Oak Ridge Today

NYT: Judge orders deportation of Oak Ridge man who served as Nazi camp guard

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The New York Times reported Thursday that a federal immigration judge in Memphis has ordered the deportation of an Oak Ridge man who served at a Nazi concentration camp in Germany during World War II.

Friedrich Karl Berger, 94, was an armed guard in a sub camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp, where prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 and forced to work outdoors “to the point of exhaustion and death,” the newspaper said.

The Times said Berger is a citizen of Germany, where he will be deported, and has continued to receive a pension based on his employment, “including his wartime service.”

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Final Community Unity event today: World Day of Prayer Service

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The final Community Unity Celebration event is today in Oak Ridge.

The World Day of Prayer Service is from 7-8:15 p.m. Friday, March 6, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 212 North Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

It will have an interdenominational prayer service written by women of Zimbabwe, “Rise! Take Your Mat and Walk.”

Note: This press release was submitted by an advertiser or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

Friends of Oak Ridge Library has book sale this weekend

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Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library has a book sale this weekend.

The Winter 2020 Book Sale is from Thursday evening, March 5, to Sunday, March 8. It is in the Library Auditorium.

Besides books, jigsaw puzzles, music compact discs, and other items will also be available, a press release said. Most titles will still be 50 cents or $1 each, the press release said. Withdrawn library titles will be half price Thursday through Saturday.
 
There was a members-only sale Thursday evening.

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ORHS Masquers presents ‘Little Mermaid’ this weekend

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The ‘Good Guys’ in ‘The Little Mermaid’ presented by Oak Ridge High School Masquers this weekend (March 6-8, 2020) are Emily Salko as ‘Flounder,’ Marian Vacaliuc as ‘Ariel,’ Mazzie Zawisza as ‘Sebastian,’ and Jack Lloyd as ‘Scuttle.’ (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s drama program, will present Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” the musical based on the classic animated film, in four performances this weekend.

The performances are Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Performing Arts Center. Advanced tickets are $8, and they are available at the ORHS office and The Ferrell Shop. At the door, tickets will be $9 for students and $10 for adults.

Under the direction of Dana Wham—who has directed, choreographed, or acted in numerous adult and children productions throughout the region— this year’s “The Little Mermaid” continues the ORHS Masquers tradition of bringing excellent performances, impressive sets, amazing orchestration, and technical panache to the stage, a press release said.

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Shiitake Mushroom Inoculation Station at Winter Farmers’ Market on Saturday

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New shiitake mushrooms sprout on an oak log in the back yard of Jason Schmidt, a local gardener. Schmidt will be leading a “Mushroom Inoculation Station” on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Winter Farmers’ Market, in which participants will be making their own mushroom logs to take home. Spaces are sold out, but visitors to the market are encouraged to stop and watch the event. It will be held at the main entrance of the market, which is in the gym at St. Mary’s School at 323 Vermont Ave. in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

The Winter Farmers’ Market will be conducting a “Mushroom Inoculation Station,” on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While spaces in the station are sold out, shoppers are encouraged to stop and watch the activity at the entrance to the farmers’ market in the gym of St. Mary’s School at 323 Vermont Avenue in Oak Ridge.

“Shiitake mushrooms grow on oak trees, so it’s no surprise that Oak Ridge is an excellent place for growing these and other types of mushrooms,” said Jason Schmidt, coordinator of the project. “We will be drilling holes in four-foot oak logs early in the morning, injecting them with shiitake spawn, and then sealing the holes with locally sourced bees wax. In about six months, the spawn should fruit and produce a harvest of shiitake mushrooms that will continue in a cycle for several years.”

The workshop is sponsored by Davenport Tree Service, which provided a freshly cut oak tree for the event.

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Updated: City prepares for coronavirus as first case reported in Tennessee

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Note: This story was last updated at 5:45 p.m.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Tuesday outlined preparations in the city for a potential coronavirus outbreak. Two days later, on Thursday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee reported that the first case of coronavirus, which has spread across the globe, has been confirmed in the state.

In Oak Ridge, Watson said, there is initial public safety planning to identify local efforts to protect residents, and local officials are communicating with schools and hospitals. The Anderson County Department of Health and Tennessee Department of Health are in frequent contact with the city, Watson said.

Procedures that are in place under the city’s emergency operations manuals are being adapted to account for the effects of viruses such as the coronavirus, and protocols and procedures are being established for city employees who will be in contact with potential infections, Watson said.

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ORNL supercomputer used to identify drug compounds that could help fight coronavirus

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A compound, shown in gray, was calculated to bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, shown in cyan, to prevent it from docking to the Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, or ACE2, receptor, shown in purple. (Image credit: Micholas Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:55 a.m.

The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been used to identify drug compounds, including medications and natural compounds, that could help fight coronavirus, although more study is needed.

“The researchers used Summit, the world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputer, to identify 77 small-molecule drug compounds that might warrant further study in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 disease outbreak,” ORNL said in a response to questions Wednesday.

The researchers performed simulations on Summit of more than 8,000 compounds to screen for those that are most likely to bind to the main “spike” protein of the coronavirus, rendering it unable to infect host cells. They ranked compounds of interest that could have value in experimental studies of the virus. They published their results on “ChemRxiv.”

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SSAB to hear about reuse, historic preservation at ETTP

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K-25 History Center (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board will hear about reuse and historic preservation at the East Tennessee Technology Park, including the new K-25 History Center, during a presentation next week.

The presentation will be given to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board by Steve Cooke of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, in the U.S. Department of Energy Information Center at 1 Science.gov Way off Oak Ridge Turnpike in east Oak Ridge.

Some of the last remaining Manhattan Project and Cold War buildings are being demolished at ETTP, and most major cleanup work is expected to be completed this year.

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Presidential primary is today in Tennessee

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The presidential and county primary elections are today in Tennessee.

It’s Super Tuesday, and voters in 14 states, including Tennessee, will help select the Democratic Party nominee for president. More than 1,300 delegates are at stake.

Candidates still running for president in the Democratic primary are former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

Other candidates appear on the ballot, but they have ended or suspended their campaigns. That includes candidates who have dropped out in the past few days: Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tom Steyer.

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Next major decision anticipated for second target station at SNS

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SNS-Second-Target-Station
More than 200 scientists from around the world met from Oct. 27 to 29, 2015, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide input on the scientific instruments that would be installed at a proposed Second Target Station, or STS, pictured above at center right at the Spallation Neutron Source. (File aerial photo and overlay by ORNL)

The next decision about the second target station at the Spallation Neutron Source could be made later this year or in the first quarter of next year, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told a House subcommittee on Thursday. The next decision would include an alternative selection and a cost range.

The $1.4 billion SNS is located on Chestnut Ridge at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It provides neutrons for research.

The second target station has been part of SNS plans for many years. It’s one of two upgrades being pursued at SNS. The other is a proton power upgrade, which is expected to double the power of SNS’s proton beam from 1.4 megawatts to 2.8 megawatts.

The second target station has a current estimated cost range of $800 million to $1.5 billion. The U.S. Department of Energy said the second target was needed more than a decade ago, in January 2009. The second target station would use a narrow proton beam and a compact, rotating, water-cooled tungsten target. It is expected to fill gaps in materials research that require the combined use of intense, cold (longer wavelength) neutrons and instruments that can help analyze complex materials. It could have up to 22 experimental beamlines.

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Demolition started on centrifuge site, largest remaining complex at ETTP

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Workers have begun taking down the second of four sections of the Centrifuge Complex at East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Completing this project will move the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management closer to its goal of finishing all major demolitions at ETTP by the end 2020. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Cleanup crews have started tearing down the largest remaining collection of buildings at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and power plants through the Cold War.

The demolition work is occurring at the Centrifuge Complex at the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. The Centrifuge Complex is on the south side of ETTP. It includes the tall, white buildings visible from Highway 58.

Oak Ridge crews began demolishing the K-1200 section of the Centrifuge Complex in February. It’s the second of four sections.

Deactivation and demolition work in the first section of the complex was recently completed. That portion was a Manhattan Project facility built for research and development in 1944.

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Roane State, SL Tennessee starting apprenticeship program

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Tyra Copas, state apprenticeship director, workforce services, talks to local employers and educators about Tennessee’s initiative to boost apprenticeship programs during a question-and-answer session at Roane State Community College’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

Roane State Community College is joining the state’s growing movement to better train new workers by sponsoring apprenticeship programs with area businesses and industries. The college is currently working with one of Anderson County’s biggest employers.

“We will be working with SL Tennessee and our Middle College students in mechatronics to develop programs of study and identify specific apprenticeship tasks,” said Kim Harris, the college’s director of workforce training and placement.

“We look forward to working closely with Roane State in starting the apprenticeship program,” said SL Tennessee Director Scott Laska. “We believe that this program will help solve our skills gap in our operation and provide meaningful career opportunities for the community.”

SL Tennessee, located in the Clinton Interstate 75 Industrial Park, manufactures automotive parts and is near Roane State’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. The college’s classes in mechatronics—the engineering of electrical and mechanical systems—are offered there.

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