Oak Ridge Today

Borchers to discuss Oak Ridge Schools at Lunch with League

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Superintendent Bruce Borchers will discuss Oak Ridge Schools at Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The meeting starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Borchers will focus on the theme “Building on Excellence: Where we were, where we are, and where we are going.” He will highlight achievement data, changing demographics, and initiatives that will help Oak Ridge students be successful in the 21st Century, a press release said. [Read more…]

Weather: Anderson, Roane schools closed Tuesday, Lunch with League canceled

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Anderson and Roane county schools will also be closed Tuesday due to hazardous road conditions, record low temperatures, and negative wind chills.

As reported earlier, students at Oak Ridge Schools will not return from Winter Break on Tuesday, but will instead start on Wednesday.

The Lunch with the League scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled due to the cold weather.

Anderson County Schools said its Central Office staff will follow bad weather procedures. Roane County Schools said the Central Office staff will report to work at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Wind chill values Monday night could range from -3 in Chattanooga to -16 in Oneida, with the forecast calling for -9 in Knoxville, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown. Wind chill values near Oak Ridge are forecast to range between -7 and -12.

Tuesday presentation by UT professor to focus on science, ethics, war

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Jeffrey Kovac

Jeffrey Kovac

A University of Tennessee professor will discuss science and war-related research during a Tuesday presentation in Oak Ridge. (Note: This presentation was canceled due to the weather and could be rescheduled later.)

Jeffrey Kovac, a UT chemistry professor and director of undergraduate studies, will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

“Science and the military have had a long and often mutually beneficial relationship, a relationship that is seldom questioned,” a press release said. “But because scientists are simultaneously professionals, citizens of a particular country, and human beings, sometimes with strong religious convictions, they are subject to conflicting moral and practical demands. In this presentation, Dr. Kovac will examine the question of whether scientists should engage in war-related research and, if so, under what circumstances.” [Read more…]

UT economics professor to discuss virtues, limits of free markets

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Marianne Wanamaker

Marianne Wanamaker

An assistant economics professor at the University of Tennessee will discuss the virtues and limits of free markets during a noon lecture Tuesday.

Marianne Wanamaker will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at lunchtime Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. Her presentation is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge.

Wanamaker is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics in the University Of Tennessee’s College of Business Administration. [Read more…]

World-wide polio eradication to be discussed at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Brenda Thornburgh in India

Brenda Thornburgh, left, president of Galbraith Laboratories Inc. and past President of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, marks a child’s left pinkie with a purple marker during a polio eradication mission in India in 2012, indicating that the child has received the immunization. (Submitted photo).

Brenda Thornburgh, president of Galbraith Laboratories Inc. and past President of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, will discuss the worldwide effort to eradicate polio during Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The meeting starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

For most Americans, paralytic polio is a disease of the past, a press release said. However, there has been a worldwide increase in the number of confirmed cases across the world in 2013, primarily in non-endemic countries such as Somalia, Kenya, and the Syrian Arab Republic. [Read more…]

Watson to discuss ‘State of the City’ at Lunch with the League

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson will give an update on the state of the city during Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The meeting starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Watson became Oak Ridge city manager in August 2010. He is the chief administrative officer of the city, and his responsibilities include planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and evaluating the operations of the municipal government in order to implement Oak Ridge City Council policies in an effective and economic manner, a press release said. [Read more…]

Possible changes in Tennessee judicial selections to be discussed at Lunch with the League

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Judy Cornett

Judy Cornett

A University of Tennessee law professor will discuss potential changes to Tennessee’s judicial selection process during a Lunch with the League meeting on Tuesday.

Judy Cornett is a distinguished professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law, and her presentation starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

In November 2014, Tennessee voters will vote on three proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution, a press release said. One proposed amendment would create a semi-federal system of selecting Tennessee’s appellate judges. This amendment would empower the governor to nominate a candidate, who would then be subject to confirmation by both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly. Cornett will discuss the history of the legislative battle over judicial selection and will analyze the proposed amendment, which has been touted as an alternative to popular election of appellate judges. [Read more…]

Fight for immigrant rights to be discussed at Lunch with the League

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A representative of a Nashville law firm will discuss immigration during Lunch with the League on Oct. 1.

R. Andrew Free of Ozment Law will be the guest speaker. The meeting starts at noon Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. [Read more…]

Attorney to discuss impact of new laws on long-term health care

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Mary Lyn Goodman

Mary Lyn Goodman

A Legal Aid attorney will discuss new laws affecting long-term health care during Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

Mary Lyn Goodman, an attorney with Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, will be the guest speaker. The talk begins at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Anderson County mayor to give update on first year in office

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank will discuss her first year in office during Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The lunch starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

Frank was elected in August 2012 to serve a two-year term as Anderson County Mayor, completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011 after being indicted for sales tax fraud. She was sworn into office on Sept. 1, 2012. [Read more…]

‘Girls of Atomic City’ author at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Denise Kiernan

Denise Kiernan

Denise Kiernan, author of “The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II,” will speak at Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The program begins at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

“The Girls of Atomic City” is the true story of the young women during World War II who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, one of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities. Through their efforts were crucial to the development of the world’s first atomic bomb, the vast majority of Oak Ridge residents did not know what they were working on until the atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” detonated above Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. [Read more…]

Public education reforms to be discussed at League meeting Tuesday

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Jerry Winters, retired chief lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, will discuss the challenges facing public schools, with an emphasis on corporate “reforms,” during “Lunch with the League” on Tuesday, a press release said.

Winters will be the featured speaker at the meeting, which starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. His presentation is titled “Surviving the Attacks on Public Education.” [Read more…]