Oak Ridge Today

COVID-19 city updates; Oak Ridge Library re-opens June 1

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Oak Ridge Public Library
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

City government facilities are returning to normal operations after more than a year of trying to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the Oak Ridge Public Library will return to normal operating hours on Tuesday, June 1.

However, not all Oak Ridge municipal departments and services have returned to full capacity, a press release said.

Here is a COVID-19 update provided by the City of Oak Ridge on Friday:

Departmental services are continuing. City officials strongly urge citizens to conduct their business electronically, over the phone, and by mail whenever possible. Financial transactions can be handled electronically and via mail. If you need to reach a department, call the number listed below for each department or click here for a list of all departments. You can also reach a department by email or social media.

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Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool re-opens this weekend

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool opens for the season beginning Memorial Day weekend.

The pool will be open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 29, through Monday, May 31, a press release said. Beginning June 1, summer hours will be in effect. Public swim is Monday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m., Wednesday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pool will also be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to noon for 100-meter lap swim.

“As a reminder, areas of the pool may be closed at times depending on activities, attendance, and staffing,” the press release said. “The kiddie pool will remain closed this season for repairs.”

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Roane State professor wins Outstanding PTA Educator award

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Roane State Community College Associate Professor Emily A. DeLozier has been awarded the Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Educator of the Year Award for 2021. (Photo by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State Community College Associate Professor Emily A. DeLozier has been awarded the Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Educator of the Year Award for 2021.

The Tennessee chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association recently announced the award during its virtual spring business meeting.

“It’s a great honor, and I’m very humbled to receive it,” said DeLozier, who is also the academic coordinator of clinical education for Roane State’s PTA program. “Every opportunity I’ve had has been as part of a team,” the Knoxville resident said.

There are more than 2,250 members of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Tennessee chapter. DeLozier said Associate Professor Beth Vowell, director of Roane State’s PTA program, “deserves as much credit as I do.”

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Friends of Library Book Sale returns

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Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library Spring 2021 Book Sale will be Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. Pictured above are FOL President Nancy Hardin, right, and Treasurer Jan Pierce sorting books from a previous year. (Submitted photo)

The Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library Spring 2021 Book Sale is returning after more than a year.

The Book Sale is Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. It will be a smaller sale at a different location because the Oak Ridge Public Library is not yet fully open to the public, a press release said.

“But we are ready to have a sale to share with you the many items we have received since our last sale in March 2020,” the press release said.

The sale will be held in two rooms on the lower level of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore building in Grove Center. The entrance is on Robertsville Road.

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ORHS Concert band to perform at Civic Center Amphitheater

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Oak Ridge High School Concert Band (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge High School Concert Band will perform on stage in public for the first time this year Thursday evening.

The concert is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 20, in the Amphitheater at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The concert will move to Oak Ridge High School if if necessary because of rain.

“The students have been rehearsing and performing virtually from the ORHS Performing Arts Center auditorium seats since December!” a press release said.

The band’s “Jazz Journey: 1941” halftime music during football season along with the virtual Christmas and winter concerts have kept the group strong musically, and they are looking forward to entertaining their families and the community with that talent for their final concert performance this year, the press release said.

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Cole seeking re-election as county clerk

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Jeff Cole (File photo)

Jeff Cole is seeking re-election as Anderson County clerk in the 2022 election.

Cole has worked in the Anderson County Clerk’s office since 1989, and he has served as Anderson County clerk since 2002, a press release said.

Cole is a certified public administrator from the University of Tennessee, and he is a graduate of the University of Tennessee Local Government Leadership Program. Cole was president of the County Clerks Association for the State of Tennessee, and he was chosen as County Clerk of the Year by all county clerks in the state of Tennessee in 2015, the press release said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the office has had a continued interest in protecting Anderson County families and businesses that use the clerk’s office, the press release said. Recently, the office installed new counters that have enhanced safety features and allow for better service, the release said.

The County Clerk’s office is responsible for waiting on more than 120,000 customers a year, according to the press release. The office has more than $8 million in receipts per year and offers more than 15 different services to the citizens of Anderson County.

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First Presbyterian offers free meals, groceries on May 13

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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, May 13.

The church’s monthly Welcome Table community meal program plans to supply each guest with a hot meal consisting of taco soup, Fritos chips, fresh fruit, and brownies or cookies, a press release said.

In addition, a bag of groceries with the ingredients for a family meal at home will be delivered to each car, the press release said. [Read more…]

International fusion energy project to be discussed

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David Rasmussen

 

An international fusion energy project that involves Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be discussed in an online meeting on Wednesday, May 19.

The featured speaker will be David Rasmussen, the leader of the technical integration of the U.S. contributions to the international fusion project, which is under construction in France and known as ITER.

Rasmussen’s areas of responsibility have included the ITER plasma heating and fueling systems, a press release said. He has been a plasma research scientist at ORNL since 1981. He has more than 35 years of fusion and plasma science experience in diagnostic measurements and the technology development needed for magnetic confinement fusion and other plasma technology applications, the release said. Rasmussen received a Ph.D. in applied science, specializing in plasma physics, from the University of California at Davis in 1981 where his graduate work was a study of inertial laser fusion wave plasma interactions.

The May 19 talk is hosted by ORION, an amateur science and astronomy club based in Oak Ridge. The talk is scheduled to begin on Zoom at 7 p.m. May 19, and it is open to the public. If you are interested in joining, the Zoom meeting ID is 885 2873 5960, and the passcode is 716689. Alternatively, you can follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88528735960?pwd=KzY4bnBHcjlhTzg3L3pOcjY0TFovUT09. [Read more…]

Impacts of nuclear war to be discussed

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Alan Robock

 

A climate science professor at Rutgers University will discuss how nuclear war could affect the climate and humanity during a virtual meeting in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, May 18.

Alan Robock will be the featured speaker at the virtual monthly meeting of Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The meeting will be open to the public, and it is scheduled to begin at noon Tuesday, May 18.

Robock is a distinguished professor of climate science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His FORNL talk is titled “The Climatic and Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear War.”

The Zoom link (meeting ID) can be found by clicking on the lecture title on the home page of the new FORNL website at www.fornl.org and then clicking the link just below the title on the talk’s descriptive page. [Read more…]

USRowing Southeast Youth Championships in Oak Ridge this weekend

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SIRA-Regatta-April-17-2016-6
Rowers, officials, and referees are pictured above during the 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The USRowing Southeast Youth Championships will be held Saturday and Sunday at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge.

More than 400 entries will be racing in the qualifying event for the Youth National Regatta for youth and teenaged rowers, a press release said. Trophies will include:

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MEDIC Blood Center has emergency need for blood

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The MEDIC Regional Blood Center has issued an emergency appeal for blood donors.

Products donated through MEDIC help community members in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky.

MEDIC Regional Blood Center said it has an immediate, critical need for O positive, A positive, A negative, and B positive blood types. MEDIC said it has a low inventory of B negative blood type.

“There continues to be a regional blood shortage in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky region,” the emergency appeal said. “MEDIC’s O positive inventory level has been critical for weeks.”

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Rotary Club, ORHS football players team up to promote literacy

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Darren Osborne (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge Wildcats football players and head coach Joe Gaddis recently took part in a virtual reading project in partnership with The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools Preschool. Here is how the project began, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Schools Preschool had a need for additional books and supplies. They also needed volunteers to read to their students. The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge learned about the need and devised a plan to help. Rotary members purchased age-appropriate books and additional supplies for the school. Because of COVID-19, they were unable to visit the Preschool to read with the students, so club members videoed themselves reading those books to share with students, the press release said. Then, the Club decided to present the opportunity to the ORHS Wildcats football team. They eagerly accepted. [Read more…]