Oak Ridge Today

First Secret City Improv Festival scheduled for September

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The first Secret City Improv Festival in Oak Ridge is scheduled for September.

The festival had originally been scheduled for October 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a press release said.

The rescheduled festival will now be Friday, September 24, and Saturday, September 25, this year at the Grove Theater.

The festival is a spin-off festival from the “perennially fun and spontaneous Gatlinburg Improv Festival,” the press release said.

“Our goal for the Secret City Improv Festival is to provide an environment to foster networking opportunities and collaboration for improv teams from all around,” the press release said. “Our mission is to showcase a diversity of teams and styles on the stage and to foster growth through workshops.”

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Reconnect student balances work, family, learning as she seeks degree at Roane State

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Erin Valdez

By Bob Fowler Roane State staff writer

Erin “Tisha” Valdez, a school bus driver in Oak Ridge, enjoys one Roane State professor’s class so much she asked her employer for two afternoons off each week so she could attend.

The company, First Student, was short on drivers but agreed, enabling Valdez to take Dr. Isabel Benitez-Ramirez’s Anatomy and Physiology II class this semester. “She is amazing,” Valdez said of Benitez-Ramirez.

Sticking with Benitez-Ramirez after taking the initial Anatomy and Physiology class with her “is very important to me,” said Valdez. “I love her teaching style.”

“Since the beginning of her time as my student, she has shown great interest in learning,” Benitez-Ramirez said of Valdez. “She always participates in classes and even helps some of her classmates to understand the material. She is one of the best students in my classes.”

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Suggs promoted to deputy city manager

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Jack Suggs

Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs has been promoted to deputy city manager. He will start his new job Monday, March 8.

In his new position, Suggs will help with several projects, including the new water plant, economic development projects, computer software, and the transfer of the Oak Ridge Airport project, the city said in a press release.

Suggs’ promotion will allow other potential leaders to advance, most immediately in the Oak Ridge Electric Department, the press release said. Ardo Ba, who is currently the department’s electric operations manager, will serve as interim electric director.

“The city is fortunate to have someone with a unique set of engineering, business, and operations knowledge and experience who is able to step up,” Suggs said of Ba. “I am confident that I am leaving the department in capable hands.”

Suggs joined the City of Oak Ridge in 1989 as assistant director of public works after having served in related professional positions in Texas. He began serving as electric director in 1991.

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Basketball: Wildcats play in sectional game Monday

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Oak Ridge won the District 3-AAA championship game 76-61 against Clinton at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (Photo by Zack James/used with permission)

They won the District 3-AAA championship game against Clinton. They advanced to the Region 2 championship game by defeating West and Maryville in quarterfinal and semifinal games.

On Thursday, in the championship game, they finished second in the region, losing 55-52 to Bearden after narrowing a 15-point Bulldogs lead late in the third quarter to one point late in the fourth.

Tonight, Monday, March 8, the Oak Ridge Wildcats (26-5) will play for a chance to compete in the state basketball tournament. They will travel to Dobyns-Bennett (25-4) in Kingsport in upper East Tennessee for one of eight Class AAA sectional games across the state. The winners of the sectional games advance to the state tournament in Murfreesboro, and the season is over for the losers.

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Regatta season starts next week

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SIRA-Regatta-April-17-2016-6
The 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

This year’s regatta season will start next week with the Cardinal Invitational in Oak Ridge. That rowing competition with the University of Louisville is scheduled from March 13-14 at Melton Lake Park.

Other rowing events will begin in late April and run almost every weekend through May, a press release said.

This year, the Oak Ridge Rowing Association will host, for the first time, the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship, the press release said.

The races this year follow the cancellation of six regattas in 2020, including the NCAA Division I, II, and III Championships, the press release said.

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Oak Ridge releases water quality report

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The annual water quality report is now available for viewing on the City of Oak Ridge website, and the report says Oak Ridge water was in compliance with state and federal drinking water requirements, a press release said.

You can read the report here: www.oakridgetn.gov/online/water-quality-2020.

Also known as the Consumer Confidence Report, it was mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1998 as an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, the press release said.

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Granholm, a former governor, now energy secretary

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Jennifer Granholm

Note: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m.

Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, was sworn in as energy secretary on Thursday.

Granholm was the first female governor of Michigan, and she is the second woman to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.

Her swearing-in ceremony on Thursday followed a 64-35 confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, both Tennessee Republicans, were among the 35 senators who voted against Granholm’s confirmation.

Granholm is the 16th secretary of energy.

U.S. Department of Energy sites and operations in Oak Ridge include East Tennessee Technology Park; Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oak Ridge Office; Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management; Office of Scientific and Technical Information; and Y-12 National Security Complex.

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ORNL FCU will lease space to Anderson County Family Justice Center

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Pictured above are Melissa Miller, site coordinator for Anderson County Family Justice Center; Colin Anderson, president and chief executive officer, ORNL Federal Credit Union; and Dave Clark, district attorney general in Anderson County. (Photo courtesy ORNL FCU)

ORNL Federal Credit Union recently announced that the Anderson County Family Justice Center would lease office space in its building located on Broadway Avenue in Oak Ridge. The credit union also underwrote a number of improvements to make the space more conducive to the nonprofit’s needs, a press release said.

In July 2019, the Anderson County Family Justice Center was created by a state-funded grant aimed at helping to combat child abuse, domestic abuse, and elder abuse, the press release said. There are a total of 13 centers throughout the state. The organization’s purpose is to provide a safe, convenient location to help victims of abuse break the cycle of violence and become thriving survivors.

The Anderson County Family Justice Center partners with 15 local organizations—such as Helen Ross McNabb, YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s office in Anderson County—to offer free and confidential resources to victims, the press release said. The types of services offered include law enforcement, mental health, legal assistance, and temporary housing.

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Basketball photos: Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats

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Oak Ridge senior guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen (2) drives against Powell during the District 3-AAA championship game at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Zack James/used with permission)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over Powell on Monday. They advanced to a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with a 67-58 quarterfinal win over Farragut on Friday.

It was the sixth consecutive district championship win for the Lady Wildcats.

Oak Ridge (21-4), which is coached by Paige Taylor, will host Maryville (23-5) in the semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Monday.

Here are photos from the Monday and Friday games by Zack James and Luther Simmons. (See our story here.)

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Basketball: Lady Wildcats win district championship, defeat Farragut

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over the Powell Lady Panthers at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Luther Simmons/used with permission)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over Powell on Monday. They advanced to a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with a 67-58 quarterfinal win over Farragut on Friday.

It was the sixth consecutive district championship win for the Lady Wildcats.

Oak Ridge (21-4), which is coached by Paige Taylor, will host Maryville (23-5) in the semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Monday.

With their district championship win on Monday, the Lady Wildcats finished first in the District 3-AAA tournament. That meant they played the fourth-place team in District 4, Farragut, in the Region 2 quarterfinal on Friday.

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ORUD announces new president, general manager

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Jeff Patterson

ORUD has announced its new president and general manager, Jeff Patterson.

Patterson has been an employee of ORUD for a long time, the natural gas provider said in a press release Wednesday.

The ORUD Board of Commissioners made the announcement on Wednesday, February 24, after its monthly board meeting. Patterson succeeds Sue Kristjansson, who left in December 2020.

ORUD has provided natural gas in Anderson and Roane Counties for nearly 70 years.

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TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Valley Authority is conducting routine maintenance inside the boiler at the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, and the activities, which make use of the plant’s public address system, might continue for the next week or so, a spokesman said Monday.

During the maintenance, TVA is using small blasting caps to remove the buildup of slag, a byproduct at the coal-fired plant.

Residents in Anderson County have been asking about the recent sounds of sirens at Bull Run, including at night.

In a statement, TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said TVA is using the plant’s public address system to alert and communicate with employees on site, but no sirens or other alarms are activated.

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