Oak Ridge Today

Anderson sheriff joins state, local police in ‘Drive to Zero Fatalities’

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DUI Logo

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will join the Tennessee Highway Patrol and local police agencies in cooperation with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office in a nationwide campaign to reduce traffic fatalities by 15 percent in 2014, a press release said. The Drive To Zero Fatalities was initiated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is being promoted by the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.

The Drive to Zero Fatalities campaign is a data-driven effort that will focus on several traffic safety goals, the press release said. Sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, and local police officers will work together to reduce fatalities in Anderson County and to step up enforcement efforts for drunk and impaired drivers, distracted drivers, speeding, and seat belt use. Saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints will be a part of this effort. [Read more…]

Physics professor to give sun-Earth astronomy talk at Grove on Wednesday

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High Places Community Church

The Grove Theater at High Places Community Church is pictured above.

An adjunct physics professor in east Tennessee will give a basic astronomy talk in Oak Ridge on Wednesday that focuses on “Selected Topics on the Sun-Earth Connection.”

John C. Mannone will give his talk to the ORION astronomy club at the Grove Theater at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“Emphasis will be placed on the role of magnetic fields in the formation of our sun, the nature of sunspots, and their role in solar and terrestrial weather,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Judicial candidate Spitzer appoints Shelton as campaign treasurer

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Ryan Spitzer, Rogan, and Patti Shelton

Pictured above are Ryan Spitzer, center; his treasurer Patti Shelton; and Spitzer’s son Rogan. (Submitted photo)

Ryan Spitzer, a candidate for judge in General Sessions Court, Division I, has named Patti Shelton as his campaign treasurer, a press release said.

Shelton is a former director of Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge, and she is a community volunteer in many organizations, the press release said.

“Ryan has knowledge of the law and a professional demeanor that will serve him well as a judge, and I’m excited to be working on his campaign,” Shelton said. “He is my son-in-law, and I have come to know him as a caring and sincere member of our family who gives 150 percent to whatever he does.” [Read more…]

Applications for Oak Ridge Schools tuition, cross boundary due April 25

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Oak Ridge Schools Administration Building

The Oak Ridge School Administration Building on New York Avenue is pictured above.

The application period for renewing or applying for tuition and cross boundary applications for 2014–2015 in Oak Ridge Schools started April 7 and ends April 25.

The approved applications are good for one year. If your child was approved last year and has remained in good standing during that time period, you will not need to complete a cross boundary application or a tuition application for the upcoming school year, a press release said. You will receive a letter of your child’s status.

Cross boundary applications may be obtained at the schools, on the Oak Ridge Schools’ website or from the Pupil Services Department. Tuition applications may be obtained on the Oak Ridge Schools’ website or from the Pupil Services Department in the School Administration Building. [Read more…]

Science, ethics, war to be discussed at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Jeffrey Kovac

Jeffrey Kovac

A chemistry professor and director of undergraduate studies at the University of Tennessee will explore the proper role of scientists in war-related research during a Tuesday meeting in Oak Ridge.

The presentation by Jeffrey Kovac at a Lunch with the League meeting is titled “Science, Ethics, and War—Questions of Conscience.” It starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

“Science and the military have had a long and often mutually beneficial relationship, a relationship that is seldom questioned,” a press release said. [Read more…]

United Way of Anderson County’s annual meeting on Thursday

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United Way of Anderson County Meeting Invite

Reservations due Monday

The United Way of Anderson County will have its annual meeting on Thursday morning at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Reservations are due Monday, April 14.

A light breakfast will be available at the annual meeting, which is scheduled from 7:30-8:30 a.m. Thursday.

“The community is invited to attend the annual meeting and campaign announcement,” a press release said. “It is a time for UWAC to share with donors the lasting change their contributions make in Anderson County and an opportunity to thank and recognize the volunteers that lead the effort. [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge Egg Hunt on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Egg Hunt

Hundreds of children hunt about 15,000 eggs during the annual Egg Hunt at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

Hundreds of children hunted about 15,000 eggs during the annual Egg Hunt at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday. Here are a half-dozen pictures.

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With K-25 demolition complete, DOE plans to preserve building ‘footprint’

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K-25 Building Demolition March 2014

Demolition work at the K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge is complete, and cleanup work is expected to be complete this summer. Pictured above is the former south end of the east wing. (Photo by John Huotari)

Demolition of the K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge has been completed. Now, the U.S. Department of Energy looks toward the future and preserving the footprint of the Manhattan Project building.

The building was about 44 acres “under roof,” according to Susan Cange, deputy manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II.

“There was a lot of discussion over the years about whether we could retain a portion of the building as a part of historic preservation,” Cange said. “From a safety and security perspective, it really wasn’t a viable alternative.”

In 2012, Cange and others signed a Memorandum of Agreement, and they envisioned completion of a preservation project within five to seven years. They also agreed to retain the footprint of the building and dedicate it in some way to allow visitors to see the enormity of the former mile-long, U-shaped building. [Read more…]

NIOSH renews ORAU contract for sick worker program

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Andy Page

Andy Page

Contract could be worth about $150 million over five years

For the second time in about five years, a federal health and safety institute has renewed its contract with Oak Ridge Associated Universities for the support it provides on a sick worker program. The new contract could be worth about $150 million during a five-year period.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health awarded the contract to a team headed by ORAU in Oak Ridge. Under the new contract, ORAU and its partners Dade Moeller and Associates Inc. and MJW Technical Services Inc. will continue to support NIOSH and its work under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, or EEOICPA, a press release said.

Last renewed in 2009, this contract has been managed by ORAU for more than a decade, and this is the second time NIOSH has renewed with ORAU and its partners, the release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County tourism leaders eye new building

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Anderson County Tourism Council

The Anderson County Tourism Council building on Highway 61 near Interstate 75 is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Tourism Council)

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Operations Committee on Monday will consider a request from the Anderson County Tourism Council to sell the log cabin that currently houses the organization’s offices and the county Welcome Center, and purchase a much larger cabin located near the current headquarters.

The current welcome center has been housed in an 1,800-square-foot former Jim Barna log cabin since 1998, but officials said that with a staff expansion in the works, they need more space. The cabin that they are interested in purchasing measures some 3,500 square feet and has a current asking price of $280,000.

The current welcome center would have to be sold at auction as it is a county-owned property, and a minimum bid would be set after an independent appraisal is conducted. The Operations Committee meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

Car slams into Dollar General store in Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio

In case you have passed by the Dollar General Store on Clinch Avenue in the past week and have wondered why part of the building has been boarded up, it is because last weekend, someone accidentally crashed into the side of the store.

The incident occurred Saturday afternoon at around 1:30 p.m., when Betty Overton, 79, pulled into the parking lot and attempted to pull into an unoccupied parking spot. While doing so, her car struck a parked vehicle and kept going, slamming into the side of the building and creating a large hole.

Several shelves inside the store were knocked over and merchandise damaged, but no injuries were reported even though one woman who left the store before officers arrived was reportedly pinned in between two of the shelving units. No citations were issued in connection with the accident.

ORPD officer resigns to focus on campaign for sheriff

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Randy Myers

Randy Myers

Note: This story was updated at 3:48 p.m. April 11.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Randy Myers is resigning so he can focus on campaigning full-time for sheriff.

His last day on the job will officially be Tuesday, April 15.

“We’re campaigning full-steam,” Myers said Thursday. “We’re fully committed.”

Myers, 48, started with the ORPD in 2007. He is a Republican candidate for Anderson County sheriff in the May 6 primary election, where he has one opponent, Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Anthony Lay. The primary winner will face the incumbent, Sheriff Paul White, a Democrat, in the Aug. 7 county general election.

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