Oak Ridge Today

ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia to present community lecture Thursday

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Thomas Zacharia

Thomas Zacharia

Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give a community lecture on Thursday. It’s the 21st season of the Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

Besides being ORNL director, Zacharia is also president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle LLC, which operates ORNL for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

On Thursday, Zacharia will talk about the scientific agenda at ORNL in a presentation titled “Science and the State of the Lab,” a press release said. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of ORNL (FORNL) and the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF). It is free of charge, and it will be held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, the press release said.

“The talk will be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Xavier Harper, 10, of Oak Ridge, wins gold at USA Gymnastics Competition

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Xavier Harper, a rising fifth-grader at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from July 2-July 6 in Greensboro, N.C. (Submitted photo)

Xavier Harper, a rising fifth-grader at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from July 2-6 in Greensboro, N.C. (Submitted photo)

 

Xavier Harper, a rising fifth-grader at Robertsville Middle School, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from July 2-July 6 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Xavier, who has attended Linden Elementary School, finished first in the nation on floor for level 10 in the 11-12 age group, a press release said.

He finished fifth in the nation on trampoline for elite level in the 11-12 age group.

He is affiliated with Premier Athletics in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge High School freshman orientation, new student orientation

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Oak Ridge High School freshman orientation is Thursday, July 26. It’s scheduled from 8-11:45 a.m.

Students will pick up their schedules and badges in the food court and then make their way to the Auditorium, a press release said.

There will be a welcome session in the auditorium that will last about 30 minutes. Then students will be following their entire schedule (except lunch). They will stay in each class for 10 minutes, and they will be able to meet their teachers, learn their way around, and see who is in their classes, the press release said.

After orientation is over, students will follow instructions to pick up their laptops and have their school pictures taken, the release said. Parents are welcome to attend. While the students are going through their classes, parents will be attending informational sessions.

This press release was submitted by Holly Cross.

Grant to fund scholarships for high school students to take mechatronics at Roane State

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Roane State Community College has been awarded a $250,000 grant that will fund scholarships for high school students to complete Roane State mechatronics courses.

The scholarships will pay for tuition, all fees, all books, all supplies, a specialized mechatronics toolkit, and transportation costs, a press release said. Approximately 30 students will be selected for the scholarships, which will be awarded beginning with the fall 2018 semester for the 2018-19 academic year. The grant was awarded by the Community College System of Tennessee.

Roane State offers a one-year certificate and two-year associate degree in mechatronics, and courses are offered at the college’s Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility in Clinton. Mechatronics students learn how to troubleshoot and repair modern automated production equipment, and elective classes include robotics, the press release said. [Read more…]

Tonight: AKIN representative to speak to Democratic Women’s Club

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Karen Latus, representing Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN), will be the guest speaker at the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club meeting on Monday, July 23. The club will meet at 6 p.m. at Swifty’s Atomic Grill, 119 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Latus will discuss immigration and how the current political climate affects families, teachers, and school children, a press release said. She is active in AKIN, a network of people in the Knoxville area who work to encourage dialogue about issues related to immigrants and refugees.

“The network works to promote just and reasonable policies toward immigration and asylum and to foster a welcoming atmosphere in which all people are treated with dignity and respect,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Temporary lane closure on Oak Ridge Turnpike this week

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One lane of a short section of Oak Ridge Turnpike will be closed this week.

“Southern Contractors Inc., working under contract to the City of Oak Ridge, will have the outside eastbound lane of Oak Ridge Turnpike from Lafayette Drive to East Division Road closed starting Monday, July 23, at 7 a.m.,” a press release said.

The work is necessary to set new forms along the roadways as part of the Intersection Improvement Project, and it is expected to last until the evening of Wednesday, July 25, the press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County has public workshop on Senior Center on Aug. 7

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There will be a special public workshop about the Anderson County Senior Center building at 205 Main Street on Tuesday, August 7.

The workshop will start at 4 p.m. August 7 in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

“The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the Senior Center building at 205 Main Street,” a notice said. [Read more…]

TBI investigating inmate death at county jail

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April Michelle Beach

April Michelle Beach

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on July 4.

April Michelle Beach, 36, of Rocky Top was picked up July 2 by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy for a probation violation and a violation of her pre-trial release and booked into the jail.

On the morning of July 4, according to a source close to the investigation, she became ill and was transported by paramedics to the emergency room, where she was pronounced dead. [Read more…]

Shop Rite in Rocky Top to close

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Shop Rite Logo

Information from WYSH Radio

Rocky Top’s only grocery store will soon close its doors.

The Shop Rite in Rocky Top (the former Lake City) will close as early as next week, costing 18 employees their jobs and forcing customers to have to drive farther to purchase groceries. [Read more…]

Clinton Fire Department gets new ladder truck on Friday

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Clinton Fire Department Tower Truck (Picture via WYSH Radio)

Clinton Fire Department Tower Truck (Picture via WYSH Radio)

 

Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

The Clinton Fire Department will possess the largest fire truck in Anderson County on Friday.

Officials recently agreed to purchase a new truck with a ladder capable of reaching heights of 110 feet and will take possession of it on Friday, according to Clinton Fire Chief Archie Brummitt and Assistant Chief Jeff Little.

The new apparatus is thought to be the largest single purchase in the history of the city at $991,000. The funding came from the city’s capital project fund, as well as a $200,000 donation from Clinton manufacturing company SL Tennessee.

The ladder truck has an expected lifespan of 25-30 years, according to Brummitt, who said the tower truck has been on the department’s wish list for some time. [Read more…]

Scarboro Community Alumni have reunion, festivities this month

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Picture of African Dancers in the 2016 parade in Scarboro. (Submitted photo)

Picture of African Dancers in the 2016 parade in Scarboro. (Submitted photo)

 

The Scarboro Community Alumni Association will have a weekend of festivities this month as part of Oak Ridge’s 75th anniversary celebration.

It’s a reunion scheduled from July 27-July 30.

The 2018 theme, “Connecting the Dots,” commemorates the generations that made lifestyle choices that affect the growth and development of a vibrant Scarboro and Oak Ridge community, a press release said.

“Some additional 200 persons will return back to Oak Ridge to rekindle old memories of growing up in the Scarboro community,” the release said.

Festivities will begin with the Meet and Greet held Friday, July 27, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Scarboro Community Center at 148 Carver Avenue. There, people may receive their registration information, talk with old friends, and enjoy music and appetizers, the press release said. [Read more…]

S&R Insurance Services celebrates 25 years with open house

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S&R Insurance Services Open House July 17 2018

S&R Insurance Services is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an open house on Tuesday.

The open house is scheduled from 1-6 p.m. Tuesday, July 17. There will be a ribbon-cutting at 1:30 p.m.

The Medic Regional Blood Center blood mobile will be at S&R Insurance from 1-4 p.m., a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department and ASAP of Anderson County will be holding a pill take-back event from 1-3 p.m. [Read more…]