Oak Ridge Today

Lynch will seek re-election as Circuit Court clerk

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Rex Lynch

Republican Rex Lynch will seek re-election to a second term as Anderson County Circuit Court clerk in May of 2022.

Lynch was elected in 2018, and he recognized several improvements that were necessary in the Circuit Court Clerk’s office, a press release said. He has implemented several changes in the office during his first term, helping to eliminate turnover and boosting morale and production, the press release said.

“We had to address several personnel issues to make the office function more efficiently for the Anderson County court system and for the citizens of Anderson County,” Lynch said in the press release. “The renewed confidence in the stability of the office has resulted in increased productivity and reduced turnover.”

Lynch has upgraded technology and added several improvements, including the installation of a modern archival filing system as well as new electronic docket boards, the press release said. Also, the establishment of procedural policies and internal audits have helped eliminate any audit issues since Lynch has taken over the office, resulting in zero audit findings by the state’s Comptroller’s Office, the release said.

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Manhattan Project: Hike, learn about early schools, shopping, housing

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You can learn about the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works during a National Park Service hike on Saturday.

The hike is along the Cedar Hill Greenway. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 17. It will be led by a National Park Service ranger.

The hike will begin at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School, a press release said.

“Along the hike, rangers will discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works,” the release said. This will be a moderately difficult 2.5-mile hike.

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Lewis Ridenour running for Anderson County Circuit Court clerk

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Lewis Ridenour

Lewis Ridenour, an Oak Ridge police officer, is running for Anderson County Circuit Court clerk.

Ridenour is a former chief deputy of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. He is an Anderson County native who lives in Andersonville with his wife of 25 years, Pam, a press release said.

In the press release, Ridenour said he pledged to bring integrity, public service experience, sound judgement, and knowledge to the office.

Ridenour has served with the Oak Ridge Police Department since 2008, the press release said. His current assignment for the past seven years has been as liaison to the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Nuclear energy expert to give FORNL lecture on Tuesday

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Andrew Worrall

Andrew Worrall, deputy director of Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) and section head at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will present “Why Nuclear and Why Now?” on Tuesday, July 13, at noon to Friends of ORNL.

The lecture is open to the public. To view the virtual lecture, click on the talk title on the homepage of the www.fornl.org website and click on the Zoom link on the page describing the lecture, a press release said.

Today, nuclear energy in the United States produces approximately 20 percent of the nation’s electricity demand, the press release said. According to Worrall, “It is the largest producer of our nation’s emission-free electricity, yet is often misunderstood and misrepresented.”

In his presentation, Worrall will highlight some of the “pros and cons” of nuclear energy. Then he will explain why an expansion in nuclear energy is required not just for the United States but also around the world as the earth’s surface temperature continues to rise in response to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: Paddle with a ranger, visit Freels Bend Cabin

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Paddle with a ranger on the Clinch River in Oak Ridge on Thursday evening, July 8, 2021. (Photo submitted by National Park Service)

You can paddle back in time to visit the historic Freels Bend Cabin and enjoy the beauty of the Clinch River this evening (Thursday, July 8) in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Participants will learn more about the Manhattan Project as well as its impact on Oak Ridge and the surrounding areas, the press release said. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Oak Ridge was part of the project. Only a few pre-war structures remain in the city, including Freels Bend Cabin.

“Together, we will visit the cabin, which was built and then remodeled during the 1800s by the Freels family of Anderson County,” said the press release from the National Park Service. “It has maintained its historical significance all these years and now resides on Department of Energy property.”

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First Presbyterian offers free meals, groceries on July 8

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First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to food-insecure guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 8.

The church’s monthly Welcome Table community meal program plans to supply each guest with a meal consisting of a sandwich, chips, fresh fruit, and brownies or cookies. In addition, a bag of groceries will be delivered to each car, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORFD has new truck to fight brush fires

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The Oak Ridge Fire Department has a new truck designed for putting out brush fires. (Photo by ORFD)

The Oak Ridge Fire Department has a new truck designed to fight brush fires.

The new vehicle, Brush 1, was purchased by the city, and the equipment was purchased with a grant received from Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, for off-site emergency planning and response in the amount of $16,000.

It has a 300-gallon per minute Hale pump with a 300-gallon capacity water tank and a five-gallon foam storage tank, a press release said.

It can pump water through a bumper-mounted nozzle, which is operated via joystick inside the cab, while the vehicle is being driven so fire along the roadside can be contained and extinguished. This prevents having to deploy a hose line for a small area and helps to cover a larger area in less time, the press release said.

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Triplets tour Roane State as they look ahead to college

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Roane State’s Jack Parker talks with the Dunsmore family during their tour of the Coffey/McNally Building, in background, and the Goff Building on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus. From left: Jack Parker with Megan, Todd, Jennifer, Jacob, and Luke Dunsmore. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Roane State employee Jack Parker has been giving prospective students tours of the community college for years, but this was a first for him.

Parker recently provided a detailed overview of the Oak Ridge Branch Campus to triplets, all of whom came away with upbeat opinions of their upcoming collegiate experiences.

Following him through the corridors and into the classrooms and high-tech labs in the Coffey/McNally and Goff Buildings were triplets Jacob, Megan, and Luke Dunsmore, along with their parents, Jennifer and Todd Dunsmore.

The Dunsmores are residents of Knox County’s Fountain City area, and their children graduated in May from the First Baptist Academy in Powell. The trio attended that private school from kindergarten through their senior year.

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3 displaced, none injured after being rescued from apartment fire

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Three people are safe after a fire at an apartment complex on Glassboro Drive Wednesday morning. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Three people who had been asleep are safe after being evacuated from a fire at an apartment complex on Glassboro Drive on Wednesday morning.

At around 8:57 a.m. June 23, Oak Ridge Fire Department crews were dispatched to 114 Glassboro Drive. Firefighters arrived on scene within six minutes of the dispatch, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

“The first arriving crew found smoke showing from the top of the apartment building,” Oak Ridge Fire Marshal Eric Rackard said. “During a search of the apartments, three residents were found asleep in the apartment that was on fire. Crews were able to safely evacuate all residents and they were not injured.”

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ORAU awards five Pollard Scholarships

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

ORAU has awarded five William G. Pollard Scholarships of $2,500 each toward undergraduate studies for the 2021-2022 academic year. The recipients of this year’s scholarships include Semilore (Semmy) Abiodun-Adeniyi, Olivia Campbell, Olivia Hudson, Sara Malicoat, and Trisha Prater.

Each year, ORAU awards these scholarships to employees’ children or stepchildren who display exceptional achievements in their high school or undergraduate studies. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all high schools and colleges attended, three references (at least two of which must be from teachers), and a 500-word essay describing professional and personal interests, a press release said.

The William G. Pollard Scholarship Awards are presented in honor of ORAU’s founder in recognition of his dedication to science and education. A University of Tennessee physics professor, Pollard founded the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies—which later became ORAU—to link the valuable scientific resources developed in Oak Ridge as part of the Manhattan Project with regional universities.

Here is more information about this year’s winners: [Read more…]

Secret City Sprint Triathlon is Saturday

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The Secret City Sprint Triathlon is in Oak Ridge on Saturday from 7:30 to 10 a.m.

Participants will begin with a 500-meter swim in the outdoor pool before transitioning to bikes for the 15-mile ride to Imperium Drive in west Oak Ridge and back.

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ORHS grad and National Academy of Sciences member to speak Wednesday on food research at Berkeley

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Krishna Niyogi, a 1982 Oak Ridge High School graduate who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016, will give a virtual talk on Wednesday, June 23, on “Understanding photosynthesis to improve crop productivity.” He will deliver the Dick Smyser Community Lecture at 7:00 p.m., which is open to the public and sponsored by Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Smyser was the first editor of The Oak Ridger and an active member of FORNL. You can access the Zoom link by clicking on the talk title on the homepage of the www.fornl.org website.
Niyogi is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California at Berkeley and a faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The Niyogi Lab studies photosynthetic energy conversion and its regulation in algae and plants. The lab’s long-term research goals are to understand how photosynthesis works, how it is regulated, and how it might be improved to help meet the world’s needs for food and fuel.
Niyogi discovered the genetic mechanisms by which green plants cope with receiving excessive sunlight. He found that plants have a line of defense (nonphotochemical quenching, or NPQ) that enables them to release the extra light energy as heat. In 2001, Niyogi received the Melvin Calvin Award from the International Society of Photosynthesis Research in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the understanding of mechanisms of “photoprotection” in plants and algae.
Niogi holds a B.A. degree in biology from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also performed research at the Carnegie Institution.
Kris Niyogi is the son of the late Salil Niyogi and Audrey Stevens, both scientists in ORNL’s old Biology Division. His mother was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 for independently demonstrating the synthesis of RNA in E. coli bacterial cells by an enzyme called RNA polymerase.