The kickoff for this year’s Relay for Life of Oak Ridge is scheduled for Thursday evening, January 29.
During the kickoff, volunteers and participants will launch fundraising efforts for 2015. The kickoff will be at the Holiday Inn Express at 114 Tulsa Road from 5:30-7 p.m. January 29.
Anyone interested in learning more about this event and current team captains/members is invited to attend, a press release said. [Read more…]
Cumberland Piano Trio
The Cumberland Piano Trio will play at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 18.
“Oak Ridge Symphony’s own piano trio (violinist Susan Eddlemon, cellist Dan Allcott, and pianist Emi Kagawa) join forces with New York composer Larry Spivack to present an exciting program, including a new work commemorating Oak Ridge’s Spallation Neutron Source,” organizers said. “The program also includes Spivack’s ‘Suite from ‘Puss in Boots’ Ballet and Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major.”
The concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. See the ORCMA website for more information.
Oak Ridge school officials have previously considered four options to replace or renovated the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building on New York Avenue. Officials say the building needs to be renovated or vacated for the Head Start program to receive funding in the 2015-2016 school year.
The Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education have a joint meeting this evening (Thursday, January 15) to discuss the Preschool and School Administration Building, a 70-year-old building that officials have been hoping to replace for years.
In December, the City Council and BOE toured a building on Mitchell Road that could be a new home for the Preschool. It’s one of several proposed options that have been recently discussed. Others include repairing the existing building on New York Avenue or building a new facility. Officials have largely ruled out splitting up the Preschool and hosting students in classrooms at the city’s elementary schools.
Education officials say the Preschool has to be renovated or vacated by next year in order for the school system to continue to receive federal Head Start funding. [Read more…]
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and U.S. representatives Chuck Fleischmann and John J. Duncan Jr., all Republicans, released statements or commented on the East Tennessee visit by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, on Friday and his proposal to make the first two years of community college free to responsible students. Pellissippi State Community College President Anthony Wise and Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley also released statements or commented on the visit and education proposal.
The president’s proposal, America’s College Promise, will be proposed in his State of the Union on January 20, and it is modeled after the Tennessee Promise.
Here’s what the officials from Tennessee said:
Governor Bill Haslam was among the Tennessee leaders who received praise from the president during Obama’s 5.5-hour visit to East Tennessee on Friday. (Photo by Rob Welton)
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam
The president recognizes that good things are happening in Tennessee. We are proud of the Tennessee Promise. It is changing the culture of expectations in Tennessee by encouraging more students to pursue a certificate or degree beyond high school. The Tennessee Promise is focused not just on access but success in terms of making certain that students actually attain their degree. We think having a mentor available for the students is an important part of achieving that success.
Regarding the specifics of the president’s plan, we look forward to seeing more details in the coming days about the cost of the program and how it will be covered. [Read more…]
President Barack Obama announces a proposal to offer two years of free community college to responsible students during a half-hour speech at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Friday. (Photo by Rob Welton)
Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 15.
HARDIN VALLEY—It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for some, a chance to shake hands with the president of the United States of America or wave at his heavily guarded motorcade as it passed by on a local roadway.
For others, it was a chance to hear about a presidential proposal modeled after a Tennessee program that would make the first two years of community college free to students who maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average. That proposal, officially announced at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Friday, expands on the 20th century idea that all children in the United States are entitled to a public education. In the 21st century economy, the White House said, 12 years of school is no longer enough.
For a much-smaller group, Friday’s visit by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and his wife Jill Biden offered an opportunity to hear an in-person announcement of a new advanced manufacturing hub, the country’s fifth, that will be led by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and have Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a founding partner. That announcement at Techmer PM in Clinton was highlighted by a 3-D printed carbon fiber replica of a Shelby Cobra that the president joked about receiving for his birthday. [Read more…]
President Barack Obama, front; U.S. senators Lamar Alexander, second, and Bob Corker, third; and Representative John J. Duncan Jr. arrive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa on Air Force One at about noon Friday. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Before President Obama landed in East Tennessee on Friday, a spokesman explained the purpose of the trip to reporters. The 5.5-hour visit included stops at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley and manufacturer Techmer PM in Clinton. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Congressman John J. Duncan Jr. were guests, and so was Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.
Eric Schultz, principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill would unveil the president’s plan to make two years of community college free for all responsible students no matter their age during the East Tennessee trip. It was a preview of a “cornerstone” of the president’s State of the Union to Congress on January 20.
Separately, during a stop in Clinton, the president announced a manufacturing innovation hub that involves the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]
President Obama is seen in the back of the presidential limousine. (Photo by John Westcott)
Many people took pictures and videos when President Obama’s motorcade passed through Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Anderson County on Friday afternoon.
Here are a few, including several by John Westcott and Betsy Prine.
The president traveled to East Tennessee—his first trip to the Knoxville area as president—to announce education and manufacturing proposals that will be presented in his State of the Union speech to Congress on January 20.
Announced at Pellissippi State Community College, the education proposal would provide two years of community college free to anyone who’s willing to work for it. [Read more…]
This is a screen shot from a White House video filmed during a September 23, 2011, event on No Child Left Behind. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, center, introduces President Barack Obama, right.
Inspired by programs in Tennessee and Chicago, President Barack Obama has unveiled a proposal to make two years of community college free for anyone who’s willing to work for it, the White House said Thursday.
The White House said 57,000 students representing almost 90 percent of the state’s high school graduating class applied for the Tennessee scholarship program, which is called Tennessee Promise, in the first year. It provides two years of community or technical college to graduating high school seniors free of tuition and fees.
The federal program is called America’s College Promise, and it could benefit roughly nine million students each year, officials said. A full-time community college student could save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year.
The president is expected to announce the proposal in Knoxville on Friday, when he visits Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley and manufacturer Techmer PM in Clinton. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill will join Obama on the East Tennessee trip. [Read more…]
Dan Pfeiffer
President Barack Obama will launch a new manufacturing innovation hub during his visit to Knoxville and Clinton on Friday, a presidential aide said Wednesday.
The manufacturing innovation hub will be a private-sector partnership that will attract more well-paying middle-class jobs in high-tech manufacturing to Tennessee, said Dan Pfeiffer, an assistant to the president and senior adviser.
During their Friday visit, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with his wife Jill Biden, will stop at Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County and at manufacturer Techmer PM in the Eagle Bend Industrial Park in Clinton. [Read more…]
Images courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown
Note: This story was updated at 7:12 p.m.
The temperature in Oak Ridge is expected to drop to 7 degree Fahrenheit Wednesday night, and Oak Ridge Schools will be on a two-hour delay on Thursday morning because of the cold weather.
The high on Thursday is forecast at 25 in Oak Ridge, and it’s expected to climb to 34 on Friday, when President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s wife Jill visit Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County and Techmer PM in Clinton. [Read more…]
KNOXVILLE—The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking for a voluntary reduction in electricity use until Thursday afternoon because of frigid temperatures that are causing high demand across the Southeast.
The request extends to all electric power consumers—residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
The voluntary reduction will help ensure a continued supply of power to essential services throughout TVA’s seven-state service territory and avoid interruptions of service, a press release said. [Read more…]
