Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge National Laboratory opening Chattanooga office

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Thom Mason May 23 2016

ORNL Director Thom Mason announced that the lab will open an office in Chattanooga. The announcement was made Monday, May 23, 2016, at the Southeast Regional Energy Innovation Workshop at The Chattanoogan hotel. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory will open an office at EPB headquarters in Chattanooga’s Innovation District that will link local companies to the national laboratory’s resources and expertise. ORNL Director Thom Mason announced the office on Monday, May 23, at the Southeast Regional Energy Innovation Workshop at The Chattanoogan hotel.

“This is the best way for us to build on existing ORNL collaborations in Chattanooga and to identify new opportunities,” Mason said. “The work involving EPB, the Department of Energy, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory illustrates the power of regional cooperation. We want to accelerate opportunities in developing clean energy technology, manufacturing, and computing.”

ORNL continues to partner with EPB, a municipally owned utility, on researching the performance, security, and efficiency of Chattanooga’s electrical system. This research can be applied to make power systems nationwide cleaner, safer and more efficient. [Read more…]

With new extrication equipment, OSFD helps Blair remove person trapped in vehicle after crash

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Oliver Springs Fire Department Vehicle Entrapment May 22 2016 I

The Oliver Springs Fire Department responded on Sunday, May 22, 2016, to a mutual aid call from the Blair Volunteer Fire Department to a single-vehicle crash that left one person trapped in a pickup truck, authorities said. (Photo by Oliver Springs Fire Department)

 

The Oliver Springs Fire Department responded on Sunday to a mutual aid call from the Blair Volunteer Fire Department to a single-vehicle crash that left one person trapped in a pickup truck, authorities said.

Using newly purchased extrication equipment, members were able to remove the victim and turn him over to Anderson County EMS for treatment less than 15 minutes after they arrived, the Oliver Springs Fire Department said in a post published on Facebook.

“This was the first time the new equipment was used during an emergency run since being put in service,” the OSFD said. “A big thank you to the Town of Oliver Springs Board of Mayor and Council for this purchace. It has allowed the Oliver Springs Fire Department to increase its capabilities to perform rescues. This further enhances the safety of the citizens and visitors of the Town of Oliver Springs.” [Read more…]

TVC Summit to focus on entrepreneurism in five-state region

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Howard Baker at Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in 1995

Former Tennessee Senator Howard Baker addresses the first Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit held in Oak Ridge in 1995. (Submitted photo)

 

The registration deadline is quickly approaching for the annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit, which will make its first visit to Cookeville on June 1-2. The Summit, themed “Where Entrepreneurs and Technology Meet,” will be held on the campus of Tennessee Tech University , and it is hosted by TTU President Phil Oldham in cooperation with Tennessee Congressman Diane Black.

Leaders from throughout the region will be at the event to focus attention on the vital role entrepreneurs provide in turning the brain power and technologies from the region’s universities and federal programs into new business start-ups and the expansion of existing businesses.

Main speakers scheduled for the event include: [Read more…]

Lung cancer screening to be discussed at Health Night lecture

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James Tramontana

James Tramontana

Low-dose computerized tomography, or CT, is a screening that has been shown to save lives by finding lung cancer early, when it is easier to treat. This new procedure is available at Methodist Medical Center and will be the topic of Health Night on the Town, Tuesday, May 31, at 7 p.m. in the Ridge Conference Room of Methodist Medical Center, 990 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Board-certified radiologist James Tramontana, MD, will discuss low-dose CT, how the screening works, its benefits, who is eligible, and the importance of this and other screenings in the early detection of cancer.

The program is free and open to the public. [Read more…]

Story by Roane State professor wins national honor

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Elizabeth Genovise

Elizabeth Genovise

A story by Roane State Community College assistant professor Elizabeth Genovise has been named a 2016 O. Henry Prize Story, among the nation’s most prestigious honors for short fiction.

Past winners include literary luminaries such as William Faulkner, John Updike, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Walker, and Truman Capote, a press release said. Genovise’s piece, “Irises,” was among 20 stories selected from thousands of works published in literary magazines.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it,” Genovise said of the moment she learned her story had been selected. “I re-read the letter 50 times thinking maybe it was an elaborate prank from a fellow writer.”

Genovise has taught English at Roane State for six years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Hillsdale College, a master’s in English from McNeese State University, and a master of fine arts, or M.F.A., from McNeese State. [Read more…]

St. Mary’s students selected for multiple honor choirs

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St. Mary’s School students Elizabeth Brands, Sophie Sherlock, and Gabriella Wilkerson were selected to participate in the 2016 Tennessee Treble Honor Choir. (Submitted photo)

St. Mary’s School students Elizabeth Brands, Sophie Sherlock, and Gabriella Wilkerson were selected to participate in the 2016 Tennessee Treble Honor Choir. (Submitted photo)

 

Students at St. Mary’s School in Oak Ridge were selected for multiple honor choirs in what has been a leading year for the school’s music program, a press release said

St. Mary’s School students Elizabeth Brands, Sophie Sherlock, and Gabriella Wilkerson were selected to participate in the 2016 Tennessee Treble Honor Choir, the press release said. The singers sang under the direction of Derrick Fox, assistant professor of choral music education and choral conducting in the Ithaca College School of Music. The Tennessee Music Educators Association commissioned a piece to be performed at the conference opening concert and ceremonies. The piece entitled “Honeybees” was composed by Andrea Ramsey. Ramsey attended the conference and rehearsed with the choir as well as attended the choir’s premier performance of her composition.

The Tennessee Treble Honor Choir is an auditioned choir made up of 130-150 of the best fifth- and sixth-grade students from schools throughout the state of Tennessee, the press release said. Each student submitted a solo audition recording of her or him singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” in the keys of F and A Flat. A committee of music educators from across the state adjudicated the auditions listening for pitch accuracy, tone quality, diction, ability to use chest and head registers, and phrasing. The Treble Choir performed at the Tennessee Music Education Association Professional Development Conference held April 13-14 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. [Read more…]

Y‑12 receives six NNSA Sustainability Awards

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Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Site’s efforts earn half of 2016 honors

The National Nuclear Security Administration recently recognized the Y‑12 National Security Complex with six 2016 Sustainability Awards.

“Y‑12 has a long history of being recognized for their environmental accomplishments, and this year was no exception as acknowledged by U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Lieutenant General Frank G. Klotz,” a press release said.

“I want to congratulate the winners of this year’s Sustainability Awards and recognize the team effort needed to implement environmentally responsible and sustainable operations and projects,” Klutz said. “NNSA will continue to build on these successes and pursue new and creative solutions as stewards of the environment and our enduring national security mission.” [Read more…]

TN Creates, a juried crafts fair, at Secret City Festival on June 10, 11

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Linda Mabry

Linda Mabry will be demonstrating raku firing in front of the bus and shuttle drop-off area during the festival until 4 pm each day. This ancient process, while seeming almost magical, is a study in the properties of physics as one pulls a white-hot piece from the flame and places it in combustible material to smoke. Come watch Linda “burn” with unbridled passion. (Submitted photo)

 

TN Creates, the juried arts and crafts fair at the Secret City Festival, showcases some of the fine art and craft forms being practiced in our region.

The June 10 and 11 event will be the 10th juried craft fair within the Secret City Festival. Sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Art Center, the fair will be held in the Shep Lauder gym at the Civic Center until 7 p.m. each day.

“The show promises to have more than 40 of the area’s finest artists and craftsmen creating or selling their work,” a press release said. “Since the show is inside the gym, guests to the fair will find it not only a great place to find some wonderful craft pieces, but a terrific place to cool off.”

During the show, there will be continuous demonstrations in many media by members of the Art Center, including oil and watercolor painting, block printing, pottery, and several jewelry making techniques. There will be seating around the demonstrators for those who are interested in watching and learning more about the processes artists use, many of which are taught at the Art Center. Raku pottery firings will be held both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the show’s entrance near the bus drop off.

Parking will be at the mall with continuous bus service during the festival. [Read more…]

Y-12 honors its inventors with Technology Transfer awards

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Y-12 Honors Inventors

Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 29 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 13 patents and submitted more than 30 invention disclosures in the past year. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Twenty-nine inventors at the Y‑12 National Security Complex were recognized for their technology and innovative accomplishments during the recent 12th annual Technology Transfer Awards Ceremony. The site has a long history of producing technologies initially used at Y-12 and later transferred to the private sector.

Thirteen patents were awarded in Fiscal Year 2015 in areas ranging from a wireless sensor for detecting chemical compounds to an apparatus for safeguarding a radiological source, a press release said.

The inventors also were recognized for bringing forward new ideas in the form of invention disclosures that could one day lead to future patents. These employees were acknowledged for both their creativity and innovative ideas in support of the technology development and transfer mission. The new inventions developed by the honorees will be used to further Y-12’s mission work and will be made available to license to benefit the public through Y-12’s Technology Transfer program, the press release said. [Read more…]

Memorial Day Concert to honor veterans, military personnel

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Oak Ridge Community Band July 4 2014

Oak Ridge Community Band leader Dale Pendley directs the Community Band in a summer concert in 2015. (Photo courtesy Barbara Gritzner)

 

Special recognition will be given to area veterans and to the men and women currently serving in the United States Armed Forces at the Memorial Day Concert performed by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Monday evening, May 30. This concert will start at 7 p.m. Monday at A.K. Bissell Park.

The public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating. There is no admission fee for this concert, but donations are gratefully appreciated to help offset band expenses.

Also present in the park will be Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab, which will continue its tradition of providing refreshments during the community band summer concert season, a press release said. [Read more…]

State track meet: Boullie second fastest in 800-meter qualifying, boys 4×800 third fastest

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ORHS Sectionals TF-12 Boullie Relay May 14 2016 Etheridge

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie had the second-fastest qualifying time in the boys 800-meter run in the Section I championship at Science Hill in Johnson City on Saturday, May 14, 2016, and Boullie is on the boys 4×800-meter relay team that had the third-fastest qualifying time for the state track and field meet in Murfreesboro this week. (Photo by Adrian Etheridge)

 

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie had the second-fastest qualifying time for the boys 800-meter run in the state championship track and field meet in Murfreesboro this week. And he is also on the Wildcats’ boys 4×800-meter relay team that had the third-fastest qualifying time in Tennessee.

Boullie had a time of 1:56.04 in the 800-meter run at the Section I track and field finals at Science Hill High School in Johnson City on Saturday, May 14. Kenton Bachmann, a sophomore at Hardin Valley Academy, had the fastest time, but at 1:55.99, he finished only 0.05 seconds ahead of Boullie. Two other East Tennessee seniors, Bruce Boles of West and Josh Routh of Daniel Boone, rounded out the top four qualifying spots, or seeds, coming in third and fourth respectively in Division I Class AAA.

The Oak Ridge boys 4×800-meter relay team qualified with a time of 8:05.88. Two other East Tennessee high schools are the top two seeds: Science Hill with a time of 7:57.32 and Daniel Boone at 8:01.03. (Daniel Boone is in Gray, which is between Kingsport and Johnson City.)

The Oak Ridge boys 4×800-meter relay team finished third at the Section I championship at Science Hill on May 14, when the Wildcats qualified for state in seven events. Besides Boullie, the other 4×800 relay team members are sophomore Jose Villegas, senior Thomas Colburn, junior Jacob Etheridge, and alternate Reid Dukes, a junior. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge soccer season again ends in Tri-Cities, this time at Dobyns-Bennett

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Oak Ridge Robinson Dobyns-Bennett May 21 2016

Oak Ridge junior midfielder Brent Robinson (6) heads the soccer ball during a 3-1 loss to Dobyns-Bennett in a Class AAA sectional in Kingsport on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (Photo credit: Allen Greene/TriCitiesSports.com)

 

KINGSPORT, Tenn.—Oak Ridge saw its season end for the second straight year in the Tri-Cities, this time on the pitch at Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett’s Indian Highland Park.

Last year, the Wildcats (14-9) fell 3-1 at Johnson City Science Hill, and they fell Saturday by the same result to the Indians (20-1-1), who advance for the first time in a quarter century to the TSSAA state tournament. Oak Ridge last made it to the state tournament in 2008.

“The match was not a piece of art at all,” Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said. “It was a pretty scrappy affair.”

Dobyns-Bennett was keen on possessing the ball and hoping for a defensive breakdown in its game plan. [Read more…]