Sirens may sound several times between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Oak Ridge today as the Y-12 Public Warning Siren System is tested as part of a system replacement.
A B&W Y-12 press release said the vendor, American Signal, might sound each siren separately—and possibly more than once—to verify that it works properly.
David Richardson
The Y-12 National Security Complex has a new deputy general manager for operations, B&W Y-12 announced Tuesday.
The new manager, David Richardson, will be one of three deputy general managers at Y-12.
Richardson has the same job title as William R. Klemm, a former deputy general manager of operations who retired in August, a few weeks after an unprecedented July 28 security breach. However, Richardson’s range of job duties will be narrower than Klemm’s, allowing him to focus on nuclear operations.
Violin soloist Sidney Matlock, a sixth-grade student and competition winner, will perform at the Free Family Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)
A free family concert Sunday by the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra features the “Suite from Sleeping Beauty” by Russian composer Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky.
The theme of the 3 p.m. concert at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center is “Princesses and Knights,” a press release said.
“Youngsters of all ages are encouraged to come dressed in royal costume,” it said. “They will participate in the parade of princesses and knights during the concert.”
The press release said parents should bring their children at 2:30 p.m. Sunday so they can decorate a crown or tiara for the parade.
Violin soloist Sidney Matlock will play “Allegro Brillante” by the 19th century Dutch composer Willem Have, the press release said. Matlock is a sixth-grade violin student of ORSO concertmaster Karen Kartal and a winner in the most recent Youth Aliyah competition.
About 500 people enjoyed food and music at Saturday’s Taste of Oak Ridge in Jackson Square, organizers said.
Now in its fourth year, Taste of Oak Ridge is an annual fundraiser held by the Jackson Square Business Association to benefit The Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. This year’s five-hour festival raised about $2,500 for the clinic, the most so far, a press release said.
The Free Medical Clinic serves low-income, uninsured residents of Anderson and Roane counties.
Oak Ridge school board members sidestepped a potentially controversial policy change on Monday that would have given them the right to restrict cameras and video recorders that are used disruptively.
The five-member Oak Ridge Board of Education had been scheduled to consider a policy change that said it “reserves the right to restrict the use of cameras, camcorders, or other photographic equipment that interferes or disrupts a board meeting.”
That was a watered-down version of a policy change recommended by the Tennessee School Boards Association. The original version said “No one shall bring a camera, camcorder, or other photographic equipment to board meetings without the consent of the board.”
The number of veterans helped by the county has grown by 25-30 percent each year during the five-year tenure of Anderson County Veterans Service Officer Leon Jaquet, Mayor Terry Frank announced.
The federal benefits paid to those same veterans has increased at nearly the same rate, Frank said in a press release marking Jaquet’s five-year anniversary. By 2011, the benefits paid to veterans and widows from Anderson County was about $8 million per year, Frank said.
A free workshop Friday at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will focus on bank loans for small businesses.
Topics will include the basics of financial statements and lender requirements for existing and start-up businesses. Small Business Administration loan guarantees will also be covered.
The speaker is Jutta Bangs, senior business specialist with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded a state traffic safety grant for the fourth year, Sheriff Paul White announced Monday.
The $40,000 grant from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office will support the county’s traffic safety program. It will provide overtime for officers trying to reduce injuries and fatalities by cracking down on seat belt violators and drivers operating vehicles while impaired or driving under the influence, a press release said.
Chris Whaley
After a nationwide search, a state education official has recommended that Roane State Community College pick one of its own executives to be the next president.
Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan has recommended that Chris Whaley, Roane State’s vice president of student learning and chief academic officer, be appointed to the job, TBR said in a news release Monday.
The board of Regents could consider the appointment during a 3 p.m. Oct. 1 teleconference.
Astronaut Bernard A. Harris Jr., right, talks to Scott Wood, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory computer analyst and Roane State Community College observatory volunteer, after a Friday morning talk at ORNL.
He had prepared for this space mission for years, starting as a boy fascinated by the Apollo program and continuing through rigorous astronaut training.
Still, as Bernard A. Harris Jr. stepped out of the space shuttle Discovery in 1995—the first African-American to walk in space—he hesitated, afraid he might get sucked out of the craft’s air lock and fall 250 miles to Earth.
Holy cow, Harris thought as the Earth flew by far below at 17,500 miles per hour.
“I am really doing this,” Harris recalled thinking. “It was just incredible.”
Oak Ridge officials, business leaders, and historic preservationists will honor an apartment complex built during the Manhattan Project, the top-secret World War II program to develop the world’s first atomic bombs.
The Thursday evening ceremony at the Rolling Hills Apartments will include city leaders, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.
Trina Baughn
Encouraged by the results of the Aug. 2 election, communications professional Trina Baughn is running again, this time for a regular four-year term on the Oak Ridge City Council.
The Aug. 2 special election was for a three-month term. That election was required after former City Council member Tom Hayes resigned in June 2011.
Council appointed Chuck Hope Jr. to take Hayes’ seat last summer, and Hope beat Baughn in this summer’s election.
