Oak Ridge Today

First United Methodist offers free community meals

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First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge is pictured above at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Tulane Avenue. (Photo courtesy Jeff Kile)

 

During the month of December, First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge hosted a free community dinner to any and all people in our community who were in need of a home-cooked meal. No questions, no hoops, no requirements…just a time of delicious food and heartfelt fellowship with whomever decided to wander into our doors, a press release said.

Beginning this month, the church, located at 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike, is going to begin regularly hosting a free community meal on the last Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. [Read more…]

Women’s Solidarity Event to be held Saturday in Oak Ridge

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What started as a grass roots calling on a Facebook page a few days after the November election quickly morphed into what estimates now suggest could be more than 200,000 people who will join in the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a press release said.

Those who would like to stand in solidarity with the Women’s March but are unable to make the 500-mile journey will have a place to gather in Anderson County, the press release said. Everyone is welcome to attend a progressive organizations fair on Saturday, January 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, the release said. [Read more…]

Jefferson Middle School ski, snowboard club supports Gatlinburg residents

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Photo courtesy Scott Linn

Photo courtesy Scott Linn

 

By Scott Linn

As have so many across the country and throughout Tennessee, students and teachers from Jefferson Middle School express their sadness over the recent fires that burned through Gatlinburg, destroying a number of buildings and homes.

JMS ski and snowboard club members have been taking after-school trips to Ober Gatlinburg for more than 20 years on Wednesday afternoons each winter.

This year, to show support for the area and those who are working to rebuild, the students are wearing Smokies Strong T-shirts for their ski trips to Ober Gatlinburg. The shirts were a gift from an anonymous donor who provided the club with 50 shirts.

“When our club showed up in our Smokies Strong shirts on our first trip of the season, it had an impact on the workers up there, and I’m just really glad the club could play even a small part in helping lift their spirits,” said seventh-grader Allison Myers.

The Red Cross, the Dollywood Foundation, and Friends of the Smokies will benefit from proceeds of the sales of the shirts. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools working on completing Phase 2 of convertible laptop purchases for students

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Convertible laptops were provided to 9th-grade and 10th-grade students at Oak Ridge High School in October 2016 as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ digital initiative, which is known as Access Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Convertible laptops were provided to 9th-grade and 10th-grade students at Oak Ridge High School in October 2016 as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ digital initiative, which is known as Access Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge Schools is working on completing the second phase of a program that, among other things, provides convertible laptops to students. The program is known as Access Oak Ridge.

Phase Two brings the technology, which is also known as one-to-one technology, into all high school classrooms.

Due to funding, Oak Ridge Schools started the second phase by purchasing devices for two grade levels, ninth and tenth grades.

To complete Phase Two, about 750 additional machines are required at an estimated cost of $530,000. [Read more…]

Navy Junior ROTC program to start at ORHS in 2017-2018

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Navy Junior ROTC

Oak Ridge High School will begin offering a Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, program in the 2017-2018 school year.

ORHS has been trying to start a Junior ROTC program since 2014. It’s expected to lead to more students attaining the seventh key in the school system’s Seven Keys to College and Career Reediness. (The seventh key says all students will participate in dual enrollment, advanced placement coursework, industry certification, or military preparation by graduation.)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation and CNS—the contractor that operates and manages the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas—have donated $15,000 to help with start-up costs of the Navy JROTC. An announcement of that $15,000 donation called the Navy Junior ROTC program the Naval National Defense Cadet Corp program. [Read more…]

Registration open for lifeguard certification course

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Registration is now open for a Lifeguard Certification Course being offered by the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department over spring break. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

Registration is now open for a lifeguard certification course being offered by the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department during spring break.

The course will be held Monday, March 20, through Friday, March 24, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center’s indoor pool facility. The class begins at 10 a.m. each day, and it is scheduled to run until 2:30 p.m.

There are some pre-requisites for the course. Registrants must be at least 15 years old and be able to pass the pre-swim test for admission. The test will be held on the first day of class. [Read more…]

Demolition work starts at Magnet Mills Building in downtown Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

A demolition crew this week began the work of tearing down the old Magnet Mills Building in downtown Clinton.

The historic structure has fallen into disprepair over the years and has been cited numerous times by the city’s codes enforcment department.

The demolition crew is working under the supervision of Clinch River Properties, and officials estimate that the demolition that began Monday and the ensuing clean-up of the site could be completed within 30 to 60 days. [Read more…]

City Council, BOE to discuss preschool, Blankenship, budget, energy savings

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The Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education will have a joint work session on Thursday, January 26, to discuss site selection for the preschool, the revitalization of Blankenship Field, an energy savings project, and the budget and capital improvements.

The preschool site selection could include Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge and Scarboro Center.

The joint work session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, January 26, in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. See the agenda here.

Watts Bar Reservoir has returned to conditions before Kingston coal ash spill, EPA says

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River Reaches Arcadis Updated Data Analysis and Temporal Trend Evaluations in Biota 2009-2015 TVA Kingston

River Reaches—Updated Data Analysis and Temporal Trend Evaluations in Biota: 2009-2015, Tennessee Valley Authority, Kingston, Tennessee (By Arcadis)

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta reported Thursday that monitoring data shows that areas of Watts Bar Reservoir affected by the 2008 ash spill in Kingston have returned to “pre-spill” conditions.

The ash spill occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Fossil Plant. It released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash on December 22, 2008.

Environmental data collected from 2009-2015 shows the fish community, benthic macroinvertebrates (bugs), sediment quality, and tree swallow colonies have recovered to baseline conditions that existed before the spill, the EPA said.

The cleanup was accomplished in three phases under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund. [Read more…]

ORNL receives interest from appliance makers on dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat

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Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has received significant interest from appliance manufacturers who could enter into an agreement to continue developing the technology to build a dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat, to dry clothes.

The cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, could develop the technology into a full-scale commercial product.

This month, Oak Ridge Today asked about the current status of the project, which has been highlighted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. An earlier announcement had said that the project term was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2016.

Omar Abdelaziz of ORNL said DOE has continued to fund this work and will fund the laboratory’s efforts in the upcoming CRADA. [Read more…]

If successful, ORNL process could play role in fighting climate change

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ORNL’s Yang Song (seated), Dale Hensley (standing left), and Adam Rondinone examine a carbon nanospike sample with a scanning electron microscope. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

In October, Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced that scientists had developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol.

This month, Oak Ridge Today asked if the process using the very small catalysts could be used on a large scale to convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into ethanol, and if that might be used to combat climate change.

Here is the response from researcher Adam Rondinone, lead author of a team’s study published in ChemistrySelect:

“If we are successful, then yes, this process will take us a little bit closer to the goal of mitigating climate change.  But many other technologies and changes will also be needed, because of the scale of the problem. Also, this technology is more focused on what to do with CO2 (carbon dioxide) once it has been captured. While it could feasibly be coupled to a capture mechanism for extracting CO2 from the air, it will more likely be used to intercept and recycle emissions from point sources like power plants. Ultimately, it will just be one solution out of many that we will need to implement in order to prevent serious climate changes.” [Read more…]

Civic Center indoor pool re-opens after equipment repair

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Indoor pool at Civic Center

All programs are back on schedule after crews had to replace a piece of equipment that controls the temperature of the water in the Oak Ridge Civic Center’s indoor pool. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

All programs are back on schedule after crews had to replace a piece of equipment that controls the temperature of the water in the Oak Ridge Civic Center’s indoor pool.

The pool was forced to close on Wednesday, January 4, but it re-opened at noon on Saturday, January 14, once crews were able to make the needed repairs. The new pool heater is more energy-efficient than the previous model, a press release said. The water was back up to its normal temperature of 83 degrees shortly after re-opening.

Here’s a list of some of the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department programs currently under way at the indoor pool facility: [Read more…]