Oak Ridge Today

Get your tickets to support MMC Casino Night 2014

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MMC Casino Night

Grab your best girl and swing into Methodist Medical Center’s Casino Night 2014! The 40s-themed event will celebrate Oak Ridge’s heritage as a military town, and promises to be a night of fun, food and fancy footwork. (Photo courtesy MMC)

Tickets are still available for the Methodist Medical Center Foundation’s Casino Night 2014: Secrets, Science and Swing on Saturday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the New Hope Center at Y-12. This year’s theme hearkens back to the early days of Oak Ridge when the street were in mud, couples were in the mood, and mum was the word.

Guests at Casino Night will enjoy dinner and dancing, as well as silent and live auctions that include tickets to local and national attractions, local art, fine jewelry, weekend getaways, and week-long trips in the Rocky Mountains, Sunset Beach, and the Caribbean. The band Soul Candy and the Traffic Jam will provide late night entertainment. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge building bathrooms, changing rooms at Melton Lake Park

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Oak Ridge Marina Bathrooms

Workers build a block wall, patch and texture the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park.

One section of a former Chinese restaurant at Melton Lake Park has already been converted into a rental shop for kayaks and bikes.

Now, another part of the city-owned building at the Oak Ridge Marina is being converted into public restrooms and changing rooms for big events. The bathrooms, which will be open to the public, could open next month.

It’s one of the steps in implementing a waterfront development plan approved by Oak Ridge City Council in December 2009. That plan included such features as a new picnic pavilion, walking trails, new playground, permanent restrooms, enhanced lighting and landscaping, outdoor casual dining, and recreational equipment rental.

The bathrooms will include multiple stalls, and the city will open the changing rooms for large events, such as regattas (rowing races). That will double the restroom capacities, said Pat Fallon, operations and maintenance manager for the Oak Ridge Public Works Department. [Read more…]

Adventures Outdoors rents kayaks, bikes at Oak Ridge Marina

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Kayaks under Melton Lake Drive

Above, kayaks from Adventures Outdoors are taken through a tunnel under Melton Lake Drive. (Photos courtesy Karen Lloyd)

Adventures Outdoors is open again, renting kayaks, bicycles, and stand up paddle boards at the Oak Ridge Marina.

The company has a new, larger, remodeled home inside part of the former New China Palace restaurant on the waterfront and a new five-year lease with the city, said Karen Lloyd, Adventures Outdoors owner.

Adventures Outdoors has 20 kayaks, including boats for one and two people, a new kayak launching dock, and five-person pedal boats. The rentals includes bikes for adults and children, as well as Trikkes, which are three-wheeled “carving vehicles.”

Lloyd said Adventures Outdoors opened for the season on April 1 and will remain open through Oct. 31. [Read more…]

Stone Soup Ministry serving free community meal Friday

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Stone Soup Community Meal

From left to right, volunteers Jinx Watson, Beatrice Holt, Todd Sherline, and daughter Poppy prepare for guests at a recent ORUUC Stone Soup Free Community Meal. The next meal will be served on April 25. (File photo)

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will be serving a free community meal on Friday, April 25. Dine-in or takeout will be available from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Social Hall of the church.

This month’s meal includes homemade tomato soup, sandwiches, chocolate cupcakes, and milk.

The Stone Soup Ministry free community meal is held the last Friday of every month at the same time in the Social Hall of the church. Food for the free monthly meal is provided by the ORUUC congregation along with financial support from several members of the Oak Ridge Community. [Read more…]

Community meal at Oak Ridge Family Bible Church on Wednesday

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Oak Ridge Family Bible Church Logo

Oak Ridge Family Bible Church will host its monthly community meal, Dinner with our Neighbor, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

This event began a number of years ago and has not just been feeding the community, but has also been a time of building relationships and helping neighbors during lonely and difficult times, a press release said.

The Rev. Robert May said: “There are many folks in our area that will sit down to have a meal alone, and it is our aim to give them an opportunity to have a meal with someone who cares and possibly make some new friends. Also, there may be some folks that are finding it difficult to feed their family, and the dinner we serve might relieve that pressure.” [Read more…]

Altrusa to host author Jay Searcy on Wednesday

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Jay Searcy

Jay Searcy

On Wednesday, the Oak Ridge chapter of  Altrusa Club International will be hosting Jay Searcy from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel.

Searcy is an acclaimed newspaper man and author of “The Last Reunion.” The topic of his presentation is  “The Last Reunion—Stories of wartime life in Oak Ridge.”

The Doubletree Hotel is located at 215 S. Illinois Ave.

Sewer rehabilitation work continues in Oak Ridge; schedule for week of April 21

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Sewer rehabilitation in Oak Ridge continues for the week of April 21. Residents should have already received color letters and door hangers providing general information and the applicable contractor’s contact information. The letters and door hangers are orange for Hurst Excavating and purple for Morgan Contracting.

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists are urged to use extra care and caution when traveling on the streets with sewer work areas, a press release said. Temporary road repairs will be made, and loose gravel should be expected until the patches are permanently paved.

[Read more…]

Boat destroyed by fire on Norris Lake

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Norris Lake Boat Fire

A boat was destroyed by fire on Norris Lake on Monday morning. (Photo by TWRA)

ANDERSONVILLE—A wakeboard boat caught fire and burned late Monday morning on Norris Lake shortly after being launched at Anderson County Park, state officials said.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency responded to the reported boat fire at about 11 a.m. Monday. The 2012 22-foot Supra wakeboard boat was being driven by an unidentified woman, and it was completely engulfed by a fire that started near the vessel’s engine when TWRA Wildlife Officer Jason Lankford responded.

The woman’s husband informed Lankford that he had just launched the vessel when his wife took the boat down the lake for a short ride while he was parking the vehicle. The man also noted that the engine’s power ventilation system, which is designed to help prevent boat fires, was being used as the vessel was launched. [Read more…]

Anderson Schools rejects Oak Ridge Head Start application over false federal data

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Larry Foster

Larry Foster

Note: This story was last updated at 8:35 p.m.

Anderson County Schools director optimistic that resolution will be reached

By John Huotari and Sara Wise

They had concerns about the alleged falsification of federal documents that contained data on motor skills of children, so Anderson County school officials rejected Oak Ridge’s application for Head Start funding in the 2014-2015 school year.

The decision could affect roughly $700,000 in funding, or enough to cover about 118 students in the Oak Ridge Head Start program, a federal entitlement program for low-income children. Anderson County Schools supervises the local Head Start program.

But Anderson County Schools Director Larry Foster said the county school board’s unanimous April 10 decision could be rescinded based upon collaboration between the two school systems. Representatives of the two systems have already had discussions, and school board chairs are expected to discuss what can be done to resolve funding for next year.

“Hopefully, this can be resolved,” Foster said during a brief break in a Monday morning Anderson County Commission meeting in Clinton. [Read more…]

Two caught while carrying items from home after burglary, sheriff says

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Dustin Adam Bunch

Dustin Adam Bunch

Two men were caught carrying items from a home right after an alleged Thursday afternoon burglary in Marlow, authorities said.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a burglary-in-progress call on Pine Ridge Lane off East Wolf Valley Road near Clinton at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. A neighbor had reported two men breaking into a nearby home, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. [Read more…]

Energy Secretary Moniz to give lecture on energy, environment at UT on Friday

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will give a lecture on energy and the environment at the University of Tennessee on Friday. It’s free and open to the public, a press release said.

Moniz will also talk about the U.S. Department of Energy and its activities in Tennessee, a press release said.

It’s the Baker Distinguished Lecture on Energy and the Environment, and it’s scheduled from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the UT College of Law, Room 132. Overflow seating will be available in Room 135, and the event will be streamed live here.

The College of Law is at at 1505 W. Cumberland Ave. in Knoxville. Paid public parking will be available in the Volunteer Hall Garage. A map of campus is available at utk.edu/maps. [Read more…]

County Commission candidate proposes drug testing for elected officials

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Lynn Byrge

Lynn Byrge

Note: This story was updated at 11:25 p.m.

CLINTON—A candidate for Anderson County Commission has proposed drug testing for county commissioners and other elected officials.

“They should be sober-minded,” said Lynn Byrge, one of four candidates for two seats in District 5, which includes Marlow, Dutch Valley, and Oliver Springs. The incumbents are Jerry White and Robert McKamey. Carl D. Beaty is also running.

Byrge made the proposal during a Monday morning Anderson County Commission meeting in Clinton.

“I think that’s appropriate not only for county commissioners, but for all elected officials,” Byrge said. [Read more…]