Oak Ridge Today

Secret City Wildbots struggle in opening rounds, but rebound in later regional rounds

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The Secret City Wildbots of Oak Ridge High School are pictured above at the 2016 Smoky Mountain Regionals in Knoxville this week. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:45 p.m.

KNOXVILLE—The Secret City Wildbots struggled somewhat in the opening qualifying rounds at Smoky Mountain Regionals on Friday, falling to a rank of 32nd after lunch, but the team rebounded strongly in the last three of the day’s eight rounds, finishing with a ninth-place rank.

At the end of qualifying rounds at noon on Saturday, the top eight teams select an alliance partner, and those eight groups of two select their third partner team. In the event that one of the top eight chooses another from the top eight, the next ranked team moves up to team captain post.

Following Q41, the Wildbots moved up to number 13 by playing on their core strength of crossing defenses and scoring low goals in rapid succession. In Q51, they continued playing to core strengths but added a feat that only a few robots in this competition have mastered: climbing the tower.

In Q59, the final match of the day, the Wildbots again finished strong and in an excellent position to face the final two rounds Saturday: Q-70 at approximately 10:26 a.m., and Q-81 scheduled for 11:57 a.m. (the next to-the-last qualifying round of the tournament). [Read more…]

Talk on ISIS is Thursday

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Rihab Sawah

Rihab Sawah

The Islamic State, its historical roots, and the ways ISIS differs from the Islamic religion will be explained in a talk at 3 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building, Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge Campus, a press release said.

Rihab Sawah, a Syrian native and professor of physics at St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley in Ferguson, Missouri, will deliver the lecture, a press release said. Sawah holds an M.A. degree in Islamic/Arabic science history. She teaches an introductory course on Islam at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Her lecture, presented by Roane State’s International Education Department and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL), is free and open to the public.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Reminder: Wellness Fair is today at Civic Center

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Wellness-Fair-2016

Reminder: A city, schools, and community wellness fair will be offered at the Oak Ridge Civic Center today (Wednesday, March 30).

The free wellness fair is sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated Health Wellness Committee. The wellness fair is from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 30 at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

Information on what will be offered is included in the image above.

Call (865) 425-3559 or 425-3414 for more information.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

One student arrested for bomb threat in Farragut; second identified in Hardin Valley threat

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Knox County Sheriff Badge
A 16-year-old male student from Farragut High School was arrested for making a bomb threat at the school on Tuesday morning, and a second student who made a bomb threat at Hardin Valley Elementary has been identified, authorities said.

The arrest and identification were announced by the Major Crimes Unit of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

Farragut High School was on lockdown on Tuesday while KCSO investigators searched the school and interviewed students and staff after a threat was found on a wall in a boys’ restroom. The 16-year-old is charged with vandalism and making a bomb threat, the KCSO said.

“Once again, cooperation between law enforcement and students and school officials helped solve the case,” authorities said. “KCSO is investigating other suspects and expects more arrests.”

The bomb threat at Hardin Valley Elementary was also made Tuesday, the Major Crimes Unit said. That investigation continues. [Read more…]

Bluegrass music featured in benefit for Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship

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Bluegrass music and barbecue will be featured in a scholarship benefit show in Oak Ridge on April 8.

The show is titled “Follow Chaos: An Evening of Bluegrass.” It’s at the historic Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8.

The show will feature area bluegrass musicians Mason T. and Carl Capps, and Hardin Valley Thunder.

“This special night is a benefit for the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship and promises to be an evening of homegrown, finger-picking musicianship, and finger-licking cuisine with catering by Buddy’s Barbecue,” a press release said.

Established in 2014, the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship helps selected students obtain their EMT-Advanced Certification. For students, this evening’s benefit concert is confirmation that everyday offers an opportunity to change someone’s life for the better, the press release said.

Colton Stout served admirably as a Campbell County EMT-IV, was a proud member of the Anderson County Rescue Squad, and a firefighter with Marlow Volunteer Fire Department. Helping others was vitally important to Colton, and it is the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship’s mission to carry on his commitment to helping others by awarding scholarships each year to individuals who share similar goals of service. [Read more…]

Girl, 16, charged with making bomb threat at Hardin Valley Academy

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Knox County Sheriff Badge

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has charged a 16-year-old girl with making a bomb threat at Hardin Valley Academy last week, authorities said.

The teen is a student at the school and is charged with making a bomb threat and vandalism, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said. The school was closed last Thursday after school officials found a bomb threat written on the girls’ bathroom wall.

The KCSO said that help solving the case came about because of the “See Something, Say Something” program that has been implemented by law enforcement in conjunction with the Knox County school system. Students and school officials came forward with information that aided the KCSO investigation, authorities said. [Read more…]

Authorities ask drivers to follow parking rules at flea market, allow access for emergency vehicles

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Vehicles are parked in front of a “No Parking” sign in the turn lane and fire lane during the flea market at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday, March 26, 2016. (Photo courtesy Darryl Kerley)

 

Authorities are asking drivers to follow the parking rules at the Saturday morning flea markets at Oak Ridge High School. That will allow emergency vehicles to access the parking lot in emergencies, they said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department were called to Oak Ridge High School again on Saturday morning to correct the parking situation at the Flea Market, which is operated by the school as a fundraiser, a press release said.

“Cars continue to block access for fire and emergency vehicles all around the venue and are interfering with the new traffic signal,” the press release said.

“We have had a reported car fire and an emergency medical situation in the past and could not get to the incident because of where vehicles were parked,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “I have worked with the school system to correct the situation, and they have taken the appropriate steps to resolve the parking problem. The problem remains that drivers are not following direction of signage and continue to park inappropriately.” [Read more…]

Roane State lectures to address differences between Islam, Islamic State (ISIS)

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Rihab Sawah

Rihab Sawah

Scholar Rihab Sawah from St. Louis Community College will discuss differences between Islam and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, on Thursday, March 31, at Roane State Community College’s Roane and Oak Ridge campuses.

The Roane County lecture will be held at 11:30 a.m. in room 101 in the O’Brien Humanities Building on the main campus in Harriman, 276 Patton Lane. The Oak Ridge lecture will be held at 3 p.m. in the City Room at the Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The lectures, presented by Roane State’s International Education Department and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL, are free and open to the public.

The presentations will define Islam and the Islamic State and will contrast 12 main points that highlight the diverging point of view of ISIS in relation to Islam. Sawah will also present the historical roots of a movement such as ISIS and explain why the movement misuses Islamic ideology and how it serves ISIS leaders’ aim to establish their influence in the region. [Read more…]

Anderson County secures Tennessee College of Applied Technology facility

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission learned Monday night that the county has been chosen by the state to be the next home of a Tennessee College of Applied Technology—or TCAT. TCATs are training facilities aimed at improving the skill levels of members of Tennessee’s workforce and are seen by potential industries as great training grounds for potential employees.

Anderson County Economic Development Association President Tim Thompson told commissioners Monday that his organization and the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce have been working hard on securing the facility for more than a year and that the county had beaten out Blount County.

Thompson credited the owners of the former Hensley’s IGA grocery store in Andersonville and SL Tennessee in the I-75 Industrial park for their roles in making the TCAT a reality. The Hensley owners have agreed to donate the vacant 20,000-square foot store to the state to renovate and use as a temporary training facility for a period of about two years. The temporary facility will be needed while the state builds the new College of Applied Technology on a seven-acre parcel of land donated for the project by SL Tennessee. [Read more…]

ORHS Orchestra shines in New York City

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The Oak Ridge High School Orchestra is pictured above at Ellis Island in New York City on March 14, 2016. (Photo by ORHS Orchestra via Twitter)

 

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Oak Ridge High School Orchestra is in the mist of a record-setting year. During the past month, 28 ORHS Orchestra students earned All-East Tennessee Orchestra honors, and 13 earned All-State Tennessee Orchestra recognition. Both of the previously mentioned accomplishments were the most of any orchestra program in East Tennessee.

Also, the orchestra performed in the East Tennessee Band and Orchestra Concert Festival this month and earned all superior ratings in every category and sub-category for all four judges at the event. This was the first time in ORHS Orchestra’s history to achieve this feat.

This past weekend, the orchestra traveled to Washington, D.C., and New York City to compete in a national orchestra competition with schools from Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, California, Texas, and Arizona. ORHS Orchestra stole the show with 11 total awards including: [Read more…]

Contract with Parrott, the next director of schools, approved by AC school board

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Tim Parrott

Tim Parrott

Information from WYSH Radio

Meeting briefly on Monday, the Anderson County Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a four-year contract with the next director of schools, Tim Parrott, who will take over for the retiring Larry Foster on July 1.

Parrott currently serves as the system’s deputy director of curriculum and instruction, and he will earn $134,000 a year plus a $750-a-month car allowance.

A committee made up of school board members Scott Gillenwaters and Dail Cantrell along with the schools’ finance director, Jim Woodward, conducted contract negotiations. [Read more…]

Clinton City Schools’ assistant director accepts director’s position

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Kelly Johnson

Kelly Johnson

By Jim Harris/WYSH Radio

On Monday, the Clinton City School Board voted to offer current assistant director of schools Kelly Johnson the director’s position, succeeding Vicki Violette, who is retiring after 10 years as Clinton’s top educator.

Johnson, a Clinton native and alumna of the city school system, has accepted the offer and will negotiate a contract with the School Board and take over on July 1.

Johnson also currently serves as the three-school system’s director of curriculum and has been with the system for three years. She began teaching in 1993 in Knox County, eventually moving on to school administrative positions and eventually spending three years supervising Knox County’s 18 elementary schools. [Read more…]