Oak Ridge Today

Council to consider budget, tax rate increase

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The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the municipal budget and a proposed two-cent tax rate increase on Monday evening, June 3.

The two-cent tax rate increase would raise the property tax rate from $2.54 per $100 of assessed value to $2.56. It would be the second tax rate increase in the past two years after about a decade of no tax rate increases.

Each cent on the property tax rate generates about $80,000 in revenue.

The city’s general fund is about $26.2 million, and its total budget, including all funds such as school funds and utility funds, is roughly $210 million.

The budget has to be considered in two readings, or meetings. Tonight’s vote is the first reading. The second and final reading will be on Monday, June 10.

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For members: Company ordered to pay $500,000 fine after improperly shipping radioactive materials

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Federal Agents at Berthold Technologies
An Oak Ridge company has been ordered to pay a $500,000 federal fine about two years after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to the improper shipping of radioactive materials in devices used in the oil and gas “fracking” industry. Federal agents search the business, Berthold Technologies USA LLC on Midway Road, on Thursday, Jan. 22. 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

KNOXVILLE—An Oak Ridge company has been ordered to pay a $500,000 federal fine about two years after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to the improper shipping of radioactive materials in devices used in the oil and gas “fracking” industry.

The devices, used to measure the density of fluids in natural gas fracking operations, were shipped from Oak Ridge to Texas and Oklahoma in March and October 2014, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Federal Agents at Berthold Technologies

KNOXVILLE—An Oak Ridge company has been ordered to pay a $500,000 federal fine about two years after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to the improper shipping of radioactive materials in devices used in the oil and gas “fracking” industry.

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In June: USA Cycling Individual Time Trial Professional & Para National Championships

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The USA Cycling National Pro Road, Crit, Time Trial, and Para-Cycling Championships will be held in Knoxville and Oak Ridge June 27-30. This will be the second time all U.S. national champions in professional road cycling will be crowned the same week under the organizational umbrella of one host community, a press release said.

“All are invited to join for an exciting, fast-paced national championship event held in your backyard!” the press release said.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said the city “is pleased to welcome back the officials and participants of USA Cycling’s National Championships for a second year. The new route will take you through a challenging course in our neighborhoods as well as the speeding segments along Melton Hill Lake. We know you will enjoy the spectacle of world-class cycling within Oak Ridge and will learn about the unique sport that it is!”

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Mixed martial arts fitness program begins in June

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The City of Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department has announced a new mixed martial arts fitness program set to begin in June 2019. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department has announced a new mixed martial arts fitness program set to begin in June.

In honor of this new program, Martial Arts of Oak Ridge will host two free seminars on Saturday, June 1, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Seminars will be taught by instructors Cody Jordan and Laban Propst with the Lucas Lepri Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school of Knoxville. 

The first-ever Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar will be held from 10:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. in the Civic Center gymnasium. The second seminar will follow immediately in the gym from 11:45 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. and will cover Women’s Self Defense, also a first for Oak Ridge, a press release said.

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Tennessee Supreme Court denies petition to rehear Cromwell’s appeal application

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The Tennessee Supreme Court has again denied an attempt to appeal the homicide conviction of Lee Harold Cromwell, who was found guilty of killing a Knoxville man in a fatal crash in a crowded parking lot after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015. Cromwell is pictured above during a hearing in a Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a separate case involving 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Supreme Court has again denied an attempt to appeal the homicide conviction of Lee Harold Cromwell, who was found guilty of killing a Knoxville man in a fatal crash in a crowded parking lot after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015.

The most recent denial of the appeal petition was filed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in Knoxville on May 13.

Cromwell had first petitioned to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court in August. In a one-sentence order in November, the court denied the application.

In a one-page motion filed May 6, Cromwell, who represented himself and called himself a “natural man,” asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to revisit the appeal application that was previously denied.

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For members: Man charged with attempted murder of deputy has two homicide convictions

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Charles Edward Mason

Note: This story was last upated at 7 a.m. May 31.

CLINTON—The Anderson County man charged with attempted murder after allegedly pointing a gun at a deputy and pulling the trigger twice in April has previously pleaded guilty to homicides in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Charles Edward Mason

CLINTON—The Anderson County man charged with attempted murder after allegedly pointing a gun at a deputy and pulling the trigger twice in April has previously pleaded guilty to homicides in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The first homicide conviction was in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1994. The second was in Anderson County, Tennessee, in 2010. The defendant, Charles Edward Mason, now 51, received a nine-year sentence in the first case and a seven-year sentence in the second. He had been accused of shooting a man with a pistol in the first case, the one in Kentucky, according to Knox County court records. He reportedly stabbed a man in the Anderson County case 15 years later.

When he was charged with attempted murder in Anderson County this year, Mason was on probation in a different case involving drug and driver’s license violations. He had pleaded guilty in January to possessing more than 0.5 grams of methamphetamine for resale and driving on a revoked or suspended license. He had received a 10-year sentence, and he had agreed to be declared a habitual motor vehicle offender as well, according to Anderson County court records.

Now, he is facing 24 new charges in Anderson County, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, and three drug charges, among other counts.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.  Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Sen. Alexander has surgery on left leg

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Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, had surgery on his left leg at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Wednesday morning, his office said in a statement.

Surgeon Herbert S. Schwartz at the Vanderbilt Department of Orthopaedic Surgery said he successfully removed an atypical lipoma from Alexander’s left leg.

“The surgery went as planned, and I will consult with my team and Senator Alexander to determine whether additional treatment is necessary,” Schwartz said in the statement, which was provided by David Cleary, Alexander’s chief of staff.

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South’s only human-powered wine barrel race benefits charities at Tennessee wine festival

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The third annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival will be held Friday, May 31-Saturday, June 1, in Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge. It will include the South’s only human-powered wine barrel race. Girls Inc. is shown participating in the race above in 2018. (Photo courtesy Nine Lakes Wine Festival)

The third annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival will be held Friday, May 31-Saturday, June 1, in Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge. The festival will include two events celebrating Tennessee wines and ciders that are 100 percent locally made. The festival will benefit up to 24 charities in East Tennessee, and it will also include food trucks, shaded seating, live music, and the South’s only human-powered wine barrel race.

“Rollers can earn cash for their favorite East Tennessee charity, and the fastest rollers each hour win a bottle of wine!” a press release said.

The festival’s Grand Tasting is from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 1. It will feature 17 wineries sampling more than 100 Tennessee wines and ciders, along with live music and the Barrels of Fun Charity Race.

Live music will be featured in the park’s pavilion throughout the day by Wild Blue Yonder, Josh Cottrell, and Carolina Story. Food vendors will be at the festival, and festival goers are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and enjoy the evening by Melton Lake, the press release said.

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TDEC to attend county’s Bull Run meeting on June 10

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will attend a June 10 meeting where the planned closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton will be discussed, a county commissioner said.

It will be the June 10 monthly meeting of the Anderson County Commission’s Intergovernmental Committee. The public is encouraged to attend, said Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg of District 6 in Oak Ridge.

TDEC is the state department that is responsible for monitoring the Tennessee Valley Authority, Denenberg said.

“They will have a Power Point presentation and will be there to answer questions about their involvement with the closing of the Bull Run Fossil plant in Claxton,” Denenberg said.

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Two teens die, two injured in Roane County crash

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Two teenagers died and two were injured in a single-vehicle crash into a tree in Roane County on Sunday afternoon, state troopers said.

The fatal crash was reported at about 2:42 p.m. Sunday on Orchard Valley Drive at Dyllis Road in Roane County. That’s north of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The two male passengers who died were Austin J. French, 18, and Joshua A. Freels, 16, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report.

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Eight inmates treated at MMC after Morgan County fight

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Morgan County Correctional Complex (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Correction)

Eight inmates were treated at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge after a Monday night fight at the Morgan County Correctional Facility near Wartburg, officials said.

The Tennessee Department of Correction described the injuries as minor.

“All eight were treated, released, and returned to the facility a short time later,” TDOC said in a statement provided by spokesperson Robert A. Reburn on Tuesday. “Leadership at the facility have enacted measures that restrict the movement of inmates in the involved housing units until the conclusion of the investigation.”

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City manager to present proposed budget

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Mark Watson

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson will present the proposed budget for the next fiscal year in a special meeting this evening (Tuesday, May 28).

The special Oak Ridge City Council meeting will start at 6 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

The next fiscal year starts July 1.