Oak Ridge Today

ORNL reports strong interest in voluntary separations, but still needs to review applications

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

 

There has been strong interest in a voluntary separation program that could reduce the workforce at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by up to 350 positions, but the lab still has to review applications and finalize who qualifies, a spokesperson said Wednesday, the deadline to apply.

The laboratory is still in the middle of reviewing the applications and determining who qualifies, said Morgan McCorkle, ORNL communications media manager.

The workforce could be reduced by up to 350 positions through both voluntary and involuntary separations.

“We still expect to use both mechanisms,” McCorkle said.

The 350-position reduction would decrease the workforce of 4,800 employees by about 7.3 percent. The workforce reduction, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, was announced by ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia in an August 8 email to employees. [Read more…]

Mental evaluation ordered in alleged dog stabbing, arson

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Sklyer Christian Griffin

Sklyer Christian Griffin

 

An evaluation of competency and mental capacity has been ordered in the case in which police say a 19-year-old man fatally stabbed a 10-year-old dog and then started a fire in the living room of an apartment on Villanova Road in Oak Ridge.

The evaluation at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital was ordered Tuesday by Judge Roger Miller of Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

The evaluation should include a determination of the mental capacity of the defendant, Skyler C. Griffin, at the time of the alleged crime, his competency to stand trial, and his ability to assess the nature of his conduct, according to the order.

Griffin had a court hearing on Tuesday afternoon in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. He now has a status hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. November 7. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department’s Then & Now Parade part of 75th anniversary celebration

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Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Ed Westcott

Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Ed Westcott

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department will be hosting a fire prevention celebration on Saturday, October 7, as part of the city’s 75th anniversary.

In the 1940s, Oak Ridge hosted a parade during Fire Prevention Week every October to help spread the word about fire safety. ORFD hopes to rekindle this tradition in honor of the City’s milestone anniversary, a press release said.

The celebration will kick off with a Then and Now-themed parade at ORFD Fire Station Number 3 on Tuskegee Drive and end at Alvin K. Bissell Park. Lineup for participants will begin at 9 a.m., with the parade getting underway at 10 a.m., the press release said.

Following the parade, everyone is invited to gather in A.K. Bissell Park at 11 a.m. for opening ceremonies that will include static displays of emergency services equipment, bounce houses, safety information booths, and emergency services demonstrations. [Read more…]

Tai chi demonstration at Oak Ridge Senior Center on Wednesday

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Ahead of United Nations International Day of Older Persons on October 1, the Taoist Tai Chi Society is hosting a special demonstration at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. On Wednesday, September 27, at 11 a.m., a Taoist tai chi instructor will show how practicing tai chi contributes to healthy aging, a press release said.

Program organizers say the gentle motions of tai chi offer health benefits for all ages, but the practice often appeals to seniors looking for ways to improve strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. The motions are also gentle and low impact, exercising the skeleton, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and all connective tissue, with very low risk of injury. [Read more…]

Tennessee State Museum will have fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge

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The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

 

The Tennessee State Museum will have its fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge on Saturday, November 4. It will be a one-day guided trip to the former “Secret City,” a press release said.

“Local historian Ray Smith will join the bus in Oak Ridge and accompany the group on its stops at the American Museum of Science and Energy, the Y-12 History Center, as well as drive by other locations,” the press release said. “Don’t miss this chance to see the museum before it closes at the end of the year and moves to a new, smaller location.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, the area that is now Oak Ridge was created when the U.S. government started buying up more than 50,000 acres of land for one of three major sites for the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. (Besides Oak Ridge, the other two major sites were Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.)

“Even Governor Prentice Cooper didn’t initially know what was going on as he complained about 1,000 Tennessee families losing their homes,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Environmental impact of deregulation is topic at Democratic Women’s Club

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Axel Ringe

Axel Ringe

Axel Ringe, conservation chair for the Sierra Club’s Tennessee Chapter, will discuss “The Environmental Impacts of Government Deregulation” as guest speaker at the Monday, September 25, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Swifty’s Atomic Grill, which is at 119 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Ringe is a retired scientific analyst and program manager with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, or OSTI. A graduate of Cornell University, he has made a second career as a volunteer with the Sierra Club, a press release said. He has held numerous offices within the Tennessee Chapter and Harvey Broome Group since joining the club in 1996, and currently serves as conservation chair for both the state chapter and the local group. [Read more…]

ORHS vice principal to discuss school’s vision for 2020 during talk on Monday

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Amber Roberts, vice principal of Oak Ridge High School, will give a talk on “Oak Ridge High School’s Vision for 2020” at the general meeting of the AAUW (American Association of University Women) on Monday, September 25, at 11:30 a.m. in Room 102 of the Activities Building of First Presbyterian Church, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Roberts joined the staff of the high school as vice principal in 2009 after teaching eighth grade in the Atlanta metropolitan area for 11 years, a press release said.

She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Agnes Scott College, a master’s degree in middle grades science education from the University of West Georgia, and an educational specialist degree in educational administration from Lincoln Memorial University.

Her talk will be first for the 2017-2018 year for AAUW. New presidents for the year are Mayme Crowell and Fay Martin, the press release said. [Read more…]

Photos: ORHS WildBand performs with UT Pride of Southland at Neyland

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The Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band performs with the Pride of the Southland Band on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at the University of Tennessee and UMass football game. (Photo courtesy Ginger Meadows)

The Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band performs with the Pride of the Southland Band on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at the University of Tennessee and UMass football game. (Photo courtesy Ginger Meadows)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Sept. 25.

Here are photos of the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band performing with the Pride of the Southland Band on Saturday at Neyland Stadium before and during the University of Tennessee and UMass football game.

The WildBand participated in the march to the stadium and the patriotic themed halftime performance.

Here are pictures by ORHS Counseling, Teresa Ledden, Ginger Meadows, Jutta Bangs, and Danny L. Weeks, along with a video by Kristin Hensley. [Read more…]

Oliver Springs fire chief provides more information on Sunday explosion

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Justin Bailey

Justin Bailey (File photo courtesy Oliver Springs Fire Department)

The explosion in Oliver Springs on Sunday that rattled windows and shook homes as far away as Oak Ridge was caused by gasoline poured on what was left of a barn that had been leveled and then ignited, the fire chief said Friday.

Oliver Springs Fire Chief Justin Bailey said firefighters don’t know for sure how much gasoline was used, but the property owner had at least a five-gallon gas can.

There was still a strong odor of gasoline when emergency responders arrived, Bailey said.

The explosion was reported on Tri County Boulevard at Mahoney Road on Sunday evening, just before it got dark, in a field across from Lee’s Market in south Oliver Springs, just down the hill from Oak Ridge.

The property owner had leveled the barn, and only natural wood remained, Bailey said. The property owner was allowed to burn the untreated wood with a permit, and he had received a burn permit from City Hall over the phone. [Read more…]

Commissioners plan tour with video, showing need for guardrails on New River Highway

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Graves Gap Wildfire

A section of New River Highway, also known as Highway 116, is pictured above between Briceville and Rosedale in November 2012, when the Graves Gap wildfire was reported on a mountain east of the highway (to the right in the photo above). (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Two Anderson County commissioners have planned a mountain drive on Tuesday that they say will again show the need for guardrails along Highway 116, also known as New River Highway, in north Anderson County.

The commissioners, Tim Isbel and Shain Vowell, represent District Four in Anderson County. That district includes Briceville and Rosedale, among other parts of mountainous north Anderson County.

They have scheduled a meeting with a representative of the Tennessee Department of Transportation at about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, September 26, at the Anderson County Career and Technical Center beside the Anderson County High School. The purpose is to explain the need for the guardrails, the commissioners said in an email forwarded to other county commissioners, county officials, and the media. [Read more…]

Yoga Peace Day is Saturday

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Submitted

Peace begins with you! On Saturday, September 23, in honor of International Day of Peace, the yoga group at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is hosting an event, “Yoga Peace Day,” that is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Presenters of the day will include Serene White, who will lead a restorative yoga session; Amanda Caldwell, who will lead a guided meditation with a slide show; and Jan Coe, who will treat everyone to a sound immersion concert, a press release said. There will be a blessing led by Reverend Tandy Scheffler to dedicate the new peace pole installed on the property, the press release said. [Read more…]

Jeff Smith of ORNL nominated to serve on TVA Board

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Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m.

Jeff Smith, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been nominated to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, officials said Thursday.

The nomination by President Donald Trump was announced by the White House.

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, supported Smith’s nomination in statements on Thursday. [Read more…]