Oak Ridge Today

Woman, three children evacuate, no injuries in kitchen fire

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Jefferson Avenue Fire June 19 2016

A woman and three children evacuated and no one was injured in a kitchen fire on Jefferson Avenue on Sunday, June 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A woman and three children evacuated and no one was injured during a kitchen fire on Jefferson Avenue on Sunday, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 1:27 p.m. Sunday. It was believed to be the result of unattended cooking, authorities said.

Oak Ridge Fire Department Captain Ray Burney said the fire was contained to the kitchen. It burned cabinets, the stove, and the ceiling area, Burney said. There was also smoke damage in the house. [Read more…]

Robbery allegedly involved armed confrontation between two defendants, juvenile victim

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Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson

Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson

The alleged robbery reported in the Burger King parking lot on Thursday actually occurred at a home on Pennsylvania Avenue, and it allegedly involved an armed confrontation between a 21-year-old man, a juvenile co-defendant, and a juvenile victim, according to an arrest warrant filed Monday.

Xyrius Jaeren Dickerson, 21, of Osage Road in Oak Ridge, has been charged with aggravated robbery in the case. He was arrested Sunday afternoon.

The Oak Ridge Police Department Officer responded to the reported robbery at Burger King on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 4:43 p.m. Thursday.

The juvenile victim said he had been invited to the home of the juvenile co-defendant to pick up his recovered cell phone, said the warrant, which was filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. He said he was picked up by Dickerson and the co-defendant at Burger King before being taken to the co-defendant’s house on Pennsylvania Avenue, ORPD Officer S. Perry Lewis said in the warrant. [Read more…]

KPD: Body of Oak Ridge man found in Ft. Loudoun Lake

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The body of an Oak Ridge man was found Saturday afternoon in Ft. Loudoun Lake, authorities said.

The man has been identified as Tomas Skyler Ledford, 25, and he has an Oak Ridge address, the Knoxville Police Department said.

The KPD said it responded to a report of a body being discovered in Ft. Loudoun Lake below the River Towne Condos in Knoxville at about 2:27 p.m. Saturday.

According to the preliminary investigation, a couple of male friends had gone to the bluffs overlooking the river, where they consumed alcohol late Friday night, the KPD said. The pair became separated at about 3 a.m. Saturday morning, authorities said. [Read more…]

New Chinese supercomputer named world’s fastest; ORNL’s Titan drops to No. 3

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Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

Jeff Nichols, associate director for computing and computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in front of Titan, which was the world’s fastest supercomputer in November 2012 but is now ranked No. 3. (File photo courtesy ORNL/October 2013)

 

China maintained its number one ranking in the latest edition of the TOP500 list of the world’s top supercomputers, but with a new system built entirely using processors designed and made in China.

China now has the top two supercomputers on the semiannual TOP500 list, and Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has dropped from number two to number three.

The new Chinese supercomputer, Sunway TaihuLight, is capable of 93 petaflops, or quadrillions of calculations per second, a press release said.

It displaced Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that had claimed the number one spot on the past six TOP500 lists. Tianhe-2 achieved a speed of 33.86 petaflops, or more than 33,000 trillion calculations per second, in a test known as the LINPACK benchmark.

Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory, achieved 17.59 petaflops.

Titan was the top system for a short time. It was number one in November 2012, but it was bumped to number two behind Tianhe-2 in June 2013. This is the first time it has been number three.

The latest list marks the first time since the start of the TOP500 that the United States is not home to the largest number of systems. With a surge in industrial and research installations registered over the last few years, China leads with 167 systems and the U.S. is second with 165. China also leads the performance category, thanks to the number one and number two systems, the press release said. [Read more…]

Photos: Lavender Festival in Jackson Square

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Lavender Festival in Jackson Square June 18 2016 1

The Lavender Festival in Jackson Square on Saturday, June 18, 2016. The festival included artisan vendors in the square and on Broadway. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The 18th annual Lavender Festival on Saturday celebrated herbs, crafts, food, and music. Here are photos by Julio Culiat.

The festival celebrated the Herb of the Year, Capsicum, or hot peppers. New this year, “A Taste of Tennessee Wines” brought wine tasting to the festival. The tasting was hosted by Great Valley Wine Trail, which is made up of five independent wineries in East Tennessee.

The Lavender Festival also featured more than 100 artisan vendors, several informative presentations, children’s activities, and live musicians. Vendors lined the covered walkways of Jackson Square, the parking lot, and both sides of Broadway Avenue, which was closed to traffic.

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market was open as usual across from the square from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday.

Lavender Festival in Jackson Square June 18 2016 3

The Lavender Festival in Jackson Square on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Above, children stay cool playing in the interactive fountain in the center of Jackson Square. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

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Photos: Charlie Daniels Band, Grand Funk Railroad; changes possible at Secret City Festival

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Charlie Daniels Band at Secret City Festival June 10 2016

The Charlie Daniels Band played at the 14th annual Secret City Festival at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Friday, June 10, 2016. Pictured above is Charlie Daniels. (Photo by Angela Richardson-Newman)

 

The Charlie Daniels Band and Grand Funk Railroad both played at the Secret City Festival last weekend. Here are two photos from the concerts by Angela Richardson-Newman.

The Charlie Daniels Band played Friday, June 10, and Grand Funk Railroad performed Saturday, June 11. Both concerts were well-attended, and both received good reviews.

It was the 14th annual Secret City Festival. Besides concerts, the festival included music, food, vendors, a car show, a World War II re-enactment, U.S. Department of Energy bus tours, history and science exhibits, arts and crafts, and children’s entertainment and activities.

It’s not entirely clear if the festival will continue next year in the same form or at the same time of year as this year’s festival and previous festivals. This year had been considered a transition year as a new inaugural board of directors was appointed for a new nonprofit celebration. That board is expected to be responsible for the time, location, and length of the festival, as well as sponsorships and funding. [Read more…]

Barbara Ferrell receives Muddy Boot Award

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David McCoy Barbara Ferrell and David Bradshaw June 17 2016

Barbara Ferrell, center, received a Muddy Boot Award in a surprise ceremony on Friday, June 17, 2016, in conjunction with the Lavender Festival in Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. Also pictured are Dave McCoy, left, and David Bradshaw. (Submitted photo)

 

Barbara Ferrell, who owns The Ferrell Shop in Jackson Square, received the Muddy Boot Award on Friday.

The award is given by the East Tennessee Economic Council. It is a tribute to people who, through their work and community activities, make East Tennessee a stronger region.

The mid-year Muddy Boot Award was given to Ferrell in a surprise ceremony on Friday in conjunction with the annual Lavender Festival in Jackson Square.

Ferrell has been a leading independent retailer in Oak Ridge for more than 25 years, a press release said. She has been the driving force behind the successful Lavender Festival, which celebrates its 18th year this year. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Symphony to celebrate National Park Service centennial during season opening

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Oak Ridge Symphony with Dan Allcott

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra is pictured above with conductor Dan Allcott. (File photo by ORCMA)

 

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial, its 100th anniversary, during a season-opening concert in September.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a new national park that includes Oak Ridge, is partnering with the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, or ORCMA, for the special celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary. The centennial will be celebrated Saturday, September 24.

It’s the 72nd season-opening concert for the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra.

The September concert, titled “Pride of Place,” will celebrate Oak Ridge’s scientific heritage with an exciting world premiere by East Tennessee composer Mark Harrell commissioned by the JAZ Fund to honor the post-World War II generation of scientists in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The concert will conclude with Peter Boyer’s powerful and moving “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” for narrator and orchestra. [Read more…]

ORPD investigating truancy cases with DA’s Office, Oak Ridge Schools

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The Oak Ridge Police Department, Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office, and Oak Ridge Schools have started investigating juveniles with unexcused absences from school during the 2015-2016 school year, officials said Friday.

“This process involves seeking petitions for truancy for those students who were absent for significant periods of time,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

The petitions will be submitted with the Anderson County Juvenile Court for remediation, the press release said. The 15 petitions were the start of an ongoing investigation, and officials anticipate that additional juvenile petitions will be filed.

“As part of this investigation, ORPD will also be investigating additional allegations of educational neglect, and when warranted, will seek petitions in (Anderson County General) Sessions Court against parents of students with a high number of unexcused absences from school during the 2015-2016 school year,” the release said. [Read more…]

No injuries reported after suspect allegedly rams vehicle, points gun at four people

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No injuries were reported after a suspect allegedly rammed someone else’s vehicle and pointed a handgun at four other people on West Bryn Mawr Circle early Friday, authorities said.

The disturbance was reported at about 12:22 a.m. Friday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $1,000, the ORPD said in a press release. [Read more…]

Armed robbery reported in Burger King parking lot Thursday

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An armed robbery was reported in the parking lot of Burger King on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Thursday, authorities said.

The alleged robbery was reported at about 4:43 p.m. Thursday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. It allegedly involved two suspects who fled in a vehicle, the ORPD said.

Officers searched the area for the vehicle and suspects, a press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County EMS director gives ‘State of EMS’ address

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Wednesday night, Anderson County Emergency Medical Services Director Nathan Sweet delivered a “State of the EMS” address to county commissioners and members of the public.

The county EMS became an individual entity not funded by the county six years ago, choosing instead to support itself through fees. When the EMS became a stand-alone entity, the county ignored a recommendation from the County Technical Advisory Service—or CTAS—and provided only $215,000 in start-up money rather than the $1.1 million recommended by CTAS. Despite that early limitation, the department was able to support itself…until last year.

In 2015, the County Commission voted to contribute $600,000 to fund the EMS, which found itself hampered by delays in reimbursement from Medicare and serious problems with the third-party billing company used by the EMS. [Read more…]