closed off the surrounding parking lot.

An employee at Mr. K’s smelled gas inside the store Tuesday afternoon, evening manager Kelly Smith said. The staff initially thought it might be coming from NIxon’s, the deli next door. But then they learned that Nixon’s doesn’t use natural gas. A walk around the shopping center’s parking lot determined that the gas was probably coming from the former Kroger store, Smith said.

The odor was getting stronger and stronger, he said. [Read more…]