Oak Ridge Today

Feed the People at Grove on Thanksgiving; volunteers, dishes needed

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High Places Community Church

The Feed the People dinner is at The Historic Grove Theater from 3 to 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

A grassroots effort will provide food and friendship for all who need them on Thanksgiving, organizers said.

Feed the People has scheduled a dinner from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving), at The Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.

Volunteers will be needed to help as early as 9 a.m. and as late as 8 p.m.

“Whether you can help for an hour or more, we need you!” Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn said in an email.

She said meals will also be delivered throughout Oak Ridge. Call (865) 730-0331 to request a delivery for yourself or anyone you know of that is need. [Read more…]

Y-12 employee-led Help to the Smokies team still going strong

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Y-12 Employees Help the Smokies

Y-12’s Help to the Smokies employee-led team volunteered at a Great Smoky Mountains National Park cleanup event on Nov. 8. The team contributed 154 hours in restoration and enhancement activities during the event. (Submitted photo)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:40 a.m. Nov. 26.

Y-12’s employee-led Help to the Smokies team tacked another 154 hours onto their already massive volunteer service record at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during their annual volunteer work day on November 8. Since its start, the volunteer team has contributed about 14,000 hours in the Park.

Some 22 volunteers assisted park staff in maintenance and refurbishment of Loop B campsites at the Cosby Campground. The volunteer team performed general restoration activities for 31 individual campsites. These activities included elevating, leveling, and resetting 31 picnic tables, distributing and applying 85 tons of gravel covering to 26 campsites, and leveling selected camp fire rings. [Read more…]

Two ORHS students win UT scholarships in statewide math contest

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KNOXVILLE—Two Oak Ridge High School students were among 10 from across the state who received $6,000 annual scholarships to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in this year’s UT-Pro2Serve Math Contest. More than 700 students from 51 schools all across Tennessee competed in the competition, held November 6 at UT.

The scholarship winners were:

  • Joseph Andress, Oak Ridge High, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
  • Christopher Dean, Cookeville High, Cookeville, Tennessee
  • Jason Fu, Farragut High, Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Gene Li, Ravenwood High, Brentwood, Tennessee
  • Remilia Li, Pope John Paul II High, Hendersonville, Tennessee
  • Ohm J. Patel, White Station High, Memphis, Tennessee
  • Daniel Tancredi, Memphis University School, Memphis, Tennessee
  • Barbara Xiong, University School of Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee
  • Albert Xue, Oak Ridge High, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
  • Chang Yu, Memphis University School, Memphis, Tennessee

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge city manager hires assistant

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Bruce Appleton

Bruce Applegate

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson has hired an assistant.

Bruce M. Applegate Jr. will help the city manager plan, organize, develop, coordinate, maintain, and direct the overall operations and activities of the city, a press release said. He will help provide supervision for special projects and task forces, and participate in the recruitment and promotion of new and existing businesses and industries. In addition, he will assist in developing, planning, and implementing goals and objectives for the city. Applegate’s employment will become effective December 1.

“I am excited to join the staff of the City of Oak Ridge,” Applegate said. “I am eager to begin working with the city staff to address the upcoming projects aimed at bettering the community. The variety of tasks will give me an opportunity to engage with both city officials and community members to appropriately create solutions to meet Oak Ridge’s needs. I feel fortunate to be joining the city, and look forward to demonstrating my appreciation through hard work….Having gone to school in Oak Ridge, I relish the opportunity to give back to a city that has given to me.” [Read more…]

League of Women Voters receives $20,000 national grant

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League of Women Voters Logo

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has received a $20,000 national grant that will fund an educational project for young adults (30 years or under) on hazardous waste management. The project is titled the Environmental Management Education Initiative Project.

The grant is made possible through the New Mexico Community Foundation’s Community Involvement Fund and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The purpose of the project is to expand the knowledge and understanding of these young people about the environmental management process and remediation actions in the Oak Ridge community.

The project will consist of two educational sub-projects: a Citizen’s Academy and a Rainbow Academy, a press release said. [Read more…]

Gooch elected mayor, Smith mayor pro tem

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Oak Ridge City Council November 2014

The new Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above. From right they are new member Kelly Callison, continuing member Charlie Hensley, new members Rick Chinn and Warren Gooch, continuing members Chuck Hope and Trina Baughn, and new member Ellen Smith. Council members are elected in staggered terms, so Baughn, Hensley, and Hope won’t be up for election until 2016. Callison, Chinn, Gooch, and Smith won their seats in the November 4 municipal election.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. Nov. 25.

New Oak Ridge City Council member Warren Gooch has been appointed mayor, and returning City Council member Ellen Smith has been elected mayor pro tem.

The two were appointed to serve two-year terms by the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council during a Monday night meeting, the first after the November 4 municipal election.

It’s the first elected office for Gooch, a lawyer, although he previously ran for Anderson County mayor in August 2012. Gooch was the top vote-getter in the November 4 municipal election, and he is the city’s 10th mayor, according to City Council member Chuck Hope, who also sought to be mayor.

“I do think our best days are ahead of us,” Gooch said after two members switched votes and cast ballots for him, breaking an impasse that had lasted through five rounds of voting. “Great things happen here every day, and they have for 70 years.” [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department investigates fire that destroyed empty Briceville home

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The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a Saturday night fire that destroyed an empty house in Briceville that had been the target of thieves, authorities said.

The fire at 230 Brown Flats Lane was reported at about 11:36 p.m. Saturday.

John L. Brown, the victim, who lives at a separate address on Brown Flats Lane, said the empty house was his parents’ old home, and there have recently been several thefts there, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Joshua A. Humphrey said in an incident report. In one of those thefts, someone stole all the copper, and there was no electricity at the home, Brown told Humphrey. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge company wins $15.9 million contract

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HME Minority Business Excellence Award

HME Inc. Co-Founder Henry Perry, right, with Tony Spezia, Covenant Health president and CEO, when HME was awarded the Knoxville Chamber Partnership’s Minority Business Excellence Award in May 2011. (Submitted photo)

An Oak Ridge company has won a $15.9 million contract to provide facilities operations and support services to the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama.

The contract was awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency, a press release said.

HME is a Small Business Administration-certified HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) Zone and economically disadvantaged woman-owned business headquartered in Oak Ridge. HME first received the contract to provide facilities operations and support services for the CDP facility in 2009.

The CDP is a national training facility that prepares state and local emergency response personnel to respond to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction by providing advanced, hands-on training. This national training program was developed for firefighters, law enforcement personnel, emergency medical technicians, E-911 operators, and other emergency response personnel, their trainers, and supervisors.

During Fiscal Year 2013, the CDP trained a total of 49,500 students, including 14,000 resident students, 2,500 non-resident, 8,000 indirect, and 25,000 Academy students, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sheriff offers holiday crime prevention tips

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Paul White

Paul White

Many people can become victims of burglary, theft, and other crimes during the holidays, and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department has released crime prevention tips.

In a press release, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said the department hopes to help residents have safe and fun holidays.

Shopping

[Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic needs volunteer nurses

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Free Medical Clinic

The Free Medical Clinic in Oak Ridge needs nurses and is offering active and retired nurses a great opportunity to give back to the community by volunteering. FMC provides high quality primary health care to low-income, uninsured people in Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties. Various shifts are available.

“Nursing at FMC is a true joy,” said Monica Musrock, director of nurses. “The art of nursing is practiced in a warm and supportive environment. We take the time to provide excellent care for our patients who would otherwise go without. Four hours is all it takes to directly impact the health care crisis in our community. Your skill and compassion can make a difference. And we have fun to boot! You never know who you might find here. Many old friendships have been rekindled here at FMC.”

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of the clinic,” said FMC Executive Director Teresa Brittain. “The use of volunteer physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals allow us to keep costs low while providing free care. Many of our patients are facing unimaginable hardships, but they’re the lucky ones, the ones who have been able to get care. But the demand is getting higher. We simply need more nurses.” [Read more…]

ORAU exceeds $100,000 in annual giving for seventh year in a row

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2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign

The 2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign Chair Michael Ickowitz, left; Co-Chair Arlene Garrison, right; and ORAU President and CEO Andy Page reveal ORAU’s combined giving total of $125,207.92. (Submitted photo)

 

For the seventh year in a row, Oak Ridge Associated Universities has broken the $100,000 mark in donations as part of the annual giving campaign for the United Way and Community Shares.

During a concluding ceremony on November 20 in the ORAU Pollard Technology Conference Center, ORAU President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Page announced the 2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign total donation amount—$125,207.92. As part of the total donation, ORAU and its employees pledged $95,009.92 to the United Way and $30,198.00 to Community Shares.

Photos: Demolition of Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Sanctuary Demolition

Workers demolished the former Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Robertsville Road on Monday. Pictured above at right is the stone-and-glass west end of the sanctuary. (Photos by Peter Scheffler)

 

Workers demolished the former Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Robertsville Road on Monday. The congregation has moved to a new church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, on the north side of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, home to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

Church members agreed in September 2012 to sell their former site, which they had used for almost six decades, to make way for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

The new UU church was dedicated in October. [Read more…]