Oak Ridge Today

‘Do the math’ about fossil fuels, global warming, activist says

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Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben

Since April 21, environmental activist Bill McKibben’s “Do the Math” movie has been shown around the nation and world. Its message is that catastrophic climate change looms large this century if fossil fuel use is not restricted.

In Oak Ridge, the movie has been shown several times at First Presbyterian Church, which is sponsoring McKibben’s lecture on Sunday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. The movie can be downloaded from McKibben’s grassroots organization www.350.org.

The author of two classics of environmental literature, “The End of Nature,” and “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet,” McKibben had the movie made after 350.org’s successful “Do the Math” tour of cities last fall. “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math,” McKibben’s article a year ago in Rolling Stone magazine, inspired the tour. [Read more…]

CUB receives $200,000 Clean Tennessee Energy Grant

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Gov. Bill Haslam Check Presentation

Gov. Bill Haslam announced in June that Oak Ridge had received $200,000 in Clean Tennessee Energy Grant funding for lighting at the Municipal Building and Civic Center.

The Clinton Utilities Board has received a $200,000 Clean Tennessee Energy Grant to renovate its wastewater treatment plant.

CUB was one of 19 recipients receiving $2.1 million for projects promoting energy efficiency, benefiting the environment, and helping save money, Tennessee officials said this month.

In a check presentation ceremony in June, Gov. Bill Haslam came to Oak Ridge to announce that the Secret City had received the first of the 19 awards. [Read more…]

Letter: Country musician Tracy Lawrence plays at December fundraiser for Oak Ridge firefighters

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To the Citizens of Oak Ridge,

My name is Austin Keathley, and I am the president of the Oak Ridge Firefighters Association.

I would like to give some information about our concert fundraiser. This fundraiser has been a part of our organization for the past three years. The tickets are sold over the phone. This is done by employees of our association that work out of the Knoxville Firefighters Association’s office. The tickets are then mailed from the same location. You receive the tickets and then mail back your payment.

There are two shows per year: one is oldies in June, and the other is country in December. The calls have begun for the country show in December. The artist is Tracy Lawrence with special guest Rick Huckaby. [Read more…]

First legal challenge filed over ‘In God We Trust’ signs

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Steve McDonald at In God We Trust Ceremony

During a Tuesday ceremony, Steve McDonald, left, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, says the “In God We Trust” signs at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton honor the nation’s heritage and remind residents that “it is in God that we trust.” Also pictured are Kathy Moore, Tom Byrge, Anthony Allen, and Gil Bates.

Information from WYSH Radio

The first legal challenge to the signs bearing the inscription “In God We Trust” over the entrances to the Anderson County Courthouse came on Wednesday but not from any organization. Instead, it came from a man charged with attempted first-degree murder. Kenneth Darrin Fisher, 22, of Clinton is accused of the attempted first-degree murder of his wife and illegal possession of an assault rifle, and his case is due to go trial next spring.

Through attorney David Stuart, Fisher filed a motion in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday seeking to dismiss all charges against him, asserting that the signs violate his freedom of worship rights under the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions. The motion states that Fisher is a blood member of the Cherokee Nation and a follower of “a Red Road” faith. [Read more…]

Picture: Acting NNSA administrator visits Y-12 National Security Complex

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Bruce Held Visits Y-12

Bruce Held, center, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex with NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart, left, and Captain Geoffrey deBeauclair, Held’s military aide. (Submitted photo)

Bruce Held, the acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, visited the Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday.

Held toured the site and conducted an “all hands” meeting at the site’s New Hope Center to talk to federal and contractor employees.

Held is a retired clandestine operations officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, a former national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, former counterintelligence chief at Sandia National Laboratories, and former director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. [Read more…]

David Allen named to top safety position at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office

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David R. Allen

David R. Allen

David Allen has been named assistant manager for Safety and Technical Services at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

In this federal senior executive service position, Allen will report directly to the ORO manager and will be responsible for managing the performance of technical support in the areas of environment, safety and health, or ES&H; quality assurance; and engineering provided to multiple DOE site offices nationwide under the control of the department’s Office of Science Integrated Support Center. [Read more…]

Lake City woman dies in Anderson County crash

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A Lake City woman died after she was ejected from her car when it went into the median on Interstate 75 in Anderson County and rolled just before midnight Wednesday, authorities said.

Christina D. Nelson, 23, was in the left lane of southbound I-75 in Clinton at about 11:51 p.m. Wednesday when her 2000 Nissan Altima sedan left the roadway, traveled through the median, and rolled about three times, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Anthony Lay said in a report. [Read more…]

No one injured, but home heavily damaged in Hickory Lane fire

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Hickory Lane House Fire

No one was injured, but an unoccupied home was heavily damaged in a Thursday morning fire on Hickory Lane, authorities said.

No one was injured, but an unoccupied home on Hickory Lane was heavily damaged in a fire early Thursday morning, authorities said.

Neighbors said they heard something and went outside and saw that the house at 109 Hickory Lane was on fire at about 3:15 a.m., Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

He said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but it is under investigation. [Read more…]

Residents, pastors celebrate ‘In God We Trust’ signs on Anderson County Courthouse

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Bates Family of Lake City TN

The Bates family of Anderson County, including County Commissioner Zach Bates, left, and father and pastor Gil Bates, second from right, and mother Kelly Bates, right, sing “This Land is Your Land” and “God Bless America” during a Tuesday ceremony for new “In God We Trust” signs at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

CLINTON—In a ceremony that featured pastors, prayers, and patriotic songs, a group of about 150 people watched Tuesday morning as the first of four signs emblazoned with the national motto “In God We Trust” was unveiled at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

Supporters celebrated the installation of the seven-foot, 180-pound sign as a victory for the majority, a chance to honor the nation’s heritage.

“Whether you agree with this or disagree with this, the democratic process took place,” said Tom Byrge, director of missions for Clinton Baptist Association. “The majority of the U.S. citizens will continue to believe, and will not be ashamed to say, ‘In God We Trust.’” [Read more…]

Nuclear goes Hollywood: New film sheds light on old debate

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Pandora's Promise Panel Discussion

Jeff Binder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate lab director of nuclear science and engineering, answers an audience question during a panel discussion following a screening of “Pandora’s Promise” in Knoxville on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

By Scott Jones

About 300 people attended a showing of the new pro-nuclear film “Pandora’s Promise” and heard a panel discussion about nuclear energy on Saturday, including perspectives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff.

The lab worked with Regal Entertainment Group to bring the film to the Downtown West theater from July 19-25.

Few phrases carry the ideological weight of the words “nuclear power.” [Read more…]

UPF Project Office moves into former Answer Financial building

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UPF Project Office

Employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex have consolidated in office space at 90 Union Valley Road across from Y-12, moving there from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park.

An office building once used by Answer Financial on Union Valley Road is now home to employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The UPF employees now located at 90 Union Valley Road, which is across Scarboro Road from Y-12, were previously split between offices at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park, said Bridget Correll Waller, Y-12 community and government relations manager. The new consolidated offices include space for UPF federal staff, project managers, and workers in procurement, security, quality assurance, project services and project controls, and Environment, Safety and Health, or ES&H. [Read more…]

Construction work starts on Aldi grocery

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Aldi Construction

Construction has started on an Aldi grocery store on South Illinois Avenue. Above, construction subcontractors from Bellamy Excavating of Knoxville install a storm sewer on the 1.4-acre site near the relocated, expanded Panera Bread and new Aubrey’s restaurant.

Construction work has started on an Aldi grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.

Under way for about a month, work on the 16,000-square-foot store on 1.4 acres could be finished in November, said Tony Stacy, job superintendent for the project’s general contractor, Creative Structures of Knoxville.

The project at the Woodland Town Center, where the new Aubrey’s and relocated Panera Bread opened in October, was announced in January. [Read more…]