A Maynardville teenager was taken to a Knoxville hospital after the car in which he was riding spun out on South Illinois Avenue on Saturday evening and hit a tree near Edgemoor Road.
Jason Hale, 18, of Raccoon Valley Road, was trapped or had to be extricated, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. He was injured and taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the report said. [Read more…]
A draft image of what a sewer system holding tank could look like on Emory Valley Road east of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center. The proposal could change based upon input from Oak Ridge City Council members. (Images courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Oak Ridge officials are considering utility rate increases that could cost many residents another $6.87 per month, and they have also proposed building three large sewer system holding tanks, including two near busy roadways, in response to a federal order requiring the city to stop all sewer system overflows by September 2015.
Council could consider those proposals, as well as a request to buy three new fire trucks, during its Sept. 9 meeting. [Read more…]
Construction has started on an Aldi grocery store on South Illinois Avenue. Above, construction subcontractors from Bellamy Excavating of Knoxville install a storm sewer on the 1.4-acre site near the relocated, expanded Panera Bread and new Aubrey’s restaurant.
Construction work has started on an Aldi grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.
Under way for about a month, work on the 16,000-square-foot store on 1.4 acres could be finished in November, said Tony Stacy, job superintendent for the project’s general contractor, Creative Structures of Knoxville.
The project at the Woodland Town Center, where the new Aubrey’s and relocated Panera Bread opened in October, was announced in January. [Read more…]
An Oak Ridge woman was hit by a vehicle driven by an Oak Ridge man on South Illinois Avenue on Monday, authorities said.
Elaine Emerson, 41, was struck near Badger Avenue at 6:12 p.m. Monday by a vehicle driven south by Brandon Luke, 42, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.
Emerson was transported by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where she was listed as being in critical but stable condition, ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said. No charges are expected to be filed against the driver of the vehicle.
The July 4 fireworks show in Oak Ridge starts at 10 p.m. at A.K. Bissell Park. (Photo by Charles Samuels)
Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley has announced that the fireworks display, sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge, will begin at 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 4. The display will be shot from A.K. Bissell Park.
The fireworks will be accompanied by music played live on-site by Merle 96.7 FM. Radio host Jack Ryan will be live from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude the live broadcast with a patriotic medley as the fireworks are shot. The countdown to the fireworks begins at 9:30 p.m. Listeners can tune their radios to 96.7 Merle FM and enjoy the show.
The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its annual 4th of July concert at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from this burning vehicle on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge Police Department)
Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle that went down an embankment on Irene Lane on Friday night, authorities said.
The unnamed driver, a 26-year-old Oak Ridge resident, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the 11:30 p.m. crash, which shut down the northbound lanes of North Illinois Avenue, authorities said.
Eight officers responded, and they used fire extinguishers to fight the flames and keep police from getting burned, an Oak Ridge Police Department statement said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department also responded.
Site work has started on a new Weigel’s convenience store that will include 16 gas pumps and could open later this summer or in the early fall on South Illinois Avenue.
Site work has started for a new Weigel’s on South Illinois Avenue.
The convenience store is expected to include 16 gas pumps and could open in the late summer or early fall, said Chris Ooten, Weigel’s real estate director.
The roughly 4,000-square-foot store will be on a 1.5-acre parcel south of TNBank.
Ooten said Weigel’s closed on the property about a month ago and has been working on utilities since then. [Read more…]
One month after a large reported disturbance, the city’s deputy police chief told the owners of a popular restaurant and bar in central Oak Ridge that they need to monitor customers who are drinking and not serve people who have consumed too much alcohol.
The warning to the owners of Lincoln’s Sports Grille came during a Monday meeting of the Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board.
That board had called a show cause hearing for Lincoln’s, which is on South Illinois Avenue, after a Feb. 10 fight that reportedly started as an argument between two men over a woman and escalated into a large disturbance that required an entire shift of police officers to respond.
A furniture truck and a sedan crashed Saturday morning on slippery, snow-covered South Illinois Avenue. There didn’t appear to be any injuries, but the northbound lanes were closed for more than an hour.
The last time it snowed in Oak Ridge, some residents were disappointed that it didn’t stick.
This time was different. Saturday morning flurries quickly dumped an inch of snow or more on Oak Ridge, covering roadways and making driving treacherous.
There appeared to be at least several minor accidents, including on Oak Ridge Turnpike, Lafayette Drive, and South Illinois Avenue.
A grocery story and commercial store are being considered at two small sites on South Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The unnamed grocery store could be built on a 2.3-acre parcel at the new Woodland Town Center, where Aubrey’s and Panera Bread recently opened. The store would be across from the two restaurants, on the other side of a new roadway called Woodland Terrace East.
Construction work has started on a $1 million state project to improve the interchange at South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in Oak Ridge.
Construction work has started on a $1.2 million state project to improve the interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue, or State Route 62.
The work started Nov. 14 and could be complete by June 15, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman.
The work is being done by J&M Grading Division LLC of Friendsville under a $1.165 million contract, Nagi said.
The work includes building three detention ponds that will be used as sediment basins during construction, reconfiguring the interchange, and extending Centrifuge Way, which was formerly known as Boeing Road.
An employee at Lincoln’s Sports Grille on South Illinois Avenue reported that he was hit in the head by an unknown suspect as he took out the trash early Friday morning, authorities said.
The employee said he was taking the trash to a dumpster behind Lincoln’s at about 12:23 a.m. Friday when he was struck from behind without warning, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said. The restaurant worker said the suspect laughed after hitting him, but made no other statement before fleeing east across ORAU Way.
