Oak Ridge Today

ORCVB releases heritage tour guide

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Heritage Tour Guide

Oak Ridge Heritage Tour Guide

The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau has released a new 35-page, pocket-sized printed tour guide about the Secret City. The guide contains a detailed driving tour of heritage sites within the community, along with numerous facts and historic photographs of Oak Ridge from the WWII era. The guide also includes various other information about the city’s tourism attractions and hotels.

“Oak Ridge played such a pivotal role in world affairs. People visit our Welcome Center and want to know what to see and visit. The tour guide will give them a better understanding of the historic WWII sites within our city and an introduction to our attractions and hotels that they can take with them,” said Katy Brown, ORCVB president. “We are very excited to provide this guide for our visitors.”

[Read more…]

Company pledges $10,000 to five-year school foundation campaign

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Cadre5 and Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation

Steve Hicks, president and chief executive officer of Cadre5 LLC, is pictured with Cathy Toth, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation secretary and chair of the ORPSEF Making a Critical Difference campaign. (Submitted photo)

During the next five years, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF) has set a goal to provide $100,000 annually to the Oak Ridge schools.

Cadre5, a full-service technology and design firm with a focus on custom software development and technology innovation, recently made a $10,000 commitment to the campaign, and the company will give $2,000 annually to help the ORPSEF reach its goal.

“Finding employees that have the skills to face some of the nation’s most difficult technical issues can be a challenge,” said Steve Hicks, president and chief executive officer of Cadre5 LLC. “By supporting our local schools, we not only create a community that is attractive to grow today’s businesses, we are establishing a strong foundation for our future workforce to ensure that we will have the talent to answer tomorrow’s tough questions.”

[Read more…]

Carolers at Oak Ridge Library on Thursday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge High School Madrigal Singers will perform at noon Thursday at the Oak Ridge Public Library.

The students sing routinely in many languages and perform music from many time periods, Renaissance to modern, a press release said. Several participate in All East and All State choirs, and many receive college scholarships to help them pursue their music studies.

[Read more…]

Former superintendent Smallridge could serve as interim school leader

Posted at
By 6 Comments

Former superintendent Bob Smallridge could temporarily lead the Oak Ridge school system starting in January.

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Board of Education Chairman Keys Fillauer said he will recommend hiring Smallridge during a Jan. 7 meeting.

Tom Bailey, the current superintendent, is retiring at the end of the year, and the board hasn’t hired a replacement yet.

“We felt like we needed someone driving the ship,” Fillauer said of his proposal to recommend hiring Smallridge as interim superintendent until Bailey’s replacement is hired and starts working in Oak Ridge.

[Read more…]

Willow Brook Elementary School locked down after nearby burglary

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Willow Brook Elementary School was locked down around lunchtime Wednesday after a nearby burglary, Oak Ridge Police Lt. Robin Smith said this afternoon.

Smith said Oak Ridge Police Lt. John Kelly called the school and recommended it be locked down.

“The school was never involved,” Smith said. “There was nothing that happened at the school. Lt. Kelly just asked them to lock it down as a precaution.”

[Read more…]

Lake City police investigate restaurant robbery

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Lake City Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred Monday night at a Subway restaurant.

According to investigators, a man walked into the store at around 10:30 pm, produced a knife, and demanded cash from the employee behind the counter. The suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

[Read more…]

Chimney fire causes minor damage

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ithaca Lane Chimney Fire

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to a chimney fire on Ithaca Lane that caused minor damage Tuesday evening. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A Tuesday evening chimney fire caused minor damage to a home on Ithaca Lane, an Oak Ridge Fire Department report said.

The 6:09 p.m. fire was contained to the home’s fireplace and chimney flue, the report said.

Firefighters reported there had been extensive fire on the flue cap and flames on the flue walls, possibly from creosote. There was some smoke in the attic, but no fire or excessive heat, the report said.

[Read more…]

New leader named to UT-ORNL Supercomputer Center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Tony Mezzacappa

Tony Mezzacappa

Tony Mezzacappa, a leader in the field of astrophysics and supernova science, has been named director of the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Mezzacappa is a world leader in computational astrophysics and a pioneer in the field of supernova science. He is a UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow and group leader for theoretical physics in the Physics Division at ORNL.

He is also a joint professor in the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy. With this new position, Mezzacappa will become the department’s Newton W. and Wilma C. Thomas Endowed Chair in Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics.

[Read more…]

No state-based health care exchange, Haslam says

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Governor Bill Haslam

Gov. Bill Haslam

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday that the state will not operate a state-based healthcare exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act.

Tennessee had a Friday deadline to make a decision about the health insurance exchanges, created by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

[Read more…]

U.S. Rep. Fattah of Pennsylvania tours ORNL

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, with Oak Ridge National Laboratory Associate Lab Director Jeff Nichols in front of the Titan supercomputer, ranked the world’s fastest in November. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory today.

While at the lab, Fattah visited the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, BioEnergy Science Center, Spallation Neutron Source, Center for Nanophase Materials Science, and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.

He spoke with lab leadership about ORNL’s research in areas that include advanced manufacturing, materials research, supercomputing and biofuels; the transfer of ORNL technology to the private sector; science, technology, engineering and math education; and other topics.

[Read more…]

East Tennessee arsons account for half of burned acres

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

More than half the acres burned by arson in Tennessee since November were from 40 fires set in Anderson, Campbell, Hawkins and Scott counties, state officials said Tuesday.

The rash of wildfires before and after Thanksgiving are being investigated as arsons. In Anderson County, they included a 225-acre fire on Walden Ridge, a 375-acre fire at Graves Gap, and another 150-acre fire on Redoak Mountain. All three were in northern Anderson County.

[Read more…]

SAIC cuts about 50 jobs in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. Nov. 12.

SAIC confirmed Tuesday that about 50 Oak Ridge workers have been laid off as part of a national workforce reduction that includes roughly 700 employees.

Based in McLean, Va., SAIC is a major government contractor that has its shared services headquarters in Oak Ridge. The company has about 900 local employees.

Melissa Koskovich, a spokeswoman for the company, said she didn’t immediately have information on the types of positions affected by the local workforce reductions but would try to get it.

[Read more…]