Oak Ridge Today

ORFD has new truck to fight brush fires

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The Oak Ridge Fire Department has a new truck designed for putting out brush fires. (Photo by ORFD)

The Oak Ridge Fire Department has a new truck designed to fight brush fires.

The new vehicle, Brush 1, was purchased by the city, and the equipment was purchased with a grant received from Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, for off-site emergency planning and response in the amount of $16,000.

It has a 300-gallon per minute Hale pump with a 300-gallon capacity water tank and a five-gallon foam storage tank, a press release said.

It can pump water through a bumper-mounted nozzle, which is operated via joystick inside the cab, while the vehicle is being driven so fire along the roadside can be contained and extinguished. This prevents having to deploy a hose line for a small area and helps to cover a larger area in less time, the press release said.

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Triplets tour Roane State as they look ahead to college

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Roane State’s Jack Parker talks with the Dunsmore family during their tour of the Coffey/McNally Building, in background, and the Goff Building on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus. From left: Jack Parker with Megan, Todd, Jennifer, Jacob, and Luke Dunsmore. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Roane State employee Jack Parker has been giving prospective students tours of the community college for years, but this was a first for him.

Parker recently provided a detailed overview of the Oak Ridge Branch Campus to triplets, all of whom came away with upbeat opinions of their upcoming collegiate experiences.

Following him through the corridors and into the classrooms and high-tech labs in the Coffey/McNally and Goff Buildings were triplets Jacob, Megan, and Luke Dunsmore, along with their parents, Jennifer and Todd Dunsmore.

The Dunsmores are residents of Knox County’s Fountain City area, and their children graduated in May from the First Baptist Academy in Powell. The trio attended that private school from kindergarten through their senior year.

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City has chlorine to continue operating pool, receives bid to buy more

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge has enough chlorine to continue operating the outdoor pool until a new shipment arrives in mid-July, and the Oak Ridge City Council is expected to approve a single bid for chlorine briquettes during its July 12 meeting.

In June, City Council did not approve a sole-source contract to buy more chlorine briquettes after Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, who is mayor pro tem, objected to spending money on the pool. The sole-source contract required unanimous approval, so the one “no” vote meant the purchase was not approved.

Before the vote, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick had told the seven-member Council that the city might have enough chlorine to last through the end of June and possibly into July. Running out of chemicals to treat the pool would result in having to shut it down, Hetrick said. However, in response to questions about a potential “break in service,” Hetrick said at that meeting that he didn’t have an accurate count of the amount of chlorine in stock at the pool.

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Summit at ORNL remains No. 2 in world

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The Summit supercomputer, a 200-petaflop 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 remains the fastest supercomputer in the United States and the second most powerful in the world.

Summit, an IBM system, was the world’s most powerful supercomputer from June 2018 to November 2019, when the U.S. Department of Energy had the two fastest systems in the world.

DOE still has two of the three fastest supercomputers, Summit at ORNL and Sierra at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. And it has three of the top five systems in the world. DOE has a new supercomputer, Perlmutter, ranked at number five. It’s at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California. Perlmutter was the only new system in the top 10 in the semiannual TOP500 list released Monday.

Summit was bumped from the top spot on the TOP500 list by a Japanese supercomputer, Fugaku, in June 2020.

Fugaku, which is in Kobe, Japan, remained in the top spot on the TOP500 list released in November and again on the list released Monday. The TOP500 list uses a benchmark test to rank the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

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Pedestrian flown to UT Medical Center with life-threatening injuries after crash

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A pedestrian with life-threatening injuries was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by a LifeStar medical helicopter after a traffic crash in Oak Ridge at about 4:05 a.m. Monday.

The Oak Ridge Police Department received notification of a crash involving a pedestrian on Monday, June 28, on South Illinois Avenue just north of the intersection of East Tulsa Road, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. The roadway was closed for a few hours.

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For members: Witnesses testify in sexual harassment lawsuit filed against county

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The Joel W. Solomon Federal Building United States Courthouse is pictured above on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CHATTANOOGA—Four women who testified during a civil sexual harassment trial in federal court last week said their former boss, a former Anderson County elected official, caressed them around the waist, rubbed them, sent graphic messages about oral sex, and asked them to have sex with him and his wife, among other allegations of inappropriate behavior. The experiences have left them traumatized, the women said, unable to eat or sleep, suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, and in one case, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Two of the women have filed lawsuits in federal court over the alleged harassment by former Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones, who served one term from 2014 to 2018. A trial was held for one of the lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga last week. That lawsuit was filed in March 2018 by former employee Gail Harness, who started working for Jones as a college intern in 2016. The lawsuit alleged that Harness had endured a hostile work environment in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Tennessee Human Rights Act.

Jury: Anderson County not liable for sexual harassment by former elected official

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The Joel W. Solomon Federal Building United States Courthouse is pictured above on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 p.m.

CHATTANOOGA—A seven-person federal jury on Thursday found that a former Anderson County employee had been sexually harassed by former Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk William Jones, but the county was not liable. The former employee, Gail Harness, had filed a lawsuit in federal court because of the sexual harassment, and she had sought $7.5 million in damages.

The lawsuit was tried in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga from Monday to Thursday.

Attorneys for Harness had alleged that Anderson County had inadequate training or supervision and had tolerated violations of federal law. Harness had endured a hostile work environment caused by the pervasive, unwelcome sexual advances from Jones, and her rights had been violated under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the attorneys said. Harness had sought damages for pain and suffering, embarrassment and humiliation, permanent injury, and loss of enjoyment of life and reputation.

But attorneys for the defendant, Anderson County, said the county had no control over Jones, an elected official, and the county had investigated after Harness filed her complaint in 2017. 

Four women testified in federal court in Chattanooga this week. They said Jones had caressed them around the waist, rubbed them, whispered inappropriate things about how other employees looked, sent graphic sexual messages about oral sex, asked them for “alone time” and to accompany him on a trip, and responded to a question about a job with a message that included a suggestion to send a picture of breasts, among other allegations. Jones referred to himself as “Daddy,” the women said, and he asked Harness to have sex with him and his wife, according to her testimony. Jones boasted about being unaccountable to anyone except the voters of Anderson County, according to the witnesses. Employees said they worried about being moved to the Oak Ridge court—the “clerk’s graveyard”—or fired if they didn’t please Jones or comply.

“He is an elected official, and he told us all the time, no one can touch me,” said employee Tracy Spitzer, a witness for Harness.

“They were all scared to do anything about it,” said Richard Collins, one of three attorneys for Harness.

Jones said he could do whatever he wanted, including masturbate in his office, according to the testimony.

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New garbage bins dropped off at homes

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New garbage bins are being dropped off at Oak Ridge homes. The deliveries began Monday, June 21. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

New garbage bins are being dropped off at Oak Ridge homes. The deliveries began Monday, June 21.

The blue bins should be used for your household garbage and brought to the curb on your scheduled pickup date starting in July, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

The new, 95-gallon trash bins will eliminate the need for residents to purchase multiple 32-gallon bins to accommodate household waste, the press release said.

Many residents already participate in the recycle program and have previously been provided a brown cart that is taken to the curb. This service has not changed, but if you do not already own a brown recycle cart, one will be provided to you upon request, the press release said.

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3 displaced, none injured after being rescued from apartment fire

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Three people are safe after a fire at an apartment complex on Glassboro Drive Wednesday morning. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Three people who had been asleep are safe after being evacuated from a fire at an apartment complex on Glassboro Drive on Wednesday morning.

At around 8:57 a.m. June 23, Oak Ridge Fire Department crews were dispatched to 114 Glassboro Drive. Firefighters arrived on scene within six minutes of the dispatch, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

“The first arriving crew found smoke showing from the top of the apartment building,” Oak Ridge Fire Marshal Eric Rackard said. “During a search of the apartments, three residents were found asleep in the apartment that was on fire. Crews were able to safely evacuate all residents and they were not injured.”

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ORAU awards five Pollard Scholarships

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

ORAU has awarded five William G. Pollard Scholarships of $2,500 each toward undergraduate studies for the 2021-2022 academic year. The recipients of this year’s scholarships include Semilore (Semmy) Abiodun-Adeniyi, Olivia Campbell, Olivia Hudson, Sara Malicoat, and Trisha Prater.

Each year, ORAU awards these scholarships to employees’ children or stepchildren who display exceptional achievements in their high school or undergraduate studies. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all high schools and colleges attended, three references (at least two of which must be from teachers), and a 500-word essay describing professional and personal interests, a press release said.

The William G. Pollard Scholarship Awards are presented in honor of ORAU’s founder in recognition of his dedication to science and education. A University of Tennessee physics professor, Pollard founded the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies—which later became ORAU—to link the valuable scientific resources developed in Oak Ridge as part of the Manhattan Project with regional universities.

Here is more information about this year’s winners: [Read more…]

For members: Chinn opposes pool spending, affecting chlorine purchase

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Note: This story was updated at 8 p.m.

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, who proposed closing the city’s outdoor pool two years ago, objected to spending any money on the pool on Monday. That meant the city could not, at least for now, buy more chlorine for the large, unique pool on Providence Road, near Oak Ridge High School.

Oak Ridge Public Works director dies after short illness

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Shira McWaters

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters died Saturday after a short illness, the city said. She was 60.

“Today we have lost a colleague and a friend,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. “Our hearts are with Shira’s husband, children, and family as we share some small measure of their grief at the loss of this vibrant woman.”

McWaters, a civil engineer who had been working for a company in Arizona, was hired by the City of Oak Ridge as public works director in 2016. She started in March that year. She replaced former Public Works Director Gary Cinder, who retired in September 2015. The Public Works Department is responsible for much of the city’s essential infrastructure, from streets to drainage to water and wastewater. The department also maintains city-owned buildings and city vehicles and equipment.

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