Oak Ridge Today

ORHPA will celebrate 70th anniversary of end of WWII with special showing of historic movie

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The Beginning or The End

A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.”

The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.

The program will include the presentation of the flag by the Volunteer State Honor Guard, patriotic music by the Oak Ridge High School Ensemble, and the special recognition of all veterans, a press release said. Also, a special proclamation will be presented to the Y-12 National Security Complex recognizing 70 years of supporting our nation’s freedom, the release said. [Read more…]

Friends of ORNL meeting will feature discussion of data-driven health innovation

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The Tuesday lunch meeting of Friends of ORNL will feature Gina Tourassi, director of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She will discuss data-driven health innovations at ORNL.

The August 11 meeting starts with lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at 12 p.m. It’s in the University of Tennessee Resource Center, the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building.

This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

Suicide prevention the focus of Aug. 22 training

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Scott Payne of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, or TSPN, will offer a free one-hour gatekeeper training program for all who want to learn more about suicide prevention on Saturday, August 22, at Grace Lutheran Church. The church is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The presentation, which is titled “Addressing Suicidal Ideation and Behavior,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the church fellowship hall. Free child care will be provided.

The training is appropriate for anyone who may come in contact with a person who is having suicidal thoughts and wants to help that person choose life, a press release said.

In information provided by Payne, he noted that the training is a customized version of the evidence-based, best practice “Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)” suicide prevention training and that it will enhance each participant’s awareness of their values, attitudes, and beliefs regarding suicide. [Read more…]

Roane State to offer extended business hours beginning Aug. 17

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Roane State Community College will offer extended business hours to help students get ready for the start of fall classes.

Extended hours for the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses are:

  • Monday, August 17-Thursday, August 20, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.;
  • Saturday, August 22, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; and
  • Monday, August 24-Thursday, August 27, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

[Read more…]

Community Mediation has fall training for volunteer mediators

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Community Mediation Services Banner

Community Mediation Services of Anderson County has early fall training for those interested in becoming a volunteer mediator.

“You will learn new skills while you help others,” a press release said.

“CMS’s four mediation programs make very real differences in the lives of youth and families in our community,” the release said. “Our mediators say amazing things happen at the mediation table when people arrive to discuss often difficult issues and leave with a solution they have all agreed upon.”

Training for Basic Mediation Skills is scheduled for Friday, August 21, from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday, August 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. [Read more…]

Council to consider contract for eighth rowing lane

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Oak Ridge Rowing Lane Announcement

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, announces a $250,000 state grant for an eighth rowing lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course on Sunday, April 19, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a $50,000 contract for design and survey work, among other tasks, for an eighth rowing lane at the city’s rowing course.

The eighth lane has been on the city’s wish list for years. It’s been in the Oak Ridge Capital Improvement Plan since 2005.

Officials announced a $250,000 state grant for the extra lane in April. They said it will allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas at the Oak Ridge Rowing Course, keep the site a top-tier rowing venue, and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events. It’s also expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas.

[Read more…]

Council could consider Secret City Festival changes, including move to fall

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Secret City Festival Concert 2015

A concert crowd at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. Concerts by the Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night attracted the highest number of spectators in festival history. (Photo by Robert Welton)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday could consider changes to the Secret City Festival, including a possible move to the fall. The annual festival could be expanded into a celebration that could start in October and run through Veterans Day (November 11), last at least a week, and include the Secret City Festival.

It’s one of five changes recommended by the Special Events Advisory Task Force set up by City Council in February. Each Council member appointed a member of the task force, which was chaired by Council member Trina Baughn. The task force was expected to meet for six months and provide a recommendation to City Council by this month.

The City Council will need to consider an amendment to the Monday night agenda to formally include the recommended changes.

“The idea is not to limit the celebration to a single event, but to incorporate other activities over an expanded period of time that allow for greater participation by both patrons and various organizations within the community,” Baughn said in an August 5 memo to City Council. [Read more…]

Three years after break-in, protesters return to Y-12

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Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed at Y-12

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday. The three protesters—from left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed—object to nuclear weapons and the planned Uranium Processing Facility. Here they are pictured on Scarboro Road across from Y-12. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. August 9.

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The march and rally were organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance as part of a series of events that commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, the Little Boy atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was enriched at Y-12.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—were convicted on two felony charges on May 8, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. But their conviction on the more serious felony sabotage charge was overturned two years later, on May 8, 2015, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. Boertje-Obed, Rice, and Walli were released on May 16 and have a re-sentencing hearing on September 15 in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Free Community Shred Day in Oak Ridge, Alcoa on Saturday

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ORNL Federal Credit Union will team up once again with Shred Company for a Community Shred Day on Saturday, August 8. Shred Day is scheduled from 9 a.m. until noon at both the Alcoa and Oak Ridge main branches of ORNL FCU.

ORNL Federal Credit Union members, as well as the public, are invited to bring any unwanted documents, especially ones containing personal information, to one of the Community Shred Day locations and have it safely and securely destroyed at no charge. A maximum of four boxes/bags per person will be accepted.

ORNL FCU’s Alcoa Branch is located at 103 Hamilton Crossing Drive. The Oak Ridge Main Branch is located at 221 South Rutgers Avenue. [Read more…]

Cedar Barren Cleanup, Prairie Grass Extravaganza on Aug. 15

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Oak Ridge Barrens

There will be a cleanup and Prairie Grass Extravaganza at Oak Ridge Cedar Barren on Saturday, August 15, organizers said.

They said this will be a free opportunity to see prairie goldenrod (Solidago ptarmicoides), naked-stem sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis), and Torrey’s mountain mint (Pycnanthemum torrei) at the Oak Ridge Cedar Barren. It will be combined with a workday to remove invasive plants.

Located next to Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, this barren is a joint project of the City of Oak Ridge, the State Natural Areas Division, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. [Read more…]

Knoxville has First Friday, now Oak Ridge has Third Friday

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The Locally Grown Gallery, home to 39 regional artists, will be hosting events from 5:30-9 p.m. in their gallery and studio as part of a new Third Friday.

The Locally Grown Gallery is located ​behind the Soup Kitchen in Greenwich Village Mall in historic Jackson Square.

The ​inaugural Locally Grown Gallery Third Friday event will be August 21. Weaver Andy Lyle and author B.J. Gillum will be the featured artists.

Lyle is an Oak Ridge native and member of the Foo​thills Craft Guild. She will be demonstrating on her large loom as well as teaching easy beginner projects. She will have small loom kits and fiber available for purchase. [Read more…]

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Admiral Title on Aug. 13

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There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Admiral Title on Lafayette Drive on Thursday, August 13.

The ceremony is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. August 13, and it’s been organized by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled at 5 p.m.

Admiral Title is located at 113 Lafayette Drive, Suite 101, in Oak Ridge.

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