Oak Ridge Today

Summer coding, technology classes for girls offered in Oak Ridge

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Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

Oak Ridge Computer Science Girls or ORCSGirls is on a mission to inspire girls in the community to explore the possibilities of technology and computer science, a press release said.

In its short existence since the beginning of the year, ORCSGirls has already run 16 coding and technology events and reached more than 200 middle school girls thanks to TechShopz in a Box by TechGirlz and wonderful volunteers, including many from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (read about them here) and the girls from the Oak Ridge Wildbots, the press release said.

This summer, ORCSGirls has partnered with Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge and is offering three full day workshops for girls aged 13-18 at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. On July 8, girls will create their own mobile game and learn about app programming. Topics at the July 15 class will include an introduction to virtual reality, including making 360 degree pictures, building a Google Cardboard, and learning JavaScript. [Read more…]

Pro2Serve receives five-year contract worth up to $49 million to support Oak Ridge cleanup

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Oak Ridge Environmental Management

Professional Project Services Inc., or Pro2Serve, has received a five-year contract worth up to $49 million to provide technical support services to the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. The contract was awarded June 19, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a press release.

“After conducting an extensive nationwide procurement, we are very pleased to continue our partnership with Pro2Serve,” said OREM Acting Manager Jay Mullis. “They’ve been a great asset to our program in the past, and we look forward to their valuable support as we clean and transform the Oak Ridge Reservation.”

The Oak Ridge-based company provides a wide suite of services to DOE’s Environmental Management program locally, the press release said. They are responsible for reviewing and evaluating the cost, schedule, and technical approach for upcoming and current cleanup projects. They also assist with engineering, project planning, project management, cost estimating, and schedule and cost analysis. [Read more…]

They evaluated Oak Ridge, but Protomet will expand in Loudon County

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Jeff Bohanan, founder and chief executive officer of Protomet in Oak Ridge, announced a $30 million expansion in Loudon County on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Jeff Bohanan, founder and chief executive officer of Protomet in Oak Ridge, announced a $30 million expansion in Loudon County on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Protomet Corporation evaluated a site in south Oak Ridge for a $30 million, 200-job expansion, but the company will expand in Loudon County instead, officials said Tuesday.

The good news for Oak Ridge: The current operations will remain here. And all Protomet operations will still be in East Tennessee, said Jeff Bohanan, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.

Protomet had announced in early 2017 that it needed more manufacturing space to add new production capabilities and increase the company’s output.

The initial plan was to expand with a 100,000-square-foot building on the west side of the existing facility on Larson Drive in Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge. Protomet acquired a 19.7-acre parcel next to its current facility from the U.S. Department of Energy, with the purchase going through the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board.

Protomet immediately began testing that site, spending about $60,000 on architectural and engineering fees, Bohanan said Tuesday. The idea was to add the new building at the same location as the current one.

But, “at the end of the evaluation, it was clear we could not do the expansion the way it was designed on that land,” Bohanan said. [Read more…]

Public invited to free tour of Melton Hill Lock on Clinch River in August

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District and Tennessee Valley Authority invite the public for a free tour of Melton Hill Lock southwest of Oak Ridge at Clinch River mile 23.1 in Lenoir City on Saturday, August 19, 2017. (Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District and Tennessee Valley Authority invite the public to a free tour of Melton Hill Lock south of Oak Ridge at Clinch River mile 23.1 in Lenoir City on Saturday, August 19, 2017. (Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

 

There will be a free tour of Melton Hill Lock on the Clinch River just south of Oak Ridge on Saturday, August 19.

The tour has been organized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District and Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Melton Hill Lock is at Melton Hill Dam on the Clinch River (Melton Hill Reservoir) at mile 23.1 in Lenoir City.

Four groups of 25 will be able to tour the facility at 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m., a press release said. Pre-registration is required for all tour guests (including minors) at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080948a4a92eaafa7-melton. The deadline to register is August 11. Personal information collected during sign-up is used for security background checks.

Tour Details and Rules [Read more…]

Dick’s Sporting Goods now open in Oak Ridge

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Dick's Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Dick’s Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods is now open at Main Street Oak Ridge, and the new store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday. A grand opening featuring former University of Tennessee football player Derek Barnett is scheduled for this weekend.

The store, roughly in the area where Sears used to be between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office on South Tulane Avenue, is 35,000 square foot. It sells equipment for team sports, footwear, apparel, hunting and fishing gear, and bicycles and fitness equipment, said Brian Johnson, community marketing manager for Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The store offers top national brands and in-store services such as a glove steamer, a gate analysis for runners and walkers, an archery lane to test bows, and bow stringing, Johnson said.

There are about 62 employees, both full-time and part-time, Johnson said.

He said many Oak Ridge customers shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods in West Knoxville.

“Now they’ve got it here,” Johnson said. “Oak Ridge is a thriving market. Oak Ridge is an outdoor community.” [Read more…]

City to host fourth preschool meeting, the last step in conceptual design

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Design concepts for the new Oak Ridge Schools Preschool at Scarboro Park, as published in May 2017. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

Design concepts for the new Oak Ridge Schools Preschool at Scarboro Park, as published in May 2017. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

 

The City of Oak Ridge will host a fourth public forum-style meeting on the Oak Ridge Preschool on July 11. It’s the last step in the conceptual design process, a press release said.

“Once plans are affirmed by the community, architects will begin work on construction drawings,” the press release said.

The preschool will be built in Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge.

The July 11 meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Scarboro Community Center. [Read more…]

Feinstein: President’s budget request could lead to 1,600 layoffs at ORNL

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by ORNL

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:20 p.m. June 28.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday said the president’s budget request for the next fiscal year could lead to a 33 percent workforce reduction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. About 1,600 of the lab’s roughly 4,800 employees could be laid off, the senator’s office said.

Feinstein, a Democrat from California, and other members of the Senate Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican who is chair of the subcommittee, had a budget hearing with new Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday afternoon, June 21.

Across the U.S. Department of Energy, a workforce of 29,000 employees could be reduced by 23 percent at labs such as ORNL that are managed for DOE and not for the National Nuclear Security Administration, Feinstein said. (The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE.) That would be a reduction of 6,700 employees at the non-NNSA, non-weapons labs, the senator said.

“Every non-NNSA lab would see drastic employment cuts under this proposed budget,” said Feinstein, the ranking Democratic member of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. “We must change this budget.”

The potential layoffs at DOE labs would be the result of a budget request submitted by President Donald Trump to Congress on Tuesday, May 23. But the president’s budget request has not yet been approved by Congress, and it has run into bipartisan opposition. Some legislators have declared the budget request “dead on arrival,” and others have said they won’t even review some proposed cuts such as a 30 percent funding reduction for the State Department. [Read more…]

Butch Jones, UT football coach, to be special guest at Blankenship Field fundraiser

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Martin McDonald and Butch Jones at Blankenship Field on Sept. 18, 2015

University of Tennessee Volunteers Coach Butch Jones, right, is pictured above with Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald at Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. (File photo courtesy Martin McDonald)

 

University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones will be the special guest at a July 11 fundraiser for Blankenship Field.

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally will also be there. So will board members of the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation.

The fundraiser will start at 11:30 a.m. July 11 in the banquet room of the DoubleTree Hotel on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. Tickets are $100 per person for this buffet lunch, and they include an opportunity to hear from Jones, an event notice said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Today has taken few days off for brief vacation

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West Yellowstone June 24 2017

Oak Ridge Today has taken a few days off in order to attend a family reunion, and for the most part, we haven’t been able to post stories for the past few days.

We resume our regular posting today (Monday, June 26).

The family reunion was in West Yellowstone, Montana.

It’s the first vacation we’ve had since we started more than five years ago.

We will try to provide more information later. Thank you for your support and for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Bridge inspection to temporarily close one lane over Norris Dam

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A routine bridge inspection will require a single lane closure on U.S. Highway 441 across Norris Dam near Norris on Wednesday, June 28. The closure should begin by 11 a.m. and be complete no later than 5 p.m., a press release said.

Law enforcement officers will be on hand to direct traffic, but motorists should expect delays, said the press release from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

“Bridge inspections are a necessary part of ensuring these pieces of vital transportation infrastructure continue to operate safely,” the press release said. “We apologize for this temporary inconvenience of visitors to Norris Dam.”

Cromwell sentenced to 12 years in fatal July 4 parking lot crash

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Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison during a hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison during a hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 p.m.

CLINTON—Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday.

Cromwell—a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen driving on a suspended license, according to court records and testimony—was actually sentenced in nine separate cases. He had been convicted on all nine counts at the end of a three-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton in February. Besides reckless vehicular homicide, the nine convictions included eight counts of aggravated assault.

Senior Judge Paul Summers of Nashville announced the effective 12-year sentence at the end of a roughly four-hour sentencing hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday afternoon.

The convictions had been split into three groups. The first group included the reckless vehicular homicide conviction, which was filed over the death of James Robinson, who died pushing his two young daughters to safety as Cromwell backed his Dodge Ram pickup truck through the crowded parking lot of Midtown Community Center on July 4, 2015. Witnesses said Cromwell backed up at a high rate of speed. That first group of convictions also included three aggravated assault convictions for injuries to James Robinson’s wife, Julia Robinson, and their two young daughters, now 11 and nine. Cromwell received an effective five-year sentence for those first four convictions.

Cromwell received an effective four-year sentence for aggravated assault convictions for injuries to two other victims (the second group) and an effective three-year sentence for aggravated assault convictions for injuries to three other victims (the third group).

The three groups of sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 12 years (five years for the first group of convictions, four years for the second, and three years for the third).

[Read more…]

ORNL’s Titan drops to number four on list of world’s most powerful supercomputers

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Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was once ranked as the world’s most powerful supercomputer, but it is now ranked number four. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:40 a.m.

Once the world’s most powerful supercomputer, Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory dropped to number four on a list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers released Monday.

Titan, a Cray XK7 system, was bumped from the number three spot by the upgraded Piz Daint, a Cray XC50 system installed at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre.

China continues to have the world’s two most powerful supercomputers.

The TOP50 List of the world’s most powerful supercomputers is based on a benchmark test known as Linpack. The list is released twice each year, once in June and again in November. The 49th edition of the TOP500 List was released Monday in conjunction with the opening session of the ISC High Performance conference, which is taking place this week in Frankfurt, Germany. [Read more…]