Oak Ridge Today

City Council to consider elections, appointments to 23 boards, commissions

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The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in December 2016. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider elections and appointments to 23 boards and commissions during its Monday night meeting.

The boards and commissions include the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Industrial Development Board, Land Bank Corporation, and Beer Permit Board, among others.

The Monday meeting starts at 7 p.m. January 9 in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. You can see the agenda here. See information about the elections and appointments here.

Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management cuts costs by $5.4 million

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Sue Cange, who was manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and is now EM principal deputy assistant secretary in Washington, D.C., is pictured above at the end of demolition of the K-27 Building on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, has cut costs by $5.4 million, federal officials said.

OREM is one of several U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management, or EM, sites that reduced costs by more than $100 million in fiscal year 2016, which ended September 30.

The costs were reduced in response to a challenge from EM leaders to free more funding for cleanup, DOE said in a December 29 EM Update electronic newsletter.

The Savannah River Operations Office realized more than $34.1 million in cost reductions, officials said. It was followed by the Richland Operations Office with more than $31.6 million; Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office with more than $16.8 million; Office of River Protection with more than $12.7 million; Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management with $5.4 million; and Idaho Site with more than $4 million.

“Reducing our costs by more than $100 million is a tremendous accomplishment, and we are going to continue to look for ways to work smarter and identify further savings in fiscal year 2017,” EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Sue Cange said. [Read more…]

Cumberland Piano Trio to perform in Oak Ridge on Jan. 21

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The Cumberland Piano Trio is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

The Cumberland Piano Trio will perform in Oak Ridge on Saturday, January 21.

The concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. It starts at 7 p.m. January 21 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

The Cumberland Piano Trio includes violinist Susan Eddlemon, cellist Dan Allcott, and pianist Emi Kagawa. It

The January 21 concert will feature Gabriel Faure’s “Piano Trio in D minor” and Johannes Brahms’ “Piano Trio No. 1 in B major.” [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats score more than 100 for first time since 2003

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Oak Ridge was led by sophomore Jada Guinn (24) with 30 points, the most for one of the Lady Wildcats since 2014, in a 104-19 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats scored more than 100 points for the first time since 2003 in a 104-19 win over Karns at home on Tuesday.

The girls were led by sophomore Jada Guinn with a game-high 30 points, the most for a Lady Wildcat since Mykia Dowdell, who is now a junior, scored 32 against Central in 2014, according to broadcaster David Clary.

It’s the 11th time the Lady Wildcats (14-2, 6-0 District 3-AAA) have scored more than 100, Clary said. The last time was in 2003 against Alcoa.

Coaches said the 30 points for Guinn, including 17 in the first quarter alone, was likely a personal best. [Read more…]

Crews working to restore power on west end

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A fallen tree or trees knocked down power lines along Louisiana Avenue on Tuesday night, Jan. 3, 2017, and crews were working to restore power in west Oak Ridge on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike, including the area around Louisiana Avenue and Robertsville Road. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:50 a.m.

Crews were working to restore power on the west end of Oak Ridge on Tuesday night, including in the area around Louisiana Avenue and Robertsville Road.

A fallen tree or trees knocked down power lines along Louisiana Avenue north of Robertsville Road, and crews were working to restore power on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Three more organizations raise concerns about school vouchers, to be discussed at Tuesday forum

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Three more Oak Ridge organizations have raised concerns about school vouchers, or the use of public funds for private schools. Some officials expect the issue of vouchers to be raised in the upcoming state legislative session.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education unanimously approved a voucher-related resolution in November. The school board doesn’t think vouchers should be adopted until the state’s Basic Education Program is adequately funded, and until all schools are on the same playing field. That means they would take the same tests and the same students, regardless of disabilities, Oak Ridge Board of Education Member Angi Agle said.

Although it was amended slightly, the resolution approved by the Oak Ridge school board in November “strongly opposes” taking funds from public education in any community in the state without agreement from a local school board, without a legal guarantee that the schools receiving the funds will comply with the same curriculum and testing standards required of public schools, and until the state’s Basic Education Program, or BEP, is adequately funded by the Tennessee General Assembly.

The resolution says the Tennessee General Assembly, the state’s legislature, will consider legislation in 2017 that would use public funds to pay tuition costs for students to attend private, religious, and non-religious schools. [Read more…]

Photos: American Museum of Science and Energy property, future Main Street home

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The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, at Pollard Technology Conference Center for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. Pictured above at center is U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is at right, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, an Ooltewah Republican, is at left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. The property will be transferred from DOE to the city, and then to a company affiliated with RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge at the former Oak Ridge Mall. Within about a year, AMSE will move to a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former mall site. The AMSE site could be developed and the museum building demolished.

Here are photos from the Friday signing ceremony and of the AMSE property and the museum’s future home.

See a story from the signing ceremony here. [Read more…]

Basketball: Oak Ridge finishes second in Ladies Classic

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats finished as runner-up in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

GREENEVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats finished in second place in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville on Saturday, losing to Bradley Central 63-32 in the championship game.

Rhyne Howard of Bradley Central, a 6-foot-1 junior, dominated. The tallest player on the floor, she scored a tournament-high 30 points. No other player scored more than 12. Howard also led both teams with 10 rebounds and eight steals.

It was a much better performance for Howard than in March, when Oak Ridge and Bradley Central played in the Class AAA semifinal game in Murfreesboro. The Lady Wildcats beat the Bearettes 38-31 in that game to advance to the Class AAA state championship, and Howard, who was then a sophomore, was limited to six points, two rebounds, and one steal.

Bradley Central had other advantages on Saturday, including in rebounding and turnovers, and better shooting. The undefeated Bearettes shot 57 percent from field goal range, compared to 37 percent for the Lady Wildcats, and they were 4-of-12, compared to 0-for-3, from three-point range. They led in total steals, 17-5, and forced 23 Lady Wildcat turnovers, while giving up about half as many, 13. [Read more…]

Former Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida dies at 74

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Jerry Kuhaida

Jerry Kuhaida

Former Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida died at home Monday after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to his obituary. He was 74.

Kuhaida was elected to the Oak Ridge City Council twice, serving from 1991-1995 and from 1997-2003. He served one term as mayor.

Kuhaida continued his passion for community and local government development while serving as a consultant in Russia and working with the U.S. Agency for International Development/U.S. State Department, assisting the U.S. Army’s development efforts in Iraq, his obituary said.

Andrew “Jerry” Jerome Kuhaida Jr. was born on September 29, 1942, in Wheeling, West Virginia. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology and a doctorate in geography/geology, according to his obituary. He started his lengthy career in environmental restoration and hazardous waste remediation after returning to Oak Ridge in 1980, the obituary said. He served on several local boards and committees, including the Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the Scarboro Community Day Care Center Board. [Read more…]

Samsung licenses ORNL glass coatings for electronics that can repel water, reduce reflection

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An ORNL-developed thin glass film with superhydrophobic properties repels water that carries away dust and dirt, reduces light reflection, and resists fingerprints and smudges. (Image by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced this fall that Samsung Electronics has exclusively licensed a technology that can improve the performance of glass displays on smart phones, tablets, and other electronic devices.

ORNL has developed a transparent coating that repels water, carrying away dust and dirt; reduces light reflection; and resists fingerprints and smudges. The optically clear superhydrophobic film technology was the result of about three years of superhydrophobic research on glass-based coatings, ORNL said in a press release.

“The thin nanostructured layer of porous glass film enables these combined properties, making it suitable for commercial applications,” said ORNL’s Tolga Aytug, co-inventor of the technology.

To be superhydrophobic, a surface must achieve a water droplet contact angle exceeding 150 degrees. ORNL’s coating has a contact angle of between 155 and 165 degrees, so water literally bounces off, taking away dust particles, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory responded to Gatlinburg fires

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fire Department Chief Officers Daron Long, Larry Lewis, and Danny Parker (in navy polo shirts) are pictured above in the Incident Command Center. (Photo by ORNL)

 

By U.S. Department of Energy

The Great Smoky Mountains, which are normally wet and hazy, had been in a particularly prolonged drought when a fire started near a popular lookout several miles from the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just before Thanksgiving. Park officials warily watched the slowly spreading blaze, which was in nearly vertical and mostly unreachable terrain.

At the close of the holiday weekend, a weather system moved in, whipping up gale-force winds hours ahead of the rain. The wind supercharged the fire, driving eerie, thick smoke down the basin toward the town. By Monday night, the homes, resorts, and businesses surrounding Gatlinburg were in the middle of a firestorm as flames destroyed structure after structure. Downed power lines sparked separate fires.

On the evening of November 28, park and city officials reached out to firefighters in the region for support as flames engulfed entire neighborhoods. By the time quenching rains arrived, the 17,000-acre forest fire had burned 1,700 structures—many of them homes—and took 14 lives.

Firefighters from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located about 50 miles away, were among those who answered the call. With an immediate go-ahead from the ORNL Site Office, the ORNL Fire Department, or ORNLFD, dispatched resources to assist responders in Gatlinburg and neighboring Pigeon Forge. [Read more…]

Basketball photos: Oak Ridge beats Science Hill 64-56

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Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) led the Wildcats with a game-high 29 points during a 64-56 win over Science Hill in the first round of the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016. (Photo by Allen Greene/TriCitiesSports.com)

 

BRISTOL—Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young scored a game-high 29 points and senior Anthony Gibson added 17 as the Wildcats beat Science Hill in the first round of the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Tuesday. Here are pictures from the game by Allen Greene of TriCitiesSports.com.

It was the second time Oak Ridge defeated the Hilltoppers this month. They also won 82-72 in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout at Science Hill in Johnson City on December 17.

The Wildcats will play again in the Arby’s Classic at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when they take on Trinity of Louisville, Kentucky, in a winners bracket game in the basketball tournament. [Read more…]