Oak Ridge Today

Manhattan Project national park bill also reintroduced in U.S. House

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site has previously been identified for possible inclusion in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

A bill to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced on Friday in the U.S. House by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican;  Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican; and Rep. Ben Luján, a New Mexico Democrat.

The legislation—H.R. 1208—would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include facilities in Oak Ridge; Hanford, Wash.; and Los Alamos, N.M.

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Guest column: A tale of two cities

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By Leslie Agron and Pat Fain

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Oak Ridge is on the cusp of a renaissance; Oak Ridge is in its worst-ever financial shape. Despite the looming risk of the guillotine for questioning the conventional wisdom here, we want to examine where Oak Ridgers are coming from when they speak of our future. To do this we, conveniently, will compare these possible futures for Oak Ridge with two present day Tennessee cities: Farragut and Chattanooga.

Farragut is a place most Oak Ridgers are fairly familiar with. It is mostly new and upscale. It tends toward sprawl and toward heavily developed strips, but has no real heart. It has low taxes, but is not a full-service city. Chattanooga is an older city with a downtown and outlying neighborhoods of varying ages. It is a full-service city with commensurate taxes. Chattanooga has done an outstanding job of revitalizing some of its older neighborhoods. The neighborhood in the vicinity of its Aquarium is particularly noteworthy in this regard.

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President Truman’s grandson to discuss decision to bomb Japan in World War II

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Clifton Truman Daniel

Clifton Truman Daniel

In a speech later this month, the oldest grandson of former president Harry S. Truman will discuss his grandfather’s decision to use the world’s first atomic weapons at the end of World War II, a momentous decision that depended, at least in part, on work done in Oak Ridge.

Clifton Truman Daniel will also share insights about his grandfather’s life after Truman left the White House, and Daniel will discuss a family trip to Japan in 2012 for the 67th anniversary of the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Daniel will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 28. His speech is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s open to the public, and tickets are $20.

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‘Girls of Atomic City’ author will be at March 19 lecture, book signing

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Denise Kiernan

Denise Kiernan

A March 19 community lecture will feature an author who has written about Oak Ridge women and the second world war.

Denise Kiernan is author of “The Girls of the Atomic City—the Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II.”

She will be the featured speaker during the Tuesday, March 19, lecture, which starts at 6 p.m. at the American Museum of Science and Energy. It’s part of the 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

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Letter: Asks City Council to create budget advisory board

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To the Editor:

Our city has over $168 million dollars in debt—that is a 168 with six zeroes after it.

We, as the citizens of Oak Ridge, owe this debt. The number sounds huge. But the size of this debt is actually not unbearable. It is like a mortgage, we just have to pay a little bit each year—and we can afford to.

But there is a key difference between this debt and a mortgage: With a mortgage, you pay off a little bit each year, and then you are done. Unfortunately, the city of Oak Ridge is not paying down its aggregate debt each year. Instead, the city is borrowing more money each year, just making the debt larger and larger.

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Manhattan Project national park bill reintroduced

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has reintroduced legislation to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would also include Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash. All three sites played important roles in the top-secret World War II program to build the world’s first atomic weapons.

“The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and the facilities at Oak Ridge continue to be an important source of jobs and research for Tennessee and the rest of the country,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

The legislation was introduced Thursday.

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Snow blankets Oak Ridge, more possible in region today

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March Snowfall in Oak Ridge

A light layer of snow blankets the ground at A.K. Bissell Park on Wednesday morning.

A light layer of snow blanketed Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning, and forecasters said regional snow showers and windy conditions will continue through this evening.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said the heaviest snowfall will occur along the mountains of southwest Virginia and east Tennessee.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect for much of the Ohio River valley and mid-Atlantic states, as well as for parts of the southern Appalachians.

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Oak Ridge, Clinton companies receive training grants

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Information from WYSH Radio

Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis have awarded Incumbent Worker Training Program grants totaling $29,947 to Protomet Corp. in Oak Ridge and $25,000 to Techmer PM in Clinton.

“If Tennessee is going to become the number one location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs, then we must offer a well-trained workforce to employers,” Haslam said. “This kind of training grant not only helps educate workers, but also provides incentive to employers looking to relocate or expand in Tennessee.”

Since the program’s inception, Incumbent Worker Training grants have assisted more than 600 businesses by providing $14 million to train approximately 50,000 employees.

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Guest column: The velocity of money is 70 mph

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

The usual theory behind economic development for a community is that the local economy is too small. So, economic development experts seek to bring in new companies, especially industrial ones, to enhance that economy. The theory is that increased local purchases by new companies and their employees are multiplied several times as the money spreads throughout the community. Every additional purchase results in additional sales tax from the same original dollar that exited the new company. Companies that manufacture goods or provide services externally have the greatest value theoretically as they actually bring new money into the community. The rate at which this happens is called the velocity of money.

In Oak Ridge, however, the size of the economy that occurs within our city limits is enormous for our population. The problem for Oak Ridge is that much of that economy occurs within non-taxable institutions and the vast majority of their staff does not live in Oak Ridge. Thus, in Oak Ridge the velocity of money is 70 mph—the speed at which those folks are cruising down Interstate 40 on Friday evening as they take their paychecks home!

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Preventing, ending homelessness discussed at ‘Lunch with League’

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Programs that could help prevent, reduce, and end homelessness will be discussed at “Lunch with the League” on Tuesday.

Mike Dunthorn, program manager for homeless service in the Knoxville Community Development Department, will be the guest speaker at Tuesday’s lunch, which starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

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Oak Ridge celebrates Arbor Day on Friday with tree planting

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The Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the City of Oak Ridge are sponsoring a 28th Annual Arbor Day Observance on Friday.

The ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m. at Willow Brook Elementary School, will also mark the 25th year that Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Tree City USA.

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Professor to give keynote address at Oak Ridge BIG Scholarship Luncheon

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Cheryl "Shelly" T. George

Cheryl “Shelly” T. George

In celebration of Black History Month, the Oak Ridge Chapter of Blacks in Government is sponsoring the Annual BIG Scholarship Luncheon on Thursday, a press release said.

It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The keynote speaker will be professor and author Cheryl “Shelly” T. George. She will discuss the 2013 Black History Month theme “Honoring Freedom: 150 Years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 Years after the March on Washington.”

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