Oak Ridge Today

Basketball tournament to benefit Cancer Society

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Hoops for Hope

Information from WYSH Radio

On Saturday Aug. 24, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be held in Oak Ridge to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Oak Ridge. The tournament will be held at the Oak Ridge Civic Center with the first game to be played at 8:30 a.m.

There are three divisions: Competitive, Non-Competitive, and Women’s, and the registration fee is $60 per team ($20 per person). Each participant will receive a Relay for Life T-shirt.

There will also be a three-point contest at the conclusion of the 3-on-3 tournament and you can participate in that for a $5 donation entry fee. For more information or to reserve a spot for your team today, contact Kenneth Herring at (865) 310-2664.

Civic Center Recreation Building closed for maintenance Saturday to Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Gymnasium

The Oak Ridge Civic Center Gymnasium is pictured above during a Christmas ceremony in December 2011.

The Oak Ridge Civic Center Recreation Building will be closed for floor and swimming pool maintenance from Saturday, Aug. 2, to Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The building and pool will reopen on Thursday, Aug. 8, but the gymnasium will not reopen until Monday, Aug. 12.

The Civic Center Recreation Building is at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

CUB receives $200,000 Clean Tennessee Energy Grant

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Gov. Bill Haslam Check Presentation

Gov. Bill Haslam announced in June that Oak Ridge had received $200,000 in Clean Tennessee Energy Grant funding for lighting at the Municipal Building and Civic Center.

The Clinton Utilities Board has received a $200,000 Clean Tennessee Energy Grant to renovate its wastewater treatment plant.

CUB was one of 19 recipients receiving $2.1 million for projects promoting energy efficiency, benefiting the environment, and helping save money, Tennessee officials said this month.

In a check presentation ceremony in June, Gov. Bill Haslam came to Oak Ridge to announce that the Secret City had received the first of the 19 awards. [Read more…]

Red Hot Horn Dawgs play at Secret City Sounds on Friday

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The Red Hot Horn Dawgs

The Red Hot Horn Dawgs will play at a Secret City Sounds concert on Friday, July 19. (Submitted photo)

Secret City Sounds continues its Summer Concert Series with The Red Hot Horn Dawgs on Friday, July 19. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Pavilion located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Red Hot Horn Dawgs are a nine-piece band with a full horn section and extroverted showmen, and the group’s musical library spans the best years of American popular music, from Otis Redding and Elvis Presley to Billy Joel, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Kid Rock, and Toby Keith, a press release said. [Read more…]

Milky white water, half-dozen dead minnows, but no hazardous materials found

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Hazmat Spill Oak Ridge Civic Center Creek

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to a possible hazardous materials spill on Thursday evening at a creek that flows through the Oak Ridge Civic Center. (Photo courtesy ORFD)

The water was milky white and there were a half-dozen dead minnows on Thursday evening, but the Oak Ridge Fire Department was unable to find any hazardous materials in a small creek that flows through Alvin K. Bissell Park in the center of the city.

“We couldn’t detect what it actually was, and we couldn’t find any place that it was introduced into the stream,” ORFD Chief Darryl Kerley said Friday.

Kerley said medium and larger fish in the area were okay and so was a snapping turtle. [Read more…]

Registration open for Exercise for Fitness classes

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The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department is sponsoring Exercise for Fitness, an adult exercise program taught by Charlotte Hensley. The class meets at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9–10:30 a.m.

“This well-balanced program offers exercise routines that include stretching, toning, Pilates, and aerobics,” a press release said. “The instructor incorporates the use of a variety of equipment including fitness balls, hand weights, steps, and hoops to provide a comprehensive workout for each participant.” [Read more…]

Secret City Festival features ‘something for everyone’

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Homemade Wine Band

The Homemade Wine Band played after the Friday morning opening ceremony at the Secret City Festival.

The annual Secret City Festival started today, and it features Manhattan Project bus tours and history displays, World War II living history activities and demonstrations, arts and crafts and antiques dealers, food vendors and exhibitors, a children’s festival area and youth events, and a car show and concerts.

“Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present,” a press release said.

Oak Ridge was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s atomic bombs, and the festival celebrates the city’s heritage.

Festival organizers have provided an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival:
 [Read more…]

State awards $200,000 grant for lighting at Oak Ridge Municipal Building, Civic Center

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Gov. Bill Haslam Check Presentation

Gov. Bill Haslam announces that Oak Ridge has received $200,000 in Clean Tennessee Energy Grant funding for lighting at the Municipal Building and Civic Center.

Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday announced that Oak Ridge is receiving $200,000 in Clean Tennessee Energy Grant funding for lighting in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building and Civic Center Complex.

The money will be used to replace and retrofit existing fluorescent lighting fixtures to LED lighting, a press release said.

It’s the first of 19 grant awards that the governor will be making in the next few weeks, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in the press release. Funding for the projects comes from an April 2011 Clean Air Act settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]

Woman found floating face down at Civic Center, taken to hospital

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Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

A female believed to be in her 30s was taken to Methodist Medical Center on Monday afternoon after she was found floating face down in the fountain at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, city officials said.

The woman, who was not identified in a Tuesday statement, is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. She is believed to be in her mid-to-late 30s.

She was found in the 14-inch deep fountain at about 2:45 p.m. Monday by residents visiting the Civic Center, the statement said. Two people reported the incident to the staff at the Civic Center front counter, while a third tried to pull the woman out of the water, said Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs, who is acting city manager while Mark Watson attends an out-of-town meeting. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge City Aquatic team has signups Monday

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The Oak Ridge City Aquatic team has its annual signup session at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Monday.

The signup starts at 6 p.m. Monday in the A/B room at the Civic Center. Team suits will be available for sizing and ordering, and the coaches will be there to answer questions, a press release said. [Read more…]

Registration under way for city-sponsored summer camps

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Registration for the 2013 Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department’s summer camps is under way. Registration can be completed online with a credit card, or the applicant can complete registration at the Oak Ridge Civic Center with a cash or check payment. Convenience fees will apply for all credit card payments. The city’s summer camp fills up fast, so early registration is advised.

A camp open house will be held on Thursday, June 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. Camp will begin on June 10 and run for eight consecutive weeks, Monday through Friday. Participants should be six to 12 years of age. Five-year-olds who have completed kindergarten are also eligible.

The camp fee is $85 per week, which covers field trip admission, transportation, special events, and a camp T-shirt. There is a $10 per child non-resident fee when applicable. For an additional cost, swimming and tennis lessons will be offered to campers during certain weeks of camp. Dates and fees will be listed on the registration site. [Read more…]

Earth Day festival to feature dog jumping competition, kids’ activities, recycling, exhibitors

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Dock Dogs at Earth Day Oak Ridge

Alex, a Weimaraner skilled at long distance jumping and speed retrieval, catches a football during a DockDogs competition in Oak Ridge during the 2012 Earth Day Festival.

The Sixth Annual Earth Day Festival in Oak Ridge this weekend will feature a jumping competition for dogs, a kids’ race and bicycle rodeo, and shoe collection and recycling drives.

It will also feature more than 60 exhibitors and live music. It’s scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The popular dog jumping competition debuted in Oak Ridge last year. It’s the Smoky Mountain Dock Dogs “Spare the Big Air Challenge,” and it features a 26,000-gallon swimming pool and four events: Big Air, Extreme Vertical, Speed Retrieve, and Iron Dog. It starts at 4 p.m. Friday at A.K. Bissell Park and ends at 5 p.m. Sunday. [Read more…]