Oak Ridge Today

ORFD helped fight fire in Oliver Springs

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The Oak Ridge Fire Department and other departments helped Oliver Springs fight this fire on West Tri County Boulevard early Wednesday, March 5, 2019. (Photo by Tom Scott)

The Oak Ridge Fire Department and other departments helped Oliver Springs fight this fire on West Tri County Boulevard early Wednesday, March 5, 2019. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to help fight a fire in Oliver Springs last week.

The fire was reported at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, March 5, in a building in the 900 block of West Tri County Boulevard, said fire photographer Tom Scott.

The initial response was by the Oliver Springs Fire Department, followed by the Marlow, Blair, and Oak Ridge fire departments on a mutual aid request, Scott said. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society will have Spring Plant Sale on April 13

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University of Tennessee Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale (Submitted file photo)

University of Tennessee Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale (Submitted file photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will have its next Spring Plant Sale on April 12 and 13.

The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 13, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (State Route 62) in Oak Ridge.

The Arboretum Society’s “Members Only” sale will be on Friday evening, April 12, from 5-7 p.m. Society memberships or membership renewals may be purchased at that time for this “early bird” shopping opportunity, a press release said. By joining UTAS on Friday night, people can enjoy the membership benefit of having the first pick of the beautiful selection of plants, some of which sell out that evening, the release said. Checks, cash and credit cards will be accepted.

This is the UT Arboretum Society’s 52nd Spring Plant Sale. [Read more…]

Eby elected vice chair of state school board

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Bob Eby

Bob Eby

Bob Eby, who has served on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, has been selected as vice chair of the State Board of Education. Eby will serve a two-year term.

Eby was selected by board members during the first quarterly meeting of 2019, a press release said. During that meeting, members of the State Board of Education re-elected Lillian Hartgrove as board chair.

Eby first joined the State Board of Education in April 2018 following his appointment to the board by Governor Bill Haslam in February. He brings with him a 43-year career, including 16 years of experience on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, where he has served as chairman and vice chairman, the press release said.

While serving on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, Eby spearheaded several major activities for the Oak Ridge Schools, most notably, championing the recent school’s strategic plan, Oak Ridge 2020, which has become a model for school systems in the state, the press release said.

“In the time he has served on our board, Bob has demonstrated a keen interest in the purpose of this board and has been able to devote a great amount of time as a volunteer to understand the challenges and opportunities we have to positively impact the quality of education provided to the students of the great state of Tennessee,” Gordon Ferguson, the previous vice chair of the state school board, said in nominating Eby to become vice chair. [Read more…]

ORPHA to celebrate two history-related events

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Photo by Oak Ridge History Museum

Photo by Oak Ridge History Museum

 

The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association will celebrate two history-related events this month: the opening of the Oak Ridge city gates 70 years ago and the opening of a new museum, the Oak Ridge History Museum.

The celebration is scheduled for Saturday, March 23.

The new museum was established to preserve the history of the life and work of the people who made the Manhattan Project a success, a press release said. The primary purpose of the museum is to focus on the “human side” of the Manhattan Project, telling the story of the history of Oak Ridge and the people’s day-to-day lives during World War II. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The Oak Ridge History Museum exhibits feature a unique collection of authentic artifacts and displays, including historic photographs made by Ed Westcott, the famous Manhattan Project photographer in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

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…]

Lady Wildcats eliminated by Bradley Central in overtime

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Oak Ridge sophomore Khamari Mitchell-Steen (2) shoots the basketball during a 65-49 win over Science Hill in a Class AAA girls basketball tournament quarterfinal game in Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Mufreesboro on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge sophomore Khamari Mitchell-Steen (2) shoots the basketball during a 65-49 win over Science Hill in a Class AAA girls basketball tournament quarterfinal game in Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Mufreesboro on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7 a.m. March 9.

Oak Ridge was eliminated by Bradley Central, 56-50, in overtime of a semifinal game in the state basketball tournament in Murfreesboro on Friday.

The Lady Wildcats (34-3) trailed by 10 points early, and they were behind at the end of the first and second quarters.

But Oak Ridge outscored the Bearettes 11-3 in the third quarter to take a 36-31 lead.

However, Bradley Central (33-3) rallied behind the 12 points (six points each) of Jamaryn Blair and Anna Walker to tie the score at 43 at the end of the fourth quarter.

Bradley Central made 11 three throws in the overtime period to help outscore Oak Ridge 13-7 in those four minutes to take the six-point win. [Read more…]