Oak Ridge Today

Community forum on homelessness on Jan. 11

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A local organization and church have organized a Jan. 11 forum on homelessness, and the public is invited to attend.

The forum will start at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. It’s been organized by the Trinity Out-Reach Center of Hope (TORCH) and the church.

A press release said the forum will bring together experts from social service agencies, faith-based groups, and the wider community for a frank discussion about homelessness that will include the definition, faces of homelessness, an exploration of potential solutions, and ways that people can be involved in the Jan. 24 “Point In Time Count” (PITC).

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Y-12 security breach top story of 2012 on Oak Ridge Today

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a high-security building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Four of the Top 5 stories on Oak Ridge Today in 2012 were related to the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Of those four, the most viewed—and also our most viewed story of the year—was the one we wrote the day of the intrusion: Y-12 protesters enter high-security area, spray paint, splash blood. That’s when three anti-nuclear weapons activists allegedly hiked over Pine Ridge, cut through fences, and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

Other stories related to the security breach that ended up in the Top 5 were:

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Project Linus of East Tennessee receives $5,000 grant

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Project Linus of East Tennessee recently announced it had received a $5,000 Walmart Foundation grant.

Project Linus of East Tennessee provides handmade blankets to more than 2,500 children each year who are in traumatic situations such as in the hospital or shelter, or who have been in an accident or fire, lost a parent who was serving the country, or affected by a mass school or public shooting, among other things.

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Y-12 Federal Credit Union appoints North Knoxville branch manager

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Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith

Y-12 Federal Credit Union recently announced that Jessica Smith has been named branch manager of the North Knoxville Branch.

Smith has almost nine years of experience in the banking industry, a press release said. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee and is currently attending Lincoln Memorial University for her master’s in business administration.

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Corker, Alexander propose dollar-for-dollar spending, debt limit plan

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Tennessee senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander have introduced a plan to reduce the growth in federal entitlement spending by almost $1 trillion in exchange for increasing the nation’s debt limit by $1 trillion, possibly this spring.

The Dollar for Dollar Act of 2012 would reduce the growth in spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, according to a statement posted on Corker’s website. Most of the spending reductions—$689 billion—would come from Medicare reform.

Corker and Alexander seemed confident that Congress and the White House would reach a deal in the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations, a high-stakes debate that has dragged on for weeks over how to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases starting Jan. 1.

“When the dust settles, federal income taxes will not increase for almost all Americans next year,” Corker and Alexander said.

The two Republicans said their dollar-for-dollar plan “focused on helping Americans avoid falling off the fiscal cliff no one wants to talk about, the looming bankruptcy of Medicare.”

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Clinton Public Library winter reading club for adults starts in January

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A winter reading club for adults starts at the Clinton Public Library in January.

The first program features a discussion of the John Grisham book “Skipping Christmas.” The library has copies of the book available for readers to borrow.

The first program starts at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14.

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Officials from Oak Ridge area attend DOE intergovernmental meeting

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State and local officials from Oak Ridge and Anderson and Roane counties recently attended the U.S. Department of Energy’s Annual Intergovernmental Conference in New Orleans. Participants met with federal, state, and local leaders from DOE sites across the nation, including top managers overseeing DOE’s Environmental Management, or EM, program.

Two senior DOE officials were keynote speakers at the conference. David Huizenga, senior advisor for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, provided an update on the EM program, which is responsible for environmental restoration, waste management, and long-term stewardship at DOE sites across the complex.

Neile Miller, recently named acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, addressed the relationship between NNSA and EM, and how the programs work together at sites with multiple missions like Oak Ridge.

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Oak Ridge recycles Christmas trees in January

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Oak Ridge is sponsoring a Christmas tree recycling event on Saturday, Jan. 5, and Saturday, Jan. 12.

Trees can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the parking lot at Big Turtle Park off Monterey Road.

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Supercomputers, materials and bears: ORNL marks eventful 2012

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Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

ORNL’s newest supercomputer, Titan, seen here with associate lab director for computing and computational sciences Jeff Nichols, took the top spot in November’s Top500 rankings. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory regained the lead in high-performance computing, enjoyed record-setting recognition for its research, and became a showpiece for renewable energy technology during 2012.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science reciprocated with favorable marks in its annual appraisal of managing contractor UT-Battelle. DOE cited the laboratory’s operation of its scientific user facilities, its “delivery of impactful science,” and a successful workforce restructuring to reduce operating costs.

“The dedicated efforts of our laboratory staff in all phases of science and technology and operational support have resulted in an excellent record of delivering science to the nation in 2012,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “ORNL will continue to set the pace in research toward a clean and secure energy future.”

ORNL’s 2012 included achievements in both research and support.

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Two alleged Christmas shopping robberies this month

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The alleged robbery and assault reported to Oak Ridge police on Saturday was the second time this month someone reported they were robbed while Christmas shopping and would not be able to identify a suspect.

On Saturday, a 32-year-old Knoxville man told police he was assaulted and robbed of $300 while Christmas shopping for his children, but lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.

Earlier this month, a 34-year-old Hillside Road man reported he was robbed of about $700 in cash in Shoney’s restaurant parking lot while Christmas shopping with a female friend. The man said he was counting his cash in the parking lot, making sure he had enough money for lunch, when a woman walked up to him, took his cash, and fled in a gold Cadillac down Tulsa Road, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

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Man shopping for Elmo doll for son says he was assaulted, robbed

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A Knoxville man shopping for an Elmo doll for his son for Christmas said he was assaulted and robbed of $300, but he told Oak Ridge police he lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.

The 32-year-old man also could not explain a wet, blue towel in his truck with blood on it, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

The man reportedly drove himself to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with broken cheek bones after the alleged Saturday evening assault and robbery. He also had a red, swollen face; cuts and abrasions on his face and head; two large knots on the back of his head; a busted, bleeding lip; a one-inch cut above his right eye; purple marks on his face—and what appeared to be a shoe tread on the left side of his face, the police report said.

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Police dog finds man’s missing gun on Robertsville soccer field

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An Oak Ridge police dog located a missing revolver in the grass on a soccer field at Robertsville Middle School early Friday morning, authorities said.

Leshawn Graham, 21, of Royce Circle in Oak Ridge, told police he had laid the gun down in the soccer field but could not find it, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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