Anderson officials develop plan to hire 15 jailers for jail expansion

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Terry Frank

Terry Frank

CLINTON—For now, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has dropped her proposal to cut funding for the county law director, and she has worked with the budget director to put together a plan to hire 15 new jailers for a jail expansion that could open in November.

But it’s less than half the number of new jailers requested by Anderson County Sheriff Paul White for the 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility, which could be completed in November.

“They understand the budget constraints,” Frank said of the Sheriff’s Department. “In this tight economy, we’re doing the best we can.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Secret City Festival has World War II living history exhibit

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Submitted

The Secret City Festival is introducing a new “Salute to Soldiers” program featuring World War II living history activities and demonstrations at A.K. Bissell Park on Saturday, June 22.

“Come out and salute our WWII veterans and enjoy an entire day of living history activities and exhibits provided by Five Oh First Group,” a press release said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , ,

USEC to cease uranium enrichment at Paducah Plant

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

USEC Inc. announced Friday that it had not been able to conclude a deal for the short-term extension of uranium enrichment at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and the company will begin ceasing uranium enrichment at the end of May. The Paducah plant is the only U.S.-owned and operated uranium enrichment facility in the United States. USEC, which has operations in Oak Ridge, leases the Kentucky plant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“While we have pursued possible opportunities for continuing enrichment, DOE has concluded that there were not sufficient benefits to the taxpayers to extend enrichment,” said Robert Van Namen, USEC senior vice president and chief operating officer. ”I am extremely disappointed to say we must now begin to take steps to cease enrichment. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Anderson County receives award for financial reporting

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Anderson County Financial Reporting Award

Anderson County Budget Director Chris Phillips, from left, County Mayor Terry Frank, and Deputy Budget Director Connie Aytes display the certificates received from Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. (Submitted photo)

Anderson County announced this week that its Accounts and Budgets Office has received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the county’s comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR.

The Certificate of Achievement has been awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. Anderson County is approaching the 20th consecutive year that it has received the award from GFOA, according to records, a press release said.

The release said the Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Research effort deep under ground could sort out cosmic-scale mysteries

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Majorana Demo

The Majorana Demonstrator is being assembled and stored 4,850 feet beneath the earth’s surface in enriched copper to limit the amount of background interference from cosmic rays and radioactive isotopes. (Submitted image)

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has begun delivery of germanium-76 detectors to an underground laboratory in South Dakota in a team research effort that might explain the puzzling imbalance between matter and antimatter generated by the Big Bang.

“It might explain why we’re here at all,” said David Radford, who oversees specific ORNL activities in the Majorana Demonstrator research effort. “It could help explain why the matter that we are made of exists.”

Radford, a researcher in ORNL’s Physics Division and an expert in germanium detectors, has been delivering germanium-76 to Sanford Underground Research Laboratory in Lead, S.D., for the project. After navigating a Valentine’s Day blizzard on the first two-day drive from Oak Ridge, Radford made a second delivery in March. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Anderson EMS honors paramedic, EMT, officer of the year; gives first ‘Director’s Award’

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Anderson County Emergency Medical Service, or EMS, honored some of its own Wednesday afternoon with a luncheon and awards ceremony.

Whitney Ellis was recognized as Paramedic of the Year. EMS Director Nathan Sweet said Ellis has great compassion for her job “and her commitment to patient care exceeds all others. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Health, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Federal spending cuts affect special education program in Oak Ridge

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Federal funds to Oak Ridge Schools could be cut five percent starting July 1 under the so-called sequester, and that’s led to staff reductions in the special education program.

Four positions would be cut at Oak Ridge High School and three elementary schools—Glenwood, Linden, and Willow Brook—under a budget approved by school board members on second and final reading Thursday. Two of the reductions would result in job losses. One is a teaching assistant position at Linden, and the other is a teaching assistant job at Oak Ridge High School.

Parents with children in the program have said they are concerned about how the students might struggle if they don’t continue to get the one-on-one help they need. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Transite panels being removed from last part of K-25 Building

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
K-25 Transite Removal

More than 2,800 transite panels will be removed from the remainder of the K-25 Building. (Submitted photo)

A federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge is removing exterior panels known as transite panels from the last part of the K-25 Building that is still standing.

K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof. It’s been unused for decades and is being torn down.

Most of the mile-long former gaseous diffusion building, located at East Tennessee Technology Park, has been demolished. About two million square feet of the U-shaped building have been removed, according to a Thursday press release from UCOR, the cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Anderson commissioners reject budget change for part-time analyst hired by mayor

May 23, 2013 By 2 Comments

Note: This story was updated at 7:15 p.m.

CLINTON—Some Anderson County commissioners weren’t satisfied with the results they’ve seen—or haven’t seen—from a part-time fiscal analyst hired by the county mayor in December.

Some also weren’t happy about the amount paid to the analyst, Tom Shope, and a request to approve a budget change to pay him after the money has already been spent.

So, during a Monday meeting, they declined to transfer $22,740 from one budget code to another to allow Chris Phillips, Anderson County account and budgets director, to pay Shope from a part-time budget code. [Read more...]

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Oak Ridge native, SVU tennis player earns All-District, All-Academic honors

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Brian Blocher

Brian Blocher

Brian Blocher, a sophomore on Southern Virginia University’s men’s tennis team, was recently named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team and was a Non-USCAA Sports National All-Academic award winner.

Blocher is originally from Oak Ridge, and he played at Webb School.

An SVU press release said the Capitol One all-district teams are divided into eight districts and are separated by NCAA Divisions I, II, III, and College Division—including NAIA, two-year, and independent institutions. To be recognized, a student athlete must have at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and serve as a key contributor to the team. [Read more...]

Filed Under: College, Sports, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oak Ridge swimming pool open this weekend

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Municipal Swimming Pool will be open May 25, 26, 27, and June 1 and 2, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The pool will open full time June 5.

For more information, call the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department at (865) 425-3450 or visit the website at www.orrecparks.org.

Filed Under: Community, Government, Oak Ridge, Recreation, Top Stories Tagged With: ,

Fundraising concert for medical research Friday

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Collies

A Friday night concert features The Collies, an Oak Ridge band, and proceeds will benefit Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. (Submitted photo)

Two local bands will play a benefit concert on Friday for a nonprofit medical research organization.

The concert is at the Historic Grove Theater, and it features The Collies, a folk and psychedelic rock band from Oak Ridge. The Sea Legs, an alternative rock band from Webb High School, will open the show, a press release said.

The press release said all proceeds will benefit Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a leading nonprofit focused on funding SMA research to develop a treatment and cure for the disease. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health, Music, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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