The first Breakfast with the Legislators this year is scheduled for Monday morning, February 28.
The breakfast will be virtual, and it scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. It has been organized by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge.
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Innovation has been required as federal cleanup crews work to deactivate and demolish the final portion of the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The structure is known as the East Cell Bank, and it is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s list of high-risk excess contaminated facilities, said a press release from DOE Office of Environmental Management. The East Cell Bank is located in the heart of ORNL, near ongoing research missions.
Workers with cleanup contractor UCOR characterized the final cell to identify potential radiological and hazardous contamination, the press release said. They conducted the work in stages under a six-story protective structure erected to ensure nearby facilities and ongoing research missions at ORNL aren’t impacted by the cleanup.
The crews began by taking surveys and readings from an opening at the front of the structure, the release said. They used long-reach tools and a specialized radiation detector. The detector overlays a radiation-intensity color map on a picture of the environment and identifies gamma-ray emitting nuclides and their locations.
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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce recently presented Willow Ridge Garden Center with its Small Business of the Month designation for February 2022. Pictured are Christine Michaels, Greg Steele, Kelley O’Dell, Scott Russell, Chris Johnson, April Fugate, Lora Barker, Florenda Howard, and Norm Nelson. (Submitted photo)
Willow Ridge Garden Center has been named the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for February 2022.
The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union.
Willow Ridge Garden Center is located at 97 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
“When the weather is bleak, wet, dreary, and cold, it may not seem like the time to visit Willow Ridge Garden Center,” a press release said. “But, according to garden center retail manager Greg Steele—or ‘Greg the Friendly Garden Guy’ to followers of the Willow Ridge Facebook page—it’s always planting season. ‘We are here year round and you can plant year round. There is not a time when you can not plant, so you can always get your hands dirty—it’s good for you!'” [Read more…]
Controlled burns are scheduled on the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Reservation.
“The public should expect to see some smoke from this activity,” a press release said. “However, smoke in this and other areas in the region could also be the result of prescribed burns currently being undertaken by other federal and state agencies.”
DOE will be starting a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation on the Three Bend Area off Pump House and Bull Bluff Roads, and other managed grassland areas off Bethel Valley Road and off Highway 58, the press release said.
Beginning this week and continuing through mid-April 2021 as weather permits, controlled burns will take place at:
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Sidney Ozcan
By U.S. Department of Education
Sidney Ozcan, a graduating senior at Oak Ridge High School, has been named one of 5,000 candidates in the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. The candidates were selected from nearly 3.6 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in the year 2022.
Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character, and involvement in community and school activities. [Read more…]
Mobile mammography screenings will be available at the Anderson County Senior Center on Thursday.
The mobile mammography unit is from the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The senior center is at 96 Mariner Point Drive in Clinton, and the screenings will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, February 17.
Appointments are required, and they can be scheduled by calling the UT Breast Health Outreach Program at (865) 839-7416 or by sending an e-mail to Lking@utmck.edu.
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Locals, visitors, and music industry leaders met for a celebration and songwriting competition for East Tennessee songsmiths at Tennessee Songwriters Week’s qualifying round in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.
“A slew of songwriters provided one of the most engaging and exciting songwriting competitions to date,” a press release said.
The competition was at Oakey’s Sports Bar in Oak Ridge. Each competitor was judged based on their overall performance, originality, and connection to the audience, the press release said. Out of the 20 applicants, only four were part of the winners from Oak Ridge’s qualifying round to advance to the next round at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville.
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By Janie Shanafield, Jefferson Middle School
Jefferson Middle School FIRST Lego League teams hosted the 8th annual Atomic City Invitational on January 15. Area teams were invited to participate in the FIRST Lego League Cargo Connect challenge and alliance challenge, sumo bots, and Lego Great Ball Contraption. Fifteen area teams entered 45 robots into the events.
The winners were as follows:
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Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee will discuss the compelling stories of five American soldiers captured and held as prisoners of war by the Germans during World War II during a lunchtime meeting next week, a press release said.
The Lunch with the League is scheduled from 12-1 p.m. Tuesday, February 15. The meeting will be virtual, meaning it will be online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lunch is hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, and the public is welcome to attend the virtual meeting.
“Personal history led Justice Lee to her interest in World War II, specifically POWs, and how their experiences shaped their lives after release,” the press release said. “Justice Lee’s father was a World War II POW. Although Justice Lee describes her family as being very patriotic and her father faithfully flying an American flag, their family did not talk about her father’s wartime experiences when she was growing up. Her interest in World War II POWs was sparked by ‘Soldiers and Slaves,’ a book shared with her by then Chancellor Arnold Goldin from Memphis, which later led her to research and prepare a presentation entitled ‘American Heroes With Common Bonds.'”
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First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 10.
The church’s monthly “Welcome Table” community meal program plans to supply each guest with a meal consisting of a soup, chips, fruit, and brownies. In addition, a bag of groceries will be delivered to each car. [Read more…]
A book sale organized by Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library continues this weekend through Sunday.
The FOL Winter Book Sale is at the Oak Ridge Public Library.
Saturday, February 5, is Half-Price Sale Day from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 6, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., is Buy-A-Bag-of-Books Sale with each bag provided by FOL priced at $3.
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Oak Ridge resident Jason B. Rutledge, a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, has received the Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor’s Commendation for Military Veterans.
The commendation was conferred in the form of a specially designed Challenge Coin, and Rutledge, 47, was nominated for the honor by Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley, a press release said.
Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings established the commendation in 2020 to honor the “service, bravery, and sacrifices of veterans in campus communities,” according to a TBR news release.
One veteran from each of Tennessee’s 37 community and technical colleges was chosen in 2021 for the annual honor.
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