Oak Ridge Today

Lake City’s name change to Rocky Top on hold for now

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Tim Isbel at Hearing on Lake City Name Change to Rocky Top

Tim Isbel, president of the Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., at a federal court hearing on Monday on Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top.

Note: this story was updated at 2:52 a.m.

KNOXVILLE—Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top is on hold for now as a federal judge considers a request to stop the move.

The name change has been proposed as part of an expensive plan to convert the former coal mining town in northern Anderson County into a tourist destination. But it has been challenged by the publisher of “Rocky Top,” a well-known bluegrass song and unofficial University of Tennessee anthem.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a bill that allows the name change, but the proposal has not yet gone back to the Lake City Council for final approval. Under the state law, Lake City could become Rocky Top on July 3, said Tim Isbel, an Anderson County Commissioner and president of Rocky Top Tennessee Marketing and Manufacturing Co.

That company has proposed a development that could be worth up to $450 million over six years and include an indoor and outdoor water park, coal miners theater, children’s museum, train rides, restaurant, and candy company on some 300 acres near two exits off Interstate 75. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday, officials said it could bring 200 new jobs to Lake City and generate another $6 million in sales tax per year. But the project hinges on the name change. [Read more…]

2014 Election: Chancellor candidates clash over experience

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Michael Farley

Michael Farley

Nicki Cantrell

Nicki Cantrell

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m.

CLINTON—They’ve traded accusations of false claims and “mudslinging” and challenged each other on their courtroom experience. The debate has spilled over into mailed flyers, newspaper ads, and candidate forums.

On one side is Clinton attorney Michael Farley, a former Clinton City Council member and current city judge who is running for Anderson County chancellor in the Republican primary on Tuesday. On the other is Nicki Cantrell, who is also a Republican and Clinton attorney.

In particular, Farley has raised questions about the number of jury trials that Cantrell has handled and the number of contested hearings she’s had in Anderson County Chancery Court. He’s suggested she’s not telling the truth about her experience.

“If you check with the clerks, it’s not backed up,” Farley said. “She doesn’t have the experience I have.”

[Read more…]

Board could consider repair, demolition order near Magic Wok on Thursday

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Classic Cleaners

Located in a small shopping center on Tyler and Tyrone roads, Classic Cleaners was given 10 days to vacate in February after the city staff said it found very serious code violations and structural issues in the building, which also houses a handful of other businesses.

A city board on Thursday will again hear the two cases against the owners of a commercial building judged to be “in disrepair” near the Magic Wok restaurant in central Oak Ridge.

In February, the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals tabled a demolition or repair order for 60 days to give the owners, Ma Shiu-Yen Wang and Ta-Shun Etal, time to sell the damaged property or develop a repair or demolition plan, the city staff said.

That 60-day postponement expired last Sunday.

The two cases concern the 50,000-square-feet commercial building at 123 and 135 E. Tyrone Road, just north of Oak Ridge Turnpike near Jackson Square. They exclude the manufactured structure that houses the Magic Wok, but they do include the areas in the small shopping center that have housed a dry cleaner, thrift store, wig shop, Mexican grocery, and the Magic Wok’s food preparation and overflow dining areas. [Read more…]

Riley, 5, loves princesses but battles brain tumor

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Riley Mozingo

Five-year-old Riley Mozingo was diagnosed with brain cancer May 10, 2010. A princess-themed carnival was held Friday at Lake City Elementary School in her honor. All proceeds from the carnival will help fund her bedroom renovation. (Photos by Sara Wise)

LAKE CITY—“Come on, let’s go,” shouts Riley Mozingo as she drags her good friend, Anderson County Schools junior Emilee Hooks, toward the bounce house outside Lake City Elementary School.

Riley is a typical five-year-old. She loves princesses—especially The Little Mermaid, Ariel—and has big dreams to become a doctor when she grows up. But one thing sets Riley apart: she was diagnosed with astrocytoma grade 3.

She has had eight procedures since she was diagnosed with the brain tumor on May 14, 2010, and has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Now, she has to attend physical therapy sessions because she has trouble with her left side. Her tumor hasn’t shrunk—it actually got bigger during chemo—but it’s stayed about the same size with radiation.

Riley Mozingo and Little Mermaid

Riley admires a Little Mermaid-themed game during the carnival.

But it’s not all bad for Riley. She’s about to have her bedroom renovated by Special Spaces of Knoxville. The nonprofit organization renovates rooms for sick children all across the country, especially those with life-threatening illnesses. Riley is getting a princess-themed room.

Melanie Lamberson of Special Spaces said that once she heard about a five-year-old with cancer, she knew she had to help. [Read more…]

New rowing coach resigns

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Marc DeRose

Marc DeRose

The head coach hired in August has resigned from the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

Coach Marc DeRose, who was also rowing director, has concluded that this was “not the right fit for me and my family,” a Friday afternoon press release said.

The release said a team of veteran ORRA leaders has moved into new roles within the organization. The new team management approach started after the resignation of DeRose, who replaced longtime head coach Allen Eubanks late last summer.

“We wish Marc and his family all the luck in the world,” ORRA President Terry Holley said. “We’re fortunate to have so many outstanding individuals ready to step in and make sure we don’t skip a beat. We may be nearing the end of the season, but we have no doubt we will finish strong.”

In the meantime, the work is being divided into four distinct areas, each with a key person in charge, the release said, “someone everyone involved with ORRA knows and respects. The four areas and those in charge are: [Read more…]

Y-12, Pantex workforce reductions could total about 170 jobs

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Y-12 National Security Complex Scarboro Road Entrance

The Scarboro Road entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above.

Workforce reductions at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, are expected to total about 170 jobs, officials said this week.

That’s about 2 percent of the roughly 7,900 workers at the two nuclear weapons plants.

The workforce reductions are expected to come through a voluntary separation program, or VSP.

The majority of the reductions, or 140 positions, would be at Y-12. The other 30 would be at Pantex.

The VSPs are being considered as a new federal contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, prepares to take over at Y-12 and Pantex on July 1. CNS, which was first announced as the new consolidated contractor in January 2013, has promised to save the federal government more than $3 billion during the next decade. [Read more…]

School board approves balanced calendar

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Oak Ridge Board of Education

The Oak Ridge Board of Education and school administrators are pictured above during a recent meeting.

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

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday approved a new balanced calendar for the 2015-2016 school year. The balanced calendar, which is different than the traditional school calendar, gives students about nine weeks of classroom instruction at a time. This will be the first time that Oak Ridge has had a balanced calendar.

The school board approved the change in a 4-1 vote on Monday. Board member Jenny Richter was opposed.

A separate motion to outsource substitute teachers died with little discussion.

The vote on the balanced calendar came after input from three community members who were opposed to the change from the traditional calendar, which is now being used at most Oak Ridge schools. The board discussed the calendars for nearly an hour before the vote. [Read more…]

Mason to brief feds on UPF alternatives report today

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Ernest Moniz, Lamar Alexander, Thom Mason, Joe DiPietro, Jimmy Cheek at University of Tennessee

From left are UT President Joe DiPietro, Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, and ORNL Director Thom Mason.

Note: This story was last updated at 2:30 p.m.

KNOXVILLE—Federal officials have expressed concerns about increasing cost projections and delayed construction dates for a new Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and a so-called Red Team has drafted an alternative approach that could keep the project at $6.5 billion or less—and help workers get out of the aging Building 9212 at Y-12 by 2025.

Thom Mason, the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, chaired the Red Team, and he is expected to brief federal officials in Washington, D.C., today (Monday) on the team’s report. The report will then go to Congress, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a media briefing at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center at the University of Tennessee on Friday.

Among the questions that could be answered are which old production buildings at Y-12 should be replaced and which can be refurbished. Y-12 was built to enrich uranium as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II as the United States raced to beat Germany to build the world’s first atomic weapons. [Read more…]

ORHS again ranked sixth-best in state

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Oak Ridge High School has again been ranked sixth in Tennessee in an annual ranking of the best high schools in the state.

The ranking by U.S. News and World Report said ORHS is among the Top 1,000 high schools in the nation, ranking No. 894.

At 13:1, Oak Ridge High School has a smaller-than-average student-to-teacher ratio, and it is above the state average in college readiness and student proficiency in algebra and English. [Read more…]

Photos, video: Secret City Wildbots at FIRST Robotics Competition

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Secret City Wildbots Robot

The robot is double-loaded for autonomous mode (first 10 seconds of the match). In autonomous mode, each robot is given one ball. However, if one team on the alliance believes that another team’s robot is a more capable shooter, it can relinquish its ball to the more capable teammate. (Photos by Angi Agle)

 

The Secret City Wildbots were 5-4 in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis on Friday night, with one qualifying round remaining this morning (Saturday morning). Here are pictures and video sent by Angi Agle from the Aerial Assist competition on Friday. [Read more…]

Photo: Secret City Wildbots

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Secret City Wildbots at Qualification

The Secret City Wildbots drive team (L to R: Tag Groff, Alana Joldersma, Luke Buckner, Andreas Franco) prepare for one of five qualification matches on Thursday. (Photo by Angi Agle)

By Angi Agle

The Secret City Wildbots drive team, pictured above, prepared for one of five qualification matches on Thursday. The Wildbots were 2-2 at the time, having lost the first two and won the next two decisively.

There was one more qualification match remaining Thursday, five on Friday, and one Saturday. Teams are ranked on six criteria, with rankings changing rapidly depending on the performance of all teams. We won’t know until noon Saturday which teams advance to the elimination rounds. [Read more…]

School board considers balanced calendar on Monday

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

The new “balanced” school calendar has twice been endorsed by a majority of Oak Ridge parents and school staff, and the school board on Monday is expected to consider whether to use the new calendar, which gives students about nine weeks of classroom instruction at a time, in the 2015-2016 school year.

The first vote was conducted through the Skylert callout system in February, and the second vote was in March. Parents and staff were asked whether they favor the traditional or balanced calendar.

The new calendar would apply to all schools, including Willow Brook and the PreSchool for the 2015-16 school year. The first vote callout took place Feb. 10.

The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an 11- to 12-week summer. [Read more…]