Oak Ridge Today

Cheerleaders decorate MMC hospitality homes for cancer patients

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Oak Ridge High School Cheerleaders at Hospitality Houses

Cheerleaders from Oak Ridge High School helped to decorate the Hospitality Houses of Methodist Medical Center for Christmas. The houses offer temporary lodging to patients and families who must travel for extended care at Methodist, even during the holidays. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge High School cheerleaders recently decorated two hospitality homes at Methodist Medical Center for Christmas.

The Hospitality Houses provide a home away from home for cancer patients and families receiving extended medical care at Methodist Medical Center.

“But just because some guests can’t be home during the holiday season doesn’t mean they have to miss the festive feel of garland-draped porches and trees glittering with lights,” a press release said.

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Alleged serial bank robber apprehended

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Information from WYSH Radio

Law enforcement officials announced Thursday that a suspected serial bank robber was apprehended minutes after allegedly holding up a bank in Alcoa.

Gerald Hytken of Lenoir City, 79, is suspected of robbing four banks in the past two years and is facing federal charges for, among other things, allegedly robbing an Oak Ridge bank last year.

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NNSA Administrator D’Agostino retiring in January

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Thomas P. D'Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced his retirement today.

In a statement Friday, D’Agostino said he will retire Jan. 18, the end of President Barack Obama’s first term. He has been NNSA administrator and under secretary for nuclear security for more than five years. He was also deputy administrator for defense programs for two years.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site. The NNSA is a separate agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

D’Agostino has had 36 years of federal service, rising through the ranks of the U.S. Navy and then leading nuclear security efforts at DOE.

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Snow possible today, but not likely on Christmas, forecasters say

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There is a slight chance of snow this morning and again this evening, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.

The NWS says the chance of precipitation is 20 percent, and that could mean snow before 1 p.m., rain this afternoon, and snow and rain after 5 p.m.

There were very light snow flurries in Oak Ridge  at about 3:30 a.m. today (Friday).

Forecasters do not expect snow on Christmas. The forecast now calls for a 30 percent chance of showers on Christmas Day, with a high near 52.

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Sheriff: Two arrested after Briceville burglary

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An intruder fled a Briceville home Wednesday after the resident, who had been asleep upstairs, woke up and called out, authorities said.

The resident had heard someone break into his home and walk up his stairs, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a press release Thursday.

After the intruder fled, the resident and a neighbor saw a white Jeep leave the area. The neighbor followed the Jeep in her car but lost sight of it as it traveled toward Lake City, White said.

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School security ramped up in Anderson County, Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio

In the wake of last week’s deadly school shootings in Connecticut, many people in the area have wondered what is being done to keep their children safe at school.

WYSH asked Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough how often officers conduct walk-throughs at the city’s three elementary schools. Scarbrough said every school in the city, including the three county schools within the city limits, are visited by officers two to three times per day in unscheduled, random, drop-in visits.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said there are eight full-time school resource officers, or SROs, who rotate between the county’s 17 schools. That number includes SROs who are assigned to just one school, namely the two county high schools.

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Y-12 protesters say fence hole remains after break-in, officials say it’s repaired

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Hole in Y-12 Perimeter Fence

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance says three protesters crossed into the Y-12 National Security Complex through this hole the trio cut in a perimeter fence before dawn on July 28, and OREPA alleges that the hole had not been repaired as of Monday. (Submitted photo)

More than four months after three protesters broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex, a hole that the trio cut in a perimeter fence still hasn’t been repaired, an Oak Ridge group said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which has supported the Y-12 protesters, said two OREPA members went to the nuclear weapons plant on Monday and, after 15 minutes of walking, found the spot where the protesters had cut through an outer fence. It was open from the ground up to a spot about four feet high—a hole large enough for a person to squeeze through, the group said.

But in a statement Thursday afternoon, federal officials said the fence has been repaired.

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One-of-a-kind waste incinerator in ‘safe shutdown’ at ETTP

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Filling the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator

Workers fill the sumps at the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator with grout, as part of the work to close it. (Submitted photo)

A one-of-a-kind waste incinerator, which began operations at the East Tennessee Technology Park more than 20 years ago, has been safely shut down.

When the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, or TSCAI, began operations in 1990, the intent was to run it for five years to prove the technology worked. It was the only incinerator in the nation permitted to burn certain hazardous and radioactive wastes.

Operations ceased in December 2009, after a safe and successful run that saw the facility burn 35 million pounds of liquids and solids from DOE sites across the United States—even some from Hawaii.

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Reader pics: Clinton Christmas Parade

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Clinton Christmas Parade First Place

A float by Second Baptist Church featuring a large sleigh and reindeer won first place in the Dec. 1 Christmas parade in Clinton. (Photos courtesy of Janet Hawkins)

A float by Second Baptist Church featuring a large sleigh and reindeer won first place in the Dec. 1 Christmas parade in Clinton.

Ridgedale Baptist Church placed second with a float featuring a large ark.

Anderson County Emergency Medical Services finished third.

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Methodist Medical Center announces 2012 MMCer of the Year

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Bobby Abshire Thumbs Up

After receiving the MMCer of the Year Award, Bobby Abshire gives his co-workers a thumbs-up for their hard work, too. Also pictured are Mike Belbeck, Methodist’s president and chief administrative officer, and Connie Martin, vice president and chief support officer.

Bobby Abshire, an attendant and member of the “lift team” in the Transport department at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, has been named the 2012 MMCer of the Year.

Hospital employees cast their votes for MMCer of the Year among the candidates who received MMCer of the Month during the year, and Abshire, who was named MMCer of the Month in November, received the greatest number of votes to earn this special distinction.

Upon receiving the award for MMCer of the Year, Abshire, who was in a Transport department staff meeting at the time, looked to his co-workers with a thumbs-up and gave them credit for their hard work and support.

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Emory Valley Early Learning Center starting infant care services on Jan. 2

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The Emory Valley Early Learning Center recently announced that it is starting infant care services on Jan. 2.

The new service is in response to a need for the service in Anderson County and Oak Ridge, a press release said. It said the Emory Valley Early Learning Center is Anderson County’s only nationally accredited child care program.

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With ‘fiscal cliff’ looming, ORNL says it’s as well-prepared as it can be

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As President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner continue their high-stakes negotiations over tax revenues and spending cuts, officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they have prepared as best they can for automatic spending cuts that could go into effect in January.

“We have been preparing for increased budget pressures for several years now and have taken a number of steps to reduce our costs, including workforce restructuring, benefits changes, reduction in energy consumption, and other operational costs,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a statement Monday. “Since we don’t know exactly how any cuts would be allocated by the various governments agencies that fund ORNL, we can’t really say with certainty what the impacts would be, other than to say we are as well-prepared for uncertainty as we can be.”

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