Oak Ridge Today

Hillside Road man charged with assault with beer bottle

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A Hillside Road couple has been charged with assault after an Oct. 8 dispute that allegedly ended with one man getting smashed over the head with a beer bottle and another man being hit with fists, Anderson County court records said.

Jose Marchant, 22, of Hillside Road, allegedly struck the first victim in the head with a 12-ounce Budweiser beer bottle, Oak Ridge Police Officer Marvell Moore said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The victim was cut and had to seek medical attention, Moore said.

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Lenoir City man arrested after allegedly punching man, taking Xbox in Clinton

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A Lenoir City man who remained jailed Tuesday is accused of punching a Clinton resident in the throat at his home and taking two Xbox 360 game systems and a Nintendo Wii.

The victim said he had opened the door for an acquaintance, Carson Garrett Hall, 22, of Lenoir City, at a home on Carden Farm Road in Clinton on Aug. 18, and he was immediately punched in the throat, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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Paranormal investigator discusses ghost-hunting projects on Monday

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Chad Calek

Chad Calek

Paranormal investigator Chad Calek will discuss his ghost-hunting projects on Monday at the Roane State Community College in Harriman.

It’s free and open to the public.

Calek is a regular on television on A&E’s “Paranormal State,” and he has filmed and investigated many tales of paranormal activity, a press release said.

The discussion is presented by Roane State Student Activities. It starts at 6 p.m. Monday in the O’Brien Theatre at the college’s Roane County campus in Harriman. The press release said children should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

According to Calek’s biography, his interest in ghosts started at age 12 when he heard rumors that his Iowa home was haunted.

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Roane State’s Goff receives Muddy Boot award

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Gary Goff Muddy Boot Award

Former state Rep. David Coffey, left, presents the Muddy Boot award to Roane State Community College President Gary Goff. Also pictured is Goff’s wife Heidi Goff. (Submitted photo)

Roane State Community College President Gary Goff received a “Muddy Boot Award” during an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday.

The awards honor people who have used their work and community activities to make East Tennessee a stronger region.

“Gary is an example of the person who—though not here for a very long time—makes a huge difference in the quality of the community,” ETEC President Jim Campbell said. “His leadership spanned from higher education, to K-12, to business partnerships and beyond. His legacy will last far longer than his seven-year tenure at Roane State Community College, and for that we honor him today with our highest award, the Muddy Boot.”

The Muddy Boot Award was created in the 1970s to honor people who have gone above the call of duty—like those who served the nation during the Manhattan Project—to make the community, the state, and the nation a better place to live and work, a press release said. More than 70 people have received the award since then.

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CROET moves headquarters to Commerce Park

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The Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee is moving its headquarters across town to the Commerce Park, where the economic development organization will share a building with Tech 20/20.

CROET has been located at the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office building complex on Laboratory Road for years, and Tech 20/20 has had its headquarters at 1020 Commerce Drive.

In a press release, John Morris, Tech 20/20 president and chief executive officer, said the collaboration between the two economic development organizations brings his career “full circle.”

“In 1996, CROET helped launch one of my start-up companies, Net Learning, with a $100,000 seed loan that served as a catalyst to launch the business,” Morris said. “They were there when we could not get traditional funding, and now I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue to strengthen the partnership between Tech 20/20 and CROET. By being co-located, we will build upon the great relationships we’ve had for years to leverage opportunities and help other businesses and start-ups in non-traditional ways.”

The press release said the partnership between CROET and Tech 20/20 has played a key role in economic development in Oak Ridge, with projects including the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth’s accelerator fund and the Halcyon Commercialization Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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State asked to investigate DesJarlais’ relationship with patient

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The Tennessee Department of Health has been asked to investigate whether U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a doctor, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient.

The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked for the investigation in a complaint filed Monday. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization said Tennessee law prohibits doctors from engaging in relationships with patients.

DesJarlais, who lives in South Pittsburg near Chattanooga, is a first-term Tennessee Republican whose district includes part of Roane County, including areas north and west of Oak Ridge.

In a letter to supporters on Friday, DesJarlais acknowledged that he was involved with an unnamed woman he had treated for a foot injury while he was legally separated from his wife during divorce proceedings 12 years ago.

“The relationship was completely mutual,” DesJarlais said.

But in its complaint, CREW said that doesn’t matter. Tennessee’s medical policy holds the physician responsible for maintaining “the boundaries of the professional relationship by avoiding and refraining from sexual contact with patients,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan wrote.

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City starts search for Jackson Square design firm this week

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TDOT Commissioner John Schroer Tours Jackson Square

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer, left, tours Jackson Square on Monday with Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, center, and City Manager Mark Watson.

The search for a company to help transform historic Jackson Square with the help of an $800,000 grant could start this week, Oak Ridge officials said Monday.

The city plans to release a request for proposals, or RFP, for consulting engineers this week, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. The winning firm will help design and configure the new square, and meet with the public. Picking a company could take three to four weeks, Watson said.

A separate company will be selected to do an environmental review of historic buildings at Jackson Square, Oak Ridge’s original town center.

The redevelopment of the square will use a roughly $800,000 state award of federal highway money to improve the parking lot on Broadway Avenue, build and repair sidewalks, add trees and pedestrian lighting, and make the square an “attractive, landscaped plaza and parking area.”

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer toured the square on Monday afternoon with TDOT and local officials, but he declined to put a timeline on the project, which requires a local funding match of $200,000.

Watson said it would take at least 18 months to get to the construction bidding stage.

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TDOT commissioner tours Jackson Square today

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John Schroer

John Schroer

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer will stop in Jackson Square Monday afternoon as part of a four-day tour of projects in East Tennsseee.

Schroer is scheduled to be at Big Ed’s Pizza in Jackson Square at 2:30 p.m. The square, Oak Ridge’s original commercial center, was recently awarded an $800,000 transportation enhancement grant for parking lots, sidewalks, benches, and bicycle racks.

During this week’s tour, Schroer, elected officials, and transportation officials will travel by bus to view TDOT projects currently under way and those listed on the department’s “Three Year Program.”

Schroer began his “TDOT Projects Tour” in TDOT’s Region One. The Region One Tour starts in Morgan County today and ends in Sullivan County on Thursday.

For more information on the “TDOT Projects Tour”, visit www.tn.gov/tdot/tour/.

Radiation Safety Information Computational Center at ORNL marks 50th year

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RSICC Directors

Radiation Safety Information Computational Center directors at Tuesday’s celebration were Robert Roussin (1987-96), Bernadette Kirk (1996-2000 and 2004-11), and Tim Valentine (current). (Photo by Curtis Boles)

One of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s longest-running institutions marked its golden anniversary on Tuesday with a recognition ceremony keynoted by U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons, a press release said.

The Radiation Safety Information Computational Center has been a storehouse of invaluable nuclear computational tools and data for modeling and simulating the interaction of radiation with matter since 1962, the release said. The center acquires the state-of-the art codes and data, preserves them, and makes them accessible to the research community.

“Congratulations to the RSICC in its 50th year,” Lyons said. “RSICC’s innovative and adaptive culture has enabled the center to continuously provide a unique service to its nearly 20,000 customers around the world.”

The DOE center has expanded its software and data packages beyond radiation shielding to areas that include criticality safety, radiation protection, reactor physics, atmospheric dispersion and environmental dose, radiation dose in medical applications and space shielding applications, the release said.

The idea for the RSICC, like many that emanated from ORNL during the Cold War, can be traced to the late Alvin Weinberg, who as ORNL director chaired a president’s advisory council convened to deal with the expanse of new data emerging from the nuclear science community. The council recommended the establishment of information analysis centers.

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B&W Y-12 receives DOE sustainability awards

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B&W Y-12 Sustainability Award

Regan Rose, left, and Eric Wright consolidate shredded documents on the Michael Dunn Center’s document destruction truck during an electronic recycling event at New Hope Center on Sept. 14. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 recently received two U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Awards at a ceremony during the 2012 GreenGov Symposium in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes innovation and excellence in sustainability, pollution prevention, and environmental sustainability stewardship efforts within DOE, a press release said. An independent panel chose Y-12 from about 137 nominations for two of this year’s 20 awards.

“Today’s Sustainability Award winners are leading by example, showing what’s possible when employees bring creativity, innovation, and dedication to their efforts to make the Department of Energy more sustainable,” DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman said. “The efforts undertaken by these individuals and teams are helping the department to deliver on President Obama’s sustainability goals, while inspiring others both inside and outside of government to start investing in cost-saving clean energy technologies.”

Y-12’s awards were:

  • Reaching Beyond—Y-12 Sustainability Outreach, which included collaborative outreach activities within the Y-12 complex, in the local community, and at the national level, and
  • Y-12 Targeted Excess Materials Program Pursues Sustainable Disposition Paths, which addresses hard-to-disposition excess legacy materials, critical and strategic materials and equipment.

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ORFD recommends alarms that detect flaming, smoldering fires

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The Oak Ridge Fire Department has responded to a recent NBC news report that raised questions about smoke alarms and their effectiveness, including potential delays in notifying homeowners of fires.

In a press release last week, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said there are two types of home smoke alarms available: ionization and photoelectric. The ion type reacts faster to open flaming fires and is usually the least expensive. The photoelectric type reacts faster to smoldering fires, like the ones shown in the NBC report, and is less likely to react to cooking, the release said.

Waldo said there are smoke alarms that contain both ionization and photoelectric technology. The Oak Ridge Fire Department recommends them and installs them as part of its smoke alarm program.

Waldo said smoke alarms should be installed on every level of a home, with more detectors in each sleeping area and directly outside of each sleeping area. Smoke alarms should be tested monthly to make sure they are operating, and the batteries should be changed every six months.

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Emory Valley Center accepts business, organization donations

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Emory Valley Center Civitan Club Donation

Pictured are Emory Valley Center Day Workshop employees and, in front row second from left, Emory Valley Center Development Director Robin Biloski, Capital Campaign Co-Chair Gene Caldwell, Civitan Club Past President John Seiber, and Clinton Civitan Chapter Treasurer Susan Miller. (Submitted photos)

The Emory Valley Center recently accepted donations from AT&T and the Civitan Club of Clinton.

The Civitan Club’s donation was the final pledge to the Emory Valley Center’s Capital Campaign, a fundraising drive to raise money for a new building on Emory Valley Road, a press release said.

“One of our major emphases in our organization is to be there to assist adults and children with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and EVC is a perfect partner for us here in Anderson County,” said John Seiber, Civitan past president. “We are so pleased to assist in the campaign to raise funds for the new center.”

The center’s capital campaign is about two-thirds of the way to its goal.

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