The Tennessee Valley Authority will temporarily lower Melton Hill Reservoir two to four feet to help property owners with their annual spring-cleaning activities, a press release said.
From Saturday, March 20, through Saturday, March 28, TVA will hold the reservoir between 790 and 792 feet to support dock repairs, shoreline stabilization, and litter pick up, the press release said.
TVA will return Melton Hill to its normal winter elevation of 794 feet by April 1.
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Submitted
Following a successful first year, Roane State Community College and Y-12 National Security Complex are announcing the second Cybersecurity Summer Camp.
Two sessions will be held this year, one in mid-June for high-school-aged students and another in July for middle-school-aged students. Registration will be available beginning on Monday, March 22.
Roane State partnered with Y-12 in this effort to inspire future workers and help them develop talents that can be used to protect the nation’s most valuable information, a press release said.
During the camp, students learn about digital forensics, IP (Internet protocol) scanning, data reconnaissance, and many other topics—all key components of Y-12’s cybersecurity program, the press release said.
Here are the 2021 camp dates:
[Read more…]The citywide household trash pickup program will start Monday, April 5. Household trash, old appliances, and minor remodeling materials will be picked up, a press release said.
A schedule is below. The city said its collection efforts will follow the schedule as closely as possible.
“Residents have always been very cooperative and we ask for their continued cooperation this year by following a few guidelines,” the city said in the press release.
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The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss a special recreation district, which could allow a motorsports park, among other potential uses, during a meeting this evening.
The special recreation district is being considered as a zoning ordinance amendment. The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission has recommended it, but the City Council has not approved it.
A motorsports park has been proposed at the Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The proposal has both supporters and detractors.
The zoning ordinance amendment would not endorse that specific proposal. Instead, it would create a new zoning district, the special recreation district, which could be used for large-scale recreation and entertainment developments.
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Freda Player-Peters
Freda Player-Peters, the new executive director of Emerge Tennessee, will discuss the candidate training organization’s new programs at the Monday, March 15, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The virtual meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Emerge Tennessee aims to increase the number of Democratic women leaders from diverse backgrounds in public office through recruitment, training, and networking. Participants learn about public speaking, fundraising, campaign strategy, voter contact, and media and messaging from a team of experts who have worked on successful campaigns, a press release said.
Player-Peters was political director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 205 from 2010 to 2018. She was responsible for all lobbying, advocacy, and electoral efforts for Local 205 in Tennessee and served on the International Public Division Leadership Board. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will have its second Breakfast with the Legislators of the year on Monday.
The breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 22. The meeting will be virtual, and it’s open to the public.
Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to share an update about the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly, a press release said.
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Haley Snyder and the Welcome Garden she built at First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, earning her the rank of Eagle Scout. She is the first female to achieve this honor in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)
Haley Snyder, a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and currently a freshman at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, is the first female in Oak Ridge to have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. She is a member of Troop 42G of the Boy Scouts of America, which is chartered by First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge.
In 2019, the Boy Scouts of America changed its policies to allow girls to form their own Scouts BSA troops and follow the path to Eagle Scout. The session of the Oak Ridge church voted that year to support Troop 42 in forming a female troop.
Haley’s Eagle Scout project was to expand the church’s community garden by building fenced-in garden plots beside the church’s education building, which houses the Early Head Start of Anderson County program. “The new garden consists of seven garden beds, each 4 feet by 16 feet, and a chain link fence surrounding it,” Haley said.
She added that the new garden will allow food-insecure community members access to fresh vegetables distributed through the church’s Welcome Table monthly meal-and-groceries program, as well as provide learning opportunities for Early Head Start students. Early Head Start programs provide family-centered services for low-income families with young children. [Read more…]
Scott Jamison, a Children’s Museum volunteer who received the Friend of the Child Award, teaches a summer camp annually in the Museum’s Craft and Science Room. (Submitted photo)
Submitted
When Scott Jamison is teaching children about crime scene investigation or sharing his telecommunications skills at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, he arrives with a smile that shows his selflessness and generosity.
Jamison recently received the museum’s annual Friend of the Child Award for volunteering his business and telecommunications skills, as well as his teaching skills, when the staff seeks his help.
“When Scott walks in the door, frequently responding to urgent pleas for help, there is only one desire—and that is to make things work,” said Ronnie Bogard, former museum board member who presented the award to Jamison.
The award is presented in memory of Selma Shapiro, Bogard’s mother and the museum’s executive director for its first 31 years. With her vision and resourcefulness, Shapiro built the museum from a its single-room beginnings to fill a former school building. The award was established to honor an individual who has contributed in a big way to the success of the museum. [Read more…]
First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to food-insecure guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, a press release said.
The church’s monthly “Welcome Table” community meal program plans to supply each guest with a hot meal consisting of taco soup, Fritos chips, fresh fruit, and brownies or cookies.
In addition, a bag of groceries will be delivered to each car. The bag contains these ingredients for an Easter meal: canned ham, macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, canned fruit, and cookies or Little Debbie cakes for dessert, the press release said. [Read more…]
After a year of the coronavirus pandemic and renovations to the building, Oak Ridge Public Library will re-open on March 29. The library will re-open in two phases, the city said in a press release.
The first phase, from March 29 through May 29, will allow patrons to browse the main library and Children’s Room, use public computers, and enjoy the newly renovated library space, the press release said. Library hours will be limited to Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Curbside pickup will continue during this first phase. Curbside hours, however, will change to Monday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., the press release said.
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By Bob Fowler Roane State staff writer
Erin “Tisha” Valdez, a school bus driver in Oak Ridge, enjoys one Roane State professor’s class so much she asked her employer for two afternoons off each week so she could attend.
The company, First Student, was short on drivers but agreed, enabling Valdez to take Dr. Isabel Benitez-Ramirez’s Anatomy and Physiology II class this semester. “She is amazing,” Valdez said of Benitez-Ramirez.
Sticking with Benitez-Ramirez after taking the initial Anatomy and Physiology class with her “is very important to me,” said Valdez. “I love her teaching style.”
“Since the beginning of her time as my student, she has shown great interest in learning,” Benitez-Ramirez said of Valdez. “She always participates in classes and even helps some of her classmates to understand the material. She is one of the best students in my classes.”
[Read more…]The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration will have a virtual hiring event on Wednesday, March 31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Registration for the event is now open. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, a press release said, although candidates will have the opportunity to register and submit resumes up until the day of the event.
Registration is available here.
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