Oak Ridge Today

Volunteers raising money for community playground at Robertsville Middle

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Robertsville Middle School

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

Robertsville Middle School is in the process of building a community playground, and volunteers have scheduled a May 6 fundraiser that will feature food and music.

This playground will be available for use by all students but also will be built to accommodate the needs of the special education students. The playground will also be available after school and on the weekends for families in the community of the school and families in Oak Ridge.

Robertsville serves more than 700 students in grades 5-8 and presently has no playgrounds available.

“This truly will be a community playground, not only by those who use it, but by how it will be paid for,” a press release said.

The school is partnering with individuals, private businesses, and local companies to raise the $20,000 to build the playground, the safety chips, border around playground, and benches, the release said. RMS donated $4,500 to get the project started, and so far, more than $8,000 has been raised. [Read more…]

CORRECTED: Pre-registration for Oak Ridge Schools kindergarten is May 2-6

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Schools will have pre-registration for kindergarten during the week of May 2-6. The pre-registration is scheduled from 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. at Glenwood, Linden, Willow Brook, and Woodland elementary schools.

This will be the beginning of a two-part registration process that will be completed just prior to school entrance this summer. If you have a child who will be 5 years old on or before August 15, 2016, you should pick up a registration packet the week of pre-registration from the school in the district of your residence. This packet will include information about the required physical examination and changes to the immunization requirements that are mandated by the State of Tennessee for entrance to school. [Read more…]

UT to host bullying expert from the UK on April 26

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Dieter Wolke

Dieter Wolke

KNOXVILLE—International bullying expert Dieter Wolke, a professor of developmental psychology and individual differences at the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England, will present “The Long Shadow Thrown by Bullying” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Free and open to the public, the lecture is in Room 622 of the  Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building, 1520 Middle Drive. Parking is available in the 11th Street parking garage.

The event is hosted by the Department of Child and Family Studies in UT’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.

Wolke will discuss bullying in schools and other settings, what it means for victims, and why it predicts long-term mental health problems. [Read more…]

Art gallery opens at ORUUC on Sunday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

A new art exhibit space will open to the public on Sunday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The opening exhibit is a retrospective of Oak Ridge artist Kristina Henderson Holland, who is also a member of ORUUC.

The exhibition and opening reception are organized by ORUUC’s Art Display Team.

Kristina Henderson Holland studied art at New York’s Adelphi University and Fashion Institute of Technology, including studying abroad in London. The ORUUC retrospective exhibit features 20 of her works, including 10 Tennessee landscape paintings. [Read more…]

Breakfast with the Legislators scheduled Monday

Posted at
By 3 Comments

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge will host Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday morning, April 25. The breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to give an up-to-date as the 109th General Assembly comes to a close, a press release said.

During Breakfast with the Legislators, audience members can ask questions and give opinions. A light continental breakfast is provided at no charge. The public is encouraged to attend. [Read more…]

Running for Office Workshop offered at Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak-Ridge-Schools-Bob-Eby-March-28-2016

Bob Eby

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is offering a workshop for anyone interested in running for local office on May 19 from 7-8 p.m. in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The workshop is free and is open to the public.

Participants will learn about the process of running for office, gain helpful tips, and will have the opportunity to ask questions about what to expect.

The workshop will be conducted by Bob Eby. Eby has successfully run four campaigns over four decades and currently serves on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. He will share advice he has received from elected officials over the years as well as his own observations collected over the past 30 years. Eby will share his list of things you must do, the things to avoid, and things to consider in order to run a successful campaign. [Read more…]

Anderson County Chamber has job fair Thursday, April 28

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Y-12-National-Security-Complex-CNS-Sign-Dec-16-2014

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, which manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, will be among the exhibitors at an April 28 job fair at the New Hope Center at Y-12. The job fair is hosted by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host a job fair to recruit employees for local businesses and industries on Thursday, April 28, in Oak Ridge.

The job fair is scheduled from 3-7 p.m. April 28 at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex at 602 Scarboro Road.

“This one-day event allows job seekers to connect face-to-face with local businesses and industries seeking employees,” a press release said.

More than 2,000 positions are available.

As of April 14, exhibitors included: [Read more…]

Chamber has Primetime networking event on Thursday; public invited

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Primetime Fiesta 2016

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Spring Primetime networking event is Thursday, April 21.

As of April 12, more than 40 Chamber-member organizations had reserved exhibit space for the event, which is titled “Fiesta Primetime.” It’s scheduled from 4-6 p.m. under the tent in the parking lot of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which is 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. [Read more…]

ORHS concert to feature JazzKats, Concert Band, Symphonic Band

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

2015-16 All East Students

Oak Ridge High School 2015-16 All East Students are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

A Thursday night concert at Oak Ridge High School will feature award-winning ORHS groups performing in the community for the first time since Christmas.

Among the recent honors: The Oak Ridge High School Band placed 21 students through auditions into the ETSBOA All East Honors Bands. ETSBOA is the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association.

A couple of the ORHS students were actually chosen on two different instruments, a press release said. Two in the group, Ryan Armstrong and Thomas Colburn, earned seats in All State as well.

“These outstanding students, along with the entire Symphonic and Concert Bands, also earned a superior rating (all 1s in performance and sight reading) at the State Concert Festival under the direction of Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko,” the press release said.

Now, the ORHS Band students and directors have invited the community to enjoy a diverse program of music on Thursday, April 21. A sample of some of the evening’s performances include Director Mike Spirko with the JazzKats opening on “Come Out Swingin’,” followed by the Concert Band performing “West Side Story.” [Read more…]

April Health Night: Building a relationship with your healthcare provider

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ann Carter

Ann Carter

Primary care providers diagnose and treat medical problems, provide preventive medical screenings based on medical risk factors, refer you to specialists for appropriate treatment when needed, and provide those specialists with your medical history as necessary. In short, they are an integral part of your healthcare team. But there is another member of that team you may forget—you!

Learn about the importance of building a relationship with your physicians and other health professionals as family medicine practitioner Ann Carter, MD, and her nursing staff, Sandra Mincey, FNP-BC, and Cheryl Goforth, NP, present “It Takes a Team- Partnering with Your Healthcare Provider” at Methodist Medical Center’s Health Night on the Town lecture on Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in the Ridge Conference Room of Methodist Medical Center, 990 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The program is free and open to the public. [Read more…]

Roane State professor to discuss his Pluto flyby involvement

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ted Stryk, ORICL lecturer

Ted Stryk

In July 2015, the world learned about the flyby of Pluto and its moons by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

Ted Stryk, associate professor of philosophy and English at Roane State Community College, is participating in the geology and geophysics investigation of Pluto and its moons for the New Horizons team.

He will discuss the latest findings and the story behind his involvement in probing the dwarf planet and its satellites as the next presenter in the Roane State–Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning Intergenerational Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Stryk will deliver his talk at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the City Room, A-111, in the Coffey-McNally Building at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus on Briarcliff Avenue.

“The Pluto flyby occurred 50 years to the day after the first planet, Mars, was imaged close up by Mariner 4,” Stryk said. “The flyby marks the completion of the initial reconnaissance of our solar system as we saw it on the eve of the space age. [Read more…]

Main Street Oak Ridge update: City staff ready for mall redevelopment

Posted at
By 6 Comments

Main-Street-Oak-Ridge-Sign-Install-Complete-Dec-21-2015

Workers from Masstar Signs of Greenville, S.C., install a new shopping center pylon sign at South Illinois Avenue and East Tulsa Road that announces Main Street Oak Ridge, the planned $80 million redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. Pictured above on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, is Will Biggs of Masstar Signs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Site plans have been approved for the first phase of Main Street Oak Ridge—the project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall—and construction drawings have been approved for most buildings in Phase I, a city official said Thursday.

The city staff is ready to issue demolition permits, and the staff has a utility disconnect “game plan,” said Kathryn Baldwin, director of Oak Ridge Community Development.

“We’re very much ready,” Baldwin said at a Thursday evening work session of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission will consider adding a lot to the subdivision plat for the roughly 60-acre site on Thursday. If approved, that change would create 11 interior lots. Officials said that requested change has to do with project financing and it’s a minor change from what was approved several months ago. [Read more…]