Oak Ridge Today

Roane County Chamber has new board chair, members

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Gail Lyke

Gail Lyke

The Roane County Chamber of Commerce board of directors has a new chair and members.

The board chair for the 2014-2015 year is Gail Lyke, vice president and branch manager at First Bank of Tennessee in Rockwood. Lyke officially took over July 17 from outgoing board chair Chris Ahler of Visionary Horizons Wealth Management at the Chamber’s first board meeting of the new fiscal year. Lyke previously served as the Chamber’s treasurer for the past two years and has served on the board since 2008.

Lyke was named the 2013 Chamber Woman of the Year. She is a graduate of Leadership Roane County and serves on the Leadership Roane County Alumni Association Board, as well as the Roane County Association of Women Executives, where she previously served as past president, and as a member of the Rockwood Civitan Club. Lyke also served on the Rockwood Planning Commission.

Lyke said her focus for the year will be to work with the board of directors and the president to “help facilitate the transition and changes that have been put in place to move the Chamber into a new value-added membership structure, encouraging both membership growth and retention.” [Read more…]

Second meeting on AMSE features regional museum executives

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The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

 

The second in a series of community meetings on the American Museum of Science and Energy will feature executives from regional museums and attractions. They will discuss how their museums were established and developed, and how each is currently managed and operated.

The executives who are participating are:

  • John Joslyn, owner/operator of The Titanic Museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri;
  • Leah Ross, executive director of Birthplace of Country Music Museum and Association in Bristol, Virginia, and Tennessee; and
  • Ellie Kittrell, executive director of The MUSE Knoxville (formerly The Discovery Center).

The community meeting is sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge and the American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation. It’s scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, August 19, at AMSE. [Read more…]

What’s happening in Oak Ridge from Aug. 14-20

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Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge from Thursday, August 14, and continuing through August 20.

This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]

UCOR donates $50,000 for UT faculty fellowship

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UCOR UT Check Presentation

Pictured at the check presentation ceremony, from left, are J. Wesley Hines, head of the UT Department of Nuclear Engineering; Wayne Davis, dean for the UT College of Engineering; Matt Marston, UCOR chief operating officer; fellow Jason Hayward; and Jimmy Cheek, UT chancellor. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

 

UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, presented the University of Tennessee with a $50,000 check this week for a faculty fellowship in the university’s College of Engineering.

This check was the latest installment of a $250,000 commitment UCOR, a partnership between URS and CH2M Hill, has made to the university, a press release said.

“As a cleanup contractor of a nuclear site, UCOR is committed to ensuring continued excellence in nuclear education,” said Matt Marston, UCOR chief operating officer. “This fellowship is an important step to fulfilling that commitment.”

The recipient of the fellowship, Jason Hayward, is an assistant fellow in the College of Engineering’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. Since arriving at the University of Tennessee in 2008, Hayward has focused on research in the areas of detector science and development of gamma ray and neutron imaging for applications in nuclear security, neutron scattering science, and medical imaging, the press release said. [Read more…]

Special judge appointed in ouster suit

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Don R. Ash

Don R. Ash

A special judge has been appointed to hear the ouster suit filed against the Anderson County law director in May, and hearing dates will be discussed with attorneys in the case during an August 19 telephone conference, officials said.

Senior Judge Don R. Ash of Murfreesboro was appointed to hear the case by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade, said Michele Wojciechowski, communications director for the Tennessee State Courts.

Ash is a former judge in Rutherford County, and he is assigned to cases throughout the state that need a special judge. [Read more…]

ORAU hosts Graduate Student Recruitment Fair

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Neil Brown at ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair

Neil Brown, right,, a senior majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, discusses his research during the 15th annual ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Following a full day of poster sessions where they presented the outcome of summer research projects completed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, more than 200 students from across the United States gathered at ORNL Thursday for the 15th annual ORAU Graduate Student Recruitment Fair.

Each year, the event is timed to correspond with the ORNL poster session to leverage the students’ excitement over their summer research achievements and to encourage enthusiasm for further expanding their education.

With representatives from the nation’s premier research graduate programs available in one room, the fair provided students the ability to explore possible future educational opportunities, as well as compare and contrast graduate programs. [Read more…]

TVA: Watts Bar Unit 2 more than 90 percent complete, key milestones ahead

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Watts Bar Unit 2 Nuclear Reactor Vessel

The core barrel being lowered into the Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear reactor vessel. The core barrel is over 33 feet tall and weighs 282,000 pounds and will hold 193 nuclear fuel assemblies. Once operational by the end of 2015, Watts Bar Unit 2 will produce approximately 1,150 megawatts of carbon free electricity, enough for 650,000 homes. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)

 

SPRING CITY—The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant’s Unit 2 reactor is more than 90 percent complete and moving through key testing to become the nation’s first new nuclear generation of the 21st century.

In the eighth quarterly report since TVA revised its estimate to complete the project, TVA said Monday that Watts Bar Unit 2 continues to meet safety and quality targets and remains on schedule and within budget to become the first U.S. reactor to generate “new” power in nearly two decades, and the first since Watts Bar Unit 1 in 1996.

Watts Bar Unit 2 is projected to begin commercial operation between September 2015 and June 2016, with a most likely date by December 2015. The project has a projected completion cost between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, with a most likely target of $4.2 billion.

Testing of individual and combined plant systems is under way, TVA said in the latest quarterly update, covering February to April 2014. The first major system test, called open vessel testing, began ahead of schedule during the period and was completed earlier this summer. OVT involves pumping water into the reactor vessel through systems used when shutting down the reactor and in support of nuclear operations. [Read more…]

School board restores bus service this year

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Oak Ridge School Bus Protest

A small group of parents and students protest the expanded “parent responsibility zone,” where bus service is not provided, before an Oak Ridge Board of Education meeting on Monday. The board agreed during the meeting to restore bus service to last year’s levels. Pictured above from left are Michelle Doka, Melanie Heiberg, Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, protest organizer Laurie Paine, and her daughter Kaitlan Paine.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m. August 12.

After hearing impassioned pleas from parents and grandparents, the Oak Ridge school board on Monday temporarily restored bus service to about 1,300 students who had been affected by an expanded but controversial “parent responsibility zone.” Parents of students who lived within that zone were responsible for getting their children to and from schools; bus service was not provided.

The parent responsibility zone, or PRZ, was expanded to 1.5 miles in June as part of a move to reduce a $1.25 million budget deficit. But parents of elementary and middle school students, in particular, objected to having students as young as five years old cross busy four-lane roadways like Oak Ridge Turnpike or Illinois Avenue to get to school, or walk past the homes of registered sex offenders or down roads with no sidewalks.

Parents, including single mothers, also expressed concerns about losing their jobs because they have to leave work early to pick up their children. They also said the expanded parent responsibility zone, which some call a “walk zone,” had a disproportionate impact on low-income families and elementary school children. They were disappointed by a lack of crossing guards near their schools, where their children or grandchildren cross busy roads. (City officials say they are accepting applications for crossing guards.)

“This is too dangerous,” resident Regina Wood said. “The safest way to get these kids to school is a bus,” resident Bill Dodge said.

On Monday, after a series of protests that started in July, the Oak Ridge Board of Education agreed in a 4-1 vote to use $300,000 in one-time money from the school system’s fund balance to restore the bus routes this year and then study the issue comprehensively before the next school year—or try to obtain more funding. The Monday night vote essentially reverses the June decision.

The bus routes likely won’t be restored immediately however, and possibly not until October. Among other things, up to three school bus drivers might need to be hired for an additional six routes, and buses will have to be made “road ready.” Still, advocates of restoring bus service were pleased for now. [Read more…]

Roane State has Sept. 5 ribbon-cutting for new health, sciences building

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Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building

The ribbon-cutting for the new Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus will be Friday, September 5, at 8:30 a.m. The public is invited. (Submitted photo)

 

Roane State Community College will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, September 5, for the new Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building at the college’s Oak Ridge campus.

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. The public is invited.

“We would love for the community to see the new building and to meet our faculty and students,” said Melinda Hillman, Roane State vice president of advancement and community relations. “Students will have wonderful learning opportunities in the new building, all thanks to the community’s support for this project. We are deeply appreciative and invite everyone to celebrate with us.”

The 64,000-square-foot, three-story building will help ease overcrowding at the Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue. Originally designed for 1,800 students, the campus has 2,500 students. The building will accommodate 500 students and give Roane State the space to offer new programs in health care and technology. [Read more…]

Clinton’s Scarbrough named ‘Police Chief of the Year’

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Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough

Rick Scarbrough

Information from WYSH Radio

Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough has been named the 2014 “Police Chief of The Year” by the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.

The award was presented Friday night during an awards banquet at the 44th Annual TACP Conference. The event was held at the Marriott Hotel in Chattanooga.

The association is made up of chiefs and command staffs throughout the state.

Scarbrough was selected by his peers to receive the honor.

Sheriff: Aryan Nations member charged in attempted murder of Oak Ridge man

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Cameron Reid Lowry

Cameron Reid Lowry

A Powell member of the Aryan Nations gang has been charged with attempted murder in a gang-related assault on a 31-year-old Oak Ridge man in November, authorities said.

Cameron Reid Lowry, 35, of West Emory Road in Powell, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. Lowry was arrested Saturday after he was indicted by the Anderson County grand jury, White said. Lowry’s bond has been set at $100,000.

White said the arrest is the result of an investigation that has been under way for several months and involved cooperation between the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and the 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force, which includes officers from the Sheriff’s Department, and the Oak Ridge, Clinton, Lake City, and Oliver Springs police departments, as well as the District Attorney General’s Office. [Read more…]

New Circuit Court clerk winner after Roane recount

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On Thursday, it looked like candidate Sarah E. Stewart had won the election for Roane County Circuit Court clerk.

But there was a new winner after a Friday recount: candidate Ann Goldston, who is now a deputy clerk.

Roane County election officials recounted every vote in Thursday’s state primary and county general election after an early voting memory card that had stored about 1,300 votes was not turned in. Election officials called it a human error.

The recount showed Goldston won 4,876 votes (41.5 percent) to Stewart’s 4,538 (38.6 percent). The earlier results, before the recount, showed a narrow win for Stewart.

Finishing in third in that race in both counts was Marty Miles, who had 2,349 votes (20 percent) in the recount. [Read more…]