The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this week’s public meetings about a planned sign at the city entrance on South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62).
The Council will meet online in a non-voting work session at 6 p.m. today (Tuesday, February 16).
[Read more…]Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the Perseverance rover, which uses plutonium-238 produced at the lab and will touch down on Mars on Thursday.
Perseverance is scheduled to make its final descent into Jezero Crater on the surface of Mars on Thursday. It’s the first NASA mission that uses plutonium-238 produced at ORNL.
The plutonium-238 is encased in iridium-alloy cladding, and it is insulated by carbon-bonded carbon fiber. It’s used in the heat source module that fuels Perseverance’s multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator. As the plutonium decays, the heat that is released is converted into electricity, charging the rover’s batteries and powering the onboard advanced imaging and sensor systems. (Learn more about the Mars mission here.)
The online event today featuring the three ORNL scientists is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and it is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
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Joan Bienvenue has been selected as the first executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee.
“The institute was established last year to align the expertise and infrastructure of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the university in support of world-leading research and talent development,” UT said in an announcement to students, faculty, and staff on Tuesday.
As director, Bienvenue will also serve as a vice provost. She will begin her new position on March 8.
She will develop a strategy for establishing new interdisciplinary graduate research in emerging fields, build programs using UT and ORNL’s capabilities, and lead recruitment of faculty, staff, and students, the announcement said.
[Read more…]The first Breakfast with the Legislators of this year will be Monday morning, and it will be an online meeting.
The meeting, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. Monday, February 22.
Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about the legislative outlook for the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly, a press release said.
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A CASA coordinator will discuss programs to help children during an online meeting at noon today (Tuesday, February 16).
The speaker will be Amanda Brackett, Program Coordinator for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Anderson County.
She will speak during the lunchtime meeting of the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. To watch the presentation, send an email to maryannreeves1@att.net. Later, you will be able to watch the recorded session on the League’s website at https://my.lwv.org/tennessee/oak-ridge.
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The Tennessee Valley Authority could use the potential nuclear reactor site in west Oak Ridge to test new reactors and nuclear technologies.
Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that small modular nuclear reactors could be built at the Clinch River site, although no specific design has been approved or selected. There are additional actions that would have to be completed before any reactors would be built in Oak Ridge, including selection of a design, approval by the TVA board of directors, and issuance of a construction or operating permit by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
There will be an outdoor memorial ceremony for James Michael Cox, founder of the Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue, on Saturday.
Cox, 61, of Clinton, died Tuesday at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville.
The memorial is scheduled from 12 to 6 p.m. Saturday, February 13 (see the flyer above). In place of flowers, Cox’s family is asking that you honor his legacy and work by donating to the Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue at 629 Granite Rd, Clinton, TN 37716, or through the website at www.littleponderosazoo.com.
“Our hearts are broken and our lives forever changed,” the zoo posted online this week. “There aren’t words to express what this man meant to us, to our community, and to the animal and rescue community…His devotion to animals was a lifelong passion surpassed only by his love of family and friends.”
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The number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decreased in Anderson County in January, but the number of deaths increased. The death rate, comparing total deaths to total cases, has increased significantly.
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Anderson County dropped by more than 900 from December to January. There were 2,524 new cases reported in Anderson County in December, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health. That fell to 1,608 new cases in January, a 36 percent drop. Still, that was an average of about 52 new COVID-19 cases per day last month.
December and January have been the worst two months of the pandemic so far, with November the third-worst month.
In the past two months, the number of new hospitalizations decreased by 16 percent, falling from 43 in December to 36 in January, according to the state health department data. That was an average of a little more than one new hospitalization per day in Anderson County.
However, deaths increased by 13 in January, compared to December. There were 43 COVID-19 deaths reported in Anderson County in December. That rose to 56 in January. It was a 30 percent increase. There was an average of 1.8 deaths per day due to COVID-19 in Anderson County in January.
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James Cox, the founder of Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Anderson County, died Tuesday.
The cause of his death wasn’t clear, although the zoo had said in late January that Cox had had pneumonia and a weak heart and was in the hospital, moving from critical care to the heart floor. At that time, he was expected to be discharged in a few days to recover before heart surgery.
Many people in Anderson County and across the region said they were heartbroken to hear the news of his death on Tuesday.
“Today, we mourn the loss of a very special man,” the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. “James had a deep passion to help the people of Anderson County and the countless animals he rescued. His heart was pure, and his love for humanity will be remembered for generations to come. There is not enough room on Facebook to list all of the tremendous ways he made an impact. He was truly that special. James, we are forever grateful for your friendship.”
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Colonel Steven Turner, an Oak Ridge resident, became the 15th commander of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Tennessee on Sunday.
The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) is one of two “heavy” ACRs. It is also known as the “Tennessee Cavalry,” and it is the only ACR in the Army National Guard. It is one of five armored brigade combat teams, and it has more than 4,000 soldiers. Subordinate units are located in three different states and throughout Tennessee. It has headquarters in Knoxville.
A change of command ceremony was held at West High School in Knoxville on Sunday.
“Being selected for one of the four major commands in Tennessee National Guard is a great honor,” the 14th commander, Colonel John “Brad” Bowlin of Greeneville, told Turner during that ceremony. “Being selected to command the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment is the greatest prize of all.”
[Read more…]No criminal charges will be filed against three Oak Ridge Police Department officers after a fatal shooting on Briar Road in August, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday.
Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark released his report about the police shooting on Monday morning.
The report said that the man who died in the shooting, Fred J. Arcera, 25, was a U.S. Army veteran who had mental health problems and was reported to be suicidal—telling officers to kill him—and he had large butcher knives and had threatened officers, moving toward them with the knives that Saturday night.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting, which is common after law enforcement officers fatally shoot someone.
[Read more…]The City of Oak Ridge is pursuing a historic preservation grant that could be used to study priority historic areas and focus on preservation, the removal of blight, and the expansion of the tax base.
If awarded, the grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission could be worth up to $15,000. It would require a 40 percent local match.
The Oak Ridge City Council will consider accepting the grant, if it is awarded, during its regular meeting on Monday.
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