Oak Ridge Today

Students, state, nonprofit ask students, staff to not text while driving

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ASAP Youth Coalition Oak Ridge Chapter

The ASAP Youth Coalition Oak Ridge chapter encourages students to pledge not to text and drive. (Photo by ASAP) 

 

Oak Ridge High School has teamed up with ASAP of Anderson County and the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office to host a campaign that asks students, teachers, and staff to pledge to not text and drive.

The campaign is called One Text or Call Could Wreck It All.

April is designated as national Distracted Driving Awareness Month by the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office. In recognition of that, Oak Ridge High School is taking a stand against texting and driving, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge High School ASAP Youth Coalition hosted the campaign this week along with ASAP of Anderson County, Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated School Health, and the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office. [Read more…]

Public meeting on Kingston coal ash natural resource damage restoration, compensation plan

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TVA Kingston Fossil Plant Dike C Reinforcement

Photo courtesy TVA

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Tennessee Valley Authority are releasing the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant Coal Ash Release Natural Resource Damage Assessment—Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan for public review during a public meeting on Thursday, April 9.

A copy of the document is available online at http://www.tva.com/kingston/ and http://www.tn.gov/environment/kingston.

Who: Representatives from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Tennessee Valley Authority [Read more…]

Second Breakfast with Legislators on Monday

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Randy McNally

Randy McNally

Ken Yager

Ken Yager

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The Tennessee General Assembly has now been in session for more than two months. According to LegiScan, an impartial and non-partisan legislative tracking and reporting service, 195 of the 3,192 introduced bills were completed by mid-March, a press release said. Legislative committees are dealing with hundreds of bills ranging from education, environment, and healthcare to firearms, digital currency, and controlled substances.

Senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about the legislative activities of this session of the Tennessee General Assembly and to respond to questions from the audience at the this year’s second Breakfast with the Legislators. It starts at 7:30 a.m. Monday, March 23, in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Metal powder manufacturing company investing $313 million in Oak Ridge, adding 620 jobs

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Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.

A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.

CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.

The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.

The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.

“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Cedar Barren Cleanup near JMS is Saturday

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Larry at Oak Ridge Barrens Area

The annual spring exotic invasive plant removal at the Oak Ridge Barrens Natural Area will be Saturday, March 7.

Located next to Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, this Barren is a joint project of the City of Oak Ridge, State Natural Areas Division, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. One of only a few cedar barrens in East Tennessee, the area is subject to invasion by Chinese lespedeza, Japanese privet, autumn olive, mimosa, Nepal grass, multiflora rose, and woody plants that threaten the system’s prairie grasses. [Read more…]

Anderson government closed; Y-12, Oak Ridge, UCOR, DOE, ORAU start late

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Snow in Oak Ridge on Feb. 26, 2015

Several inches of snow fell in Oak Ridge and across East Tennessee overnight. (Photo by Bruce Phillips)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:23 a.m.

Several inches of snow fell in East Tennessee overnight, and there are more closings and delays because of weather and road conditions.

The Y-12 National Security Complex is still clearing some areas at the site. Non-essential employees should delay arrival at the site until 11 a.m. UPF Offsite Offices also should delay until 11 a.m. Personnel are urged to use caution when driving and walking throughout the site and to use designated snow routes.

Anderson County government offices will be closed Thursday. The Roane County Courthouse is also closed. [Read more…]

Whittler, woodworker Bill Henry earns prestigious arts award

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Bill Henry

Bill Henry

Oak Ridge resident, whittler, and woodworker Bill Henry was one of 10 people to earn a Governor’s Arts Award for representing the best in arts and culture in Tennessee in 2015.

Henry won a Folklife Heritage Award. He will receive the award, considered Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts, from Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam on March 17.

Distinguished artists honored include Mary Costa, Dr. Bobby Jones, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, and Cormac McCarthy, a press release said.

“We want to congratulate the recipients for their incredible work adding to the rich cultural heritage of Tennessee,” Governor Haslam said. “Their dedication, leadership, and contributions to the arts have enhanced our way of life and will continue to influence Tennesseans for many years to come.”

The 2015 recipients are: [Read more…]

February Breakfast with the Legislators is Monday

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Randy McNally

Randy McNally

John Ragan

John Ragan

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The Tennessee General Assembly has been in session since January 13, and 1,513 bills were filed by the February 12 deadline. Committees are meeting, and legislators are discussing issues dealing with health, education, the judiciary, sales tax, firearms, and federal funding for K-12 programs.

Breakfast with the Legislators provides a forum to get to know key legislative decision makers and to ask questions on issues in state government.

The February Breakfast with the Legislators will be held on Monday, February 23, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served. [Read more…]

Tennessee State Parks has public hearing on Norris Dam State Park on Feb. 24

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Norris Dam State Park

Norris Dam State Park

Leaders from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will be conducting a public hearing at Norris Dam State Park on Tuesday, February 24, to gather public input and discuss the current business and management plan for the park.

The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with an open house reception to meet park staff and view exhibits. The public hearing portion will begin at 6 p.m. and will last approximately one hour to an hour-and-a-half. [Read more…]

Haslam makes case for Insure Tennessee

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Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (Photo by Rob Welton)

 

Governor says his plan provides health care coverage to more Tennesseans at no cost to the state

NASHVILLE—Tennessee Govenor Bill Haslam on Monday evening addressed a joint convention of the 109th General Assembly as legislators began an extraordinary legislative session to consider his Insure Tennessee plan.

The proposal, a two-year pilot program to provide market-based health care coverage to more than 250,000 Tennesseans who currently don’t have access to health insurance or have limited options, does not create any new taxes for Tennesseans and will not add any state cost to the budget, the governor’s office said.

“Two years ago, the General Assembly made two requests of us,” Haslam said in a press release. “First, to bring a unique and specific plan to Tennessee that met the needs of our citizens and was financially responsible for our state and the country, and secondly, to bring that plan back to the General Assembly for a vote.

“I have done both of those things. This plan is overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and Democrats in our state. Tonight, I am asking for your vote to help Insure Tennessee.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Sen. Yager asks for constituent input

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Ken Yager

Ken Yager

NASHVILLE—The 109th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee convened at noon on January 13, 2015, for an organizational session. Among other items on the agenda, the Senate and House of Representatives elected their speakers and adopted rules for the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions. At the end of the week, on January 17, we will inaugurate the state’s 49th Governor, Bill Haslam, to begin his second four-year term. After a short recess, we will reconvene on February 2 and remain in session until mid to late April.

State spending in a tight budget year will be the predominant driver for legislative action in 2015. Other significant issues expected to be on the legislature’s agenda in 2015 are jobs, healthcare, education, taxes, and legislation stemming from the ratification of the constitutional amendments passed by voters in November. It is very important that I hear from my constituents on these issues as some of them will be controversial.

I will continue the practice of sending out weekly Senate reports during session and appreciate the local papers who publish them. We now send video updates to local papers and audio statements to radio stations during the legislative session which I hope you will access. [Read more…]

Haslam announces winners of LEAP competition, including Roane State

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Governor Bill Haslam

Bill Haslam

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Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam in December announced the recipients of the Labor Education Alignment Program, or LEAP, competition, a state effort focused on increasing opportunities for Tennesseans to obtain a certificate or degree beyond high school that is aligned with the needs of the workforce in their communities.

“These types of intentional partnerships between local agencies and their colleges or TCATS are what we want to see across the state as a significant piece of the Drive to 55 initiative,” Haslam said. “Tying the training and skills that our colleges are teaching directly to current workforce needs will help more Tennesseans qualify for good paying, high quality jobs.”

The communities and colleges selected as LEAP recipients exemplify the collaboration and alignment between workforce needs and higher education that are at the core of the Drive to 55,” Haslam said. [Read more…]