Oak Ridge Today

Video: ORFD demonstrates fire ‘flashover’ in three minutes

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Have you ever heard the term “flashover”? Do you know how fast fire spreads throughout your house? Do you have a home escape plan? For the answers to these questions, and more, watch this video from the Oak Ridge Fire Department.

The Fire Department demonstrates how a fire that starts in a trash can in the corner of a room can “flash over” at 1,150 degrees and engulf an entire room in flames in about three minutes.

ORFD Chief Darryl Kerley said the Fire Department would prefer that residents not try to fight fires themselves unless they’ve had training in using a fire extinguisher and have it immediately available. [Read more…]

Video: Kroger Marketplace blasting

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Pictures: Neon Vibe 5K

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Neon Vibe 5K

About 1,600 runners and walkers participated in the Neon Vibe 5K in Oak Ridge on Sept. 21.

There were also about 800 volunteers and spectators, for a total of roughly 2,400 people, according to the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, which helped organize the event, the first-ever in Tennessee.

“It was hugely successful,” ORCVB President Katy Brown said.

[Read more…]

Pictures: Bill Wilcox celebrates milestones with friends, officials

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Bill Wilcox and Ray Smith

These half-dozen photos are from a collection by D. Ray Smith showing city historian Bill Wilcox, who died Monday, celebrating recent milestones, including his 90th birthday earlier this year and the unveiling of the Birth of a City monuments in front of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building a few years ago.

Smith is Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper columnist, and Wilcox, a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history, was his friend.

The funeral for Wilcox and a community reception are Saturday. [Read more…]

Picture: Rep. Fleischmann visits Tech 20/20 to recognize global ranking

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Chuck Fleischmann Visits Tech 20/20

Chairman-Elect Tom Rogers, President and CEO John Morris, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, and Chairman of the Board David Bradshaw discuss Tech 20/20’s recent ranking as one of the top university business incubators in the world. (Submitted photo)

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann visited Tech 20/20 to congratulate the Oak Ridge venture development organization for its global ranking in managing new business incubators.

Sweden’s University Business Incubator (UBI) Index listed Tech 20/20 the fourth-best in the U.S. and in the top six worldwide in managing business incubators for value contributed to their clients and community, and overall performance. [Read more…]

Pictures: Land being cleared quickly, hotels demolished at Kroger Marketplace site

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Kroger Marketplace Land Clearing

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing and cleaning up hotels and homes, remove trees, and clear land at the 25-acre site of a Kroger Marketplace shopping center northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The former Robin Lane is in the center of the picture.

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing hotels and homes, clean up debris, remove trees, and clear land for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Building construction could start in early October, and there could be some blasting at the 25-acre site starting at 2 p.m. Friday.

The $30 million shopping center will be named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott, and it is scheduled to open in August 2014. [Read more…]

Picture: Rep. Jim Cooper tours ORNL

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U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper Visits ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, left, and Johnny Moore, center, site office manager for the U.S. Department of Energy, escort U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat from Tennessee’s Fifth District, on a tour of ORNL. (ORNL/Genevieve Martin)

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Nashville Democrat from Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District, toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Saturday.

Cooper was joined by his Chief of Staff Lisa Quigley as well as Helen Hardin. The group also spent time at the Y-12 National Security Complex before visiting the laboratory.

While at the lab, ORNL Director Thom Mason and Johnny Moore, site office manager for the U.S. Department of Energy, escorted the congressman on a driving tour of campus followed by a tour of the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source. They later joined ORNL Associate Lab Director for Global Security Brent Park for discussions on the lab’s national security programs, the lab said in a statement. [Read more…]

Picture: NNSA’s acting administrator visits ORNL

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Bruce Held Visits ORNL

From left are Brent Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate laboratory director of global security; Johnny Moore, the U.S. Department of Energy’s site office manager at ORNL; Bruce Held, acting under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration; and ORNL director Thom Mason in the lobby of Building 5300 at ORNL. (Photo by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

Bruce Held, acting under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday for a brief discussion with ORNL Director Thom Mason; Johnny Moore, the U.S. Department of Energy’s site office manager at ORNL; and Brent Park, ORNL’s associate laboratory director of global security.

Picture: Acting NNSA administrator visits Y-12 National Security Complex

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Bruce Held Visits Y-12

Bruce Held, center, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex with NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart, left, and Captain Geoffrey deBeauclair, Held’s military aide. (Submitted photo)

Bruce Held, the acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, visited the Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday.

Held toured the site and conducted an “all hands” meeting at the site’s New Hope Center to talk to federal and contractor employees.

Held is a retired clandestine operations officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, a former national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, former counterintelligence chief at Sandia National Laboratories, and former director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. [Read more…]

Picture: United Way celebrates ‘Christmas in July’

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United Way Christmas in July

United Way of Anderson County kicked off its annual campaign with a “Christmas in July” fundraiser at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge on July 13. Proceeds will help fund UWAC’s 34 agency partners and their three core areas of service: providing basic needs, developing our youth, and enabling seniors to live with honor. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

United Way of Anderson County kicked off its annual campaign with a “Christmas in July” fundraiser at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge on July 13. The evening included a cocktail hour, silent auction, buffet dinner, ugly Christmas sweater contest, and a live auction.

Proceeds from this year’s event will help fund UWAC’s 34 agency partners and their three core areas of service: providing basic needs, developing our youth, and enabling seniors to live with honor.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory kicked off its United Way campaign in June with the help of University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones. [Read more…]

Pictures: Rep. Diane Black tours ORNL

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Diane Black Tours CASL

Rep. Diane Black views a 3-D visualization during a tour of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photos by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, a Republican from Tennessee’s 6th District, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory Monday afternoon.

Black received an overview of the lab’s research and development activities and toured the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the EVEREST Visualization Lab, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors facility, the Spallation Neutron Source, and the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility.

Here are a few pictures provided by ORNL. [Read more…]

Picture: BMX bike winner announced from Secret City Festival

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Secret City Festival BMX Winner

Manderley Swain won a BMX bike on Saturday, June 22, at the annual Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. Pictured above are Manderley (left) and her son (right).