Roane State Community College will host an open house for homeschool students, private school students, and their families from 6 to 8 p.m. today.
The open house will be in the City Room at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. [Read more…]
CNS will offer more details on proposed cost savings at Y-12, Pantex
The team that won the $22.8 billion contract in January to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas will provide more details on how it proposes to save $3.27 billion during the next decade, a company spokesman said Monday.
Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, won the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
But the two losing teams filed protests, and in a decision announced Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office upheld parts of the protests. The GAO raised questions about whether the National Nuclear Security Administration, which announced the contract award to CNS on Jan. 8, had properly evaluated the costs savings proposed by bidders. [Read more…]
B&W says it’s pleased with federal decision on Y-12, Pantex contract protests
The Babcock and Wilcox Co., the lead management and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, said it was pleased with a federal decision Monday upholding protests of a five-year consolidated contract to manage Y-12 and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
One of the two teams that lost a bid to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas said it was pleased by a federal decision announced Monday that upheld protests of the five-year contract, which was awarded in January.
The decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended that the procurement be re-opened.
The contract is reported to have a total value of $22 billion, and it was awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. [Read more…]
Parts of Y-12, Pantex contract protests upheld; GAO says procurement should be re-opened
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has upheld parts of two protests filed over the January award of a five-year contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. (Submitted photo)
A federal agency has upheld parts of two protests challenging a five-year contract to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended re-opening the contract procurement, raising questions about the status of the $22.8 billion contract awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, in January. CNS was one of three bidding teams who competed for the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
At the heart of the GAO decision, announced Monday, were questions about proposed savings. In particular, the agency seemed to question whether the National Nuclear Security Administration, which awarded the consolidated contract to CNS on Jan. 8, had properly evaluated the expected savings.
“NNSA failed to follow the publicly stated solicitation criteria, which provided that the agency would evaluate the feasibility and size of each offeror’s proposed cost savings resulting from the consolidation of the management and operation of these sites,” Ralph O. White, GAO managing associate general counsel for procurement law, said in a statement released Monday afternoon. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary, Altrusa present literacy grant awards
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa recently selected the winners of the 2013 Literacy Award Grants. Pictured above from left are Janet Swift of Altrusa, Emily Spahr of Clinton Elementary School, Sheila Michels and Zabrina Minor of TORCH, Jill McMaster of Roane Imagination Library, Linda Dalton of Oak Ridge Preschool, Doris Doherty of ADFAC, Rhoni Basden of Girls Inc., Kat Hall of Norris Middle School, Brenda Thornburgh of ORBRC, and Melinda White of Oak Ridge Preschool. (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa recently awarded roughly $19,000 in 14 literacy grants to 10 organizations.
The grants are awarded based on a competition that is judged by a committee of Rotarians and Altrusans, a press release said. Winners are celebrated during March of each year when Rotary International observes Literacy Month.
The total presented in the 2013 literacy grant awards was $18,987. [Read more…]
Police rescue unconscious driver from burning vehicle
Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from this burning vehicle on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge Police Department)
Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle that went down an embankment on Irene Lane on Friday night, authorities said.
The unnamed driver, a 26-year-old Oak Ridge resident, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the 11:30 p.m. crash, which shut down the northbound lanes of North Illinois Avenue, authorities said.
Eight officers responded, and they used fire extinguishers to fight the flames and keep police from getting burned, an Oak Ridge Police Department statement said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department also responded.
Asbestos removal in final stage at Federal Building
A four-month project to remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge is wrapping up, and federal employees and contractors could move back in next month.
Work crews are wrapping up a four-month project to clean up and remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge, and displaced federal workers and contractors could move back into the building next month, a spokeswoman said Friday.
“We have reached the final stage of the project and expect to have the building available to tenants in May,” said Saudia Muwwakkil, regional public affairs officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns the building.
There have been about 350 workers in the five-story building, which is home to the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office as well as a district office for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. The workers include roughly 200 federal employees and close to 150 contractors. [Read more…]
Site work starts at Weigel’s on South Illinois
Site work has started on a new Weigel’s convenience store that will include 16 gas pumps and could open later this summer or in the early fall on South Illinois Avenue.
Site work has started for a new Weigel’s on South Illinois Avenue.
The convenience store is expected to include 16 gas pumps and could open in the late summer or early fall, said Chris Ooten, Weigel’s real estate director.
The roughly 4,000-square-foot store will be on a 1.5-acre parcel south of TNBank.
Ooten said Weigel’s closed on the property about a month ago and has been working on utilities since then. [Read more…]
Allstate Foundation donates to ADFAC on behalf of local agent, volunteer
The Allstate Foundation recently made a $1,000 contribution to ADFAC on behalf of local agent David Erb. Pictured from left are Erb, ADFAC Executive Director Annie Cacheiro, and Cande Seay, ADFAC vice president and development committee chair. (Photo submitted by ADFAC)
The Allstate Foundation recently made a $1,000 contribution to Aid To Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, a press release said.
The contribution was made through the Allstate Agency Hands in the Community grant program in honor of local agent David Erb in recognition of his volunteer work with the agency. Erb serves on the ADFAC Development and Public Relations Committee and is an active member of the “Dine and Donate” Committee, which is a new event that is replacing ADFAC’s “Feed The Need,” the press release said. [Read more…]
Early registration ends May 4 for Kerry Trammell Memorial Run
Kerry Trammell at the Grand Canyon (Photos courtesy of Lori Anderson)
The early registration deadline for the Kerry Trammell Memorial 5K Run and Walk is May 4.
The race will start at 7:30 a.m. May 19 at the Oak Ridge Marina. The route includes Melton Lake Drive and the Melton Lake Marina Greenway. Proceeds will benefit the Anderson County Rescue Squad.
The race is sponsored by Secret City Runners and NHC Healthcare in Oak Ridge.
Registration by May 4 is $25. Late and race day registration is $30. [Read more…]
Government asks court to dismiss one charge against Y-12 protesters
Pictured above are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.
Note: This story was last updated at 9:47 a.m. April 29.
Federal prosecutors have asked the U.S. District Court in Knoxville to dismiss one of the charges against the three anti-nuclear weapons activists accused of breaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and splashing blood and spray-painting slogans on a uranium storage building.
A motion filed on Thursday said the United States has determined that it is unable to establish jurisdiction for that charge, one of three faced by the defendants: Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli. That charge alleges that the trio destroyed and injured, and attempted to destroy and injure, Y-12 property. [Read more…]
Court will not limit time for jury examination in Y-12 protester case
A federal judge will not limit the time used to examine prospective jurors during jury selection on May 6 in the trial against three anti-nuclear weapons activists accused of breaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex last summer and vandalizing a uranium storage building.
As previously reported, attorneys for the defendants—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—had asked for six hours for jury selection because of the publicity the unprecedented security breach has generated. [Read more…]
