Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge educators host candidate forum Wednesday

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The Oak Ridge Education Association will host a public forum for five Tennessee House of Representatives candidates on Wednesday.

Three of the candidates—Democrat Jack McNew, Independent Allen Cole, and Republican Kent Calfee— are seeking seats in Tennessee’s District 32. That district includes Roane County and part of Loudon County. The seat has been held for one term by Lenoir City Republican Julia Hurley, who lost to Calfee in the Aug. 2 primary.

The other two candidates—Clinton Democrat Jim Hackworth and Oak Ridge Republican John R. Ragan—are battling to represent District 33, which includes most of Anderson County.

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With help from UT, tree inventory under way in Oak Ridge

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The city of Oak Ridge and forestry students from the University of Tennessee are conducting a tree inventory to help develop a tree planting plan.

The inventory started Saturday at the west end of Oak Ridge near Rarity Ridge. The first two-week inventory will move east along State Route 95/58 to State Route 62, also known as Illinois Avenue.

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School board considers right to restrict, but not ban, cameras at meetings

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Note: This story was last updated at 3:39 p.m. Sept. 15.

As originally drafted, the proposed policy change would have required anyone who wanted to use a camera, camcorder, or other photographic equipment at an Oak Ridge school board meeting to first seek permission from the board.

But education officials suggested it went too far. While school board members approved it 4-0 on first reading last month, they asked Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Tom Bailey to revise it.

“I don’t think we want to ban it,” Bailey said, referring to the use of cameras. “I think we reserve the right to is the right language.”

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Contractor completes K-25 east wing demolition, moves to north end

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K-25 East Wing Demolition

Workers wrap up the demolition of the K-25 east wing, pictured at left, in this Sept. 5 photo. The north end is in the foreground. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

One month after a historic preservation agreement was signed, a federal cleanup contractor announced Friday that it has completed demolition work on the east wing of the K-25 Building and is preparing to demolish the north end.

Historic preservationists had lobbied for years to save the north end, but its deteriorated condition made that option unfeasible, a press release said.

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Report: Clinton police seize SUV, arrest four after meth residue found

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Clinton police seized a Chevrolet Tahoe and arrested four people Thursday morning after authorities and a police dog allegedly found a coffee filter with drug residue that tested positive for methamphetamine.

Inside the Tahoe, authorities also allegedly found several syringes, lithium batteries, and razor blades, a Clinton Police Department report said. Clinton Police Officer Bradley Kidwell said the search also found a CVS Pharmacy bag that contained new makeup items but no receipt.

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News Sentinel court reporter to speak at Lunch with the League

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News Sentinel court reporter Jamie Satterfield will discuss her struggles as a female covering crime during the past 24 years in a Tuesday talk at “Lunch with the League.”

Satterfield’s talk is titled “A Man’s Game.” It starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

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NNSA reassigns two officials after Y-12 security breach

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Daniel Hoag

Daniel Hoag

Two National Nuclear Security Administration officials have been reassigned after the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Daniel Hoag has been temporarily reassigned to the Oak Ridge Site Office, NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino said in an Aug. 7 staff memo. Hoag has been deputy manager of the new NNSA Production Office, or NPO, which oversees nuclear production missions at Y-12 in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Hoag’s appointment was announced in July, shortly before the security breach. He served as the chief operating officer for Pantex and Y-12, reporting to NPO Manager Steven Erhart in Oak Ridge.

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Council approves $128,000 for Centennial Golf Course renovations

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Despite the objections of one official and one resident, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday agreed to spend $128,000 to renovate 29 bunkers, or sand traps, at Centennial Golf Course.

The Golf Course Fund will be used to pay for the repairs at the city-owned course. The work will be done by First Place Finish Inc. of Oak Ridge and Signet Golf Associates.

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Oak Ridge Camera Club seeking entries for photographic salon

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Vase with Tulips

“Vase with Tulips” by Oak Ridge Camera Club President Mike Slay. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Camera Club is seeking entries for its 64th annual photographic salon. Still lifes, like the elegant “Vase with Tulips” pictured at left, are an exciting part of the annual salon, a press release said.

The press release said all East Tennessee photographers are invited to submit their best digital and print images. Entries will be hung at New Hope Center during November and December.

Digital images to be shown on screen must be submitted from Oct. 14 to 21. Print images (both black and white, and color) will be accepted on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2 and 3. Visit the Club’s website at oakridgecameraclub.org/ and click in the middle panel on “ORCC 2012 Salon” for entry forms and detailed salon rules.

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Roane State in Oak Ridge celebrates Constitution Day

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In celebration of Constitution Day, Roane State Community College will screen Alexandra Pelosi’s documentary “Citizen U.S.A.: A 50 State Road Trip” on Monday, Sept. 17, at the college’s Oak Ridge campus.

Pelosi visited all 50 states and interviewed dozens of immigrant Americans on the day they took the oath of citizenship. The screening will be held at 1 p.m. in the City Room.

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Frank hires Oak Ridger reporter for county post

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New Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has named newspaper reporter Leean Tupper as her administrative assistant, a press release said.

An Anderson County native, Tupper has worked as staff reporter and lifestyles editor at The Oak Ridger since November 2004. She previously worked for more than five years at the Courier News in Clinton. Between the two jobs, she has covered Anderson County government and local schools for 13 years, the press release said.

“I am so excited to add Leean to the operations of the mayor’s office,” Frank said. “In addition to being a wonderfully kind and professional woman, Leean brings to county government a great understanding of the history of Anderson County from her years as a reporter.”

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Y-12 security breach ‘obvious dereliction of duty’

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Lawmakers criticized federal officials and contractors during congressional hearings this week on the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex, demanding to know who had been fired and who had been responsible for repairing critical cameras that didn’t work.

“This level of intrusion into the perimeter of a highly secure nuclear weapons facility is unprecedented—and it is completely unacceptable,” said Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the U.S. House Strategic Forces Subcommittee. “It is outrageous to think that the greatest threat to the American public from weapons of mass destruction may be the incompetence of Department of Energy security.”

Legislators took aim at federal officials and the “mind-boggling incompetence” of contractors. They wanted to know how an 82-year-old nun was able to reach the “Fort Knox” of uranium, a building inside a high-security area at Y-12 surrounded by fences and protected by alarms and cameras—and where deadly force is authorized.

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