There will be a forum on Tuesday for candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and Tennessee House and Senate.
The candidate forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, and it is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 18, in Roane State Community College City Room A-111 in the Coffey/McNally Building, 701 Briarcliff Avenue.
Candidates running for the U.S. House Third Congressional District, Tennessee Fifth Senatorial District, and Tennessee House of Representatives Districts 32 and 33 have been invited to participate, a press release said. William “Bear†Stephenson has been invited to moderate.
Luminarias with peace messages will be lit this year to remember and acknowledge the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.
A luminaria is a lantern with a candle inside a small paper bag.
The peace messages will be written by the public before events in August, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.
The small nuclear reactors that could be built along the Clinch River could provide enough electricity to power several cities the size of Oak Ridge. The Bear Creek Road entrance to the Clinch River Site, where the reactors could be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is pictured above on Sunday, March 27, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Tennessee Valley Authority will have a virtual open house for the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge this evening (Thursday, March 10).
The open house follows the release of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 935-acre site in the Roane County portion of Oak Ridge, south of Heritage Center (the former K-25 site) near the Clinch River.
The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects associated with possibly having nuclear reactors at the site, a press release said.
“The proposed facility aligns with TVA’s 2050 target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions and drive to a carbon-free future,” the press release said.
The Oak Ridge Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Center will open on Tuesday.
The VITA program is an Internal Revenue Service initiative to help taxpayers by providing trained volunteers to prepare and electronically file individual tax returns at no cost to the taxpayers, a press release said.
Oak Ridge VITA program will again be housed at the United Way Offices at 728 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge. Hours are from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The office is staffed entirely by IRS certified volunteers-preparers, greeters, and computer experts. United Way of Anderson County provides funds for software and provides office space, the press release said.
COVID-19 protocols were instituted for the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons and will be in place again this year. VITA tax preparers will not meet in person with taxpayers, but they will prepare taxes and communicate by telephone with taxpayers as needed, the press release said. Taxpayers will need to bring their materials to the United Way office, where greeters will help assure that all materials needed are included.
Artist rendering of the new Viewing Platform, which will be located next to the recently constructed K-25 History Center overlooking the footprint of the K-25 Building. (Artist renderings by David Brown)
Note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. Feb. 4.
Two federal agencies have agreed to build a K-25 Viewing Platform at the historic site in west Oak Ridge that was used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants during World War II and the Cold War. The design is expected to be complete in March and the building completed by the end of 2023.
The construction agreement for the viewing building at the former K-25 site was signed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The viewing platform will give visitors a view of the large 44-acre footprint of the former K-25 Building. K-25, which was the world’s largest building, was erected during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. The K-25 Building was demolished in 2013, and many other structures at the site have been removed as the federal government turns over property for private development.
The K-25 Building site itself is now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That project commemorates the workers, equipment, and processes used during the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The K-25 Viewing Platform and associated exhibits are the final components of a multi-project agreement that the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management signed in 2012, clearing the way for demolition of the North Tower of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. The projects commemorate the history of the K-25 site, which has also been known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Adam Hughes, East Tennessee coordinator of Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), will discuss the closing of the Bull Run Steam Plant in a virtual meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 20, hosted by the Anderson County Democratic Party.
The steam plant, also known as the Tennessee Valley Authority Bull Run Fossil Plant, first opened in 1967. The coal-fired power plant is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2023, and many questions surround the plant closing concerning the long-term effects on groundwater, air, and soil quality in Anderson County, a press release said. Hughes will address these concerns at the meeting, the press release said. [Read more…]
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, second from right, talks about the infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden and the Build Back Better Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives during a visit to GRID-C at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Also pictured from right are ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia; U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, whose district includes Oak Ridge; and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory shared their intriguing studies of wireless charging and seawater batteries, among other novel projects, with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during a tour on Monday.
Granholm was in East Tennessee to highlight the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, and the president’s Build Back Better agenda, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week but hasn’t been approved by the Senate yet.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, second from right, talks about the infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden and the Build Back Better Act during a visit to GRID-C at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Also pictured from right are ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia; U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, whose district includes Oak Ridge; and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory shared their intriguing studies of wireless charging and seawater batteries, among other novel projects, with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during a tour on Monday.
Granholm was in East Tennessee to highlight the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, and the president’s Build Back Better agenda, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week but hasn’t been approved by the Senate yet.
“These historic investments will accelerate the transition to a more resilient, clean energy powered future—bringing economic development and good-paying, local jobs,” the U.S. Department of Energy said in a press release.
The Biden administration has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
“Part of the legislation passed last week is a big step forward,” Granholm said.
Among other benefits, the ORNL projects are expected to help the United States transition to a carbon-free economy as countries around the world seek to reduce emissions, improve the use of batteries and renewable energy, and allow the nation to be less reliant on other countries for critical materials such as cobalt.
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You can learn more this evening about the technical details of the cube satellite built by students at Robertsville Middle School with help from mentors.
The Zoom session is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 17, during an ORION community meeting.
The title of the talk is “RamSat Technical Details.†The talk will be given by a panel of three technical experts from Oak Ridge—Peter Thornton, David Andrews, and Ian Goethert—and moderated by Rob Scott and David Fields, a press release said. The talk is open to the public. If you are interested in joining this talk, follow this link: [Read more…]
Medicaid expansion will be discussed during a virtual forum Tuesday. It’s the first of two community forums about expanding Medicaid in Tennessee.
The first forum is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 2. It will feature professionals discussing the need for expanding Medicaid, a press release said.
The second forum, scheduled for November 16, will feature legislators discussing ways to achieve this goal, the press release said.
“Failure to expand Medicaid in Tennessee is severely impacting the health and welfare of Tennesseans,” the press release said. It said there are more than 300,000 uninsured Tennesseans, and Tennessee is second in the number of hospital closures and leads the nation in terms of hospital closures per capita. Also, many of the uninsured are essential workers whose lack of insurance places them at increased risk just to care for their families, the press release said. And Tennessee is failing to accept $900 million in federal money that would cover the cost of expansion for more than six years, the release said.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The City of Oak Ridge does not currently require its employees or residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under a state law passed this year, a municipal attorney said Tuesday.
But it’s not clear if that state law could be in conflict with a vaccination or testing mandate that President Joe Biden announced this month.
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The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The City of Oak Ridge does not currently require its employees or residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under a state law passed this year, a municipal attorney said Tuesday.
That state law, Senate Bill 187 and House Bill 13 (Public Chapter 513), bars the city from COVID-19 vaccination requirements, said Alexander J. Cramer, staff attorney in the City of Oak Ridge Legal Department.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The City of Oak Ridge does not currently require its employees or residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under a state law passed this year, a municipal attorney said Tuesday.
But it’s not clear if that state law could be in conflict with a vaccination or testing mandate that President Joe Biden announced this month.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member.
The International Friendship Bell is pictured above in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will ring the International Friendship Bell 76 times on Friday morning, August 6, to commemorate the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 76 years ago.
The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945. It was the first atomic bomb used in war and the first of two dropped on Japan near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, which was code-named “Little Boy,” was enriched in Oak Ridge. The bomb had about 140 pounds of uranium fuel and had an explosive force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, according to Atomic Heritage. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the 10-foot, 9,700-pound bomb in the four-month period following the explosion, Atomic Heritage said.
The National Park Service is calling the August 6 ceremony “Days of Peace and Remembrance.”
“During this silent event, we will be requesting visitors to come up and ring the bell,” a press release said. “Visitors will be able to write down their own hopes and messages of peace.”
The United States dropped a second atomic bomb, a plutonium-fueled weapon, on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing. It had about 13.6 pounds of plutonium fuel and an explosive force equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT. About 80,000 Japanese died by the end of 1945 because of that bomb, which was called “Fat Man,” Atomic Heritage said.
You can learn about the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works during a National Park Service hike on Saturday.
The hike is along the Cedar Hill Greenway. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 17. It will be led by a National Park Service ranger.
The hike will begin at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School, a press release said.
“Along the hike, rangers will discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works,” the release said. This will be a moderately difficult 2.5-mile hike.
