Oak Ridge Today

Free Medical Clinic has open house, ribbon cutting at new location

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge will have an open house and ribbon cutting celebration at its new location next week.

The clinic has moved to an expanded location at 116 East Division Road in Oak Ridge (immediately behind Zaxby’s restaurant).

The open house will be from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8. The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m.

Before moving to the new location in mid-October, FMCOR was housed in the Trinity Center on Robertsville Road. The larger facility will help to meet the ever increasing requests for care, a press release said. Since opening in January 2010, more than 3,000 patients have been served in nearly 13,000 visits. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge resident living with HIV featured on WUOT special to air Nov. 6

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

WUOT I'm Still Here Logo

KNOXVILLE—When John was diagnosed with HIV in 1990, he never would have imagined he would be alive to celebrate his 50th birthday.

Twenty-three years later, the Oak Ridge resident views his life with the sense of appreciation and perspective that can only come from someone forced to face his own mortality.

“My life is a lot different,” he said, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

John is one of five East Tennesseans featured on a new WUOT special, “I’m Still Here: My HIV Life.” The program will air during “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” on Wednesday, Nov. 6. [Read more…]

Anderson County will receive close to $30,000 in emergency food, shelter funding

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anderson County will receive $29,369 in federal funds to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county, a press release said.

The money has been awarded under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program.

A local board consisting of representatives from the United Way of Anderson County and other local nonprofit and governmental agencies will determine how the funds will be awarded to emergency food and shelter programs run by local service organizations in Anderson County. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 names Bill Reis as vice president of public, governmental affairs

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bill Reis

Bill Reis

Bill Reis has been appointed vice president of public and governmental affairs for B&W Y-12, the contractor that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Reis has worked at Y-12 for 30 years in a variety of roles, a press release said. He most recently served as vice president for environment, safety, and health. During his tenure, B&W Y-12 achieved Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, Star status, reduced the recordable injury rate by 30 percent, and developed a more robust health and wellness program. In this role, he has also been the site’s primary interface with local, state, and federal environmental agencies. [Read more…]

Annual Christmas tree lighting in Bissell Park scheduled for Dec. 6

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Christmas Tree Lighting

The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will have the annual Christmas tree lighting at A.K. Bissell Park on Friday, Dec. 6.

The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will sponsor the annual Christmas tree lighting and reception at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6.

Participants should gather at the Secret City Commemorative Walk on the east side of the Oak Ridge Public Library parking lot for a brief ceremony, a press release said. Following the tree lighting, a reception will be held in the Oak Ridge Civic Center gymnasium. Participants will enjoy seasonal music and refreshments provided by the Oak Ridge Woman’s Club Civic Affairs Committee.

For more information, visit the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department website at www.orrecparks.org.

Veterans Day Parade in Clinton on Monday, Nov. 11

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

2013 Anderson County Veterans Day Parade

The 7th Annual Anderson County Veterans Day Parade will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, in downtown Clinton.

This year’s theme is “Showing Our County’s Veterans We Care.”

The parade will start on Market Street in Clinton and move toward Main Street, passing in front of the Anderson County Courthouse.

Immediately after the parade, there will be a ceremony celebrating veterans featuring a “mini-concert” by local favorites Russ and Becky Jeffers in the Ritz Theater. [Read more…]

Two taken to UT hospital after five-vehicle crash between Clinton, Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment


View Larger Map

Two people were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center after a five-vehicle crash on State Highway 61 between Oak Ridge and Clinton on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The collision occurred at about 3:30 p.m. on SR 61 near Old Tacora Road, in front of Gibbs Ferry Park. According to preliminary information, it appears an elderly female was traveling eastbound on Highway 61 when she drifted across the center line and into oncoming traffic, said Dalya Qualls, public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Safety. The woman attempted to swerve back into her lane when she struck a Chevrolet pickup truck, Qualls said. [Read more…]

Informational meeting Friday on changing Lake City’s name to Rocky Top

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anyone interested in learning more about the proposal to change Lake City’s name to Rocky Top can attend an informational meeting and beans and corn bread social on Friday evening in Lake City.

The developers and partners of Rocky Top will be available to answer all questions concerning the project, locations, jobs, and the general impact on the community, said Stephanie Wells, executive director of the Anderson County Tourism Council.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Main Street Baptist Church, located at the corner of Fourth and Main Street in Lake City. [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots have ‘Tech or Treat’ on Friday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Spook-Tech-Ular!

The Secret City Wildbots are hosting the first annual Tech or Treat at Oak Ridge High School on Friday evening. (Submitted image)

The Secret City Wildbots are hosting the first annual Tech or Treat at Oak Ridge High School on Friday evening.

Tech or Treat will support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in Oak Ridge Schools and the surrounding areas.

Tech or Treat is similar to trunk or treat. STEM-related clubs and teams from around the area will set up booths in the Oak Ridge High School Cafeteria and hand out candy to community trick-or-treaters. There will even be special guests from technology research companies in the area, a press release said. [Read more…]

NNSA to decide on Y-12, Pantex contract in early November

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The National Nuclear Security Administration will make a selection decision in early November on the consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, pictured above, and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The National Nuclear Security Administration will make a selection decision in early November on the consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, officials said.

The contract, which could be worth up to $22.8 billion over 10 years, was initially awarded in January, but it has been held up by bid protests. The NNSA is hoping to avoid a third round of protests and has asked the three bidding teams if they are willing to share confidential information to help avoid challenges “based on incomplete information and suspicions that are unfounded.”

In a statement this week, the NNSA, a separate agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, said its technical experts have finished evaluating the offers in response to corrective action taken in June, and federal officials will give each bidding team a debriefing. The three teams are Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC of Oak Ridge; Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, of Lynchburg, Va.; and Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, of Reston, Va. [Read more…]

Johnson Gap Road bridge repair, replacement under study

Posted at
By Leave a Comment


View Larger Map

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager has offered an update on the status of the Johnson Gap Road Bridge, owned by CSX Railroad and closed since earlier this year due to structural concerns found by the state during a routine investigation.

The bridge is owned by the railroad, and it is the only entity that can legally make the repairs and get the bridge back open. Many people in that area, which is northwest of Clinton, depend on that bridge to get to and from their homes.

The latest update, according to Yeager, is that the bridge replacement or repair is under analysis by CSX’s property asset division. No decisions have been made. Yeager says that he has spoken to railroad officials three times by telephone and in several emails. [Read more…]

Budget cuts cause concern in research community, including at ORNL

Posted at
By 11 Comments

Thom Mason

Thom Mason

The budget deal that Congress approved earlier this month to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling kept in place automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

But those across-the-board cuts are causing concern in the scientific community, including at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In August, ORNL Director Thom Mason said the lab had been, up to that point, mostly immune from the cuts because of steps that UT-Battelle, the managing and operating contractor, had already taken to cut costs, including through workforce restructuring, reduced staff and overhead budgets, and benefit changes.

“We’ve just been doing everything we can to prepare for lean budgets,” Mason said. [Read more…]