Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge plans for Manhattan Project’s 70th anniversary

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Organizers in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., are having special events today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret national effort to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

Although nothing is planned in Oak Ridge, local volunteers are considering whether to have a celebration on Sept. 19, the 70th anniversary of the decision to select Oak Ridge for the first Manhattan Project site, newspaper columnist and Y-12 National Security Complex Historian D. Ray Smith said in an e-mail.

The volunteers plan to begin discussing the possible celebration during a 4 p.m. Tuesday meeting in the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau conference room.

[Read more…]

Anderson County motorcyclist killed in Roane wreck

Posted at
By 1 Comment

An Andersonville man was killed Sunday night while riding his motorcycle in Roane County, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported that Larry Eugene Ballard had been headed north on Highway 27 in Harriman at around 6:30 p.m. Sunday when a westbound Chevy Cavalier driven by 34-year-old Crystal Laymance turned left onto the highway in front of Ballard’s Harley-Davidson, WYSH said.

[Read more…]

ORAU grant buys new technology for Pigeon Forge classroom

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover

Fifth-grade students showcase their technology skills in a Pigeon Forge Middle School classroom outfitted with new equipment using a $30,000 grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities. (Photo submitted by ORAU)

A $30,000 grant from a federal contractor in Oak Ridge filled a Pigeon Forge classroom with new technology this summer.

Heather Burkhart, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Pigeon Forge Middle School, received the grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities in that nonprofit’s fourth annual Extreme Classroom Makeover competition.

An ORAU press release said the grant supports educators who use technology in the classroom to inspire more students to pursue math and science-based careers.

Kohlhorst, Klemm retire from Y-12; new manager starts

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12.

Two weeks after an unprecedented security breach, two top executives have retired from the company that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex, and one of them has been replaced.

In a press release, The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced that Charles “Chuck” G. Spencer is now acting president and general manager for Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC, the contractor that manages the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration. He replaces Darrel P. Kohlhorst, who has retired.

William R. Klemm

William R. Klemm

It said William R. Klemm, deputy general manager of operations, has also retired.

The statement didn’t say whether the staff changes were related to the highly publicized July 28 intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and it didn’t say who would replace Klemm.

[Read more…]

UCOR and steel workers union approve four-year contract

Posted at
By 2 Comments

A steel workers union has approved a new four-year contract with UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, for work at the former K-25 site.

The agreement between UCOR and the United Steel Workers Local No. 9-288 of Oak Ridge includes a 2 percent wage increase in each of the next four years and benefit changes similar to those announced for non-union employees earlier this year, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Community celebrates K-25 historic preservation agreement

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

K-25 Building

The mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The North Tower, which historic preservationists had lobbied to save for years, is in the center background. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

An agreement officially announced Friday morning clears the way for the historic K-25 North Tower to be demolished, calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a nearby city-owned fire station, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn.

The agreement wraps up a decade of discussion over how to commemorate the historic contributions of K-25, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to make the world’s first atomic bombs.

Historic preservationists lobbied for years to save the North Tower, but concerns over safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and cost appear to have made that impractical. Much of the rest of the K-25 Building has already been torn down.

Those who signed the agreement include the U.S. Department of Energy, the State Office of Historic Preservation, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the City of Oak Ridge, and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

[Read more…]

Alice Leone Bowers

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Alice Leone Bowers

Alice Leone Bowers

Alice Leone Bowers, age 89, a resident of Oliver Springs, went home to be with her Heavenly Father, Thursday, Aug. 9, at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.

Mrs. Bowers was born June 20, 1923, in Alliance, Neb.

[Read more…]

Woman accused of ramming car, pointing handgun

Posted at
By 1 Comment

An Oak Ridge woman was arrested Friday for allegedly scratching a car with a knife on West Outer Drive, ramming it with her car, and then pointing a small-caliber handgun at three other people.

Bianca Nicole Taylor, 24, has been charged with one count of vandalism and three counts of aggravated assault. She remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Friday evening.

[Read more…]

Knoxville woman arrested for allegedly striking repo man with car

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A Knoxville woman was arrested Thursday on charges she hit a Powell man trying to repossess a car at McDonald’s in Oak Ridge in December 2011.

Ebony Sharee Burton, 30, remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Friday evening. She has been charged with aggravated assault.

[Read more…]

Report: Police investigating fire find marijuana, hashish, pills

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge police investigating a suspicious fire in a basement on North Illinois Avenue on Wednesday say they found drugs—including what appeared to be 147 grams of marijuana, 23 grams of hashish, and 73 oxycodone pills—in a bedroom, living room, and basement.

Police arrested Rockford Scott Crabtree II, 23, of Oak Ridge, and charged him with eight counts of either possessing or intending to sell or deliver the drugs. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Crabtree remained in the Anderson County jail on Friday evening in lieu of $50,000 bond.

[Read more…]

Natti Love Joys show rescheduled for Aug. 24

Posted at
By 4 Comments

A concert that was scheduled for tonight and expected to feature East Tennessee reggae band the Natti Love Joys has been rescheduled for Aug. 24, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan said.

The free shows are at A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

[Read more…]

UWAC announces 2012 campaign chair, fundraising goal

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

United Way Campaign Cabinet Members

United Way of Anderson County 2012 Campaign Cabinet members are, from left, Mike Belbeck, Jim Reafsnyder, Marilyn Reafsynder, Tom Hilton, and D. Ray Smith. Not pictured are David Bradshaw, Brenda Curtis, and Jenny Freeman. (Photo submitted by UWAC)

The United Way of Anderson County has named a chair for the 2012 fundraising campaign and announced a fundraising goal of $1.4 million.

Tom Hilton is the chair, and “Lives Touched Through Sustained Services” is the theme of this year’s fundraising campaign, a press release said.

“It will take about $1.4 million to sustain services and be there when people need us,” Hilton said. “With the dollars you donated last year, we were able to be there when someone needed help over 51,000 times.”

[Read more…]