Oak Ridge Today

League of Women Voters having three candidate forums

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The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is having three candidate forums in October.

The first will be on Tuesday, October 4, at the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater. This will include the candidates for the Oak Ridge Board of Education and the Oak Ridge City Council. It will be from 7 to 9 p.m. October 4 with candidates being briefed at 6:45 p.m.

The second forum will be on Thursday, October 6, at Roane State Community College City Room on the Oak Ridge campus. This will include the Oak Ridge candidates for the Anderson County Charter Commission. To begin the forum, there will be a short presentation from a subject matter expert on the process of reviewing and changing a county charter. This forum will be from 7 to 9 p.m., with candidates being briefed at 6:45 p.m. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, Oct. 8

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Fall Plant Sale will be Saturday, Oct. 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum, which is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Fall Plant Sale will be Saturday, October 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum, which is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Fall is the ideal time to add plants to the landscape, a press release said. To help satisfy that need, Beaver Creek Nursery, East Fork Nursery, Riverdale Nursery, Sunlight Gardens, as well as the UT Arboretum Society’s members and friends, will offer a variety of high quality plants at this sale.

Cash, checks, and credit cards will be accepted for payment.

Retired UT horticulture professor Will Witte, the “Answer Man,” will be on hand to answer your plant questions, the press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL launches new business accelerator for energy tech entrepreneurs

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Pictured above during an Innovations Crossroads business accelerator announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at the National Transportation Research Center in Hardin Valley are, from left, Mark Johnson, Johanna Wolfson, Moe Khaleel, Thomas McDonald, Charlie Brock. (Photo by ORNL)

Pictured above during an Innovation Crossroads business accelerator announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at the National Transportation Research Center in Hardin Valley are, from left, Mark Johnson, Johanna Wolfson, Moe Khaleel, Thomas McDonald, and Charlie Brock. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The nation’s top innovators will soon have the opportunity to advance their promising energy technology ideas at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a new program called Innovation Crossroads. Up to five entrepreneurs will receive a fellowship that covers living costs, benefits, and a travel stipend for up to two years, plus up to $350,000 to use on collaborative research and development at ORNL. The first cohort is expected to start the program in early 2017, a press release said.

A growing global population and increased industrialization require new approaches to energy that are reliable, affordable, and carbon neutral. While important progress has been made in cost reduction and deployment of clean energy technologies, a new program at DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE, will invest in the next generation of first-time clean energy entrepreneurs to accelerate the pace of innovation, the press release said.

Innovation Crossroads is the most recent clean energy accelerator to launch at a DOE national laboratory and the first located in the Southeast. ORNL is the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory, with expertise and resources in clean energy, computing, neutron science, advanced materials, and nuclear science. [Read more…]

Centrus, ORNL agree on $25 million contract for work on gas centrifuge uranium enrichment technology

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American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy USEC/Centrus Energy Corp.)

 

Six months after signing one contract, Centrus Energy Corporation and UT-Battelle LLC have agreed on a new contract for engineering and testing work on technology that uses gas centrifuges to enrich uranium.

Enriched uranium can be used in nuclear power plants and in nuclear weapons, as fuel for nuclear naval vessels, and to ensure a tritium supply, which is needed to maintain the effectiveness of America’s nuclear deterrent, a press release said.

The new Centrus Energy-UT-Battelle contract is valued at about $25 million, and it runs through September 30, 2017. Under this new contract, Centrus scientists, engineers, and operators will “use the company’s unique facilities in Oak Ridge to develop and test technology improvements to reduce costs, improve manufacturability, and enhance the long-term reliability of U.S. uranium enrichment technology,” the press release said.

UT-Battelle operates Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

The uranium enrichment technology is known as the American Centrifuge technology. It’s expected to support future national security and energy security needs, the press release said. [Read more…]

Two Anderson County students charged with social media threats

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Two Anderson County High School students, a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, are being charged in Anderson County Juvenile Court with making threats on social media after an investigation by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Department investigators and school resource officers began to follow up on reports of threats posted on a social media site that ultimately led to the identification of these students as those responsible, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. Both girls have been expelled from school pending a hearing by school administrators.

These threats were similar to those being made across the country, including yesterday in Claiborne County, concerning “clowns” coming to do harm in schools. [Read more…]

Methodist, AARP offer safe driving program for seniors

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To help senior drivers hone their safety skills, Methodist Medical Center is sponsoring an AARP Driver Safety Program on Thursday, September 22, and Friday, September 23. The program is from 1 to 5 p.m. each day in the Cheyenne Ambulatory Center’s conference room, which is located at 944 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The eight-hour classroom refresher course is designed to help drivers 50 years and older to improve their skills. Most auto insurance carriers are required to offer discounts for drivers who complete this accredited course.

The course explains the age-related changes that occur in vision, hearing, and reaction time and provides useful driving safety tips for handling these changes. Certified AARP instructor Jack Cowen will be presenting this course through a combination of group discussion and video activities. [Read more…]

New rope rescue system helps save two people in one week

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On Sept. 17, 2016, the Oak Ridge Fire Department was dispatched to help a woman with serious injuries who had fallen from a retaining wall in a back yard. First responders found the woman lying 60 feet down a slope in a wooded area. The rapid deployment of the rope system helped the fire crew and Oak Ridge police officers move the injured woman up the steep slope to the ambulance. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

In less than one week, firefighters have used new rope rescue equipment to save two lives in Oak Ridge.

The equipment was recently purchased for each Oak Ridge Fire Department engine, and crews just started training last month. The quick deployment 3-to-1 rope haul system is designed to move injured people up steep slopes or through confined spaces where it is difficult to lift or carry a person. In the last seven days, the department has used the new equipment twice.

On September 5, firefighters were dispatched to an unconscious person in an attic of a house. On arrival, the fire crew found a man lying in the 120 degree attic, disoriented and unable to move. The crew rigged the rapid deployment rope system and, in a matter of minutes, was able to move him through the roof trusses and down the attic access opening to the waiting ambulance crew. [Read more…]

The Library Writes at Oak Ridge Public Library on Mondays

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Want to meet other writers, read and critique their stories, while getting honest feedback on your own work?

Our band of authors share their work for enjoyment and to improve their craft. Bring your stories and join them in the Auditorium on Mondays from 4 to 6 p.m.

These meetings are free and open to the public. For further information, call or email the library at (865) 425-3455 or CircLib@oakridgetn.gov.

Mother Goose, a program for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, returns to Oak Ridge

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After a short hiatus, the Mother Goose interactive program for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers has returned to Oak Ridge. Sessions are held on the first and third Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. with leader Father Goose Michael Raymond and his little sidekick, son Benjamin. The first session was held on Thursday, September 1. Due a previous scheduled event in September only, the second session will be held on the fourth Thursday, September 22. There is no cost.

Mother Goose of Oak Ridge meets in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, or ORUUC, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, next to Summit Medical.

Mother Goose is a group experience that focuses on the pleasure and power of using rhymes, simple songs, rhythmic activities, musical circle games, parachute play, and more for parents and their babies and young children. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle provides scholarships for Roane State Middle College students from Roane County high schools

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Roane State President Chris Whaley is joined by Middle College students and Roane State faculty to accept a scholarship check from Leigha Humphries, protocol and community relations manager with UT-Battelle. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

 

Ten Roane County students participating in Roane State Community College’s Middle College have received $3,400 annual scholarships thanks to UT-Battelle.

Roane State’s Middle College program allows high school students to take college classes in their junior and senior years and then graduate with their associate degrees and their diplomas. Middle College graduates are then able to complete their bachelor’s degrees just two years after finishing high school.

Middle College students pay for tuition through a combination of out-of-pocket funds, use of the Tennessee dual enrollment grant (funded by the state lottery), and private scholarships. The UT-Battelle Scholarship was established in fall 2015 and is awarded to one Middle College student from each high school in Roane County. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge ‘Hams’ show children fun of amateur radio at Children’s Museum

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Lucas Henderson, 9, of Corryton, taps his name in Morse code as his brother, Brody, 7, at right, awaits his turn. Amateur radio operator Jim Bogard helps them learn to tap the code. (Submitted photo)

Lucas Henderson, 9, of Corryton, taps his name in Morse code as his brother, Brody, 7, at right, awaits his turn. Amateur radio operator Jim Bogard helps them learn to tap the code. (Submitted photo)

 

Children and teens from ages 6 to 16 tried their hand at Morse code recently with ham radio operators at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, learning to communicate on amateur radio as they also participated in celebrating the 100th birthday of the country’s national parks.

Jim and Ronnie Bogard, both amateur radio operators with FCC licenses, welcomed children on a recent Sunday to the museum’s Discovery Lab, where they had set up portable radio equipment and a mobile antenna. Jim Womack (KC4RD) also set up an amateur radio station in the museum’s Living Light Solar House.

“We focus on Morse code, teaching the children to key, so they can send messages. It is like a secret language to kids,” said Jim Bogard (KY4L). “Kids will hear two-way Morse code contacts from all over the U.S. and can have fun sending their names in Morse code. There are also opportunities to talk on the microphone with other amateur radio stations.”

Amateur radio operators will be at the Children’s Museum’s Discovery Lab from 1-4 p.m. each third Sunday of the month. [Read more…]

Former Roane State dual enrollment student now an expert in his field

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Kyley Dickson tests the field at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Battle at Bristol, the record-setting football game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

Kyley Dickson tests the field at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Battle at Bristol, the record-setting football game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

 

This Fentress County farm boy will likely soon have a new title: professor.

Kyley H. Dickson, who grew up on a farm in the rural middle Tennessee county, will be receiving a doctorate in plant and soil science this December from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

And his expertise in his doctorate—the safety of athletic fields—was put to use recently when he and a professor went to Bristol, Tennessee, for an inspection.

They were checking on the safeness of the Astroturf installed for the football game between UT and Virginia Tech, held September 10 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Now, Dickson is setting his sights on a teaching job at UT-Martin, where’s he’s applied for a professorship. [Read more…]