John Huotari - Author at Oak Ridge Today

Woman charged with homicide in death of motorcyclist

Posted at 9:58 am August 11, 2017
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Noelle Leigh Patty

This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with homicide in the death of a motorcyclist in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016. It’s one of two new felony charges added in the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 40.

Patty is accused of criminally negligent conduct that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, on January 31, 2016.

Patty was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017, and she is facing five criminal charges. Two of the charges are felonies, and three are misdemeanors. The two felony charges, which are both new, are criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The three misdemeanor charges are failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to provide proof of insurance, and failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death. [Read more…]

ORNL workforce reduction could save $34 million per year, mostly affect those of retirement age

Posted at 11:31 pm August 9, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

The workforce reduction of up to 350 positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is expected to decrease personnel costs by about $34 million each year, and the lab expects most of those who apply for voluntary separations from the lab to be of retirement age, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The workforce reduction, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, was announced by new ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia in a Tuesday morning email to employees.

The lab hopes to reduce its workforce of 4,800 employees by about 7.3 percent (350 positions) using voluntary separations. Involuntary separations will be used if necessary.

On Wednesday, ORNL spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said the lab plans to reduce about 250 overhead positions and 100 research and development jobs. Overhead jobs are those not directly related to research. The research and development staff who will be eligible for voluntary separations are those who charge more than half of their time to overhead accounts or whose program budgets were reduced in fiscal year 2017, McCorkle said.

A specific breakdown of the affected jobs is not yet available. [Read more…]

ORHPA having 75th anniversary for Oak Ridge on Sept. 15

Posted at 4:52 pm August 9, 2017
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Photographer Ed Westcott will be the honored guest and author Denise Kiernan will be the guest speaker at a 75th anniversary celebration for Oak Ridge on September 15.

The 75th anniversary celebration is presented by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled to start with historical displays at the Historic Grove Theater at 2 p.m. Friday, September 15.

The celebration is free and open to the public, an event flyer said, but donations to Friends of the Grove and the ORHPA are welcome.

Westcott was the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. He will be the honored guest from 4 to 5:30 p.m. September 15. There will be a photo slide show presented by Don and Emily Hunnicutt, as well as a question-and-answer session. [Read more…]

City wants to renovate fire station as DOE, contractors work on K-25 History Center

Posted at 1:17 pm August 9, 2017
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K-25 History Center and Equipment Building

An image showing the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, right, at East Tennessee Technology Park, with the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

Note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.

Oak Ridge wants to renovate the fire station where the federal government and its contractors are building the K-25 History Center, a project that is expected to help preserve the history of the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

The K-25 History Center will be built on the second floor of Oak Ridge’s Fire Station Number 4. The fire station is at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

K-25 was one of three major federal sites built in Oak Ridge during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

K-25’s signature facility, the K-25 Building, has been demolished. But a 2012 agreement that allowed the complete demolition of that building, once the world’s largest building under one roof, called for the history center at the fire station, among other projects.

Work is proceeding on the K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in a July 21 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The K-25 History Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy and UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

As that project proceeds, several upgrades will be needed to the first floor of the city-owned fire station in order to create the required living space for fire department personnel, Kerley said. [Read more…]

T.J.Maxx now open in Oak Ridge

Posted at 11:40 pm August 8, 2017
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The new T.J. Maxx store in Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new T.J.Maxx store is open in Oak Ridge.

The new store opened Sunday, August 6, at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

T.J.Maxx is one of the nation’s leading off-price retailers with more than 1,000 stores currently operating in 49 states and Puerto Rico, a press release said.

T.J.Maxx stores have something for the entire family, the press release said, from fashion and accessories to jewelry, home, beauty, pet products, kids, toys, and more.

“Our newest store in Oak Ridge will offer an ever-changing selection of high-quality, on-trend, and brand-name merchandise at the amazing prices that T.J.Maxx is known for,” said Tim Miner, president of T.J.Maxx. “Our buyers search the globe to discover the best in every department, and we’re excited to bring those finds to a new neighborhood. With thousands of new items delivered to our stores every day, we know our shoppers will find something surprising and unexpected every time they shop.” [Read more…]

ORNL to reduce workforce by up to 350 by end of year

Posted at 1:13 pm August 8, 2017
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Thomas Zacharia

Note: This story was last updated at 10:50 a.m. Aug. 9.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will reduce its workforce by up to 350 positions by the end of the calendar year, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a Tuesday morning email to employees.

The workforce restructuring plan has been proposed by UT-Battelle and approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, Zacharia said. ORNL is DOE’s largest multiprogram science and energy laboratory.

“From time to time, sustaining our work effectively and efficiently requires the most difficult of decisions, which is to reduce our staff in certain areas of the lab,” Zacharia said. “To allow us to provide for our research missions and to allocate resources most productively, the Department of Energy has approved a Workforce Restructuring Plan proposed by UT-Battelle that will reduce ORNL’s workforce by up to 350 positions by the end of the calendar year.”

Zacharia said the reductions will be made primarily among staff who charge to “indirect accounts,” along with some research staff affected by fiscal year 2017 funding who could not be placed elsewhere in the lab.

“By reducing these positions, ORNL will be able to maintain competitive chargeout rates while freeing resources for discretionary investments that will modernize lab infrastructure and maintain core research capabilities in the mission areas assigned to ORNL,” Zacharia said. [Read more…]

DOE: Pavement collapse at ORNL a significant distance from U-233 storage area

Posted at 12:23 pm August 8, 2017
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A pavement collapse at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in early June was a significant distance from an area where uranium-233 is stored at Building 3019, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday.

The collapse of about 36 square feet of pavement was near Building 3019B, which is an inactive facility, the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management said.

The hot cells in the facility were not affected, and they do not contain radioactive material, DOE said.

“There were no immediate safety hazards to personnel, but as a precaution, the area was barricaded until crews made repairs,” DOE said.

Uranium-233, or U-233, is a fissionable material, and Building 3019 area is a secure and controlled area. The pavement collapse was reported by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on June 19. [Read more…]

CH2M, part of UCOR, being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Posted at 11:31 pm August 7, 2017
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CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above. (Photo by UCOR)

CH2M, which is part of UCOR, the federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

The acquisition was announced Wednesday. It’s a a cash-and-stock transaction of about $3.27 billion, including a $2.85 billion purchase and roughly $416 million of CH2M net debt. It’s expected to close in the first quarter of Jacobs’ fiscal year 2018, which ends at the end of 2017.

The two companies are separate until then.

It’s too early to say whether the acquisition would have any effect on the federal contract with UCOR, but the companies said the transaction is about growth, acquiring the expertise of CH2M, and expanding the presence of the combined company.

Man indicted in alleged backpage.com robbery in Claxton

Posted at 10:25 pm August 7, 2017
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Richard Pressley

A Knoxville man was indicted last month on robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy charges for his role in an alleged robbery at gunpoint in Claxton in 2016 that authorities said started with an advertisement for escort services posted on backpage.com.

Richard Pressley, 31, has been indicted on charges of aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping using a weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping. He was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on July 11.

The alleged robbery and kidnapping occurred in a mobile home on Queen Street in Ben’s Mobile Home Park off Edgemoor Road in Claxton on May 21, 2016, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said in a press release after Pressley and his wife, Lindsay Pressley, were arrested last year.

Affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on May 23, 2016, said the alleged victim, Cody Monroe, traveled from Athens to the address provided in the backpage.com ad. Monroe “made small talk” with the female, later identified as Lindsay Pressley, for about five minutes when a man brandishing a handgun, later identified as Richard Pressley, entered the living room and ordered Monroe onto the ground, according to the affidavits. [Read more…]

ORNL 3D-prints first submersible hull for U.S. Navy

Posted at 9:40 am August 4, 2017
By John Huotari 2 Comments

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry takes a picture of the submersible hull 3D-printed for the U.S. Navy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley on Monday, May 22, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Navy teamed up with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to print the military’s first 3D-printed submersible hull in just four weeks. The parts were printed in just days, rather than weeks, and production costs were cut by 90 percent.

The hull was printed at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley through a partnership with the Navy’s Disruptive Technology Lab, according to a story published July 20 by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. ORNL is a DOE laboratory.

“ORNL and the Navy saw this is as an opportunity to bring together their resources and expertise in a partnership with the potential to revolutionize manufacturing in the defense sector,” the DOE story said. “Not only can the Navy find new ways to reduce traditional costs associated with manufacturing, but the lessons learned from this project will help ORNL further explore 3D printing applications in the boating industry, aerospace, buildings, and anything that requires a large, resilient structure. Partnerships like these help drive economic growth and reinforce our national security.”

The team working on the 3D-printed submersible hull needed to create a 30-foot proof-of-concept hull out of carbon fiber composite material, DOE said. The prototype vessel is called the Optionally Manned Technology Demonstrator, and it could be used to deploy logistics capabilities and sensors. Future vessels will need to be manufactured faster and incorporate new designs to support Navy missions, DOE said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools will transport students, provide glasses for solar eclipse

Posted at 3:13 am August 4, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

Oak Ridge Schools will transport students and provide eclipse glasses for the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people.

The path of totality for the solar eclipse cuts through Oak Ridge, according to information provided to the Oak Ridge Board of Education for a meeting on Monday, August 7.

Because the path of totality cuts through Oak Ridge, half of the city’s schools are in the path of totality and half are not, the information said.

“We believe that every Oak Ridge student should have the opportunity to learn about the eclipse and to experience the total eclipse,” the information said. “Therefore, we will be transporting students from the east side of Oak Ridge to the west side, with parental permission.”

The solar eclipse of 2017 is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people, the information said. [Read more…]

Inmate injured in jump from second floor at Anderson County jail

Posted at 6:18 pm August 3, 2017
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Brian Seeber

An inmate had life-threatening injuries after jumping from the second-floor tier in a housing unit at the Anderson County jail in an apparent suicide attempt on Thursday morning, authorities said.

Brian Jeffery Seeber, 42, of Oliver Springs, was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by an Anderson County EMS ambulance, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. Seeber’s injuries were life-threatening, Lucas said. His current condition was not immediately available.

Seeber was arrested in June on seven counts of rape and four counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.

The apparent suicide attempt by Seeber was reported at about 6 a.m. Thursday at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, Lucas said. [Read more…]

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