Oak Ridge Today

United Way has annual meeting Thursday, April 21

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United-Way-Annual-Meeting-2016

The United Way of Anderson County will have its annual meeting on Thursday, April 21.

“This is an opportunity to celebrate a successful campaign season, recognize businesses and board members as well as see the impact made on the community through United Way contributions,” a press release said.

The annual meeting is scheduled from 7:30-8:30 a.m. April 21 at the New Hope Center on Scarboro Road.

Tom Hilton will present a president’s report, Eric Abelquist will give a report of strategic planning outcomes, and John Garrity will report on community impact through grants, the press release said. Gene Patterson and Jim Dodson will present the 2015 campaign report, and the 2016 campaign chairs will be revealed, the release said. [Read more…]

Sunset Rotary expands Da Vinci Arts, Science Fair; winners announced today

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In 2016, the Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club expanded its annual Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair to include middle school grades. The middle school fair is being held today (Saturday, January 30) at the New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.

Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in the New Hope Center auditorium at the Y-12 National Security Complex at 3 p.m. Saturday. That will be preceded by an afternoon open house with all entries will be available for viewing. All participants, parents, teachers, and the public are invited to attend.

The middle school grades arts and science fair provides a gateway for students to participate in other regional science fairs. Science project winners in grades 6-8 will qualify to participate in the Junior Division of the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Knoxville April 4-7. [Read more…]

Sunset Rotary expands Da Vinci Arts, Science Fair to include middle school grades

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In 2016, the Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club will expand its annual Da Vinci Arts and Science Fair to include middle school grades.

Previously, the fair has been limited to third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students.

The middle-school fair will be held January 23-24, 2016, at the New Hope Center in Oak Ridge. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in the New Hope Center auditorium at 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 24, preceded at 3 p.m. by an open house when entries will be available for viewing, a press release said. All participants, parents, teachers, and the public are invited to attend.

Complete information about both fairs and registration forms for the middle school fair are available on the website www.davincifair.org. [Read more…]

D. Ray Smith could be named honorary city historian

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Bill Wilcox and Ray Smith

Bill Wilcox, right, and D. Ray Smith are pictured above. Wilcox was city historian before he died in 2013, and Smith, a friend of Wilcox’s, could be named honorary city historian during an Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. (Submitted photo)

 

D. Ray Smith, who is known for his love of Oak Ridge history, could be named honorary city historian on Monday.

Among other activities, Smith is historian at the Y-12 National Security Complex, has been a guide on U.S. Department of Energy tour buses at federal sites in Oak Ridge, writes a weekly newspaper history column, testified before Congress on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, and frequently photographs community events.

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider naming Smith as honorary city historian during a regular meeting on Monday.

Oak Ridge City Council member Charlie Hensley drafted the proposal. He said Smith is also a leader in the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, has been a featured speaker in talks on Oak Ridge heritage, was central to creating a history center at Y-12’s New Hope Center, and serves in a support role for implementation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

Safety Fest TN kicks off next week, safety demonstrations open to public

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Safety Fair Demonstration Schedule

Safety Fest TN will hold safety demonstrations that are open to the public next week, including an auto rollover simulation, a slip simulator, and a tree stand safety demonstration.

The demonstrations will be in the parking lot at the New Hope Center, at the front of Y-12 National Security Complex, at 602 Scarboro Road from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, September 15.

The free demonstrations are in conjunction with more than 60 safety classes that will be conducted during the week of September 14-18 at six locations in Oak Ridge and Knoxville. The classes are free of charge to those who register. [Read more…]

Three years after break-in, protesters return to Y-12

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Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed at Y-12

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday. The three protesters—from left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed—object to nuclear weapons and the planned Uranium Processing Facility. Here they are pictured on Scarboro Road across from Y-12. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. August 9.

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building three years ago returned to the nuclear weapons plant during a march in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The march and rally were organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance as part of a series of events that commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, the Little Boy atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was enriched at Y-12.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—were convicted on two felony charges on May 8, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. But their conviction on the more serious felony sabotage charge was overturned two years later, on May 8, 2015, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. Boertje-Obed, Rice, and Walli were released on May 16 and have a re-sentencing hearing on September 15 in Knoxville. [Read more…]

World-renowned leaders to be featured at New Hope Center

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Community and business leaders can access the knowledge and experience of world-renowned leaders by attending Leadercast at New Hope Center in Oak Ridge on May 8. The Oak Ridge event is sponsored by the Center for Leadership and Community Development, part of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

The Leadercast event is broadcast live from Atlanta, Georgia, to hundreds of sites around the world, including Oak Ridge. This year’s speaker lineup includes: [Read more…]

DOE offers expanded public bus tours of federal sites in Oak Ridge

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DOE Public Bus Tour

Public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge are now offered nine months of the year. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s public bus tour of federal sites in Oak Ridge is now offered to visitors nine months out of the year, versus only summer months as in the past.

This popular tour of the 33,000-acre DOE Oak Ridge Reservation offers visitors a first-hand look at all of the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70-plus years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular attraction for tourists visiting the area.  Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted approximately 35,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour DOE tour allows visitors to see the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation and learn about its rich history and how Oak Ridge became a secret city of 75,000 people with a mission to end World War II. [Read more…]

Update: Anderson Chamber job fair at New Hope on April 30

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New Hope Center

New Hope Center

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host a job fair to recruit employees for local businesses and industries on Thursday, April 30, at the New Hope Center. This one-day event, which is scheduled from 3-7 p.m. April 30, allows job seekers to connect face-to-face with local businesses and industries seeking employees, a press release said.

The New Hope Center is at 602 Scarboro Road at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Job fair exhibitors to date include: [Read more…]

Anderson County Chamber has Job Fair in Oak Ridge on April 30

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The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce will host a Job Fair on Thursday, April 30, to recruit employees for local businesses and industries. It’s scheduled from 3-7 p.m. April 30 at New Hope Center at 602 Scarboro Road in Oak Ridge.

This one-day event allows job seekers to connect face to face with local businesses and industries seeking employees, a press release said.

As of late March, Job Fair exhibitors included Eagle Bend Manufacturing, Express Personnel Professionals, MAG-USA, SL Tennessee, Temp Systems Inc., Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Knoxville, and Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]

Police: Calif. man arrested, questioned by feds after demanding tours of New Hope, ORNL

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Rishi Chatterjee Malakar

Rishi Chatterjee Malakar

Note: This story was updated at 12:18 p.m. March 9.

A California man was arrested by police and questioned by federal agents after he demanded tours of the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Friday evening, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to the call at about 6:22 p.m. Friday. A man had been found trying to get into the New Hope Center at 602 Scarboro Road through a rear door, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

An employee at the New Hope Center confronted the man, who demanded a tour of the building, Akagi said.

After he was denied a tour, the man reportedly left the area in a maroon-colored Jeep sport utility vehicle bearing a Texas license plate. [Read more…]

Tennessee Titans VP to headline DOE Oak Ridge Women’s Workshop

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Jenneen Kaufman

Jenneen Kaufman

Jenneen Kaufman, vice president and chief financial officer of the Tennessee Titans, will give the keynote speech at the annual Oak Ridge Women’s Workshop in March.

The workshop will be presented by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office Federal Women’s Program, or FWP, and the Oak Ridge Chapter of Federally Employed Women, or FEW. It’s on Thursday, March 12 at the New Hope Center at 602 Scarboro Road in Oak Ridge.

In conjunction with the annual FWP Workshop on March 12, the FEW Southeast Region will offer its annual Regional Training Program from March 11 to 13, a press release said. [Read more…]