Oak Ridge Today

Free income tax service offered in Oak Ridge

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A Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Center has been open in Oak Ridge since February. The VITA program is an Internal Revenue Service initiative to help taxpayers by providing trained volunteers to prepare and electronically file individual tax returns at no cost to the taxpayers, a press release said.

During the 2018 tax season, almost 2,000 returns were prepared at the Oak Ridge site, and taxpayers received more than $2,100,000 in tax refunds, the press release said. The site served taxpayers from 17 counties in Tennessee.

The VITA office is located in the Trinity Outreach Center at 320 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: National Parks World War II Film Festival on Saturday

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K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop 1944 (bld.300) Photo by Ed Westcott

K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop 1944 (bld.300) Photo by Ed Westcott

 

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present films from National Park Service sites that commemorate events and issues related to World War II and the nuclear deterrent used during the Cold War on Saturday, a press release said.

The film festival is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

National parks tell the stories of America’s World War II experience—from Pearl Harbor to the war’s atomic end, the press release said.

“The range of our nation’s national parks show how a resilient America mobilized its people to triumph over tyranny, explore places where technological and social barriers collapsed, confront the war’s darker legacies, and stand atop soils where American blood was shed, coastlines defended, and valor was memorialized forever,” the press release said. “Across the nation, national park sites help tell the story of our nation during World War II and help us ensure President Truman’s promise that ‘America will never forget their sacrifices’ will always hold true.”

National Park Service films on March 16, will come from: [Read more…]

Kiwanis Club to hear about Freedom Riders

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The Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge will meet on the second Tuesday of each month, starting at noon on March 12, April 9, and May 14.

At noon on Tuesday, March 12, the Kiwanis Club meeting will include a program by Judy Gooch about the 1961 Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders helped integrate southern buses and stations as part of the civil rights movement, and they were recognized much later for their activities, a press release said. Gooch was the Freedom Riders speaker at an event on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on January 21. She is a former member of the Tennessee Board of Regents and is owner and principal designer at Judy Gooch Interiors.

More information will be provided later about the April 9 program by Julie Forkner about the Oak Ridge Public Library and the May 14 program by Katy Jett about Explore Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge High School wins Department of Energy Tennessee Science Bowl

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Winning first place in the 2019 Tennessee Science Bowl is Oak Ridge High School, pictured left to right with their trophy, David Joy, Henry Shen, George Wang, Steven Qu, and Melody Guo. Their coach is Sharon Thomas. (Submitted photo)

Winning first place in the 2019 Tennessee Science Bowl is Oak Ridge High School, pictured left to right with their trophy, David Joy, Henry Shen, George Wang, Steven Qu, and Melody Guo. Their coach is Sharon Thomas. (Submitted photo)

 

Team heads to National Science Bowl after third straight state win

After months of training, studying, and improving their competition skills, 55 high school teams from across the state of Tennessee gathered recently to test their knowledge in broad science disciplines including chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, and energy.

Oak Ridge High School placed first in the annual competition and received an all-expenses-paid trip to the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., held April 25-29, as well as a $1,000 cash prize and a first-place trophy.

The Tennessee Science Bowl is the nation’s third-largest regional competition, a press release said. Held at Pellissippi State Community College’s Blount County Campus, the regional bowl prepares students to compete nationally with other exceptional students from schools across the country. [Read more…]

Construction Projects Job Fair scheduled for March 14

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Job Fair Flyer March 14 2019

The City of Oak Ridge is partnering with Jenkins & Stiles LLC to organize a job fair for those interested in positions with the construction firm. The job fair will be held Thursday, March 14, at the Scarboro Community Center from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., a press release said.

Jenkins & Stiles was selected in 2018 as the contractor for two major city projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Both projects are already in progress and scheduled to be complete later this year. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools names Phil Cox principal of the year

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Phil Cox

Phil Cox

 

Phil Cox, principal of Jefferson Middle School, has been named principal of the year, Oak Ridge Schools said.

Cox began his career in education in 1986 as a graduate coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Later in 1986, and for the next five years, he served as head basketball coach and coordinator of athletic funds at Lincoln Memorial University, a press release said.

After leaving LMU, Cox taught a year at the Anderson County Alternative Learning Center. In 1992, he began his teaching/coaching career at Norris Middle School and, in 2003, was named assistant principal and athletic director. In 2005, he was selected principal at Lake City Elementary. [Read more…]

A former Oak Ridge student, artificial intelligence expert to visit city, talk at evening ceremony

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The cover of Kai-Fu Lee's book, "AI Superpowers." (Submitted)

The cover of Kai-Fu Lee’s book, “AI Superpowers.” (Submitted)

 

Kai-Fu Lee—a world-leading artificial intelligence expert, venture capitalist, writer, and former president of Google China—is planning a visit to Oak Ridge on May 6, a press release said.

Lee, a 1979 Oak Ridge High School graduate, will visit his former schools, St. Mary’s Catholic School and Oak Ridge Schools, meeting with students and teachers during the day, the press release said.

The public is invited to an evening ceremony at Pollard Auditorium including a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Lee’s talk at 6:30. This community event will be hosted by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, UT-Battelle, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and Friends of ORNL. Lee will be available to sign his most recent best-selling book, “AI Super-Powers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order.” Copies of the book will be available for purchase, the press release said. [Read more…]

Public Notice: Anderson County Civil Service Board meets Tuesday

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The Anderson County Civil Service Board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 118A in the Courthouse, 100 N. Main St., Clinton, TN.

Earthquake hazard in East Tennessee: What could happen here?

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Robert Hatcher

Robert Hatcher

 

Could we have a major earthquake in East Tennessee? Do we live in an active seismic zone?

These and other questions will be addressed by Robert Hatcher, University of Tennessee distinguished scientist emeritus, in a lecture, “Living with East Tennessee Geology and Earthquakes,” in Oak Ridge in April.

The lecture is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Hatcher was a faculty member for 32 years in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Science Alliance Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee, a press release said. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Vanderbilt University and his doctorate at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Public Notice: Anderson County Legislative Committee meets Wednesday

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The Anderson County Legislative Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Room 312 in the Courthouse, 100 N. Main Street, Clinton, TN.

The purpose of this meeting is for Legislative update and consideration for items before the State General Assembly.

Concert in March will benefit United Way

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TheOutpourPoster.jpg

A March concert that will feature nine local acts will benefit United Way of Anderson County, a press release said.

The concert, “The Outpour Vol. 2,” will be at the Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge from 6-10 p.m. March 29. Tickets are $15, and they can be purchased at the door or online through the Facebook event page, ‘The Outpour Vol. 2.”

“Grab a bite to eat in the lobby, then head into the theatre to hear The Missing Goats, Covalence, BIG DOG, and many more wonderful performers!” the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State’s Ralph Monday to host poetry reading March 13, Oak Ridge campus

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Ralph Monday

Ralph Monday

 

Roane State Community College English Professor Ralph Monday, who has had hundreds of his poems published in more than 100 journals, will hold a poetry reading on March 13 on the college’s Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

The event will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, in the City Room of the Coffey-McNally Building. The public is invited, a press release said.

Monday is originally from Clairfield, Tennessee, a small Appalachian town on the Kentucky border.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee, and obtained his doctorate from Northcentral University, the press release said.

Among his published works: a chapbook, “All American Girls and Other Poems,” was published in July 2014, and Aldrich Press published his book, “Empty Houses and American Renditions,” in May 2015. [Read more…]