Everyone is invited to a free community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, November 25, a press release said.
“This year, however, our program has been modified out of consideration for social distancing as follows,” the press release said:
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Crews are nearly finished deactivating the second of three collections of old, mercury-contaminated equipment around the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a press release said.
The project addresses potential environmental risks and moves the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management a step closer to preparing one of Y-12’s largest high-risk contaminated facilities for demolition, the press release said.
The column exchange, or COLEX, structures are connected to the four-story 500,000-square-foot Alpha-4 building, which was used for uranium separation from 1944 to 1945. Workers finished installing the COLEX equipment in 1955 for lithium separation, a process that required large amounts of mercury. A significant amount of the mercury was lost into the equipment, buildings, and surrounding soils, and its cleanup is one of EM’s top priorities.
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The City of Oak Ridge has received a $17,389 grant to cover some costs associated with a landslide at the access road to the water treatment plant above the Y-12 National Security Complex in 2019.
The estimated costs of the repairs are $384,444, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Patrick Berge said in a memo to City Manager Mark Watson.
The city began talking to the Federal Emergency Management Agency immediately after the landslide, and the discussions included potential future reimbursements, Berge said. The $17,389 partial reimbursement is through the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
[Read more…]Oak Ridge senior Jacob Berven blocked a punt inside the McMinn County 10-yard line, giving the Wildcats a chance to tie the football game with about two minutes remaining.
But Oak Ridge was unable to convert that blocked punt into a score, and the Wildcats’ season ended in a 24-17 first-round playoff loss to the Cherokees on Friday. The Wildcats were unable to score when McMinn County stopped Oak Ridge quarterback Hayden Tarwater two yards short of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play with 3.2 seconds left.
The season-ending defeat came a week after the Wildcats played their best game, a 48-21 win over region rival Campbell County.
Oak Ridge got credit for not giving up this season, even in the final minutes, despite their 3-8 losing record.
[Read more…]Winners have been announced for the first Mira Kimmelman “Learning from the Holocaust” essay and project contest. The winners were announced by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission.
“Mira Kimmelman challenged students to reflect upon the history of the Holocaust and contemporary examples of injustice for over 50 years,” a press release said. “The contest continues her work and legacy, asking Tennessee students to create projects that reflect how the lessons of the Holocaust are relevant to current events and their own lives. The contest has both middle school and high school entry options, all of which prompt students to reflect on the lessons learned through the study of Holocaust history.”
The contest is sponsored by the Kimmelman family and the Tennessee Holocaust Commission to honor and further Mira Kimmelman’s lifelong efforts to teach children to never forget and to learn from the horrors of the Holocaust., the press release said.
The high school winners are:
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge Senior Center will honor veterans with a drop-in recognition from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, November 11.
All veterans who preregister by Tuesday, November 9, will receive a special goodie bag, a press release said.
“Please call the Senior Center to register so staff can have an accurate head count of veterans attending,” the release said.
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Acato Information Management, located at 173 Mitchell Road, is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for November 2021. (Submitted photo)
Acato Information Management, located at 173 Mitchell Road, is the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Month for November 2021, a press release said. The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union.
“Service, integrity, and joy—those are the core values of Acato Information Management,” the press release said. “Owner Cathy Toth says those values drive everything they do.”
Launched in 2010, Acato is a software company focused on software quality. The company provides software testing for clients and government contractors.
“Traditional software testing revolves around executing tasks and resolving defects,” Toth said. “The value we bring is figuring out how well you know if you got what you wanted and then how you will confirm that you got what you wanted. It’s that analysis and then building tests to do that is really where we bring more value to the client.” [Read more…]
First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to food-insecure guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 11.
The church’s monthly “Welcome Table” community meal program plans to supply each guest with a meal consisting of a soup, chips, fruit, and brownies, a press release said. In addition, a bag of groceries will be delivered to each car.
Guests should drive through the church parking lot to the sanctuary building at 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike at the intersection of the Turnpike and Lafayette Drive to collect the foods donated by church members or paid for by the congregation’s hunger fund, the press release said. Church volunteers wearing masks will deliver the hot meal and groceries to guests in their cars.
After struggling this season, the Oak Ridge Wildcats gained confidence headed into the football playoffs tonight with a 48-21 win over region rival Campbell County last Friday.
“This was our best game in a lot of ways, for a lot of reasons,” Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis told his huddled team on Blankenship Field after the victory over the Cougars (6-4, 1-3 Region 3-5A). “That’s a good way to finish the regular season.”
The 48 points was the most scored by Oak Ridge (3-7, 3-2) this season.
The Wildcats also had the most rushing yards and total yards of the season, by far, against the Cougars on Friday. They ran for 366 yards and totaled 517.
“This is kind of a breakout game,” Gaddis said. “We were able to run the ball.”
Oak Ridge sophomore De’Javius Dozier broke tackles and scored three touchdowns as he ran for more than 200 yards, the best performance of any Wildcat this season. He also ran for three touchdowns. Dozier’s previous team-high rushing total was 130 yards at Lenoir City on September 3.
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The City of Oak Ridge continues to work on a Rails to Trails project that has been planned for years and will convert 4.6 miles of unused railroad into a greenway for walkers, runners, and bicyclists.
The city will have a drop-in public meeting about the project from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 10, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Gym. The trail design and next steps will be presented, and the city will seek input from residents. Masks are encouraged at the meeting, the city said.
The greenway along the former CSX railroad will extend from east Oak Ridge past Jefferson Middle School to Y-12 National Security Complex. It will start at Elza Gate at the Oak Ridge Turnpike; run along Belgrade Road, Warehouse Road, Fairbanks Road, and Lafayette Drive; and cross South Illinois Avenue to the Y-12 National Security Complex entrance on Scarboro Road.
“The greenway system brings parkland nearer to all Oak Ridge citizens,” Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick said. “It provides opportunity for motor-less commuting, enjoyable physical exercise, learning experiences about wildlife, and connections to parks, schools, and shopping areas.”
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The AT&T Foundation has donated $10,000 to Roane State Foundation to provide “last dollar” scholarships for minority and underserved students, a press release said.
“We are grateful to AT&T and its continued support of public higher education and our students, who will benefit greatly from the company’s generosity,” said Chris Whaley, president of Roane State Community College. “Our students have many financial needs aside from the cost of tuition and this support will help them on their path to higher education.”
The donation is part of the AT&T Foundation’s $130,000 gift to the Foundation for the College System of Tennessee, the press release said. Funding has been divided equally among Tennessee’s 13 community colleges to support students across the state.
[Read more…]Safeguards and Security personnel from Y-12 National Security Complex, the Pantex Plant, and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office were recently honored with 2020 Nuclear Security Enterprise security awards, a press release said.
The winners included Willis Ray, Dwayne Cunningham, and Ramiro Alaniz from Pantex; Kevin Mattern from Y-12; and Tim Alvarado, Blaine Westlake, and Dan Reeves of NPO.
Alaniz, Alvarado, Cunningham, Mattern, and Reeves were recognized as members of the NNSA 2020 Security Team of the Year. They were among 23 members of the Design Basis Threat Implementation Team, which was made up of contractors and federal personnel from every site in the NSE, plus the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Security Policy, who received this award, the press release said.
The Design Basis Team team finished the most comprehensive analysis of security risk ever completed in support of the U.S. DOE/NNSA mission, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.
“The team’s work resulted in security analysis that is more consistent, transparent, and understandable than ever before,” it said.
[Read more…]