ARNOLD AFB, Tennessee, March 19 -- The U.S. Air Force Arnold Air Force Base issued the following news: The Air Force, Northrop Grumman and Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted today a static fire test for the Stage-3 solid rocket motor of the LGM-35A Sentinel weapon system at the Arnold Engineering and Development Complex, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee. This closed chamber test is the third in a series of static fire tests during Sentinel's development to validate the design and performance of Sent  more

ARNOLD AFB, Tennessee, March 20 -- The U.S. Air Force Arnold Air Force Base issued the following news: By Bradley Hicks, AEDC Public Affairs AEDC Fellow Martha Simmons will be remembered for her contributions to Arnold Engineering Development Complex following her passing on March 8, 2024, at the age of 69. Simmons is credited for making notable and valuable contributions to the nation's aerospace capabilities in numerous areas relevant to the AEDC mission during her more-than-40-year career   more

WASHINGTON, March 22 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the following dissent on March 21, 2024, by Commissioner Allison Clements on a decision (Docket No. CP23-131-000) involving East Tennessee: * * * I dissent from Paragraphs 83 and 85 of the Order,[1] which is the so-called "Driftwood compromise" language claiming that the Commission is incapable of assessing the significance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In my concurrence in the 2023 Tran  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 22 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Alyson Coates noticed a need for more STEM programs for young girls in her rural community of Blount County. So, she decided to fill the gap herself. In 2022, Coates and her family started a local robotics team to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge, a national robotics competition for middle school and high school students. Now in its second year, the team, dubbe  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 22 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Canan Karakaya decided to become a chemical engineer during a college field trip to a fertilizer plant. When ammonia gas reacted with nitric acid, she watched its transformation into ammonium nitrate as it flowed down a huge column. Questions filled her head as she watched white flakes, which had just been a liquid, float gently through the air. "It was so beautifu  more

GATLINBURG, Tennessee, March 21 -- The National Park Service Great Smoky Mountains National Park issued the following news release on March 20, 2024: In the first year since Great Smoky Mountains National Park launched the Park it Forward program, the park generated over $10 million in recreation fee revenue, which includes parking tag sales and camping fees. The park is using this money to improve visitor safety, increase park ranger presence, and repair, enhance and maintain public park facil  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 18 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Intern Noah Miller, left, and his mentor, Joe McVeigh, stand with their poster at the American Glovebox Society conference in 2023. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Maybe it was the career technical program at Knoxville's South-Doyle High School, where Noah Miller gained a strong foundation in mechanical engineering, coding and computer-aided design before he eve  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 18 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Maybe it was the career technical program at Knoxville's South-Doyle High School, where Noah Miller gained a strong foundation in mechanical engineering, coding and computer-aided design before he ever graduated. Maybe it was South-Doyle's First Robotics Club, where he learned to build and program and still actively volunteers. Or maybe it was the fascination with  more

WASHINGTON, March 22 -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the following news release on March 21, 2024: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced an opportunity for the public to request a hearing on an application proposing an additional 20 years of operation for the three Browns Ferry reactors in Athens, Alabama. The Tennessee Valley Authority filed the application Jan. 19 seeking a second, or subsequent, renewal of the reactors' licenses from 60 to 80 years. The NRC approved the fi  more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 20 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory took home the top honors in three categories at the second annual DOE Geospatial Science Poster competition, held on National GIS, or geographic information system, Day, Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. For the second year in a row, DOE awarded ORNL top prize as Best Geospatial Program. Additionally, ORNL ge  more

WASHINGTON, March 20 -- President Biden issued the following statement on March 18, 2024, on the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee: * * * I congratulate the Volkswagen autoworkers in Chattanooga who filed for a union election with the UAW. As one of the world's largest automakers, many Volkswagen plants internationally are unionized. As the most pro-union president in American history, I believe American workers, too, should have a voice at work. he decision whether to join a union belongs t  more

WASHINGTON, March 16 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the following news release: HHS Principals visited 11 medical schools marking Match Day in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Connecticut, California, the Cherokee Nation, Georgia, Wisconsin, and New Mexico Secretary Xavier Becerra delivered remarks and celebrated students at Howard University's College of Medicine marking the 71st anniversary of Match Day - the annual nationwide event where  more

WASHINGTON, March 20 -- Acting Labor Secretary Julie A. Su issued the following statement on March 19, 2024: * * * In a statement today, Acting Secretary Julie Su joined President Joe Biden in congratulating Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who filed for a union election on March 18, 2024: "I stand with President Biden in congratulating the Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga who filed for a union election yesterday. As I have said, unions are good for the country and every worker  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, March 20 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee issued the following news release on March 18, 2024: A Tennessee nurse practitioner known locally as the "Rock Doc" was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for illegally prescribing opioids -- including oxycodone and fentanyl -- from his medical practice in Jackson, Tennessee. "The self-proclaimed 'Rock Doc' abused the power of the prescription pad to supply his small community with hundreds  more

GREENEVILLE, Tennessee, March 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued the following news release: On March 18, 2024, Ketan Ghutadaria, 53, of Johnson City, Tennessee was sentenced to 24 months in prison by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville. Following his release from imprisonment, Ghutadaria will be on supervised release for one year, and  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, March 20 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee issued the following news release on March 19, 2024: A federal jury convicted a Tennessee podiatrist today for a scheme to defraud Medicare and TennCare by prescribing and dispensing medically unnecessary foot bath medications and obtaining millions of dollars in reimbursements. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Nathan Lucas, D.P.M., 59, of Memphis, owned and operat  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, March 23 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee issued the following news release on March 22, 2024: United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis announced today that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee recovered $22,670,748.85 for crime victims and American taxpayers in Fiscal Year 2023. "The dedicated public servants in our office responsible for protecting the public fisc and disgorging criminal proceeds have, on  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, March 23 -- The FBI issued the following news release on March 22, 2024: The FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, graduated 197 law enforcement officers, including five from Tennessee: * Captain Spencer Daniels, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office * Lieutenant Stephen Hale, Nolensville Police Department * Lieutenant Daniel Hamm, Munford Police Department * Major Brandon Tayes, Putnam County Sheriff's Office * Captain Christopher Tincher, Kingsport Police Department   more

OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, March 22 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: In a 2022 video for Innovation Crossroads, Anna Douglas said, "I like to think about the what-ifs. What if we take all the carbon dioxide that's being released into the atmosphere and we put it back into sustainable applications, applications that we use every day like batteries and tires and coatings? "I want to explore all the ways carbon can be utilized so that   more