Oak Ridge Today

St. Mary’s Fall Festival on Friday, Saturday

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The annual St. Mary’s Fall Festival on Friday and Saturday in Oak Ridge will feature a spaghetti dinner, auction, children’s activities, baking contest, food, and entertainment.

The 64th annual festival starts Friday, October 17, with the Knights of Columbus spaghetti dinner in the Parish Life Center. Those who can’t stay for dinner can try the new “take-out” option. Doors open at 5 p.m., and take out dinners can be picked up under the covered walkway at the entrance of the Parish Life Center. Dinner prices are $8 for adults, $4 for kids, and no more than $25 per family.

The live auction will start promptly at 7 p.m. Friday, so you won’t want to leave directly after dinner, a press release said. Some of the items up for auction this year are many furniture pieces, exercise equipment, and a variety of certificates to events and places in the area. There will also be children’s activities to keep the kids happy and entertained. Those will also begin at 7 p.m. and continue through 9 p.m. with a bounce house, crafts, and “Charlie Brown Pumpkin” and “Frozen” playing on the big screen, the release said. [Read more…]

Pumpkin Bagel Fest features fundraising, ‘bagel chunking fun’

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Many know what pumpkin chunking is—the act of turning a pumpkin into a projectile, but few have seen it done with a bagel. Yes, those round doughy breakfast items will be flung on Saturday, October 18, at the Pumpkin Bagel Fest.

The event, coordinated by Hot Bagel Company, will be held in the Manhattan Place (Food City) parking lot in Oak Ridge from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Participants must create their own catapult to compete for distance and target. Entries from local Boy Scout troops and Lake City schools are expected, but additional entries are welcome. [Read more…]

ET hospitals, health departments sponsor community forum on Ebola

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Ebola Virus

A colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) revealing some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus virion.
(Photo credit: Frederick A. Murphy/Public Health Image Library (PHIL))

All the hospital systems and facilities in the Knoxville area have joined with the Knox County Health Department to sponsor an unprecedented community forum to educate the public about Ebola and address any questions and concerns about the disease, a press release said.

The East Tennessee Health Forum on Ebola is open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 21, in the auditorium on the lower level of the Knoxville Convention Center. Parking will be available in the Poplar Street parking lot across Cumberland Avenue from the center and free in city garages, including nearby Locust Street Garage.

Medical experts from the Knox County Health Department, Blount Memorial Hospital, Covenant Health, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, TeamHealth, Tennova Health System, and the University of Tennessee Medical Center will discuss the disease, its treatment, and the measures being taken to protect the public. [Read more…]

Deemed ‘unlikely’ here, but county officials take preventive measures for Ebola virus

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Art Miller and Terry Frank

Art Miller, left, director of the Anderson County Health Department, talks with County Mayor Terry Frank about local preventive measures concerning the Ebola virus. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County government)

 

CLINTON—Anderson County officials are aware of the few cases of the Ebola virus in the United States and are taking early preventive measures in the unlikely event that the virus occurs here, the Anderson County Mayor’s Office said Wednesday.

Preventive measures being taken by local Health Department and emergency officials include conferencing, protocol reviews, and in-service training. This will help ensure that they “know what to do in the unlikely event that a case of the Ebola virus occurs here,” a press release said.

The release said staff members at the Anderson County Health Department recently completed a “table-top exercise” aimed at allowing the employees to plan ahead and be prepared. They used a hypothetical case and followed already-established protocol to deal with the hypothetical case. The procedures involved isolation of the hypothetical Ebola patient upon presentation to the Health Department, protection measures for other Health Department patients and staff members, and immediate communication between the local Health Department, Anderson County Emergency Medical Service, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, and the Health Department’s regional office in Knox County, as well as the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Similar exercises have been conducted in every health department office across Tennessee,” said Art Miller, director of the Anderson County Health Department. [Read more…]

‘Classroom Under the Sea’ today to feature astronauts Aldrin, Gernhardt

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NEEMO Project Underwater

The October 16 episode of “Classroom Under the Sea” will address how underwater training helps prepare astronauts for space exploration through programs such as the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project. In the underwater image, an engineering crew diver simulates anchoring to an asteroid surface. (Photos courtesy of NASA)

 

Artist Concept

The artist’s concept image shows how an astronaut might use a similar process to anchor to an asteroid.

How do astronauts learn how to land on an asteroid? They practice under the sea.

Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Mike Gernhardt will discuss how the undersea environment has helped astronauts train for missions beyond the atmosphere during the next episode of “Classroom Under the Sea,” an online lecture series hosted by two educators living underwater for 73 days. The live program starts at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 16. Viewers can watch at roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea and on youtube.com/classroomunderthesea.

Biology professor Bruce Cantrell and adjunct professor Jessica Fain from Roane State Community College in East Tennessee are living and working in an underwater habitat—Jules’ Undersea Lodge on Key Largo in the Florida Keys—for 73 days. While in the habitat, Fain and Cantrell are hosting “Classroom Under the Sea,” presented by Roane State and the Marine Resources Development Foundation on Key Largo.

During the October 16 episode, Aldrin and Gernhardt will highlight how undersea simulations help astronauts prepare for journeys to asteroids and to Mars. Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, pioneered underwater training techniques. [Read more…]

Anderson County Chamber has industrial job fair on Thursday

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Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Logo

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host an industrial job fair to recruit employees for local industries on Thursday in Clinton.

The job fair is scheduled from 2-8 p.m. Thursday, October 16, at Roane State Community College’s Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility at 214 Nave Street in Clinton (at the Anderson County Fairgrounds). This one-day event allows job seekers to connect face-to-face with local industries seeking employees, a press release said. [Read more…]

Save the Date: Second public meeting on Clark Center Park on Oct. 27

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Clark Center Park Water View

A view of Melton Hill Lake near a boat ramp and between two picnic areas at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge.

 

The second public meeting on Clark Center Park will be held during the Oak Ridge City Council work session scheduled for Monday, October 27, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

The first meeting was in August. The 80-acre park could be transferred from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city.

The DOE’s Oak Ridge Office is in the process of reviewing the agency’s land holdings across the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Clark Center Park (formerly known as Carbide Park). [Read more…]

Progress PAC endorses three each for City Council, BOE

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Kelly Callison

Kelly Callison

Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith

Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

 

The new Progress PAC political action committee has endorsed three candidates each for Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education.

The three candidates endorsed in the City Council race are Kelly Callison, Warren Gooch, and Ellen Smith. The three endorsed in the School Board race are Bob Eby, Paige Marshall, and Laura McLean.

“PAC board members feel these candidates best support exceptional schools and jobs in Oak Ridge via teamwork between the Board of Education and City Council,” a press release said. [Read more…]

City to apply for state grant to build roundabout at ‘Malfunction Junction’

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Malfunction Junction at North Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday agreed to apply for a state grant that could be used to help build a roundabout at the five-way intersection of North Tulane and Pennsylvania avenues, Providence Road, and East Pasadena Lane. Though city officials don’t like the name, the five-way intersection is sometimes referred to as “Malfunction Junction.”

 

The city of Oak Ridge plans to apply for a state grant to design and build a roundabout near Oak Ridge High School at a five-way intersection sometimes referred to as “Malfunction Junction.”

The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously approved the grant application on Monday. If approved, the Tennessee Department of Transportation grant would be used to build a roundabout at the intersection of Providence Road, Pennsylvania Avenue, East Pasadena Lane, and North Tulane Avenue.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $748,113. Tthe grant funding would come from the Transportation Alternative Program. TDOT funds 80 percent of those projects, excluding design, and a 20 percent local match is required.

The city’s cost would be about $150,000, and the city would pay for the design, officials said Monday. [Read more…]

Mosby seeks re-election to City Council

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David Mosby

David Mosby

David Mosby is seeking re-election to the Oak Ridge City Council in the November 4 municipal election.

“I am ready to continue my service to the citizens,” Mosby said in a press release.

Mosby was first elected to Council in 2001, and he said he remains committed to listening and acting to make Oak Ridge a great place to live, work, and visit.

“His Council record reflects a thoughtful and balanced approach to decision making based on his concern for people, fiscal responsibility, and support for new initiatives that enhance our quality of life,” the press release said. “He is active in the community and holds the belief that ‘We become better by working together!'” [Read more…]

Frank questions indictment of appointee

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David Lynn Crowley

David Lynn Crowley

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has questions for District Attorney General Dave Clark concerning the indictment of Public Works Director and Building Commissioner David Crowley.

A letter hand-delivered from the mayor’s office to the DA’s office states that the five misdemeanor charges handed down against Crowley last week by a grand jury do not meet the legal standards for those charges.

Crowley, who was appointed by Mayor Frank in September of 2012, was charged last week with five counts of inspecting houses without the proper certification following a TBI investigation. He turned himself in at the Anderson County jail Thursday morning, posted a $1,000 bond, and returned to work that same day. [Read more…]

Early voting begins Wednesday, October 15

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Vote Logo

Information from WYSH Radio

Early voting for the November 4 general election in Anderson County begins Wednesday, October 15, and runs through Thursday, October 30.

Early voting hours Monday through Friday will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Clinton Community Center, the Midtown Community Center in Oak Ridge, and at the North Anderson Government Office in the Anderson Crossing Shopping Center in the Norris/Andersonville area. [Read more…]