Oak Ridge Today

GIS stormwater data collection to occur in February

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Photo by City of Oak Ridge

Photo by City of Oak Ridge

 

Geographical information system, or GIS, storm drain inlet mapping will take place in Oak Ridge during the month of February in the following areas: Michigan Avenue, Outer Drive, and New York Avenue.

Representatives of the city will be mapping these inlets with GPS units and/or making visual assessments, a press release said. Residential property will only be accessed during reasonable hours to identify stormwater inlets, the press release said.

“This is not a request to enter into any building or structures on the property,” the press release said. “No construction will be taking place.”

The city is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, or TDEC, under the Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, to monitor certain streams or tributaries to those streams. The goal of this mandate is to protect and rehabilitate our natural water resources, the press release said. [Read more…]

Opinion: How far can we move the needle?

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ron Woody

By Ron Woody

The buzz around the Roane County Courthouse and School Board has been what will our leaders do about the future of education in Roane County? The initial discussions were about consolidation of high schools with an acceptable debate change to: What should the delivery of future education services look like? I applaud both the School Board, the County Commission, and the public for focusing the discussion on the future of education and not on consolidation.

So, here we are in 2017 having a discussion that we should have had in the late ’80s and early ’90s. What does education look like today? What should it look like the next 15 to 20 years? Two important meetings have taken place within the last eight months in order to answer these questions. Excerpts of these meetings can be found on http://www.roaneschools.com under district, then High School visioning process. Please take the time to read through these meeting notes to help arrive at your own conclusions. Here are a few of my conclusions from attending the meetings and reviewing the minutes. Roane County should work to:

  1. expose students to more career opportunities,
  2. expand the mentoring programs, and
  3. expand vocational class opportunities.

[Read more…]

Schools give Year Two progress report on Access Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

These charts depict the increase in use of the Canvas learning management system, or LMS, since its adoption in 2015 in Oak Ridge Schools. Dips in usage occurred in June and July of 2016 when school was not in session. (Image by Oak Ridge Schools)

These charts depict the increase in use of the Canvas learning management system, or LMS, since its adoption in 2015 in Oak Ridge Schools. Dips in usage occurred in June and July of 2016 when school was not in session. (Image by Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Submitted

During the past two years, the Oak Ridge school district has been making new strides in our Access Oak Ridge digital learning initiative by putting Lenovo Yoga laptop computers into the hands of every student in grades 5-10.

Our vision in this initiative is “to empower all Oak Ridge students with equitable access to digital learning opportunities, and to innovate, design, collaborate, and ultimately succeed in local and global communities of the future.” Within this vision, we believe that learning should be student-centered, with technology that enables exploration of content with greater depth and breadth.

Our aim is to continue to grow Access Oak Ridge to provide opportunities that lead to substantial benefits for both students and staff. Fostering innovative thinking expands the classroom beyond the school walls for our students.

Prior to embarking on the Access Oak Ridge initiative, dedicated information technology (IT) staff and instructional technology coaches had been preparing our students and teachers with digital tools and software for more than a decade. In 2014-15, our instructional technology coaches worked with a team of teachers to research and select a learning management system, or LMS, to securely house all of our online content for courses such as soft copies of textbooks, course readings, designated internet content links, software, and videos, as well as student and family progress monitoring (course grading). The LMS the teacher team selected is Canvas by Instructure. [Read more…]

Pull For Our Veterans presents checks to Honor Air, Fisher House

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Dual Presentation1

Richard Stouder, center, president of Pull For Our Veterans, presents checks for $19308.50 to Megan Wynn of the Fisher House Foundation Inc, left, and to Eddie Mannis of Honor Air Knoxville. Pull For Our Veterans is an Oak Ridge-based 501(c)(3) dedicated to helping veterans and their families. (Submitted photo)

 

Pull For Our Veterans, an Oak Ridge-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping veterans and their families, presented checks in the amount of $19,308.50 to both Honor Air Knoxville and the Fisher House Foundation Inc. in a ceremony at the Oak Ridge Sportsmen’s Association in Oak Ridge on November 29.

“Honor Air Knoxville and The Fisher House Foundation are two great organizations that do a lot, but they need help and we’re proud to support them,” said Richard Stouder, president of Pull For Our Veterans. “It’s gratifying to know that the money we raised in 2016 will be used by them to help support our veterans and their loved ones. We want to thank our corporate sponsors, Consolidated Nuclear Security, National Strategic Protective Services, Enrichment Federal Credit Union, and Clayton Homes as well as the many other sponsors, participants, and all of our wonderful volunteers who worked tirelessly to make these events happen. They are the ones that are making a difference in the lives of our veterans and their families.”

Honor Air Knoxville is a 501(c)(3) that is dedicated to honoring World War II, Korean, and Vietnam veterans from East Tennessee and the sacrifices they made to ensure our freedoms. Each Honor Air trip costs approximately $500 per veteran. Every dollar donated is applied directly to the cost of the trip. No donation dollars are applied to administrative expenses. [Read more…]

Haslam visits ORNL to highlight state’s role in discovering tennessine

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bill Haslam at ORNL Tennessine Martin McDonald Thom Mason ORHS Students

Principal Martin McDonald, left, and students from Oak Ridge High School accepted the first new chart of the periodic table featuring element tennessine and signed by Governor Bill Haslam, right, and ORNL Director Thom Mason, second from left. To mark the discovery of tennessine, UT-Battelle is donating a new chart to all public middle and high schools in Tennessee. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam visited the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Friday to congratulate the ORNL team involved in the discovery of the element tennessine, named in recognition of the vital contributions of the state of Tennessee to the international search for new superheavy elements.

UT-Battelle, the managing contractor of ORNL, is marking the discovery by providing more than 1,000 public middle schools and high schools in Tennessee with new charts of the periodic table. Tennessine—the official name for element 117—completes the seventh row of the table and the column of elements classified as halogens.

The charts will include the signatures of Haslam and ORNL Director Thom Mason.

“We had two very significant announcements in Tennessee this fall as it relates to science,” Haslam said. “In October, the Nation’s Report Card announced that Tennessee students are the fastest improving in the nation in science, and in November, Tennessee became only the second state to be recognized in the periodic table of elements. Having an element named in our honor is further evidence of the scientific excellence that exists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, and other institutions throughout our state, and by UT-Battelle donating new periodic tables to every middle and high school in Tennessee, students can feel proud of our state’s important role in the scientific community and inspired to play a role in its future.” [Read more…]

Cybersecurity brown bag lunches start Tuesday in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Cyber and Information Security Consortium, or CISC, and the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy have partnered together to hold monthly brown bag lunches to hear talks on key topics regarding cybersecurity.

The first official lunch will take place next week in the UT Outreach Center in Oak Ridge.

The second lunch will be held on February 17 in the Toyota Auditorium at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy on UT’s campus. [Read more…]

Refugee services to be discussed Feb. 6 in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Drocella Mugorewera, executive director of Bridge Refugee Services Inc. (Submitted photo)

Drocella Mugorewera, executive director of Bridge Refugee Services Inc. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

Coming to a strange country not knowing the people, culture, or even language can be daunting. Many United States citizens often trace their families back and learn about those who came to these shores and struggled against difficult odds. The challenge continues, and sometimes people are available to offer a helping hand during the critical transition, to bridge the gap between one’s former life and the new one stretching out ahead with so many unknowns. One organization that serves in this capacity is Bridge Refugee Services, operating in the Knoxville and Chattanooga areas, which assists refugees, a group of people often including asylum seekers.

“How can I help?” is a question often posed by those who wish to help eliminate the pain and confusion of those living this difficult set of circumstances.  With this question in mind, Drocella Mugorewera, executive director of Bridge Refugee Services Inc., will present at the next meeting of the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge. It will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 6, at the Jewish Congregation, 101 West Madison Lane in Oak Ridge. This is across the street from the back of the Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Authors speak about delights, frights along Cumberland Trail on Feb. 2

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ben Larry Pounds Book Cover

Well-known botanist Larry Pounds and his son, local journalist Ben Pounds, spent a month in 2012 hiking all 200 miles of the Cumberland Trail that existed then. Combining Larry’s extensive botany experience and Ben’s training as a writer, they documented their experiences in a book, “Wildly Strolling Along,” a press release said.

The public is invited to an informational program about their Cumberland Trail experience in a 7 p.m. program on Thursday, February 2. The Pounds will share slides of their favorite sights along the Cumberland Trail and provide basic information about the trail, the press release said. [Read more…]

Community invited to World Harmony Week celebration at ORUUC

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership will celebrate World Harmony Week on Thursday, February 2, at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, near traffic light number two.

Speakers from diverse traditions will speak about aspects of their faith they feel are important and often misunderstood, a press release said.

Mix and Mingle will be start at 6:30 p.m., the press release said. Presentations will be from 7 to 8 p.m. That will be followed an opportunity for dialogue and fellowship, the press release said. Refreshments will be served, and child care will be available. There is no cost to attend. [Read more…]

Anderson County Schools closed Monday, Tuesday due to illness

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anderson County Schools will be closed Monday, January 30, and Tuesday, January 31, because there is a large number of students and staff out due to illness, officials said Friday.

Custodians at each school will spend Monday and Tuesday disinfecting classrooms and schools, Anderson County Schools said.

The central office staff will report at its usual time.

Oak Ridge receives Blankenship Field grant, primarily for synthetic turf

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Blankenship Field Overall Plan

An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium. (File image from April 2015)

 

Oak Ridge has received a state grant of just under $500,000 that will be used primarily for synthetic turf at Blankenship Field. But it is also expected to help pay for track improvements, upgraded restrooms, fencing between the football field and track, and improvements to the Cedar Hill trailhead behind the visitors bleachers at Jack Armstrong Stadium, city officials said Thursday.

The Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant requires a 50 percent match. The match is supposed to be provided by the nonprofit Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation, and it can be a mix of cash and in-kind contributions, although the precise percentage of each—cash versus in-kind contributions—isn’t clear yet. The foundation has been chaired by Tennessee Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally.

Officials expect to know more after four of them—City Manager Mark Watson, City Council member Rick Chinn, Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, and Allen Thacker of Oak Ridge Schools—attend mandatory grant training in Nashville in February.

After that, the Oak Ridge City Council could accept the grant, possibly as early as the February 13 meeting. [Read more…]

Photos: Work on eighth rowing lane

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Eighth Rowing Lane Jan 18 2017

The view from the water of the new wall installed for the eighth lane of the Oak Ridge rowing course. Calhoun’s restaurant is in the background at center right. (Photo by Laurel Patrick)

 

Laurel Patrick of First Place Finish Inc. in Oak Ridge has been posting pictures on Twitter showing the progress on work on the eighth lane of the Oak Ridge rowing course.

Here are pictures by Patrick starting November 16, used here with her permission. We have posted them below in chronological order.

First Place Finish Inc. received a $548,350 contract to add the eighth lane during a special Oak Ridge City Council meeting in September. The work includes a precast concrete block retaining wall and associated dredging and site work.

Oak Ridge officials announced in late October that the speed limit on a section of Melton Lake Drive would be temporarily reduced for at least three months starting Monday, October 31, while the eighth rowing lane is built, and part of the Melton Lake Greenway will be closed as necessary. [Read more…]