Oak Ridge Today

Lavender Festival on June 18 celebrates herbs, crafts, food, music

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Several thousand people visit Jackson Square Lavender Festival each year, now in a newly renovated Jackson Square. (Photo by Shawn Millsaps)

 

The 18th annual Lavender Festival on Saturday, June 18, will celebrate herbs, crafts, food, and music.

It’s scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 18 in the renovated Jackson Square, which now features a fountain and pleasant sitting area in the center, a press release said.

The festival will celebrate the “Herb of the Year,” Capsicum, or hot peppers.

New this year, “A Taste of Tennessee Wines” brings wine tasting to Lavender Festival, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tasting is hosted by Great Valley Wine Trail, which is made up of five independent wineries in East Tennessee. Many of these Tennessee wines earned silver, gold, and concordance gold medals in the Wines of the South Regional Wine Competition in October 2015 at the University of Tennessee, the press release said. Adults over 21 may purchase a $10 tasting ticket, and will receive a free glass and wine tote, and the opportunity to buy bottles of Tennessee wine and meet the winemakers. Customers may enjoy the wine at seating areas at the festival, with lunch served all day by several food trucks, caterers, and restaurants. A portion of the proceeds of the wine tasting will benefit the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Photos by Culiat: Oak Ridge High School graduation, I

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The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, on Blankenship Field. Here are photos by Julio Culiat.

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The Oak Ridge High School commencement ceremony was Thursday evening, June 2, 2016, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

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Photos: Oak Ridge High School Convocation

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Oak Ridge High School Convocation June 1 2016 Panorama 800x319

Oak Ridge High School seniors are pictured at Convocation in the ORHS Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, June 1, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Convocation for Oak Ridge High School seniors was Wednesday. Graduation is today (Thursday, June 2).

Here are two pictures from the Wednesday night Convocation by Julio Culiat.

The Commencement ceremony starts at 7 p.m. today on Blankenship Field.

Graduation Celebration, a free, all-night party for high school graduates in Oak Ridge, starts at 10 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Civic Center. [Read more…]

Local rowers earn invitation to 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships

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Sarah Kate Rogers and Clara Hay

Sarah Kate Rogers, right, of Oak Ridge and Clara Hay of Knoxville qualified for the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships based on their medal-winning performances at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships earlier this month. Rogers won a silver medal in the Women’s Youth Single (WY1x), and, rowing with Hay, won a bronze medal in the Women’s Youth Pair (WY2). (Photo by Shannon Moore)

 

By Jim Rogers

The Atomic Rowing Junior program at Oak Ridge Rowing Association has qualified two rowers for the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships based on their medal-winning performances at the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships earlier this month. Sarah Kate Rogers of Oak Ridge won a silver medal in the Women’s Youth Single (WY1x) and, rowing with Clara Hay of Knoxville, won a bronze medal in the Women’s Youth Pair (WY2).

In the single event, Rogers—competing against young ladies from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee—progressed easily through the 2,000-meter heats before narrowly losing in the final to Mikayla Dutton of Inverness, Florida, a 2016 University of Tennessee signee.

In the Women’s Youth Pair final, Rogers and Hay earned bronze behind strong performances from experienced crews from Nashville and Jacksonville, Florida. [Read more…]

UCOR awards mini-grants for local school projects

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UCOR Education Mini-Grants

UCOR has announced 20 winners in its Education Mini-Grant Program. Schools in Anderson, Knox, Loudon, Knox, Morgan, and Roane counties were eligible to submit proposals. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

 

UCOR has announced 20 winners in its Education Mini-Grant Program.

The Mini-Grant Program was designed to recognize and support excellence in teaching by providing funds to assist classroom teachers for specific projects or curricula, focusing primarily on science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, a press release said.

Schools in Anderson, Knox, Loudon, Knox, Morgan, and Roane counties were eligible to submit proposals. Applications were screened and awardees selected using a blind process that prevented members of the selection panel from knowing the names of the teachers or the schools.

The UCOR Mini-Grant committee has selected the following projects for 2016: [Read more…]

Photos: Double rainbow at K-25

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Double Rainbow at K-25 May 29 2016

This photo of a double rainbow was taken by Oak Ridge resident Shellie Fellers across from the former K-25 plant in west Oak Ridge on Sunday evening, May 29, 2016. (Photo by Shellie Fellers)

 

Oak Ridge resident Shellie Fellers got a picture of a double rainbow across from the former K-25 plant on the west end of town on Sunday evening. The second rainbow is visible as a faint rainbow above the first, brighter rainbow.

Fellers said one end of a rainbow could be seen as it literally came down and met the ground. But, she joked, there were no leprechauns or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. [Read more…]

Wildcats 7th in state in 800-meter run, 4×800-meter relay

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Oak Ridge Boullie at State Track Meet May 27 2016 Moore

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie finished 7th in the 800-meter run in the state track and field meet in Murfreesboro on Friday, May 27, 2016. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

 

Duhamel, AC’s Flatford have second-place finishes

Oak Ridge senior Tyler Boullie finished seventh in the 800-meter run in the state championship track and field meet in Murfreesboro on Friday, and the Wildcats’ 4×800-meter relay team also finished seventh. The Oak Ridge boys finished ninth in the state in Class AAA in the 4×100-meter relay.

Anderson County senior Derek Flatford finished second in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles. Senior Gashaw Duhamel, who ran cross country for Oak Ridge in the fall, finished second in Class A-AA in the 3,200-meter run, running for Tennessee School for the Deaf.

In other Oak Ridge finishes, senior Jordan Hardy, who battled a hamstring injury for much of the season, was 13th in the state in the long jump in Class AAA, and sophomore Jose Villegas was 14th in the 3,200-meter run.

Boullie, who had been the number two seed in the 800-meter run, had also been on the 4×800-meter relay team at the Section I finals in Johnson City on May 14. The relay team had been the third seed coming into the state track and field championship. But Boullie did not compete in the 4×800-meter relay at state because he wanted to have a fresh race in the 800-meter run. [Read more…]

Hausladen, a freshman, finishes eighth in state in 300-meter hurdles

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Hausladen Hurdles State Track Meet May 26 2016 1 Bowden

Oak Ridge freshman Kate Hausladen finished 8th in the 300-meter hurdles and 11th in the 100-meter hurdles at the state track and field meet at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro on Thursday, May 26, 2016. (Photo by Wallace Bowden)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:50 p.m.

Oak Ridge freshman Kate Hausladen finished eighth in the 300-meter hurdles in the state track and field meet in Murfreesboro on Thursday.

Hausladen, the only Oak Ridge girl to make it to the state meet, also finished 11th in a field of 16 in the Class AAA girls 100-meter hurdles.

The Oak Ridge boys are competing today in the state meet, which is part of the 2016 TSSAA Spring Fling in the Murfreesboro area.

Ravenwood, Memphis Central, and Hunters Lane had the top three finishes in the girls 300-meter hurdles on Thursday, and freshman Caroline Lewis of West, who finished sixth, and sophomore Lizzie Davis of Hardin Valley Academy, who was seventh, completed the race ahead of Hausladen. [Read more…]

ORPD investigates after SUV reportedly crashes through two yards, hits tree on Wabash

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Wabash-Lane-Crash-May-25-2016

The Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating a crash on Wabash Lane on Wednesday afternoon after a sport utility vehicle drove through bushes in one yard and knocked down a sidewalk railing before knocking down a fence and crashing into a tree in another. Pictured above is ORPD Detective John Criswell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating a crash on Wabash Lane on Wednesday afternoon after a sport utility vehicle reportedly drove through bushes in one yard and knocked down a sidewalk railing before crossing the street into anther yard, where it knocked down a fence and crashed into a tree.

The crash was reported at 2:38 p.m. Wednesday at 126 Wabash Lane.

Witnesses said the Ford Escape had come off Waddell Circle, a one-way street, crashed through bushes in the front yard of a house at the corner of Waddell Circle and Waddell Place, curved through the yard, where it knocked down a sidewalk railing, and then crossed Wabash Lane into the yard of the second home, where it reportedly knocked over part of a fence and a recycling bin and hit an air-conditioning unit, according to residents. The SUV hit a tree about 100 feet from the street in the back yard of that home, and it also appeared to have clipped the side of the two-story home. [Read more…]

Photo: Tennessee education commissioner speaks at ORHS Honors Night

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Candice McQueen at ORHS Honors Night May 23 2016

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen, left, speaks at the Oak Ridge High School Honors Night on Monday, May 23, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Oak Ridge High School celebrated the accomplishments of this year’s graduating senior class with Honors Night on Monday, May 23. The celebration was in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen spoke at the ORHS Honors Night. Here is a photo by Julio Culiat.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory opening Chattanooga office

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Thom Mason May 23 2016

ORNL Director Thom Mason announced that the lab will open an office in Chattanooga. The announcement was made Monday, May 23, 2016, at the Southeast Regional Energy Innovation Workshop at The Chattanoogan hotel. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory will open an office at EPB headquarters in Chattanooga’s Innovation District that will link local companies to the national laboratory’s resources and expertise. ORNL Director Thom Mason announced the office on Monday, May 23, at the Southeast Regional Energy Innovation Workshop at The Chattanoogan hotel.

“This is the best way for us to build on existing ORNL collaborations in Chattanooga and to identify new opportunities,” Mason said. “The work involving EPB, the Department of Energy, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory illustrates the power of regional cooperation. We want to accelerate opportunities in developing clean energy technology, manufacturing, and computing.”

ORNL continues to partner with EPB, a municipally owned utility, on researching the performance, security, and efficiency of Chattanooga’s electrical system. This research can be applied to make power systems nationwide cleaner, safer and more efficient. [Read more…]

Memorial Day Concert to honor veterans, military personnel

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Oak Ridge Community Band July 4 2014

Oak Ridge Community Band leader Dale Pendley directs the Community Band in a summer concert in 2015. (Photo courtesy Barbara Gritzner)

 

Special recognition will be given to area veterans and to the men and women currently serving in the United States Armed Forces at the Memorial Day Concert performed by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Monday evening, May 30. This concert will start at 7 p.m. Monday at A.K. Bissell Park.

The public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating. There is no admission fee for this concert, but donations are gratefully appreciated to help offset band expenses.

Also present in the park will be Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab, which will continue its tradition of providing refreshments during the community band summer concert season, a press release said. [Read more…]