Oak Ridge Today

UT professor to discuss impact of COVID-19 on ecology, evolution

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Nina Fefferman

A University of Tennessee professor will discuss the effects of COVID-19 on ecology and evolution during an online presentation on Tuesday.

Nina Fefferman will be the speaker at the League of Women Voters event. Fefferman is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Fefferman is the associate director of UT’s One Health Initiative, and she is a member of the Covid-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at UT.

The principle investigator at the Fefferman Lab at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville since 2008, Fefferman focuses on disease in the human population and how disease and disease-related behavioral ecology can affect the short-term survival and long-term evolutionary success of a population during and after a pandemic, a press release said. She has done extensive work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on pandemic preparedness and has drawn on her expertise to develop models to shape policy to keep populations safe during and after pandemics.

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Veterans Day Parade canceled due to COVID-19

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This year’s Veterans Day Parade in Anderson County has been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision to cancel the annual parade because of uncertainties related to the pandemic was made by the Clinton American Legion Post #172, in partnership with The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #12051, AMVETS Post #2, and Disabled American Veterans Chapter 26, a press release said.

“With the COVID-19 concerns and issues throughout the county and within the schools, the American Legion membership felt, ‘due to safety of spectators and participants alike,’ it is best to forego the parade this year and plan for a bigger and better parade in 2021,” the press release said.

While this year’s parade has been canceled, discussions are under way to develop a program to celebrate Veterans Day and follow proper social-distancing restrictions and guidelines, the release said.

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Children’s Halloween Party will be drive-through this year

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Submitted

The Children’s Halloween Party hosted by the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will be a drive-through event this year.

The Children’s Halloween Party (Halloween Hollow) is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, October 29. It will begin at the field on the west side of Alvin K. Bissell Park and end at the parking area on the west side of the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

It’s a drive-through event because of COVID-19.

“Event participants will be able to enjoy Halloween scenes and pick up pre-ordered T-shirts, and children four years old to 4th grade will receive treats,” a press release said.

Employees and volunteers will sanitize frequently and be required to wear masks or face coverings when approaching a car and when within six feet of another person, the press release said. Any participants who want to come in to view the spooky scenes and receive treats will also be required to wear masks or face coverings, the release said.

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UT Arboretum Society has online fall plant sale from Sept. 25-Oct. 10

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Conifers from East Fork Nursery of Sevierville (Submitted photo)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Annual Plant Sale will be online only this year. It is scheduled from September 25 to October 10. You can shop for new plants from home.

The UT Arboretum Society’s plant sales are some of their biggest fundraisers of the year. They help support the arboretum’s community education, trail improvements such as its Nature Book Trail, and children’s programs, a press release said.

The online plant sale will give you a chance to enhance your garden this fall.

“Fall is always a wonderful time for planting as it gives your plants time to establish great root systems for the spring,” the press release said.

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Nine Lakes Winemaker’s Market is Saturday, precautions in place

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Bottles of Tennessee wine not found in stores will be for sale at the Nine Lakes Winemaker’s Market at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (Photo courtesy Nine Lakes Wine Festival)

The fourth annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival has been converted to a safer, spread out, open-air “Winemaker’s Market” on Saturday, September 12, a press release said. The festival is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge.

“All of our winemakers will be wearing masks, and we ask that the public does, too,” said event director Rebecca Williams. “They will be spread out in the park, with at least 10 feet between vendor tents, and we may have to limit ticket sales to allow for social distancing.”

The event will not offer wine samples to taste this year.

“The state will not allow it, and we agree it would not be a safe thing to do,” Williams said. “Instead, we’re offering a unique shopping event, sort of like a farmer’s market for wine. Tennessee wines are not generally sold in stores, so you really have to come to an event or drive out to a winery to find them.”

Thirteen local wineries will be represented at the event. General admission tickets are $10, and they benefit United Way of Anderson County. They include a wine tote and tasting glass to take home, the press release said.

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Fulin’s Asian Cuisine closes

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Fulin’s Asian Cuisine restaurant at the Westcott Center in Oak Ridge is pictured above on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020.

Fulin’s Asian Cuisine in Oak Ridge has closed.

The restaurant cited the pandemic in a Facebook post announcing its closing on Wednesday. That post and the restaurant’s page appear to have been removed since then, or they are no longer visible to the public.

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Nineteen test positive for COVID-19 at The Groves

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The Groves at Oak Ridge, an assisted living facility on Emory Valley Road, is pictured above on Friday evening, July 24, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Nineteen people, including 17 residents and two staff members, have tested positive for COVID-19 at The Groves, an assisted living center on Emory Valley Road, an executive said Monday.

Six of the residents are in the hospital in stable condition, said Hollie Bailey, a registered nurse and regional director of operations and clinical services for Navion Senior Solutions. The Groves is part of Navion Senior Solutions.

One of the residents has died.

The other 10 residents are in self-quarantine. They have not exhibited any symptoms, Bailey said.

One of the staff members who tested positive has recovered, and the other remains in quarantine, Bailey said.

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ASAP of Anderson 50/50 Raffle is Saturday

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The annual ASAP of Anderson 50/50 Raffle will be hosted virtually at 10 p.m. Saturday.

It will raise awareness and money for substance misuse prevention efforts in Anderson County.

The event is usually held at the Anderson County Fair, but the fair has been canceled.

Ticket buyers can view the drawing through ASAP’s Facebook and Instagram pages. ASAP encourages you to buy tickets.

The drawing itself will be streamed live on Facebook and Instagram. The winners will be announced Saturday evening on all of ASAP’s social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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Anderson County has fireworks Saturday night

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Fireworks at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on July 4, 2017. (File photo by D. Ray Smith)

There are fireworks in Anderson County for Independence Day this evening.

The fireworks are funded by Anderson County with help from private donations from businesses and residents.

Anderson County commissioners debated last month whether to have the fireworks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also debated how much to spend, with potential amounts ranging between $12,000 and $20,000. The goal was to get to a total of about $20,000.

The fireworks show will start at 9:45 p.m. today (Saturday, July 4) at Anderson County High School. The high school campus will be closed to the public.

Anderson County High School is at 130 Maverick Circle in Clinton, close to Exit 122 on Interstate 75. The Anderson County mayor’s office recommended that anyone watching the fireworks from public areas around Exit 122 use social distancing, which generally means staying six feet away from people who don’t live with you.

There are normally fireworks in cities such as Oak Ridge, but those displays have been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, in what could be a one-time event, the county is hosting and helping to fund the display.

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Protesters want life, liberty, justice

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Civil rights leader Reverend Harold Middlebrook tells Black Lives Matter protesters in Clinton on Thursday, June 11, 2020, that the movement will require more than a march. (Photo by John Huotari/oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—Civil rights pioneer Anna Theresser Caswell asked people to not hate.

Civil rights leader Reverend Harold Middlebrook told local Black Lives Matters protesters that the movement will require more than a march.

Caswell and Middlebrook were two of about a dozen speakers at a Black Lives Matter march and protest that started at the Clinton football field and ended at Clinton Middle School on Thursday. Several hundred people attended.

Clinton Middle School is where the high school used to be. It was desegregated more than 60 years ago. It’s reported to have been the first high school in the South to desegregate under the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.

Caswell, 77, was one of the 12 Black teenagers who walked down from Green McAdoo School on Foley Hill and desegregated the old Clinton High School, which had been all-white, on August 27, 1956.

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Clinton 12 invited to march with BLM protesters

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Members of the Clinton 12 have been invited to march with Black Lives Matter protesters in Clinton this evening (Thursday, June 11).

The Clinton 12 were the 12 black teenagers who integrated Clinton High School in the fall of 1956, braving threats of violence, after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Organizer Trevor King, who organized a peaceful protest in Oak Ridge last week, said marchers in Clinton are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. at the football field at 250 West Broad Street.

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Children’s Museum offers scaled-down summer camps

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A lab station activity at a STEM Carnival fascinates a young child. Oak Ridge Associated Universities hosted the carnival at the Children’s Museum. (Submitted photo)

 

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will offer a scaled-down version of Imagination Station Summer Camp beginning June 29, with new safety precautions in place because of COVID 19.

Art, nature, clay, and Star Wars-themed camps—as well as STEM themes, backyard games, Japanese culture, and Oak Ridge history—will be among the camps.

“Our staff has been busy redesigning our exciting Summer Camp program in light of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing and other precautions, as advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Beth Shea, Children’s Museum executive director. [Read more…]