Oak Ridge Today

COVID-19 cases spike

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

Anderson County reported 83 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the most in more than three months, and the positivity rate spiked to 24%, which is very high.

It’s not clear if the spike in cases and positivity rate is due to the new omicron variant, the older delta variant, or a mixture of the two.

The last time more than 80 cases were reported was on September 16, when 87 new cases were reported near the peak of the delta surge.

The delta surge, the third of the pandemic in Anderson County, peaked at 152 new cases on September 10.

COVID-19 cases fell after that, averaging about 16 to 17 new cases per day through much of November, before rising past a higher average of 20 new cases per day in early December, according to Tennessee Department of Health data.

The Tuesday spike helped push the seven-day average of cases past 30 new cases per day for the first time since October 7.

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NNSA purchases LeMond building

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LeMond-Composites-Building-Aug-30-2016-2-Web
The National Nuclear Security Administration has purchased the LeMond Carbon building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The building is pictured above in August 2016.

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 30 to correct that the NNSA has purchased the LeMond building.

The National Nuclear Security Administration has purchased a building in west Oak Ridge that has been the site of two major industrial announcements, one by CVMR and the other by LeMond Composites. Both projects had promised at least $125 million in investments and hundreds of jobs, but neither has proceeded as expected.

Hubbard named deputy for science, technology at ORNL

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Susan Hubbard has been named deputy for science and technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo credit: Berkeley Lab)

Susan Hubbard, an acclaimed scientific leader and researcher, has been named deputy for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her appointment will be effective March 1.

“Dr. Hubbard brings skilled and passionate leadership that will enable world-leading impact across our portfolio,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a press release. “She is a true champion of the DOE mission, the national laboratory system, and our responsibility to leverage powerful user facilities and multidisciplinary teams in the national interest.”

Hubbard joins ORNL from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she most recently served as associate laboratory director of Berkeley Lab’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, leading efforts to find solutions to sustainably meet the water, energy, critical mineral, environmental quality, and food needs of a growing population, the press release said. In addition to her current role, she is a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and a full professor adjunct in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California at Berkeley.

“It is a profound honor and privilege to be named as the deputy for science and technology at ORNL,” Hubbard said. “ORNL has a stunning breadth, depth, and history of transformational fundamental science discoveries, technological advances, and innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our nation. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help shape the lab’s future and its contributions to the DOE mission.”

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Oak Ridge will host songwriter competition qualifier

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Oak Ridge has been selected to host a qualifying round in February for Tennessee Songwriters Week, and applications are now open for the competition.

It’s the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development’s fourth annual Tennessee Songwriters Week. The Knoxville area’s qualifying round will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 9, at Oakey’s Sports Bar in Oak Ridge.

“The Tennessee Department of Tourism Development created this week to celebrate the foundation of the craft for which Tennessee is known: music,” a press release said. “Oak Ridge was among 30 locations statewide selected as a qualifying round host.”

“We are thrilled to partner with the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development as we host a 2022 Tennesseee Songwriter’s Week qualifying round at our signature Oakey’s Sports Bar,” said Katy Watt, president of Explore Oak Ridge. “Positioned perfectly in a valley along Knoxville’s trending city scene and the Great Smoky Mountains, Oak Ridge is the ideal destination for a musical experience unlike any other.”

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Tickets on sale for Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival

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The 5th Annual Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival in Oak Ridge will feature three world-class storytellers from June 2-4, 2022: Sheila Arnold, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. (Submitted photo)

The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival in Oak Ridge in June will feature three renowned storytellers: Sheila Arnold, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. The festival is scheduled from June 2-4, and “early bird” tickets are now on sale. This fifth annual event will be in person with four shows at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge, and it will include the story of the Oak Ridge 85.

Early bird tickets can be purchased online at Eventbrite or the Ferrell Shop (cash or check only) in Oak Ridge. “This is a great Christmas gift for all ages,” a press release said.

The two-day storytelling event on Friday and Saturday will feature Arnold, Lepp and Weitkamp, “who are known to audiences nationwide for their wit, wisdom, and abilities to make audiences laugh, cry, and reminisce,” the press release said.

On Thursday, June 2, Lepp will lead a workshop.

Arnold will highlight the Friday night performance by telling the story of the Oak Ridge 85, the 85 brave young people who were the first to desegregate a school district in the South, the press release said.

“Few people know of this 1955 milestone event that took place in Oak Ridge,” the press release said. “Sheila will honor the Oak Ridge 85 by telling some of their stories.”

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First employee art contest raises $608 for Project Safe, ADFAC

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Back row, left to right, are Brittany Burger, Oak Ridge Police Department (ORPD); Jim Sherrill, Utilities Business Office (UBO); Lt. Matthew Tedford, ORPD; and Andrew Lape, UBO. Middle row, left to right, are Rachelle Clowers, Jamie Fischer, DeDe Wolfe, and Amy Justice, all of UBO. Front row, left to right, are Marlene Bannon, UBO; Kirsten Aslinger, UBO; Annie Cacheiro, ADFAC; and Joey Smith, ADFAC. (Submitted photo)


The City of Oak Ridge had its first employee art contest benefitting Project Safe, a program administered by Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC), this fall, and the winners and donation totals are in, a press release said.

The theme for the inaugural art contest, which ran from October 4 through November 17, 2021, was “City of Oak Ridge Facilities, Services, or People.”

Employees were invited to create artwork within this theme and then the work was placed on display for voting.

Employees could make $1 donations to Project Safe to cast a vote for their favorite pieces. Project Safe helps those in our community who need assistance with utility bills, the press release said.

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City of Oak Ridge accepting nominations for poet laureate

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The Oak Ridge Public Library is supporting an initiative to select and name a poet laureate for the City of Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee is seeking a poet of excellence, who has lived in Oak Ridge for at least one year and is inspired to represent the city and all it strives to be, a press release said.

“Anyone can nominate someone they believe is best fit for the role and self-nominations are accepted as long as they can continue to live in the city throughout the appointment,” the press release said. “They must have significant publication history including books (excluding self-published and vanity presses), and in a variety of journals, and/or media. They must have received recognition in the field and have demonstrated literary excellence.”

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Anderson County Higher Education Center opens

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The Anderson County Higher Education Center has opened on Frank L. Diggs Drive in Clinton. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The new Anderson County Higher Education Center “is an example of what should be happening” to spur workforce development, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee told a large crowd on Friday, December 10.

Gesturing to students in the back who will be attending classes at the center starting in January, Lee thanked them for “pursuing the path you’re pursuing.

“The private sector drives what we’re doing here,” Lee told attendees crowded into the spacious classroom where diesel powered technology will soon be taught.

In the planning and construction stages for years, the center will soon offer several Roane State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Knoxville classes.

It’s a 48,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility where more than 200 students will be enrolled. It cost $11 million, and SL Tennessee, an auto parts manufacturer next door, donated seven acres for the center, located on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton/I-75 Industrial Park.

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Community Band has Christmas Concert Sunday

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The Oak Ridge Community Band performs at the recent Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in A.K. Bissell Park on Dec. 1, 2021. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band will play familiar holiday songs, and you will be able to sing along to favorite carols during a Christmas Concert on Sunday afternoon, December 12.

The family-friendly concert to ring in the holiday season will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, and there is no admission fee, a press release said.

Among the compositions on Sunday’s program will be one of Leroy Anderson’s most popular holiday tunes, “Sleigh Ride,” in which you can not only hear the bells on the horse pulling the sleigh but the crack of the whip, the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, and the horse’s distinctive neigh, the press release said. The band will also perform Robert Buckley’s arrangement of “Let the Bells Ring!” based on “Ukrainian Bell Carol,” Alfred Reed’s “Russian Christmas Music,” and Robert Smith’s arrangement of “All is Calm.” More holiday tunes performed by the band will be Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival,” Paul Lavender’s arrangement of “A Home Alone Christmas,” and John K. Evans’s “Angels We Have Heard on High.” [Read more…]

Campbell retiring, Boatner to be new ETEC president

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Jim Campbell

Jim Campbell, president of the East Tennessee Economic Council, is retiring March 31 after serving as president for 26 years. ETEC’s vice president, Tracy Boatner, has been selected to replace him.

The leadership change was announced Friday morning by Buddy Heins, ETEC board chair.

“We thank Jim for his many years of consistent and effective guidance of ETEC,” Heins said in a press release. “The growth and influence of Jim and ETEC in Oak Ridge, East Tennessee, and beyond have been truly remarkable. I, along with the Executive Committee, look forward to Tracy’s leadership of the organization in the months and years to come.”

ETEC members met in person to celebrate the 2020 winners of the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medal, originally awarded virtually last December. Also announced was the date for ETEC’s 2021 Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration, which will be February 4. At this end-of-year celebration, both Campbell and Boatner spoke about the leadership change.

“This has been fun,” Campbell said. “The metamorphoses of this region over the last generation are a wonder, and there are only greater things in store for the Oak Ridge Corridor in the generation to come.”

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Man, two dogs displaced after battery sparks fire

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An Oak Ridge man and his two dogs were displaced following a fire at their Cedar Lane home early Wednesday morning.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to the house at 2:56 a.m. Wednesday after the homeowner said a lithium battery was on fire in his living room.

Firefighters arrived on scene within three minutes of the call and found smoke and fire in the front of the residence, a press release said. Crews were able to contain the fire within 10 minutes, but there was significant smoke and heat damage throughout the home.

The man and his dogs were able to safely evacuate before the fire department arrived, the press release said. He credited his working smoke alarms for alerting him to the fire and allowing a safe exit.

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Student identified, charges pending in new shooting threat

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The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified the student responsible for posting a new shooting threat on Snapchat about Oak Ridge High School, and charges are pending, city and school officials said Wednesday.

“ORHS had another social media shooting threat last night,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a brief statement. “The juvenile suspect was identified overnight, and the threat was determined not viable. Charges are forthcoming. School continued as normal this morning.”

The new Snapchat threats were posted at about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, after two students were identified as being responsible for a previous threat posted Monday, according to information from Oak Ridge Schools.

“We immediately contacted the Oak Ridge Police Department and are pleased to share that they have been successful in identifying the student responsible for posting these threats,” school officials said. “We are appreciative of their expedient action and resolve of this safety concern.”

Families received a phone call about the new threats early Wednesday.

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