Oak Ridge Today

Sewer rehab work continues this week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week.

The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.

Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information.

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists are urged to use extra care and caution when traveling on the streets with sewer work areas, a press release said. Temporary road repairs will be made, and loose gravel should be expected until the patches are permanently paved. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge city, schools have Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Wellness Fair 2011

Flu shots are given at an Oak Ridge Wellness Fair in November 2011. (File photo)

Oak Ridge Schools and the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee are co-sponsoring a Wellness and Safety Fair on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The entire community is invited to attend between 3 to 5 p.m.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the fair will be open only to Oak Ridge School employees and City of Oak Ridge workers. There will be many door prizes and a variety of vendors, a press release said.

More than 60 vendors are expected to take part, and activities including chair massages, pain assessments, ear canal screenings, power tool safety, resistance exercises, blood pressure screenings, grip strength, mobile mammography, medic, healthy food choices from local restaurants, Tennessee Highway Patrol and safe driving, Jazzercise, outdoor sports, varicose vein ultrasound, and much more, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sewer rehab work continues next week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue next week.

The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.

Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information. [Read more…]

DOE transfers former machine shop property to CROET

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DOE Land Transfer at ETTP to CROET

From left during Wednesday’s land transfer ceremony are U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann; Mark Whitney, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management; Lawrence Young, CROET president and CEO; and David Klaus, DOE’s deputy undersecretary for management and performance.

 

Roughly 25 acres of land that once housed a machine shop and supporting buildings at Heritage Center has been transferred to an economic development organization that finds new uses for former federal property.

The property transfer from the U.S. Department of Energy to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee was celebrated in a Wednesday afternoon ceremony. It’s the 12th transfer from DOE to CROET, and the two dozen acres were signed over to CROET for private-sector use.

Among the speakers at Wednesday’s ceremony were U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, and David Klaus, DOE’s deputy undersecretary for management and performance.

“The reindustrialization program in Oak Ridge has not only been an economic development catalyst for the region, it is saving tax payers millions of dollars as the federal government transfers underutilized assets to the private sector,” Fleischmann said.

The transfers of the parcels, officially known as ED-11 and ED-12, have been in the works for at least a few years. Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer, said there will some infrastructure improvements to make the property ready for development. Part of the property once housed Building 1401, an old machine shop that has now been demolished. [Read more…]

Sewer rehab work continues this week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week.

The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.

Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival concert tickets on sale today

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Kix Brooks with Mic

Country artist Kix Brooks performs at the Great Eastern Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27. (Submitted photos)

Eddie Money and Kix Brooks to headline 2014 concerts

It’s Secret City Festival time again in Oak Ridge! The bands have been selected, the schedule is filling up, and tickets to this year’s headliner concerts go on sale today (Tuesday, April 29). Tickets are priced at an early bird rate of $18. After May 30, ticket prices go up to $20. Children 10 and under are free with a paying adult.

Grammy-nominated ’80s rocker Eddie Money will bring his blue-collar brand of rock ‘n’ roll to the concert main stage on Friday, June 13, at 7 p.m. The Friday night concert also features local band Jada Blade.

Legendary country music artist Kix Brooks will bring his high energy, hit-filled show to the main stage Saturday, June 14, at 7 p.m. The Saturday night concert will feature opening band Phoenix Drive. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge to host two international government management professionals in May

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In May, local community leaders will host two professionals from Indonesia for short-term assignments in their offices as they participate in the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Professional Fellows Program. The exchange has been arranged by the International City/County Management Association, or ICMA, the organization that develops and advances professional local government management worldwide. Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is a local member of the ICMA.

This year, the Professional Fellows Program is providing professional development opportunities to up-and-coming leaders in the fields of legislative process and governance, media, and economic empowerment. This international exchange program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and in 2014, more than 400 foreign fellows, including legislators, journalists, entrepreneurs, NGO managers, community activists, and government officials will come to the United States under the Professional Fellows Program. In return, more than 300 American participants will take part in reciprocal fellowship programs overseas this year under the program. Some of the local organizations hosting the participants include: City of Oak Ridge, Staybridge Suites, and local home hosts.

“I feel great honor and privilege that the City of Oak Ridge has been chosen to host the ICMA fellows, Irma Mutiahsari and Hera Nugrahayu from Indonesia,” Watson said. “Our community has come together to provide our fellows with an applied understanding of our city.” [Read more…]

Sister City group has April 25 dinner for middle school exchanges with Japan

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Oak Ridge Naka-shi Middle School Exchange

Participants in the Oak Ridge/ Naka-shi, Japan 2013 Middle school exchange, frolic in the ocean on the Japanese coast. (Submitted photos)

The Sister City Support Organization, in cooperation with the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools, has sponsored the visit of middle school students to our sister city of Naka-shi, Japan, for 22 years.

In support of the 2014 Middle School exchange, the Sister City Support Organization is hosting a spaghetti supper on Friday, April 25. The supper will be held at the First United Methodist Church from 5:30-8 p.m. Student exchange participants and SCSO board members will don Japanese “happy coats” and kimonos to serve the main course and an array of delicious homemade desserts. [Read more…]

’80s rocker Eddie Money to play Secret City Festival in June

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Eddie Money

Eddie Money

Eddie Money, a 1980s rock star, will play at the Secret City Festival in June, organizers said Thursday.

Money will be the Friday night headliner. Organizers announced earlier this month that Kix Brooks will headline the Saturday night show.

This year’s festival, the 12th annual celebration, will be June 13-14.

Money’s Top 40 hits include “Take Me Home Tonight,” “Baby Hold On,” and “Two Tickets to Paradise.” He has sold more than 28 million records and plays a “blue-collar brand of rock ‘n’ roll,” a press release said.

The Friday, June 13, show starts at 7 p.m. Local rock band Jada Blade will be the opening act. [Read more…]

Sewer rehab work continues this week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week.

The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.

Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information. [Read more…]

ORHS students work on branding, design ideas with mall redevelopment company

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ORHS Students Work on Mall Redevelopment

Standing from left to right are Buddy McWilliams, Payne Adkins, Abigail Clanton, and Chris Giese. Seated from left to right are Wesley Robinson and Alex Tavangaran. (Photo courtesy J. Clint LaFollette)

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For three classes at Oak Ridge High School, the future of the old Oak Ridge Mall property is something the students are taking personally. Nearly 60 students in the Digital Arts and Design and Virtual Enterprise classes have been working on a branding strategy for the once-thriving retail site, and their top ideas will be presented to Crosland Southeast, the Charlotte-based firm that has been working with the City of Oak Ridge to develop a plan to establish a multi-use work-live-play-shop destination.

“It has been an exciting project to work on, because there have been several attempts to revitalize this property, and all have failed due to, among other things, the lack of focus on the specific interest of Oak Ridge residents,” said Buddy McWilliams, an ORHS senior who is working on the project. “Crosland Southeast has shown that they want to be successful by looking at the interest of students and others who will be using the property.”

Crosland Southeast approached Oak Ridge School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer with the idea to work with the students, and an enthusiastic Fillauer discussed it with ORHS Principal David Bryant and teachers Linda Ousley and Clint Lafollette, and the project was off and running.

Ousley is the facilitator of the school’s Virtual Enterprise program. Ousley said that Crosland Southeast will get a good cross-section of Oak Ridge opinion by talking with the students, and the students are getting excellent experience they can use on their future resumes. [Read more…]

Kix Brooks to headline Secret City Festival in June

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Kix Brooks with Mic

Country artist Kix Brooks performs at the Great Eastern Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27. (Submitted photos)

Kix Brooks—one-half of the bestselling country duo Brooks and Dunn—will headline the Saturday night concert at the Secret City Festival in June.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 14. Country-rock band Phoenix Drive will open.

“Kix Brooks enjoyed early career success as a songwriter before teaming up with Ronnie Dunn to form the highest-selling duo in the history of country music,” a press release said. “During their 20-year run together, Brooks and Dunn sold more than 30 million records, won more than 75 major industry awards, and celebrated 23 No. 1 hits.”

Brooks is now hosting the long-running syndicated radio program, American Country Countdown, where every week he counts country music’s Top 30 songs. Brooks has received many awards for his broadcasting abilities—including CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award in 2009, 2011, and 2013—making him the first person to ever win a CMA Award in both the artist and broadcast categories. [Read more…]