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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra plays seasonal music on Saturday

Posted at 10:27 am December 11, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Bass and Viola Sections

The bass and viola sections of the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra are pictured above. (Photos courtesy of Travis Witherington)

In its free concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra will play well-known music associated with traditional celebrations in December.

“Everyone will immediately recognize the dashing ‘Sleigh Ride’ by Leroy Anderson, and the Christmas carols captured by William Burkhart in his special arrangement, ‘While in the Fields,'” a press release said. “You can savor the traditional Russian flavor with ‘Polonaise’ from the ‘Christmas Eve Suite’ by Rimsky-Korsakov, and ‘Russian Christmas Music’ by Alfred Reed. Moreover, you will enjoy the lilting style of traditional Jewish music in ‘Festive Sounds of Hanukah’ by Bill Holcombe.”

This eclectic mix of celebratory seasonal music will be performed at 2 pm. Saturday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge, on the corner of the Oak Ridge Turnpike and LaFayette Drive. Admission is free. But, modest donations at the door to support the orchestra’s routine operating expenses will be appreciated. [Read more…]

TORCH will count homeless in January, will train volunteers who want to help

Posted at 9:48 am December 11, 2013
By Mare Martell Leave a Comment

Each year in January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, coordinating with county mayors in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Coalition to End Homelessness, do what is called a Point in Time Count of the homeless. This is an unduplicated count on a single night of the people in a specific county who are experiencing homelessness.

The Point in Time Count of 2011 showed 28 homeless individuals. The PIT count of Jan. 24, 2013, found a total of 86 people were homeless (sheltered and unsheltered) and 68 people were precariously housed (almost homeless).

Unsheltered means that the people sleep outside without a roof over their heads or in places not fit for human habitation like a car or an abandoned building. Sheltered means that they were either in transitional housing such as half-way houses or they were actually living in a homeless shelter. Precariously housed are more commonly called “couch surfers.” They live at the homes of friends or family but do not have an address of their own. [Read more…]

Council agrees to buy car wash to build sewer system tank

Posted at 8:28 pm December 10, 2013
By John Huotari 7 Comments

The Oak Ridge City Council has approved the purchase of Mullins Performance Car Wash in south Oak Ridge to allow the city to build a sewer system holding tank.

A car wash in south Oak Ridge could soon be replaced by a sewer system holding tank.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday voted 5-1 to buy the car wash, owned by businessman Terry Mulllins, for $125,000.

The land is at the southern gateway to Oak Ridge, near the intersection of Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue. The city agreed to buy the property so workers can place the proposed tank, officially called an equalization basin, farther away from the busy intersection and make it less visible. The intersection is used by thousands of drivers every day, including workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The tank is one of three equalization basins that the city plans to build in order to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to repair all sewer system overflows by September 2015. [Read more…]

Activists ask federal officials to build UPF underground at Y-12

Posted at 12:58 pm December 10, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above is the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex, with the administrative area in the front and the fortified section of the building in the rear. (Submitted image)

The proposed multi-billion-dollar building that would process uranium at the Y-12 National Security Complex should be buried below ground, an Oak Ridge nonprofit organization and a Washington, D.C.-based group told federal safety officials in a Monday letter.

The groups planned to make their request during an all-day meeting and public hearing of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in Knoxville on Tuesday. The board is meeting in two sessions from 8 a.m. to noon and 2 to 6 p.m. today (Tuesday) at the Knoxville Convention Center.

The Monday letter was from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in Washington, D.C. Among the dozen signatories is Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, a group that has long been critical of the nuclear weapons work at Y-12. OREPA said the letter’s signatories represent thousands of members at sites across the country. [Read more…]

Reunirse con nosotros para practicar la conversación inglés (Spanish version)

Posted at 9:57 am December 10, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Únase a nosotros para conversar inglés, café y aperativos.

Cuidado a los niños y ayuda con las tareas escolares para los niños en edad escolar (edades 6-10) estarán disponibles.

Clases de inglés formales comenzarán en enero de 2014.

Para mas información llame a 865-483-3787. [Read more…]

English conversation evening on Wednesday at Grace Lutheran

Posted at 9:49 am December 10, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Grace Lutheran Church is having its second English conversation evening on Wednesday evening.

It’s scheduled from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the church, which is at 131 W. Gettysburg Ave. in Oak Ridge.

“Join us for conversation, coffee, and snacks,” a press release said. Child care will be available, and there will be homework help for school-age children from 6-10. [Read more…]

Commercial, nuclear facilities the focus of safety forum on Wednesday

Posted at 9:33 am December 10, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Business Safety Partnership will hold its last community safety forum of 2013 on Wednesday at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

The program is titled “Safety in Commercial and Nuclear Facilities: Programs that Work.” It’s scheduled from 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Speakers include Shane Strickland, Alcoa safety manager; Paul Wasilko, safety culture program manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex; Chris Patton, safety services division director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Doug Giles, plant protection safety area manager at Eastman. Each will make a 15-minute presentation about the safety program at his facility, followed by a panel discussion at the end with audience questions and answers. [Read more…]

Anderson mayor used lawsuit agreement to settle scores, sheriff says

Posted at 5:05 pm December 9, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The salary dispute between the Anderson County mayor and sheriff focused on the spending to hire up to 36 new jailers to staff a 212-bed expansion that is still under construction at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

CLINTON—He had reserved comment until a judge signed an order resolving a staffing dispute, but then Anderson County Sheriff Paul White accused Mayor Terry Frank of using a lawsuit agreement to try to settle perceived political scores—and he came to the defense of the two county officials that Frank attacked Friday.

“Sheriff White regrets that Mayor Frank has used the settlement of the salary suit, which (she) could have used as an event to set a more civil tone in Anderson County politics, as an opportunity to attempt to settle perceived political scores with Law Director Jay Yeager and Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski,” the sheriff said in a Monday afternoon press release, after the lawsuit order had been signed by Knox County Circuit Court Judge Dale Workman. “Sheriff White cannot express how much he believes that Director Yeager and Commissioner Iwanski are decent and selfless public servants and that the people of Anderson County are lucky to have such competent and dedicated individuals working for the efficient operation of their government. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge’s first dog park now open

Posted at 3:25 pm December 9, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The city’s first dog park is now open at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge. Officials and pet owners celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on Monday.

The dog park has been planned for five years. It was made possible by a $100,000 donation by Radio Systems Corp.

The PetSafe Dog Park features include separate fenced areas for small dogs and large dogs, benches, water fountains, and a shade structure.

Community members and their dogs joined city officials and representatives from Radio Systems Corp. and PetSafe at a dedication ceremony on Monday morning to mark completion of the new park.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Mayor, sheriff reach agreement on salary suit, but war of words follows

Posted at 12:00 am December 9, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

CLINTON—The Anderson County mayor and sheriff reached an agreement Friday that could end their five-month-old legal dispute over an annual salary agreement, possibly closing one expensive and contentious chapter in local government even as it opened a new war of words between top officials.

Knox County Circuit Court Judge Dale C. Workman could sign the agreement Monday morning.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White said the agreement allows the sheriff to hire 15 full-time permanent deputies and additional temporary deputies when the sheriff deems appropriate as he prepares to open a 212-bed jail expansion. But the hiring must stay within the spending limit approved by the Anderson County Commission this year, and the temporary employees cannot work more than six months.

Terry Frank

Frank and White announced the agreement in a one-page press release distributed Friday. The case had been scheduled to be heard in Knox County Circuit Court on Monday morning. [Read more…]

ORNL establishes Liane B. Russell Distinguished Early Career Fellowship

Posted at 7:08 pm December 8, 2013
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Liane B. Russell

With the goal of expanding opportunities for early career researchers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has established a research award in the name of its most acclaimed woman scientist.

The Liane B. Russell Distinguished Early Career Fellowship is intended to attract a diverse work force of scientists and engineers who have demonstrated outstanding scientific ability and research interests that align with the U.S. Department of Energy and ORNL research missions.

The competitive, three-year fellowship is aimed toward establishing long-term research careers at ORNL, a press release said. In the spirit of ORNL’s groundbreaking female geneticist, Russell, these fellowships will be available to outstanding scientists and engineers who have received their doctorate degrees within the past seven years, with emphasis given to attracting women and minority candidates. [Read more…]

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