• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




More than 1,000 protest for equality, police reforms, end of racism

Posted at 10:38 pm June 10, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Hundreds of people march from Oak Ridge High School to the Civic Center for a Black Lives Matter protest on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. June 11.

More than 1,000 people marched and protested in Oak Ridge last week, asking for equal treatment for black people.

They said the nation is obligated to fight systemic racism, racial inequality, and police brutality. They want to live without fear. They advocated for police reforms, accountability, and the use of de-escalation tactics.

Protesters hope to end 400 years of oppression that started with slavery in America in 1619 and continued after the Civil War with attacks on black people, lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, segregation, discrimination, and racism. That oppression has been felt in Oak Ridge, and some young adults and teenagers said they have experienced or witnessed racism.

Protesters said they were angry, upset, and frustrated. They called the death of George Floyd while he was detained by police in Minneapolis last month a murder. They recalled the deaths of other black men and boys, some killed by police and others by citizens. They acknowledged that there are many good police officers, but they condemned police officers who they said hide behind their badges to do wicked deeds.

“Enough is enough,” protesters said. “We are done dying.”

Hundreds of people meet at Oak Ridge High School before marching to Oak Ridge Civic Center for a Black Lives Matter protest on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Protesters met at Oak Ridge High School Tuesday afternoon, June 2, and marched to the Oak Ridge Civic Center. They carried signs and wore T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe.” They chanted “No justice, no peace” and, led by organizer Trevor King, “Make racism illegal.” Silence is compliance, the protesters said, and silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Churches, Community, Community, Front Page News, Government, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: African American, African Burial Ground, Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter protest, civil rights, Civil War, David Allred, Derek Chauvin, Derrick Hammond, Don Colquitt, equality, George Floyd, George Hamilton Gallaher Sr., Henry Watson, John Henry and Elizabeth Inman Welcker, K-25 History Museum, Laurel Banks, Manhattan Project, oppression, police brutality, police reform, racial inequality, racism, Robin Smith, segregation, slavery, Stephen Barnes, systematic racism, Trevor King, Warren Gooch, Wheat

Built before the war, this home is for sale

Posted at 1:34 pm April 5, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

One of the few pre-World War II structures left in Oak Ridge, the Luther Brannon House on Oak Ridge Turnpike is now for sale. The home is pictured above on Saturday, April 4, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 2:35 p.m.

A home in east Oak Ridge that was built before World War II is for sale. It’s one of the few structures that was built before the war and remains in the city today.

The Luther Brannon House is at 151 Oak Ridge Turnpike, just west of Melton Lake Drive and next to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was the first home in Oak Ridge to be privately owned.

The single-story stone bungalow was built by Owen Hackworth in 1941 and soon acquired by the federal government as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. Hackworth was a longtime resident of the Clinch River Valley.

Don Raby provided Oak Ridge Today with early photographs of the home after a fire damaged the house in 2014. It’s not clear how extensive the damage was or if repairs have been made.

Raby has collected photographs of the original structures that were here before the Manhattan Project, when the “secret city” that is now Oak Ridge helped build the world’s first atomic bombs. The 59,000-acre military reservation, which replaced several rural communities, was known first as Kingston Demolition Range and then as Clinton Engineer Works.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, History, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Don Raby, Luther Brannon, Luther Brannon House, Manhattan Project, National Register of Historic Places, Oak Ridge, Owen Hackworth, World War II

DOE plans to demolish world’s oldest operating nuclear facility

Posted at 4:12 pm March 9, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Building 3019, the oldest operating nuclear facility in the world, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to demolish the oldest operating nuclear facility in the world.

The cleanup and demolition of Building 3019 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could start sometime around 2030.

But the work won’t start until more than 500 canisters of uranium-233 stored in the building have been processed and removed, possibly by 2025.

More than 70 years old, Building 3019 was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs.

From 1943-1976, the building was used as a pilot plant to test radiochemical processes before they were used on a large scale at other nuclear facilities.

Now Building 3019 stores the nation’s inventory of uranium-233. Processing and removing that uranium is the top cleanup priority at ORNL because, among other things, storing the highly enriched fissile nuclear material increases security costs and creates nuclear safety issues. The cleanup work is being done by DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor Isotek.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: actinium-225, atomic bomb, Building 2026, Building 3019, DOE, Jim Bolon, Manhattan Project, nuclear facility, nuclear material, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORNL, TerraPower, thorium-229, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium-233, World War II

Demolition started on centrifuge site, largest remaining complex at ETTP

Posted at 11:34 am March 2, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Workers have begun taking down the second of four sections of the Centrifuge Complex at East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Completing this project will move the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management closer to its goal of finishing all major demolitions at ETTP by the end 2020. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Cleanup crews have started tearing down the largest remaining collection of buildings at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and power plants through the Cold War.

The demolition work is occurring at the Centrifuge Complex at the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. The Centrifuge Complex is on the south side of ETTP. It includes the tall, white buildings visible from Highway 58.

Oak Ridge crews began demolishing the K-1200 section of the Centrifuge Complex in February. It’s the second of four sections.

Deactivation and demolition work in the first section of the complex was recently completed. That portion was a Manhattan Project facility built for research and development in 1944.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: centrifuge, Centrifuge Complex, demolition, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Heritage Center, James Daffron, K-25, Manhattan Project, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy

‘Mud’ photography exhibit opens at K-25 History Center on Thursday

Posted at 3:14 pm February 24, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The new K-25 History Center will be hosting “Mud, a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City.” The exhibit will open on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, and it will be available for viewing through the month of March. (Submitted photo)

The new K-25 History Center will be hosting “Mud, a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City.” The exhibit will open on Thursday, February 27, and it will be available for viewing through the month of March.

There will be a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the K-25 History Center at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27.

During World War II, Oak Ridge was a quickly built as a secret government town of 70,000 workers who lived in a camp-like environment of barbed wire, security checkpoints, and code words, a press release said. Workers were fingerprinted, interviewed, assigned a job, and given a clearance badge. Housing was limited and cramped and often unheated.

Oak Ridgers who ventured into Knoxville were easy to spot. The quickly constructed secret city was blanketed in a thick layer of mud. As a result, its residents’ muddy shoes were a dead giveaway as to their origin. “The muddy conditions of Oak Ridge during the war was a commonality that all residents, regardless of occupation, had to contend with,” the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Cold War, James Edward Westcott, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act, mud, Mud a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City, Oak Ridge, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

K-25 History Center to feature exhibits, artifacts, galleries

Posted at 6:20 am February 19, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-25 History Center (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)


The K-25 History Center in west Oak Ridge will feature exhibits with more than 250 original artifacts and interactive galleries developed with help from almost 1,000 oral histories.

There will be a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the K-25 History Center at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27.

“The K-25 History Center was created to honor the amazing stories of the men and women who helped construct and operate the uranium enrichment complex that altered the global landscape during the Manhattan Project and Cold War,” the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The History Center is housed in 7,500 square feet of space on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the former K-25 site, now known as Heritage Center. It was developed as part of a 2012 agreement that allowed DOE to demolish the North Tower of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Cold War, DOE, Heritage Center, K-25, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project, nuclear weapon, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, World War II

K-25 History Center has grand opening this month

Posted at 1:07 pm February 7, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The K-25 History Center will have a grand opening ceremony on Thursday, February 27.

The ceremony, which will include a ribbon-cutting, is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27, at 652 Enrichment Street in west Oak Ridge.

The K-25 site, now known as Heritage Center, was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. K-25 helped enrich uranium for “Little Boy,” a nuclear weapon dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.

After the war, K-25 enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants through the Cold War. The site was shut down in the mid-1980s, and it is being cleaned up and converted into a private industrial park. The site’s large uranium enrichment buildings have been demolished and so have many of the support buildings. Most of the cleanup is expected to be completed this year.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bombs, Cold War, equipment building, gaseous diffusion, grand opening, Heritage Center, historic preservation, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 site, Manhattan Project, North Tower, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, viewing tower, World War II

Learn about women in the Manhattan Project on Dec. 21

Posted at 6:24 pm December 12, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Close up of welding in prefabrication shop 1944 (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

What was life like for women and women scientists during World War II and the Manhattan Project?

You can join National Park Service staff on Saturday, December 21, as they discuss the social changes that occurred during World War II and how that affected women in the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during the war, and it included Oak Ridge.

The December 21 program is free to the public, but if you would like to explore the Children’s Museum, you will need to pay admission at the front desk. The Children’s Museum is located at 461 West Outer Drive in Oak Ridge.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, History, Museums Tagged With: Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service

Manhattan Project Park: Ride with a Ranger on Saturday

Posted at 10:57 am October 15, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

You can join a National Park Service park ranger for a bike ride on the North Boundary Greenway on Saturday, May 25, 2019, to see how the former communities of the area have changed during the past 75 years. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

You can join a National Park Service ranger for a bike ride on the North Boundary Greenway to see how the former communities of the area have changed during the past 75 years.

The free program is presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The bike ride program will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 19, at the Turnpike Gatehouse and travel down Big Oak Trail and North Boundary Road.

“Along the ride, we will explore the former communities that were here before the Manhattan Project,” a press release said. “Rangers will stop several times along the bike ride to point out the rich history that is found within the Oak Ridge area.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, History, Recreation, Sports, Top Stories Tagged With: Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, North Boundary Greenway, Oak Ridge, Ride with a Ranger

Manhattan Project Park: Commemorate tennis court dances in Jackson Square

Posted at 10:36 am September 23, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Tennis Court Dance NPS
This undated photo shows a tennis court dance in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will commemorate the tennis court dances that occurred in Jackson Square 75 years ago with a dance and costume contest in October.

The Tennis Court Dance and Costume Contest is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, October 11, in the Jackson Square tennis courts. The free event will feature swing dancing music from the 1940s World War II era.

The National Park Service is partnering with Explore Oak Ridge to host the dance, a press release said.

“All ages are welcome to attend and everyone is encouraged to participate in the costume contest with their best 1940s costume,” the press release said. “One winner will be announced for best individual costume and one for group costumes.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Dancing, Entertainment, Farragut, Front Page News, Government, History, History, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: costume contest, Explore Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, tennis court dance

Manhattan Project: Walk through Wheat with park ranger on Sept. 14

Posted at 11:18 am August 26, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Wheat Community Before the Manhattan Project
The Wheat community before the Manhattan Project during World War II in the area that is now west Oak Ridge. (Photo submitted by National Park Service)

Join a park ranger for a walk through the pre-Manhattan Project community of Wheat on Saturday, September 14.

Wheat was in what is now west Oak Ridge, around the area of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. It was one of several local communities displaced by the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

Oak Ridge and two other sites involved in the Manhattan Project—Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico—are now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, History, Museums Tagged With: Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, Oak Ridge, Walk through Wheat, Wheat

McDaniel completes Oak Ridge oral history project

Posted at 2:07 pm July 15, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Keith McDaniel interviews Oak Ridge Historian Ray Smith at the Oak Ridge History Museum for the Center for Oak Ridge Oral History. (Submitted photo)

Filmmaker Keith McDaniel has completed a nine-year project to document the oral histories of about 400 current and former Oak Ridge residents, including those connected to the Manhattan Project during World War II.

The life stories were used to build a digital collection for the Oak Ridge Public Library’s Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, or COROH. McDaniel was part of the group that made plans for the COROH and, following the city’s receipt of an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, took the contract for the documentary work.

“A lot of original Oak Ridgers were dying and getting older,” McDaniel said in a press release from Carson-Newman University. “We felt it was really important to collect their memories, to collect their stories.”

The one-on-one filmed interviews gave those connected to the Manhattan Project, and later to the city at large, the opportunity to share their life stories, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Entertainment, Front Page News, Government, History, History, Movies, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, Carson Newman University, Center for Oak Ridge Oral History, film, Keith McDaniel, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Public Library, oral histories, oral history, Ray Smith, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

Next Page »

Search Oak Ridge Today

Classifieds

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Final environmental assessment available for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • DEA Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday
  • Register online now for ORICL summer courses
  • Roane State to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Oak Ridge for students & employees
  • ORAU will support COVID-19 communications for CDC Office of Minority Health & Health Equity
  • ORHS Cheerleading Breakfast Fundraiser is May 1
  • Roane State One Stop resumes in-person student services
  • Virtual talks on Weinberg and his archived papers on Apr. 20
  • One person flown to hospital, in critical condition after rollover crash
  • ASAP has Virtual Information and Resource Fair
  • Man wanted in Ohio hides in Oak Ridge church, but K-9 finds him
A Twitter List by OakRidgeToday

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today