Oak Ridge Today

Fall in love with ‘Dine and Donate’

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Dean's-Restaurant-Dean-Russell-Lynn-Randolph-Feb-2016

Dean Russell and Lynn Randolph, co-owners of Dean’s are pictured above. Ranked the number one restaurant in Oak Ridge on tripadvisor.com, Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery offers a variety of wood-grilled and home cooked favorites. (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, February 8, several local restaurants will “share the love” by donating a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, ADFAC’s February Dine and Donate event provides an early opportunity to treat loved ones to a special meal.

Restaurants participating on Monday, February 8, are:

  • Dean’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Hoskins in Clinton,
  • Mediterranean Delight in Oak Ridge,
  • Popeye’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Razzleberry’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Secret City BBQ and Pies in Oak Ridge, and
  • Subway locations in Clinton (both), Oak Ridge (Four Oaks Center), Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top.

[Read more…]

Good news: Interactive fountain arrives at Jackson Square

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Interactive Fountain Vault at Jackson Square

The interactive fountain has arrived at Jackson Square. It’s the central component in the $1 million renovation of the square’s parking lot. Above, workers unload the fountain’s vault, which is essentially its operating system, early Thursday afternoon. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 4 p.m.

The interactive water fountain has arrived at Jackson Square. It’s a central component in the $1 million renovation of the shopping center’s parking lot.

The fountain components that arrived on a semi truck early Thursday afternoon were a large vault, which is the fountain’s operating system, and a collection tank. Spray pods that will go around the fountain were already here.

The entire fountain, which was custom-built by Roman Fountains of New Mexico, is now on site, said Angel Rich, president of Rich Construction Inc. of Lenoir City. The parking lot renovation, which is mostly funded with a state grant and includes the fountain, is expected to be substantially complete by September 15. That would be in time for the Taste of Anderson County on September 19 at Jackson Square.

Rich said the next steps are to dig a hole for the fountain and install it, run electrical and water lines to it, and tie it into the city’s sewer system. [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…]

Letter: Rich Construction, city ‘should be ashamed’ over Jackson Square work

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To the Editor:

The Rich Construction Company leadership and some officials of the City of Oak Ridge should be ashamed of themselves for the total disaster that is the reconstruction allegedly going on at Jackson Square.

My family and I have been steady customers of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery as well as some of the other businesses there for over a year. We have seen the “progress” on the project at least weekly since its beginning. The rate of progress has been abysmal at best. There have many, many clear weather days throughout last winter and spring where work could have been going on, but there was no one in sight. In fact, the only time there seemed to be ANY sign of urgency was the two days before the Lavender Festival in June. The work then was only to minimally accommodate that event. And as soon as it was over, work stopped again.

The initial completion date the business owners were promised was in June. By that time they had suffered through over five months of loss of business and disappointed customers. When it wasn’t completed by then, the owners were promised a completion date of mid-August. Well, that didn’t happen either! Now the latest promised completion date is in mid-September. Almost 10 months after the project started. Unbelievable! [Read more…]

In Oak Ridge, Alexander, Haslam promote GOP accomplishments

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Bill Haslam and Lamar Alexander

Governor Bill Haslam, left, and Senator Lamar Alexander touted the accomplishments of Republicans in Congress and Tennessee during a campaign stop at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, one day before Thursday’s state and federal primary elections.

 

Governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander campaigned in Oak Ridge on Wednesday as the two-term senator fought to prevail in the federal Republican primary in Tennessee on Thursday. The duo also promoted GOP accomplishments, both in Congress and in Tennessee.

Alexander is facing off against seven candidates for one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats. Most of the attention has been focused on the race between Alexander and state Representative Joe Carr, a Republican Tea Party challenger from Lascassas in Rutherford County.

Alexander, who is also a former Tennessee governor, didn’t mention Carr by name during a stop at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.

Instead, he focused on accomplishments such as his vote to end “perpetual amnesty,” his “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, and the possibility that Republicans could gain a majority in the U.S. Senate. He also made some promises if Democrats lose control of the Senate.

“We’ll get rid of Harry Reid’s agenda,” said Alexander, referring to the current Senate majority leader, a Democrat. “We’ll get rid of ‘Obamacare.’” [Read more…]

Treat yourself to an early holiday meal with ADFAC’s ‘Dine and Donate’

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With the hustle and bustle of holidays all around, ADFAC says it’s a great time to treat yourself and your loved ones to a special meal.

With their monthly “Dine and Donate” event, there is a way to do that and support the less fortunate in our community.

This month’s event is Monday, and five local restaurants are participating. They have agreed to donate a portion of their sales to support ADFAC (Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties).

The participating restaurants are: [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.

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