Oak Ridge Today

Early voting starts today in Tennessee

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

Early voting for the March 1 presidential preference primary, or “SEC Primary,” begins today (Wednesday, February 10).

In this election cycle, voting early may be an important option because of unpredictable winter weather, state officials said in a press release. The number of presidential candidates as well as the number of delegates could also create incredibly long ballots for some voters.

Six Southern states will join Tennessee to help decide who could be the next president of the United States. The Volunteer State’s clout could mean more primary interest than in years past. [Read more…]

Boys & Girls Club Gala is Saturday—enjoy the evening, support youth

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Boys-Girls-Club-Clinch-Valley-Gala-2016The Boys & Girls Club of Oak Ridge has its Gala 2016 on Saturday, February 13.

The Gala includes dinner, dancing, and an auction. Tickets are $100 per person, and black tie attire is encouraged. You must be 21 to attend.

“This will be a beautiful evening to celebrate an early Valentine’s Day and support the youth in our community!” organizers said.

The Gala is from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge.

You can contact Boys & Girls Club staff or board members for tickets, or you can email Jennifer Pettyjohn at JPettyjohn@bgcor.org. You can also visit the event page here.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Demolition starts on last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at K-25

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A high-reach machine is used to start demolishing the four-story, 10-acre K-27 Building on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. K-27 is the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Demolition started Monday on K-27, the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, and officials expect the work to be complete by the end of the year.

The five buildings—K-25, K-27, K-29, K-31, and K-33—once used a process called gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Officials credit them for helping to win World War II and end the Cold War, and for playing significant roles in technological developments and the nuclear industry.

The K-25 site, which is now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first nuclear weapons. The site is now slowly being converted into a large industrial park.

“The majority of the property will be reused,” said Ken Rueter, president and project manager for UCOR, or URS |CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Video: Free group guitar lessons at Oak Ridge Senior Center

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Wendall Cook teaches free group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. from January through the first week of October at the Oak Ridge Senior Center.

Freelance contributor Savanna Schubert talks to Cook, a few of his students, and Senior Center Manager Linda McGhee in the video below.

The Oak Ridge Senior Center is at 728 Emory Valley Road. Call (865) 425-3999 for more information.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Cook teaches guitar, love of music at Oak Ridge Senior Center

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Wendall Cook teaches free group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. from January through the first week of October at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. (Photo by Savanna Schubert)

 

Wendall Cook has been playing guitar for more than 60 years. It began when he was growing up, listening to Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Cook started playing and singing with the help from his father, and it began with three chords on the guitar.

Now Cook has a class of his own. He has been giving group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. for more than 11 years. His group has grown from a small jam session of three people to four classes of more than 60 students ranging from beginner to advanced.

“We started from three people and they kept inviting people in—by the end of the year we had seven or eight,” Cook said. “I never have been a professional teacher, but I like to share.”

Cook’s passion for teaching can be seen just by sitting in on one class. His love for the music and the students are unparalleled. We spoke with a couple of Cook’s students about why they got started and how the group lessons have grown. [Read more…]

Williams named UCOR chief operating officer

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Fran-Williams

Fran Williams

Fran Williams has been selected as the chief operating officer for UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

Williams will fill the position vacated last month by Matt Marston, who left to accept a senior management position within AECOM, one of the parent companies of UCOR, or URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

Williams is returning to UCOR, where she previously served as manager of Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality Assurance, a press release said. She retired in 2015 after overseeing UCOR’s successful designation as a Star site in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Voluntary Protection Program. Star status recognizes the safest operating sites in the nation.

She also helped set the company on a course to achieve more than five million work hours without a lost-time accident, the press release said. [Read more…]

Top 3 in DOE middle school science bowl: Farragut, Jefferson, Norris

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Farragut Middle School finished first in the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl at Roane State Community College on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. Pictured above from left to right are Kevin Wang, Prajwal Jagadish, Caden Farley, Aditya Bal, Luke Kronzer, and Coach Mary Sue Pruitt. (Submitted photo)

 

Farragut Middle School finished first in the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl on Saturday. Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge finished second, and Norris Middle School finished third.

The sixth annual East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl was on Saturday, February 6, at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. It highlighted the academic and problem-solving abilities of students representing 13 Tennessee middle schools, a press release said.

“The Middle School Science Bowl is a competition that tests participants’ knowledge in mathematics and the sciences,” the press release said.

There were 16 teams this year, and they included some of the state’s brightest middle school students. The students were quizzed in a fast-paced question-and-answer format similar to the Jeopardy! television game show, the press release said. Each team included four student competitors, an alternate, and a coach who also served as the team’s adviser.

After an intense competition, three winning teams emerged and received monetary awards: [Read more…]

No one injured when fire starts in bed of commercial landscaping truck

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Oak Ridge Fire DepartmentNo one was injured when the Oak Ridge Fire Department extinguished a fire in the bed of a commercial landscaping truck on Melton Lake Drive on Monday morning, authorities said.

The truck fire was reported at about 8:30 a.m. Monday on Melton Lake Drive near Rivers Run Drive. The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department both responded.

The truck belonged to Eastwood Landscaping of Knoxville.

Melton Lake Drive was closed from 8:30 a.m. until just after 11 a.m. due to the fire, a press release said. The exact cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TBI investigation of Oak Ridge apartment death still open, ongoing

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Thomas Stephen "T.S." Thrasher

Thomas Stephen “T.S.” Thrasher

The investigation of the death of an Oak Ridge man in an apartment in December 2014 remains open and ongoing, a state official said Monday.

Thomas Steven Thrasher Jr., 29, also known as “T.S.,” died December 8, 2014. He was found dead in a second-floor apartment when the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of a possible intruder at about 4:40 a.m. that Monday at 615 West Vanderbilt Drive.

Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said that month that a criminal investigation was under way, but there had not been an arrest and no charges had been filed. Clark said at the time that an autopsy had been performed by the Anderson County medical examiner.

“As a result of the circumstances, the Oak Ridge Police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have been conducting a criminal investigation,” Clark said. “There has been no arrest or charges filed at this time.” [Read more…]

Children’s Museum International Festival features music, dance, crafts, cuisine on Feb. 20

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Shamrock Road

Shamrock Road (Submitted photo)

 

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will present entertainment, crafts, and cuisines from cultures around the world at its annual International Festival on Saturday, February 20.

Shamrock Road, a band specializing in Irish ballads, will be the featured performer for the international event. The family-friendly festival will feature musical and dance entertainment on stage throughout the day, international food and culture booths, and crafts for children to make and take home.

The festival will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. February 20 at the Children’s Museum, which is at 461 West Outer Drive in Oak Ridge.

Shamrock Road plays many old pub standards and contemporary ballads by such artists as Mary Black, Christy Moore, and U2. Two of the band members have lived in Ireland. Bob Morin, on vocals and 12-string guitar, lived in County Tipperary for several years. Steve Reddick, on vocals, banjo and harmonica, attended college in Cork City. Other band members are Mary Tuskan, on vocals, guitar, banjo and mandolin; Jake Alexander, on bass; and Amanda Morgan, on fiddle. [Read more…]

Maine man pleads guilty to murder charge in OS drug deal that ended in death

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Scott Benjamin Pike (November 2014 photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

A 32-year-old Maine man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated robbery in the death of an Oliver Springs man after a drug deal in May 2011.

Scott Benjamin Pike, of Lewiston, Maine, entered the guilty pleas in Anderson County Criminal Court on Friday, January 29.

Pike received a 20-year sentence on the second-degree murder charge, a Class A felony, and a 12-year sentence on the aggravated robbery charge, a Class B felony. There is no probation on either count, according to court records. The sentences will run concurrently. He will receive credit for time served.

Pike was indicted on a first-degree murder charge on February 7, 2012, by the Anderson County Grand Jury. Also indicted were Ronny Blake Hamrick of Oliver Springs and Tristin Jane Dayon of Lewiston, Maine. A first-degree murder charge could include a premeditated killing or an unlawful death that occurred during a robbery or attempted robbery, according to the indictments. [Read more…]

ORHS teacher suspended while police investigate info reported to schools

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An Oak Ridge High School teacher has been suspended from all teaching duties without pay while information reported to Oak Ridge Schools is investigated by the Oak Ridge Police Department, an official said Friday.

Officials have not identified the teacher.

“If the teacher is vindicated or reinstated following the investigation, the teacher shall be paid full salary for the period of the suspension,” Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a brief statement issued in response to questions from reporters. [Read more…]