Oak Ridge Today

Authorities pull bus from Clinch River, dive team continues search

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Bus in Melton Hill Lake

A tow truck pulls a bus from the Clinch River Monday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Austin Reed via Brad Jones)

A submerged bus was pulled out of the Clinch River near Pellissippi Parkway on Monday afternoon, but no one was on board, Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. Akagi said Tuesday.

Authorities, including an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department dive team, continued to search the water near Solway Park in Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening.

Akagi declined to release more details or comment on why the dive team was still there. He said he wasn’t able to answer some questions, such as how long the bus had been there, how it got there, or how authorities learned it was in the water.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Anderson County Sheriff's Department Dive Team

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department dive team searches the Clinch River near Solway Park early Tuesday evening after a bus was pulled from the water on Monday afternoon.

Free concert Saturday by Oak Ridge Community Orchestra

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Ilia Steinschneider

Ilia Steinschneider, a member of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, is one of two violin soloists performing in a free concert by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra on Saturday. (Photo submitted by ORCO)

A free concert by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra on Saturday will feature Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, the Brahms Tragic Overture, and the Bach Double Violin Concerto with two soloists.

The two soloists for the double violin concerto are Bree Miller and Ilia Steinschneider.

The concert starts at 2 p.m. in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, which is at the corner of the Oak Ridge Turnpike and LaFayette Drive. Although admission is free, charitable donations to support the orchestra’s routine operating expenses will be appreciated, a press release said.

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Roane State presents philanthropy awards to Oak Ridge, Anderson County

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Oak Ridge Roane State Philanthropy Award

From left, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and City Council member Charlie Hensley accept the Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy from Roane State President Gary Goff. (Photo submitted by RSCC)

The Oak Ridge and Anderson County governments recently received state philanthropy awards for their support of an expansion of the local Roane State Community College branch campus.

Both governments contributed $500,000 to a new Health Sciences and Technology Building at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. Roane State said those contributions were key to reaching a $2.5 million fundraising goal.

Recognizing those contributions, Roane State President Gary Goff recently presented Oak Ridge and Anderson County officials with Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Philanthropy.

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NNSA changes security contract competition, including at Y-12

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As the fallout from a July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex continues to roil the plant, federal officials announced Monday they have canceled part of a proposal to combine protective force services at Y-12, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The current contract competition will be revised to remove the National Nuclear Security Administration’s portion of the protective force services from the solicitation, according to an NNSA announcement. That includes the part of the contract competition that would provide protective force operations at Y-12 and Pantex.

The security services, or protective force operations, are now expected to be included in a consolidated management and operating contract covering both Pantex and Y-12.

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Founder of horse therapy academy speaks at Kiwanis Club meeting

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The founder of an organization that helps people with disabilities and other challenges through therapy with horses will speak at a Kiwanis Club meeting at lunchtime Tuesday.

Lynn Petr is the founder and executive director of the Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding in Loudon County. STAR serves children and adults there and in 10 surrounding counties, according to information from the Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge.

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Oak Ridge plans for Manhattan Project’s 70th anniversary

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Organizers in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., are having special events today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret national effort to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

Although nothing is planned in Oak Ridge, local volunteers are considering whether to have a celebration on Sept. 19, the 70th anniversary of the decision to select Oak Ridge for the first Manhattan Project site, newspaper columnist and Y-12 National Security Complex Historian D. Ray Smith said in an e-mail.

The volunteers plan to begin discussing the possible celebration during a 4 p.m. Tuesday meeting in the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau conference room.

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Anderson County motorcyclist killed in Roane wreck

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An Andersonville man was killed Sunday night while riding his motorcycle in Roane County, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported that Larry Eugene Ballard had been headed north on Highway 27 in Harriman at around 6:30 p.m. Sunday when a westbound Chevy Cavalier driven by 34-year-old Crystal Laymance turned left onto the highway in front of Ballard’s Harley-Davidson, WYSH said.

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ORAU grant buys new technology for Pigeon Forge classroom

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ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover

Fifth-grade students showcase their technology skills in a Pigeon Forge Middle School classroom outfitted with new equipment using a $30,000 grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities. (Photo submitted by ORAU)

A $30,000 grant from a federal contractor in Oak Ridge filled a Pigeon Forge classroom with new technology this summer.

Heather Burkhart, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Pigeon Forge Middle School, received the grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities in that nonprofit’s fourth annual Extreme Classroom Makeover competition.

An ORAU press release said the grant supports educators who use technology in the classroom to inspire more students to pursue math and science-based careers.

Kohlhorst, Klemm retire from Y-12; new manager starts

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Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12.

Two weeks after an unprecedented security breach, two top executives have retired from the company that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex, and one of them has been replaced.

In a press release, The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced that Charles “Chuck” G. Spencer is now acting president and general manager for Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC, the contractor that manages the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration. He replaces Darrel P. Kohlhorst, who has retired.

William R. Klemm

William R. Klemm

It said William R. Klemm, deputy general manager of operations, has also retired.

The statement didn’t say whether the staff changes were related to the highly publicized July 28 intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and it didn’t say who would replace Klemm.

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UCOR and steel workers union approve four-year contract

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A steel workers union has approved a new four-year contract with UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, for work at the former K-25 site.

The agreement between UCOR and the United Steel Workers Local No. 9-288 of Oak Ridge includes a 2 percent wage increase in each of the next four years and benefit changes similar to those announced for non-union employees earlier this year, a press release said.

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Community celebrates K-25 historic preservation agreement

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K-25 Building

The mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The North Tower, which historic preservationists had lobbied to save for years, is in the center background. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

An agreement officially announced Friday morning clears the way for the historic K-25 North Tower to be demolished, calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a nearby city-owned fire station, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn.

The agreement wraps up a decade of discussion over how to commemorate the historic contributions of K-25, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to make the world’s first atomic bombs.

Historic preservationists lobbied for years to save the North Tower, but concerns over safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and cost appear to have made that impractical. Much of the rest of the K-25 Building has already been torn down.

Those who signed the agreement include the U.S. Department of Energy, the State Office of Historic Preservation, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the City of Oak Ridge, and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

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Woman accused of ramming car, pointing handgun

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An Oak Ridge woman was arrested Friday for allegedly scratching a car with a knife on West Outer Drive, ramming it with her car, and then pointing a small-caliber handgun at three other people.

Bianca Nicole Taylor, 24, has been charged with one count of vandalism and three counts of aggravated assault. She remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Friday evening.

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