Oak Ridge Today

MORE2 helping Oak Ridger save money on utility bills

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New HVAC for Mike Holmes (Submitted photo)

 

Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient, or MORE2, is making great changes for some Oak Ridge residents. “Saving money” was the response of a recent participant as the most important—and his favorite part—of MORE2.

Saving energy, which can lower utility bills, is one of the primary goals of MORE2, a program funded by the Tennessee Valley Authority that kicked off in April and began retrofitting the homes of qualified Oak Ridge residents with no-cost energy upgrades, such as new HVAC and water heating units.

“My favorite part of this program is saving money, followed by how professional everyone was,” said Mike Holmes, a truck driver who recently retired early due to medical challenges. [Read more…]

Refugee resettlement in Tennessee the topic at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Holly Johnson

Holly Johnson

What exactly is a refugee? How do they get to the United States? Are they screened and vetted? What services do they receive when they get here? Why should I care?

Holly Johnson will answer all of these questions when she addresses the hot-button issue of refugee resettlement in Tennessee at the next Lunch with the League. The program will be held on Tuesday, October 18, at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The community is invited to attend.

Lunch with the League is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Chamber to host City Council forum on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Advocacy Committee is hosting its final forum of the 2016 election season. The forum for candidates running for Oak Ridge City Council will be held at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 18, in the Joyce Conference Room at the Chamber, which is at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The forum is free, and the public is encouraged to attend. All candidates for City Council—Jim Dodson, Wende Doolittle, Anne Garcia Garland, Chuck Hope, Joe Lee, Mark LeNoir, and Hans Vogel—have indicated their intention to participate in the forum, a press release said. [Read more…]

Cuban-U.S. relations the topic of Oct. 31 lecture

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Henry Heredia

Henry Heredia

 

The social, cultural, and environmental development of Cuban society will be the topic of the next lecture in the third annual Roane State Community College–Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning Intergenerational Lecture Series.
Henry Heredia, an international relations specialist from Havana, Cuba, will speak on Monday, October 31, at 4 p.m. in the City Room (A-111) in Roane State’s Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge Campus at the corner of Briarcliff Avenue and Laboratory Road.

He will also speak on how the perceptions that Cubans and Americans have of each other have changed since President Barack Obama’s announcement in December 2014 that normalized American relations with the island nation. People across the U.S. are curious to know more about Cuba and its people, and some Americans have already visited Cuba, prompting changes in perceptions.

An engaging lecturer who speaks English fluently, Heredia can address many questions Americans have regarding Cuban culture, education, history, and social and environmental policies, a press release said. Since 2013, he has lectured at numerous prestigious institutions in the U.S. [Read more…]

Attorney to discuss charter government at Democratic Women’s Club Meeting

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Joe Jarret

Joe Jarret

 

Joe Jarret, an attorney who has served two different charter county governments as law director-chief legal counsel, will speak next week at the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The meeting, which includes a pot luck dinner, will start at 6 p.m. Monday, October 24, in the Club Room of the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

Jarret will discuss the mechanics and practical effects of a charter form of government. He has served three different government entities as chief legal counsel, the most recent being Knox County. During his service there, he provided legal advice to the 27-member Charter Review Commission during months of public hearings.

A federal and state mediator, the attorney has practiced law for more than 24 years. He is chair of the Tennessee Bar Association City/County/Local Government Law Section, and past president of the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration and the Tennessee Valley Mediation Association. [Read more…]

Photos: History talk at Freels Bend Cabin, city’s oldest structure

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Aaron Astor, an associate history professor at Maryville College, discussed life along the Clinch River in Anderson and Roane counties before Oak Ridge was built in a special meeting at the historic Freels Bend Cabin on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 during a meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. The Freels Bend Cabin was built in 1844, and it is the oldest structure in Oak Ridge. It’s on the National Historic Register. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

 

Aaron Astor, an associate history professor at Maryville College, discussed life along the Clinch River in Anderson and Roane counties before Oak Ridge was built in a special meeting at the historic Freels Bend Cabin on Thursday, October 13.

It was the monthly public and membership meeting of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. Here are pictures by D. Ray Smith.

The Freels Bend Cabin was built in 1844, and it is the oldest structure in Oak Ridge. It’s on the National Historic Register. [Read more…]

LeMond Composites to make carbon fiber, composite bicycles—invest $125 million, create 242 jobs

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Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the opening of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new company co-founded by Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, will make composite bicycles and carbon fiber for other products in Oak Ridge, and the business, called LeMond Composites, will invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs, officials said during a Wednesday afternoon ceremony.

Among the officials celebrating the opening on Wednesday were LeMond, and Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd.

Carbon fiber has advantageous properties, but cost has been a barrier to using it, said Connie Jackson, chief executive officer of LeMond Composites. She said the manufacturing process has been changed to reduce production cost.

“We have overcome a significant part of the cost barrier,” Jackson said.

Carbon fiber is light, stiff, and strong, making it the perfect material for advanced composites in a variety of applications. It can be used to improve efficiency, save energy, and build or repair vehicles and planes, wind turbines and containers, and bridges and tunnels. [Read more…]

Fire destroys vacant home in Rocky Top

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Information from WYSH Radio

A fire Monday afternoon destroyed a vacant house on Old Bryant Lane in Rocky Top.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene shortly before 3 p.m. and reported that the house was still on fire and almost completely destroyed upon their arrival. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department investigating stabbing

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Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies are investigating a stabbing that occurred Monday afternoon.

Deputies responded to the emergency room at Methodist Medical Center and made contact with Randy and Courtney Roach. Randy Roach was unable to provide too much information as doctors tended to his wounds before he was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, but he did tell officers that he and Courtney had been walking along Old Lake City Highway on Monday afternoon when a small silver Honda or Toyota car stopped and two men jumped out and stabbed them. Both Randy and Courtney Roach said that they did not know either of the men and that the suspects did not steal anything from them during the incident. [Read more…]

Progress PAC endorses Agle, Fillauer

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Keys Fillauer

Keys Fillauer

The Progress PAC political action committee has endorsed the two incumbents running for Oak Ridge Board of Education: Angi Agle and Keys Fillauer.

“PAC board members feel these candidates best support the business community’s commitment toward exceptional schools and have expressed a willingness to partner with the Oak Ridge City Council on educational issues,” a press release said.

The Progress PAC endorsements for Oak Ridge City Council candidates will be announced later, said PAC Chairman Steve Whitson, an Oak Ridge resident.

“There are 10 candidates running for seven combined City Council and School Board seats, so decisions to endorse candidates are not made without lots of thought and discussion,” Whitson said in the press release. [Read more…]

Meet the candidates at Civic Center on Thursday

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You can meet candidates for the Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Board of Education, and Oak Ridge candidates for Anderson County Charter Commission at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Thursday.

You talk directly to the candidates at the meeting, which is scheduled from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, October 13, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center gym.

It’s a free community event hosted by DFET (Democracy for East Tennessee), a community organization that hosts this nonpartisan event every two years, a press release said. [Read more…]

Online voter information site available for November elections

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VOTE411.org, an online voter information guide for November 2016 elections, is now available to all citizens of Oak Ridge. Sponsored locally by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, VOTE411 began in 2006 at the national League level. Nearly 300 local leagues are now participating, a press release said.

The site allows users to compare candidates for office in their district, select their choices, and create a ballot summary that they can print out, take with them to the polling place, or share.

After accessing www.VOTE411.org, a user is prompted to enter his or her address, which is used to identify one’s voting district from federal and state geographic information system (GIS) data. The races provided should be identical to those on the ballot for that voting district. The address information and candidate selections provided by users will not be collected or retained. [Read more…]