Oak Ridge Today

Neighborhood Watch hosts pancake breakfast Saturday

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Neighborhood Watch March Clean-up

Jerrold Eaton, Woodland block captain with the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program, joins volunteers from Neighborhood Watch and Central Baptist Church to clear brush away from the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Tulane Avenues and Providence Road recently. The ORNWP pancake breakfast supports activities of Neighborhood Watch. (Submitted photo)

 

Join your neighbors at a Community Pancake Breakfast from 8-10 a.m. Saturday, April 18, hosted by the Oak Ridge Police Department Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program.

The breakfast will be held at Applebee’s, 1213 Oak Ridge Turnpike, and tickets are $5. Tickets are available at the door.

The breakfast offers residents an opportunity to learn more about the city’s Neighborhood Watch crime prevention program. Neighborhood Watch block captains and district leaders will serve breakfast at the event. [Read more…]

City, schools have Community Wellness Fair on April 22

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The City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools will have a Community Wellness Fair on Wednesday, April 22.

The Wellness Fair is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 22 at Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The Wellness Fair includes a wide range of activities that include blood pressure checks, doctor’s chats, exercise tips, shingle vaccines, breast and men’s health, and dental, hearing, and diabetic foot screenings. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Orchestra plays at Dogwood Arts Festival on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Performing at the 2014 Dogwoods Arts Festival. (Photo courtesy of John Fairstein)

 

Daniel Webb

Daniel Webb

As part of the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra will be performing famous and memorable music in Knoxville’s Market Square from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

The free concert will feature the lively “Figaro Aria” sung by Daniel Webb, the emphatic fourth movement from the “New World Symphony” by Dvořák, the raucous “Polovtsian Dances” by Borodin, and the hand-clapping “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss (Sr.).  This is a great way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon while browsing the shops at the Dogwoods Arts Festival.

The “Barber of Seville” is a familiar opera by Gioachino Antonio Rossini, premiering in 1816. The most famous aria from that opera is probably “Largo al Factotum,” in which the central figure, Figaro, vigorously touts his prowess as a barber and local facilitator of “everything.” The articulation and style in this aria are so impressive that Warner Brothers, Walter Lantz, and Hanna Barbera studios couldn’t resist featuring it in cartoon parodies. [Read more…]

Tuesday fire apparently started in kitchen microwave

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A Tuesday night fire on Bland Road in Anderson County apparently started in a kitchen microwave, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department responded.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Michael A. Poole said he saw smoke pouring out of the front door of the home when he arrived, but no visible flames. Firefighters were already inside trying to extinguish the fire. [Read more…]

Two charged with robbery after alleged attack, skateboard theft

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Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Two East Tennessee men have been charged with robbery after allegedly attacking a boy riding a skateboard in a parking lot at Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge on Sunday and stealing his skateboard.

Nicholas A. Turnbill, 19, of Harriman, allegedly came up behind the victim and hit him on the back of the head with a closed fist and “turned back around, kicking him in the head while the victim was on the ground,” according to a a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

“The defendant and his accomplice used violence and attacked the victim, committing theft by taking the defendant’s skateboard,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Thomas Bolling wrote. [Read more…]

Guest column: 2015 OREA salary, benefits proposal

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Note: This is a copy of comments by Oak Ridge Education Association Co-President Steve Reddick during a March 30 meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Education, when teachers and principals requested a 4 percent salary increase in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

2015 OREA Salary and Benefits Proposal

Good evening,

On behalf of the certified teaching staff of the Oak Ridge Schools, OREA is honored to present to you our FY ’16 salary and benefits proposal.

As in years past, we make this proposal with eyes wide open and without illusions: [Read more…]

Friends of Oak Ridge Animal Shelter has yard sale for shelter animals

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Friends of Oak Ridge Animal Shelter is having a yard sale, Sales 4 Tails, to benefit shelter animals on Saturday, April 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be held in the parking lot at Security Square on Oak Ridge Turnpike across from Methodist Medical Center.

Donated items for the sale are being solicited from the public. For a list of items needed and to schedule a time to drop off items, please send an email to friendsofoakridgeanimalshelter@gmail.com. [Read more…]

Public invited to Chamber’s Primetime on Thursday

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The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Spring Primetime networking event will be held on Thursday, April 16.

Close to 50 Chamber-member organizations have already reserved exhibit space for the event, which is titled “Fiesta Primetime.” It will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday under the tent in the parking lot of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Primetime is one of the Chamber’s biggest networking events of the year. Anyone—Chamber member or not—is encouraged to attend. [Read more…]

ORION astronomy club meeting features UT professor on Wednesday

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The Wednesday meeting of the ORION astronomy club will feature Professor Denise Phillips, director of graduate studies in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Her presentation, “Can Peasants Be Scientists? Debates about the Social Reach of Science in the 18th-Century Europe,” is from her current book project, which includes both lay and professional astronomers.

The meeting is at the Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge at 7 p.m. Wednesday April 15. (See http://orionastronomy.wordpress.com, for more information.)

ORION has supported educational and astronomy activities in Oak Ridge and the surrounding region since 1974. These include the free public star gazes at the Tamke-Allan Observatory in Rockwood scheduled on the first and third Saturday of the month. (See www.roanestate.edu/TAO or contact David E. Fields at fieldsde@roanestate.edu.)

Youth Showcase, Auction helps Child Advocacy Center on Saturday

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Youth Showcase and Auction

Submitted photo

 

The Youth Showcase and Auction on Saturday will benefit the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County.

It’s the second annual event, and it starts at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Grove Theater in Oak Ridge.

“Enjoy live performances by local talented youth, including musicians, singers, dancers, and a magician,” an event flyer said. “Matt Shafer Powell will be our master of ceremonies, and a delicious taco bar and desserts will be provided.” [Read more…]

Council approves ORHS stoplight contract in 4-3 vote

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Stoplight at Oak Ridge High School

In a 4-3 vote Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved a contract to install a traffic signal at the Oak Ridge High School on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:42 a.m. April 15.

The City Council approved a contract to install a stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School in a 4-3 vote on Monday.

Public Works Director Gary Cinder said the light will be green most of the time on Oak Ridge Turnpike. But it will turn red when cars are leaving the High School, giving those drivers a green light.

And the traffic signal lights will turn all-red when pedestrians are crossing, Cinder said. [Read more…]

Kevin Hall named DOE Oak Ridge Office manager

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Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall

The U.S. Department of Energy has named Kevin Hall as the manager of its Oak Ridge Office. Hall has served as the office’s deputy manager since April 2013.

As manager, Hall oversees the Oak Ridge Integrated Support Center, which provides critical mission support services in the personnel, finance, budget, procurement, legal, security, and emergency management, and employee health and safety on a local and national level, a press release said.

Hall is also responsible for managing the 33,500-acre Oak Ridge Reservation. This function involves managing issues that impact areas surrounding Oak Ridge National Laboratory, East Tennessee Technology Park, and National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, and leading projects that may affect multiple sites. [Read more…]