Oak Ridge Today

Fox News editor to be keynote speaker at Oak Ridge Chamber luncheon

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Chris Stirewalt

Chris Stirewalt

Chris Stirewalt, digital politics editor for the Fox News Channel, will be the keynote speaker for the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Program of Work Kickoff luncheon at noon on Monday, March 21. The luncheon will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 201 South Illinois Avenue.

At the luncheon, the Chamber’s 2016 Program of Work will be introduced. The Chamber’s Eugene L. Joyce Lifetime Achievement Award and the Kerry Trammell Volunteer of the Year award will be presented as part of the program.

Stirewalt has worked in the FNC’s Washington Bureau since 2010. He helps coordinate political coverage across the network, a press release said. His daily newsletter, “Fox News First,” has nearly 300,000 subscribers. [Read more…]

CapitalMark Bank now Pinnacle Financial

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CapitalMark Bank and Trust changed its name and identity to Pinnacle Financial Partners on Monday, March 14, 2016, in a sign unveiling event at its Oak Ridge office in Jackson Square. (Submitted photo)

 

CapitalMark Bank and Trust changed its name and identity to Pinnacle Financial Partners on Monday in a sign unveiling event at its Oak Ridge office in Jackson Square.

CapitalMark was merged with Pinnacle on July 31, 2015, giving the firm a presence in three additional East Tennessee counties. CapitalMark had continued to operate under its brand until the systems and operations of the companies were totally integrated with Pinnacle.

Clients from both firms will enjoy more benefits as a result of the integration, including the convenience of accessing 43 offices in Tennessee’s four urban markets—Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga, a press release said.

For the past month, Pinnacle has communicated extensively with clients to explain the changes they will see in procedures, materials, and the website, www.pnfp.com, the release said. [Read more…]

Letter: With city considering grant for synthetic turf, why not a new senior center?

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The Secret City is great at selective discrimination, while its citizens are not vocally supportive of its senior citizens. It lives by divide and conquer.

This actually makes the old adage, “Divided We Fail, United We Stand” a truism for future growth.

Oak Ridge is great at doing conceptual studies in order to hide and delay building its senior citizens a new center.

After reading the article about a SAB (board) proposing to waste, or is that give, some design firm another $50,000, I still remember all the parlaying over the Wildcat Den.

Then the city’s political manipulators tried to get seniors to endorse a bond issue to ensure other monies could be lumped together for a senior center. This failed. [Read more…]

Support ADFAC through ‘Dine and Donate’ on Monday

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Gondolier and Hoskins, both in Clinton, are two of March’s Dine and Donate restaurants. (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, March 14, six local restaurants will donate a generous portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC.

Restaurants participating on Monday, March 14, are:

  • Gondolier in Clinton
  • Hoskins in Clinton
  • Mediterranean Delight in Oak Ridge
  • Outback Steakhouse in Oak Ridge
  • Razzleberry’s in Oak Ridge
  • Papa Murphy’s in Oak Ridge

[Read more…]

Photos: Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge

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Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this weekend in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Pictured above, a Notre Dame team competes at Oak Ridge Marina on Saturday, March 12, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this weekend in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Here are photos by Julio Culiat.

The rowing races were hosted by the University of Louisville at the Oak Ridge Rowing Association on Melton Hill Lake.

The 2016 Cardinal Regatta included the following rowing teams: [Read more…]

TVC announces sessions, speakers for 2016 Summit at Tennessee Tech

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TVA 2016 National Summit

On June 1-2, more than 300 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region will gather at Tennessee Tech University for the 2016 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit to focus attention on the vital role entrepreneurs provide in turning the brain power and technologies from the region’s universities and federal programs into new business start-ups and the expansion of existing businesses.

The Summit is themed “Where Entrepreneurs and Technology Meet.” The event will be hosted by Tennessee Tech University President Phil Oldham in cooperation with U.S. Representative Diane Black.

The Summit will include two main sessions. [Read more…]

Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament on April 29 helps Community Mediation Services

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Oak Ridge Country Club Golf Course

You can start your golf tournament season in April and help a nonprofit organization that helps young people and families. The 15th Annual Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday, April 29, will benefit Community Mediation Services of Anderson Country.

The golf tournament will be held at the Oak Ridge Country Club. The ORCC Golf Course provides a “beautiful and challenging setting for golfers as well as allowing participants a great way to give back to the community through Community Mediation Services’ work with youths and families,” a press release said.

The tournament is a two-session, scramble format with two flights: 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. A new Chevrolet, provided by Sexton Automotive Group, will be the grand prize for the hole-in-one, the press release said. Complimentary continental breakfasts, beverage carts, and a smoked barbecue lunch, as well as prize contests for golfers, will be available. Free shirts for all golfers are included.

The early registration deadline is Friday, April 22. You can register early for $100 per player and $400 per team, and for $125 per player and $500 per team after April 22 or at the door. [Read more…]

ATVs could be allowed on Highway 25W in Rocky Top starting in July

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Rocky-Top-City-Seal

The Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to amend current law that would allow for all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, to ride on Highway 25W in Rocky Top from the intersection of Colonial Lane to the intersection at Jacksboro Avenue beginning July 1, 2016.

“Current legislation allows for ATVs to be operated on State Route 116 from Beech Grove to Highway 25,” said Mike Lovely, Rocky Top mayor. “This amendment would extend the riding area and allow riders from Windrock Park to access the commerce area of Rocky Top.”

Windrock Park is the largest privately owned off-road recreation area in the country with more than 72,000 acres that include off-highway vehicle trails, hiking trails, and mountain biking trails, a press release said. It is also home to the Buffalo Mountain Wind Farm, which is comprised of 18 windmills. [Read more…]

ORAU receives $1.4 billion DOE contract to manage ORISE

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100 is pictured above.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science has awarded a $1.4 billion contract to Oak Ridge Associated Universities to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

The initial contract term will be through September 30, 2020. The department recognizes superior performance through phased extensions beyond the initial term of the contract for up to a total of five more years, if the contractor meets performance criteria developed by DOE, a press release said.

ORISE supports DOE’s mission to advance scientific and technical workforce development and education and research programs by creating opportunities for collaboration through partnerships with DOE facilities, other federal agencies, the academic community, and industry, the press release said. Specifically, ORISE’s objectives are: [Read more…]

Wireless electric charging: The future of plug-in electric vehicles is going cordless

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ORNL-Wireless-Vehicle-Charging

Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory test a wireless charger on the fully-electric Toyota Scion iQ at a demonstration site. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

By Nay Chehab

What if charging your plug-in electric vehicle was as easy as parking it? No need for cords or cards. Just as Wi-Fi has freed consumers of wires when accessing the Internet, wireless charging technology may soon be as widespread, thanks to research supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

With support from the Vehicle Technologies Office, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Hyundai America Technical Center Inc. have been working since 2012 to demonstrate wireless charging on a variety of vehicles. ORNL is working with a mix of Toyota vehicles, including models of the all-electric RAV 4, plug-in hybrid electric Prius, and all-electric Scion iQ, while Hyundai America Technical Center Inc. is testing its technology on five all-electric Kia Souls.

The technology behind wireless charging creates a connection between a transmitting pad on the ground (such as in a garage) and a receiving pad integrated on the bottom of the vehicle. In the projects ORNL is leading, the transmitting pad is connected to a 240-volt outlet and generates a magnetic field of a certain frequency. When the coil in the receiving pad is tuned to oscillate at the same frequency, the magnetic field will generate a current in the receiving coil, charging the vehicle’s battery. [Read more…]

Family displaced, but no one injured in Rocky Top fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

A house fire displaced a Rocky Top area family on Wednesday night, but no one was injured, authorities said.

Firefighters from the Rocky Top and Medford fire departments responded to the fire, which was reported shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday in Cumberland View Estates in Rocky Top.

Anderson County Sheriff”s Department deputies arrived on the scene as well and were told by the resident, Jennifer Hutchins, that she was getting ready to take a shower when she heard a popping noise from the kitchen. When she went to investigate, she saw the microwave and the oven on fire. Hutchins immediately grabbed her two children and got out of the house, authorities said. [Read more…]

ORNL associate lab director to discuss discovery of elements 115, 117; super-heavy nuclei; ‘island of stability’

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Jim Roberto

Jim Roberto

Jim Roberto, an associate laboratory director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will discuss the discovery of elements 115 and 117, super-heavy nuclei, and the “island of stability” during a Wednesday evening talk next week.

Roberto, ORNL associate laboratory director for science and technology partnerships, will give the featured talk to the ORION astronomy club at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16. The talk will be at the Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.

Roberto’s talk is titled “The Discovery of Elements 115 and 117: SuperHeavy Nuclei and the ‘Island of Stability.'” Roberto will review recent progress in super-heavy element research with particular focus on the significance of element 117 and its decay products as evidence for the existence of the presumed “island of stability” for super-heavy nuclei, a press release said. [Read more…]