Oak Ridge Today

Youth Aliyah concert on Sunday

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Lora Doherty

Lora Doherty

The 2013 Ralph Einstein Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah concert will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. This is an annual event that features performances by young area musicians.

This year’s program includes 11 performers ranging in age from eight to 17 who won an audition in March. Among the judges were Dan Alcott, music director of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Martha Anderson, principal clarinetist with the Oak Ridge Symphony and Oak Ridge Schools music teacher.

Two students were also selected to perform with the Oak Ridge Symphony in the Annual Family Concert. These students are Jenna Walters, 14, of Knoxville, on viola, who studies with Hillary Herndon, and Meghan Mayes, 17, of Seymour, who is a voice student of Marjorie Stephens. [Read more…]

Application, renewal period for Oak Ridge tuition, cross boundary from April 8-26

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Oak Ridge City Schools has announced that the application period for renewing or applying for tuition and cross boundary applications is April 8 thru April 26. The approved applications are good for one year.

If your child remains in good standing during that time period, you will need to complete a cross boundary application for the upcoming school year and return it to your child’s school. [Read more…]

GAO could rule on two Y-12, Pantex bid protests in single decision April 29

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office will likely use one decision to rule on both protests of the consolidated contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, an official said Thursday.

The five-year contract was awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, on Jan. 8. But two bidding teams filed protests. [Read more…]

ORNL names new deputy director for science, technology

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Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Note: This story was updated at 3:40 p.m.

A new deputy director has been named at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Ramamoorthy Ramesh of the University of California in Berkeley will start as the lab’s deputy director for science and technology on June 1, ORNL Director Thom Mason announced in an e-mail to staff on Thursday.

Ramesh will replace Thomas Zacharia, who left in August to take a science and education foundation based in Doha, Qatar. [Read more…]

Workers, volunteers celebrate animal shelter renovations

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Oak Ridge Animal Shelter Lobby

Workers and volunteers celebrate renovations at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter during an open house Monday.

The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter has a new exam room and a renovated surgery room.

It also has new paint, hospital-grade flooring, and a more inviting lobby area with a lower front desk and an animal adoption room.

The renovations, which included cleaning and electrical work, started in January. Except for the flooring, the work was done by the Oak Ridge municipal staff.

City workers and animal rescue volunteers celebrated with an open house Monday. They said the shelter seems more pleasant and inviting now, and the animals seem less stressed. [Read more…]

Y-12 union workers vote Friday on contract extension, 2.5 percent raise

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Y-12 National Security Complex

About 1,200 hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, will vote Friday on a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase. (Submitted photo)

Hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex will vote Friday on whether to accept a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase, an official said.

There would be no changes to worker benefits, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council.

If approved, the 14-month contract extension would become effective April 22 and last through June 20, 2014. It would apply to roughly 1,200 union members at Y-12. It would not affect ATLC members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Government should remove fence around Y-12 protest area by Saturday, group says in federal lawsuit

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Y-12 Fence on Scarboro Road

A coalition including the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has asked a federal judge to order the removal of a temporary fence that encloses an area at the entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex that has been used for protests and vigils for years.

A new fence erected this week at the Y-12 National Security Complex allegedly violates their First Amendment rights, and a coalition that includes the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance wants the federal government to remove it before an annual spring demonstration on Saturday.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, the coalition also asks the U.S. District Court in Knoxville to deny the government from ever blocking a small area near the plant’s main entrance. That area includes a grassy field and small parking lot near the green Y-12 sign at the intersection of Bear Creek and Scarboro roads, and it has been used for protests and vigils for about 25 years.

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced plans to erect the fence along Scarboro Road last week, citing three trespassing incidents involving five people in the past year, including the July 28 security breach. Workers started setting up a temporary version of the fence on Monday. [Read more…]

ORNL researchers receive professional society honors

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Carol Wood

Carol Wood

A.C. Buchanan

A.C. Buchanan III

Three researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received appointments and honors from their respective professional societies.

ORNL’s Carol Wood has been elected to a four-year term on the board of directors of the American Board of Toxicology. She is a senior research staff member in the Environmental Sciences Division at ORNL.

Wood was elected from more than 40 nominees. Ernest McConnell, president of ToxPath Inc., a former board member who served as president of the ABT board from 1987 to 1988, nominated her for the award. [Read more…]

Grammy winner to perform at Princess Theatre, lecture at Roane State

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Bill Miller

Three-time Grammy award-winner Bill Miller will lecture in Oak Ridge on Thursday and play in Harriman on Friday. (Submitted photo)

Three-time Grammy award-winner Bill Miller will perform Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Princess Theatre in downtown Harriman.

Presented by Roane State Community College’s Arts and Lectures Committee, Miller plays rock, country, and folk music blended with Native American flutes and drums. His hits include “Reservation Road,” “My People,” and “Trail of Freedom,” and he has performed with artists such as Tori Amos, Eddie Vedder, the BoDeans, Richie Havens, and Arlo Guthrie.

A highly regarded lecturer on cultural awareness and race relations, Miller will also speak about addiction in the Native American community at the college’s Oak Ridge campus and at the Roane County campus in Harriman. [Read more…]

Community Mediation helps reduce reliance on confinement in juvenile crimes

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Recent reports by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth highlight Tennessee’s success as the best in the nation in reducing reliance on confinement as a response to juvenile crime, a press release said.

Community Mediation Centers throughout Tennessee have been a quiet part of this, the release said. The first program in the state, Community Mediation Services of Anderson County, has for 27 years been working with juveniles and families to help them find their own solutions to their issues through mediation. [Read more…]

Roane State will host April 6 alumni concert

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Roane State Community College’s Music Department will host an alumni concert on Saturday, April 6, from 7-9 p.m. in the O’Brien Theatre on the Roane County campus in Harriman.

Admission is free.

The concert will feature alumni from Concert Choir, Celebration Singers, Jazz Band, and Bluegrass Band. As this year’s virtual choir project, the Music Department will debut an original composition, “Diversity, Similarity,” by Roane State professor Geol Greenlee with lyrics by student Chris Arnold. [Read more…]

Fire apparently caused by cigarette damages Tara Hills apartment

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Tara Hills Apartment Fire

A fire apparently caused by cigarette smoking caused minimal damage to a second-floor Tara Hills apartment on Wednesday afternoon.

A fire apparently caused by cigarette smoking caused minimal damage to a second-floor Tara Hills apartment on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

No one was home when firefighters arrived at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, said Josh Waldo, Oak Ridge Fire Department assistant fire chief.

The fire caused an estimated $1,000 in damages, mostly to the building’s exterior, Waldo said.

Firefighters found an ashtray on the porch. They removed exterior paneling after they spotted smoke behind it.