Oak Ridge Today

Basketball: Eight games in two days at ORHS in Rick McGill Toyota Classic

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Boys Basketball Team Nov. 17, 2015

Members of the Oak Ridge Wildcats boys basketball team are pictured above during an 87-67 season-opening win over Grace Christian at home on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. From left are juniors Tyshawn Young (15), Tajion Jones (3), and E.J. Bush (2), seniors Geevantay Gee (12) and Javien Johnson (11), junior Deandre Gibson (10), and senior Darel Middleton (33). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Rick McGill Toyota Classic will feature eight basketball games in two days at Oak Ridge High School this month.

The classic is December 18-19 at ORHS. The participating teams are high school boys and girls teams from Cleveland, Dobyns Bennett, Oak Ridge, and Science Hill.

Here is the schedule: [Read more…]

Parking lot sweeps at ORHS designed to ensure safe, healthy campus, principal says

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Oak-Ridge-High-School-Safety-Check-Coley-Justice-Nov-20-2015-1

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Rick Coley and his police dog Justus help conduct a safety check at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The random parking lot sweeps conducted several times per year at Oak Ridge High School with officers and police dogs are meant to help ensure a safe, healthy campus, an official during one sweep Friday.

The school conducted the Friday sweep with help from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and Oak Ridge Police Department and several canine officers.

Officials said it was a successful operation, although they declined to give specific information, including because the searches involve juveniles.

It was the first parking lot sweep since new ORHS Principal Martin McDonald replaced David Bryant, who retired this summer. [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

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Ed Westcott and National Park Staff at Celebration on Nov. 12, 2015

Ed Westcott, left, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during World War II, is pictured above with National Park Service staff members during a celebration of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This post was last updated at 8:05 a.m. Nov. 13.

Oak Ridge residents and officials celebrated the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, two days after the park was formally established in a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. Here are photos of Thursday’s celebration at Oak Ridge High School and Jackson Square by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today.

We will add captions to the photos as we can.

The new park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons in World War II, before Germany could. The new park is the first of its type to commemorate the Manhattan Project, which is considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century.

The new park includes four buildings in Oak Ridge: the Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the footprint of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park, and Building 9731 and Building 9204-3, or Beta-3, at Y-12 National Security Complex. The Alexander Inn, which is not a U.S. Department of Energy building, is also eligible for inclusion.

See a story on the establishment of the park on Tuesday here, and see a story on Thursday’s celebration here.

Colin Colverson, Tracy Atkins, and Warren Gooch at Manhattan Project Park Celebration on Nov. 12, 2015

From left above at a celebration for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, are Colin Colverson, Oak Ridge Reservation lead for the park in the DOE Oak Ridge Office; Tracy Atkins, project manager for the agreement between DOE and the National Park Service; and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

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National Park Celebration at Jackson Square on Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 a.m. Nov. 13.

Federal officials established the new national park that includes Oak Ridge on Tuesday. Oak Ridge residents celebrated on Thursday.

The new park, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, commemorates the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II, before Germany could.

Oak Ridge was the main production site for the Manhattan Project, and uranium enriched at the Y-12 National Security Complex fueled the first atomic bomb used in wartime. It was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the war ended. [Read more…]

Reminder: Oak Ridge to celebrate new national park on Thursday

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Jonathan-Jarvis-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Nov-10-2015

National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis shares a story about the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which became the 409th park in the National Park System on November 10, 2015, after Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed a memorandum of agreement on operation of the park during a ceremony at the South Interior Building in downtown Washington, D.C. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

Reminder: Two events in Oak Ridge on Thursday will celebrate the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The park was formally established in a federal signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 10. That signing followed more than a decade of work by historic preservation groups, local leaders and governments, and federal officials and federal legislators representing communities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington.

The Manhattan Project, which included the city that became Oak Ridge, was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. It is considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century, and it credited with helping to end the war. The new park, the nation’s 409th, is the first of its type to commemorate the Manhattan Project. [Read more…]

Basketball: Meet the Wildcats Night is Tuesday

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Logo

The Oak Ridge High School basketball teams are participating in Meet the Wildcats Night at 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 10, in the Wildcat Arena. The public is invited, and admission is free.

The night will include boys and girls scrimmages, three-point contests, and slam dunk contests.

The girls basketball team will host a silent auction in the arena, and sample sandwiches will be given away.

“Bring the family for a fun-packed Tuesday evening with the basketball Wildcats!” organizers said.

Oak Ridge boys cross country finishes second in state

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Oak Ridge Boys Cross Country 2015 State Runner-Up

The Oak Ridge High School boys cross country team finished second in Tennessee during the 2015 state Class AAA meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. (Photo by Adrian Etheridge)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:34 p.m.

NASHVILLE—The Oak Ridge High School boys team finished second in Tennessee during the 2015 state cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday. Brentwood finished first.

Senior Gashaw Duhamel was the top runner for Oak Ridge, the runner-up in the Division I Class AAA boys race. It was a 5,000-meter, or 5k, race. Duhamel finished 10th, with a time of 16:20.01 on the muddy course on a chilly, overcast Saturday morning.

Brentwood had two of the top three runners: sophomore Brodey Hasty, who was first with a time of 15:35.09, and junior Taylor Vroon, who finished third with a time of 15:50.85.

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie was 16th, crossing the finish line at Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course at 16:36.85.

Also in the top five for the Wildcats, meaning their scores were included in the team total, were senior Thomas Colburn, who finished 20th at 16:40.94; junior Jacob “Jake” Etheridge, who was 22nd with a time of 16:43.07; and sophomore Jose Villegas, who finished 27th at 16:45.09. [Read more…]

Y-12, ORNL tours offered Nov. 12 to celebrate new Manhattan Project Park

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DOE Public Bus Tour

A previous public bus tour of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

Public bus tours will be offered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday, November 12, as part of the celebration of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The new park, which is still being set up, includes Oak Ridge.

The special-access tours at ORNL and Y-12 are part of other planned activities in Oak Ridge, and they will include a peek inside Y-12’s Building 9731 and 9204-3 (Beta 3) and ORNL’s historic Graphite Reactor.

Y-12 and Clinton Laboratories—the wartime name for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—were constructed as part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. The Y-12 Plant provided the Uranium-235 needed for Little Boy, the world’s first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The historic Graphite Reactor at X-10 (now ORNL) proved that plutonium could be produced in a uranium reactor on an industrial scale. These facilities will eventually become a part of the Oak Ridge location of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats have silent auction at Meet the Wildcats Night on Nov. 10

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Paige Green

Paige Green

Lady Wildcats Basketball Head Coach Paige Green and the Lady Wildcats Basketball Boosters are having a Silent Auction to raise money to support the team on Tuesday, November 10.

The Silent Auction is at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Oak Ridge High School Gymnasium. It’s Meet the Wildcats Night. The boys and girls teams will both be introduced and play an intra-squad scrimmage, a press release said.

Green is a former high school All-American and Vanderbilt standout who is coaching her first year for the Lady Wildcats. [Read more…]

Photos: ORHS boys win Region 2 cross country championship

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Gashaw Duhamel

Oak Ridge senior Gashaw Duhamel finished first in the Region 2-AAA championship at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. (Photo by Adrian Etheridge)

 

For the second year in a row, the Oak Ridge High School boys cross country team has won the Region 2-AAA championship. The boys finished first in Knoxville on Thursday.

Oak Ridge senior Gashaw Duhamel finished first in the 5k race. Senior Tyler Boullie finished third, senior Thomas Colburn was sixth, junior Jacob Etheridge was seventh, and senior Daniel Beckett finished ninth.

The Oak Ridge boys team will compete in the state meet on Saturday, November 7, at Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course in Nashville.

Here are photos by Adrian Etheridge from the 5k (5,000 meter) race on Thursday at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville. [Read more…]

ORHS boys win Region 2 cross country championship

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ORHS Cross Country Region 2 Champions 2015

The Oak Ridge High School boys cross country team won the Region 2 championship in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. (Photo courtesy ORHS Cross Country/ORHS Dance Cats)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:20 p.m.

For the second year in a row, the Oak Ridge High School boys cross country team has won the Region 2-AAA championship. The boys finished first in Knoxville on Thursday.

Oak Ridge senior Gashaw Duhamel finished first in the 5k race. Senior Tyler Boullie finished third, senior Thomas Colburn was sixth, junior Jacob Etheridge was seventh, and senior Daniel Beckett finished ninth.

Here are their times:

  • Duhamel—16:18.55 (first)
  • Boullie—16:24.13 (third)
  • Colburn—16:43.09 (sixth)
  • Etheridge—16:50.34 (seventh)
  • Beckett—16:54.68 (ninth)

Oak Ridge finished with 26 points, and the other two teams in the top three, Maryville and Hardin Valley, both finished with 72. A lower score is better.

The Oak Ridge boys team will compete in the state meet on Saturday, November 7, at Percy Warner Park Steeplechase Course in Nashville. [Read more…]

ORHS Masquers presents ‘Harvey,’ a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, in November

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ORHS Masquers "Harvey"

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s drama program, will present Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Harvey” in three performances in November. (Photo courtesy ORHS Masquers)

 

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s drama program, will present Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Harvey” in three performances in November.

“Harvey” is the story of Elwood P. Dowd and his invisible, six-foot-tall rabbit named Harvey. When Elwood’s sister Veta tries to have him committed to the local mental hospital, the doctors commit Veta instead and mad-capped hilarity ensues. Come “see” the best dressed rabbit in town and a fantastic cast of student actors, a press release said.

The Masquers performances will be at the Oak Ridge Performing Arts Center (ORPAC) on:

  • Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m.;
  • Saturday, November 14, at 7 p.m.; and
  • Sunday, November 15, at 2 p.m.

[Read more…]