Oak Ridge Today

State awards $200,000 grant for lighting at Oak Ridge Municipal Building, Civic Center

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Gov. Bill Haslam Check Presentation

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

Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday announced that Oak Ridge is receiving $200,000 in Clean Tennessee Energy Grant funding for lighting in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building and Civic Center Complex.

The money will be used to replace and retrofit existing fluorescent lighting fixtures to LED lighting, a press release said.

It’s the first of 19 grant awards that the governor will be making in the next few weeks, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in the press release. Funding for the projects comes from an April 2011 Clean Air Act settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission considers small tax cut, re-established alternatives to jail

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CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission could officially approve a budget tonight that lowers the property tax rate by one-third of a penny, and commissioners will consider re-establishing the Alternatives to Incarceration program under the direction and control of the Sheriff’s Department.

Commission will also consider selling 22.4 acres in the David Jones Industrial Park, with a 4.27-acre swap. The land would be sold for $13,500 per acre, with 2.9 acres removed from the original parcel to be retained by Anderson County.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in Room 312 at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. [Read more…]

Chinese supercomputer bumps ORNL’s Titan from No. 1 spot

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Tianhe-2 Lights

Lights on the Chinese Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which has a theoretical peak that is twice as fast as the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Jack Dongarra)

A Chinese supercomputer has bumped the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the No. 1 spot on a semiannual ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

The Tianhe-2, which was developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, is capable of 33.86 petaflops, or more than 33,000 trillion calculations per second.

Now ranked No. 2, Titan was able to perform 17,000 trillion calculations per second, or 17.59 petaflops, according to the list published in November. [Read more…]

Fewer posts at Oak Ridge Today this past weekend, back to normal today

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Mija at Melton Lake Park Fall 2011

Our dog Mija at Melton Lake Park, one of her favorite places to visit, in the fall of 2011.

Some of you might have noticed that we had fewer posts than usual these past few days.

That’s because we lost our older dog, Mija, this past weekend. Also, it was Father’s Day, and we decided to take off most of the weekend.

Mija’s death—she was 16—came three weeks after we unexpectedly lost one of our cats, Lily. She was 12 and a wedding present for us.

Oak Ridge Today should be mostly back to normal today. We dedicate today’s news to Mija and Lily.

Two from Clinton apply for Appeals Court seat

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Information from WYSH Radio

Several people, including two from Clinton, have applied to fill an anticipated 2014 vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. The opening is the result of an announcement by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joseph Tipton that he will not seek re-election in August 2014, creating a vacancy effective Sept. 1, 2014.

Because the statutory provisions for the Judicial Nominating Commission expire June 30, the commission will meet this month to select a slate of candidates for Gov. Bill Haslam to choose from. The Court of Criminal Appeals opening is for the Eastern Tennessee Grand Division. [Read more…]

Four AC units swiped from OR church

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Information from WYSH Radio

Oak Ridge Police are investigating the thefts of four air conditioning units from a church in two separate incidents.

Three Sundays ago, members of the West Village Christian Church discovered that the lines to a pair of AC units on one side of their building had been cut when they went to see why the air wasn’t working. The next day, those two units were stolen. [Read more…]

House passes Manhattan Project national park bill that would include Oak Ridge

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X-10 Graphite Reactor

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would include the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Submitted photo)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday took an essential step toward establishing a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that could include Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., a nonprofit organization said.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act was included as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House passed Friday, the Atomic Heritage Foundation said in an e-mail.

“The new national park will be the first to recognize the top-secret project in World War II that changed the course of world history, science, and society,” the foundation said. [Read more…]

BBB: OS Budget Committee recommends water, sewer, tax rate increases

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, the Oliver Springs Budget Committee recommended a tax rate increase and across-the-board water and sewer rate increases as they prepare to adopt a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

BBB-TV reported that the committee recommended water and sewer rate increases for both residential and commercial customers as the city prepares to apply for a loan to make improvements to its aging wastewater plant. [Read more…]

Norris budget approved with no tax hike

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Monday, the Norris City Council voted on second and final reading to adopt its budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The budget approved this week contains no property tax rate increase, but it does provide 2 percent cost-of-living raises for city workers.

The Council did approve rate increases in water and sewer service that should cause customers’ bills to go up by anywhere from $5 to $10 a month. The increased rates are needed to pay for sewer improvements mandated by the state that will be undertaken during the next three years.

Children’s Museum hosts Wonderful Wednesdays

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Mark Young

Magician Mark Young will be featured at Wonderful Wednesday at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on June 19. (Submitted photo)

The sleight-of-hand tricks of a magician will be featured at Wonderful Wednesday, from 11 a.m.-noon June 19 at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. Mark Young will bring his entertaining magic show to the museum, delighting children with his magic tricks.

Young was a professional magician for 20 years, working in such locations as the Big Red Boat cruise line of Walt Disney World, Cypress Gardens in Florida, and Opryland in Nashville. The magician began learning tricks as a child in Oak Ridge and has entertained children and adults at past museum events. [Read more…]

Anderson budget cuts tax rate; officials assure sheriff new jailers are covered

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CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission endorsed a budget Thursday that lowers the property tax rate, gives employees a day off, and is supposed to provide enough money to pay for jailers hired in the past year while allowing the sheriff to hire new ones for a jail addition that could open later this year.

The budget would also restore some funding for the relatively new Alternatives to Incarceration program, which Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank had proposed cutting by 80 percent, and add money to cover the cost of increased health insurance premiums for county employees.

The budget was endorsed in a 12-1-1 vote during a special meeting Thursday, the second this week. It could officially be adopted during the County Commission’s regular meeting on Monday. [Read more…]

Organizing for Action has Climate Cleanup at Melton Lake Park on Saturday

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Organizing for Action will be holding an event on Saturday called Climate Cleanup. This event will take place at 3:30 p.m. and be held at the pavilion at Melton Lake Park next to the New China Place restaurant in Oak Ridge.

Climate Cleanup will start with Organizing for Action fellow Scott Julius giving a speech about climate change, why the climate change deniers are wrong, and how this problem impacts Tennessee. His assistant Rose Williams will give a short speech about what one can do to help. Their goal is to encourage people to contact senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander to get them to sponsor comprehensive climate change legislation.

After the speeches, a  cleanup will take place to help remove litter from the park, allowing those present to do something tangible to help the environment. [Read more…]