Oak Ridge Today

As drought continues, Weather Service forecasting rain, some heavy

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A series of low pressure systems will produce periods of rain, some occassionally heavy, from Monday through Wednesday. Totals exceeding three inches are possible near Chattanooga and Knoxville, while the Bristol/Tri-Cities area could see up to two inches of rain. (Image by National Weather Service in Morristown)

 

After months without a heavy rain, the National Weather Service in Morristown is forecasting that a series of low pressure systems will produce periods of rain, some occassionally heavy, from Monday through Wednesday.

“Totals exceeding three inches are possible near Chattanooga and Knoxville, while the Bristol/Tri-Cities area could see up to two inches of rain,” the National Weather Service said.

The last rainfall of more than one inch in the Knoxville area was July 5, or more than four months ago, according to the Weather Service. [Read more…]

Photos: Removing dirt for eighth rowing lane

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Workers remove dirt for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River along Melton Lake Drive on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Workers have been removing dirt this month for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River on the east end of town.

More than 250 truckloads of dirt had been removed as of November 16, according to Laurel Patrick of First Place Finish Inc., which received a $548,350 contract to add the eighth lane during a special meeting in September. The work will include a precast concrete block retaining wall and associated dredging and site work.

Oak Ridge officials announced in late October that the speed limit on a section of Melton Lake Drive would be temporarily reduced for at least three months starting Monday, October 31, while the eighth rowing lane is built, and part of the Melton Lake Greenway will be closed as necessary.

The speed limit has been reduced from 45 miles per hour to 25 mph along Melton Lake Drive between Amanda Drive and Palisades Parkway. The change will remain in place for a minimum of three months  starting October 31. Signs were to be installed to warn drivers of the reduced speed limit. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge school board to consider opposing use of public funds for private schools

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The Oak Ridge school board on Monday will consider opposing the use of public funds for private schools.

A resolution to be considered by the Oak Ridge Board of Education “strongly opposes” taking funds from public education in any community in the state without agreement from a local school board, without a legal guarantee that the schools receiving the funds will comply with the same curriculum and testing standards required of public schools, and until the state’s Basic Education Program, or BEP, is fully funded by the Tennessee General Assembly.

The resolution says the Tennessee General Assembly, the state’s legislature, will consider legislation in 2017 that would use public funds to pay tuition costs for students to attend private, religious, and non-religious schools.

The General Assembly and Tennessee State Board of Education have adopted high standards for student and teacher performance in public schools, but private schools are not held to the same accountability standards as public schools with regard to academic performance or student access, the resolution says. [Read more…]

ORNL wins seven R&D 100 Awards

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A close-up look at the Open Port Sampling Interfaces for Mass Spectrometry, one of ORNL’s seven 2016 R&D 100 Award winners. (Image by ORNL)

 

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received seven R&D 100 Awards in recognition of their significant advancements in science and technology. The honorees were recognized on November 3 at the 54th annual R&D 100 Conference, which was sponsored by R&D Magazine.

The awards, known as the “Oscars of Invention,” honor innovative breakthroughs in materials science, biomedicine, consumer products, and more from academia, industry, and government-sponsored research agencies.

This year’s seven honors bring ORNL’s total of R&D 100 awards to 200 since their inception in 1963, a press release said.

ORNL researchers were recognized for the following innovations: [Read more…]

Basketball: Wildcats, Lady Wildcats open season 2-0

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The Oak Ridge boys’ and girls’ basketball teams both won their second games of the regular season on Friday.

The boys (2-0) beat Bearden (2-1) 66-63 at the Stone Memorial Thanksgiving Showcase at Stone Memorial in Crossville.

The Wildcats play McCallie at the showcase at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Crossville. [Read more…]

Presentation will focus on TVA’s plan to close Bull Run ash ponds

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Amanda Garcia

A Tuesday presentation will focus on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to close ash ponds at the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, a press release said.

Amanda Garcia of the Southern Environmental Law Center will discuss closing ash ponds at Bull Run, the pollution and risk involved in closing the ash ponds, and the role of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in reviewing TVA’s plans and addressing pollution at Bull Run and other sites, the press release said. There will be opportunities for the public to weigh in, the release said.

The presentation is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. It is free and open to the public. It starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 29, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Craft Room. [Read more…]

Anderson County Underage Drinking Task Force to present Town Hall, free movie on Nov. 30

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The Anderson County Underage Drinking Task Force will be presenting a Town Hall meeting on November 30 at the Ritz Theater in Clinton. The Town Hall is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., a press release said.

It will be an open discussion of underage drinking, and it will be open to all adults in the community as well as middle and high school students who must be accompanied by their parents, guardians, and other adults, the press release said.

There will be a panel discussion formed around underage drinking in Anderson County including information on what resources are available for parents, what support is available for students, and a discussion of AWARE Anderson County, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge volunteer collecting supplies for firefighters

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Oak Ridge resident Tom Giles collects supplies for firefighters at High Places Community Church on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge volunteer is collecting supplies for firefighters as they battle forest fires across East Tennessee.

Tom Giles set up three days in the past week at High Places Community Church in Grove Center. He has more donation dates scheduled at the church from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, December 3, and Saturday, December 10.

Here are the items needed: water, Gatorade, small packs of peanut butter crackers and cheese crackers, energy bars, beef jerky, etc. Last Saturday, he said the items should not melt. For example, a chocolate snack could melt in a firefighter’s pocket.

On Friday, November 25, Giles said Oliver Springs Fire Department is providing support to fires burning near Petros, north of Oliver Springs.

“If supplies are depleted, we may need to mobilize a donation date before our December 3 event,” Giles said. “I am in contact with officers from OSFD and will provide updates as needed. Thank you for support.” [Read more…]

Arson suspected in Little Brushy fire near Petros

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Arson is suspected in the Little Brushy forest fire that has burned 100 acres along Highway 62 a few miles south of Petros, authorities said Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. The fire is above Petros-Joyner School and homes and businesses along Highway 62, near the intersection with Highway 116. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Arson is suspected in a forest fire that has burned 100 acres along Highway 62 south of Petros, authorities said Thursday.

The Little Brushy fire is in mountains above Petros-Joyner School near the intersection of Highway 62 and Highway 116 in Morgan County. It was 10 percent contained early Thursday afternoon, according to the Tennessee Division of Forestry.

Residents said they first noticed the fire, which is above homes and businesses along Highway 62, at about 11 a.m. Wednesday. The fire burned vigorously at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, and it blew heavy smoke across Highway 62, reducing visibility on a section of road between Petros and Oliver Springs.

It’s the second fire this week near Petros. The other fire, which firefighters started battling on Sunday, is called the Bald Knob Road fire. That fire is roughly on the other side of Petros and about five miles north of Little Brushy. It appeared to have started in mountains east and northeast of Petros near the Anderson County-Morgan County line in an area that residents call the Gillontine Trail.

The Bald Knob Road fire held at 790 acres, and it was 100 percent contained on Thursday, according to a fire update from the Tennessee Division of Forestry early Thursday afternoon. Arson is also suspected in that fire. [Read more…]

After acquiring more land, Protomet evaluating Oak Ridge for $30 million expansion

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Protomet Corporation is pictured above in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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Jeff Bohanan

Protomet Corporation has purchased about 20 acres of former federal land on Bethel Valley Road in south Oak Ridge, and the company is evaluating that property as one option as it plans for a $30 million expansion that could add 200 jobs over a five-year period.

On Tuesday, Protomet founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bohanan said the company prefers to stay in Oak Ridge, but there is no guarantee. The 19.47-acre parcel on Bethel Valley Road will have to be cut and filled, and drainage will have to be redirected, Bohanan said. It’s not clear yet how much that work might cost.

Protomet needs about 100,000 square feet for its expansion, which was announced in February. Protomet now has 70 workers in a 40,000-square-foot building on eight acres, so the company could more than triple in size.

“The new facility will dramatically increase Protomet’s capacity and capabilities for the customers it serves,” Bohanan said. “We have already started purchasing equipment for the new facility, and some of it is already in use at our current facility.”

Protomet bought the Bethel Valley Road land from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board for $103,000 on October 20. The property, which was previously owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, is west of Protomet and east of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This is a big step in our ability to evaluate this site as an option,” Bohanan said. [Read more…]

New parking lot paved, new sign up at Belk as work proceeds quickly at Main Street

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Work continued on the new Belk entrance and parking lot on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. The goal has been to complete that portion of the work at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall, by Thanksgiving. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The new sign is up and the new parking lot paved at Belk as work proceeds quickly at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

With the exception of Belk and JCPenney, the mall has been demolished, and there has significant progress on the sites where new stores will be built.

First, on Saturday, concrete stands in the parking lot in front of Belk were almost finished, and some lighting poles and fixtures were installed, said Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge. The goal has been to finish the new Belk entrance and its new parking lot by Thanksgiving.

Second, there was work on piping for interior utilities where Electronic Express and PetSmart will be located between JCPenney and Walmart on South Rutgers Avenue.

Third, the pad had been completed and a stone base put down where Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx will be built between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office on South Tulane Avenue, in the area of the former Sears department store. [Read more…]

Supercomputers: China still has top two, ORNL’s Titan remains No. 3

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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 was ranked number three in November 2016 in the semiannual TOP500 List. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

 

China still has the two fastest supercomputers in the world, and Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remains number three.

The semi-annual TOP500 List of the world’s top supercomputers was released last Monday, November 14, at a conference in Salt Lake City.

Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory, has achieved 17.59 petaflops, or quadrillions of calculations per second.

The most powerful supercomputer, a relatively new Chinese supercomputer named Sunway TaihuLight, is capable of 93 petaflops. It is built entirely using processors designed and made in China. In June, it displaced Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that had claimed the number one spot on the six previous TOP500 lists.

Tianhe-2, the number two system, achieved a speed of 33.86 petaflops, or more than 33,000 trillion calculations per second, in a test known as the LINPACK benchmark. That ranking program uses a series of linear equations to test computer systems around the world. [Read more…]