Oak Ridge Today

Support local, independent media: Subscribe to Oak Ridge Today

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If you support Oak Ridge Today, please consider becoming a voluntary subscriber. You don’t have to subscribe to read our stories, but your contribution will help us grow and improve our coverage.

We currently offer three subscription levels: $5, $10, or $25 per month. We accept payments through PayPal. You can also visit our subscription page for information on other options, including check payments to our PO box.

There isn’t currently a difference between the three monthly subscription levels. It’s mostly a matter of what you can contribute. We believe that most of our subscribers support us because they like what we’re doing and want to see us succeed. [Read more…]

With help from two Oak Ridgers, UT students finish second in supercomputing competition

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National Institute for Computational SciencesWith help from two Oak Ridgers, a team of students from the University of Tennessee recently captured second place at the Student Cluster Competition in New Orleans.

Part of the SC14 Supercomputing Conference, the competition is a real-time, non-stop, 48-hour challenge in which teams of undergraduates, high school students, or both assemble a small computer cluster on the exhibit floor and then race to demonstrate the greatest sustained performance across a series of applications while staying under a 3,120-watt power limit.

One of the team members is Erik Blokland, an Oak Ridge graduate, and the other is Vincent Jodoin, who is a junior at Oak Ridge High School and helping the team. [Read more…]

DOE Oak Ridge has MLK program Tuesday featuring Beck Center CEO

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office will hold its annual observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday with a program entitled “Change Starts with Me.” The program is free and open to the public.

This year’s event features a keynote address by Reverend Reneé Kesler. She is the president and chief executive officer of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center Inc. and a licensed ordained associate minister at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Kesler is also a professional instructor with the University of Tennessee’s Department of Professional and Personal Development in Continuing Education. [Read more…]

Start off 2015 with ‘Dine and Donate,’ help ADFAC

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Dine and Donate at Dean's

Oak Ridge High School students Keegan Yearwood and Camille Mauk-Olson know the best way to beat the winter chill: Dine and Donate! By dining out at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery on Monday, January 12, the pair get to choose from a variety of hot home-cooked favorites including savory beef pot roast, pulled park barbecue, and turkey and dressing. Dean’s is located in Jackson Square. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

 

On Monday, January 12, several local restaurants will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC. As the first ‘Dine and Donate’ of the new year, this special event gives local residents the opportunity to start off 2015 by supporting local eateries as well as raising funds to help the needy in our community.

Restaurants participating on Monday, January 12 are:

  • Dean’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Hoskins in Clinton,
  • Mediterranean Delight in Oak Ridge,
  • Papa Murphy’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Razzleberry’s in Oak Ridge,
  • Riverview Grill in Clinton, and
  • Salsarita’s in Oak Ridge.

[Read more…]

OR, AC players compete in Kentucky-Tennessee Border Bowl

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Brandon Bonds Forced Fumble

Oak Ridge Wildcat Brandon Bonds (81) forces a fumble in the first half of the Kentucky-Tennessee National Guard Border Bowl in Williamsburg, Kentucky, on Saturday, January 10, 2015. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)

 

Four players from Oak Ridge High School and Anderson County High School participated in the Kentucky-Tennessee National Guard Border Bowl in Williamsburg, Kentucky, on Saturday.

Oak Ridge senior Brandon Bonds—who played safety, wide receiver, and punt returner for the Wildcats—forced a fumble during the first half and recovered a Kentucky fumble in the second, said Melissa Livesey of ORHS Dance Cat Boosters.

Besides Bonds, other players who were picked to play were ORHS senior offensive lineman Isaac Chapman (Chapman also played on the defensive line for the Wildcats, especially toward the end of the season); and senior running back Matt Fox and defensive end Josh Edwards, both of Anderson County High School. [Read more…]

Local cycling community riding this weekend in honor of Biegalski

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Michael Biegalski Memorial Road Ride

A memorial road ride honoring Michael Biegalski, an avid athlete and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher, started Sunday morning near Whippoorwill Drive and Wisconsin Avenue.

 

Michael Biegalski

Michael Biegalski was an avid athlete and a research and development staff member at the Center for Nanophase Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

The local cycling community is having memorial rides this weekend in honor of Michael Biegalski, an avid athlete and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher who recently died in a tragic mountain biking accident at Haw Ridge.

On Saturday, top athletes from the community rode the North Boundary and Black Oak Ridge trails.

On Sunday, they’re riding the My Larry/Brushy Mountain “prison loop.” It’s a road ride. Like Saturday’s ride, it will depart from the Westwood neighborhood.

The rides are in memory of Michael, who competed in road, mountain, and cyclocross racing and was passionate about big climbs and endurance riding, Amy Biegalski said. [Read more…]

No one injured in Foxwood Circle fire in Oliver Springs on Thursday

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Foxwood Circle Smoke in Oliver Springs

Heavy smoke and fire was visible at the rear of this house on Foxwood Circle in Oliver Springs on Thursday. (Photos by Tom Scott)

 

There were no injuries in a house fire late Thursday morning on Foxwood Circle in Oliver Springs.

The Oliver Springs Fire Department was able to respond quickly—arriving within four minutes—because of a new standby program. That program uses the Fire Department’s volunteers to staff the station with firefighters to improve staffing levels and allow faster response times, said Justin Bailey, Oliver Springs assistant fire chief.

He said Thursday’s porch fire at 120 Foxwood Circle was reported at 11:50 a.m., and it extended into the home’s attic. The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes with help from the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Marlow Volunteer Fire Department through an automatic mutual-aid program. [Read more…]

ORFD responds to large fire at former Miller-Brewer Department Store in Harriman

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Miller-Brewer Department Store Fire at Harriman

Several fire departments, including Oak Ridge, battle a blaze on Thursday, January 9, at a vacant building in Harriman that once housed the Miller-Brewer Department Store. (Photos by Tom Scott)

 

Several local fire departments, including Oak Ridge’s, battled a blaze on Thursday, January 9, at a vacant building in Harriman that once housed the Miller-Brewer Department Store at the corner of North Roane Street and Crescent Street.

The fire was reported at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The large building has three stories and a basement, and it has been vacant for 15 years or so, according to spectators. [Read more…]

President Obama’s trip to East Tennessee explained

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President Barack Obama, Sen. Bob Corker, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Rep. John Duncan at Air Force One

President Barack Obama, front; U.S. senators Lamar Alexander, second, and Bob Corker, third; and Representative John J. Duncan Jr. arrive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa on Air Force One at about noon Friday. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Before President Obama landed in East Tennessee on Friday, a spokesman explained the purpose of the trip to reporters. The 5.5-hour visit included stops at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley and manufacturer Techmer PM in Clinton. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Congressman John J. Duncan Jr. were guests, and so was Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

Eric Schultz, principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill would unveil the president’s plan to make two years of community college free for all responsible students no matter their age during the East Tennessee trip. It was a preview of a “cornerstone” of the president’s State of the Union to Congress on January 20.

Separately, during a stop in Clinton, the president announced a manufacturing innovation hub that involves the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Photos: Air Force One at McGhee Tyson

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Air Force One at McGhee Tyson Airport

Air Force One is pictured at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

 

Air Force One landed at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa at about noon Friday, carrying President Obama and three Republican legislators from Tennessee: senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Representative John Duncan. It left at about 5:30 p.m. Air Force Two, carrying Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill, followed.

The three visited Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County and Techmer PM in Clinton to announce education and manufacturing proposals. It was the first visit by any president to Pellissippi State and Clinton, and it was Obama’s first visit to the Knoxville area.

Here are four pictures of Air Force One and President Obama by Julio Culiat. [Read more…]

Photos: President Obama’s motorcade in Oak Ridge

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President Obama Limousine

President Obama is seen in the back of the presidential limousine. (Photo by John Westcott)

 

Many people took pictures and videos when President Obama’s motorcade passed through Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Anderson County on Friday afternoon.

Here are a few, including several by John Westcott and Betsy Prine.

The president traveled to East Tennessee—his first trip to the Knoxville area as president—to announce education and manufacturing proposals that will be presented in his State of the Union speech to Congress on January 20.

Announced at Pellissippi State Community College, the education proposal would provide two years of community college free to anyone who’s willing to work for it. [Read more…]

Obama visit spotlights sports car printed by UT engineers at ORNL

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Shelby Cobra 3D Printed Cobra

University of Tennessee engineering students Andrew Messing and Alex Roschli printed this Shelby Cobra at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. The car was on stage during President Obama’s visit to Techmer PM in Clinton on Friday. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

CLINTON—President Obama took the stage at Techmer PM in Clinton on Friday to announce that the University of Tennessee in Knoxville will head a $259 million advanced manufacturing project and that Oak Ridge National Laboratory will play a key role. The president shared the spotlight with a shiny example of innovation, research, and collaboration between the two—a Shelby Cobra 3D printed car.

The car was highlighted during Obama’s visit as an example of the changing world of manufacturing. It was produced with major contributions from a pair of student interns from UT’s College of Engineering—Alex Roschli and Andrew Messing, a press release said.

Roschli and Messing, both seniors in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, are doing internships at ORNL, where the car was printed at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. [Read more…]