A large tree fell on a power line in west Oak Ridge early Saturday morning, causing an outage that affected about 7,150 customers, officials said.
The tree fell on a subtransmission line that runs over the top of a ridge south of Oak Ridge Turnpike on the west side of town at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday, July 11.
The tree shorted out the feeds to two substations, which caused a power outage roughly from Tulane Avenue westward, the Oak ridge Electric Department said. [Read more…]
An armed robbery was reported at Walgreens Pharmacy on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 6:32 a.m. Friday, authorities said.
Several Oak Ridge Police Department officers, including a K9 unit, arrived on scene within minutes and immediately started searching for the suspect, who had fled the business on foot with a small amount of cash, a City of Oak Ridge press release said. The suspect was described as a white male in dark clothing and baseball cap who indicated he was armed.
The suspect was not located, and the investigation is still ongoing at this time, the press release said. [Read more…]
One person died and nine people were injured when a Dodge Ram pickup truck backing up in the parking lot at Midtown Community Center caused a nine-vehicle crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night.
Note: This story was last updated at 12:17 p.m.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified James Robinson, 37, of Knoxville, as the man who died in the parking lot crash that killed one person and injured nine others at Midtown Community Center after fireworks on Saturday.
Robinson was struck by a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Lee Cromwell, 65, of Oak Ridge, as Cromwell backed his truck through the parking lot, a City of Oak Ridge press release said. Nine people were injured, and eight vehicles were hit by Cromwell’s truck, authorities said.
Robinson was critically injured in the crash, and he was taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, where he later died, the press release said.
A family friend said Robinson, who was with his wife and two daughters, died a hero by pushing his oldest daughter Jaide out of the way of the way of the approaching vehicle.
Seven more patients were taken by ambulance from the scene to local area hospitals. One adult and two juvenile patients with non-life threatening injuries were transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Four juvenile patients with non-life threatening injuries were taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, which is also in Knoxville. And two adults who were also injured were transported to Methodist Medical Center in personal vehicles.
Cromwell was not injured. [Read more…]
A man died and at least a half-dozen people went to the hospital after a mutli-vehicle crash in the parking lot of Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night. Above, an accident reconstruction team works in the pouring rain at Midtown Community Center on Robertsville Road at about 2 a.m. Sunday. At right is Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Grant Gouldie.
Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 p.m.
One person died after a multi-vehicle crash in the parking lot of Midtown Community Center sent at least a half-dozen people to the hospital after fireworks in Oak Ridge on Saturday night, authorities said.
The man who died has a Knoxville address, but police aren’t identifying him yet because family members are still being notified. It appeared that the man was on foot at the time of the crash, authorities said. The man who died was with his wife and children, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said.
Akagi said at least six people, including two children, were sent to three hospitals in three ambulances. The injured were taken to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge and Children’s Hospital and University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Their names and conditions weren’t immediately available.
Akagi said a pickup involved in the crash hit several vehicles, although it’s not clear how the man who died was injured.
It’s also not clear how fast the red Dodge pickup truck was going or whether it was backing up, he said. Witnesses said the truck had been parked at the east end of the parking lot facing east, or away from the entrance, and the driver backed up to leave as soon as fireworks were over. Witnesses said the truck was in reverse and driving fast. So far, authorities have been unable to confirm that.
“We don’t know what happened,” Akagi said.
But the truck’s back end appeared to have struck at least one vehicle.
Akagi said there were at least a half-dozen vehicles involved in the crash. He said he didn’t know if any other vehicles were moving at the time of the collision. [Read more…]
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a DEEM van, pictured at center behind the Oak Ridge Electric Department truck, crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning. Above, a tow truck, right, responds to remove the van, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department, foreground, responds to repair the pole. (Photo by Daniel Powers)
Note: This story was last updated at 7:43 p.m. June 8.
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a van crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning.
The crash was reported at about 9:05 a.m. Saturday.
Kristin Nevius said she was driving a Chrysler Town and Country van southbound toward Oak Ridge Turnpike on New York Avenue when the other van narrowly missed her vehicle and crashed into the pole while headed north on New York Avenue. Nevius and passenger Peggy VandenBurg and Nevius’ two children were not injured, but they said they were upset by the close call and subsequent crash. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Works Department continues to use state-of-the-art technology to perform inspections of the city’s sewer system, a press release said.
This technology employs a sonar machine that emits a repeating series of tones, similar to a musical scale. In open areas, it can be heard over long distances. While harmless, the tones emitted by the machine are low enough in frequency that residents nearby may be able to feel and, in some instances, hear them.
Testing is ongoing, but it will be concentrated to certain areas depending upon weather constraints and other factors. This area includes Georgia Avenue to West Outer Drive north of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Cumberland View to Fairbanks Road south of the Turnpike. Residents will notice signs posted on main roads stating “Acoustic Sewer Inspection in Area” while crews are working in their neighborhoods.
Questions can be directed to the Public Works information line at (865) 425-3619 or by email to PubWorksDis@oakridgetn.gov.
More specific information may also be found on the city’s website at SewerProject.OakRidgeTN.gov/work-activities.
Two inside lanes on Oak Ridge Turnpike could be briefly closed early this weekend to repair a leak on a city-owned water line.
The Oak Ridge Public Works Department could close the two inside lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike where it intersects Administration Road and Tyler Road, a press release said. The city staff plans to start the work at about 12 a.m. Friday, June 5.
Vehicles entering Oak Ridge Turnpike from either Administration or Tyler will be restricted to right turns only, the press release said. Talmeda Road to Central Avenue or Milan Way to Bus Terminal Road may be used as a detour. The work is expected to take eight to 12 hours, but it may be delayed in the event of bad weather.
For more information about the Public Works Department, visit the city’s website at www.oakridgetn.gov.
A Bobcat allegedly involved in a plot to steal a safe from an ATM in east Oak Ridge on Christmas Day 2013 is tipped over on its side in a small ditch next to the safe, which had not been opened. (File photo/December 25, 2013)
Stanley Junior Wallace
A Kingston man has been arrested and charged in the alleged conspiracy to steal an ATM safe loaded with $26,000 in cash using a Bobcat and pickup truck on Christmas Day 2013.
The plot to steal the 4,000-pound safe was unsuccessful. But the suspects were able to demolish the stand-alone Y-12 Federal Credit Union automated teller machine near Tractor Supply in east Oak Ridge and pull the safe several hundred feet across a field before the Bobcat tipped over in a small culvert next to Bogola Road. An attempt to remove the cash box with a stolen Ford F250 pickup truck also failed, so the suspects left the area, authorities said.
Stanley Junior Wallace, 25, of Lawnville Road in Kingston, has been charged in the case. He was arrested March 26 and faces charges of attempted theft of more than $10,000, vandalism of more than $10,000, attempted aggravated burglary, auto burglary, conspiracy, aggravated trespassing, and joyriding.
Oak Ridge Police Department Detective William Weaver said he interviewed Wallace at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on April 21, 2014. Wallace was given his Miranda warning and agreed to speak with Weaver, according to arrest warrants. [Read more…]
In a 4-3 vote Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved a contract to install a traffic signal at the Oak Ridge High School on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Note: This story was updated at 8:42 a.m. April 15.
The City Council approved a contract to install a stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School in a 4-3 vote on Monday.
Public Works Director Gary Cinder said the light will be green most of the time on Oak Ridge Turnpike. But it will turn red when cars are leaving the High School, giving those drivers a green light.
And the traffic signal lights will turn all-red when pedestrians are crossing, Cinder said. [Read more…]
Here is the master plan for Main Street Oak Ridge. (See a larger version of the plan in the link below.) The traffic signal and access would be on Rutgers Avenue in the bottom middle of the map above.
The City Council on Monday will consider resolutions that would allow new traffic signals at Oak Ridge High School and Main Street Oak Ridge.
Main Street Oak Ridge is the proposed project that would redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. The proposed traffic signal would be on Rutgers Avenue at a new access to Main Street Oak Ridge that the City Council could approve on Monday.
The other traffic signal would be on Oak Ridge Turnpike between Oak Ridge High School and the Civic Center. Council postponed a vote on that stoplight in March. [Read more…]
Pictured above during a presentation on Main Street Oak Ridge last week are Crosland Southeast partner James Downs, right; Barry James, Crosland Southeast senior vice president, center; and Houston E. Daugherty, Cannon and Cannon vice president.
A vote that could help Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, is on Thursday’s agenda. So is an open house on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
They are among two of the biggest projects in Oak Ridge in years, and both are considered key parts of an economic renaissance that also includes new business development along Oak Ridge Turnpike and South Illinois Avenue, a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, the proposed multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the announcement by metal powder manufacturing company CVMR this month that it will move its operations from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.
A rezoning has been requested for Main Street Oak Ridge. It will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission during a meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. The Planning Commission will also consider a planned unit development, or PUD, master plan for the project. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will discuss the proposed traffic signal on Oak Ridge Turnpike at the High School and a proposal to extend the lease on the Senior Center for five years through 2019.
Those are two of the agenda items for a Tuesday evening work session.
The City Council postponed a vote last week on a contract to install a stoplight on the Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. The light could eliminate the need for a crossing guard.
City officials had said the light could be installed by August 2015, but the postponement of the contract vote to the April meeting will likely delay the completion date, possibly until after school starts later this year. [Read more…]
