The Appalachian Toyota Round-Up will be held at Windrock Park on Labor Day weekend September 4-7.
Featuring the FJÂ Cruiser, Tacomo, 4Runner, and more, this event is open to all Toyota vehicles.
“There will be catered food, live music, and of course, wheeling,” a press release said.
The event kicks off Friday night with a meet and greet, along with dinner and live entertainment. [Read more…]
By controlling the temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide in the test chambers, scientists hope to learn how microbial communities, moss populations, various higher plant types, and some insect groups respond. (Photo by ORNL)
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.—Scientists are getting a glimpse of the future with a U.S. Department of Energy large-scale experiment designed to answer questions about how carbon-rich peatlands will respond to projected warming of the climate and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
SPRUCE, which stands for Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, was launched Wednesday, August 26, at the experiment site about 25 miles north of Grand Rapids. Among those attending the ceremony were Gary Geernaert and Daniel Stover of DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research; Thomas Schmidt, assistant director for research, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Research Station; and Martin Keller, associate laboratory director of Energy and Environmental Sciences at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The site consists of about seven acres of raised bog in the peatlands of the Chippewa National Forest. The natural spruce bog in northern Minnesota contains more than 10,000 years of carbon accumulated from peatlands and answers to questions related to the predicted warming of ecosystems. [Read more…]
A Powell man was arrested after an armed bank robbery was reported at the SunTrust Bank at 6632 Clinton Highway in Knoxville on Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The robbery was reported at about 1:30 p.m. Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
Michael James Ward, 43, of Powell, was arrested in Knox County without incident through the joint efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, composed of the FBI, Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and the KPD Violent Crimes Unit. KCSO patrol officers also assisted with the arrest, a press release said. [Read more…]
Ryan Ray, left, is walking across America from Los Angeles to New York, and he passed through Oak Ridge on Monday. Pictured above with Ryan on Monday morning on North Illinois Avenue are Hazel Carroll, Jana Walker, and Carla Brooks, all of Wartburg. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 6:21 p.m.
He’s walked more than 2,300 miles and posed for thousands of selfies with people he’s met along the way. On Monday, he passed through Oak Ridge, trekking from Oliver Springs to Powell.
Ryan Ray is walking across America from Los Angeles to New York City. It’s a 3,050-mile journey that will include a stop at the White House and is expected to end in Times Square on October 10.
Ray said he is following his passions: speaking, traveling, and writing.
“Follow your dreams,” he said during a 90-minute walk from a welcome sign at the north end of Oak Ridge on North Illinois Avenue to the intersection of South Illinois Avenue and Lafayette Drive on the south side of town. “Nothing is impossible.” [Read more…]
Lamar Alexander
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander will visit Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Johnson City this week. The senator’s stops on Thursday include the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Manufacturing Demonstration Facility on Cherahala Boulevard in Knoxville and the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.
The visits start at the Johnson City on Wednesday, where Alexander will deliver remarks at the Upper East Tennessee Chamber Luncheon and will be presented with the Spirit of Enterprise Award, which recognizes members of Congress who consistently cast votes that help businesses create jobs, a press release said.
Also Wednesday, the senator will visit Rocky Fork to commemorate the completion of efforts to protect the largest unprotected tract of land in the Southern Appalachians, the press release said. The Conservation Fund, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will host the event to celebrate the final transfer of land for inclusion into the Cherokee National Forest. [Read more…]
A Chattanooga pill mill operator was sentenced to 280 years in federal prison on Thursday, and the Roane County Sheriff’s Office was among the law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation that led to her indictment and subsequent conviction, authorities said.
Barbara Lang, a.k.a. “Aunt Bea,†61, of Rossville, Georgia, was sentenced by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier, U.S. District Judge, said United States Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
After a 25-day trial that spanned almost three months, Lang was convicted of two counts of conspiring to distribute and dispense Schedule II and IV controlled substances, outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose; five counts of maintaining a premises for the purpose of distributing controlled substances; and 14 counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements, a press release said.
Lang was charged along with three other people. [Read more…]
Photo by Larry Perry
The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its last outdoor concert of the summer at A.K. Bissell Park next Monday.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. Monday, September 7. There is no admission fee, and the public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating, a press release said. Cool refreshments will be available.
“Attendance at the Community Band’s concerts this summer has been large due to outstanding programs, and the band directed by Dale Pendley and assistant conductor Lisa Michaels have still another excellent performance planned for Monday evening featuring as special guests the Dixieland Band, the Community Band Choir, vocalist Deidre Ford, and former mayor Tom Beehan, who has been narrator at the previous summer concerts and will once again appear in this role for the Labor Day program,” a press release said. [Read more…]
Kassidi Freeman
Roane State Community College sophomore basketball player Kassidi Freeman of Madisonville earned top academic honors in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association, or TCCAA.
Six additional players also received recognition for their academic performance.
Freeman had the highest grade-point average (3.83) of any women’s basketball player in the TCCAA. She was named a TCCAA Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.
Roane State sophomores Cayla Oglesby (Lake City) and Danielle Slack (Madisonville), and freshmen Haley Cornellison (Kingston), Madison Hampton (Dayton), Amber Hudgens (Sparta), and Sydney Marek (Cookeville), also received Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition.
“I’m very proud of how well our athletes performed academically,” Roane State head coach Monica Boles said. “Their hard work and dedication helped them excel both on the court and in the classroom.”
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Betty Ann Ayers
The Silver Alert issued for a missing woman on Sunday afternoon was canceled after she was found safe and sound, authorities said.
Betty Ayers, 84, had last been seen at 2 p.m. Saturday in Westwood Estates in Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.
The ORPD said Ayers is from Auburn Hills, Michigan, and suffers from dementia.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Oak Ridge defense stops Dobyns-Bennett quarterback Cole Maupin (6) during a 17-14 win for the Wildcats in Kingsport on Friday. Wildcats making the stop are Gavin Warrington (11), Jamalcolm Henderson (53), Kyndall Clark (54), and Adam Manookian (35). (Photo by Julio Culiat)
KINGSPORT—A tipped pass intercepted by the Oak Ridge defense at their own 11-yard line with less than three minutes to play saved a 17-14 win for the Wildcats at Dobyns-Bennett on Friday. See the story here.
Here are pictures by Julio Culiat and John Huotari.
Oak Ridge junior receiver Tee Higgins (5) led all Wildcats in receiving with 136 yards on seven carries, four first downs, and one touchdown at Dobyns-Bennett in Kingsport on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)
Reminder: A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.â€
This movie was Hollywood’s first attempt to tell the fascinating story of the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb in the massive, top-secret Manhattan Project. The movie was originally released in 1947, just two years after the end of the war. It stars Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, and Tom Drake.
The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.
“We wanted to honor those who perished in WWII, our great veterans, Manhattan Project and Cold War workers, and the world-changing Y-12 plant on this anniversary,†said Mick Wiest, president of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. “It’s important to remember and be grateful.†[Read more…]
