Oak Ridge Today

Photos: Anderson County Animal Holding Facility ribbon-cutting

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Emma Berry of Clinton High School’s B.A.R.K. (Bettering Animal Rescue in the Knoxville area) announces a $2,000 donation for a future shelter at a Friday afternoon, Jan. 29, 2016, ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Anderson County Animal Holding Facility on Blockhouse Valley Road in Claxton. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAYTON—Here are pictures from the Friday afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Anderson County Animal Holding Facility on Blockhouse Valley Road in Claxton.

The new 12-kennel animal holding facility gives the county a place to hold stray dogs and dogs held for other reasons, such as animals rescued or taken away from crashes, drug busts, and drunken driving arrests, officials said. It opened about four weeks ago and only holds dogs now.

See story here.

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Clinton High School’s B.A.R.K. (Bettering Animal Rescue in the Knoxville are) celebrates the new Anderson County Animal Holding Facility on Blockhouse Valley Road in Claxton on Friday afternoon, Jan. 29, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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New animal holding facility gives AC a place to keep strays, other dogs

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Anderson County officials and volunteers celebrate a new animal holding facility on Blockhouse Valley Road in Claxton that will be used to hold strays and other dogs. Pictured above is a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:20 a.m.

CLAXTON—A new animal holding facility in Anderson County gives the county a place to hold stray dogs and dogs held for other reasons, such as animals rescued or taken away from crashes, drug busts, and drunken driving arrests, officials said Friday.

The new 12-kennel Anderson County Animal Holding Facility is on Blockhouse Valley Road in Claxton, at the Blockhouse Valley Recycling Center.

It helps the county deal with a shortage of space elsewhere, including at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said.

It’s not a shelter yet, but that’s part of the long-term plan. Officials and volunteers said the holding facility is just the first step for them. [Read more…]

Police: Motorcyclist dies in two-vehicle crash on North Illinois Avenue

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Authorities said a motorcyclist died in a collision with a car on North Illinois Avenue at the western entrance to the Kroger shopping center at about 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. Above, the Oak Ridge Police Department and Clinton Police Department reconstruct the crash. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:23 p.m.

A motorcyclist died in a collision with a car on North Illinois Avenue on Sunday evening, authorities said.

The collision between a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle and Cadillac STS four-door sedan was reported at about 6 p.m. Sunday, Oak Ridge Police Department Deputy Chief Robin Smith said.

Smith said he didn’t immediately have details on whether the driver of the car was injured.

The crash occurred on North Illinois Avenue between Oak Ridge Turnpike and Ivanhoe Road, at the western entrance to Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center.
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North Illinois closed near Kroger as police investigate car-motorcycle crash

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Oak Ridge Police Department Lt. John Kelly, left, and Clinton Police Department Officer Max Smith reconstruct a car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue at the western entrance to Kroger on Sunday evening, Jan. 31, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11 p.m.

A short stretch of North Illinois Avenue is closed north of Oak Ridge Turnpike, at the western entrance to Kroger, as police investigate a Sunday evening crash between a car and a motorcycle.

The closure was reported at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The closure affects both the northbound and southbound lanes between Oak Ridge Turnpike and Ivanhoe Road.

The crash involved a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle and a Cadillac STS four-door sedan. [Read more…]

Tech 2020 winding down operations; Pro2Serve among its success stories

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The board of directors for Technology 2020, which is located in Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge, voted Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, to wind down operations after more than two decades. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Tech 2020—a nonprofit organization that counts Pro2Serve, a technical and engineering services firm, as one of its early success stories—announced last week that it is winding down operations after more than two decades.

Facing increased financial pressures, the Tech 2020 Board of Directors voted Tuesday, January 26, to begin an orderly process to wind down their operations, a press release said. The organization has been focused on technology-based economic development activities in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region.

Tech 2020 once had 12 to 15 employees or more, but it is now down to less than five full-time employees, said Tom Ballard, past Tech 2020 chair and longtime Executive Committee member who was on the founding board. The organization has one building at Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge and manages a second building, an entrepreneurial center, for the City of Oak Ridge.

Tech 2020 was established in 1994 in Oak Ridge with significant grants from BellSouth, now part of the AT&T enterprise, and others, the press release said. The organization’s initial focus areas were telecommunications and entrepreneurship. One of its early creations was Digital Crossing Networks LLC, which is located in downtown Knoxville.

Pro2Serve is another success story, Ballard said. The company went from a home office to the Tech 2020 building to headquarters in the National Energy Security Center in the Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The company now has more than 350 employees. [Read more…]

Sunset Rotary expands Da Vinci Arts, Science Fair; winners announced today

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In 2016, the Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club expanded its annual Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair to include middle school grades. The middle school fair is being held today (Saturday, January 30) at the New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.

Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in the New Hope Center auditorium at the Y-12 National Security Complex at 3 p.m. Saturday. That will be preceded by an afternoon open house with all entries will be available for viewing. All participants, parents, teachers, and the public are invited to attend.

The middle school grades arts and science fair provides a gateway for students to participate in other regional science fairs. Science project winners in grades 6-8 will qualify to participate in the Junior Division of the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Knoxville April 4-7. [Read more…]

National Park Service, DOE have three meetings on Manhattan Project Park

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Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shortly after they signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The signing ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

First meeting on Monday, February 1

The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy will have three public meetings in early February to solicit input on planning for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The meetings will be held at the three sites associated with the park: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The public is encouraged to come to the meetings and meet with representatives of the NPS and the DOE to share their thoughts about the key stories and interpretive ideas related to the park.

Locally, there will be a public meeting held on Monday, February 1, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) at Oak Ridge High School (in the Food Court) at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Second suspect in bank extortion, carjacking plots also pleads not guilty

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Michael Benanti

Michael Benanti

KNOXVILLE—A second suspect has also pleaded not guilty to three alleged bank extortion and carjacking plots that involved bank employees and their family members, including at Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge.

One of the suspects, Brian Witham, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Tuesday.

The second suspect, Michael Benanti, pleaded not guilty during a Friday afternoon arraignment.

Each man is facing a minimum mandatory sentence of 142 years in prison, if they are convicted on all 15 federal charges that they face. The charges include bank extortion, attempted bank extortion, carjacking, and brandishing a firearm while committing a crime. [Read more…]

CVMR, partner agree to concentrate ore in Guatemala, refine it in Oak Ridge

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Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday, March 13, 2015, to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:37 a.m.

CVMR Corporation and Central America Nickel Incorporated have agreed to concentrate three million tons of ore per year in Guatemala and refine the concentrate in Oak Ridge. The refined products could be used in the aerospace and defense industries, and in the manufacturing of car parts, 3D printing and injection molds, and medical instruments and electronic parts.

“The joint venture expects to generate over $500 million a year (U.S. dollars) after commissioning and ramp up,” said Kamran M. Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR Corporation.

The partnership was announced Thursday. See the press release here.

The announcement said CVMR and Central America Nickel, or CAN, will use CVMR’s proprietary chemical vapor metallurgy technology to concentrate the three million tons of ore per year in Guatemala and refine the concentrate in Oak Ridge, through CVMR and from CAN’s Santa Anita property in Guatemala. [Read more…]

Voter registration deadline is Monday for March 1 primary

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Tre Hargett

Tre Hargett

Tennessee residents who want to vote in the March 1 presidential preference primary, or “SEC Primary,” must register to vote by Monday, February 1.

This election cycle, the Volunteer State will join six other Southern states on March 1 to help decide who could be the next president of the United States.

“It’s important to ensure you are properly registered now so there won’t be any surprises during early voting or on Election Day,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a press release.

Early voting begins Wednesday, February 10, and runs Mondays through Saturdays until Tuesday, February 23. Election Day is Tuesday, March 1. Note that some counties will be closed on Monday, February 15 for Presidents Day. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra has free family concert Sunday

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Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra Family Concert

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra has a free family concert on Sunday, January 31.

The concert was rescheduled because of the weather last week. It starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center (the ORHS auditorium).

The ORHS Chamber Orchestra will also play, and children will have a chance to participate in the instrument “petting zoo.”

An event flyer said the concert, “The Thrill of the Orchestra” concert, will feature music from “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park.” Cellist Jerry Zhou, winner of the 2015 Youth Aliyah Competition, will be a special guest. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Band has Showcase Concert on Sunday

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Tanasi-2016

Pictured above are bassonist Ardyce Lee, clarinetist Dave Greenwood, horn player Bill Schwenterly, flutist RaNaye Dreier, and oboist Dana Fox. They are members of the Tanasi Winds Quintet and will perform in the Showcase Concert on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. (Submitted by Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble has a Showcase Concert on Sunday afternoon, January 31.

It’s a good way to usher out a cold and dreary January, organizers said.

The concert starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday and will be held in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

“Band members look forward every year to the Showcase Concert because it gives them and area musicians the opportunity to perform in small ensembles showcasing their talents with an array of musical selections including classical, jazz, blues, swing, show tunes, and novelty pieces,” a press release said. [Read more…]