Oak Ridge Today

Safety Fest TN opens with Community Safety Forum on Tuesday

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Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

On September 12, Safety Fest TN will hold a Community Safety Forum, an annual event that officially kicks off Safety Fest TN and its Safety Expo.

Safety Fest TN offers free safety classes to residents and companies September 11-15.

This year’s Community Safety Forum will be held in the Wamp Auditorium at 9 a.m. Tuesday, September 12, at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex. More than 900 people have registered for the event.

Headlining the Community Safety Forum are Burns Phillips, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce; Steve Hawkins, administrator of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration; David Purkey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; and Patrick Sheehan, the director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

“We wanted to offer our audience a statewide perspective on workplace safety and emergency preparedness, and who best to deliver that message than the commissioners and their administrators?” said Tom Wantland, a Safety Fest TN organizer. [Read more…]

Kiwanis to tour Emory Valley Center on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge Kiwanis Club will tour the Emory Valley Center’s new Caldwell-Thompson Building for “Maximizing Human Abilities” on Tuesday.

The tour will start at noon on Tuesday, September 12, and it will be led by Janet Wood, the EVC vice president of community engagement, a Kiwanis notice said.

The tour was arranged by Terry Peek, who is director of the EVC Early Learning Center and also the Oak Ridge Kiwanis Club’s president-elect.

Those wishing to attend the tour can meet in the building lobby at 11:55 a.m. Tuesday for the noon tour. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle has to take corrective action, pay $120,000 after unauthorized disclosure of classified information

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UT-Battelle, which manages and operates Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has to take corrective actions and pay $120,000 for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information and the introduction of classified information into unapproved information systems at the lab, according to a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that was approved in August.

The settlement agreement was for a security event discovered March 28, 2016. On that date, UT-Battelle discovered that presentations containing classified information had been processed on unapproved information systems during a roughly five-year period. The classified presentations were stored on unapproved servers, information systems, and removable electronic media, and transmitted by unauthorized means, according to the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments’ Office of Enforcement.

In addition, classified information was visually presented to uncleared students on a specific program, including three foreign nationals from non-sensitive countries, DOE said.

The highest classification level and category of information contained in the presentations is Secret/Restricted Data, including No Foreign, said Steven C. Simonson, director of the Office of Enforcement. [Read more…]

UCOR recognized for industry safety leadership

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The National Safety Council has named URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, known as UCOR, as one of its 2017 Industry Leader Award winners for safety performance. The award, a component of the NSC Occupational Awards Program, recognizes outstanding safety achievements of NSC members, a press release said.

Participants in the NSC 2017 Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (based on 2016 calendar year data) are automatically entered into the running for the Industry Leader Award, the press release said.

“Only the top 5 percent of members earn the recognition based on the best self-reported performance for its North American Industry Classification System code, lowest total incidence rate, and employee work hours,” the release said.

“We are pleased to receive this prestigious recognition from the National Safety Council,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “This is yet another in a series of recent awards that recognize UCOR and underscore our commitment to a strong safety culture. [Read more…]

Bring a dish to share at the September PFLAG meeting

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PFLAG will hold its September on Monday, September 11, in the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge. Members, friends, and newcomers will have a chance to meet and greet and catch up beginning with a potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m., followed by the program at 7 p.m., a press release said. The church is located at 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

During the meeting, there will be time to brainstorm on current and upcoming activities. Also planned is a discussion of transgendered service members and recent tweets and events.

The PFLAG mission is to provide opportunities for dialogue about sexual orientation, gender identities, and to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity, the press release said. [Read more…]

Woman indicted on assault, endangerment charges in drug overdose

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Heather Marie Rau

Heather Marie Rau

An Oak Ridge woman has been indicted on charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in a drug overdose reported in February.

The drug that allegedly caused the overdose of Wesley “Bud” Arnold on West Outer Drive on February 16 had been said to be heroin, according to affidavits filed earlier this year in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Arnold was unconscious on a hallway floor, had a very weak pulse, and could not breathe on his own when an emergency medical crew responded to the overdose at about 3 p.m. February 16. Emergency personnel were able to revive Arnold by giving him a dose of Narcan, which is used to help people who overdose on opioid-based narcotics.

But indictments filed against Heather Marie Rau, 29, on August 1, said the illegal narcotic was not heroin but actually acrylfentanyl, a fentanyl analogue that is more powerful and dangerous than heroin.

Rau had advised Arnold not to “shoot it,” or inject it, because she knew that what she had given him could possibly kill him, according to the affidavits filed in February. Rau and another man, Willie Williams, had ingested the same drug on February 12, and Rau overdosed while Williams died, said the affidavits, filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective John Criswell. [Read more…]

Pastor, police chief the speakers at event on building community

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Derrick Hammond

Derrick Hammond

An Oak Ridge pastor and the police chief will be the speakers at a Monday morning discussion of building community.

The speakers are Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church, and Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi.

The discussion is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Monday, September 11, in the Fellowship Hall at Grace Covenant Church at 320 Robertsville Road.

The discussion is sponsored by Women’s Interfaith Dialogue. It will focus on “Building Community in a Time of Hatred and Violence,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Two churches have Winter Warmth Distribution & Fellowship on Sept. 30

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Faith Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge

Faith Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge

 

Two churches will have the Sixth Annual Winter Warmth Distribution and Fellowship on Saturday, September 30. The public is invited.

The two churches and their ministries are Spurgeon Chapel A.M.E. Zion’s Love Thy Neighbor Outreach Ministry and Faith Lutheran Church Operation Warm Coat Ministry.

The event will be held from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday, September 30, at Faith Lutheran Church at 1300 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge, across from Starbucks Coffee.

Items that will be available while they last at no cost to the public are clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, socks, and clean, pre-owned, and new winter items for men, women, and children who are in need of coats, among other items, a press release said. [Read more…]

Dine & Donate returns Monday

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It’s hard to not “squeal” with joy when you see Razzleberry’s “Pigmobile” around town! (Submitted photo)

It’s hard to not “squeal” with joy when you see Razzleberry’s “Pigmobile” around town! (Submitted photo)

 

If it’s the second Monday of the month, it must be Dine & Donate, a special day set aside by several local restaurants to donate a portion of their sales to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC).

Razzleberry’s, a longtime supporter, is the spotlight restaurant for September.

Summer might be winding down, but the treats at Razzleberry’s are always in season, a press release said.

“Known for their delicious and innovative homemade ice cream, eclectic menus, and international marketplace, Razzleberry’s has something for everybody,” the press release said. “The business started as an ice cream parlor in a tiny space in Jackson Square, but owners Waldek and Ilona Kaczocha soon began operating a small kitchen, offering to-go orders and having weekly lunches for high school students. In 2010, it was clear the demand for their impressive eats meant moving to a new, larger location. Fortunately, it was only a few doors down, right on the corner of Jackson Square!” [Read more…]

Latest on Hurricane Irma: Expected impacts in Tennessee Valley

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The forecast for Hurricane Irma and its expected impacts across East Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and southwest North Carolina as of Saturday afternoon, Sept. 9, 2017. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

The forecast for Hurricane Irma and its expected impacts across East Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and southwest North Carolina as of Saturday afternoon, Sept. 9, 2017. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

 

The National Weather Service in Morristown on Saturday afternoon released updated information on the expected impacts of Hurricane Irma in East Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and southwest North Carolina.

The strong winds and outer rain bands of the hurricane, which has weakened to a Category 3 storm from an earlier Category 5, started hitting the Florida Keys on Saturday as officials warned of a potentially deadly storm surge in southern Florida.

The storm track appeared to have moved farther west than originally forecast, and Hurricane Irma was expected to now have a bigger impact on central and western Florida as it moved up the peninsula.

The remnants of the storm, which had sustained winds of 125 mph on Saturday afternoon, are expected to move across the southeast United States and into the Tennessee Valley, possibly starting Monday afternoon and continuing through Tuesday, with scattered showers through Thursday. [Read more…]

Council to consider construction contract for Peace Bell Pavilion

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Design of the Peace Pavilion for the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell by Demian\Wilbur\Architects, Washington, D.C.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a construction contract for the Oak Ridge Peace Bell Pavilion. The contract, which would include associated site work, could be worth up to $440,000. It could be awarded to First Place Finish Inc. of Oak Ridge, the low bidder.

The new Peace Pell Pavilion would support the International Friendship Bell, which will continue to be at Alvin K. Bissell Park in central Oak Ridge but will move to a slightly different location within the park.

The contract award will be made after negotiations with First Place Finish to reduce the project scope to meet available funding, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick said in a September 5 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The bids for the project exceeded the project budget, Hetrick said.

The bid from First Place Finish had a price of $698,900. The other bid, from Holston Construction Services LLC of Knoxville, had a price of $840,000. [Read more…]

Knoxville man indicted in alleged robbery that ended in shooting

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Matthew Allen Mashburn

Matthew Allen Mashburn

 

A Knoxville man has been indicted in an alleged robbery that was reportedly set up through social media and resulted in a man being shot in the legs on East Holston Lane in Oak Ridge in November.

Matthew Allen Mashburn, 28, of Knox Lane in Knoxville, has been charged with especially aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, and aggravated assault. He was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on Tuesday, September 5.

The indictments said that the victim, Wesley Arnold, was seriously injured and assaulted while a handgun was displayed, and Mashburn had conspired with Nicole Brewer to plan the aggravated robbery during a drug transaction.

Mashburn has an arraignment scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, September 29, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]