Oak Ridge boys summer basketball camps are this week and again in July.
To register, contact Aaron Green at hagreen@ortn.edu or go to www.oakridgebasketball.net.
See this form for details: Oak Ridge Basketball Camp 2017.
Young cooks prepare dessert for tasting later at a Children’s Museum summer camp. (Submitted photo)
World cultures, model trains, cooking, and gardening, as well as STEAM (science, technology, art, engineering, and math) activities are being offered during Imagination Station Summer Camp beginning June 5 at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.
With the museum’s unique and enriching environment as a backdrop, camp leaders will provide a blend of educational and interactive play, helping campers learn and grow while having fun in a safe environment. Each camp is created with age-appropriate activities aligned with the child’s developmental stage.
Summer camps, from June 5-July 28, are for children from age 3 through 7th grade, with one bridge camp open to eighth and ninth graders.
Peppy Pepper, the mascot for the museum’s newest exhibit, Kids in Action! Healthy Living, will encourage healthy activities such as growing vegetables and movement during the summer camps.
Register and pay for camps online, at www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org, by mail or in person, at 461 West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge 37830. Camp fees are fully refundable up until 14 days before the start date. [Read more…]
“Come, Learn about Knox Pride” will be the topic at the next PFLAG meeting to be held on Monday, June 5, in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist Church. Social time will begin at 6:45 p.m., followed by the meeting from 7 to 8 p.m., a press release said. The church is located at 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. “Please use the Vienna Road entrance,” the press release said.
The group will share stories of Pride Fests, and prepare for the Knox Pride celebration on June 17. Materials will be available for those who want to display their artistic side and make posters or decorations for the East Tennessee PFLAG booth sponsored by the regional PFLAG groups, the press release said. Everyone is welcome to attend, the release said.
The PFLAG mission is to provide opportunities for dialogue about sexual orientation, gender identities, and to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity, the press release said. [Read more…]
Donald “D.T.” Hobby has been appointed principal of Woodland Elementary School in Oak Ridge, starting July 1.
Hobby has a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Technological University in wildlife and fisheries science, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, and an educational specialist in educational administration and supervision, both from Lincoln Memorial University.
He has been employed with Oak Ridge Schools since August 2008, serving as both a teacher and administrator at Secret City Academy and most recently as assistant principal at Robertsville Middle School.
Before he started working at Oak Ridge Schools, Hobby was a science teacher in Knox County Schools from 2004-2008.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
This press release was submitted by Holly Cross.
The former CSX railway is pictured near Jefferson Middle School in central Oak Ridge on Dec. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The City of Oak Ridge has received a $1.2 million grant that it can use for the proposed Rails to Trails project.
The executive board of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization approved the grant in October, said Ellen Zavisca, senior transportation planner.
It could be used for project planning and property acquisition for the Rails to Trails project, and possibly to start construction, said Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department director.
Hetrick said the grant was awarded by TPO, but it’s actually a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant. The city is entering into a contract with TDOT for the grant, and the Oak Ridge City Council could consider accepting the grant in July.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson briefly mentioned the $1.2 million grant during a budget presentation to City Council members on Tuesday of this week. The city would administer the $1.2 million grant but would have to follow certain TDOT requirements.
The Rails to Trails project would convert a few miles of former railway that runs through the center of Oak Ridge into a bicycle and pedestrian trail. The railway runs from Melton Lake Drive in east Oak Ridge; past Jefferson Middle School and near the Hank’s Market shopping center in central Oak Ridge; and to the Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]
Pictured above are Alan Tatum, left, and Ken Rueter. (Photo by UCOR)
Submitted
When Ken Rueter and Alan Tatum met beside the iconic Friendship Bell in Bissell Park recently, they took a moment to reflect on the importance of preserving what the Bell symbolizes to the Oak Ridge community.
Tatum, an accelerator systems and stable isotopes group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is co-chair of the International Friendship Bell Advisory Committee along with Pat Postma. Rueter is President and Project Manager of URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park and other sites on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation. Both men serve on the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.
The occasion of their May meeting was UCOR’s donation of $15,000 toward an effort to construct a new peace pavilion for the 8,300-pound bronze bell. Cast in Japan in 1993, the bell was dedicated at its current location in 1996 as a 50th anniversary landmark for the creation of the City of Oak Ridge, home to nuclear production facilities that helped end World War II. The bell symbolizes the bonds of peace and friendship that have been forged by Oak Ridge and Japan in the decades since the war ended. [Read more…]
Thomas Zacharia
Thomas Zacharia, who built Oak Ridge National Laboratory into a global supercomputing power, has been selected as the laboratory’s next director by UT-Battelle, the partnership that operates ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, a press release said.
“Thomas has a compelling vision for the future of ORNL that is directly aligned with the U.S. Department of Energy’s strategic priorities,” said Joe DiPietro, chair of the UT-Battelle Board of Governors and president of the University of Tennessee.
“He has led many of the innovative research and development initiatives that ORNL has successfully pursued over the past decade. His background in materials and computing positions him well to strengthen ORNL’s signature research capabilities in computational, neutron, materials, and nuclear science. His vision of ORNL playing a prominent role in advancing U.S. national and energy security reflects his leadership strengths. He has been key to the success of developing joint academic programs with UT. Finally, he embraces diversity and has a passion for developing and strengthening the workforce at the laboratory.”
Zacharia came to ORNL in 1987 as a postdoctoral researcher after receiving his Ph.D. in engineering science from Clarkson University in New York. He also holds a master’s in materials science from the University of Mississippi and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Karnataka, India. [Read more…]
The National Park Service and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service will partner to hold a naturalization ceremony for new United States citizens on Friday, June 16. The ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. June 16 at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. The public is invited to witness the ceremony, a press release said.
Chief United States District Judge Thomas A. Varlan will preside. Amanda North and Natasha Loyd from Oak Ridge High School will sing the national anthem. The Oak Ridge Police Department will provide the presentation of colors.
“National parks aren’t just about scenic beauty,” said Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas. “Rather, they also represent sites of conscience, and commemoration. These sites serve as the standard-bearers of our shared history and what it means to be American. As you contemplate what it means to be an American citizen and these places that you now own, I would ask you to also play a role in protecting them and preserving them. Get out and explore.” [Read more…]
Mark Watson
The budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Tuesday would not increase the property tax rate. Instead, the budget would hold the property tax rate steady at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.
It could be the 10th year in a row without a tax rate increase. That’s if the Oak Ridge City Council approves the city manager’s proposed budget.
Watson said it’s essentially the same budget as last year, with some capital improvements and funding for an energy savings plan for lighting, heating, and cooling systems in the city and schools.
Fully funding a request from Oak Ridge Schools for 2.5 percent pay raises for teachers and staff would require the equivalent of a four-cent tax rate increase, Watson said during a special City Council meeting on Tuesday. [Read more…]
Image via Billy Stair presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
The Oak Ridge Airport project has received $2 million in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, and that money wouldn’t be affected by the president’s proposal to eliminate the independent agency in the next fiscal year, a spokesperson said.
But future funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission will depend upon what Congress decides to do with ARC and whether it continues funding the commission, said Becky Huckaby, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.
The budget request released by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 23, proposes to eliminate the Appalachian Regional Commission and other independent agencies, providing funding only for the orderly closure of the agencies. The request would apply to Fiscal Year 2018, which starts October 1.
ARC is one of the funding sources for the Oak Ridge Airport, which could cost an estimated $35 million to $40 million and have a mix of state and federal funding, and local funding from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, or MKAA. Besides ARC, other direct and indirect funding sources include the U.S. Department of Energy, which would provide the land; the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA; the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission; and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]
One person died and four people were injured in a two-vehicle crash involving a sedan and an SUV near the University of Tennessee Arboretum on South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A Corryton woman remains in critical condition at a Knoxville hospital and two people have been discharged after a fatal two-vehicle crash in Oak Ridge on Friday, officials said.
Tabitha Douglas, 26, is in critical condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the hospital said Tuesday.
Douglas was driving a sedan at the time of the crash, which was reported at about 2:47 p.m. Friday at Commerce Park Drive, which is across from the University of Tennessee Arboretum on South Illinois Avenue.
A passenger in the sedan, Ashley Blalock, 30, of Knoxville, died. [Read more…]
Scott Gray, who has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
CLINTON—A Knoxville man has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges in the death of a 23-year-old Heiskell woman after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April 2016.
The specific homicide charge against Scott Allen Gray, 27, is vehicular homicide by intoxication. Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers testified during an August 11 preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton that Gray smelled of alcohol and said he had been drinking and taken two anti-anxiety pills before the crash. Gray’s passenger, Jessica Miner Taylor, died about a week after the crash.
The Anderson County Grand Jury also indicted Gray on charges of reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle) is involved; failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death; failure of provide evidence of insurance; failure to carry a certificate of registration; failure to use due care; violation of the open container law; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of marijuana.
Gray had an arraignment and bond hearing scheduled this past Friday in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.
Charges against Gray were bound over, or sent to the Grand Jury, during the preliminary hearing in August. The indictments were filed May 2. An indictment moves a case from Anderson County General Sessions Court to Anderson County Criminal Court. [Read more…]
