Oak Ridge Today

Governor ends COVID emergency

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Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee did not renew the COVID-19 state of emergency that expired Friday night, but he reserved the right to use it again if there are future surges of the virus.

“I am not renewing the COVID-19 state of emergency that expires tonight,” Lee said in a brief statement Friday. “For almost 20 months, this tool has provided deregulation and operational flexibility for hospitals and industries most affected by COVID’s challenges. Should our state face any future surges, we will consider temporarily reinstating this tool, but in the meantime, we are evaluating opportunities for permanent deregulation.”

In the third major statewide surge, this one caused by the delta variant, COVID-19 cases peaked in Anderson County in the first half of September, with a high seven-day average of 89.6 cases on September 11 and a peak of 152 cases on September 10. New cases fell after that but plateaued at about 15-17 new cases per day in late October, and they have remained there for about three weeks. That’s still considerably higher than the summer low average of fewer than one new COVID case per day, on average, in late June and early July, before the delta variant surge started in about mid-July.

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Children’s Museum Gala features beach theme ‘Surf’s Up!’

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Matt Sieger, enjoying his DJ hobby here, will bring 1960s surf rock to the Children’s Museum Gala on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. (Submitted photo)

 

“Surf’s Up!” at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, where the 20th annual Gala will feature a beach-themed evening with dinner and entertainment and an oceanographer from 6-9:30 p.m. on Friday, December 3.

The event will have a little STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) mixed in with entertainment by area youth, dinner from Calhoun’s, a costume contest, and auctions. Leslie England, TNBank senior vice president of retail banking and a rock singer with the band Jada Blade, will emcee the event.

The School of Rock’s house band will entertain with beach tunes as guests arrive for the Gala. The Knoxville school offers performance-based music lessons for youth to age 18, and its musicians have performed live at such venues as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, as well as local venues including the Tennessee and Bijou Theatres. The band at the Gala will feature youth on guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and vocals.

The Oak Ridge High School Choral Ensemble will bring back memories with a medley of Beach Boys tunes, including “Surfin’ USA,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Kokomo,” “Surf City,” and “Don’t Worry Baby.” [Read more…]

Pelizzari joins DA’s office

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Attorney and prosecutor Brandon Pelizzari, left, is pictured with Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark. (Submitted photo)

Attorney and prosecutor Brandon Pelizzari will join the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s Office in Clinton on December 1. He will be an assistant district attorney general.

“Brandon is an experienced attorney and prosecutor,” District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release. “I am thrilled to add his experience and talent to the office.”

Pelizzari joins the Clinton office after having been a prosecutor of driving under the influence violations in the Eighth Judicial District, mostly assigned to Campbell County, for the past several years, the press release said.

“In addition to his professional skill, Brandon brings familiarity with our community,” Clark said. “As a native Anderson Countian who lives in our community, he will literally be coming home.”

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Ten ORNL scientists among world’s most highly cited researchers

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Submitted photo)

Ten scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among the world’s most highly cited researchers, according to a bibliometric analysis conducted by the scientific publication analytics firm Clarivate. 
 
The annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their field through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. These researchers authored publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index. 
 
“Researchers at ORNL are leading the advancement of scientific knowledge in multiple fields,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a press release. “This recognition demonstrates that the laboratory and our scientists are engaged in cutting-edge research and development to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.” 
 
The ORNL scientists listed are:

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Gaddis: 48 years, a state championship, 300+ wins

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Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis’ 300th coaching win. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After 48 years coaching, a state championship, and more than 300 wins, Oak Ridge football coach Joe Gaddis is retiring.

On Tuesday, Gaddis, who has the most wins of any Oak Ridge coach and is among the top in the state, said he made the decision to retire during the past few weeks.

“I think coaches just know when it’s time,” he said. “You just kind of know.”

Oak Ridge High School Principal Garfield Adams said Gaddis has an overall record of 334 wins and 146 losses, and he is one of only three active coaches in the state of Tennessee with 300 wins.

“At Oak Ridge High School, Coach Gaddis holds a record of 196 wins and 58 losses, making him the winningest coach in Oak Ridge history and the eighth winningest coach in Tennessee football,” Adams said.

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Summit at ORNL still No. 2 supercomputer

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The Summit supercomputer, an IBM system that is the world’s second-most powerful, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)

The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remained the fastest system in the United States and the second-most powerful in the world in the biannual TOP500 list released Monday.

Fugaku in Kobe, Japan, remained No. 1, where it has been since June 2020. The 442-petaflop system has been at the top of the list four consecutive times.

Updated: Mask mandate terminated at Oak Ridge Schools

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Bill Lee

Note: This story was last updated at 7 a.m. Nov. 16.

The face mask mandate at Oak Ridge Schools has been terminated in response to new state legislation signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

Medicaid expansion forum, part 2, is Tuesday

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The second part of a forum about Medicaid expansion will be online at lunchtime Tuesday, featuring two legislators who have supported Medicaid expansion.

The legislators are Tennessee Senator Richard Briggs, a physician, and Representative Gloria Johnson, a retired educator.

The virtual forum is scheduled to start at noon Tuesday, November 16. You can register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting (learn more here).

Here is the Tuesday agenda:

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Christmas Stroll in downtown Clinton

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A Clinton Christmas Stroll this month will feature photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, horse-drawn carriage rides, food trucks, a nativity scene, and a silent auction to benefit the Education Foundation.

“Additionally, the brick-and-mortar shops will be staying open late for shopping on this Small Business Saturday,” a press release said.

The Christmas Stroll, a new event, is scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, November 27, in Historic Downtown Clinton.

The live nativity scene will be held in the Hoskins Park on Market Street. It will feature live animals, caroling, cookies and cider, and a kid’s craft. The horse-drawn carriage rides are $20 per family, and the carriage can hold up to six people at a time, the press release said. The ride will start on Freddy Fagan Way and go behind Shabby Remakes and then circle around down Market Street.

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Covenant Health will comply with COVID vaccine mandate

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Methodist Medical Center Main Entrance
Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge is pictured above.

Covenant Health is among the hospital organizations in the Knoxville area that will comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The hospitals announced on Thursday that they plan to comply.

“On November 4, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs to protect health care workers, patients, families, and visitors from COVID-19,” a press release said. “CMS is very clear that non-compliance with this mandate will result in severe penalties to hospitals, up to and including exclusion from participation in Medicare.”

Covenant includes Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge and other local health care facilities.

Other organizations planning to comply with the vaccine mandate include Blount Memorial Hospital, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Sweetwater Hospital Association, and The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

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Investigators find human remains in vehicle pulled from lake

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Human remains have been located inside a vehicle pulled from Melton Hill Lake on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. The vehicle belonged to Miriam Ruth Hemphill, who was reported missing in Oak Ridge in July 2005, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. (Submitted photo)

Human remains have been located inside a vehicle pulled from Melton Hill Lake on Wednesday. The vehicle belonged to Miriam Ruth Hemphill, who was reported missing in Oak Ridge in July 2005, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

“At this time, Oak Ridge Police Department investigators and the medical examiner’s office are working together to process the vehicle,” a press release said. “The medical examiner’s office is also working to identify the remains. It’s unclear how long it will take to identify them.”

It is not clear whether the remains found in the vehicle are Hemphill’s, the press release said.

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General Fusion locating U.S. headquarters in Oak Ridge

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General Fusion Corporation will locate its U.S. headquarters in Oak Ridge as the company advances plans for a commercial pilot plant, Tennessee officials and company executives announced Wednesday.

The headquarters decision was announced Wednesday by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe, and General Fusion Corporation executives.

General Fusion Corporation is based in Vancouver, Canada. The company says fusion could provide a carbon-free power source that would meet the growing global energy demand while fighting climate change.

The U.S.-based subsidiary of General Fusion Incorporated will initially invest $539,000 and create 20 new jobs in Anderson County during the next five years, a press release said. It’s the first private fusion company to establish an office in Tennessee, General Fusion said. The new headquarters in Oak Ridge will be near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a science and energy lab that is home to the U.S. ITER program. ITER is an experimental fusion device being built in southern France through an international collaboration and planned to be the first such device to produce net energy.

In Oak Ridge, General Fusion said it will collaborate with “world-leading fusion scientists and tap into key engineering talent.”

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