Oak Ridge Today

Dine and Donate on Monday, Oct. 14, to help local families

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Dean Russell is pictured above with Joe Kenda. (Submitted photo)

 

You can enjoy great food and support an important organization on Monday, October 14. That’s when several area restaurants will donate a portion of their sales to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, for Dine & Donate.

Participating Dine & Donate restaurants are Dean’s, Gallo Loco, Hoskins, Burchfield’s, Mediterranean Delight, Razzleberry’s, The Soup Kitchen, and Subway locations in Clinton, Oak Ridge (at 1968 Oak Ridge Turnpike), Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top.

October’s featured Dine & Donate supporter is Dean’s Restaurant & Bakery, which is located in Oak Ridge’s historic Jackson Square.

“Dean’s has been a favorite among locals for years,” said Jamie LaRose, ADFAC development director. “However, on October 9, viewers around the world got a little ‘taste’ of the restaurant’s hospitality and menu.” [Read more…]

Frustration increases, Council not pleased as Jackson Square work stretches into fall

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Jackson Square Parking Lot Meeting

Oak Ridge municipal staff members and Mayor Warren Gooch met with Jackson Square merchants at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen on Wednesday, July 29, to discuss the $1 million parking lot renovation, which is not yet finished but could be “substantially complete” by Sept. 15. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

One merchant said he’s lost more than $100,000 in sales. Another said she had to close her business. And a third has posted signs that express frustration with the pace of construction at Jackson Square.

At one time, there was hope that the $1 million parking lot renovation at Jackson Square would be complete by the Lavender Festival in mid-June. But that didn’t happen. Now, the latest construction schedule estimates that it will be “substantially complete” by September 15—in time for Taste of Anderson County—but not finished until the end of October.

Officials have said the primary delay has been with the interactive fountain that will be installed in the center of Jackson Square. It still hasn’t arrived, and officials have said it could take four weeks to install. On Monday, the contractor and her attorney said the fountain could arrive in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.

Even business owners who had an optimistic outlook earlier have lost their patience with the project, which is mostly funded with a state grant. Their primary frustrations: The work has taken much longer than expected, the schedule keeps getting extended, and there have been too many days when, they say, they’ve seen no signs of work. In the meantime, the parking lot in front of their stores was closed for months, and they believe that the construction fencing and orange barrels drove away some potential customers.

“Why can’t they finish this?” asked Jonathan Goldstein of The String Workshop.

“We’ve been nice long enough,” said Dean Russell, owner of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery.

“I think our frustration is how many days we’ve seen nothing happening as our customer base declines,” said Steve Seivers, who has a law practice in the square, the city’s original town center.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council joined the chorus of frustration. [Read more…]

Shutdown ends: Oak Ridgers relieved, but frustrated with Congress

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Dean's Restaurant and Bakery

Dean Russell, co-owner of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Jackson Square, has put up a sign expressing frustration with Congress over the government shutdown. Pictured above are restaurant servers Cassandra Prater, right, and Andy Tatum.

The end of the government shutdown last week brought relief to Oak Ridge, especially at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where up to about 3,600 workers were expected to be furloughed starting last Thursday unless a deal was reached.

Chuck Spencer, general manager of B&W Y-12, which manages and operates Y-12, told workers on Thursday that a shutdown to minimum staffing had been averted and the furloughs would no longer be necessary. There had been reports that only about 900 workers might have remained starting today.

Spencer said the nuclear weapons plant, which started an orderly shutdown two weeks ago on Monday, Oct. 7, will begin planning to resume normal operations.

Normal operations resumed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, Director Thom Mason said in a message to staff. ORNL had enough funding to continue operating through October and into November, but officials had started preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case the shutdown continued.

Oak Ridge residents remained frustrated even after Congress and the White House reached a last-minute, short-term spending agreement late Wednesday night that averted the shutdowns and furloughs, just hours before a deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and after some local businesses had already reported that the shutdown had affected their operations. [Read more…]

Dean’s Restaurant serves inexpensive, made-from-scratch Southern food

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Dean's Restaurant and Bakery

Officials, volunteers, and business owners celebrate the opening of Dean’s Bakery and Restaurant in Jackson Square during a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The owners of a new restaurant in Jackson Square serve made-from-scratch Southern food, and their meals cost $10 or less.

“It’s good, inexpensive fresh food,” said head chef and co-owner Dean Russell.

Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery opened June 11. It serves such food as fried catfish, turkey and dressing, Big Barney turkey club sandwiches, chicken and dumplings, pot roasts, country-fried steak, fresh vegetables, and steaks on weekends.

[Read more…]