To celebrate Halloween, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will host a Not-So-Scary Spooktacular Event from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, October 30.
Young visitors are invited to create their own trick-or-treat bags before visiting the exhibits. Activities are free with admission.
Among events at the museum will be: [Read more…]
Pat Boone
Legendary vocalist Pat Boone will perform in a benefit for the Oak Ridge High School music program in Oak Ridge on Thursday.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 22, at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.
Boone will be backed by Knoxville swing orchestra The Streamliners.
“The performance of his ‘The Music and The Memories’ show is a benefit for the Music Department at the Oak Ridge High School,” a press release said.
Tickets are $75 VIP (with artist meet and greet), $50 orchestra, $35 side aisles, and $20 upper balcony. [Read more…]
A Flak 88 firing during a Battle of Normandy re-enactment at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Rob Welton)
Election notice: The City Clerk’s Office is accepting resumes and letters of interests from members of the public who want to serve on the inaugural board of directors for a new nonprofit organization that will be responsible for implementing the expanded Secret City Festival/Celebration.
City Council will select eight remaining members of the 14-member board. Six members of the board of directors have been designated from the former Special Events Advisory Task Force, and those representatives include Ben Arnold, Mike Brown, Judi Gray, Kate Groover, Ray Smith, and Michelle Ward.
The election for this committee is scheduled to occur at the November 16, 2015, City Council meeting. [Read more…]
The Pellissippi Parkway is an important link between Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Blount County. (Photo courtesy Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission)
Election notice: The City Clerk’s Office is accepting resumes and letters of interest from members of the public who are interested in serving on a recently established five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee.
The committee was established by City Council on October 12, 2015, to study the economic, regional, and marketable benefits of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander’s proposal to rename the four-lane highway from the Knoxville airport to Oak Ridge the “Oak Ridge Corridor.” It’s now known as Pellissippi Parkway.
Council member Rick Chinn has been selected as one of the five members to chair the committee.
The committee shall report its findings to the City Council by May 31, 2016. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has its Fall Primetime networking event on Thursday, October 22, and the public is invited.
More than 60 Chamber-member organizations have already reserved exhibit space for the event titled “Primetime Tailgate Party.” It will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. under the tent in the parking lot of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Primetime is one of the Chamber’s biggest networking events of the year, a press release said.
“Anyone—Chamber member or not—is encouraged to attend,” the release said. [Read more…]
Richard Rhodes
Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making of the Atomic Bomb,” will be the featured speaker at a lecture in Oak Ridge on Thursday.
Rhodes will be the guest at the 18th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series on Thursday, October 22, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.
The title of his presentation is “The Light of New Fires: Energy Challenges Yesterday and Today.” This presentation is jointly sponsored as part of Nuclear Science Week in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge area by UT Battelle LLC, the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, and Friends of ORNL. The event is free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Ellen Smith
Ellen Smith, environmental scientist and Oak Ridge mayor pro tem, will discuss radioactive waste management on Monday, October 26.
Smith will be the featured speaker at the luncheon meeting of AAUW (American Association of University Women). The meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church in Room 102 of the Activities Building.
Smith’s talk is scheduled to start at noon. [Read more…]
Barbara Tolbert
By Carolyn Krause
Human trafficking—forcing people into sex acts or labor against their will—is a growing threat to children, students, and young adults worldwide. It’s present throughout Tennessee and our nation, regardless of economic, social, or racial background.
Teens who run away from abusive homes and those enticed to leave “good” homes by promises of a fun job or an exciting time may become victims of sex trafficking. Other youths are “rented out” as prostitutes or sold into sex slavery by their own parents, especially those addicted to drugs or challenged by economic stress.
Some 300,000 American kids are estimated to be victims, or at risk of becoming victims, of the multibillion-dollar sex trafficking industry. [Read more…]
Eben Cathey
Tuition equality in Tennessee higher education will be discussed during a lunchtime meeting Tuesday.
Eben Cathey, advocacy manager of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, or TIRRC, will give a presentation on tuition equality for undocumented students at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday, October 20, the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, a press release said. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.
Cathey will discuss current legislation in the Tennessee General Assembly that would grant undocumented students the opportunity to pay in-state tuition at public colleges. Currently, undocumented students in Tennessee must pay out-of-state tuition at public universities, even if they have lived in Tennessee for most of their lives, the press release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as a multi-use town center known as Main Street, is pictured above. Also known as the former Oak Ridge Mall, the L-shaped building is at center. The white building at center left is Walmart, and it is not part of the proposed redevelopment. Neither is the white building at center top, the Tinseltown Theater. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 12:35 p.m.
During a special meeting Tuesday, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider amending the economic impact plan for the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. The change is being considered primarily because the master developer has changed.
The amendment to the economic impact plan, which also includes a date change, will be considered a day earlier, on Monday, October 19, by the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board and Anderson County Commission.
The Industrial Development Board has a public hearing and special meeting on the $13 million tax increment financing, or TIF, for the redevelopment and an amendment to the economic impact plan at 3:45 p.m. Monday, October 19, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room. The County Commission is expected to consider the amendment in a meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss housing and capital infrastructure planning during a retreat on Saturday, October 24. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss housing and capital infrastructure planning during a retreat on Saturday, October 24.
The retreat is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 24 at the MCLinc Conference Facility at Heritage Center, 200 Heritage Boulevard. That’s 2010 Highway 58, Building K-1000.
Christina Kloker Younger of C.K. Young Creative Planning Systems will help lead the meeting, a notice said.
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Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas, front left, invites children to meet one of the ORPD’s K-9s at last year’s crime prevention celebration. Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi is pictured at back left. (Submitted photo)
The first annual Party in the Park on Saturday will feature family-friendly activities for children and adults, crime prevention presentations and information, free food, and more. It’s scheduled from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, October 17, at A.K. Bissell Park near the Oak Ridge Civic Center.
The Oak Ridge Police Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program will host the 2015 Party in the Park, with activities celebrating the partnership between the community and the police department. The focus of the event is crime prevention, safety, health, and wellness.
Kristine Kinsey will serve as master of ceremonies and comedian. Magician Danny Whitson will perform feats of magic during the celebration. Festivities will also include Oak Ridge Police K-9 demonstrations, safety and health exhibits, Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket rides, and drug abuse prevention information. [Read more…]
