Oak Ridge Today

Light snowfall blankets Oak Ridge, Thanksgiving cold but sunny

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Centrifuge Way Snow

A light layer of snow blankets the ground Wednesday morning at the Centrifuge Way interchange with South Illinois Avenue.

A light snowfall blanketed Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said the snow would diminish to flurries this morning, and snow would primarily accumulate on grassy surfaces, except at higher elevations.

On Monday, the Weather Service had warned that a strong regional storm system could bring heavy rain, sleet, and snow to East Tennessee and southwest Virginia early this week. [Read more…]

Linden student becomes unresponsive on bus, pronounced dead at hospital

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Linden Elementary School

Linden Elementary School is pictured above.

A Linden Elementary School student who became unresponsive on the bus ride home Tuesday afternoon was later pronounced dead at Methodist Medical Center, school officials said Tuesday evening.

“It is a very sad day for Linden Elementary, Oak Ridge Schools, and the entire Oak Ridge community,” Oak Ridge Schools said in a press release. “The thoughts and prayers of the Linden and Oak Ridge Schools’ staff go out to the family. The student was a wonderful student who was a Lion through and through.

“Please join us in keeping his family, friends, and the entire Linden Elementary School family in your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult time.”

Linden Elementary School will provide grief counselors at the school on Wednesday to help students, parents, and friends deal with their thoughts and feelings associated with this loss, the release said.

The boy was not identified.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Oak Ridge Civic Ballet supports Second Harvest

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ORCBA Angels

The Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association said it was proud to give back with a promotion for Second Harvest during their recent “Nutcracker” performances. Pictured above are ORCBA angels. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

In appreciation of the support from the East Tennessee community during the past 50 years, the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association was proud to give back with a promotion for Second Harvest during their recent “Nutcracker” performances. Patrons who donated five items for Second Harvest East Tennessee received special discounts on ticket prices.

A similar promotion with a local nonprofit agency that benefits lower income families in our area is planned for the spring production of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Swan Lake” on April 5, 2014. More specific information will be posted at www.orcba.org as it becomes available.

ORCBA holds the longest continuously-standing dance charter in the state of Tennessee. The organization’s goal is to provide a clean, safe, fun, professional environment for dancers of all abilities and ages to perform before a live audience. ORCBA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

State encourages shopping at local stores, restaurants on Small Business Saturday

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NASHVILLE—While the day after Thanksgiving may be the unofficial kick-off to the holiday shopping season, Small Business Saturday is gaining popularity and momentum in Tennessee and around the United States.

Small Business Saturday began in 2010 as an American Express initiative, and it has grown into a movement that millions of individuals, businesses, and communities have embraced nationwide—and continue to support each and every day. On Saturday, Nov. 30, hundreds of Tennessee businesses will open their doors as customers are encouraged to “Shop Small.” [Read more…]

Alexander opposes cell phone calls on airplanes as FCC considers rule change

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KLM 747

A low-flying KLM 747 airplane is pictured above. (Photo by Kitty Terwolbeck/Creative Commons License 2.0)

A proposed rule change announced Thursday that would allow air travelers to make cell phone calls above 10,000 feet has already generated a backlash.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said he would also oppose the move.

“Imagine two million passengers, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch-wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts,” Alexander said. “The Transportation Security Administration would have to hire three times as many air marshals to deal with the fistfights.”

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission said it will consider changing the rules, which Chairman Tom Wheeler called out-of-date. The change would also allow air travelers to use their cellular data plans above 10,000 feet. Restrictions would remain for takeoffs and landings. [Read more…]

Man pistol-whipped, pregnant woman blacks out during home invasion

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Duran Maszae Lee

Duran Maszae Lee

An Oak Ridge man was allegedly hit in the head and face with a pistol, and a woman who is nine months pregnant blacked out from fear when a suspect pointed a silver revolver at her during a Friday night home invasion on Dewey Road, authorities said.

The suspects allegedly stole a Sentry safe containing $3,000 from a closet and fled in a vehicle before officers arrived.

But the white 2008 Cadillac CTS four-door sedan crashed into a utility pole a few minutes later on Delaware Avenue, less than a mile from the Dewey Road home, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said.

Duran Maszae Lee, 29, who was the driver and also a home invasion suspect, allegedly had three plastic baggies in his rear pocket, and they contained a green leafy-like plant substance believed to be marijuana, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The baggies contained a total of 21.9 grams of suspected marijuana packaged for sale, ORPD Detective Kevin Craig said. [Read more…]

AC man accidentally shoots own hand

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County man accidentally shot himself in the hand Sunday night when he tried to force the wrong caliber of ammunition into his pistol.

Carlie Indmon Phillips, 45, sustained the wound Sunday night at a home on Hillbilly Way and was taken to Methodist Medical Center for treatment of an injury to his left index finger, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department report.

Phillips had been called to his sister’s nearby home by his sister, who thought she had seen a prowler on the property. He grabbed his .357 Magnum revolver and went to her house but had no ammunition for the gun. His sister gave him .38 caliber ammo, and when he tried to force the round into the weapon by tapping it with his pocketknife, the round went off, striking him in the hand. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Keller, Babu, Hazen elected AAAS fellows

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ORNL Martin Keller, Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, and Terry Clyde Hazen

Martin Keller, associate director for energy and environmental sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chairs Suresh Babu and Terry Hazen have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Photos courtesy ORNL)

The associate laboratory director for Energy and Environmental Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and two University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair researchers are among the newly elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

EES Associate Laboratory Director Martin Keller and Governor’s Chairs Sudarsanam Suresh Babu and Terry Clyde Hazen will receive the highest honor bestowed by members of the AAAS on their peers. AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Keller came to ORNL in 2006 from Diversa Corporation, where he held a series of research management positions. He was cited by his AAAS peers for “distinguished contributions to bioenergy science, and for dynamic and inspiring leadership of innovative partnerships to advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies.” [Read more…]

TVA retiring eight coal units at three plants

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Colbert Fossil Plant

The Tennessee Valley Authority is retiring all five coal units at the Colbert Fossil Plant on the Pickwick Reservoir on the Tennessee River in Alabama. (Photo courtesy TVA)

The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors recently approved a plan that will retire eight coal units at three plants with more than 3,000 megawatts of combined generating capacity.

The retirements affect all five coal units at the Colbert Fossil Plant in Tuscumbia, Ala.; one of two operating coal units at Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Stevenson, Ala., and two of three coal units at the Paradise Fossil Plant near Central City, Ky. Paradise Unit 3, one of TVA’s largest coal units, will continue to operate.

A number of these units were already idled or scheduled for idling and/or retirement based on an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, TVA said in a press release. [Read more…]

President Obama announces more DOE nominations, including science director

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WASHINGTON, D.C.— President Barack Obama recently announced plans to nominate two people to top U.S. Department of Energy posts, including a director of the Office of Science.

The Office of Science is responsible for 10 of the 17 DOE labs, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Obama nominated Marc Kastner to serve as director of the Office of Science and Franklin Orr to serve as DOE under secretary for science and energy.

“I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said in a press release.

Here is more information about the two candidates: [Read more…]

Fisher to run for Anderson County chancellor in 2014

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Brandon FIsher

Brandon FIsher

He’s been the juvenile court judge for close to four years, and now Brandon Fisher is running for Anderson County chancellor in the 2014 election.

Fisher was appointed Anderson County juvenile court judge in January 2010, replacing April Meldrum after she resigned, and he was elected in August 2010.

Fisher will seek to fill the seat now held by Chancellor William Lantrip, who has announced he will retire at the end of this eight-year term. [Read more…]

NWS: Chance of snow Wednesday, sunny Thanksgiving

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National Weather Service Storm Warning

The National Weather Service says a strong regional storm system could bring heavy rain, sleet, and snow early this week. (Images courtesy National Weather Service)

The National Weather Service in Morristown is warning of a strong regional storm system that could bring heavy rain, sleet, and snow to East Tennessee and southwest Virginia early this week.

Forecasters said rain will move into the area tonight (Monday night) and could briefly change over to or mix with sleet around daybreak Tuesday. The rain is expected to continue Tuesday, with some minor local flooding possible.

Colder air moving into the region on Tuesday night could change the rain to snow, starting at higher elevations in the evening and working down to the foothills and some valleys after midnight, forecasters said.

 

[Read more…]