With everyone preparing to move their clocks forward this weekend, the Oak Ridge Fire Department wants to remind everyone to change the battery in their smoke alarms as well.
In the state of Tennessee, 11 lives have been lost in residential structure fires since Feb. 28, so the State Fire Marshal’s Office is also encouraging all Tennesseans to change their smoke alarm batteries when they change their clocks Saturday night for daylight savings time.
Several hundred people listen to Joe Gaddis during a Thursday evening reception for the returning Oak Ridge Wildcats football coach.
He can’t guarantee that the Oak Ridge Wildcats will win every game this fall, but returning football coach Joe Gaddis said he plans to.
Gaddis said he and his staff will revitalize fan support and increase the number of players. They will also rebuild confidence and excitement in the football program, Gaddis said during a Thursday evening reception at Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Arena.
We’re bringing it back, Gaddis told a few hundred people at the reception. Some of them wore T-shirts that said Gaddis’ Gang.
John George Million Jr. (Submitted photo)
John Million had a lifelong love affair with classical music, opera, and classic books. Before he died on March 21, 2012, he made sure that two Oak Ridge nonprofit organizations that contributed to his cultural enjoyment would benefit greatly from his legacy.
Dan Allcott, conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony and Chorus, said: “The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is honored to be the recipient of a significant bequest from the estate of John Million. The six-figure donation to ORCMA gives us stability during tough economic times.
The American Cancer Society Catch the Leprechaun 5K starts at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge waterfront.
It is an Irish-themed 5k, and participants are encouraged come adorned in green, a press release said. It’s a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
The course will follow Melton Lake Drive and Melton Lake greenway. One lane of Melton Lake Drive will be closed from 8-8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Lamar Alexander
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has reintroduced legislation to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would also include Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash. All three sites played important roles in the top-secret World War II program to build the world’s first atomic weapons.
“The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and the facilities at Oak Ridge continue to be an important source of jobs and research for Tennessee and the rest of the country,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
The legislation was introduced Thursday.
The Oak Ridge Police Department responds to a reported robbery at the Kmart pharmacy on Tuesday evening.
A man who robbed the Kmart pharmacy on Tuesday fled on foot with $597 in cash but no pills, the Oak Ridge Police Department said Thursday.
It’s not clear yet if there is a connection between that stickup and a Feb. 26 pharmacy heist. It’s the second time in about a week that the pharmacy has been robbed.
ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said the suspect in this week’s robbery allegedly handed a note to a pharmacy clerk, demanding money and pills. The clerk cleaned out a cash drawer and gave the man $597, but no pills, Smith said.
Daniel B. Poneman
The federal funding cuts that went into effect March 1 could result in 1,400 furloughs or layoffs for U.S. Department of Energy contractors in Tennessee, an official said this week. The furloughs could start as early as April 1.
There could also be spending reductions of about $90 million for DOE contractors in the Volunteer State, DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said in a March 5 letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
Funding for contractors at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge could be cut by roughly $41 million, and more than 1,000 contractor employees could be furloughed, Poneman said.
Anderson County authorities serving a warrant at a mobile home on Becks Lane in Claxton on Monday found an alleged methamphetamine laboratory that included 90 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, 700 coffee filters, two gallons of muriatic acid, and more than a gallon of Coleman fuel, as well as a white substance that tested positive for meth, records said.
Ingredients and equipment that could be used to make meth were scattered around the home, including in a shed near the back of the home, in a 1996 Buick, and under a motor home in the driveway, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department report. Authorities detected the “distinct odor” of anhydrous ammonia at several places near the home, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jason D. Leach said in the report.
Sakuji Tanaka
When Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka of Japan visits Oak Ridge on Friday and Saturday, he will talk about and hear innovative ideas on how to achieve peace through service.
On Friday, Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give Tanaka a tour of ORNL. At 3 p.m., the RI president will tour the Secret City Commemorative Walk built by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. City Manager Mark Watson, who is president-elect of this Rotary club, will present a gift to Tanaka, who will make some remarks.
At 3:45 p.m. Tanaka will then visit the International Friendship Bell, where he will be welcomed by Oak Ridger Jack Bailey, district governor of RI District 6780, which encompasses 65 clubs in East Tennessee. Shigeko Uppuluri will present a history of the bell and give a bell replica to Tanaka, who will make remarks and ring the bell.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified a robbery suspect who allegedly stole $56 in cash and 387 oxycontin pills from the Kmart pharmacy last week.
The suspect has been identified as Jeramiah Frederick Webb, 35, of Morgan County, ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said Wednesday. Webb’s last known address was in Lancing, Smith said.
The Roane County Chamber of Commerce and the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Roane State Community College have joined together to offer three free workshops for entrepreneurs who are considering or have recently started their own business.
The two-hour workshops are scheduled for March 7, March 21, and April 11, from 1-3 p.m. at The Roane Alliance.
Shawn Reeves
Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Shawn Reeves has been awarded the 2013 Outstanding Technologist Award in Physical Sciences from the Microscopy Society of America.
She is a member of the microscopy group in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division.
Reeves, a Lenoir City resident, will receive the award during the plenary session of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this summer.
