The former Paragon Athletic Club on Emory Valley Road has been demolished. This picture was taken on Sunday, July 19, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 7:52 p.m.
The former Paragon Athletic Club on Emory Valley Road has been demolished.
The building, which hadn’t been used for years, has been knocked to the ground, although debris remains at the site.
The former fitness center is near the former Food Lion grocery store in east Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Three people were taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Athens Road on Sunday afternoon, July 19, 2015, authorities said.
Three people were taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Athens Road on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Two of the three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and the other was taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, authorities said.
The crash, which briefly closed the eastbound lanes of the Turnpike, was reported in east Oak Ridge at about 4:09 p.m. Sunday. It occurred on the stretch of the Turnpike that runs between Milt Dickens Park on the north side of the four-lane roadway and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information on the south. [Read more…]
The College of American Pathologists, or CAP, has accredited the beryllium laboratory in Oak Ridge for the third time since the laboratory’s first accreditation in 2009. The laboratory is managed by ORAU for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
The laboratory is one of only three labs nationwide that performs the beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test. This test determines if a patient has developed a sensitization to beryllium, which could evolve into chronic beryllium disease. Exposure to the lightweight metal is often encountered by inhaling beryllium dust particulates in an industrial workplace setting.
During the CAP accreditation process, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control procedures for the preceding two years. This includes examining staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and records, and overall management. The CAP accreditation program was established in the early 1960s and remains one of the most stringent lab certification programs recognized by the federal government. [Read more…]
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. 2. (Photos courtesy of ORNL/File photo October 2013)
For the fifth consecutive time, Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, has retained its position as the world’s number one system, according to the 45th edition of the twice-yearly TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Tianhe-2, which means Milky Way-2, led the list with a performance of 33.86 petaflop/s (or quadrillions of calculations per second) on the Linpack benchmark.
At number two was Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Titan, the top system in the United States and one of the most energy-efficient systems on the list, achieved 17.59 petaflop/s on the Linpack benchmark.
The only new entry in the Top 10 supercomputers on the latest list is at number seven—Shaheen II is a Cray XC40 system installed at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST, in Saudi Arabia. Shaheen II achieved 5.536 petaflop/s on the Linpack benchmark, making it the highest-ranked Middle East system in the 22-year history of the list and the first to crack the Top 10. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department sent deputies to provide security at the National Guard Armory in Clinton and to the area around the Tennessee Valley Authority facilities at Norris Dam and Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton after officials learned of the fatal shootings at military centers in Chattanooga on Thursday.
Additional deputies were also sent to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton and to county government buildings, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.
He said the Tennessee Highway Patrol notified the ACSD on Thursday morning, July 16, about the unfolding events in Chattanooga.
“We informed all of our local police departments of this information,” Lucas said. “Our dispatch was also in contact with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville.” [Read more…]
New Life Church of the Nazarene will be hosting a Backyard Vacation Bible School free to the community on Friday, July 17, from 5-7 p.m. and then Saturday, July 18, from 9-11 a.m. at Cedar Hill Park.
“Come and join us for a bible story, snack, games, and crafts!” organizers said. “Then, on Sunday, July 19, at 12:30 p.m., we will be hosting a party in the parking lot for the community to come out and enjoy some bounce houses and slides, a hot dog lunch, and fun and fellowship for all!
“Come and join us this weekend at Cedar Hill Park and then at New Life Church of the Nazarene at 200 Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge.”
If you have any questions, you can call the church at (865) 964-0665.
This image of Pluto, taken by New Horizons after a 9.5-year journey, is our highest-resolution photo of the dwarf planet since its discovery by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. (Photo courtesy of NASA via DOE)
By Matt Dozier
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just accomplished one of the most exciting feats in the history of space exploration. After a 9.5-year, 3-billion-mile journey, the mission’s historic flyby of Pluto has provided us with our first-ever closeup views of the frozen world at the edge of the solar system. It’s a remarkable achievement, one that wouldn’t have been possible without careful planning, ingenuity—and a little help from the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 2006, when NASA engineers were designing New Horizons, they knew that it would need a long-lasting, compact and incredibly reliable power source to survive the cold, dark reaches of outer space.
Solar power was out of the question. The spacecraft’s itinerary would take it billions of miles from the center of the solar system into the realm of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. That far out, the Sun shines with just a tiny fraction of the intensity we see here on Earth—scarcely brighter than the stars in the night sky. Other options like batteries or fuel cells wouldn’t last long enough. [Read more…]
Small businesses can gain access to ORNL resources such as the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility through a new U.S. Department of Energy voucher pilot. (Photo by ORNL)
Small companies in the advanced manufacturing, transportation, and building sectors have a new opportunity to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
ORNL was among five national laboratories selected to participate in a new DOE small business voucher pilot that aims to connect small clean energy businesses with technical experts and world-class facilities at the national labs.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is funding the $20 million pilot as part of its National Laboratory Impact Initiative. ORNL will receive $5.6 million to conduct outreach, merit review, and matchmaking efforts for small business projects.
“We’re pleased to be given the opportunity to partner with smaller businesses who can take advantage of the world-class facilities at ORNL and other national laboratories across the country,” said ORNL’s Johney Green. “Through this pilot, we will help industry achieve their goals of developing innovative, energy-efficient products and being more competitive in the marketplace, particularly in manufacturing, building, and vehicle technologies.” [Read more…]
Terry Frank
CLINTON—Moody’s Investors Service announced from New York that they have affirmed the Aa2 General Obligation, or GO, rating of Anderson County and have upgraded Anderson County’s rating by removing the “negative outlook,” officials said.
During bond issuance for rural elementary and rural high school bonds, as well as tax anticipation notes, Moody’s assigned Anderson County an Aa2 “negative outlook” rating in the 2010/2011 budget year, a press release said.
Highlights from Moody’s rating report of July 9, 2015, noted that the company lifted the negative outlook and that “improved financial performance” led to “reserve and liquidity growth,” the release said. [Read more…]
Jason Mumpower
Note: This story was last updated at 5 p.m.
Roane County properties showed an overall 3.47 percent drop in assessed values in the five-year reappraisal process taken over by state officials this year, and the tax-neutral property tax rate in the City of Oak Ridge has been calculated at $2.52, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office announced Thursday.
The tax-neutral rate is up from the current $2.39 per $100 of assessed value, a 13-cent increase.
Separately, the Oak Ridge City Council has been asked to consider a tax rate increase of up to eight cents, with a one-cent increase requested by the municipal staff and a seven-cent increase requested by the Oak Ridge Board of Education. The one-cent increase would help maintain city services and allow for a 2 percent pay raise for city employees, and the seven-cent increase would help cover a deficit and add money for salaries and staff, including a 3 percent pay raise.
Any tax increase, if approved by city officials, would be in addition to the tax-neutral rate calculated by the state. Each additional cent on the property tax rate generates about another $90,000 in revenue. A one-cent increase would cost the owner of a $145,000 house another $3.63 per year. An eight-cent increase could cost that homeowner another $29 per year. [Read more…]
In the foreground: Predatory Photuris sp. which is recognizable by the red on the pronotum (head shield), larger size, and stripes on the wings. The firefly in the background is the Photuris frontalis (a.k.a. snappy sync). (Photo by TWRA)
By Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Paul Shaw, a TWRA fisheries creel agent, has taken an interest in fireflies this summer, which has led to an amazing discovery.
Intrigued by the synchronous fireflies at Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and learning that Lynn Faust, the premiere synchronous firefly researcher in the GSMNP had them on her property near his own, Shaw set out on a mission to find other populations in east Tennessee.
His initial search in early June produced a healthy but isolated population on his densely forested property, which lies about a mile north of the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area.
During the next few weeks, Shaw—along with ORWMA Manager Jim Evans, former TWRA employee Wade Gefellars, and several others—formed a group called the “Firefly Team” that began visiting sites around ORWMA with hopes of discovering other synchronous fireflies. Their research areas consisted of about 30 sites, which were not arbitrary, random locations but were carefully calculated by biological factors similar to those at Elkmont. [Read more…]
The Other One Diner Deli and Dive, a family-owned restaurant, is in Grove Center in Oak Ridge.
Note: This story was updated at 11:20 p.m.
Part of the roof collapsed into the kitchen at The Other One on Tuesday, and the restaurant is temporarily closed while repairs are made. But a food truck will offer a limited menu outside on Thursday.
The popular mom-and-pop burger and sandwich shop at Grove Center is owned and operated by Amanda Caldwell and Jimmy Long.
Early Wednesday afternoon, Caldwell said The Other One, which has been open for five years, could be closed for up to one week.
She said a section of the original roof estimated to be about two feet by three feet collapsed at about 5:50 p.m. Tuesday after a day of heavy rain and thunderstorms. No one was hurt, although two employees were in the kitchen at the time and the restaurant had to close, Caldwell said. [Read more…]
