Oak Ridge Today

Photo: ORHS National Merit finalists

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Oak Ridge High School National Merit Finalists

The 2014 Oak Ridge High School National Merit finalists are pictured above. From left to right in the front row are Aram Bejnood, Stephanie Andress, Emily Cheng, and Gaibo Zhang. From left to right in the back row are Liam Schramm, Josiah Chan, ORHS Principal David Bryant, William Mason, and Jaspreet Singh. (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge High School principal David Bryant has announced the 2014 Oak Ridge High School National Merit finalists. They are pictured above.

In the front row, from left to right, are: [Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic receives donation

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Free Medical Clinic Donation

At left, Tanya H. Vargas, co-medical director of the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, receives a donation from Oak Ridge Panhellenic Alumnae Treasurer Emily Flatau. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge PanHellenic Alumnae Association presented a donation of $1,500 to Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge Co-Medical Director Tanya Vargas at a recent meeting. The donation is earmarked to purchase two pieces of much-needed equipment: an ophthalmoscope and an otoscope, a press release said.

The Free Medical Clinic serves residents of Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties who are uninsured and can’t afford to pay for medical care. The clinic is located at 116 Division Road in Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge PanHellenic Alumnae Association is an organization made up of a cross-section of community-spirited women who meet monthly to exchange ideas, learn from programs presented, conduct their business meetings, and have fun, the press release said. [Read more…]

No garbage pickup on Memorial Day

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Waste Connections Inc. will not be picking up refuse or recyclables on Monday, May 26, in observance of Memorial Day. Monday’s routes will be picked up on Tuesday, May 27, and subsequent days that week to follow through Saturday. Please have all refuse and recyclables out by 7 a.m., the city said in a press release.

For additional information you can contact Waste Connections at (865) 482-3656 or visit www.WasteConnectionsTn.com.

DOE looks to UT’s Dongarra for input on computing advances

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Jack Dongarra

Jack Dongarra

KNOXVILLE—The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a report through its Office of Science detailing the Top 10 research challenges in reaching the level of exascale computing, once again calling on Jack Dongarra at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, a press release said.

Dongarra—a distinguished professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory and one of five National Academy of Engineering members at UT—has long been at the forefront of exascale computing, or computing at roughly a thousand times the capability of recent supercomputers.

An icon in his field, Dongarra is a lead author of the Top500, a list he helped start in 1993 to measure the world’s fastest computers as well as numerous software packages for high-performance computing. [Read more…]

New NNSA administrator to keynote Tennessee Valley Summit

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Frank Klotz

Frank Klotz, the new administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, is pictured above.

CHATTANOOGA—Retired Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the recently confirmed undersecretary for nuclear security for the U.S. Department of Energy and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will be a keynote speaker at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in June. Along with University of Tennessee President Joe DiPetro, Klotz will speak at the event’s Leadership Luncheon, which will conclude the June 4-5 event on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Klotz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April to lead the NNSA in its mission to improve national secruity through the military application of nuclear energy. NNSA maintains the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and is responsible for many nuclear nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, and radiological emergency response efforts for the United States as well as providing fuel for the country’s nuclear Navy. The Y-12 National Secruity Complex in Oak Ridge is one of NNSA’s most important facilities.

“Gen. Klotz occupies one of the most important jobs in the federal government to assure a strong nuclear deterrence for our nation’s security and the safety of our nuclear stockpile,” said Gerald Boyd, TVC board chair and former DOE Oak Ridge site manager. “It’s a great honor for the TVC to host one of his first public addresses as the new DOE undersecretary and NNSA administrator.” [Read more…]

Man flees from deputies in his underwear

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A Lake City man was in custody Wednesday after turning himself in after fleeing from deputies early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Justin Lee McIntosh, 21, surrendered to jail officers Tuesday evening and was arrested on several outstanding warrants, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said.

Earlier Tuesday morning, at about 3:30 a.m., patrol deputies went to his residence on Bolin Road near Lake City in an attempt to serve the arrest warrants. McIntosh broke out a side window of the home and fled from deputies—in his underwear, the Sheriff’s Department said. [Read more…]

‘Fore’ the Girls!: Girls Inc. Golf Classic on May 30

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Girls Inc. Golf Tournament

Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge is hosting its 17th Annual Golf Classic on Friday, May 30, at the Oak Ridge Country Club.

The Golf Classic this year will feature a Hole-In-One Car Prize sponsored by Sexton Automotive, first- and second-place team prizes, division prizes, prizes for closest to the pin, longest drive, and a putting contest, a press release said.

“Our fun day on the course will include refreshments and snacks as well as a fabulous dinner from the Oak Ridge Country Club,” the release said.

This year, the funds received from the Golf Classic sponsors and team fees will all support the new Girls Inc. Golf Program, the release said. Girls Inc. will be starting their first-ever golf season for girls ages 5-15 years old who are interested in building skills, learning to play, and increasing their interest in golf. [Read more…]

Spotlight: Norwood teacher part of state Innovative Educator Network

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Amy Gaskins

Amy Gaskins

Submitted

Amy Gaskins, a teacher at Norwood Elementary School, has been named a participant of the Tennessee Department of Education’s Innovative Educator Network.

The network will bring together high-performing educators eager to re-think the way they use their finite time, unique talents, and emerging technologies to transform the educational experiences and achievements of the students they serve. The network will expose participants to innovative approaches currently underway nationwide, guide them through a rigorous, hands-on design process, and facilitate connections with local and national leaders in order to plan, implement, and evaluate their ideas within classrooms.

Gaskins is one of 50 high-performing educators currently teaching in Tennessee public schools chosen to participate in the network. For her participation, Gaskins will receive a $2,500 innovation fund to purchase necessary technology for her fourth-grade classroom, and Norwood Elementary School will also receive a $7,500 grant to purchase necessary hardware and software to support the personalized learning model developed by the network.​

Clinton Council approves budget on first reading

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Information from WYSH Radio

Meeting Monday night, the Clinton City Council approved the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 on first reading. The $10.7 million budget keeps the city’s tax rate steady at 76 cents per $100 of assessed value while allowing the city to give its employees 2 percent pay raises and continue to cover 100 percent of those workers’ health and dental benefits.

The second and final reading of the budget is set for June 19.

Anderson County budget process moving along

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

Information from WYSH Radio

As WYSH reported last week, the Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The proposed $25 million general fund budget keeps the property tax rate at current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.

Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said that the budget does include provisions for a projected half-percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.

When the various county departments submitted their initial budget requests, the total was about $2 million out of balance but “with understanding and help, we whittled that down,” according to Frank’s summary of the budget process released late last week. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Land Bank to be discussed Tuesday

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Charlie Jernigan, board chairman of the Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp., will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

The meeting will be in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp. is a unique governmental organization in Tennessee that grew out of the need to address the problem of blighted housing in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The concept of a land bank was introduced in 2011 as part of the “Not in Our City” plan. It became a reality in September 2013 when City Council approved Ordinance 08-2013. The Land Bank Corp. will work to support economic revitalization through returning vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Two arrested, one with bulletproof vest, after guard chases burglary suspects

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Louis Edward Goodman

Louis Edward Goodman

Two Anderson County men, one wearing a bulletproof vest, were arrested Sunday after a security guard chased two burglary suspects from Southern Coal Co. on Airbase Lane in Briceville, authorities said.

The two men—Louis Edward Goodman, 24, of Oak Ridge, and Christopher Houston Harness, 24, of Briceville—fled into the woods after they were confronted, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said in a Monday morning press release.

Deputies responded to the burglary-in-progress report and located the two suspects after a search, authorities said. Goodman and Harness were taken into custody and charged with several offenses related to the burglary: burglary, felony property theft, and criminal trespassing. Goodman was also charged with the unlawful use of body armor “as he was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the offenses,” Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. Harness was also charged with the possession of burglary tools. [Read more…]