Oak Ridge Today

Volunteers cleaning up historic Emery Road on Saturday

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Friends of the Historic Emery Road Cleanup April 28 2018

The Highland View Neighborhood Association and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association have organized a cleanup of the historic Emery Road Rock Pillar Bridge Area near the Midtown Community Center (Wildcat Den) on Saturday.

The cleanup is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

“We invite the public to help in cleaning up this parkland area,” an event notice said. “Bring gloves; other equipment will be provided by Keep Anderson County Beautiful. Snacks and water will be served to participants of the cleanup to sustain the effort.”

The rain day for this event will be May 5. [Read more…]

Children’s Museum hosts Celebration of the Young Child on Friday

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Children enjoy making crafts to take home at the Celebration of the Young Child at the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Children enjoy making crafts to take home at the Celebration of the Young Child at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

Crafts, storytelling, and fitness challenges will be among activities planned for the Celebration of the Young Child from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 27, at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Children’s author Adele Roberts will tell stories from her “Sammy the Skunk” series of books, accompanied by her Sammy puppets. Her stories are designed to stimulate children’s imaginations and to teach character values based on the situations the animals encounter, a press release said.

Physical Education teacher Josh Johnson from Linden Elementary School will kick off the morning with gym activities. Children will be “kids in motion” with the National Fitness Center’s obstacle course. And children will learn about fire safety from firefighters with the Oak Ridge Fire Department.

Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee will invite the museum’s young gardeners to “plant” a garden of pinwheels for prevention, a symbol of child abuse prevention, in the Environmental Learning Center and Gardens, the press release said. [Read more…]

ORCMA ends concert season with Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Symphony with Dan Allcott

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra is pictured above in an earlier concert with conductor Dan Allcott. (File photo by ORCMA)

 

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association will ends its concert season with Hector Berlioz’s extraordinary “Symphonie Fantastique” on Saturday.

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will be led by Music Director Dan Allcott.

“Symphonie Fantastique” is a musical tale of unrequited love as allegedly experienced by the composer himself in a dream sequence, a press release said.

The concert will be held at Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and it will also include “River Rouge Transfiguration” by living American composer Missy Mazzoli, and two pieces from Berlioz’s “Tristia,” “Death of Ophelia” and “Religious Meditation,” featuring the Oak Ridge Chorus, which will be led by Jaclyn Johnson. [Read more…]

Next City Blueprint Open House is Thursday

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Photo by City of Oak Ridge

Photo by City of Oak Ridge

 

The Oak Ridge Community Development Department is continuing the Oak Ridge City Blueprint effort with a discussion focused on multiple subareas on Thursday. An open house will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

Families and local business representatives are invited to attend meetings and share ideas for possible neighborhood improvements. While the meeting that focuses on the subarea where residents live or work may have the most relevant information for them, every citizen is encouraged to engage in the Blueprint process at each meeting, a press release said.

WHAT: Oak Ridge City Blueprint Open House [Read more…]

USA Cycling has Time Trial championship race in Oak Ridge in June

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Image by USA Cycling

Image by USA Cycling

 

The USA Cycling Pro Road, Time Trial, and Criterium National Championships will be in Oak Ridge and Knoxville in June, and the first of those races, the Time Trial races, will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday, June 21.

The Oak Ridge races will kick off the championships, according to Explore Oak Ridge and Adventure Anderson County.

The Time Trial championships will be hosted by Visit Knoxville and the City of Oak Ridge, the two tourism organizations said.

They said the Time Trial course is a seven-mile section of roadway that will include part of Melton Lake Drive, which is along the Oak Ridge waterfront, and Union Valley Road. The professional and elite women will complete two laps for a total distance of 14.1 miles. The professional and elite men will complete three laps for a total distance of 21.25 miles.

The course allows spectators to see athletes pass multiple times from one viewing location, Explore Oak Ridge and Adventure Anderson County said. [Read more…]

DA: Deadly force authorized, no criminal charges in fatal officer-involved shooting

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Roger Raymond York Jr.

Roger Raymond York Jr.

 

A Clinton Police Department officer was authorized to use deadly force against an armed, wanted man who did not comply with officers and fired a shot from a semi-automatic pistol during a struggle with police on November 8, and there will be no criminal charges filed against the three officers involved in the fatal shooting, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said Monday.

Clark worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the officer-involved shooting of Roger Raymond York Jr., 32, who had a Clinton address, according to Anderson County jail records.

York died after he fired a weapon at Clinton Police Department officers on East Drive in Clinton on Wednesday night, November 8, according to earlier information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. One of the officers fired back, hitting York, who died, according to that information. [Read more…]

Police determine death near fitness center was a suicide

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The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigates a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department has determined that the death of a female between two businesses in central Oak Ridge was a suicide.

Police responded to the parking lot of Home Depot at 175 Laboratory Road to conduct a welfare check on a person at 9:12 a.m. Sunday.

When officers arrived, they found Leah Michelle Ray, 49, of Oak Ridge, had died in a grassy area between Home Depot and the National Fitness Center, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department Criminal Investigations Division and Oak Ridge Fire Department were called to the scene to help. So was the Knox County Medical Examiner’s Office. [Read more…]

Breakfast with Legislators is Monday

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The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will host Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, April 23.

The meeting will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Monday in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served.

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, Senator Ken Yager, and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to provide a summary of the legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly, and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, a press release said. The public is invited to attend. [Read more…]

Police investigate death behind fitness center

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The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning, April 22, 2018, investigated a death behind National Fitness Center in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Sunday morning investigated a death behind a fitness center in central Oak Ridge.

Police received a call to perform a welfare check at about 9:11 a.m. Sunday behind the National Fitness Center, near Home Depot. They found a dead adult. The name of the person has not been released, pending family notification.

Investigators hadn’t determined Sunday morning whether the death was a homicide or suicide. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project Park premieres Minuteman missile film on Saturday

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The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, "Beneath the Plains," in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, “Beneath the Plains,” in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

 

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, “Beneath the Plains,” in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The film showing is scheduled at 3 p.m. Saturday at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The 30-minute film gives visitors a glimpse of how 1,000 missiles were kept on constant alert, a press release said.

“Hidden in plain sight during the Cold War, these nuclear weapons stood as a deterrent against a nuclear attack to the United States and its allies,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Robertsville Middle chosen for Comcast Cares Day, volunteers encouraged to attend

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Pictured above is Carleigh Brown, a fifth-grade student at Robertsville Middle School who helped on the Baker Creek Preserve project last year in Knoxville. This year's Comcast Cares Day is at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

Pictured above is Carleigh Brown, a fifth-grade student at Robertsville Middle School who helped on the Baker Creek Preserve project last year in Knoxville. This year’s Comcast Cares Day is at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

 

More than 1,500 local Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends, and community partners will “make change happen” as they volunteer at different projects across East Tennessee on Saturday. It’s part of the 17th annual Comcast Cares Day, the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer event, a press release said.

Oak Ridge’s Robertsville Middle School has been chosen as a project site for this annual event. Robertsville students have designed planters that will be constructed and filled during the activity, the press release said. Volunteers will help with general landscaping and clean up around the school grounds.

Robertsville students and parents, community groups, and additional volunteers are needed and encouraged to attend a project, the press release said. For more information on how to get involved and to register, visit the Robertsville Middles School Clean Up Day link here. [Read more…]

Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament to benefit Community Mediation Services

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Oak Ridge Country Club Golf CourseAn annual golf tournament that helps Community Mediation Services of Anderson Country is next week in Oak Ridge.

The 17th Annual Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament is Friday, April 27, at the beautiful and challenging Oak Ridge Country Club, a press release said.

Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament benefits Community Mediation Services of Anderson Country, “providing participants a great way to give back to the youth and families in our community while having a great day of golf,” the press release said.

The Tournament starts at 8 a.m. Friday, April 27, in a scramble format. Golfers will get a complimentary breakfast, beverage carts, and a smoked barbecue lunch provided by Big Ed’s. Prize contests for participants will be awarded and a Hole-in-One Grand Prize will be available. Free Big Ed’s shirts and golf towels for all golfers are included. An on-site silent auction will be available, the press release said. [Read more…]