Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today
Here are photos from two track and field meets at Oak Ridge High School in April, one on April 10 and the other on April 24. We will add photo captions as we can.
Members of the Oak Ridge Wildcats track and field team are competing in the state meet in Murfreesboro on Thursday. [Read more…]
The second annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival is this week with three days of events celebrating the best in Tennessee wines in Oak Ridge and West Knoxville. The festival is scheduled from Thursday, May 17, to Saturday, May 19, 2018. (Submitted photo)
A series of festivals in Oak Ridge starts tonight (Friday, May 18).
The first festival is the second annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival. It features three days of events celebrating the best in Tennessee wines in Oak Ridge and West Knoxville. The festival is scheduled from Thursday, May 17, to Saturday, May 19.
The main event is the Grand Tasting from 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19, on the waterfront at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge. This event features more than 15 Tennessee wineries pouring more than 100 locally made wines and ciders, with live music, chef demonstrations by The Savory Whisk, and wine seminars by a variety of Tennessee wine experts, a press release said.
Music will be provided by the Nashville band Arts Fishing Club and two East Tennessee bands, Wild Blue Yonder, and KUDZU.
Two other smaller events are being offered earlier in the week, a Chef’s Table Wine Dinner at The Cutting Edge Classroom in West Knoxville on Thursday, May 17, and the VIP Taste of Gold at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 18. [Read more…]
From left are Bil Lepp, Tim Lowry, and Minton Sparks. (Photos courtesy Flatwater Tales)
Internationally acclaimed storytellers to perform, share laughter and tears, and create memories
The Flatwater Festival in Oak Ridge has announced a major addition to its 2018 schedule: The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, featuring three world renowned storytellers. This will be an annual event sponsored by the three Rotary Clubs in Oak Ridge, all volunteers, as part of the Flatwater Festival weekend. This is the first storytelling festival in the Oak Ridge area, a press release said.
Bil Lepp, Tim Lowry, and Minton Sparks will perform for this inaugural festival. They have achieved national and international recognition and appear regularly at festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the press release said.
Flatwater Tales kicks off on Friday, June 1, with a three-hour interactive writing workshop, “Create Your Own Story,” with Minton Sparks. The goal is to help participants discover their own stories from their family history and experiences, structure their stories, and share them with others. The workshop is being held in a serene woodland setting at the auditorium in the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. No previous writing or performing experience is needed, the press release said. [Read more…]
The small nuclear reactors that could be built along the Clinch River could provide enough electricity to power several cities the size of Oak Ridge. The Bear Creek Road entrance to the Clinch River Site, where the reactors could be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is pictured above on Sunday, March 27, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have two public meetings on June 5 to discuss the draft environmental impact statement for the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge.
The two public meetings will be in Kingston, and they will be transcribed, the NRC said.
They will allow the public to comment on the draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, for the early site permit application for the Clinch River Nuclear Site, where small modular nuclear reactors could eventually be built. The DEIS is available here. [Read more…]
Submitted photo
Carolyn Krause, a newspaper contributor and former editor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will discuss mercury in Oak Ridge at a meeting tonight (Thursday, May 17).
Krause’s talk is titled “Oak Ridge’s Mercury Saga: A History of Mercury Contamination in Oak Ridge and the Public and Scientific Response.”
The talk is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Midtown Community Center (formerly the Wildcat Den) at 102 Robertsville Road.
“On May 17, 1983, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had ‘lost’ or could not account for 2.4 million pounds of mercury in the Oak Ridge environment as a result of lithium production for a U.S. thermonuclear weapons program,” a press release said. [Read more…]
Kali Annabelle Bailey
A hearing date has been set for Tuesday for a woman charged with attempted murder after she allegedly shot into an occupied vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Oak Ridge on Sunday, May 6.
The hearing for Kali Annabelle Bailey, 20, of Powell, has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge. The hearing date was scheduled on the assumption that Bailey is not able to be released on a $250,000 bond.
But it’s not clear if the date might change if Bailey is able to be released on bail, or if any of the subpoenas that might be issued in the case are not served between now and Tuesday. Two subpoenas were issued to victims in court on Tuesday this week, according to Anderson County court records. There is one more subpoena that has been issued, but not served, and that’s to an Oak Ridge Police Department officer, the court records said.
Bailey had allegedly threatened to shoot one of the two people in the vehicle, a female passenger, several months before she allegedly shot into it on May 6, authorities said. Bailey had reportedly tried to argue with the female victim, Bailee D. Bolden of Oak Ridge, about her relationship with the male victim, Seth M. Davis of Oak Ridge, authorities said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Board of Education has a public hearing and first reading of the budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, tonight (Wednesday, May 16).
The special meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Oak Ridge Schools Administration Building at 304 New York Avenue.
The school board had a line-by-line review of the budget on Monday, and the fiscal year 2019 budget was presented May 8.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge
The Oak Ridge Outdoor Swimming Pool will be open to the public over Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 26, through Monday, May 28, from noon to 6 p.m. each day.
This will be a soft opening over the holiday weekend, with the pool being closed for three days following Memorial Day, from Tuesday, May 29, to Thursday, May 31, a press release said. An open public swim will be held on Friday, June 1, from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. The outdoor pool will then open for normal summer hours starting Saturday, June 2.
Events are planned throughout the summer, including movie nights, evening swims, swim lessons, Water Safety Day, and the end of season Puppy Pool Party, the press release said. A full calendar of events and additional details can be found online at http://orrecparks.oakridgetn.gov/. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Pre-K School at Scarboro Park (Image by Studio Four Design via City of Oak Ridge)
Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. May 15.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday authorized the final designs of the Senior Center and the Preschool and Scarboro Park Renovation. The two projects together could total about $13 million. The Senior Center and Preschool have been on the city’s wish list for a decade or two—or even longer.
Resolutions unanimously approved by City Council on Monday in 7-0 votes authorize Studio Four Design Inc. of Knoxville to proceed to the final construction design of the two projects. One project, the Preschool, would be at Scarboro Park, and the other, the Senior Center, would be at Alvin K. Bissell Park.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members in May 9 memos that Studio Four Design, led by Jacene Phillips, has achieved 50 percent design on the two projects and reviewed the proposed designs with city, school, and Senior Advisory Board officials and “achieved consensus on design requirements.”
The more expensive of the two projects, the Oak Ridge Preschool and Scarboro Park Renovation, has a current estimated cost of $9,792,674, or close to $10 million.
The Senior Center could cost about $3 million. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Fire Department Station 4 is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (File photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)
Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. May 15.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday authorized about $500,000 in renovations at Fire Station 4 at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, a federal site in west Oak Ridge.
The funds for the renovations are currently available in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget for the West End Fire Fund, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in an April 27 memo to City Manager Mark Watson.
The total estimated cost of the renovations, based on a sealed bid process, is not to exceed $515,000, Kerley said. He said funds have been set aside for the past 11 years.
The project was unanimously approved in a 7-0 vote after a brief discussion at the City Council meeting on Monday.
The funds are part of the overall re-industrialization that will convert the ETTP fire station from a U.S. Department of Energy fire station to a municipal fire station through a DOE memorandum of agreement for the operation and maintenance of the fire station. [Read more…]
The second annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival is this week with three days of events celebrating the best in Tennessee wines in Oak Ridge and West Knoxville. The festival is scheduled from Thursday, May 17, to Saturday, May 19, 2018. (Submitted photo)
The second annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival is this week with three days of events celebrating the best in Tennessee wines in Oak Ridge and West Knoxville.
The festival is scheduled from Thursday, May 17, to Saturday, May 19.
The main event is the Grand Tasting from 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19, on the waterfront at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge. This event features more than 15 Tennessee wineries pouring more than 100 locally made wines and ciders, with live music, chef demonstrations by The Savory Whisk, and wine seminars by a variety of Tennessee wine experts, a press release said.
Music will be provided by the Nashville band Arts Fishing Club and two East Tennessee bands, Wild Blue Yonder and KUDZU.
Two other smaller events are offered earlier in the week: [Read more…]
