Teresa Brittain
Teresa Brittain, executive director of the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, will discuss the continuing need for charitable healthcare facilities—even in the era of the Affordable Care Act—during a lunchtime meeting today (Tuesday, April 7).
Brittain will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]
This is a video of Team 4265, the Secret City Wildbots, during the final qualification round at the Smoky Mountain Regionals in Knoxville on Saturday, April 4. It was the fifth annual FIRST Robotics Competition Smoky Mountain Regional.
Team 4265 won the coveted Engineering Inspiration Award sponsored by NASA and will compete at the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, from April 21-25.
An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium.
A nonprofit foundation wants to revitalize Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong stadium and create a world-class gathering place that can accommodate more than 20,000 people in a natural amphitheater for sporting and other events, organizers said.
The Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation has been formed by private residents, and it is led by Tennessee Senator Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican. Organizers said the foundation is coordinating the revitalization project and fundraising activities in cooperation with the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools.
“In revitalizing Blankenship Field, we hope to honor the historic founders of Oak Ridge, a community dedicated to world-class education, scientific discovery, and a high quality of life,” organizers said. [Read more…]
The Secret City Wildbots (Team 4265) compete at the Smoky Mountain Regionals in Knoxville on Saturday. (Photos by Angi Agle)
KNOXVILLE—Team 4265, the Secret City Wildbots, finished the qualifying rounds ranked Number 10 and successfully negotiated the three-round quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
The team suffered a disappointing loss in the semifinals, but at the end of the awards ceremony, members were presented with the coveted Engineering Inspiration Award sponsored by NASA. The award qualifies them to compete at the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, from April 21-25, with the entry fee paid by NASA.
This is the Secret City Wildbots’ fourth year, and the team has earned the right to compete in the World Championship each of those four years. [Read more…]
Tessa Burch-Smith speaks with Michael Laman, dean of health sciences at Roane State Community College. He introduced her talk on genetically modified foods. (Submitted photo)
In developing countries where white rice is the dominant food, a half million pregnant women and young children become blind and two million die every year because of a Vitamin A deficiency.
On a mission to use genetic engineering to benefit humankind, scientists have genetically modified one type of rice so the grain, not just its leaves, makes Vitamin A. One published study showed that the improved nutritional content of “golden rice” could save sight and lives.
Golden rice was ready to be marketed in 2002, but critics have been calling it a Frankenfood. Golden rice is still not commercially adopted, even though in 2013, Pope Francis personally blessed its use.
This is one of the examples that Tessa Burch-Smith gave in her recent talk as part of the new Roane State Community College–Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning Intergenerational Lecture Series. An assistant professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, she teaches and conducts research in UT’s Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology. [Read more…]
Photos by Angi Agle
By Angi Agle and University of Tennessee
With the first day of competition complete, the Secret City Wildbots are ranked Number 9 in the Smoky Mountain Regionals competition held at the Knoxville Convention Center. Continuing competition Saturday morning will determine final standings for the elimination rounds Saturday afternoon.
Team selection for the elimination rounds are based partly on standing (the top eight teams are automatically entered and choose two other schools for their teammates), but partly on individual capabilities and other factors.
At the end of the elimination rounds, the winning team of three robots earns the right to enter the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, from April 22-25. [Read more…]
Photos by Angi Agle
By Angi Agle
The Smoky Mountain Regional robotics competition kicked off Thursday with practice rounds, and qualification matches began Friday morning.
The theme of this year’s game is “Recycle Rush.” Robots are to pick up recycle bins, put foam noodles in trash cans, and stack all of them in the center of the field. Additional points are gained for the number of containers stacked.
Human players feed foam noodles into the trash cans as the robots hold them up to a hole in the plexiglas, as well as feeding gray recycle bins into the field for the robots to stack.
Team 4265, the Secret City Wildbots, experienced some technical challenges, which were expected to be resolved Friday morning. [Read more…]
Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown
Anderson County is under a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch this evening, and quarter-size hail and 60 mph wind gusts are possible, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 7:54 p.m. Friday. It’s in effect until 8:45 p.m. and applies to Knox County, northeastern Roane and Loudon counties, southeastern Morgan County, and southern Anderson County.
The NWS said a severe thunderstorm was located near Oak Ridge and moving east at 45 mph at 7:53 p.m. Cities affected include Oak Ridge, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Farragut, Kingston, Karns, Powell, Bearden, and Knoxville.
Meanwhile, a tornado watch remains in effect until midnight Friday for much of East Tennessee.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Three Dog Night (Submitted photo)
Three Dog Night will headline the Saturday night concert at the Secret City Festival in June.
The band’s hits include “Joy to the World,” “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Mama Told Me (Not To Come),” “Black and White,” “Shambala,” and “One.”
The 13th Annual Secret City Festival is June 12-13. Three Dog Night will play on Saturday, June 13. [Read more…]
The Marshall Tucker Band (Submitted photo)
The Marshall Tucker Band will headline the Friday night concert at the Secret City Festival in June.
The band’s hits include “Heard It in a Love Song” and “Can’t You See.”
The Marshall Tucker Band started in Spartanburg, South Carolina, signed with Capricorn Records in 1972, and opened shows for The Allman Brothers in 1973, a press release said.
In 1974, the band began to headline its own shows across America due to the strong sales of its debut album, which went platinum, the release said. The Marshall Tucker Band toured rigorously over the years, playing sheds, stadiums, theaters, fairs, and festivals. [Read more…]
Mike Haygood, assistant principal at Jefferson Middle School, asks for a 4 percent salary increase on behalf of the Oak Ridge Education Association. At left is Steve Reddick, OREA co-president, and at center is Phil Cox, JMS principal.
Oak Ridge teachers and principals have requested a 4 percent salary increase in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Teachers said they’ve “gone backwards” in terms of real buying power during the past decade. And administrators said it’s become more difficult to attract quality applicants in part because of salaries.
It’s not clear yet if the requested increases will be approved or if the money is available or would require a property tax rate increase. There are a number of steps to complete before the budget receives final approval in June. Among other things, it has to be considered by both the Oak Ridge Board of Education and Oak Ridge City Council. [Read more…]
Raymond R. Gray
Four young Oak Ridge adults have been charged with aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy in an alleged plot to rob a woman for rent money, authorities said.
The alleged armed robbery occurred on Highland Avenue at about midnight April 1, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins said in warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.
The victim said three men who had their faces covered had robbed her at gunpoint and fled in a black Chevy sedan, the warrants said. The victim followed them north on Highland Avenue. [Read more…]
