Oak Ridge Today

Report: Teen driver didn’t see stop sign due to tree limbs before hitting bus

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Oak Ridge Preschool Bus Crash

No students were reported to be injured after a Monday afternoon collision between a school bus and a car in Woodland.

The 17-year-old driver who hit a school bus in Woodland on Monday afternoon said he did not see a stop sign at the intersection of Northwestern and West Gettysburg avenues due to tree limbs, and he failed to stop before colliding with the bus, authorities said.

The Clinton teenager estimated he was traveling at about 30 mph in a 1997 Volvo 960 sedan as he drove west on West Gettysburg Avenue just before the 2:16 p.m. crash, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department accident report.

The bus driver, Yvonnda Smith McNair, 60, of Oliver Springs, told ORPD Officer Leslie Miller that she was driving south on Northwestern Avenue when the Volvo failed to stop and hit the bus, owned by contractor First Student Inc. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools names assistant superintendent

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

A Nashville school official has been named assistant superintendent in Oak Ridge.

Christopher J. Marczak will become assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Oak Ridge Schools on July 1. He is currently employed as a network lead principal in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School system.

Marczak was selected from a field of 52 applicants following interviews with a system-wide committee, Oak Ridge Schools said in a Tuesday morning press release. [Read more…]

No children reported to be injured in school bus crash

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Oak Ridge Preschool Bus Crash

No students were reported to be injured after a Monday afternoon collision between a school bus and a car in Woodland.

No children appeared to be injured after a Monday afternoon collision between a school bus and car at the intersection of Northwestern and West Gettysburg avenues in the Woodland neighborhood, authorities said.

However, a bus assistant may have hurt her shoulder, and she went to the hospital to be checked out, Oak Ridge Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said.

The yellow school bus, Bus #596, which is operated by contractor First Student, was carrying about 18 children from Oak Ridge Preschool at about 2:16 p.m. Monday when it collided with a red Volvo four-door sedan. The students were headed home after school. None were taken away from the crash by ambulance, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said. [Read more…]

Council rejects funding for sinkhole repairs, tax rate reduction; approves Habitat property transfer

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Oak Ridge High School Soccer Field Sinkhole

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday rejected a request to reimburse the school system about $36,000 for repairs to this 13-foot sinkhole under the Oak Ridge High School soccer field.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday rejected a request to use red light camera money to reimburse the school system $36,000 for sinkhole repairs made in April at the Oak Ridge High School soccer field.

Council also agreed to transfer a small burned-out lot on Hillside Road to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County and rejected a proposal to lower the property tax rate by one cent.

Asked about the sinkhole repair reimbursement on Tuesday, Oak Ridge Schools Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said the school system, which expects revenues to fall by about $1 million and is cutting 18 positions, has a tight budget. [Read more…]

Mars Curiosity Rover provides strong evidence for flowing water

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Mars Curiosity Rock Outcropping

Multiple outcroppings of rocks like this one (termed a pebble conglomerate) were observed along the first 275 meters traversed by the rover with the high-resolution Mastcam. (Submitted photo)

KNOXVILLE—Despite satellite images that show vast networks of channels, past Mars rover missions have shown limited evidence for flowing water on Mars.

Now, rocks analyzed by NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover team, including Linda Kah, associate professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, provide solid evidence that Mars had rivers or streams. This suggests that the environment was drastically different than today’s cold and dry conditions, with the potential to support life.

A paper on the team’s findings is published in this week’s edition of Science magazine. [Read more…]

Science Saturdays attract hundreds of students for lectures, tours

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Science Saturday Tour of Spallation Neutron Source

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Clarina De la Cruz, left, gives a tour of the Spallation Neutron Source to Science Saturday attendees Allison Campbell, Michael Campbell, Krista Barrett, and Joseph Gibbs. (Image courtesy of ORNL)

By Morgan McCorkle

Hundreds of science-minded students bypassed Saturday morning cartoons this semester, opting instead to participate in the first year of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Science Saturdays program.

Open to students in grades 8-12, the program’s free weekend lectures and hands-on activities centered on the science of rainbows, robotics and remote handling, the materials genome, crystals, biofuels, supercomputing, climate change, and more. [Read more…]

Roane State, ORNL, industries train workers in composites, advanced manufacturing

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John Thornton at Carbon Fiber Technology Facility

John Thornton, left, a graduate of Roane State’s Advanced Materials Training and Education Center and an intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, chats with Roane State President Chris Whaley. (Submitted photos)

John Thornton of Clinton graduated from Roane State Community College’s Advanced Materials Training and Education Center, or AMTEC, a year ago.

Today, he works in one of the most innovative places in the country.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Thornton said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of this and hopefully develop a career out of it.”

Thornton is one of 13 AMTEC trainees interning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility. The $35 million plant is a new advanced manufacturing facility designed to reduce the cost of carbon fiber—a critical material for efficient, lightweight vehicles, next-generation wind turbines, and a wide array of other consumer and industrial products. [Read more…]

Picture: Y-12, UT, and Stanley Healthcare work to advance technology

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Y-12, UT, and Stanley Healthcare Sign Agreement

From left, Taylor Eighmy, UT’s vice chancellor for research and engagement; Van Mauney, B&W Y-12 vice president of program management; and Scott McFarland, senior vice president of sales at Stanley Healthcare, sign the formal agreement. (Submitted photo)

Representatives from the Y-12 National Security Complex, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Stanley Healthcare signed a cooperative research and development agreement on Wednesday during the Tennessee Valley Corridor’s National Technology Summit at Y-12’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.

The three entities are sharing their expertise to fast-track commercialization of an intelligent interactive dashboard that can be used to increase efficiency in manufacturing, maintenance, or the service industry. To learn more about the technology and the CRADA, go to the UTK news release at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2013/05/29/ut-y12-stanley-healthcare-work-advance-technology/.

ORHS graduation tonight

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Oak Ridge High School Graduation

The Oak Ridge High School graduation ceremony is at 7 p.m. today at Blankenship Field. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge High School graduation ceremony is at 7 p.m. today at Blankenship Field.

If the ceremony is rained out tonight, it will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at Blankenship Field.

Check the ORHS website for more information.

Video: Driver of school bus that crashed not forced off road

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Information from WYSH Radio

The driver of an Anderson County school bus that crashed last week has been suspended until further notice after the in-bus camera recording shows that she was not forced off the road by an oncoming car veering into her lane as she had originally told investigators.

Last Tuesday, the bus carrying 43 children overturned in a grassy field off of Johnson Gap Road. Immediately after the crash, driver Tammy Moore told investigators that she had swerved to avoid an oncoming car that had veered into her lane, causing the tires on the right side of the bus to leave the roadway. The bus traveled about 200 more feet before rolling onto its side. [Read more…]

UT, Y-12, Stanley Healthcare work to cut down on patient wait times

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KNOXVILLE—Most people have experienced a long wait to see a doctor. Technology being developed through a new collaboration between the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Y-12 National Security Complex, and Stanley Healthcare aims to cut down on wait times.

The three entities are developing an intelligent interactive dashboard that crunches data in real time to help managers determine how best to administer flow.

An official signing of a cooperative research and development agreement was signed during the Tennessee Valley Corridor’s National Technology Summit on Wednesday evening at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Council passes no-tax-increase budget

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Oak Ridge City Council Budget Meeting

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the municipal budget, which is not expected to raise property taxes, during a second and final reading Tuesday evening.

The Oak Ridge City Council has approved a budget that does not raise the property tax rate in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The budget provides $50,000 more for the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce than Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson had requested, and it gives city employees a 1 percent pay raise.

Council members deferred a request from the Oak Ridge Board of Education to match $50,000 in spending for one of two new school resource officers at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools. City officials estimated the cost per SRO is about double the school system’s request, or more than $100,000 per year per officer, when the cost of a police car is included. [Read more…]