Tai Chi at the Jackson Square fountain on Saturday morning, June 25, 2016. (Photo by Ray Evans)
Manhattan Avenue road reconstruction complete
Roadway reconstruction on Manhattan Avenue is now complete and re-opened to through traffic.
“We would like to thank the residents affected by this project for their patience, in addition to the cooperation of all citizens and visitors during the road reconstruction,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.
For more information about the city, visit www.oakridgetn.gov.
Learn what’s being done to address addiction, recovery at July 14 storytelling event
A community storytelling event on July 14 will share information on what’s being done to address addiction and recovery in East Tennessee. National Public Radio, which has been covering Roane County Recovery Court, will serve as the master of ceremonies, a press release said.
The storytelling event is titled “Roane is Better Together!” It’s scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14, at the Princess Theatre in Harriman.
It’s sponsored by Russell Johnson, district attorney general of the Ninth Judicial District, and Roane County Public Defender Kim Nelson, a press release said.
The press release said the Roane County Recovery Court launched in January, and NPR has shared several video and audio clips with its listening audience. [Read more…]
Clinton’s Fourth of July includes fireworks, family activities, food vendors, music
Clinton’s annual Fourth of July event will include fireworks, family activities, food vendors, and music.
The event starts at 5 p.m. Monday, July 4, and it ends at 10 p.m., when fireworks start, a press release said. The activities are at Lakefront Park.
You can bring the whole family and enjoy these activities, a press release said:
Backyard Bouncers will have a bounce house, bungee run, home run baseball game, Spaceball 2000 human gyro, 68-foot army boot camp obstacle course, 22-foot two-lane tsunami water slide with slip-and-slide, race car combo with water slide, 75-foot Zorb Ball, and pirate bounce house. They are available for the public and free, the press release said. (Important notice: You must have a wrist band to ride.)
There is also laser tag for those kids up for the challenge, and it’s also free, the press release said. So are video games. These activities are sponsored by Faith Promise Church—Anderson Campus, the press release said. [Read more…]
Keppens takes over as head of UT-ORNL Joint Institute of Advanced Materials
The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Advanced Materials has named Veerle Keppens as its new director. (Photo courtesy UT)
The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Advanced Materials has named Veerle Keppens as its new director.
Keppens, current head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in UT’s College of Engineering, brings a knowledge of advanced materials—substances with properties that go beyond the norm in one or more aspects, such as electronically or chemically—that will allow her to transition to the new role without a learning curve, a press release said.
“Dr. Keppens carries a wealth of materials science knowledge to this position along with a well as a passion for broadening our understanding in these areas of research,” said UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “She has worked well in research partnerships with ORNL and will be a strong leader of the institute.”
UT and ORNL established JIAM in 2005 as a way of bringing together researchers studying those materials, with the impact of that research being as varied as the materials themselves. [Read more…]
Register for small business webinar series, training events
Registration is available for a small business webinar series and training events. The webinar series starts July 7, and it focuses on what the health care law means for your small business.
See the announcement from the Tennessee Small Business Development Center below. [Read more…]
Save the Date: UT Arboretum Society Butterfly Festival is July 30
The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will present a Butterfly Festival on Saturday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum Auditorium and surrounding grounds in Oak Ridge.
It is co-sponsored by the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. The gate will be open at 8:30 a.m. Coffee and donuts will be sold from 9 to 10.
The UT Arboretum is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.
The event, designed for children and adults of all ages, will take place rain or shine, a press release said. [Read more…]
NAACP meeting on Tuesday in Clinton
The June meeting of the Oak Ridge/Anderson County NAACP will be on Tuesday in Clinton.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, at the Green McAdoo Gymnasium next to the Green McAdoo Cultural Center.
Agenda items will include rescheduling the bimonthly state NAACP Meeting in July, the procedure for the fall NAACP election, a Political Action Committee report and upcoming activities, update on Education Committee information with the Oak Ridge High School principal, and a focus on the local and national elections. The NAACP will be collaborating with the local League of Women Voters for a July candidate forum. [Read more…]
Mall sale still on track for closing by end of month
The Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as a multi-use town center known as Main Street, is pictured above. Also known as the former Oak Ridge Mall, the L-shaped building is at center. The white building at center left is Walmart, and it is not part of the proposed redevelopment. Neither is the white building at center top, the Tinseltown Theater. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The closing on the sale of the former Oak Ridge Mall is proceeding, and it is still on track to close by the end of June, a city consultant said Friday.
“Everything we’re hearing is that they are still on track to close by the end of the month,” said Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge.
Evans said officials have been in contact with the RealtyLink, the mall redeveloper, this week, and RealtyLink and the city staff have been discussing construction sequencing.
“We’ve had multiple meetings on that this week,” Evans said. [Read more…]
Candidate forum for Anderson County Commission District 8 to be held July 14
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce building is pictured above.
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Advocacy Committee will host a series of candidate forums during the election season this year, and the first forum, for three Anderson County Commission candidates, will be in July.
That first forum will be for candidates running in the special election for Anderson County Commission District 8. The forum will be held from 7:30-9 a.m. Thursday, July 14, in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which is at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
All three candidates for the office—Myra Mansfield, Angeleque McNutt, and Phil Yager—have indicated that they will be present for the forum, a press release said. All candidate forums are free and open to the public. [Read more…]
Scottish professor visits Children’s Museum for Weinberg research
Professor Sean Johnston, a professor of science, technology, and social studies from the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, searched through the papers of Alvin Weinberg, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of a two-year project funded by the British Academy titled “Trusting the Technological Fix.” (Submitted photo)
The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is well known as a center of play and learning for the young and young at heart. The museum’s lesser-known collections of historic papers recently brought a senior academic historian from Scotland to Oak Ridge for several days of research.
Professor Sean Johnston, a professor of science, technology, and social studies from the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow, searched through the papers of Alvin Weinberg, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of a two-year project funded by the British Academy titled “Trusting the Technological Fix.”
His visit highlights the value of the collections the museum began gathering in the 1970s to tell the cultural and social history of the area for its Regional Appalachian Center.
“Not only was Weinberg the prominent head of the national laboratory (1955-73), and very much a member of the establishment, but he was somebody who was curious and worried about the wider social implications of nuclear technology,” Johnston said. [Read more…]
Elementary school success in Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair
Lilly McDonald of Woodland Elementary School placed first in Life Science for her project, “Birds: Feed, Eat, Repeat” at the Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair at New Hope Center in May. (Submitted photo)
On May 21-22, six students represented Woodland Elementary School with science fair projects at the Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair at New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.
Five third-grade students participated: Abi Beach, Isabella Liu, Lilly McDonald, William Shen, and Edie Weston.
One fourth-grader, Isaac Robinson, also competed.
Two students placed in the science competition. Edie Weston placed second in Life Science for her project titled, “How Long Until Sunscreen Blocks UV Light?” Lilly McDonald placed first in Life Science for her project, “Birds: Feed, Eat, Repeat.” [Read more…]
