Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will hear an update on the progress and next steps in the Blankenship Field revitalization project and an update on energy savings projects.
The update on the Blankenship Field project, which includes the installation of synthetic turf, will be given by Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director. [Read more…]
An image showing what the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool could look like in Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge and Studio Four Design)
Project could move into bid phase in September
As plans progress for the new Oak Ridge Preschool and Scarboro Park improvements, Oak Ridge municipal leaders will provide an update on the project during a community meeting on Thursday, August 30. The meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Scarboro Community Center. Discussions will focus on recreational amenities in Scarboro Park as well as the current status and next steps for the preschool, a press release said.
WHAT: Community meeting on Scarboro Park and new preschool
WHEN: Thursday, August 30, at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Scarboro Community Center, 148 Carver Avenue, Oak Ridge [Read more…]
The deadline for candidates to qualify for the November 6 municipal elections was noon Thursday, and four Oak Ridge City Council incumbents have one challenger while there are three candidates for three school board seats.
Besides the four seats now held by incumbents, the November election will include the selection of an additional member of Oak Ridge City Council to fill the rest of the term of Hans Vogel, who was elected to a four-year term in November 2016 but resigned in June to take a new job at Idaho National Laboratory. Only one candidate, Derrick Hammond, has qualified as a candidate in that special election. Hammond was unanimously appointed to the seat by City Council in July to fill the seat through the November election. After his unopposed November election, Hammond will serve the last two years of Vogel’s unexpired term.
Also on the ballot in November are city council and school board seats in Clinton, Norris, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top. That’s in addition to the state and federal elections for Tennessee governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, and Tennessee Senate and Tennessee House of Representatives.
The four incumbents on the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council who are up for election in November all qualified as candidates by Thursday’s deadline. They are Kelly Callison, R.G. “Rick” Chinn Jr., Warren Gooch, and Ellen D. Smith. The four incumbents last had an election in November 2014. [Read more…]
Paige Marshall
Oak Ridge Board of Education member Paige Marshall resigned from the school board on Thursday.
Marshall and her family are moving to North Carolina for a new job, BOE Chair Keys Fillauer said Friday.
In her resignation letter on Thursday, Marshall expressed sadness and deep appreciation.
“I am sad to leave a wonderful school district in Oak Ridge and the wonderful people on the Board of Education as well as our wonderful Oak Ridge Schools staff and students,” Marshall said. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve our community. I wish you all the best as you and the rest of the board work to keep the Oak Ridge Schools the finest in the state.”
Elected in November 2014, Marshall’s four-year term expires this November, when there are three open seats on the five-member school board. [Read more…]
A registered nurse who works for Anderson County Schools will discuss mental health issues among school-age children in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
The talk is hosted by the Grace Lutheran Mental Health Ministry. It’s title “Mental Health: Back to School Basics,” a free community program scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, August 4, in the church’s fellowship hall.
Kim Guinn, a registered nurse and director of the Project AWARE Initiative for Anderson County Schools, will discuss the current prevalence and status of mental health issues among school-age children and the correlation between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health problems, a press release said. [Read more…]
Here is the sample ballot for the August 2 general election in Anderson County. There are also write-in candidates who have been campaigning for some of these offices, although they don’t appear on the ballot.
The county general election includes selections for mayor, sheriff, county commission, trustee, circuit court clerk, county clerk, register of deeds, road superintendent, and school board, among other positions. Some of the candidates have no opposition. [Read more…]
A new baseball coach, Travis Free, has been named for the Oak Ridge Wildcats.
Oak Ridge High School announced the new coach this week.
Besides coaching, Free will be an eighth-grade math teacher at Robertsville Middle School. [Read more…]
An Oak Ridge Police Department school zone patrol is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A new school year will start next week, and the Oak Ridge Police Department will help to make sure students and families stay safe with Operation Safe Start beginning Monday, July 30, the first day of school, a press release said.
“The effort steps up police patrols to increase awareness of school zones and ensure drivers are following the law,” the press release said. “Residents will likely notice additional police vehicles and officers in school zones across the city.”
The press release said officers will be on the lookout for drivers who exceed posted speed limits, ignore school bus stop signs, and fail to yield for pedestrians. ORPD will also be enforcing seat belt, child passenger restraint, and distracted driving laws, including the new state law requiring the use of hands free devices in active school zones, the press release said. [Read more…]
Thomas Zacharia
Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give a community lecture on Thursday. It’s the 21st season of the Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.
Besides being ORNL director, Zacharia is also president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle LLC, which operates ORNL for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
On Thursday, Zacharia will talk about the scientific agenda at ORNL in a presentation titled “Science and the State of the Lab,” a press release said. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of ORNL (FORNL) and the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF). It is free of charge, and it will be held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, the press release said.
“The talk will be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge High School freshman orientation is Thursday, July 26. It’s scheduled from 8-11:45 a.m.
Students will pick up their schedules and badges in the food court and then make their way to the Auditorium, a press release said.
There will be a welcome session in the auditorium that will last about 30 minutes. Then students will be following their entire schedule (except lunch). They will stay in each class for 10 minutes, and they will be able to meet their teachers, learn their way around, and see who is in their classes, the press release said.
After orientation is over, students will follow instructions to pick up their laptops and have their school pictures taken, the release said. Parents are welcome to attend. While the students are going through their classes, parents will be attending informational sessions.
This press release was submitted by Holly Cross.
Roane State Community College has been awarded a $250,000 grant that will fund scholarships for high school students to complete Roane State mechatronics courses.
The scholarships will pay for tuition, all fees, all books, all supplies, a specialized mechatronics toolkit, and transportation costs, a press release said. Approximately 30 students will be selected for the scholarships, which will be awarded beginning with the fall 2018 semester for the 2018-19 academic year. The grant was awarded by the Community College System of Tennessee.
Roane State offers a one-year certificate and two-year associate degree in mechatronics, and courses are offered at the college’s Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility in Clinton. Mechatronics students learn how to troubleshoot and repair modern automated production equipment, and elective classes include robotics, the press release said. [Read more…]
Clinton Public Library
The Clinton Public Library will host Bookaroo, a unique music festival finale with fun for all ages, for its summer reading finale, a press release said.
Bookaroo will be 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 20.
“Join us as we celebrate with a music festival-themed summer reading finale!” the press release said. “We will be doing rockstar makeovers complete with a photo opportunity to show off your new style. There will also be games, water activities, face painting, cotton candy, and more! We have fun for the whole family as we finish our summer reading with a rocking evening.”
Prizes will be given out from the finale through August 3, the press release said. Stop by the library with your completed reading log to claim your prize. [Read more…]
