Oak Ridge Today

ORAU employees recycle about 10,000 pounds of ‘technotrash,’ paper, shoes

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ORAU Earth Day

Annabel Fontaine shows off her ORAU Earth Day event T-shirt; the first 75 employees to participate in this event received one of these shirts. (Submitted photos)

For the fifth year in a row, Oak Ridge Associated Universities coordinated an annual event in conjunction with Earth Day to encourage ORAU’s 1,100 employees to bring in unwanted items from home to recycle, a press release said.

As part of this year’s two-day event on April 22-23, ORAU accepted a total of almost 10,000 pounds of technotrash (computers, related accessories, or other electronic items), paper for secure shredding, unwanted medicine as part of Operation Medicine Cabinet in collaboration with the Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Oak Ridge Police Department, and 414 pairs of “gently used” shoes to donate to those in need through the Soles4Souls nonprofit organization, the release said.

“ORAU’s Earth Day event has grown each year since its start in 2010 as many employees use it as a spring cleaning ritual; this event not only helps the environment by recycling unwanted items and those in need with the donation of shoes, it keeps unwanted medicine out of the hands of children or drug abusers with Operation Medicine Cabinet, which was a new element to this year’s event,” said Tom Wantland, ORAU’s director of Environment, Safety, and Health. “Employee feedback shows that employees want to recycle, because it is the right thing to do; as an added incentive, ORAU provides T-shirts to the first 75 employees who participate in the event.” [Read more…]

Sheriff: Man lying on home owner’s bed arrested for burglary, vandalism

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Michael Lee Smith

Michael Lee Smith

A Claxton man who appeared to be under the influence of drugs was found lying on a home owner’s bed in a house on Edgemoor Road on Thursday, and he was arrested on burglary and vandalism charges, authorities said.

The home owner found Michael Lee Smith, 31, of Old Edgemoor Road, inside the home when he returned home at about 6 a.m. Thursday, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. The resident said his van and motor home had been both burglarized and vandalized, a press release said.

The rear door of his home had also been damaged but it appeared secure, so the home owner did not initially believe anyone had entered his house, Sheriff Paul White said in the press release. [Read more…]

Band Arte Musica to perform tonight at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus

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Arte Musica

Arte Musica will play at Roane State tonight (April 25). Pictured above from left are Wade Darnell, Rudolph Nemeth, and Travis Witherington. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge band Arte Musica—consisting of pianist Rudolph Nemeth, banjoist Wade Darnell, and bassist Travis Witherington—will host its Spring Concert on Friday, April 25, at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the City Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Arte Musica (Latin for “The Art of Music”) formed in December of 2011 when the trio began crafting a unique repertoire that featured piano, banjo, and bass. Darnell and Witherington had studied music under Roane State professor Nemeth for several years before the band’s formation.

Arte Musica will have CDs for sale at the spring concert. For more information, visit www.artemusicaband.com.

ORNL equipment weighing 1,500 pounds falls on worker’s legs

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A piece of surplus equipment that weighs more than 1,500 pounds tipped over and fell onto the legs of an Oak Ridge National Laboratory worker on March 31, fracturing both legs and breaking his thumb, a spokesman said.

When it tipped over, a few ORNL employees were loading the scattering chamber and cart onto the box truck of a person who had purchased the equipment at an auction, said David Keim, ORNL communications director.

A few metal arms that protrude from the scattering chamber might have hit the floor of the truck and created some space between the “deceptively heavy” piece of equipment and the worker’s legs, preventing even more serious injuries, Keim said. Also, the chamber and cart might have hit other equipment already loaded into the back of the truck, also helping to prevent more serious injuries. [Read more…]

Anderson schools could rescind rejection of Oak Ridge Head Start application

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Oak Ridge Schools Administration Building

The Oak Ridge School Administration Building, which houses the Head Start and Preschool program, is pictured above.

Note: This story was updated at 4:50 p.m.

They rejected a Head Start application from Oak Ridge a few weeks ago, but Anderson County school officials could rescind it during a special meeting on Tuesday.

Officials from the two school systems have met and developed a 10-point plan that could be put into place for the 2014-2015 school year. The agreement would allow Oak Ridge to continue to receive funding for the city’s Head Start program through Anderson County, said Keys Fillauer, chair of the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

The agreement will be considered by the county school board during Tuesday’s meeting.

On April 10, the Anderson County Board of Education rejected Oak Ridge’s Head Start application over concerns about the falsification of federal data, specifically reports on the motor skills of children. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge could become first EPA-designated Green Power community in Southeast

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The City of Oak Ridge is on the verge of being selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Community, the first in the Southeast, a press release said.

The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy renewable energy. To be designated as a Green Power Community, a local government must purchase or produce green power in amounts that meet EPA minimum purchase requirements as determined by community electricity usage.

Green power is defined as electricity generated from renewable resources, such as wind, solar, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydropower. Oak Ridge Electric Department customers can buy Green-e Energy certified renewable energy through the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Power Switch program.

To qualify, local governments must also initiate a community-wide green power campaign to encourage renewable energy purchases. The City of Oak Ridge, playing off its nickname as the Secret City due to its historical origins, created a campaign called, “The Secret’s Out: Oak Ridge Loves Green Power,” to encourage residents and businesses to buy green power. [Read more…]

School board considers balanced calendar on Monday

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

The new “balanced” school calendar has twice been endorsed by a majority of Oak Ridge parents and school staff, and the school board on Monday is expected to consider whether to use the new calendar, which gives students about nine weeks of classroom instruction at a time, in the 2015-2016 school year.

The first vote was conducted through the Skylert callout system in February, and the second vote was in March. Parents and staff were asked whether they favor the traditional or balanced calendar.

The new calendar would apply to all schools, including Willow Brook and the PreSchool for the 2015-16 school year. The first vote callout took place Feb. 10.

The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an 11- to 12-week summer. [Read more…]

RSI offering $8,000 in college scholarships

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Restoration Services Inc. and its voluntary Employee Outreach Committee are offering eight $1,000 college scholarships, a press release said. The scholarships are designed to help students “achieve their greatest potential through higher education.”

Six scholarships will be awarded to graduating high school students who will be attending college in the upcoming fall 2014 semester. The other two scholarships will be awarded to children of RSI employees who are upcoming sophomores, juniors, or seniors currently enrolled in an accredited college for the 2014 fall semester.

Scholarship recipients will be selected from submitted applications that include academic accomplishments, community involvement/leadership roles, and an essay on current environmental threats. [Read more…]

Dispose of unused medicine safely at four locations Saturday

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ASAP Logo

Anderson County residents can get rid of their unused medicine on Saturday as the county participates in National Drug Take-Back Day sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Oak Ridge Police Department, Clinton Police Department, Norris Police Department, Lake City Police Department, and Oliver Springs Police Department, along with ASAP, will host the event as part of a continued effort to reduce drug abuse and practice stewardship toward our environment. Medication may be dropped off with officers between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Oak Ridge Police Department at 200 S. Tulane Ave. or dropped in the bin at the locations listed below. All packaging materials will be recycled.

  • Clinton Police Department—125 W. Broad St., Clinton
  • Lake City Police Department—104 Lawson St., Lake City
  • Norris Police Department—9 West Circle Road, Norris
  • Oliver Springs Police Department—701 Main St., Oliver Springs [Read more…]

Staff size at Y-12, Pantex could be reduced through voluntary separations

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above.

The staff size at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, could be reduced as a new federal contractor takes over. Officials expect the staff reductions to be less than 5 percent, and they say that most, if not all, of the staff reductions could come through voluntary separation programs.

The voluntary separation programs, or VSPs, were announced on April 15 by B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Dave Richardson and B&W Pantex President and General Manager John Woolery.

In his message to Y-12 workers, Richardson said the National Nuclear Security Administration had directed the plants to conduct the VSPs as part of the implementation of the staffing plan for Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the new contractor at the two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

The Y-12 VSP will be targeted to specific job classifications and roles identified by CNS, Richardson said. Only employees in those specific classifications and roles will be eligible to apply for the VSP.

“Currently, B&W Y-12 is in the process of putting together a VSP plan that is in alignment with CNS’ staffing desires,” Richardson said last week. “We will submit our VSP plan later this week. Once this plan is approved by NNSA, we’ll communicate more details to you; specifically, each person eligible to participate in the VSP will be notified.” [Read more…]

Forecast calls for good weather for Earth Day Festival on Saturday

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Earth Day Logo

Submitted

With temperatures forecasted to be 80 degrees and no chance of rain, it looks like Saturday will be a great day to celebrate our lush green environment and play outdoors. Keep Anderson County Beautiful will be hosting the seventh annual Earth Day Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

A big emphasis in this year’s festival will be showing children how to play ”neighborhood games” that require simple instructions and no costly equipment. Believe it or not some kids don’t know how to play hopscotch or play double jump rope (see demo here) or even sing the child’s rhythmic, ” Strawberry Shortcake, huckleberry pie…”

Many other simple games will be demonstrated with time for kids to learn how to play. Student chess club players will help novices learn how to play with large and traditional size chess pieces. There will be a recycle relay and basketball free throw, bocce, croquet, flying discs, and ladder ball. Prizes will be offered. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum to have presentation on bats on Thursday

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Bat at UT Arboretum

Northern Long-eared Bat (Photos courtesy of Middleton Photos)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum will host a presentation on bats—“Let’s Go BAT-ty”—from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Gerry Middleton, a biologist who has studied bats extensively, will present a slide show at the Visitor’s Center to discuss his two-year study of Arboretum bats. Using his “bat detector,” he will take the group outside to look for the nocturnal creatures.

A biologist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in the U.S. Department of Energy-Oversight Office, Middleton promised that this will be an opportunity for all ages to learn more about the local bat population, a press release said. Middleton has an master’s degree in wildlife and fisheries from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]