Main Street remained closed to traffic at North Hicks Street Monday morning as construction work continued. - G. Chambers Williams III
“Complications” with construction on Main Street have forced a delay in moving the planned closures into a new section, which was supposed to happen last Monday (Sept. 12), Clinton City Manager Roger Houck said this week.
Instead, the section from Cullom to Church streets remained closed Monday, and will remain that way until next week, when the closure is expected to move to the “Phase 2” area, from Church to Kincaid streets, Houck said.
“They ran into some issues the first week,” he said. “To my understanding, they should move to Phase 2 next week. But rain is predicted for this week, and that may put them behind.”
As the schedule was originally announced in mid-August, Main Street was to be shut down in three phases, two times each, from Aug. 24 through Nov. 24.
Beginning next week, weather permitting, Main Street will be closed to traffic for about three weeks from Church to Kincaid streets, and then the work will move to the area from Kincaid to Broad streets, shutting that section down for about three weeks.
Then the process will repeat, with the final work to be completed in late November – or now, perhaps not until mid-December..
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, left, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, right, watch as Tennessee Valley Authority President Don Moul and Type One Energy CEO Christopher Mowry meet to sign a letter of intent supporting a fusion power plant called Infinity Two on the Bull Run Fossil Plant site in Claxton on Friday, Sept. 18.
Historic first: Claxton could become home to the world’s first commercial fusion power plant, a project TVA and Type One Energy hope will redefine clean-energy production.
Major investment: Type One plans to hire hundreds of engineers over the next few years as it develops a prototype at the former Bull Run Fossil Plant, with the goal of building a 350-megawatt fusion facility.
Local impact: Officials say the project could revive the Bull Run workforce, meet the region’s rising power demand and position Tennessee as a national leader in safe, reliable energy.
The Claxton community could be home to the world’s first commercial fusion power plant if everything goes well.
Tennessee Valley Authority President Don Moul and Type One Energy CEO Christopher Mowry last Friday signed a letter of intent supporting the fusion power plant, to be called Infinity Two, as Gov. Bill Lee and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally stood next to them.
The fusion plant will be a new type of nuclear reactor, involving atoms’ nuclei joining together as they do in the sun rather than splitting apart like they do at existing nuclear power plants.
Whether and when the fusion plant gets built still depends on Type One proving that this type of energy is commercially ready. Other factors include receiving TVA Board approval, regulatory review, and alignment with TVA’s least-cost planning processes and “American energy dominance strategy,” TVA stated in news release.
IWI US investing $15.7M, bringing 72 jobs to Andersonville
by G. Chambers Williams III
This is the location on Mountain Road in Andersonville where an Israeli-owned gunmaker will relocate its headquarters and manufacturing plant from Pennsylvania, creating 72 jobs. - G. Chambers Williams III
A subsidiary of a gun manufacturer based in Israel, IWI US Inc., announced plans on Monday to invest $15.7 million on a new U.S. headquarters and factory in Andersonville, and bring 72 new jobs to the facility.
The company is relocating its U.S. operations from Pennsylvania to a building it purchased earlier this year at 1485 Mountain Road to “manufacture, produce and assemble” handguns, and distribute accessories for them, including night-vision sights.
The announcement, released by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, noted that IWI US, Inc., was founded in 2012 and specializes in manufacturing firearms for the commercial, law enforcement and government markets.
“The relocation to Anderson County and expanded operations ultimately position the company in better proximity to its customer base nationwide,” the announcement said.
In February, IWI received approval from the Anderson County Board of Zoning Appeals for a zoning variance on the building, just east of U.S. 441 (Norris Freeway), south of Andersonville Highway (Tennessee 62).
The Rocky Top City Council, missing an absent member, conducts business during its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 18, at City Hall. Looking on at left is City Manager Mike Ellis. - G. Chambers Williams III
Rocky Top’s City Hall and fire/police station will be getting new roofs soon to put a stop to pesky leaks that send city employees scurrying for buckets every time it rains,
During its September meeting last Thursday, the council approved spending up to $125,000 on a contract for the roof work.
The city manager was authorized to choose the lowest qualifying bid out of three submitted for the job, with the winning bid expected to be about $120,000.
The council also approved paying Cannon & Cannon engineers to prepare an application for a federal Brownfield Redevelopment Area Grant of an unspecified amount to help with removal of the old Martin Funeral Home building at 225. S. Main St. to create a downtown public parking lot.
Because there once was a gasoline service station with underground fuel tanks on part of the site, the city likely will have to pay for environmental remediation to remove fuel that may have leaked into the ground from the tanks over the years.
Bobby Cain, the first African American to graduate from Clinton High School died in the morning of Monday, Sept. 22 in Nashville.
Cain and the other Clinton 12 students were the second group of African Americans to attend a government run school in the southeast and the first to attend a public school, as the previous one, Oak Ridge had a federal arrangement. The Clinton 12, a group of Black students braved a mob and threats to attend school at CHS. Cain entered the school during his senior year and graduated in 1956. These events took place just two years after the Brown v. Board of Education Decision in 1954.
Asbury United Methodist Church announced his passing and offered condolences to his friends and family.
The Oak Ridge Police Department is checking children’s car seats as part of Child Passenger Safety Week.
If parents and caregivers would like to have their car seats checked, they can call the ORPD at 865-425-4399 to schedule a time to stop by headquarters at 200 S. Tulane Ave. during normal business hours, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A scheduled special car-seat check event will occur this Friday (Sept. 26) from noon to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Choices Resource Center, 170 Raleigh Road.
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Choices Resource Center and Safe Kids Worldwide are sponsors in addition to the ORPD.
Every year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration observes Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs this year from Sept. 21-27.
“The scheduled-checkpoint event is for parents and caregivers to receive free instruction on how to install and use the right car seats for their children,” Oak Ridge Police Lt. Shannah Newman said in a news release.
