Oak Ridge Today

Historic day for same-sex couples: ‘Long, hard battle that love won’

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ann Spencer and Brandy Horn

Brandy Horn, right, and Ann Spencer discuss their wedding plans after a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Friday made same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states.

 

KINGSTON—They didn’t intend to make history, but they did.

Two women, Brandy Horn and Ann Spencer, became the first couple to receive a same-sex marriage license in Roane County. They picked it up at about 3 p.m. Friday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states.

“It was a relief,” Spencer said. “I was so happy I was about to cry. I was in disbelief. It was finally happening.”

Horn and Spencer live in Rockwood. They have been together for 16 years and worn rings for 15. They already considered themselves married. But now it will be legal.

“It has been a long, hard battle that love won today for all couples,” Horn said Friday. “It was also a proud moment to walk into our hometown courthouse and be given the same rights and privileges as any other couple would have.” [Read more…]

No same-sex marriage licenses issued in Anderson County yet

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jeff Cole

Jeff Cole

Note: This story was updated at 4:51 p.m.

The Anderson County Clerk received a few inquiries after the U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage on Friday, but the office hasn’t issued any licenses yet, an official said Saturday.

Tennessee officials had prepared county clerks for the landmark 5-4 decision. An email from the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office advised county clerks that Friday’s ruling made it legal for same-sex couples to marry. County clerks in the state’s 95 counties were advised to comply promptly, and implementing the federal court’s decision began immediately.

Anderson County Clerk Jeff Cole said residents could get same-sex marriage licenses starting at about 1 p.m. Friday (June 26), after county clerks received guidance on the issue.

“We had a few phone calls, but we didn’t issue any licenses yesterday,” Cole said Saturday. [Read more…]

Area lawmakers announce $72,190 in Anderson County arts grants

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Tennessee legislators announced Friday that seven arts grants worth $72,190 have been awarded to six organizations in Anderson County.

The recipients include the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Community Playhouse, Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, Oak Ridge Community Art Center, Tennessee Mountain Writers, and Appalachian Arts Craft Center.

The grants include two grants with a combined total of $20,800 for the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge in the categories of Arts Education-Community Learning and Partnership Support.

The other grants include: [Read more…]

Battle of the bands helps Hospitality Houses at MMC

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Doc Rock Check Presentation

Local physician band Second Opinion donated $2,211 to Methodist’s Hospitality Houses, the band’s health charity of choice, when they competed at Doc Rock. Pictured from left are Sandra Jernigan, Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance member; John Jernigan, MD, Second Opinion drummer and retired otolaryngologist; Kim Maes, Hospitality House coordinator at Methodist Medical Center; and Ken Luckmann, MD, Second Opinion band member and retired gastroenterologist. (Photo submitted by Covenant Health)

 

Second Opinion, an Oak Ridge-based physician band, has donated $2,211 to the Hospitality Houses of Methodist Medical Center. The donation was from the band’s participation in Doc Rock for Health, an annual battle of the bands, which was hosted by the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance at Knoxville’s Old City earlier this year.

On June 19, Kim Maes, coordinator of the Hospitality Houses, was presented with the check. The houses have been the band’s longtime charity of choice for the event. Their participation has helped raise more than $10,000 for the Hospitality Houses.

Methodist’s Hospitality Houses primarily provide free lodging to families and patients who travel to Methodist for cancer treatment, as well as other outpatients who require extended treatment. [Read more…]

Police investigate robbery at check cashing store, set up perimeter at apartment building

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ORPD Matthew Johnston, Brandan Sharp, and Ray Steakley at Manhattan Apartments

Oak Ridge Police Department officers set up a perimeter around one building at Manhattan Apartments on North Purdue Avenue after a robbery was reported at the nearby Check Into Cash on South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon. Pictured above from left are Matthew Johnston, Brandan Sharp, and Ray Steakley.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:15 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Friday afternoon was investigating a reported robbery at a check cashing and payday loan store on South Illinois Avenue, and officers set up a perimeter at a nearby apartment building.

The robbery was reported at about 3:15 p.m. Friday at Check Into Cash at 361 South Illinois Avenue. Officers said it wasn’t clear what was taken.

Police set up a perimeter around a building at the nearby Manhattan Apartments on North Purdue Avenue, and several officers were carrying AR15 rifles as they appeared to conduct a search in and around the three-story building. But it wasn’t immediately clear if they were looking for a suspect or something else. [Read more…]

Roane County issues first same-sex marriage license

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane County Courthouse

The Roane County Courthouse in Kingston is pictured above. (File photo)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:30 p.m.

Roane County issued its first same-sex marriage license on Friday afternoon, just a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court backed gay marriage in a landmark 5-4 ruling.

The Roane County license was issued to two women at about 3 p.m. Friday, Roane County Clerk Barbara Anthony said. She said she can’t identify the two women.

Anthony declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s decision, which was celebrated in some circles and criticized in others.

“We just comply with the law,” Anthony said. [Read more…]

Man accused of robbing store with large knife, warrant says

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Yorlin Alverez Castillo

Yorlin Alverez Castillo

An Oak Ridge man remained jailed on Friday on a charge that he robbed the Tienda Nony Marketplace on Bus Terminal Road with a large knife on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Yorlin Alverez Castillo, 23, is accused of robbing the store at about 1:06 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A store employee told police that she had her 11-year-old son at work with her at the time, and the boy was behind the counter with her. Castillo allegedly came in the front door armed with a large knife, a deadly weapon, “placing the victims in fear,” Oak Ridge Police Department Detective William Weaver wrote in the warrant.

The employee told Weaver that Castillo’s face was covered with a bandana, and he wore a gray sweatshirt and sweat pants.

“He went up to the counter and stated, ‘It’s a robbery,'” the warrant said. “The victim stated, ‘Yorlin, don’t do this, my son is here.'” [Read more…]

HED: Silica ‘spiky screws’ could enhance industrial coatings, additive manufacturing

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

It took marine sponges millions of years to perfect their spike-like structures, but research mimicking these formations may soon alter how industrial coatings and 3-D printed objects are produced.

A molecular process developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory paves the way for improved silica structure design by introducing microscopic, segmented screw-like spikes that can more effectively bond materials for commercial use.

The study, conducted by Jaswinder Sharma and his colleagues Panos Datskos and David Cullen, has been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Authors said other applications of the screw-like spikes could include coatings for eyeglasses, television screens, commercial transportation, and even self-cleaning windows and roofs in rural and urban environments.

Created by emulsion droplets applied to a silica particle’s surface, the new, segmented spikes offer an alternative tool for material scientists and engineers that can better maintain and fuse bonds within a variety of microstructures. [Read more…]

Independence Day: ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Independence Day is one of America’s favorite holidays. And why not? Families and friends gather to celebrate our country with food, parades, parties, picnics, and fireworks.

For many, the celebration includes alcohol, but the holiday quickly goes from festive to fatal when people choose to drive after drinking, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a press release. From 2009 through 2013, nearly 40 percent of all traffic fatalities over the Fourth of July period occurred in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes.

To crack down on drunk driving this Independence Day weekend, Anderson County law enforcement will be out in full force, aggressively targeting those who put lives in danger, the press release said. Sheriff’s deputies will be out working to make our roadways safe. [Read more…]

ORUUC has free community meal on Friday, June 26 

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is inviting everyone to a free community meal on Friday, June 26.

The Stone Soup Ministry team will serve a summer menu that will include three bean salad, pimiento cheese sandwiches, ginger snaps, and fruit. Dine-in or take-out will be available in the ORUUC Social Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

Some nonperishable family friendly groceries will be available for free to anyone in need, a press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State selected as Center for Academic Excellence in Geospatial Sciences

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Roane State Community College, working in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, was recently selected as a designated Center for Academic Excellence in Geospatial Sciences.

Roane State, which offers one-year and two-year programs in geographic information systems, or GIS, was the only community college chosen for the program and joins 17 CAE GS academic institutions nationwide. Organized by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, the CAE GS program is a new endeavor designed to cultivate centers of academic excellence in geospatial sciences such as GIS.

“We are honored that our GIS program is recognized among several outstanding universities,” said Diane Ward, Roane State’s vice president of student learning. “The college’s selection for the program is a great example of the key role community colleges play in science, technology, engineering, and math education.” [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society presents Geocaching Workshop on July 28

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is sponsoring an Introduction to Geocaching Workshop for rising fifth- through eighth-grade students on Tuesday, July 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UT Arboretum.

The cost is $15 and is payable in advance. Advance registration is required, with a limit of 16 participants.

Students will learn the basics of using a GPS device, determining location, inputting waypoints, following a short course, hiding a cache, and finding caches hidden by others, a press release said. The Arboretum Society will provide the GPS devices for the class to use.

Janet Bigelow, a UTAS board member, will teach this workshop with help from other UTAS members. She is a semi-retired middle school teacher with 41 years of indoor and outdoor classroom experience. [Read more…]