Relay for Life Oak Ridge is Friday, May 20, at the Oak Ridge High School track. It’s scheduled from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday.
Here is the schedule of events for what will be a fun evening that will raise money and awareness of the awfulness of cancer, and the effects it has on so many people, a press release said. [Read more…]
On Friday, May 13, Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced the recipients of the 2016 Read to be Ready Summer Grant.
Earlier this year, in conjunction with the launch of the statewide Read to be Ready Campaign, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation gave a $1 million gift to the department to award for summer reading programs during the next three years. This spring, the department received more than 200 proposals and has selected 12 summer programs from across the state to receive funding, a press release said.
“With less than half of the state’s third-graders currently reading on grade level, we must approach reading in new and innovative ways,” McQueen said in the press release. “Read to be Ready summer grants will support individual communities as they tailor their approach to reading to meet the needs of the families they serve.”
Read to be Ready is a coordinated approach to move third-grade reading proficiency in Tennessee to 75 percent by 2025. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the importance of reading, unite efforts to address the reading gap, highlight best practices, and build partnerships. Read to be Ready summer grants are designed to support students even after the last day of school, the press release said.
The awarded program recipients’ region, district, and director of the program are below: [Read more…]
Michael Antonio Johnson
Note: This story was updated at 10:32 p.m.
Five people were arrested Friday, May 13, after a search warrant was served at an Old Dutch Valley Road home, authorities said. Anderson County Sheriff’s Department investigators and agents with the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force were assisted by the Sheriff’s Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Unit and Special Weapons and Tactics Team in serving the search warrant, which was obtained after an investigation into illegal drug and other criminal activity at the home, a press release said.
The two residents of the home, Michael Antonio Johnson, 44, and Lucy Jane Lowe, 35, were arrested for several felony and misdemeanor drug, weapons, and conspiracy offenses, the press release said.
Two others, Branden Charles Dye, 23, of Clinton, and Roxanne Nicole Luckey, of Briceville, were arrested for misdemeanor drug charges, authorities said. [Read more…]
The Turnpike Gatehouse on Oak Ridge Turnpike in west Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Submitted photo)
A program in west Oak Ridge on Friday, May 20, will give visitors some insight into what life was like in the city during the Manhattan Project with all the security, the need for secrecy, and the concern for spies, a press release said.
The program will be presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. It starts at 3 p.m. May 20 at the Turnpike Gatehouse, which is located at 2900 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.
Visitors that are taking the U.S. Department of Energy public tour are encouraged to attend the program after the tour, the press release said.
This program is free and open to the public. Parking is limited, so please try to carpool if possible. [Read more…]
Gary Simpson
A Rogersville man who was added to the TBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list Thursday was captured later that afternoon in Hawkins County, authorities said.
Gary Simpson, 57, was wanted by the Rogersville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for especially aggravated kidnapping.
On May 4, Simpson kidnapped 9-year-old Carlie Marie Trent from school, the TBI said. He had no custodial rights to Carlie.
Simpson was the suspect of the AMBER Alert issued this month for Carlie Trent. [Read more…]
Jefferson Middle School
Jefferson Middle School is one of 20 recipients this year of a Shape the State grant that includes the highly touted SPARK curriculum and its accompanying equipment for physical education courses. The grant includes an additional $1,000 for desired improvements to the wellness/nutrition/PE program.
Jefferson Middle School PE teachers will receive curriculum training on-site on September 19 and 20.
Robertsville Middle School received a similar grant last year, so this year’s grant will ensure all Oak Ridge middle school PE teachers have had the opportunity for the training, a press release said. [Read more…]
Brian Salesky
Maestro Brian Salesky, executive director and conductor of Knoxville Opera, will present a dynamic program illustrating the history of opera and musical theater at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 17. The program starts at noon Tuesday in the sanctuary of Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 309 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Salesky will be joined by two opera singers in his exposition of Opera 101, soprano Sarah Fitch and baritone Kevin Doherty. Both have performed roles in Knoxville Opera’s productions at the Tennessee Theatre and are graduates of the University of Tennessee, a press release said.
Opera 101, which can be adapted for different age groups, is one of several in the Knoxville Opera Education Program. In information provided for the upcoming program, Salesky said Knoxville Opera annually presents 75-100 education events for the community, including the recent Rossini Festival, Knoxville Opera Goes to Church, African-American Voices Series, and in-school operas, reaching up to 100,000 people. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce building is pictured above.
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is offering a free workshop for anyone interested in running for local office on Thursday, May 19. The workshop is scheduled from 7-8:30 p.m. May 19 in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. It’s open to the public.
The workshop will be conducted by Bob Eby, who has successfully run four campaigns over four decades and currently serves on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. He will share advice that he has received from elected officials over the years as well as his own observations and experiences during the past 30 years. Eby will share his list of things you must do, the things to avoid, and things to consider in order to run a successful campaign. There will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions and discuss issues. [Read more…]
Michael Guidry
Learn about gravitational waves during an ORION astronomy club meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting will feature Mike Guidry, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Tennessee and an adjunct staff member with Oak Ridge National Laboratory Physics and Computer Science departments.
On September 14, 2015, the event detectors from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, facilities in Washington and Louisiana recorded data that was consistent with the merging of two black holes, a press release said. Together, the recorded data form the event known as GW150914. [Read more…]
The main entrance at Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.
Oak Ridge High School will celebrate the accomplishments of this year’s graduating senior class on Monday, May 23. The celebration will start at 7 p.m. in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.
Those members of the senior class who have earned a “B” average and above through the end of their junior year will receive a cord and certificate to commemorate their outstanding achievement. [Read more…]
2015 Winner—Ken Wetherinton—1923 Model T (Submitted photo)
Calvary Baptist Church will host its second annual Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Show on Saturday, May 14. The show is scheduled from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and it’s free. It’s open to the public, and it will include fun for the entire family, a press release said.
“Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come out and enjoy the variety of cars, trucks, and motorcycles featured—this event is open to all vehicles,” the press release said.
The pre-registration entry fee per vehicle is $10, and the registration fee the day of show is $15 per vehicle. Proceeds from donations and registration fees will be donated to support Emory Valley Center. In the case of rain, the event will be moved to Saturday, May 21.
For more information, please contact John Ellis at john.ellis@calvaryor.org. [Read more…]
You can celebrate Celtic orthodoxy, Celtic heritage, and the Celtic roots of East Tennessee on Saturday, May 14, in Oak Ridge.
The Celtic heritage of East Tennessee and Appalachia runs deep, sharing so much in common—from food to language, music, and dance, and the sense of the sacred, a press release said. The peoples of the British Isles were Orthodox Christians for more than a thousand years, producing many of the world’s most-loved saints, and a spiritual heritage second to none.
The St. Brendan’s Orthodox Celtic Festival at St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge on Saturday is a celebration of Celtic and Appalachian culture and folkways, of our common spiritual heritage of Orthodox Christianity, and of great music, food, and dance, the press release said.
