Oak Ridge Today

Man receives two-year sentence after fatal hit-and-run

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The Oak Ridge Police Department investigated a deadly hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian between Brussels Road and Bogola Road on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Tuesday morning, Aug. 11, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A 31-year-old man received a two-year sentence and was placed on supervised probation when he pleaded guilty Friday to charges filed after a fatal hit-and-run crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike more than two years ago.

The defendant received credit for time served in jail from August 11, 2020, to June 29, 2021.

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Wildcats play at Powell in quarterfinal

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Oak Ridge will play at Powell in a quarterfinal game of the Class 5A football playoffs.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 18. Tickets are $10.

Oak Ridge (7-5) lost to Powell 30-14 during the regular season on September 30. It was the only loss for the Wildcats in Region 3 this year, and they finished 4-1 in the region.

The Panthers (10-2), undefeated in Region 3 during the regular season this year (5-0), were state Class 5A champions last season.

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Secret City Half Marathon & 5k is Saturday

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More than 700 runners are expected at the Secret City Half Marathon and 5k in Oak Ridge on Saturday, and several roads will be closed during the race.

The race is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday.

The roads that will be closed during the race are:

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Union wants to use former hardware store as trade school

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A plumbers and steamfitters union wants to use a former hardware store on Oak Ridge Turnpike for a trade school. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A plumbers and steamfitters union wants to use a former hardware store for a trade school.

A rezoning for the project was recommended in a voice vote by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday. There was no opposition.

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City will pay at least $15 per hour for permanent, full-time work

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Full-time permanent employees of the City of Oak Ridge will earn at least $15 per hour starting in January under a resolution unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday.

Seasonal, part-time, and temporary employees would not be guaranteed this wage.

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City announces Thanksgiving closures, schedule changes

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

City of Oak Ridge offices and facilities will be closed on Thursday, November 24, and Friday, November 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Oak Ridge Public Library and book drop, Oak Ridge Civic Center and indoor pool, Senior Center, and Scarboro Center will be closed through the weekend, from Thursday, November 24, through Sunday, November 27, a press release said.

The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24, only and will re-open on regular schedule Friday, November 25.

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Two die in Edgemoor Road crash

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Two people died in a crash between a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer truck on Edgemoor Road on Thursday.

The crash was reported at New Henderson Road in Claxton at about 6:22 p.m. Thursday.

A preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Jordan K. Scott, 29, of Knoxville, was driving a 1991 Ford F150 pickup truck north on New Henderson Road when he pulled out in front of a 2019 Peterbilt tractor-trailer truck driven by Rex A. Sparks, 56, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia. Sparks had been driving east on Edgemoor Road, toward Clinton Highway.

Scott’s two passengers in the pickup truck died in the collision. The THP identified them as Gregory L. Sweet, 57, of Oak Ridge, and Marion M. West, 54, of Clinton.

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NRC seeks public comment about test reactor

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Kairos Hermes test reactor (Image via Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment and will have a public meeting and online seminar Wednesday about issuing a construction permit for a proposed test reactor in Oak Ridge.

The NRC has issued a draft environmental impact statement for the construction permit for a Kairos Hermes Test Reactor. The nuclear reactor would not produce electricity, but it would test Kairos Power’s fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology, according to the NRC.

Completed in September, the draft environmental impact statement includes the NRC staff’s preliminary analysis of the environmental impacts of issuing a construction permit to Kairos.

“After weighing the environmental, economic, technical, and other benefits against environmental and other costs, the NRC staff’s preliminary recommendation, unless safety issues mandate otherwise, is that the operating license be issued as requested,” the NRC said in a notice published in the Federal Register.

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ORNL to receive $497 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding 

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory will receive $497 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects that include nuclear fusion and neutron research, supercomputing, materials science, and radioisotope production. More than half of the money, 52% of it, will be used for U.S. contributions to an international nuclear fusion project.

ORNL’s $497 million is about one-third of the $1.55 billion provided to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science by the Democrat-led Congress under the IRA. President Joe Biden signed the IRA, which included a range of provisions and passed along party lines, into law in August. It provides money for more than 52 DOE projects already in the works.

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Bond reduced for wife charged with murder

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Samantha Hendley

Bond has been reduced for a woman charged with murder for the death of her husband in Oak Ridge in 2014.

Bond for Samantha Anne Hendley, 36, was reduced from $1 million to $450,000 in an order issued November 7 by Senior Judge Don R. Ash. If Hendley is able to be released on bond, she is required to wear a global positioning system (GPS) monitoring device, the order said.

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ORNL studying hydrogen as rail fuel to fight climate change

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Pictured above at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, for a project to research using hydrogen in a locomotive at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are, from left, Jim Gamble, vice president of engine and power solutions technology for Wabtec Corporation; Siddiq Khan, technology development manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office; Melissa Shurland, program manager in the Office of Research, Development, and Technology in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration; Dean Edwards, ORNL research and development lead; Xin Sun, ORNL associate laboratory director in the Energy Science and Technology Directorate; and Muhsin Ameen, senior research scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. Nov. 12.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has started a research project to investigate using hydrogen fuel in a railroad engine to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help fight climate change. Rail is one of the industries considered challenging to decarbonize along with aviation and shipping.

Researchers at ORNL and Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago will use a large single-cylinder 375-horsepower Wabtec engine that will burn a mixture of hydrogen and diesel fuel, which is what locomotives burn now. Under four-year agreements, the researchers will study things like engine hardware, fuel mixtures, and ignition strategies. Other low-carbon fuels could also be studied.

“We are excited to be a part of this collaboration because it addresses the need to decarbonize the rail industry by advancing hydrogen engine technology for both current and future locomotives,” said Josh Pihl, an ORNL distinguished researcher and group leader for applied catalysis and emissions research. “It is also a perfect example of how a DOE-funded collaboration between industry and national laboratories can accelerate the development and commercialization of technologies to help reduce carbon emissions from transportation.”

The 15.7-liter engine, larger than a tractor-trailer motor, was recently installed in garage-size research space at the National Transportation Research Center, an ORNL campus in Hardin Valley. ORNL had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the engine research project on Wednesday.

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Drop off expired, unused meds on Oct. 29

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The Oak Ridge Police Department is participating in the National Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29.

On that day, anyone in the community can drop off their expired or unused medications at the Oak Ridge Police Department at 200 South Tulane Avenue. The drug take-back is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 29.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the most common method of obtaining pills is through family and friends, a press release said.

“Prescription drugs could be easily stolen at home when they are left in unlocked cabinets and drawers,” the release said.

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