Oak Ridge Today

Norris Bulletin: Reward offered for info on slain dogs

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

According to the Norris Bulletin, a reward is being offered for information leading to the identity of the person responsible for shooting two dogs to death and leaving them along the side of a walking trail in the Norris Watershed.

The dogs—a black lab puppy about four months old and a Walker Coonhound that appeared to be about two years old—were found by a passerby last Thursday and now, animal advocates, local, and state authorities are on the case. A reward fund has been established, according to the Bulletin, and anyone who wants to donate can call Christina Eich at (865) 209-0808 or e-mail her at jackpot604@aol.com. [Read more…]

Clinton Fire Department expanding HQ

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

If you have driven on Hicks Street in Clinton, you have no doubt seen the construction going on behind City Hall.

Workers are constructing an expansion of the Clinton Fire Department’s headquarters that will create a place where three on-duty firefighters can stay during their shifts, including a sleeping area, a kitchen, a day room, and both men’s and women’s bathrooms. In addition, the expansion will create a new office for the Fire Department. Officials say that expanding the headquarters and creating space for on-call firefighters to remain on the premises should cut down on response times on the western side of the city. [Read more…]

Watch hockey, support library

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

East Tennessee libraries are calling attention to local libraries and funding support with a unique multi-library event.

As libraries across the state spotlight the value of libraries with local Geek the Library campaigns, East Tennessee libraries are joining together for an exciting group event at the March 1 home game of the Knoxville Ice Bears professional hockey team. The game will be held at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, where the Knoxville Ice Bears will take on the Bloomington Thunder. The game starts at 7:30 pm. March 1.

Library supporters are invited to join in and “get their geek on” in support of public libraries in Tennessee. Local libraries participating in this event include the Clinton Public Library, Meigs County Public Library, and the Englewood Public Library, among others. They invite everyone in the community to come out and enjoy the hockey game with them while showing support for public libraries. [Read more…]

THP investigating hit-and-run involving car, pedestrian on Old Batley Road

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating a hit and run accident that occurred Monday evening in Oliver Springs and sent a man to the hospital.

Derek Jones, 23, said he was jogging on Old Batley Road at around 6:45 p.m. Monday when a small, black car hit him from behind. Jones landed on the hood of the car and struck the windshield, but the driver fled the scene without stopping. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge High first in Tennessee Science Bowl, headed to D.C. in April

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge High School Tennessee Science Bowl Winners

From left to right are members of Oak Ridge High School’s Team 1:  Tina Wang, Albert Xue, Gaibo Zhang, Aram Bejnood, Bo Hyun Moon, and Coach Sharon Thomas. (Photo courtesy DOE)

ORHS team will compete in National Science Bowl

High school students from across Tennessee competed on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Pellissippi State Community College’s Blount County Campus, in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Tennessee Science Bowl competition. Fifty-five high school teams comprised of four students, and one alternate student, answered challenging mathematical problems and tested their knowledge in broad disciplines including chemistry, biology, earth and space science, physics, and energy.

Training for months after school, the student competitors committed hours of study to expanding and honing their mathematics and science knowledge and competition skills. And, all their work showed. Many of the competition rounds came down to the last nail-biting seconds before a winner emerged. However, in the end, Oak Ridge High’s Team 1 edged out their competitors, placing first.

Oak Ridge High School received a $1,000 cash prize, a first-place trophy, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the DOE National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., from April 24-28, when they will compete against other winning teams from around the nation. [Read more…]

Thompson-Boling lights brighter, more efficient; use ORNL foam

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Thompson-Boling LED Lighting

The SuperSport installation at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena. (Photo credit: LED North America)

KNOXVILLE—With the installation of LED fixtures, the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville is one of the first in the world to feature lights that are smaller, brighter, and up to 85 percent more efficient than conventional arena metal halide lights.

The technology—developed and manufactured by Oak Ridge-based LED North America at the Tech 20/20 incubator facility in Oak Ridge, incorporating an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology, and installed by Knoxville-based Bandit Lites—is being “premiered” at the state’s research university inside the largest on-campus single-sport arena in the country.

The light-emitting diode fixtures use an ORNL-developed lightweight graphite foam that cools the LED, making them more efficient and reliable. This enables 90 400-watt LED fixtures to bathe the arena’s floor with 200 foot-candles per square foot, compared to the 130 foot-candles produced by the arena’s existing 110 1,100-watt fixtures.

LED North America’s SuperSport luminaires have the potential to revolutionize sports and entertainment venues worldwide. UT officials are looking forward to participating in this effort and to seeing the results—and the savings. [Read more…]

RSI names new president, will succeed company founder

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Paul Clay and RSI

Paul Clay has been named president of Restoration Services Inc., or RSI.

Restoration Services Inc., or RSI, has named a new president.

Paul Clay will succeed company founder and outgoing president Staci Ferguson, a press release said. Ferguson will continue as vice president of corporate relations.

RSI is a small employee-owned environmental and project management services company that has its headquarters in Oak Ridge. Its clients include the U.S. Department of Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

Clay joined RSI in 2008 as director of environment, safety, health, and quality, the press release said. Before joining RSI, he worked for Jacobs Engineering Group, where he was vice president and deputy general manager for the Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC joint venture in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

TAs unite in opposition to outsourcing proposal as schools consider changes

Posted at
By 5 Comments

Oak Ridge TA Outsourcing Teachers and Parents

Stacey Callison, left, says teaching assistants play important roles in the education of her children, and she thinks Oak Ridge Schools should seek another solution before outsourcing their jobs.

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

Teaching assistants have been united, and sometimes fierce, in their opposition to a proposal to outsource their jobs to a private company, and on Monday, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said administrators might have to “go back to the drawing board.”

The outsourcing proposal began as an attempt to help the school system comply with the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act and to avoid potentially large fines of up to $1.2 million for errors that might be made in following the new federal health care law.

But in the second half of a 3.5-hour school board meeting on Monday, teachers, teaching assistants, family members, and parents said the TAs would be concerned about their health care and retirement benefits if they were to become employees of PESG of Nashville. The 10 speakers also questioned the benefits of outsourcing in general, and they praised the work of Oak Ridge’s teaching assistants. [Read more…]

Crashes, vehicle speeds down near red-light cameras, reports say

Posted at
By 47 Comments

Red-light Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The largest crash reduction near red-light cameras occurred near the system at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue/Lafayette Drive.

There has been an overall decrease in the number of car crashes near red-light camera systems installed at four locations in Oak Ridge five years ago, and vehicle speeds have dropped near two schools, officials said.

Council members had requested information about crash frequency and history as the controversial five-year red-light camera contract, approved in August 2008, comes up for renewal in April. The crash information, as well as data on vehicle speeds, is included in the agenda packet for a Monday night Oak Ridge City Council work session.

The information said the largest crash reduction occurred at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive/New York Avenue. Accidents there fell from 86 to 58, or roughly 33 percent, and injuries fell from 25 to 13, about a 50 percent reduction.

The totals compared the number of crashes from one four-year period starting March 2005 and ending March 2009, and a second period starting April 2009 and ending in November 2013, or a little more than four years. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge TAs concerned about outsourcing proposal

Posted at
By 9 Comments

Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

Note: This story was last updated at 7:28 p.m. Feb. 24.

Teaching assistants reacted with concern and indignation last week to a proposal to have a Michigan-based company provide substitute teachers, teaching assistants, and paraprofessionals to Oak Ridge Schools.

Chris Marczak, Oak Ridge Schools assistant superintendent, said the proposal to hire Professional Educational Services LLC, or PESG, would allow current employees to keep their jobs, save money, and help the school system comply with the reporting requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act. Marczak said there would be a negligible impact on TAs.

“The only thing that’s going to change is the name of your employer,” he said during a 2.5-hour meeting with teaching assistants and others on Thursday.

But teaching assistants are concerned about their future employment and benefits, including health insurance and retirement. Some said they hadn’t received adequate notice of the proposed change and aren’t being treated with the respect they deserve after years of working for Oak Ridge Schools. Marczak said school administrators, including the human resources department, took notes during the meeting and will respond to the staff’s concerns. [Read more…]

Rock to Bach Music Festival is Saturday at New Hope Center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kukuly Fuego

Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego will perform gypsy and American swing jazz at the Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival on Saturday, March 1, at New Hope Center. (Submitted photo)

The fourth annual Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival is Saturday.

Rock to Bach is an all-day music festival presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association as a benefit for ORCMA music organizations, such as the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the world-class Chamber Music Series.

Eighteen groups will perform this Saturday, playing pop, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic, patriotic, Dixieland, swing, klezmer, and classical music.

The festival is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the New Hope Center near the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex. The New Hope Center is next to Scarboro Road, just across from the intersection with Union Valley Road.

Among the performing groups and performers are the Tennessee Schmalz, Knoxville Youth Jazz Orchestra, Early Bird Special Band, Liz and Tim, Jack Russell and the Terriers, Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego, Walker Marema, Silver Winds Choir, and singers with the Oak Ridge Chorus who will perform selections from musicals, operas, and operettas. [Read more…]

Free screening of ‘Inequality for All’ to honor International Women’s Day

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Local organizations are offering a free March 7 screening of “Inequality for All,” a documentary that features former U. S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, in honor of International Women’s Day 2014.

Reich’s award-winning documentary focuses on the widening income gap in America, a press release said.

The screening is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m., Friday, March 7, in the City Room (A-111) of Roane State Community College at 702 Briarcliff Ave. It’s sponsored by Women’s Interfaith Dialogue, the League of Women Voters, Altrusa International, and the Sisterhood of the Jewish Congregation, all of Oak Ridge.

The release said Reich uses humor and a wide array of facts to explain how income inequality and the shrinking middle class affect everyone and have implications for the future of democracy, the economy, and the nation. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize. It was recently released in theaters nationwide and has now been made available for educational screenings. [Read more…]