Oak Ridge Today

Kiwanis Club to hear about Oak Ridge Library on Tuesday

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Julie Forkner

Julie Forkner

The Kiwanis Club will hear about the Oak Ridge Public Library on Tuesday, April 9.

At noon meeting will include a program by Julie Forkner, who is director of the Oak Ridge Public Library. She will describe library facilities and services. Included are the Oak Ridge Room, Center for Oak Ridge Oral History (COROH), the Library’s Organizations Index of Non Profit Groups, and the help that can be given to the Library through the Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library (FOL).

Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge meets at the Golden Oak Buffet in Oak Ridge. There is an optional luncheon at 11:40 a.m., and the program will start at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held in the small meeting room at the Golden Oak Buffet on the right side of the entrance door. The restaurant is located on 401 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, near the stores in the Main Street Oak Ridge shopping center. [Read more…]

ADFAC’s Dine & Donate is Monday

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Joey and Steve Sherman at the Mediterranean Delight (Submitted photo)

Joey and Steve Sherman at the Mediterranean Delight (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, April 8, several area restaurants are donating a portion of their sales to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC).

“Enjoy a fantastic lunch or dinner out, and help a valuable organization at the same time,” a press release said. “It’s a win-win!”

The featured partner restaurant for April is Mediterranean Delight, located at 160 Bus Terminal Rd, #A, in Oak Ridge.

“This little restaurant is one of the Secret City’s best kept secrets!” the press release said. “Fresh treats that you just can’t get anywhere else in town!” [Read more…]

Obituary: James Edward ‘Ed’ Westcott

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James Edward "Ed" Westcott

James Edward “Ed” Westcott

James Edward “Ed” Westcott, Sr., 97, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, passed away peacefully at his daughter’s home, where he lived, on March 29, 2019.

He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on January 20, 1922, to parents Jamie Rupert Westcott and Lucille Green Westcott, who preceded him in death. Ed had one brother, Hugh “Buddy” Westcott, who also preceded him in death.

Ed was a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church.

He grew up in Nashville, and he graduated from Andrews High School and attended the Watkins Art School in Nashville, Tennessee. He received his training in photography from the Photo Craft Studio, Shadow Art Studio, and from an internship with the National Youth Administration.

He was married June 16, 1941, to a former Nashvillian, Esther Seigenthaler Westcott, who passed away in 1996. [Read more…]

Community meeting to discuss Bull Run closure on Tuesday

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Copy of Claxton Community Meeting

There will be a community meeting in Claxton on Tuesday evening to discuss the closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant. The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors agreed in February to close the coal-burning plant by 2023.

The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the Claxton Community Center at 1071 Edgemoor Road. It will include Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) and nonprofit partners, a press release said.

“The meeting’s purpose is to give concerned residents of the community around TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant an opportunity to connect and to share their concerns, hopes, and questions around TVA’s recent decision to retire the Bull Run coal plant by 2023 or sooner,” the press release said. “Now is the time to begin a dialog to protect our community’s common interests.”

Organizers said they are urging environmental engineers, scientists, community leaders, officials from Anderson County, the cities of Oak Ridge and Clinton, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and others to be available to share information and expertise, provide support, and address residents’ questions on coal ash, air pollution, health, worker transition, economic impacts, safe demolition and site reclamation, future site use, and property values. [Read more…]

Faith & science lecture on archaeology of Israeli women on Tuesday

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Erin Darby

Erin Darby

Were the women depicted in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible more than mothers of the children of Israel? Did they contribute to Israelite tribal survival by experimenting with food plants and seeds, shearing wool and weaving cloth, making pots and devising ways to cook, preserve, and store food? And what about their religious lives?

The second talk in the First Presbyterian–First United Methodist Church Faith-and-Science Lecture Series will be on “The Archaeology of Women in Ancient Israel.” The lecture will be presented by Erin Darby, associate professor of religious studies and co-director of the ‘Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project at the University of Tennessee.

Darby will deliver her lecture at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 2, in the fellowship hall of the sanctuary building of First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Refreshments will be served.

An archaeologist, Darby takes UT students to Jordan every other summer to learn about human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. [Read more…]

Challenges in public education to be discussed Tuesday

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The next Lunch with the League program will be held on Tuesday, April 2. The speaker will be Benita Albert, author and long-time educator in Oak Ridge.

Albert will discuss “Challenges in Public Education: Present and Future,” a press release said. She taught mathematics at Oak Ridge High School for 44 years, retiring in 2012. She has served as a college board consultant in Advanced Placement Calculus, conducting training programs for teachers across the country, since 1975.

Albert has authored or co-authored for many textbook publishers and mathematics ancillaries. Her honors include Presidential Awardee for Mathematics in 1991 and selection to the USA Today All-American Teacher Team in 2007.

As a member of the board of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, Albert has served as co-editor-in-chief of the book “Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence in the Oak Ridge Schools, 1944-2018.” [Read more…]

ASAP of Anderson, Oak Ridge Schools, ORPD collaborate to launch new school safety app

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Oak Ridge Schools is collaborating with Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department to launch a new monitoring program that will allow parents and students to anonymously report concerns about student safety 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

The program includes an anonymous tip reporting application, which is part of the P3 Campus family of apps designed specifically for use in schools as part of student safety and mental health, a press release said. The local version app will be branded AlertORS, and will be available to all students in the Oak Ridge School district on Tuesday, April 2. Reports can be made through the P3 Campus mobile app or through any web browser at P3Campus.com.

“AlertORS will help students and community members be proactive in the emotional and physical well-being of their peers by giving them a tool to make anonymous reports quickly, easily, and interactively,” the press release said. “Users can report a wide range of concerns from mental health issues to threats of violence. ORS has designated team members for two-way communication when a tip is reported so that staff members are able to respond to students directly through the P3 Campus app and keep the conversation completely anonymous.” [Read more…]

ASAP to host Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series

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ASAP of Anderson Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn 2019

ASAP partners with local providers to educate on opioid alternatives

ASAP of Anderson is hosting a bi-monthly Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series at Methodist Medical Center. Each Lunch and Learn will provide information about a specific opioid alternative treatment from a qualified professional, a press release said.

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) on April 23
  • Massage Therapy on June 25
  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on August 27
  • Physical Therapy/Wellness on October 29
  • Acupuncture on December 17

The Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series is a follow-on to two continuing medical education trainings hosted by ASAP in March 2018 and early March 2019, the press release said. These trainings covered opioid prescribing and pain management, including behavioral aspects of pain management. [Read more…]

‘HerStory’ photo exhibit at Oak Rige History Museum

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K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop 1944 bld.300 (Photo by Ed Westcott)

K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop  1944  bld.300 (Photo by Ed Westcott)

 

The Oak Ridge History Museum will host “HerStory: A Photography Exhibition of Women in the Secret City.” The exhibit will open Friday, March 29, and will be open every Friday and Saturday during the month of April.

“From janitor to homemaker to chemist, the women of the Manhattan Project worked hard and talked little,” a press release said. “During World War II, Oak Ridge was a government town of 70,000 workers, primarily women who lived in a camp-like environment of barbed wire, security checkpoints, and code words.  Workers were fingerprinted, interviewed, assigned a job, and given a clearance badge. Housing was limited and cramped and often unheated. Food at the cafeterias was in short supply and lines were long.” [Read more…]

Women’s Interfaith to focus on protecting youth from opioid crisis

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BeaThomas

BeaThomas

Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge will learn more about the opiod crisis afflicting the nation and its communities during a meeting on Monday, April 1.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Monday, April 1, at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, which is at 101 West Madison Lane.

Reverend Bea Thomas, an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church, will speak on “The Impact of the Opiod Epidemic upon Our Youth and How We Can Protect Them,” a press release said.

Thomas has served as pastor of four churches in the Tennessee Conference of the A.M.E. Zion Church. Since 2016, she has been involved in correctional ministry, first at the Anderson County Jail and currently at Roane County Jail, the press release said. She holds a M.A. in Evangelism and Church Planting from Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, and is currently completing courses toward a Chaplaincy Certificate in Correctional Ministry through the Institute of Prison Ministry at Christian University GlobalNet. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has spring wildflower walk on Saturday, April 13

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have a meet and greet followed by a spring wildflower walk at Haw Ridge Park on Saturday, May 5, 2018. Kris Light, an expert naturalist, educator, and photographer, will lead this fun, educational, and easy walk, a press release said. (Submitted photo)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have a meet and greet followed by a spring wildflower walk at Haw Ridge Park on Saturday, April 13, 2019. Kris Light, an expert naturalist, educator, and photographer, will lead this fun, educational, and easy walk, a press release said. (Submitted file photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have a meet-and-greet followed by a spring wildflower walk on Saturday, April 13. The event is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. at Haw Ridge Park on Edgemoor Road in Oak Ridge.

Participants are asked to meet at the parking lot, which is at the west end of the park next to the kiosk, near the Soccer Trail, a press release said. The walk is free and open to the public. Kris Light—an expert naturalist, educator, and photographer—will lead this fun, educational, and easy walk, the press release said.

Participants may want to bring a camera to take pictures of the many wildflowers on the grounds. If participants have a wildflower book, Kris suggests bringing that as well, the release said. [Read more…]

ORAU promotes Lokitz to VP, general counsel

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Rachel Lokitz

Rachel Lokitz

Rachel Lokitz, interim general counsel and corporate secretary for ORAU, has been promoted to vice president and general counsel.

In her new role, Lokitz provides ORAU’s programs and internal business clients with counsel concerning legal rights, contractual obligations, compliance, and risk.

“We are excited for Rachel to take on this new role at ORAU. Her accomplished legal expertise combined with her extensive business management and teamwork skills has made Rachel a critical asset for our organization. We all congratulate her and will look forward to continue working with her in this new position,” said Andy Page, president and chief executive officer. [Read more…]