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If you're one of those people who starts thinking Christmas in July, you're sure to enjoy this easy — and easily customizable — pattern for a knit holiday wreath from Craftown. Designed by Melanie Smith, this project uses a foam ring as the base, which is covered with garter stitch and accented by a knit ribbon and holly leaves and berries.
Change the colors and leave off the holly and you'd have a cute way to decorate with knitting throughout the year. I might skip the white yarn if I were going to hang it outside, as well, but either way it's a cute handmade addition to your holiday decor.
[Photo via Craftown.]
By Sarah White
2 Comments so far
Melinda on
July 18, 2013 7:43 pm
HaHa. I was pushing the stroller and toddler in this very humid midwest evening and was thinking of…"need to knit a wreath for the holidays.." Great minds think alike!
CraftCrave | Blog | Free Handcraft Items or Tutorials (large): Friday, 19 Jul 2013 on
July 18, 2013 7:55 pm
[...] Knit a Wreath for Your Holiday Door – 1 freebie(s)? [...]


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Birthday dinner for wife at "kid-friendly" restaurant?
Hi all,
We're planning on going out for a birthday dinner for my wife tomorrow, but with a catch -- we're bringing the kids along!
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a mid-range restaurant that would provide a nice birthday dinner but still be OK with serving a three-year old. He's well behaved in restaurants, but not very adventurous when it comes to food (we're working on it!!).
Ideal location would be somewhere downtown (I work at Adelaide & Spadina) or in the East End (we're at Danforth & Coxwell). However, have-car-will-travel.
Without suggestions we'll probably end up at --- blegh --- Red Lobster or something similar. Would much rather have a great suggestion for a non-chain place with better food.
Looking forward to your suggestions, and thanks in advance!
I think there are many restaurants you could choose that are non-chain. Since you live in the east end, most of the Greek places on the Danforth are definitely kid-friendly. For something a notch above the typical souvlaki joints, you could try Pantheon (my choice) or Avli. Pantheon has a decent wine list (upscale greek selections), and I find the fresh whole fish usually dependable.
401 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K1P1, CA
I think you may actually be ok at a place like Globe. Well it is a nice place with good food I always feel like it is a relaxed environment when I'm there.
If that's not what you're looking each time I've been to Buca there have been families with kids dining.
604 King St. West, Toronto, ON M5V 1M6, CA
How about Melanie's Bistro which is in the Coxwell and Danforth area? I have only had brunch there and it was very good. Definitely welcoming to families but has a nice environment if the meal is for a special occasion.
Melanie's Bistro
1870 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4C1J4, CA
re: Zengarden
re: Zengarden
Thanks everyone for recommendations! We have reservations at Melanie's Bistro so I'll report back on how it goes (both food-wise and kid-friendly-wise). I checked with them on the phone and they seemed happy to accomodate kids, so barring a blow-up we should be good. :)
(PS - Keep meaning to try Le Select Bistro as well, but haven't gotten down there yet. Now that I know they have a kids' menu, it's one more excuse to go at some point!)
Le Select
432 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5V1E3, CA
Melanie's Bistro
1870 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4C1J4, CA
Le Select Bistro (location is right - Spadina and Wellington!) has a kid's menu so they are pretty family friendly. It is surprisingly sophisticated, but they could probably bring you some plain pasta or a Frenched-up variation of grilled cheese if Small is a bit particular.
Le Select has a great wine list, a pretty patio for this time of year, and I think the food is solid - it's one of our go-tos.
Le Select
432 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5V1E3, CA
For an east suggestion, Le Papillon on the Park is very kid-friendly. The last time I was there, there were about two or three happy infants kicking away in their bouncy chairs on the patio (with both staff and patrons cooing over them) and downstairs there were school-age children. The food, ambience, service all good. Patio is great.
Le Papillon
69 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E1B5, CA

subset: commoncrawl


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At one point today, the yield on the three-month Treasury bill (^IRX) hit 0.01%!!One Freakin Bip!!This means that the risk-free rate is now in direct competition with the underside of your mattress.
Can you short 13-week tbills?
So Mr. Market thinks this current crisis has a short-medium event horizon, no?
"At one point today, the yield on the three-month Treasury bill (^IRX) hit 0.01%!!One Freakin Bip!!This means that the risk-free rate is now in direct competition with the underside of your mattress."
Thanks for the thoughtful (if alarming) analysis. Though I cannot understand why you choose to associate with the clowns who now populate this website, to each his own. Good luck in the market.
which candidate made a lot of money off the people behind all these collapses? Who are the major advisers behind a certain candidate and at the core center of these problems.
Capt Joe - well, whoever they are, they're Republicans, and they're supporting McCain.
Fannie Mae, which was previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, which was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, have been criticized by rivals for exerting too much influence over their regulators.''The regulator has not only been outmanned, it has been outlobbied,'' said Representative Richard H. Baker, the Louisiana Republican who has proposed legislation similar to the administration proposal and who leads a subcommittee that oversees the companies. ''Being underfunded does not explain how a glowing report of Freddie's operations was released only hours before the managerial upheaval that followed. This is not world-class regulatory work.''
''These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''
Buy Dale's Book!


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By David Guilford
Special to The Globe
Our Republican friends are salivating at the opportunity to create and then discuss scandals or continue to beat dead horses instead of proactively attempting to fix our nation's problems.
The killing of four Americans at Benghazi was terrible, but the Republicans, in their never-ending attempts to vilify and criticize the president and his staff, have short memories.
The president and Susan Rice are the Republicans' targets based upon the information Rice used when on television talk shows immediately following the Benghazi attacks. Ms. Rice said her information was provided by our government intelligence agencies, but that is not good enough for the Republicans.
They obviously want all of us to forget the lengthy presentation by President George W. Bush's Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations when he was giving the rationale for invading Iraq. We were not supposed to criticize the Bush Administration or Powell because he had received his information from our government intelligence agencies.
Sorry folks, but you can't have it both ways. Some of us do remember.
The IRS situation regarding the overzealous scrutiny of "conservative organizations" seems to be another hopeful scandal, but those organizations were asking for "tax exempt status."
This means if approved, they would not have to pay taxes. I think any organization that is trying to avoid paying taxes while the rest of us working folks and small business owners are paying taxes should be scrutinized very carefully.
The Republicans obviously want us to forget about the NAACP audits in about 2004 and 2005 after then-president of the NAACP Julian Bond made some rough remarks about President Bush. Strange, but that was apparently the reason boldly stated in the letter requiring the audits.
Now which party has used the IRS for political reasons?
The House of Representatives has Wisconsin's Paul Ryan (Republican) as the chairman of the House Budget Committee.
Ryan is supposed to be a budget "guru," yet it is amazing that while he continues to criticize the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and wants it repealed, he also uses the savings generated by Obamacare to balance the very budget he proposed and was passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives. Wow, Paul, how can you attempt to have it both ways? It reminds me of when Vice President Joe Biden took you to school in the vice presidential candidate debate.
We all know the Republicans campaigned on "job creation" during the 2010 and 2012 elections, but instead of actually putting forth a "jobs bill" in Congress, they have taken 38 votes to repeal Obamacare.
National polls consistently show 73 percent of the country is more concerned with the "economy and jobs" than the "manufactured scandals." Still, the Republicans waste taxpayer time and money doing nothing.
2014 is a time for change.
David Guilford lives in Joplin.


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Dell Inc.'s board was expected to vote late Monday night on an offer, led by founder Michael Dell, to take the company private for about $24 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The deal may be announced early Tuesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. The offer values Dell at $13.50 to $13.75 a share, two of the people said.


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Tom Brady is a great quarterback -- there's no question about that.
But when it comes to trying to get a high five from his New England Patriots teammates, well that's where Brady falters badly. Frankly, it's so bad, it's embarrassing to watch.
A new video -- a spoof of those sappy public service announcements we see during NFL games -- urges fans, teammates ... anyone really ... to please, please give Brady a high five and so he's no longer left hanging.
It's pretty funny. Take a look
Roger Simmons is the executive sports editor for the Orlando Sentinel. You can reach him via email at firstname.lastname@example.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@rogersimmons. Become a fan of the Orlando Sentinel Sports Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/orlandosentinelsports


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Doris Burke, Jeff Van Gundy Call UConn-Baylor For ESPN
ESPN brought out the big guns for the No. 1 Baylor women against No. 2 UConn. Former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, ESPN's leading commentator, was alongside Doris Burke for ESPN's broadcast Sunday night.
December 18, 2011


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March 2009
Hamilton named ORAU's controller
Wayne Hamilton has been named controller for Oak Ridge Associated Universities. He succeeds Patsy Pehrson, who was promoted recently to director of financial operations.
Hamilton will be chief accountant and provide financial advice to ORAU's senior management. He also will mange the the general ledger and disbursements staff of the university consortium.
Kohlhorst & Sherry weigh in on Y-12's stimulus
It's been a busy Tuesday, with a lot going on, especially with the Dept. of Energy FINALLY acknowledging where the cleanup stimulus money is going. Good gracous, it's been laborious waiting.
For those who may have forgotten, Y-12 general manger Darrel Kohlhorst got in a little hot water a few weeks back when he announced -- prematurely, according to DOE's control crew -- that his plant was going to receive more than a quarter-billion dollars for cleanup projects from the stimulus fund.
Continue reading "Kohlhorst & Sherry weigh in on Y-12's stimulus"
Davis, Wamp respond to Oak Ridge $timulus package
With Tuesday's announcement that Oak Ridge will receive $755 million in stimulus money to bolster environmental cleanup projects, Congressmen Lincoln Davis (D) and Zach Wamp (R) released statements:
Here's what Davis said:
Continue reading "Davis, Wamp respond to Oak Ridge $timulus package"
DOE's Oak Ridge website for stimulus activities
Here's the link for work associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Oak Ridge.
Report: Ostendorff leaving NNSA
Todd Jacobson of Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor today reported that William Ostendorff, the NNSA's principal deputy administrator, is leaving the federal agency to take a job with the National Academy of Sciences.
Oak Ridge gets $755M from EM stimulus package
Oak Ridge will receive $755 million in stimulus money to jump-start environmental cleanup projects and create about 1,500 new jobs, the Department of Energy announced today.
The Oak Ridge stimulus money will be divided among four sites. Oak Ridge National Laboratory will receive $239 million; Y-12 National Security Complex, $292 million; East Tennessee Technology Park, $144 million; and about $80 million will go to the Transuranic Waste Processing Center.
Continue reading "Oak Ridge gets $755M from EM stimulus package"
Y-12 workers retested following probe
A spokeswoman for Babcock & Wilcox, the government's managing contractor at Y-12, said Monday the contractor is wrapping up its investigation of "testing inconsistencies" in the plant's construction training.
"The majority of the inconsistencies occurred in refresher courses," Ellen Boatner said. "As a precautionary measure and to eliminate any question about our employees being fully trained, all associated employees were retrained and retested in the applicable areas before they were allowed to perform work that required the training."
Lung scans/med screenings restart for Oak Ridge workers
After a two-week interruption, free lung scans for former workers at ORNL and Y-12 resumed Monday at the mobile unit at the Atomic Trades and Labor Council on Viking Road, according to Ed Mee of the ATLC. Other medical screenings that are part of the Worker Health Protection Protection will restart at clincs next week, after new guidelines for handling workers' personal identifying information are implemented, Mee said Monday.
Continue reading "Lung scans/med screenings restart for Oak Ridge workers"
Congressman Davis briefed at ORNL, Y-12
Following his early a.m. presentation Friday at the East Tennessee Economic Council, Congressman Lincoln Davis got a tour of ORNL and Y-12 and got plenty of attention at each of the Oak Ridge sites.
The Democrat's district abuts DOE's Oak Ridge reservation, but Davis has even more reason for interest in the Oak Ridge facilities (and they have even more interest in him) now that he sits on the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee.
Y-12 protest on Saturday
The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance is planning a series of events this weekend, including a Saturday "Concert for Disarmament" at Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. The concert (noon to 3 p.m.) will be followed by a cross-town walk to the entrance to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, where they'll be an "action for peace and disarmament."
Here's a schedule of events distributed by OREPA:
Y-12's handling of classified electronic media
An Inspector General audit found some issues with Y-12's handling of "accountable classified removable electronic media" (ACREM)," but the problems apparently were rectified in response to the inspection. A federal spokesman at the plant said there was never any danger of classified data being compromised.
Continue reading "Y-12's handling of classified electronic media"
DOE completes disc probe; worker screenings to resume
A Dept. of Energy official in Washington said the department had completed its review of the lost computer disc (containing the personal information for more than 50,000 workers at the Idaho National Laboratory) and had OK'd the resumption of free medical screenings and scans for former workers, including those in Oak Ridge. Some new guidance on the handling of personal identifying information is now in effect, the official said.
Continue reading "DOE completes disc probe; worker screenings to resume"
The status of stimulus in Oak Ridge
Based on the pick up in phone calls and e-mails coming my way, folks are increasingly anxious to see the jobs creation that's promised as part of stimulus spending coming to the government's Oak Ridge facilities. Suffice it to say, federal and contractor officials have been busy, busy behind the scenes for weeks now trying to get this thing organized, and they want to get it right (no matter how elusive that goal might be) before they open the curtains and let the drama proceed.
U.S.-Morocco: 15-yr nuke partnership
The National Nuclear Security Administration announced this week the "15th anniversary of successful cooperation" between the United States and Morocco on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. The collaboration reportedly dates to 1994.
USEC cites $3.3B in customer commitments
The U.S. Enrichment Corp. said today it had commitments from 10 uranium-enrichment customers for half of the planned initial sales for its American Centrifuge Plant. USEC placed the value of those commitments at $3.3 billion in info distributed to the news media and investors.
In the release, USEC said, "The commitments represent both accepted offers and signed contracts for a substantial portion of the plant's output and are of varying length extending as far as 2026."
Cathy Zoi to head DOE energy efficiency/renewables
According to info released this afternoon by the Dept. of Energy, President Obama plans to nominate Cathy Zoi, founding CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection with strong ties to Al Gore, as assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE.
Here's the background released on Zoi:
Continue reading "Cathy Zoi to head DOE energy efficiency/renewables"
Purdue team wins Global Venture Challenge
Purdue team members Isaac Wildeson and Carlos Kemeny (center) accept grand prize from ORNL's Tom Ballard, left, and Thom Mason, right.
A student team from Purdue University today won the $25,000 grand prize in this year's Global Venture Challenge at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The team's entrepreneurial proposal was based on their company, SiMetal, which specializes in fabrication of low-cost, high-quality, light-emitting dioxide (LED) chips.
Members of the winning team were James Cruse, Carlos Kemeny, Matthew Lynall and Isaac Wildeson.
Continue reading "Purdue team wins Global Venture Challenge"
When the sirens sound on April Fools' Day
It's just a test, a monthly test of the emergency systems at the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge plants. On the first Wednesday of each month, the sirens are tested at ORNL, Y-12 and the East Tennessee Technology Park.
The tests will take place between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Continue reading "When the sirens sound on April Fools' Day"
Standing in line for nuke-waste jobs at Oak Ridge
Not everyone would consider processing some of the hottest radioactive waste around to be a desirable job. Try telling that to the hordes of folks who turned out earlier this month for a Jobs Fair hosted by EnergX, the company that operates DOE's Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge.
"I was stunned," EnergX CEO Tony Buhl said. The line for interviews left the double ballrooms at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge and down the hall, outside into the parking lot and then wrapped around the building.
Continue reading "Standing in line for nuke-waste jobs at Oak Ridge"
'Fresh look' needed for EEOICPA
Below is a piece written and submitted by Joanne Butler, who until her retirement from federal service in January served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Labor (Victoria Lipnic). Butler said she worked for many years in the executive and legislative branches of government and has a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
While at the Labor Department, Butler said she was deeply involved in the EEOICPA (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act) issues and traveled to Oak Ridge in 2007 for a town hall meeting. She now lives in Wilmington, Delaware.
Lenoir City students having fun with science
During a recent visit to Lenoir City's North Middle School, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers talked about materials science and some of the work that takes place at the High Temperature Materials Lab.
One of the highlights of the visit was a demonstration of how lab scientists use infrared light to conduct structural experiments with materials. As you can see here, the students got into the act themselves, as they were captured in infrared images.
Continue reading "Lenoir City students having fun with science"
Oak Ridge stimulus spending & the ATLC
Garry Whitley, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, which represents union workers at ORNL and Y-12, said the stimulus money is coming to Oak Ridge at a great time and should help sustain workforces in the area.
"Truthfully, we'll have some work, the Building Trades will have some work, and some of these subcontractors will be non-union and some of them probably won't," he said. "We've got an agreement with some of them."
DNFSB chairman's testimony
A.J. Eggenberger, chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, testified March 17 before the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee. Naturally, he talked about safety in the nuclear weapons complex. Here's the link to his prepared text.
At Y-12, he noted as he has before, that the most significant safety issue is the "very old" 9212 production complex (parts of which are more than 60 years old). "The board has succeeded in focusing NNSA on the need to accomplish interim safety upgrades at the facility, but it is vital that it be replaced as soon as possible," he said.
Impact Services expands Oak Ridge operations
Bob Fowler has the story today on Knoxnews.com. The company is taking over the Horizon Center facility once owned by Theragenics
ORNL's work in preventing blackout on Wall St.
AP's Duncan Bennett wrote this story released today on the wires:
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- A high-tech power cable designed to prevent rolling blackouts caused by everything from a wayward squirrel to terrorists is being readied for New York City's financial district.
The high-temperature superconductor cable to be installed next year could prove key to the smart, secure, super grid of the future. The cable passed a critical test Tuesday at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which developed the technology.
Continue reading "ORNL's work in preventing blackout on Wall St."
Corker joins push to avoid future Omnibus bills
Republican senators today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging deliberations on each of the appropriations bills as the Senate moves forward to avoid the last-minute wrap-up bills that cloud the public's view of spending.
Continue reading "Corker joins push to avoid future Omnibus bills"
USEC donations in Oak Ridge
The U.S. Enrichment Corp. announced it had donated $2,000 to the Methodist Medical Center Foundation for two projects, including a book project that documents the hospital history dating back to the Manhattan Project. Also, $1,000 was given to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge.
ORNL's Wilbanks gets high honor from geographers
Tom Wilbanks, a geographer by academic training and a scientist of note at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received yet another honor. This time, he's been recognized with the Presidential Achievement Award from the Association of American Geographers.
He was applauded for his work in geography and the scientific community at large.
Continue reading "ORNL's Wilbanks gets high honor from geographers"
Tenn. Valley Corridor Summit returns to Oak Ridge
The Technology Summit (a.k.a., the Wampathon) will return this spring to Oak Ridge, where it all started about 15 years ago. The scheduled dates are May 27-28 at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Republican Congressman Zach Wamp was instrumental in starting the summit for economic development at a time when times weren't so good in the area, and he later expanded it to include parts of four, now five, states. He will play a role this year, of course -- although because of his run for Tennessee governor he's clearly handing off some of the responsibilities to Rep. Lincoln Davis, a Democrat whose district also abuts Oak Ridge and the region covered under the tech/econ promotion.
Continue reading "Tenn. Valley Corridor Summit returns to Oak Ridge"
Oxide conversion may resume at Y-12 in 'late spring'
A federal spokesman at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant said today the plant's Oxide Conversion Facility may resume operations in late spring after repairs are completed.
Operations at the uranium-processing unit have been suspended since Feb. 3, when a leak of hydrogen fluoride was discovered. A small amount of the hazardous gas escaped from a sampling line.
Continue reading "Oxide conversion may resume at Y-12 in 'late spring'"
Status of UT-Battelle contract
I asked Gerald Boyd on Monday if there was any word on the UT-Battelle contract (for management of ORNL), and he reiterated that the "recommendation package has been put forth" to Washington, where it awaits a decision.
In recent weeks, Battelle CEO Jeff Wadsworth and UT-Battelle chief Thom Mason have said they are preparing as if the contract will be competed and a team is being assembled to handle that process. I asked Boyd if it were still possible that DOE would award a contract extension to UT-Battelle.
Wamp comments on $71.2M going to ORNL
Republican Congressman Zach Wamp was not a fan of the Recovery Act's high tab and said so rather bluntly on multiple occasions. But here's what he said Monday on Energy Secretary Steven Chu's announcement of funding for science related projects -- including $71.2 million coming to ORNL in Wamp's district.
DOE's Boyd talks about stimulus programs, etc.
Gerald Boyd, the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge manager, says it may be another week or so before he can talk in great detail about the stimulus money coming to Oak Ridge for environmental cleanup projects.
But, on Monday, he did talk about the Office of Science funds ($71.2 million) coming to Oak Ridge National Lab from the stimulus package and shared at least the general plans for how the other money will be used once DOE HQ starts distributing the cleanup dollars from the $6 billion pot of money set aside for that purpose.
Continue reading "DOE's Boyd talks about stimulus programs, etc."
Construction probe at Y-12 ongoing
Ellen Boatner, a spokeswoman for B&W, said today the Y-12 contractor is still investigating reports of "testing inconsistencies" in the Oak Ridge plant's construction organization.
DOE IG issues special report on stimulus risks
The Dept. of Energy's Office of Inspector General today put out a special report on the potential pitfalls facing DOE, which has a ton of money from the stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). The report is linked here.
The IG outlines the risks that DOE should consider as the stimulus activities move forward. Here's a quote:
Continue reading "DOE IG issues special report on stimulus risks"
ORNL's 'first installment' of stimulus funding
ORNL will receive $71.2 million in science-related funding from the government's economic stimulus package, the Dept. of Energy announced today.
DOE said the ORNL money is Oak Ridge's "first installment" from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be used for infrastructure improvements. It is part of $1.2 billion in spending that was announced by Energy Secretary Steven Chu while at Brookhaven (which received the largest allotment).
Continue reading "ORNL's 'first installment' of stimulus funding"
DOE mum on probe of lost disc
The Dept. of Energy has not responded to repeated requests for the status of an investigation into a lost disc, which contained the personal info for more than 50,000 past and current workers at the Idaho National Laboratory. Although info on Oak Ridge workers was not at risk from the lost disc, the probe has forced the temporary shut down of medical screenings and lung scans for retired workers.
An early review of Secretary Chu
Here's an interesting piece on Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Sunday's New York Times. Running a beast known as the Dept. of Energy is a challenge, even for a Nobel Laureate.
Zacharia's big new challenge at ORNL
Thomas Zacharia has become synonymous with the spectacular success of the high-performance computing program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and rightly so -- although Zacharia says he, at times, has probably gotten more credit than he deserves. Perhaps that's true, in the same sense that a quarterback typically gets more than his share of credit on a football team when things are going well (remembering, of course, the reverse is true during losing streaks).
Anyway, Zacharia has taken the lab's scientific computing program to the top of the mountain. It is arguably the best in the world, period, sans none. Now he's been given a new challenge.
FEW's food drive in Oak Ridge sets record
More than 19,000 food items were donated to the four-week 'Food for Kids' food drive by the Oak Ridge chapter of Federally Employed Women. The food drive was done in conjunction with the Second Harvest Food Bank, and it will provide about 1,200 food kits and 157 backpacks for kids in 18 East Tennessee counties.
The donations came from DOE and NNSA and their contractor organizations in Oak Ridge. Congrats.
ORNL reactor down for two months
photo/Michael Patrick
The High Flux Isotope Reactor is down for the longest maintenance period of the year, with dozens of projects slated between now and the scheduled restart May 13. The 85-megawatt research reactor was shut down around 8 p.m. last Saturday (March 14), according to Ron Crone, the lab's research reactors division director.
That basically concludes operations for the first half of the fiscal year, when there were about 200 users of the reactor's neutron-scattering capabilities, Crone said. That's way ahead of last year's pace, when there was a total of about 270 users, he said.
ORAU gets (14th) contract extension from NIOSH
Oak Ridge Associated Universities spokeswoman Pam Bonee confirmed today that ORAU had gotten yet another contract extension from NIOSH, this one through the end of April. It's the 14th time that the contract has been been extended since the original expired in late 2007.
Continue reading "ORAU gets (14th) contract extension from NIOSH"
Tweaking production on W76 warhead
Earlier passback guidance from OMB on the 2010 budget included a note to "constrain" previous plans to ramp up work the W76 life-extension program.
No such order has been put into effect yet, at least not at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, but a federal spokesman did confirm that the production schedule for Trident warhead parts is being tweaked.
Quark Matter Conference in Knoxville
ORNL will play host to this year's International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus Collisions, which is expected to attract physicists from around the globe (and about 200 different institutions).
It is reportedly the premier conference for high-energy nuclear physics. It will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Blanchard, Seiber retire at DOE/Oak Ridge
George Blanchard, the deputy assistant manager for security and emergency management at DOE's Oak Ridge office, has retired from federal service. (That service included stints in the military, Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Personnel Management, Veterans Administration and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.)
So has Barbara Seiber, another member of the security organization, who retired after 48 years of federal service. (She began as an administrative assistant with the Atomic Energy Commission in 1961 at Oak Ridge and included a decade-long stint at the Portsmouth, Ohio, site.)
Continue reading "Blanchard, Seiber retire at DOE/Oak Ridge"
Karsner to keynote Global Venture Challenge
Andy Karsner, a Bush appointee at the Dept. of Energy (asst. secretary for for energy efficiency 2006-2008), will be keynote speaker March 26 for the 2009 Global Venture Challenge at ORNL.
For more information on the competition, click here.
Roberto is rich with responsibility at ORNL
Jim Roberto is an understated sort of guy, and it was Roberto being Roberto when he said, "It's going to be a very busy couple of years."
It's going to be especially busy for him, given his wealth of responsibilities. As part of a high-tiered reorganization at ORNL, Roberto emerged with a couple of new titles, including UT-Battelle's senior vice president for contract retention. That title should make it pretty clear what kind of outcome he's supposed to produce.
Continue reading "Roberto is rich with responsibility at ORNL"
Wamp comment on Triay to head DOE cleanup
Ines Triay talks at K-25 demolition ceremony in December.
photo Lynn Freeny/DOE
Congressman Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) today praised the appointment of EM veteran Dr. Ines Triay as DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management.
Here's his statement:
Continue reading "Wamp comment on Triay to head DOE cleanup"
ORNL's Satkowiak applauds Hall hiring
Larry Satkowiak, director of global security and nuclear nonproliferation programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, today had good things to say about the hiring of 45-year-old Howard Hall (here and here) for the UT-ORNL Governor's Chair program.
"He's very good. He's well respected," Satkowiak said of Hall, who has been at Lawrence Livermore since 1989. "A lot of his focus recently has been in the area of (nuclear) forensics. I think it's a positive. I really think he'll add a lot to not only the University of Tennessee, in terms of his position over there, but also add to our nonproliferation team at the lab."
'And the winner of the Green Flag is . . . '
Jim Fyke, commissioner of the Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation (right), presents a green flag to Darrel Kohlhorst (left) and Kevin Smith at a Tuesday ceremony. The flag is symbolic of B&W, the government's contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, achieving "Performer Status" in the Tennessee Pollution Prevention Partnership program. More details here.
Nuclear terrorism expert coming to UT-ORNL
Howard Hall, a nuclear chemist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has joined the UT-ORNL Governor's Chair program. He currently heads the radiological detection and response program at Livermore, where he has worked since 1989.
Hall's hiring marks the third chair filled in the program designed to attract top scientists with dual appointments at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (The first two were computational biologist Jeremy Smith and polymer physicist Alexei Sokolov.)
Continue reading "Nuclear terrorism expert coming to UT-ORNL"
A return to the 'good old days' at ORNL?
Will ORNL Director Thom Mason need an empty suitcase when he goes to Washington? The lab director tells the old joke about how Alvin Weinberg used to take a spare with him on his trips to the nation's capital. In today's column at Knoxnews.com.
A walk on the wild(flower) side at Oak Ridge
The first of six spring nature walks and talks on the DOE reservation will be Sunday, April 19, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., according to info provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Larry Pounds, a botanist consultant to ORNL, will lead the Wildflower Walk, which will be limited to 20 participants. Reservations are required and must be made by noon on the preceding Thursday. (Contact Lana McDonald at 865-574-7323 or firstname.lastname@example.com)
Continue reading "A walk on the wild(flower) side at Oak Ridge"
ATSDR takes a beating in Congress
The House Science and Technology Commmittee's subcommittee on investigations and oversight held a hearing last week on the "failures" of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and released a blistering staff report.
In a statement, subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said, "The subcommittee has heard from many sources examples of jackleg science by ATSDR and their keenness to please industries and government agencies that prefer to minimize public health consequence."
ORAU connects with soldiers
Oak Ridge Associated Universities is having a ceremony Wednesday to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army. The partnership is supposed to help transition honorably discharged soldiers into the workforce.
D'Agostino's testimony before Energy & Water panel
Here is a copy of the testimony NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino gave today before the House Appropriations' Energy & Water subcommittee.
Continue reading "D'Agostino's testimony before Energy & Water panel"
ORAU also impacted by lost computer disc
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which manages a nationwide medical screening program for the Dept. of Energy, also was affected by the incident in which a computer disc containing personal data for thousands of Idaho lab workers was lost in transit.
Project director Donna Cragle said ORAU and its subcontractor are continuing to conduct medical exams for former workers at DOE facilities, but there's a delay in sending results to patients -- unless there's a medical urgency, she said.
Kemper is ORNL's acting CIO
According to information provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Chris Kemper is acting chief information officer (following Scott Studham's departure for UT). Kemper is director of operations for the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate at ORNL.
Medical screenings for Oak Ridge workers put on hold
Free medical screenings for workers at Oak Ridge and other Department of Energy sites have been put on hold while DOE investigates an incident in which personal information could have been compromised and establishes a new protocol for handling such data.
The incident involved a lost disc containing the personal information for thousands of current and former employees at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory. Local officials emphasized today no information involving Oak Ridge workers had been placed at risk.
Continue reading "Medical screenings for Oak Ridge workers put on hold"
Scott Studham leaves ORNL for UT
The University of Tennessee announced today that Scott Studham is the university's new chief information officer, effective immediately. He had held the same title at ORNL for the past four years.
Thom Mason talks about ORNL's opportunities
There are woefully few details about how much money is coming to Oak Ridge and how many jobs are going to be generated, which everybody (of course) wants to know. But ORNL Director Thom Mason gave a few insights into how the lab is preparing for the deluge of new work expected via the Recovery Act, '09 Omnibus and the proposed budget for 2010.
I wrote a column for Wednesday about some of his comments, but I thought I'd share a few others based on an interview of late last week.
Continue reading "Thom Mason talks about ORNL's opportunities"
Burned remains may be ex-ORNL researcher
The Indianapolis Star reported Monday that burned bones found in a wooded area in south-central Indiana were likely the remains of Walter Sartory, a 73-year-old former researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
D'Agostino to pitch plan to Energy & Water panel
How is Weapons Complex Transformation going to play before the new Congress and the Obama administration? Well, we'll start to get a look at that Tuesday when NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino appears before the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development.
Tennessee has two members on the subcommittee: Republican Zach Wamp and Democrat Lincoln Davis, both with Districts linked to the Oak Ridge operations.
Continue reading "D'Agostino to pitch plan to Energy & Water panel"
Y-12's new steam plant to cut emissions
The $61.5 million project at Y-12 is about three-fourths completed. That's the topic of this month's column in the Knoxville Business Journal.
More dropsies at the Oak Ridge warhead plant
It wasn't exactly like the situation last year, when there were a couple of incidents -- barely a week apart -- involving dropped warhead components at Y-12. This one, according to a Feb. 20 report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, happened while moving drums containing weapons components.
"While moving drums containing weapons components in the Assembly/Disassembly Bulding, a drum fell from the second level of a stack of drums to the floor (about four feet)," the report said.
Continue reading "More dropsies at the Oak Ridge warhead plant"
B&W Y-12 lauded for environmental efforts
Jim Fyke, the commissioner of the Tenn. Dept. of Environment and Conservation, is due to be in Oak Ridge Tuesday to recognize Babcock & Wilcox -- the government's contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant -- for efforts in pollution prevention.
According to info from the state, the ceremony (at 2 p.m. at Y-12's New Hope Center) will recgonize B&W for getting "Performer Level" status in the Tennessee Pollution Prevention Partnership program.
Continue reading "B&W Y-12 lauded for environmental efforts"
Does UT-Battelle deserve a contract extension?
Well, ORNL Director Thom Mason last week said he thought UT-Battelle was deserving, but he also said UT-Battelle has to prepare for the "likelihood" of a contract competition. That basically echoes what Battelle CEO Jeff Wadsworth said recently.
There are good reasons, of course, to extend. UT-Battelle, according to DOE's performance ratings, has done a top-notch job in managing the lab, and you can certainly see new facilities and programs that have taken shape over the past nine or so years. But, as most folks know, DOE has been inclined to compete the lab contracts as they expire -- at least that's been the trend in recent years.
Continue reading "Does UT-Battelle deserve a contract extension?"
With more money, SNS will focus on 'reliability'
While the Recovery Act (Stimulus) funding is expected to be a boon for some programs at ORNL, Lab Director Thom Mason said the Omnibus funding for '09 is having a bigger impact on base programs -- such as operations at the Spallation Neutron Source.
Mason noted that the SNS has basically been through three years of flat funding, which really was declining funding when one considers the higher utllity costs and increases in salaries, etc. "That takes its toll," he said.
Continue reading "With more money, SNS will focus on 'reliability'"
Investigation of Y-12 construction unit
The contractor that manages the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant today confirmed there's an investigation in the in-house construction organization regarding testing of personnel.
"B&W Y-12 has become aware of possible testing inconsistencies in Construction personnel training and is conducting an internal evaluation of the situation," B&W spokeswoman Ellen Boatner said in an e-mail response to questions.
Zacharia assumes new top-level role at ORNL
As part of his message to staff today, ORNL Director Thom Mason announced some management changes as part of a "significant reorganization" to deal with challenges ahead -- including a historic level of new funding.
Chief among the changes was naming Thomas Zacharia as the new deputy lab director for science and technology. He also will be UT-Battelle's senior vice president for science and technology.
Jim Roberto, the previous deputy lab director for S&T will assume the title of director of strategic capabilities and head the lab's new recruiting strategies. He also will be the principal "point of contact" with the University of Tennessee and head the contractor's preparations to retain the ORNL management contract (likely to come up for bids in the next year).
Here's the full message from Mason:
Continue reading "Zacharia assumes new top-level role at ORNL"
DOE's Tennessee Valley Energy Enterprise
It's still a pretty elusive concept, but the Dept. of Energy on Thursday laid out plans for a regional "energy park" that would be anchored in Oak Ridge and leverage existing assets, including surplus federal properties, research capabilities and a highly trained work force.
If successful, the project would clean up the environment, bolster energy security and create jobs in the four-state Tennessee Valley Corridor, and DOE said it could be used as a model for similar ventures elsewhere in the country.
Great news for U.S. ITER
The 2009 federal budget was late in arriving, but the Omnibus bill brought some good news to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I had a chance to talk with ORNL Director Thom Mason Thursday, and he was pretty upbeat -- especially about the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
The U.S. involvement in ITER got a lift after a huge disappointment at the start of this fiscal year. U.S. ITER, which is headquartered in Oak Ridge, got $124 million in funding for the rest of the year, Mason said, and that's a really big deal for the ITER folks.
Alex Fischer resigns from Battelle
Alex Fischer, a senior vice president and corporate officer at Battelle, has resigned from his position and -- after taking some time off -- plans to pursue a new career path in Columbus, Ohio.
In a phone conversation earlier today, Fischer said it was an extremely difficult and "intensely personal decision." He said he needed to "step off the treadmill," noting that he was either out of town on business or attending night meetings for nearly 200 days last year.
Fischer said he wanted to emphasize that his decison was in no way a negative toward Battelle, calling Battelle CEO Jeff Wadsworth a great friend.
Polymer scientist in Governor's Chair
Alexei Sokolov, currently the Knowles Professor of Polymer Science at the University of Akron, has accepted the Governor's Chair for Polymer Science at UT-ORNL. The Governor's Chair Program is funded by the state of Tennessee and ORNL and is designed to attract top scientists with joint appointments at the university and the federal lab (which is managed by UT-Battelle for the Dept. of Energy).
Sokolov has been at Akron since 1988 and previously was at IFF Forschungszentrum Julich, the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Science, and FU Berlin in Germany, according to info released by UT. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Sherry on Fogbank: 'I'm proud of how Y-12 stepped up . . . '
Asked if the recently released GAO report, detailing problems associated with the re-production of classified material Fogbank and a year-long delay of the W76 life-extension project, was an indictment of Y-12's capabilities, federal manager Ted Sherry said:
"Actually, I don't think so at all. I think it illustrates how challenging the work is here and how difficult once you lose a capability it is to reconstitute that . . . There are a lot of capabilities. I'm proud of how Y-12 stepped up and how the rest of the enterprise came in."
Continue reading "Sherry on Fogbank: 'I'm proud of how Y-12 stepped up . . . '"
Perma-Fix says it's ready for TSCA waste
Perma-Fix Environmental announced today that it's ready to accept PCB/rad waste at its Diversified Scientific Services Inc. (DSS) facility near Kingston. In a statement, CEO Louis Centofanti said the company had completed the necessary regulatory requirements.
Alexander wants Chu to capture carbon
Sen. Lamar Alexander's office issued a statement today saying the Dept. of Energy should focus efforts on ways to get rid of carbom emission from coal-fired power plants. According to the release, Tennessee's senior senator addressed the issue to Energy Secretary Steven Chu at a Senate Budget Committee hearing earlier today.
Alexander said to Chu:
Oak Ridge workshop on 'Energy Parks Initiative'
The Dept. of Energy is hosting a regional workshop Thursday in Oak Ridge to discuss the Energy Parks Initiative, national DOE program billed as a way to leverage assets -- such as surplus federal lands, etc. -- and highly trained workforces to address energy and environmental needs of the country.
The morning event will be at Pollard Auditorium on the campus of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and in the afternoon participants will tour some of DOE's Oak Ridge facilities and the new Science and Technology Park at ORNL.
Continue reading "Oak Ridge workshop on 'Energy Parks Initiative'"
ORNL revving up for research ops
During these amazing difficultly economic times, ORNL is busier than ever. Today's column is online at Knoxnews.com.
Is ORNL's nuke waste migrating off-site?
Bailey Johnson's family has lived along Clinch River for 90 years.
photo/Paul Efird
Is it possible for nuclear contaminants in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's burial grounds to traverse the Clinch River via cracks in underground rock formations? Well, apparently it is possible. The question is whether it's happening and threatening the groundwater for private residences on the other side of the river, especially those along Jones Road near the boundary of Roane and Loudon Counties.
The state of Tennessee and DOE are both looking at this issue in a serious manner, and the Dept. of Energy is committing to spend a few million dollars to extend commercial water lines to private property owners using well water and to install a series of monitoring wells on the non-DOE side of the Clinch River.
Congressmen want NRC's input on foreign waste issue
Here's the latest story filed by Brock Vergakis of Associated Press on the EnergySolutions proposal to import radioactive waste from Italy, process it at Oak Ridge and ship the residues to Utah for disposal.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Members of Congress from Utah, Tennessee and Massachusetts want the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to say whether it could prevent the importation of foreign radioactive waste for disposal in Utah's desert if a federal court rules a regional compact doesn't have the ability to keep it out.
Continue reading "Congressmen want NRC's input on foreign waste issue"
McCloud: 50 years and counting at ORAU
Howard McCloud, an electronic instrument instructor, was honored recently for 50 years of service at Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Not surprisingly, he is ORAU's longest tenured employee.
McCloud works in ORAU's Independent Environmental Assessment and Verification Program and prepares a lot of radiation-detection instruments. He began his career on March 3, 1959 and has worked in the same department for the past half-century. He is pictured at right with cake and ORAU's Eric Abelquist.
In a statement, Abelquist said, "Howard has a knack for making the impossible possible by keeping equipment running . . . and making sure the labs run seamlessly."
Partnerships and proposals at ORNL
Oak Ridge National Laboratory may very well hit the jackpot with so much money being offered for science and energy research projects via the 2009 omnibus bill and the economic stimulus package. The lab is apparently well positioned to compete in many programs where big bucks are being offered.
Even on winning projects, however, not all of the money will come to Oak Ridge. It's likely that ORNL will be partnering with other institutions on many of the upcoming proposals, according to lab officials.
Y-12's Kohlhorst to speak to ANS
Darrel Kohlhorst, the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the government's contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, will speak at the American Nuclear Society's March 17 dinner meeting.
Energy Secretary Chu on stem-cell decision
Here's a statement from Steven Chu on President Obama's decision to allow stem cell research:
Continue reading "Energy Secretary Chu on stem-cell decision"
ORNL's not-a-hotel sleeping facility
The folks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory didn't necessarily care for my previous references to a planned residence facility (near the Spallation Neutron Source) as a mini-hotel. They said it will be more comparable to a small dormitory.
"We don't need a very large facility," ORNL communications chief Billy Stair said. "We certainly don't want a facility that would in a serious way compete with local hotels."
Federal Women's Career Workshop
This year's Oak Ridge Women's Career Workshop is scheduled for Wednesday at the DoubleTree Hotel, with registration, networking, etc., getting under way at 7:30 a.m. and the speakers starting about an hour later. DiAnn Fields of the Dept. of Energy said registration for the popular event is already filled, so if you didn't get onboard this year think ahead to the next one.
The theme of this year's workshop is "Dare to Thrive: Empowering and Positioning Yourself in an Ever-Changing Environment."
How big the Oak Ridge stimulus?
Well, to be honest, I don't know right now how big the stimulus impact will be, but from what I'm hearing the government's investment in Oak Ridge programs over the next couple of years could be staggering. Bigger than a lot of people believed.
DOE: 'Majority' of U-233 materials headed to NTS
The Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge office today responded to questions regarding the destination of the U-233 stockpile currently stored at ORNL, where there are plans (under a contract with Isotek) to downblend the material to eliminate its weapons capability and prepare it for disposal.
As expected, based on recent evaluations, most of the resulting products will be transported to the Nevada Test Site for disposal. As for the switch to a new process, involving a low-temp drying method, and other planned changes, DOE was not yet able to provide a revised cost estimate.
Continue reading "DOE: 'Majority' of U-233 materials headed to NTS"
ORNL scientist to talk on 'Tiny Treasures'
Laura Edwards of the Center for Nanophase Materials Science will speak March 18 at the monthly lunch gathering of Friends of ORNL. Her talk will be, "Nanoscience: Tiny Treasures."
The meeting is open to the public.
Continue reading "ORNL scientist to talk on 'Tiny Treasures'"
Wilbanks, climate choices and the upcoming summit
Later this month, the summit on "America's Climate Choices" will be held in Washington, and among those participating will be ORNL's Tom Wilbanks, who is the vice chair of the panel on adapting to the effects of climate change and a member of the study committee.
The summit is a part of the two-year effort that was requested by Congress and will be carried out under the umbrella of the National Academy of Sciences. The first meeting took place late last year, and reports by the study panels -- there are four -- are due by the end of this year, with a full report due in October 2010, according to Wilbanks, who recently explained the process and the aspirations.
Continue reading "Wilbanks, climate choices and the upcoming summit"
U-233 headed to NTS, rather than WIPP?
An Oak Ridge project under development would downblend the stocks of uranium-233 stored at ORNL, eliminate its weapons capability and prepare it disposal. But disposal where?
Apparently, based on the latest information, it won't be headed to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
Tyler Przybylek elected to Pro2Serve board
Tyler Przybylek, former chief operating officer at NNSA (and, at one time, the chief counsel at DOE's Oak Ridge operations), has been elected to the Pro2Serve board of directors for a two-year term. Also, Bob Van Hook and Barry Goss (the company's founder and president) were re-elected to the board for three-year terms, Pro2Serve reported in a press statement.
Operations suspended at Y-12 uranium unit
Operations at a key uranium processing unit at Y-12 are suspended and apparently have been for more than a month, based on reports from staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and comments today by a plant spokesman.
Steven Wyatt of the NNSA's Oak Ridge site office confirmed that the Oxide Conversion Facility remains out of operation, tracking back to a Feb. 3 leak of hydrogen fluoride.
Continue reading "Operations suspended at Y-12 uranium unit"
Agenda for DOE's environmental advisory board
Here is the agenda for the March 11 meeting of DOE's Site Specific Advisory Board in Oak Ridge. The meeting, which is open to the public, starts at 6 p.m., at the DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Continue reading "Agenda for DOE's environmental advisory board"
My favorite story on Oak Ridge's gate opening
photos/DOE archives
There'll be a celebration later this month, marking the 60th anniversary of the opening of the gates at Oak Ridge, and once again it'll be a chance for folks to reminisce about those times or maybe learn about the historical events for the first time.
My favorite story involves Harold Cofer, as told to me some years back, and I'll reprise it here as written under the heading, "On Oak Ridge's opening day, Cofer got to see Hollywood."
Continue reading "My favorite story on Oak Ridge's gate opening"
All clear for Perma-Fix waste shipments to NTS
Darwin Morgan, a federal spokesman at the Nevada Test Site, today confirmed that all restrictions on Perma-Fix Environmental waste shipments had been lifted. In addition to the company's M&EC facility in Oak Ridge, Perma-Fix has waste operations at Richland, Wash., and Gainesville, Fla.
"The three sites have met the requirements and are now back as approved generators to send us waste," Morgan said this afternoon.
Continue reading "All clear for Perma-Fix waste shipments to NTS"
Nuclear waste mathematics
OK, this isn't really heavy-duty math. It's kind of truckload math, which is used to estimate how many truckloads of waste a demolition project will generate.
Here's a response from Bechtel Jacobs Co., the Dept. of Energy's cleanup manager in oak Ridge.
Thomas Reed on the nuke weapons threat
Thomas Reed, former Air Force secretary (1976-77) and nuclear weapons designer, will speak March 12 in Oak Ridge as part of the Friends of ORNL community lecture series. The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. at the American Museum of Science & Energy, with the talk beginning at 6:30.
Reed is the author of "The Nuclear Express," and the title of his lecture is, "A Political History of Nuclear Weapons from 1938 to 2008."
Chopping the cost of UPF?
If there's going to be a modernized, transformed nuclear weapons complex, some critics have called for greater reductions in the complex, a less costly option, and a scaled-back production capability that addresses 21st-century mission need. Is the redesign of the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 a response to that?
See today's column at Knoxnews.com.
GAO report details Y-12 problems with W76 and Fogbank
The unclassified version of a new Government Accountability Office report, "NNSA and DOE Need to More Effectively Manage the Stockpile Life Extension Program," sheds a lot of light on NNSA's problems in getting the W76 life-extension program up and running, with a lengthy discussion of the problems in remaking Fogbank at Y-12 after a lengthy absence of production.
Although there are questions still unanswered, including details of the classified material known as Fogbank, the report goes far beyond previous information released by the NNSA and its contractors. The report talks about over-ambitious schedules that put production of national security goals at risk and the tens of millions of dollars wasted by poor planning.
Continue reading "GAO report details Y-12 problems with W76 and Fogbank"
Boyd, Mason make Tennessee power list
DOE Manager Gerald Boyd (No. 44) and ORNL Director Thom Mason (No. 60) made the BusinessTN Magazine's Power 100 list of movers and influence-users in the state. Here's a link.
Prepping the uranium storehouse at Y-12
According to information from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, about 1,000 rackable can storage boxes -- all of them empty at this point -- have been placed in the new uranium storage facility at Y-12. The boxes are "being used for training purposes," the board's site reps wrote in the weekly memo to Washington.
When I last visited the storage facility, some of the boxes were clearly in evidence, some of them on the storage racks, but there didn't appear to be anywhere close to 1,000. So this is updated information from the Oak Ridge site.
Each of the specially designed boxes can hold up to a half-dozen cans of highly enriched uranium.
Correction on award
A few days ago I reported, based on an ORNL press release, that Will Minter received the Black Engineer of the Year Award. Minter's award, as a reader pointed out, was actually for a category of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards. The category he won was "Corporate Promotion of Higher Education."
Wanda Austin, the president and CEO of The Aerospace Corp., was named Black Engineer of the Year. The awards are presented annually by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.
Oak Ridge sirens on Wednesday
The monthly test of the emergency warning system will take place Wednesday (March 4) at the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities. The sirens will be tested between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Y-12, ORNL and the East Tennessee Technology Park.
Pro2Serve mentors Montana small biz
Oak Ridge-based Pro2Serve has received approval from the SBA for a mentor-protege agreement with S&K Aerospace LLC, a small and disadvantaged business based at the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana (with offices in Alaska, Texas, Washington, Utah and Colorado).
DOD and NASA added to federal research site
The Dept. of Defense, NASA and the Transportation Research Board have been added to the sources for Federal R&D Project Summaries, a research portal hosted by the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge-based Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
The portal helps researchers or the general public find information on projects that span the government research landscape.
Continue reading "DOD and NASA added to federal research site"
Grants for research on Jaguar supercomputer
Faculty-led teams from four member institutions of Oak Ridge Associated Universities have been awarded $25,000 grants to do research at ORNL's Jaguar supercomputer -- the fastest machine in the world for open scientific uses.
"The grants . . . allow faculty and student teams the opportunity to participate in research at ORNL with the benefit of ORNL's computing resources and staff," ORAU said in info released to the news media. Each grant is good for $25,000 the first year, with the potential funding of up to two more years -- for a total of $75,000 -- provided by ORAU.
Continue reading "Grants for research on Jaguar supercomputer"
2 more Special Exposures Cohorts for EEOICP
Two more worker groups have been categorized as "special exposure cohorts" under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, according to info releases from the Dept. of Labor.
The designation should make it easier for workers or their survivors to to collect under the compensation program.
Continue reading "2 more Special Exposures Cohorts for EEOICP"
First Oak Ridge RH-TRU waste reaches WIPP
First shipment of remote-handled waste arrives at WIPP.
DOE photo
The Dept. of Energy confirmed today that the first Oak Ridge shipment of remote-handled transuranic waste -- the hottest radioactive waste in the Oak Ridge inventory -- had safely reached the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
According to DOE, the shipment left Oak Ridge early Feb. 26 and arrived at WIPP, nearl Carlsbad, N.M., on Feb. 27. The timing means that the Dept. of Energy's met its deadline with environmental regulators.
Continue reading "First Oak Ridge RH-TRU waste reaches WIPP"
Smart kids in Oak Ridge
In case you didn't notice, the winner of the Southern Appalachian Regional Spelling Bell was 12-year-old William Mason of Oak Ridge, a seventh-grader at Robertsville Middle School. In case you didn't pick up on it, he's the son of Thom Mason, the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (and Jennifer MacGillivray).
Presumably, Thom Mason won't have to go out of his way to see his son participate in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in May. It's held in Washington, D.C., and the ORNL director spends a bunch of time there anyway.
It's been a big year for Oak Ridge in the smart-kids competitions.
Rep. Wamp, DOE & the Nuclear Weapons Complex
I'd been trying unsuccessfully, in recent weeks, to catch up with Congressman Zach Wamp to see what he thought of the Obama administration's apparent push to move the Nuclear Weapons Complex out of the Dept.of Energy and over to the Dept. of Defense. Few members of Congress are more intimately knowledgeable of the nuclear weapons program than Wamp, and he's been a big supporter, in part because of the Y-12 warhead plant in his home district.
On Friday, at an event at Y-12's New Hope Center, I had a few minutes to talk with Wamp, and I asked him for his position on relocating the weapons program to DOD. "Well, that is the $64,000 question right now," he said.
Continue reading "Rep. Wamp, DOE & the Nuclear Weapons Complex"
Oak Ridge workers tell their 'scan' stories
Lamar Winkle talks about his experience.
photo by Hal Galyon
A few weeks ago, I sat down with some Oak Ridge workers, active and retired, at the Atomic Trades and Labor Council hall (865-483-8437). They wanted to talk about the early lung cancer detection program offered at no charge as part of the DOE-sponsored Worker Health Protection Program.
Many of the workers feel the scans saved their lives by detecting serious health problems in time to get them treated.
Continue reading "Oak Ridge workers tell their 'scan' stories"


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Should You Become an Occupational Therapy Assistant? Take a Quiz to Find Out.


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Samsung successfully added the iPhone 5 to its newest patent battle with Apple, and today the company accused several more of Cupertino's products of infringement — including the iPad mini. In a court filing today, the company asked to include Apple's 7.9-inch tablet along with the latest versions of the iPod Touch and iPad; all of the devices are accused of infringing the same patents already in play in the case.
Apple won a jury verdict in a courtroom fight between the two companies earlier this year, but this second lawsuit will likely go to trial sometime next year. Apple has accused the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy S III, and an assortment of other products thus far, while Samsung has returned with its own accusations in kind. While these latest devices won't be officially included until the request is approved by US Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal, there is little reason to think they won't make it in, raising the stakes for Apple — and ramping up the pressure to settle just that much more.
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People like to research prices before they make a big purchase - and that goes for everything from cars to surgery. At least, that's what Democratic Assemblymember Roger Hernandez says. He says his bill would create a website that lists costs of medical procedures, so that consumers can find the best deal.
"It's important for consumers to be equipped with the information that will give them the power to question billing practices, to question a procedure that they feel they're being overcharged for, and thus maybe the insurance company is being overcharged for," Hernandez says.
The website would display the amount charged for a healthcare service, and how much was actually paid. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones supports the idea of an online database.
"When you think about it, for every other good or service that we purchase, you can see a price list, but not medical services. And the prices vary all over the place. Even from the same medical provider," Jones says.
Jones says there may be legal impediments to making more health pricing information publically available.
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Nevada's insurance commissioner says one new insurer has applied to be part of the state's health exchange next year.


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Dawn of US-Iran Relations:
His government was toppled in 1979 and was eventually replaced by another repressive regime... but this time the leadership was deeply anti-American. The Ayatollah Khomeini became the ruler of Iran. And he gave many Americans their first glimpse of radical Islam.
Hostage Crisis:
USS Vincennes:
Iran's Nuclear Dreams:
In a fall 2005 speech to students, Iran's president called for Israel to be wiped off the map. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, abandoning the less-provocative tactics of former president Mohammad Khatami, set himself on collision course with leaders around the world.
A 2007 U.S. government report said Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Outpost of Tyranny AND Axis of Evil:
Iran, along with North Korea, is one of only two countries to be named both an "Axis of Evil" (in President George Bush's 2002 State of the Union address) AND an "Outpost of Tyranny."


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Hello! New from Texas. Hope all is well with you.
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Hello! New from Texas. Hope all is well with you.
Welcome from AL.
Welcome aboard.
Howdy from Crab Bay
Welcome to OR!
What's for dinner?
Welcome! :)
Hello and Welcome from Louisiana
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Hello and welcome aboard from Louisiana.
Welcome from Mississippi!
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Welcome to the site and enjoy.
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Welcome from Louisiana.
Thanks Everybody for the welcoming comments! I reside and work in Southeast Texas area of "The Lone Star State".
And from South Carolina


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Columbus Cottonmouths coach Jerome Bechard gave an unusual intermission speech to his squad after a miserable first period against the Huntsville Havoc at the Columbus Civic Center on Friday night.
"After the first period, Jerome asked us how good it will feel to come back and win after a bad period like that," forward Jordan Draper said.
The Snakes made a prophet out of Bechard as the Snakes posted a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in one of the most stirring comebacks in recent memory. It was the Cottonmouths' first victory of the young season.
The Snakes fell in a 4-0 hole early, yielding three goals in a 3:05 span and giving up a fourth before they lit the lamp. They trailed 4-1 after the first.
"We weren't executing in the first at all," assistant captain Levi Lind said.
"We weren't prepared for their speed. We needed to get our feet moving. Now that we have three games in, we know how much better the speed of these teams is this year."
Lind scored his first points of the season, a pair of goals and one assist. He scored the Snakes' first goal and the game winner on the power play with just 44 seconds left in the third period.
The Snakes' power play produced three of the six goals, but none more important than Lind's second one. The third and fourth goals also came with a man advantage. Tory Allan and Draper scored their first professional goals, one each at regular strength and one on the power play.
After fighting back to tie the game on Allan's power play goal, the Cottonmouths gave up a late goal to trail 5-4 after two periods.
The third period featured quality chances by both teams. Draper tied it up with only 2:26 left in the game, with Tom Maldonado and Allan assisting on the even strength goal. It appeared that the contest was headed to overtime when Huntsville's Rob Florentino was whistled for slashing with 1:43 to play. Allan assisted on Lind's game winner 59 seconds later.
"It is definitely a big win considering the start we had," Allan said. "I was on for two of those goals and both were my fault. We knew we had to bear down. We had lots of time left."
Draper arrived in Columbus last season just in time for the playoffs. This is his first full professional season.
"It was a good first win," Draper said. "Levi Lind was a man among boys out there tonight. As soon as we got the second goal, I knew we were coming back."
Rookie goaltender Travis Bosch survived a case of the jitters in the first period.
Fridat at Columbus Civic Center
Huntsville 4 1 0--5
Columbus 1 3 2--6
First period--1, Huntsville, Gertler (Perry, Bellamy) 5:34; 2, Huntsville, Fox (Cannata) 6:18; 3, Huntsville, Harris (Fox) 8:26; 4, Huntsville, Perry (Gertler) 13:50; 5, Columbus, Lind (Bremner) 14:20. Penalties--Bremner, Columbus (charging) 9:24; Allan, Columbus (slashing) 14:25; Gingera, Columbus (roughing) 18:08; Florentino, Huntsville (roughing) 18:08.
Second period--6, Columbus, Allan (McNulty) 2:27; 7, Columbus, Draper (Gingera) 9:55 PPG; 8, Columbus, Allan (Lind, Maldonado) 15:13 PPG; 9, Huntsville, Perry (Singleton) 18:09. Penalties--Fidler, Huntsville (slashing) 6:45; Fidler, Huntsville (hooking) 8:55; Lind, Columbus (slashing) 11:46; Perry, Huntsville (tripping) 14:28; Harff, Huntsville (cross-checking) 14:34; Braid, Columbus (hooking) 16:00.
Third period--10, Columbus, Draper (Maldonado, Allan) 17:34; 11, Columbus, Lind (Aallan) 19:16 PPG. Penalties--McNulty, Columbus (interference) 3:01; Zalba, Columbus (slashing) 11:05; Florentino, Huntsville (slashing) 18:17; Gingera, Columbus (holding) 19:53.
Shots on goal: Huntsville -- 13-12-10--35; Columbus -- 6-15-11--32
Goaltenders: Bosch (win) 60:00 35-30-5; Kallechy (loss) 60:00 32-26-6.
Power plays: Huntsville 0 of 7; Columbus 3 of 5
Referee: Murphy. Linesmen: D'loughy, Winkler
Time: 2:24. Attendance: 2071


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cape york/cairns..port douglas
will be spending 4 days in port douglas after going to png...will have a car any recs for places to eat in and around port douglas...also hotel recs travel tips..etc..know this board is only for food but any help will be appreciated..thalia beach??
I just got back from Port Douglas and had quite a few nice meals. One of the more popular places these days is Salsa Bar & Grill, we had dinner there one night and it was really good. There was a grilled prawn with watermelon gaspacho I really loved. You definitely want to try and make a reservation though as we had trouble getting a spot. Just over the road from Salsa there is a place called Seabean, it definitely wasn't as popular but we had a great time there and actually went back (we were only there for 4 nights). They had good specials, a decent regular menu and the staff was super nice. For dessert they do a coconut creme brulee served in coconut shell and it is pretty amazing. Both places were a bit on the pricey side, but worth it as they stood out.
Salsa as mentioned. Be sure to visit Zinc early in your stay as you will want to return. Great food, great cocktails in their lounge, plus free wifi. Finz is the place for seafood, they also have free wifi. At Four Mile, The Beach Shack is worth a visit too.
re: PDLocal
re: vecuronium
Not much in Daintree Village itself, a couple of cafés, haven't eaten there in ages. A visit to the village is worth the short drive past the Cape Tribulation turnoff. Perhaps stop for a morning coffee before spending the rest of the day visiting Cape Tribulation, which should be on your list.
If heading "over the river" to Cape Tribulation, there are many cafés and restaurants. Café On Sea worth a stop, awesome location right by the beach. The link below is a nice summary of what's around the Cape Trib area.


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Newburyport Daily News
---- — Spaghetti Supper at Union Church today
A Spaghetti Supper will be served today, 4:30-6:30 p.m., at the Union Congregational Church, 350 Main St., Point Shore, Amesbury (across from Alliance Park). Spaghetti with homemade sauce, meatballs, bread, salad and dessert. All you can eat for $7. Family, $24. Take-out available for $8. Ample parking. Handicapped accessible.
Hanging of the Greens tomorrow
Hanging of the Greens will take place tomorrow 25 at 11 a.m. at Merrimacport United Methodist Church. The public is invited to join for a time of meaningful worship the worship space is decorated for Christmas and learn about some of the symbols behind the decorations. The church is located at 39 High St, (corner of River Road) in Merrimac. For more information, call 978-346-8989 or go to www.MerrimacportUMC.org.
Building bridges with Muslims
Tomorrow at The First Religious Society, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport, Dr. Mohamed Lazzouni will present a sermon, "Building Bridges: A Path Toward Interfaith Relations and Understanding with Muslims," to explore the state of interfaith discourse in relation to Islam and Muslims. Lazzouni will present several success stories about how well interfaith discourse can work and at the same time he will provide some lessons learned in areas where interfaith relations with Muslims continue to suffer setbacks. From these stories and lessons, he will share insights that should enhance mutual understanding. Finally, he will offer general recommendations and strategies focused on how to improve the overall interfaith situation.
Author to speak in Amesbury Monday
An evening with Terry Farish, author of "The Good Braider," will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, at the parish house at Main St., Congregational Church, 145 Main St., Amesbury. The author will discuss his book.
Central Congregational Christmas Fair Dec. 1
Central Church's Christmas Fair will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. This year's fair features homemade foods of many types including a "Souper Lunch" with numerous types of soups and the renowned Central Church Fish Chowder, treats at the Bake Table and Candy Table and the Cookie Walk, where shoppers can fill a container with a variety of cookies. All sorts of gifts including knitted items, hand made jewelry, teddy bears with accoutrements, will provide many choices for shoppers looking for gifts for family, teachers and friends. Fresh wreaths, door swags and ornaments will provide home décor for the Christmas season.
The Silent Auction has been enhanced with advanced bidding available online now at http://www.rheebo.com/Shop/Auctions.aspx. Online bidding will end at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30. The auction will continue at the fair and bidders. Only checks and cash can be accepted.
Central Congregational Church UCC is located at the corner of Pleasant and Titcomb streets, Newburyport and is accessible to all.
Italian Dinner at Salisbury church
Rosanna's Italian Gravy prepared by the Tantaro Family of Newburyport will be serving pasta with meatballs at the East Parish United Methodist Church in Salisbury on Dec. 1 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The price for adults is $8 and children, $5. Also being served will be homemade ricotta pie and brownie a la mode for dessert.
'A Different Kind
of Christmas'
in Merrimac
"A Different Kind of Christmas" sermon series begins on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 11a.m. at Merrimacport United Methodist Church, 39 High St. (corner of River Road) in Merrimac. Pastor is the Rev. Gwyneth Arrison. For more information, call 978-346-8989 or go to www.MerrimacportUMC.org.
Talk on prayer at library Dec. 4
Can healing prayer be scientific and bring a consistent, reliable result? Kevin Graunke, a full-time prayer-based healer using the Christian Science system of healing, will explain how prayer itself can in fact be a certain, effective healing method in a talk titled: "Christian Science Healing: Praying with Certainty." This one-hour talk will take place at the Newburyport Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 pm. All are welcome.
Nepalese couple to tell their story
The next meeting of Immigration Matters Study Group will be on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. in the lower level classrooms of the First Religious Society, Unitarian-Universalist, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport. The guest speakers are Narab Adhikari, former secretary-general of the Bhutan National Congress, a political party in Bhutan, and his wife, Dhan.
In the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Nepalese were violently and suddenly expelled from
Bhutan because of ethnic cleansing, after having lived there for many generations. Since then, they have been forced to live in UN refugee camps in Nepal. The Adhikaris, who arrived here one year ago, will explain the sad and fascinating story of what has happened to their people, as well as their own personal stories of escape and exodus.
Congregation Ahavas Achim events
Congregation Ahavas Achim, 531/2 Washington St., Newburyport, offers the following services and events:
Shabbat services every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Adult education with Rabbi Avi Poupko Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. (except Nov. 21).
Dec. 8: First night of Hanukkah
Meditation retreat offered
The Insight Meditation Center of Newburyport will offer a meditation retreat for beginners titled "The Mindful Moment." The retreat is designed for anyone interested in Insight Meditation (Vipassana). Vipassana is a simple practice that steadies the mind by grounding attention in the present moment; it originated in the Buddhist tradition more than 2,500 years ago. Sunday, Dec. 9 from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Cost: $37. For registration and details, visit www.imcnewburyport.org.
'Together at Christmas' in Amesbury
The music ministry of Main Street Congregational Church, UCC, 145 Main St., Amesbury, will present "Together at Christmas," with special guests Voices of Distinction, on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. Danny Smith will direct. For advance tickets, call 978-388-0982. All seats $10 at the door.
'Wednesdays at the Well' at Pilgrim Church
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 27 Church St., Merrimac, holds a weekly "Wednesdays at the Well" adult gathering on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. The series includes education, discussion and fellowship. The group is currently watching and discussing "The Jesus Lifestyle" to more deeply understand how Jesus' teachings apply to ones' lives. All are welcome. For more information, call the church office at 978-346-8400.
Women of Faith and Centering Prayer at St. James
St. James Episcopal church in Amesbury offers a Women of Faith Bible Study Group every other Wednesday through May 22. The Women of Faith has a round-table discussion of the various stories in the Bible that are read. All are welcome to participate. Meeting dates are noted on the church calendar, which can be found on the website www.stjamesamesbury.org.
Also offered is Centering Prayer, a meditative practice based on the work of the Rev. Thomas Keating, who believes that silence is "God's first language." Centering Prayer is made available upon request. For further information on Women of Faith or Centering Prayer, call the office at 978-388-0030 or check the website at www.stjamesamesbury.org.
Mass schedule changes for Holy Redeemer Parish
Holy Redeemer Parish in both Merrimac and West Newbury has changed its church service schedule.
This weekend, Mass will be said at St. Ann Parish at 300 Main St. in West Newbury on Sundays at 10:15 a.m. At the Church of the Nativity, 4 Green St. in Merrimac. Mass will be said on Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 8 a.m.
The 4 p.m. Mass on Saturdays switches every six weeks between the two churches.
The daily Mass schedule is Wednesdays at 9 a.m. at Church of the Nativity in Merrimac and Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m. at St. Ann in West Newbury.
Helping those
in need
Hugh Doyle Resource Center Collaborative Meeting is a monthly gathering of leaders and representatives of social service agencies and religious organizations in the area. It meets the first Wednesday of each month to share ideas on how to help those in need in Greater Newburyport. Interested? Contact Ingrid Cyros at 978-465-1688 or go to www.hughdoyle.org.
Thrift shop in Rowley
Fellowship Thrift Shop located in lower hall of First Congregational Church of Rowley, 175 Main St., Rowley, has new hours.
The shop is open Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., weather permitting.
Check out daily half-price sales and the special tag sale the first Saturday of each month. When the shop is open, it accepts donations of gently used clothing and household items, but no electronics, books or toys.
Reflections on the Life of the Spirit
The Baha'is of Amesbury will host the study group Reflections on the Life of the Spirit every Friday evening at 7 at the Powow Community Building. For more information, call Cara Smoley at 978-388-4987.
Belleville Church thrift shop
The Belleville Church thrift shop at 300 High St., Newburyport, is open. Hours are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
Volunteer opportunity
Looking for a way for your business, church group, club, organization or yourself to give back to the community? The Salvation Army, 40 Water St., offers the following:
Community meal served every Thursday. Each week a different group (six to 12 people) prepares and serves the meal to about 80 people. Time: Three to four hours, including preparation, serving and cleanup. Call 978-465-0883, ext. 10, for more information.
Centering prayer
at St. James
St. James Episcopal Church in Amesbury offers centering prayer as one of its Saturday alternative services. Centering, or contemplative prayer, is a meditation practice based on the work of the Rev. Thomas Keating, who believes that silence is "God's first language." St. James will continue to offer a twice-weekly opportunity for centering prayer in the meditation chapel. Those interested in participating or learning more should call St. James at 978-388-0030 or check the website, www.stjamesamesbury.org.
Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends of Greater Newburyport Chapter meet every fourth Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Parish Center, St. James Chapel Room, corner of Green and High streets, Newburyport. The meetings are for parents who have lost children and grandparents who have lost grandchildren. For more information, call 978-388-1514.
Tuesday meal at Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception Church offers a free hot dinner every Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Parish Center, 42 Green St., Newburyport. Call 978-462-2724 for more information.
The Friendship Table
For all who enjoy good food and fellowship, the Friendship Table serves meals Thursdays beginning at 5 p.m. at the Salvation Army, 40 Water St., Newburyport. Volunteers are also needed. For more information, call 978-465-0883.
Our Neighbors' Table
Free meals are served every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Our Neighbors' Table, Main Street Congregational Church, 145 Main St., Amesbury. All are welcome. Our Neighbors' Table also offers the following food pantries: Friday, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-noon every Saturday, open to residents of Amesbury and South Hampton; last Saturday of the month: open to residents of Amesbury, South Hampton, Merrimac, Salisbury, Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, Groveland, Byfield, Boxford, Rowley and Georgetown.
St. Basil's Kitchen
The Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Harris and Park streets, Newburyport, offers free luncheons Mondays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the church hall. All those hungry for food and companionship are welcome. For more information or to volunteer services, call 978-465-5757.
Among Friends
Among Friends is the mission of St. Paul's Church to provide nutritious, hot, home-cooked meals. Lunch is served every Tuesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. in St. Paul's Hall, 166 High St., Newburyport. Evening Among Friends serves home-cooked meals every Monday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. Donations of food items, supplies and services are needed; call 465-5351.
Seabrook Community Table
Every Monday Seabrook Community Table serves free meals at the Church of Christ at 867 Lafayette Road (beside the dance studio) from 5 -6 p.m. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, meals are served at the Trinity Parish House (beside the Seabrook Post Office) from 5-6 p.m. Meals are offered to residents of surrounding communities as well as Seabrook residents. For more information or to volunteer, contact Joyce Addison, 603-474-9608.
Seabrook food pantry
The Seabrook Church of Christ Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 9 to 11 a.m. to all who live on the Seacoast. The church is on Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 603-474-2660.
Community Food Pantry in Byfield
The Community Food Pantry located at Community United Methodist Church, 11 Central St., Byfield, is open to residents of Byfield and Newbury every Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. In addition, a free community meal will be offered every second and fourth Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. All are welcome.
For more details, contact the Community Food Pantry at email@example.com or by phone at 978-255-0135.
If you have an item for Church Notes, contact Merrily Buchs at email@example.com, 978-462-6666, ext. 3248.


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What's better, a roundabout or turn lanes with a traffic signal? Milton will let city residents study and comment on two concepts for improvements to the Hopewell-Birmingham roads intersection late this afternoon in an open house. City Council will immediately discuss the intersection in a work session that follows the open house.
Public Meetings Wednesday, Nov. 14
- 5-6 p.m. – Open House
- 6 p.m. – Milton City Council Work Session
- Milton City Council Chambers
The two concepts being presented as change include turn signals with a traffic signal and a roundabout.
The intersection's lack of left turn lanes causes delays, said Sara Leaders, traffic engineer for the city. Sight distance issues caused by the steep grade also are a problem. And the large number of left turning vehicles on Hopewell as well is a huge issue, she said.
View the concept alternatives for the intersection improvements – and see the current status of the intersection – in the pdf files that accompany this article. Or visit online, where the city plans to add more project information, displays and traffic simulations.
A comment form also can be found on the site that sends results directly to Leaders.
For more information on this project on the public meeting, email Sara Leaders or call her at 678-242-2559.


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The Kenyon College Choir will be performing a concert for the community as they begin their tour. There will be a reception following the performance. The concert is free. A freewill offering will be taken.
Local host homes where the choristers can stay over night after the concert are needed. They will be provided breakfast at the church in the morning. If you would like to be a host for 2 singers, please contact Marjorie Hildebrandt at 440-331-0890.


text:
I'm a mild-mannered yet opinionated web developer. I have expertise in both front-end and back-end web development. I have most recently been using Python/Django and Ruby/Rails.
I have 8 years of experience building websites including ecommerce, bespoke client webapps, dealing with large amounts of data and embedding javascript and content into other high traffic sites.
Outside of the technology industry my main interests are coffee (I have successfully made one small cup of coffee from beans I grew myself) and checking out and mapping the local café scene as well as listening to a large variety of music. I'm a city cyclist and interested in the advocacy for cyclist safety. I'm also involved in the London real life gaming scene.
Work permit
I currently have a Tier 1 General visa to allow me to work in the UK. I do not require company sponsorship.
Adam Sven Johnson
Email: email@example.com
Front-end skills
- I write semantic and well structured HTML/CSS
- Use Javascript & jQuery for progressive enhancment and DOM modifcation
- I like RFC2616, REST and features of the web
Back-end skills
- I've used relational databases PostgreSQL & MySQL to handle large volumes of data
- I have experience using key/value stores such as Redis for both caching speed improvements and to manipulate large amounts of data
- I have a deep understanding of Python and Ruby
- I've also used Perl, C, and toyed with Haskell and Erlang
- The web frameworks I know best are currently Django and Ruby on Rails
- I've managed and deployed to cloud infrastructure using AWS (using EC2, S3 and SQS) & Heroku
Employment history
Software engineer at BERG
London, UK from January 2013
Developer at Artfinder
London, UK from April until November 2012 (7 months)
Developer at Reevoo
London, UK from April 2009 until April 2012 (3 years)
Developer at Tricycle Apps
Melbourne, Australia from March 2007 until December 2008 (1 year 10 months)
Software developer at Idiom Software
Auckland, NZ from April 2006 until December 2006 (8 months)
Web developer at Zeald
Auckland, NZ from March 2004 until April 2006 (2 years 2 months)
Education history
Outward Bound
February 2004
21 day Classic course
University of Auckland
2000 — 2003
BSc (Hons) in Computer science