Oak Ridge Today

HoneyBaked Ham fundraiser lunch Tuesday for Emory Valley Center

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HoneyBaked Ham is pictured above on Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo courtesy Emory Valley Center)

HoneyBaked Ham is pictured above on Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo courtesy Emory Valley Center)

 

HoneyBaked Ham will have a fundraiser Tuesday to benefit Emory Valley Center. During the fundraiser, HoneyBaked Ham will donate a portion of its proceeds to Emory Valley Center.

“Have lunch at their location or take out from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and purchase additional great menu items to take home with you while you are there!” according to a press release from Emory Valley Center.

Menu options include the company’s signature ham, smoked turkey and chicken salads, signature and specialty sandwiches, buffet trays and buffet salads, among other items. [Read more…]

Emerge Tennessee board member to speak at ACDWC meeting Monday

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Cortney Piper

Cortney Piper

 

Cortney Piper, a board member of a new statewide organization training Democratic women to run for office, will be guest speaker at the Monday, January 23, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The club will have a dinner meeting at 6 p.m. at Swifty’s Atomic Bar and Grill at 119 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Piper, president of Piper Communications in Knoxville, is a board member of Emerge Tennessee, founded in 2016 as the premier campaign training program for Democratic women in the state. The program is designed to inspire women to run for office and to hone their skills to win, aiming to increase the number of Democratic women in all levels of public office, a press release said. Emerge Tennessee is an affiliate of Emerge America, a national organization operating in 17 states. [Read more…]

Keynote speaker announced for Emory Valley Center’s spring fundraiser

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shriver_tim_28April17 event

Timothy Shriver (Submitted photo)

 

Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, will be the keynote speaker for the Fourth Annual Spring Fundraiser for the Emory Valley Center. The fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, April 28.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Dr. Shriver’s mother, Eunice Shriver, saw how unfairly people with intellectual disabilities were being treated. She also noticed that many children with intellectual disabilities didn’t even have a place to play, so she took action and planned a backyard summer camp for them which focused on their abilities. Over the years, the movement grew and in 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago, a press release said. [Read more…]

ADFAC celebrating 30th ‘birthday’

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Photo courtesy ADFAC

Photo courtesy ADFAC

 

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, has reached a major milestone: 30 years of helping low-income families in the community.

It was January 28, 1987, that ADFAC officially became an incorporated nonprofit in the State of Tennessee. To recognize this achievement, ADFAC will celebrate through 2017 with special events and projects.

Last October, ADFAC kicked off its 30th year by providing a special birthday cake, snacks, and drinks to members of First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge. When ADFAC was first forming, First Presbyterian offered office space to the young organization. As the years went by and ADFAC grew both in size and services, First Presbyterian provided additional office space. [Read more…]

First United Methodist offers free community meals

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first-united-methodist-church-of-oak-ridge-jan-2017

First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge is pictured above at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Tulane Avenue. (Photo courtesy Jeff Kile)

 

During the month of December, First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge hosted a free community dinner to any and all people in our community who were in need of a home-cooked meal. No questions, no hoops, no requirements…just a time of delicious food and heartfelt fellowship with whomever decided to wander into our doors, a press release said.

Beginning this month, the church, located at 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike, is going to begin regularly hosting a free community meal on the last Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. [Read more…]

Jefferson Middle School ski, snowboard club supports Gatlinburg residents

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Photo courtesy Scott Linn

Photo courtesy Scott Linn

 

By Scott Linn

As have so many across the country and throughout Tennessee, students and teachers from Jefferson Middle School express their sadness over the recent fires that burned through Gatlinburg, destroying a number of buildings and homes.

JMS ski and snowboard club members have been taking after-school trips to Ober Gatlinburg for more than 20 years on Wednesday afternoons each winter.

This year, to show support for the area and those who are working to rebuild, the students are wearing Smokies Strong T-shirts for their ski trips to Ober Gatlinburg. The shirts were a gift from an anonymous donor who provided the club with 50 shirts.

“When our club showed up in our Smokies Strong shirts on our first trip of the season, it had an impact on the workers up there, and I’m just really glad the club could play even a small part in helping lift their spirits,” said seventh-grader Allison Myers.

The Red Cross, the Dollywood Foundation, and Friends of the Smokies will benefit from proceeds of the sales of the shirts. [Read more…]

Navy Junior ROTC program to start at ORHS in 2017-2018

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Navy Junior ROTC

Oak Ridge High School will begin offering a Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, program in the 2017-2018 school year.

ORHS has been trying to start a Junior ROTC program since 2014. It’s expected to lead to more students attaining the seventh key in the school system’s Seven Keys to College and Career Reediness. (The seventh key says all students will participate in dual enrollment, advanced placement coursework, industry certification, or military preparation by graduation.)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation and CNS—the contractor that operates and manages the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas—have donated $15,000 to help with start-up costs of the Navy JROTC. An announcement of that $15,000 donation called the Navy Junior ROTC program the Naval National Defense Cadet Corp program. [Read more…]

Demolition work starts at Magnet Mills Building in downtown Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

A demolition crew this week began the work of tearing down the old Magnet Mills Building in downtown Clinton.

The historic structure has fallen into disprepair over the years and has been cited numerous times by the city’s codes enforcment department.

The demolition crew is working under the supervision of Clinch River Properties, and officials estimate that the demolition that began Monday and the ensuing clean-up of the site could be completed within 30 to 60 days. [Read more…]

Anderson County Schools add bus route after overcrowding reported

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Information from WYSH Radio

After Anderson County Schools officials received complaints from parents about overcrowding on a bus route, a second route was added this week.

Parents informed school leaders that a bus serving Norwood Middle School and Clinton High School was crowded enough that, at times, students were forced to stand or even sit on the floor. [Read more…]

City Council, BOE to discuss preschool, Blankenship, budget, energy savings

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The Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education will have a joint work session on Thursday, January 26, to discuss site selection for the preschool, the revitalization of Blankenship Field, an energy savings project, and the budget and capital improvements.

The preschool site selection could include Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge and Scarboro Center.

The joint work session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, January 26, in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. See the agenda here.

Watts Bar Reservoir has returned to conditions before Kingston coal ash spill, EPA says

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River Reaches Arcadis Updated Data Analysis and Temporal Trend Evaluations in Biota 2009-2015 TVA Kingston

River Reaches—Updated Data Analysis and Temporal Trend Evaluations in Biota: 2009-2015, Tennessee Valley Authority, Kingston, Tennessee (By Arcadis)

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta reported Thursday that monitoring data shows that areas of Watts Bar Reservoir affected by the 2008 ash spill in Kingston have returned to “pre-spill” conditions.

The ash spill occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Fossil Plant. It released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash on December 22, 2008.

Environmental data collected from 2009-2015 shows the fish community, benthic macroinvertebrates (bugs), sediment quality, and tree swallow colonies have recovered to baseline conditions that existed before the spill, the EPA said.

The cleanup was accomplished in three phases under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund. [Read more…]

ORNL receives interest from appliance makers on dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat

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Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has received significant interest from appliance manufacturers who could enter into an agreement to continue developing the technology to build a dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat, to dry clothes.

The cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, could develop the technology into a full-scale commercial product.

This month, Oak Ridge Today asked about the current status of the project, which has been highlighted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. An earlier announcement had said that the project term was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2016.

Omar Abdelaziz of ORNL said DOE has continued to fund this work and will fund the laboratory’s efforts in the upcoming CRADA. [Read more…]