You can learn about Oak Ridge history at Jackson Square on Saturday.
The free program is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 14. It is organized by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
“Join a park ranger for a walk through Jackson Square,” the National Park Service said.
The program will begin in the upper parking lot of Jackson Square in front of the fountain.
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The American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation is having its first art contest.
The competition is open to the public.
The foundation is asking those who enter the contest to make art that represents an element, elements, or the periodic table of elements.
“For example, an artist may draw a representation of the periodic table, sculpt a carbon molecule, paint a neon sign, or create a computer graphic of a blimp full of hydrogen,” the contest instructions said.
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More than 300 volunteers placed 1,225 veterans’ wreaths at Oak Ridge Memorial Park on December 17 as part of National Wreaths Across America Day.
The day was commemorated at about 3,700 locations across the country, a press release said.
“Our heroes were remembered and honored as volunteers safely placing a total of 2.7 million veterans’ wreaths on headstones nationwide, while saying each name out loud,” the press release said. “Wreaths Across America would like to thank the community, dedicated volunteers, generous sponsors, essential truck drivers, area officials, and members of the media for coming together in unity and supporting those who have protected our freedom. Each person has played an important part in the mission to remember the fallen, honor those that serve and their families, and teach the next generation the value of freedom.”
Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch represented the city at its third annual Wreaths Across America Ceremony.
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MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated of Oak Ridge.
“The acquisition of Xcel Engineering is a strategic move for MartinFed as it continues to expand its presence in the federal marketplace,” a press release said.
MartinFed is based in Huntsville, Alabama. The company offers services to federal agencies and contractors in cybersecurity, information technology, training, contract vehicles, and engineering and technical solutions, according to its website.
Xcel Engineering, which is located in Commerce Park, provides information technology and engineering services. The services include IT staffing and solutions, environmental engineering, and project management and consulting, the press release said.
[Read more…]ASAP of Anderson partnered with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office to effectively reduce teen crashes and fatalities in 2022, a press release said.
According to Tennessee’s Integrated Traffic Analysis Network, teenagers saw a greater reduction in speed-related crashes than other drivers from 2021 to 2022, the press release said.
“ASAP of Anderson is proud of our work to make the roads in Tennessee safer” said ASAP’s Prevention Coordinator Chantel Harris. “Our efforts like hanging up signs to not drive drowsy at every high school in Anderson County and encouraging our Youth Ambassador Coalition teenagers to post safe driving messages at their school have certainly helped.”
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory appointed Peter Thornton as director of its Climate Change Science Institute, or CCSI, effective November 1.
“CCSI was launched at ORNL in 2009, bringing together the lab’s multidisciplinary expertise and big science capabilities to predict the future of the planet’s climate and to evaluate potential mitigation solutions at the intersection of climate, clean energy, national security, and environmental justice,” a press release said. “ORNL’s modeling work informs solutions to meet the nation’s climate goals of a 40% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.”
“I am very pleased that Peter will help develop and guide new local, regional, and national activities within CCSI,” said Stan Wullschleger, associate laboratory director for Biological and Environmental Systems Science. “Peter’s extensive expertise will ensure that our Earth system models provide the best projections of our changing planet and potential resilience strategies for our citizens, industry and society.”
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Jeremy Busby has been named associate laboratory director for the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His appointment became effective January 1.
Busby will oversee the directorate’s “unique facilities, capabilities and talented scientists and engineers who are tackling such challenges as extending operations of the current U.S. nuclear reactor fleet; investigating economical and flexible advanced reactor systems; and making fusion energy a viable part of the nation’s energy portfolio,” a press release said.
“ORNL has a proud history of addressing compelling challenges in both fusion and fission energy systems, and I’m honored to contribute to our success moving forward,” Busby said. “ORNL’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate has the world-leading expertise to advance the development and deployment of both fusion and fission. Combined with the additional strengths across ORNL’s research and support organizations and ORNL’s unique capabilities, we will fortify our nation’s energy transition.”
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The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry has appointed Kenneth J. Rueter, who leads a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, to its Board of Directors for a three-year term.
Rueter is president and chief executive officer of United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR). UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s prime contractor for environmental cleanup on the Oak Ridge Reservation. It is a partnership of Amentum, Jacobs, and Honeywell.
The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the state’s oldest and most prominent statewide business trade association, impacting public policy on behalf of business and manufacturing for more than a century, a press release said.
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Paul Langan will return to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the spring as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate.
Langan is a former associate lab director for neutron sciences.
In his new role, he will lead the directorate’s convergence research in biology, ecology, engineering, data discovery, physical sciences, and computing that “advances U.S. competitiveness in the global bioeconomy and Earth system sustainability,” a press release said. “This diverse research portfolio encompasses efforts to develop renewable energy solutions, improve Earth system models, and push the frontiers of systems and synthetic biology.”
Langan will succeed Stan Wullschleger, who will retire in 2023 after 33 years at ORNL.
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The East Tennessee Economic Council in December announced two winners of its Muddy Boot Award: Chris Whaley, president of Roane State Community College, and Jim Rushton, who is retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Katherine Roberts, deputy director of Y-12 Production Operations for Consolidated Nuclear Security, was named the 25th recipient of the Postma Young Professional Medal.
The Muddy Boot Award pays tribute to people who make East Tennessee better through their work and community activities.
The Postma Young Professional Medal recognizes a young professional making a difference in their workplace and the community.
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Des Mahoney, the teaching professional at Centennial Golf Academy at the Centennial Golf Club in Oak Ridge, was awarded the 2022 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year by the Knoxville Chapter of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) at their event on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Submitted photo)
Des Mahoney, the teaching professional at Centennial Golf Academy at the Centennial Golf Club in Oak Ridge, was awarded the 2022 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year by the Knoxville Chapter of the Professional Golfers Association at their event on Monday, December 12.
This is not Mahoney’s first recognition, a press release said. He has achieved Top 10 PGA Teacher in Tennessee multiple times.
Mahoney said he has a passion for continually improving his teaching skills by talking to other golf instructors in the country to share and implement some of the newest insights in golf instruction. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m.
The Tennessee Valley Authority has terminated rolling blackouts in Oak Ridge.
“Everything is now going back to normal,” City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Lauren Gray said.
The mandatory rolling blackouts that affected electricity across the region and in the City of Oak Ridge were to help TVA meet the power demand today (Friday, December 23), a press release said.
The blackouts were expected to affect about 2 percent of Oak Ridge Electric Department customers and last for about 30 minutes, the press release said. The blackouts were expected across the Tennessee Valley.
They were being conducted because of the low temperatures and to meet high power demand, according to the press release, which came from the City of Oak Ridge.
Information was not available about which 2 percent of customers were affected, although there were measures in place to ensure hospitals, fire departments, and other similar operations are not without power, Gray said.
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