Oak Ridge Today

Sewer rehab work continues this week

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More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week.

The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said.

Residents should already have received color-coded letters and door hangers (orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting) providing general information and each contractors’ contact information. [Read more…]

Relay For Life kicks off with Survivors Lap on Friday

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Relay for Life Survivors

Cancer survivors walk the first lap during an all-night Relay for Life at Oak Ridge High School in June 2012. (File photo)

Relay For Life of Oak Ridge will kick off with a special Survivors Lap on Friday. It’s a moving experience honoring those who have defeated cancer, a press release said.

Survivors will join together to walk the opening lap, unified in victory and hope, while the rest of the event’s participants surround the track to cheer them on. This empowering celebration is just a small piece of the special experience of Relay For Life, the release said.

Relay For Life is a unique grassroots fundraising event in which individuals and teams of participants in more than 6,100 communities nationwide walk around a track overnight to celebrate the lives of those who have faced cancer, remember loved ones lost, and commit to fight back against the disease. The money raised through Relay For Life supports the efforts of the American Cancer Society to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

The Survivors Lap starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Oak Ridge High School. Relay for Life continues until midnight at Ben Martin Track at ORHS. [Read more…]

‘Double-duty’ electrolyte enables new chemistry for longer-lived batteries

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ORNL Battery Chemistry

When ORNL researchers incorporated a solid lithium thiophosphate electrolyte into a lithium-carbon fluoride battery, the device generated a 26 percent higher capacity than what would be its theoretical maximum if each component acted independently. (Image courtesy ORNL)

 

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new and unconventional battery chemistry aimed at producing batteries that last longer than previously thought possible.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ORNL researchers challenged a long-held assumption that a battery’s three main components—the positive cathode, negative anode, and ion-conducting electrolyte—can play only one role in the device.

The electrolyte in the team’s new battery design has dual functions: It serves not only as an ion conductor but also as a cathode supplement. This cooperative chemistry, enabled by the use of an ORNL-developed solid electrolyte, delivers an extra boost to the battery’s capacity, and extends the lifespan of the device.

“This bi-functional electrolyte revolutionizes the concept of conventional batteries and opens a new avenue for the design of batteries with unprecedented energy density,” said ORNL’s Chengdu Liang. [Read more…]

Farmers Market now open on Wednesdays in Oak Ridge

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Farmers Market

 

The East Tennessee Farmers Association for Retail Marketing, or FARM, opened the Wednesday FARM Market at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Oak Ridge market operates in the parking lot adjacent to historic Jackson Square. It is also the site of the popular Saturday FARM Market that operates from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays.

The market is open in Oak Ridge from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday each week.

FARM operates two market locations in Knoxville on Tuesdays and Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. The Tuesday market is held at Ebenezer United Methodist Church at 1001 Ebenezer Road near Westland Drive. On Friday, farmers sell products at the Laurel Church of Christ, 3457 Kingston Pike across from Cherokee Boulevard.

Established in 1976, FARM markets run from mid-April through late November. For more information visit online at www.easttnfarmmarkets.org.

Girl Scouts host Japanese GS troop from sister city

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Girl Scouts Pancake Breakfast

From left to right, Oak Ridge Girl Scouts Jordan Oxendine, Becca Bahl, Ahna Wurm, and Zaeleigh Holbrook invite everyone to support the Girl Scouts Pancake Breakfast on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts invite the community to their Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, May 17. The event will be held at Aubrey’s, 481 S. Illinois Ave. from 8 to 10 a.m.

Guests will be greeted with “Brownie Smiles” and will enjoy stacks of fresh pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Special servers are the girl hostesses for the Japanese Girl Scouts from our sister city, Naka, Japan. Twelve Japanese Girl Scouts and leaders will be visiting Oak Ridge from July 28-Aug. 2. During this visit, the Naka girls and their hostesses will camp at GS Camp Tanasi and earn the Secret City Heritage patch.

Pancake breakfast tickets are $5 each. Proceeds benefit the Oak Ridge GS service unit and the Naka Girl Scout visit. To purchase tickets, call (865) 483-3958. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Experience the majestic Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in Saturday concert

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Strings

String players in the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra are pictured above. (Photo courtesy of Travis Witherington) 

 

By Dale Gedcke

Don’t miss the majestic “Symphony No. 3 with Organ” by Saint-Saëns, performed by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra at 2 p.m. Saturday May 17, in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church. This is probably the most impressive symphony that one can find. It is unique because of the dominant role played by the organ, especially in the finale, where it builds the foundation for a glorious finish.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) composed his third symphony at the pinnacle of his career when he was in his early 50s. The story of his life is as remarkable as the content of this symphony. Trained on the piano from a very early age, his first public performance came at the age of five, when he accompanied a Beethoven violin sonata. At 10, he played his first public recital, featuring works by Handel, Kalkbrenner, Hummel, and Bach. As an encore, Saint-Saëns offered to play any of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory. [Read more…]

Anderson Chamber offers business counseling Wednesday

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Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Logo

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host free and confidential business counseling sessions from 9–11 a.m. Wednesday.

Jutta Bangs, senior business specialist with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, will advise and assist future entrepreneurs and existing business owners, a press release said.

To make an appointment for May or future scheduled sessions, call (865) 457-2559 or email accc@andersoncountychamber.org. To learn more about the TSBDC, visit www.tsbdc.org.

Kiwanis Club talk to focus on Revolutionary War, Day One: Paul Revere, Lexington, Concord

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Don Edmands Jr.

Don Edmands Jr.

A Tuesday evening program with the Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge will focus on the Revolutionary War, Day One. Topics to be included are the day that started the seven-year Revolutionary War, minute by minute: Paul Revere’s ride, lanterns displayed in Boston’s North Church, the British march to Lexington and Concord, and the battle at Lexington Green and Concord’s North Bridge.

The talk will feature Don Edmands, president of the Madisonville Kiwanis Club. It will start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the smaller meeting room of the Golden Oak Grill Buffet.

The Golden Oak Grill Buffet is at 401 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

Kiwanis members, friends, and the public are cordially invited, a press release said. The 6:30 p.m. talk follows a 6 p.m. dinner. The dinner buffet will be available for people who come to the Golden Oak Grill Buffet, pay for the dinner, get their food from the many choices, and go to the smaller meeting room nearer to the entrance and cashier station. The program presentation is available to persons who go directly to the smaller meeting room.

Free Document Shred Day at ORNL FCU on Saturday

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ORNL Federal Credit Union

The ORNL Federal Credit Union on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above in February. (File photo)

There is a free Document Shred Day from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Millertown Pike and Oak Ridge branches of ORNL Federal Credit Union.

It’s a partnership between ORNL FCU and Cintas Document Management Co., and it’s open to ORNL FCU members as well as the public.

People can bring unwanted documents, especially ones containing personal information, to one of the Document Shred Day locations and have it safely and securely destroyed at no charge, a press release said. A maximum of four boxes/bags per person will be accepted. [Read more…]

What’s happening in Oak Ridge from May 9-14

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Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge starting Friday, May 2, and continuing through May 7.

This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]

FORNL has third talk on international thermonuclear project on Tuesday

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Graeme Murdoch

Graeme Murdoch

Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will have its third talk on the U.S. ITER project on Tuesday. ITER is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, and it will be constructed at Cadarache, France, and is expected to be completed within 10 years.

The Friends of ORNL lecture starts at noon Tuesday at the University of Tennessee Resource Center. It will feature Graeme Murdoch, who will discuss U.S. ITER non-nuclear systems.

“The United States has joined with China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, and Russia to construct and operate ITER, a full-scale, 500 megawatt experimental fusion device,” a press release said. “U.S. Contributions to ITER include hardware (with supporting research and development and design), personnel (U.S. engineers and scientists) to the ITER site in Cadarache, and cash contributions to the ITER organization. US-supplied hardware includes magnets, blankets, diagnostics, tritium processing, ion cyclotron and electron cyclotron heating and current drive systems, pellet fueling, and more conventional systems such as cooling water and electrical power systems.”

ITER is a large-scale project that presents many engineering challenges, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State graduation set for May 9-10

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Roane State Community College Harriman Campus

The main Roane State Community College campus in Harriman.

Roane State Community College will hold commencement ceremonies on May 9-10.

Both events, to be held in the gym on the Roane County campus in Harriman, will be equal in presentation.

  • Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m. (Eastern) for recipients of the Associate of Applied Science degree (A.A.S) in nursing, recipients of A.A.S. degrees in allied health sciences, and for recipients of certificates in allied health sciences.
  • Saturday, May 10, at 10 a.m. (Eastern) for recipients of Associate of Arts degrees and Associate of Science degrees, recipients of the Associate of Science in Teaching, and for recipients of A.A.S. degrees or certificates in all other fields.

Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, former U.S Senator from Kansas and wife of Tennessee statesman Howard Baker Jr., will be the speaker for the Friday ceremony. Jim Henry, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, will speak at the Saturday event. [Read more…]