Oak Ridge Today

Sam Venable to speak at Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club meeting

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Sam Venable

Sam Venable

 

Sam Venable, a humor columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel, will be the guest speaker at the August 27 meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The club will host a light supper and silent auction at 6 p.m. Monday in a meeting room of the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

Venable, a University of Tennessee graduate, has written for the Knoxville News Sentinel since 1970, first as outdoors editor and later as a columnist specializing in humor. He retired from daily duties at the newspaper in 2014 but continues to write a twice-weekly column.

The winner of more than three dozen state, regional and national writing awards, Venable is a member of the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame (Class of 2009) and the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame (Class of 2014). His six-part News Sentinel series “Fragments of Hate,” published during Black History Month in 2014, won the Sigma Delta Chi feature reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Investigative Reporting award from the Tennessee Press Association, and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. [Read more…]

Weinberg papers preservation project seeks community support

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Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

Weinberg Web Page (Submitted photo)

 

As the city celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is soliciting the community’s support to ensure the legacy of a famous Oak Ridger is preserved for posterity.

Alvin Weinberg, a renowned nuclear physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project, became head of the Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then research director, and ultimately the director of the laboratory for 18 years. He donated his personal papers to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge when Selma Shapiro, the museum’s founder, was serving as its executive director. Now Shapiro’s daughter, Rhonda Bogard, is part of a core team working to permanently preserve the papers.

The goal of the project is to ensure Weinberg’s work and legacy are preserved for future generations, a press release said. Bogard thinks his work speaks for itself. “His work will be remembered for the vision and leadership it symbolizes,” she said. [Read more…]

Children’s Museum offers kids’ healthy living workshop for teachers in August

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The Children’s Museum garden at the Kids Go Green Environmental Center gives children the opportunity to grow, harvest, and eat fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. (Submitted photo)

The Children’s Museum garden at the Kids Go Green Environmental Center gives children the opportunity to grow, harvest, and eat fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. (Submitted photo)

 

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is offering teachers of kindergarten through grade 5 the second of two Saturday morning workshops on healthy living and eating for kids on Saturday, August 25. The workshop will bring teachers to the Museum’s Kids in Action! Healthy Living exhibit and to the garden in the Kids Go Green Environmental Center.

The free workshop was offered from 8:30 a.m.-noon on Saturday, August 25, and it is being offered again on Saturday, August 25. Kids in Action and Kids Go Green staff and volunteers will lead the workshops and garden activities. These trainings are approved for in-service credit for teachers in the Oak Ridge school district, a press release said. [Read more…]

Photos: Valvoline Instant Oil Change under construction

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A Valvoline Instant Oil Change is pictured above under construction near Kroger at the Westcott Center shopping center at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A Valvoline Instant Oil Change is pictured above under construction near Kroger at the Westcott Center at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Valvoline Instant Oil Change is under construction near Kroger at the Westcott Center at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue.

Here are two photos from the construction site on Thursday.

The Kroger shopping center itself is still relatively new, about four years old. The Valvoline Instant Oil Change is the newest addition to any of the shopping center properties around Kroger. [Read more…]

Pine Ridge building, property under contract; rest of Summit for sale for $3.5 million

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A large ridge top tract of land that features panoramic views and was once proposed as the site of a Target retail development is now for sale. The land, which is also known as The Summit, is on Pine Ridge along South Illinois Avenue between Scarboro Road/Lafayette Drive and Centrifuge Way. It's pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A large ridge top tract of land that features panoramic views and was once proposed as the site of a Target retail development is now for sale. The land, which is also known as The Summit, is on Pine Ridge along South Illinois Avenue between Scarboro Road/Lafayette Drive and Centrifuge Way. A 30,000-square-foot building on the property is pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A building that is about 30,000 square feet and was once used to store documents on Pine Ridge for the Y-12 National Security Complex is under contract and in “due diligence,” according to an executive involved in the potential sale.

Also under contract is about 15 acres on Pine Ridge, also known as The Summit, a large piece of property that offers panoramic views from a ridge top above South Illinois Avenue in south Oak Ridge.

Noah Myers, principal broker with CornerStone Realty, said he hopes there is a closing on the building and land purchase this fall.

Separate from that potential purchase, there is about 85 acres of open land on Pine Ridge that is for sale for $3.5 million. It’s a mix of office and industrial property, Myers said. Utilities are in place, including roads, electricity, water, and sewer. [Read more…]

Smoke alarm likely saves life in East Drive house fire

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A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. (Photo by Tom Scott/ORFD Photographer)

A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. (Photo by Tom Scott/ORFD Photographer)

 

A smoke alarm saved a life in a fire at a home on East Drive early Thursday, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said.

The fire was reported at the home at about 1:52 a.m. Thursday. The first Fire Department unit was at the house within minutes and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the home.

The resident was outside when fire crews arrived, the ORFD said. He said a smoke alarm woke him up.

The home received extensive damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the ORFD said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department said it would like to remind everyone of the importance of having a smoke alarm in their home. [Read more…]

MCLinc buys Mitchell Road facility, plans to open new lab next year

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Photo courtesy Akins Public Strategies

Photo courtesy Akins Public Strategies

 

MCLinc has purchased a 41,000-square-foot facility located on Mitchell Road, where it will move its new laboratory and headquarters in early 2019 after remodeling part of the building for lab use.

The building will include a new laboratory and office space, along with about 16,000 square feet of space that will be rented to other tenants.

“While our original plan was to build a new laboratory in Horizon Center, time constraints of construction of the facility made it necessary for us to look at other opportunities,” said Barry Stephenson, MCLinc president and chief executive officer. “We are committed to our employees and to the community of Oak Ridge, where we have operated for the past 20 years, and we’re excited about what the future holds as we expand our laboratory and staff.”

In addition to saving 20 current positions with the move, MCLinc forecasts adding 26 new positions during the first five years of operations in its new facility, a press release said. [Read more…]

Green McAdoo now part of TN State Museum system, U.S. Civil Rights Trail

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Photo via Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge

Photo via Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge

 

The Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton has become a part of the Tennessee State Museum system in Nashville and the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, according to Adventure Anderson County and Explore Oak Ridge.

It’s a significant announcement, and Green McAdoo invites all those that have aided in their success to celebrate by attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 25, with a pre-celebration reception at 9 a.m. at the Green McAdoo Museum, an electronic newsletter said. [Read more…]

One killed in motorcycle crash on SR 61

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One person died in a motorcycle crash on State Route 61 in Oliver Springs on Wednesday, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash killed Nakomia Joseph, 40, of Knoxville. She was a passenger in the custom “trike” motorcycle, according to a fatality report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported at about 7:21 p.m. Wednesday, the THP said.

The motorcycle was driven by Timothy Joseph, 38, of Clinton, and it was headed west on State Route 61 when an unknown object or animal “interrupted the vehicle’s path,” the THP said. [Read more…]

Knoxville man pleads guilty to reckless homicide after boy drowns

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James R. Baysinger

James R. Baysinger

 

James R. Baysinger

James R. Baysinger

 

CLINTON—A Knoxville man pleaded guilty to reckless homicide on Friday in the death of a five-year-old boy in Anderson County about three years ago. The child was reported to have drowned after being reported missing.

James R. Baysinger, 63, pleaded guilty to the single count of reckless homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday afternoon. As part of the plea deal, the state will not prosecute a second charge, aggravated child abuse or neglect when the victim, Odin Elwood Fitton, was less than eight years old.

Baysinger has a sentencing hearing scheduled for November 27.

There was no allegation in court on Friday that Baysinger intended to injure or kill Odin. Instead, the boy’s death was alleged to have resulted from recklessness.

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Save the Date: Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration 2018

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Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program are teaming up to host a Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration this year. The date is set for Saturday, October 6.

Everyone is invited to participate and support this free event, which combines the police department’s annual National Night Out and the fire department’s Fire Prevention Parade into one big community celebration, a press release said. Goals of the Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration include: [Read more…]

Council to hear updates on Blankenship, energy savings

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Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will hear an update on the progress and next steps in the Blankenship Field revitalization project and an update on energy savings projects.

The update on the Blankenship Field project, which includes the installation of synthetic turf, will be given by Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director. [Read more…]