Oak Ridge Today

McNally to chair Finance Committee, Yager to head State and Local Government

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Randy McNally

Randy McNally

Tennessee Senator Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, will chair the Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, and Senator Ken Yager, a Harriman Republican, will chair State and Local Government.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican, announced the Tennessee Senate committee assignments for the 109th General Assembly on Saturday. Ramsey was elected to his fifth term as Speaker of the Senate on Tuesday.

“The most important job I have as Speaker of the Senate is appointing the committees that hear and deliberate the legislation before us as representatives of the people of Tennessee,” Ramsey said. “Making sure the right people are on the right committees ensures not only that good legislation gets passed but that all legislation receives a fair hearing and a thorough vetting.” [Read more…]

Relay for Life kickoff scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29

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American Cancer Society Relay for Life

The kickoff for this year’s Relay for Life of Oak Ridge is scheduled for Thursday evening, January 29.

During the kickoff, volunteers and participants will launch fundraising efforts for 2015. The kickoff will be at the Holiday Inn Express at 114 Tulsa Road from 5:30-7 p.m. January 29.

Anyone interested in learning more about this event and current team captains/members is invited to attend, a press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Today undergoing site maintenance

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Hello all. We are doing site maintenance at Oak Ridge Today and are not able to post at this time. We hope to be back to normal soon. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Free family concert Sunday features ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ ‘Spring’

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Martha Damiano

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will present “Peter and the Wolf” and Vivaldi’s “Spring” in a free family concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, January 25, at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Children are invited to come early for paper puppet making and instrument making beginning at 2 p.m. at the museum at 461 West Outer Drive. The museum is offering free admission from 1-5 p.m. Sunday to support the concert.

Puppets from the “Peter and the Wolf” story are in the Anna Cebrat Puppet Room at the museum, where children may act out the story in the puppet theater in the week leading up to the concert. [Read more…]

Anderson County, Clinton schools closed Friday due to icy conditions

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Light Snow Image

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown.

 

Anderson County Schools will be closed Friday, January 16, due to icy conditions in many parts of the county, officials said. The Central office will follow the inclement weather procedure.

Clinton City Schools will also be closed Friday, January 16, because of the expected weather conditions, officials said.

The forecast near Oak Ridge calls for decreasing clouds and a low of 29 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday night. Friday is expected to be sunny, with a high near 47 and a calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.

Video from Friday’s presidential visit by 134th Air Refueling Wing

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President Obama Visits McGhee Tyson

This is a still image from a video of President Obama arriving at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa during a 5.5-hour visit to East Tennessee on Friday afternoon, January 9, 2015. (Video by 134th Air Refueling Wing)

 

The 134th Air Refueling Wing gave assistance to Air Force One during landing and takeoff at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa when President Barack Obama visited East Tennessee on Friday afternoon, January 9.

Air Force Two, carrying Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, also landed and departed from McGhee Tyson on Friday.

A third plane, a C-17, was also at McGhee Tyson to carry the presidential motorcade.

Here is a short video Friday’s visit at McGhee Tyson by the 134th Air Refueling Wing and Airman 1st Class Darby Arnold and Senior Airman Jackie Keeney. The video is posted online at DVIDS, the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System. It includes a short excerpt of Air Force One taking off from McGhee Tyson.

Council, School Board to discuss Preschool, Administration Building today

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Oak Ridge Preschool and School Administration Building

Oak Ridge school officials have previously considered four options to replace or renovated the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building on New York Avenue. Officials say the building needs to be renovated or vacated for the Head Start program to receive funding in the 2015-2016 school year.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education have a joint meeting this evening (Thursday, January 15) to discuss the Preschool and School Administration Building, a 70-year-old building that officials have been hoping to replace for years.

In December, the City Council and BOE toured a building on Mitchell Road that could be a new home for the Preschool. It’s one of several proposed options that have been recently discussed. Others include repairing the existing building on New York Avenue or building a new facility. Officials have largely ruled out splitting up the Preschool and hosting students in classrooms at the city’s elementary schools.

Education officials say the Preschool has to be renovated or vacated by next year in order for the school system to continue to receive federal Head Start funding. [Read more…]

U.S., Tennessee, community college officials react to president’s education proposal

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Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and U.S. representatives Chuck Fleischmann and John J. Duncan Jr., all Republicans, released statements or commented on the East Tennessee visit by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, on Friday and his proposal to make the first two years of community college free to responsible students. Pellissippi State Community College President Anthony Wise and Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley also released statements or commented on the visit and education proposal.

The president’s proposal, America’s College Promise, will be proposed in his State of the Union on January 20, and it is modeled after the Tennessee Promise.

Here’s what the officials from Tennessee said:

Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam was among the Tennessee leaders who received praise from the president during Obama’s 5.5-hour visit to East Tennessee on Friday. (Photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam

The president recognizes that good things are happening in Tennessee. We are proud of the Tennessee Promise. It is changing the culture of expectations in Tennessee by encouraging more students to pursue a certificate or degree beyond high school. The Tennessee Promise is focused not just on access but success in terms of making certain that students actually attain their degree. We think having a mentor available for the students is an important part of achieving that success.

Regarding the specifics of the president’s plan, we look forward to seeing more details in the coming days about the cost of the program and how it will be covered. [Read more…]

Library has limited tax forms this year

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Submitted

The Oak Ridge Public Library has supplied the community with federal and state tax forms for the past several years. This year, the United States Internal Revenue Service is severely limiting the amount and types of forms the library and other institutions can order for the public.

For tax year 2014, only the 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ forms will be available at the Library. No instruction booklets or other forms or schedules will be received for the public. No employer tax forms will be available at the Library, including W-2, W-3, W-4, and instructions for these forms. Form 1096, Annual Summary, and Transmittal of U. S. Information Returns, and Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income, will not be available at the Library.

Most tax forms not available at the Library can be printed for the cost of 10 cents a page from the IRS website at www.irs.gov. [Read more…]

Password storage programs to be discussed at PC Users Group meeting Thursday

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Tired of trying to find where you saved your computer passwords? In these days of hacks, we need a strong, unique, and often-changed password for every site. Using the same password over and over is a really bad idea, but remembering dozens of passwords just isn’t feasible. That’s where a password storage program can help.

The Oak Ridge PC Users Group will be discussing their favorite password storage programs at the monthly meeting on Thursday, January 15, at 7 p.m. at New Life Church of the Nazarene at 200 Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge. The meeting begins with a question-and-answer session on computer problems and solutions. All PC users are invited to attend.

ORPCUG strives to provide an opportunity for computer users to exchange ideas, knowledge, and experience in order to increase the understanding and use of personal computers. For more information, contact George Murphy at (865) 482-9175.

Cold hands, warm hearts: Leaders to sleep outside to raise awareness of homelessness

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Several community leaders will spend the night of Thursday, January 15, sleeping outside at First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge to raise awareness of homelessness and to collect linens and personal care items for the upcoming Warming Center project and bring attention to the need for volunteers to help with the Point in Time Count.

The community is invited to participate by coming out to support the sleep-out participants from 6-7 p.m. Thursday. There will be a free soup dinner. All community members are invited to attend.

Local homeless providers will be present to talk about their agencies and what they are providing to homeless individuals in our community. Information on the warming center project and the Point in Time Count will also be available. [Read more…]

Guest column: Becoming a healthy community

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Stability and growth of that complex system called a community depends on honesty, equality, fairness, balance, foresight, continuity, healthy relationships, maturity, safety, common goals, and recognizable successes shared among all community members and good leadership.

Industry and government facilities were having great difficulty attracting highly educated and qualified professionals to Oak Ridge despite competitive salaries in the new millennium. One of the attractions that might help this problem was thought to be the existence of superior schools for the children of those professionals, combined with attractive, upscale housing.

As is so typical in Oak Ridge, many bright minds saw only their need and targeted the solution they hypothesized would make it work. Also, as so often happens with brilliant focused minds, the complexity of the economic and social organization, its influence, and the needs of the whole community were not factored into the equation. There was an assumption that the hypothesis of good schools, combined with an abundance of attractive housing, would solve the problem. So, $67 million was spent on building and equipping a state-of-the-art high school with amenities usually limited to high-priced, private, college prep schools. This, despite the critical need for a new preschool facility having been very high on the official city list of capital needs for over a decade. [Read more…]