Oak Ridge Today

Roane State to celebrate 20 years in Oak Ridge on Sept. 10

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Roane State Community College Oak Ridge Campus

Roane State Community College is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Oak Ridge campus with a breakfast and open house on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, and the public is invited. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

 

Roane State Community College is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Oak Ridge campus with a breakfast and open house on Tuesday, September 10, and the public is invited.

The open house breakfast will be from 7:30-9 a.m. September 10 in the lobby and City Room of the Coffey/McNally Building at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

The 120,000-square-foot Coffey/McNally building was dedicated on August. 13, 1999, a press release said. It’s named for Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and former Tennessee Representative David Coffey in recognition of their contributions and leadership in the campaign for the permanent Oak Ridge campus, the press release said. The building has a library, bookstore, classrooms, office space, art laboratory, and a music lab. [Read more…]

Regions Bank robbery still being investigated

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Regions Bank in Oak Ridge was robbed on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, and the Oak Ridge Police Department is searching for a suspect.

Law enforcement officers are still investigating the robbery of Regions Bank in June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday.

The robbery of the bank on Rutgers Avenue in central Oak Ridge was reported at about 1:34 p.m. Wednesday, June 19.

A white man handed a note to a teller stating it was a robbery, the Oak Ridge Police Department said in June. The man fled on foot toward Vermont Avenue, according to the ORPD.

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Oak Ridge hosts Energy Communities Alliance meeting on national park

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Energy Communities Alliance Manhattan Project Park Group 2019
Some of the attendees of the Energy Communities Alliance meeting in Oak Ridge are pictured above in August 2019. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge hosted visitors from across the country as part of the recent Energy Communities Alliance Peer Exchange focused on the continued implementation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a press release said.

The meeting, held on August 14 and 15 in Oak Ridge, had an excellent turnout with many guests from the additional national park host communities of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the cities near Hanford, Washington, making the trip to Oak Ridge, the press release said. Other attendees traveled from Aiken, South Carolina, to learn more about Oak Ridge and the national park, the release said.

Local officials, including Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Roane County Executive Ron Woody, Oak Ridge City Council member Chuck Hope, and City Manager Mark Watson welcomed the invitees. National Park Service officials and representatives from tourism bureaus, historical societies, and economic development councils also took part. Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and City Council members Ellen Smith, Kelly Callison, Jim Dodson, and Derrick Hammond attended sessions as well.

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Learn more about history of desegregation on Sept. 9

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Rose Weaver
Rose Weaver

You can learn more about the history of desegregation and profiles of those who have shaped the area during a September 9 meeting in Oak Ridge.

It’s a kick-off meeting for Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge. It is scheduled to start with a brief meet-and-greet at 10:45 a.m. Monday, Saturday 9, at St. Stephens Episcopal Church at 212 North Tulane Avenue, and the program will start at 11 a.m.

Rose Weaver—an active member of the Oak Ridge community, a poet, and a historian—is currently working on researching the history of desegregation of the area and the people who have had the greatest impacts in shaping Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Weaver will also speak about the exciting NAACP Tennessee State Convention that is being hosted in Oak Ridge from Thursday, September 26, through Saturday, September 28, the press release said.

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Library trying new hours starting Tuesday

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Oak Ridge Public Library
The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

The Oak Ridge Public Library has announced a change in operating hours that is set to begin Tuesday, September 3.

Starting then, the main library will be open on the following schedule:

  • Monday-Thursday: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
  • Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
  • Sunday: 2-6 p.m.
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Two churches plan forum on local opioid crisis

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Michael Yates

Michael Yates

Abuse of addictive prescription pain pills and other opioids, as well as deaths from overdoses, are plaguing the nation, state, and local communities. In 2018, nearly 200 Americans every day died from drug overdoses.

What are the consequences of opioid use and abuse in Anderson County? What are the overt and hidden costs to our local communities?

To begin to address the need for local understanding of this mental health issue and public health crisis, two Oak Ridge churches—First Presbyterian and Oak Valley Baptist—will co-sponsor a public forum on three Sunday afternoons in September on the crisis of drug addiction in Anderson County.

The forum sessions will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the fellowship hall of the Sanctuary building at First Presbyterian Church, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike, on the corner of Lafayette Avenue.

David Clark, district attorney general of Anderson County, will speak on September 8 on criminal justice and the opioid epidemic. [Read more…]

Two charged with conspiracy after 45 grams of meth allegedly found in motel room

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William Michael Renfro
William Michael Renfro

An Oak Ridge man and woman are facing drug and conspiracy charges after 45.1 grams of methamphetamine were allegedly found in a motel room on South Illinois Avenue in May, according to court records.

Charged in the case are William Michael Renfro, 18, and Carlie Alise Wisman, 22.

Carlie Alise Wisman
Carlie Alise Wisman

A black backpack with 45.1 grams of methamphetamine was found in a room at Days Inn on May 7, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Adam Fairbanks.

Video from a surveillance camera showed Renfro entering the motel room with the black backpack, and another video showed him leaving the room without the backpack, Fairbanks wrote in the affidavits. Affidavits are narrative descriptions of alleged crimes that are attached to arrest warrants.

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School board approves change in residency requirement

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday approved, in the first of two votes, a policy change that would require the superintendent and principals to live in Oak Ridge.

Assistant principals, the executive director of school leadership, and the executive director of teaching and learning would be required to live in Oak Ridge if they are relocating to the region after being hired by Oak Ridge Schools. This would not apply to new administrators in those positions who already live in adjacent counties, such as Knox County.

The policy change would reduce the number of administrative positions with a residency requirement. The current policy requires the superintendent, executive director of school leadership, executive director of teaching and learning, director of pupil services, principals, and assistant principals to live in Oak Ridge “to be thoroughly familiar with the community and to be available beyond the regular day.”

But the current policy is suspected of reducing the number of candidates who apply for jobs at Oak Ridge Schools, according to administrators.

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DOE has scoping EIS meeting on Versatile Test Reactor on Wednesday

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The U.S. Department of Energy will have a scoping meeting Wednesday night for an environmental impact statement, or EIS, for a Versatile Test Reactor that could be located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or Idaho National Laboratory.

The Versatile Test Reactor would be used to test fuels and materials for commercial nuclear power reactors.

Besides being under consideration for the Versatile Test Reactor, Idaho National Laboratory is also under consideration for the fabrication of the fuel needed to run the Versatile Test Reactor. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina is also being considered for the fuel fabrication.

The public can comment through September 4 about what should be included in a draft environmental impact statement for the reactor, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. DOE will publish the final EIS and make it available to the public for 30 days before issuing a record of decision, TDEC said.

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Anderson County will also stop recycling glass

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Like other counties and Oak Ridge, Anderson County will stop recycling glass.

The county announced the suspension of glass recycling in a press release on Monday.

The press release said Anderson County Solid Waste was notified on August 15 that WestRock, the county’s recycling vendor, would suspend the “receiving, handling, and marketing of glass bottles and jars collected at (the) county’s drop off centers” effective September 1.

To prepare for the change, the Marlow Convenience Center will stop accepting glass for recycling on August 29, the press release said. Residents should place glass in their regular garbage for disposal, the release said.

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Oak Ridge man charged with murder in drug death

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Ronald Nicholas Bunch
Ronald Nicholas Bunch

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with second-degree murder in the drug-related death of another Oak Ridge man in February.

It could be the first time that anyone has been charged with murder, rather than homicide, for a drug-related fatality in Anderson County. There has been a previous case where a man was charged with and convicted of homicide in a drug overdose death.

The man who died on February 6 was Steven Douglas Scruggs, 34.

Indicted in his death was Ronald Nicholas Bunch, 28, of West Wadsworth Circle in Oak Ridge. Bunch’s indictment for second-degree murder on June 4 said he unlawfully and knowingly killed Scruggs through the unlawful distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance, and the drug caused Scruggs’ death. Second-degree murder is a Class A felony in Tennessee.

The charge of second-degree murder, part of a three-count indictment, doesn’t specifically say what drug killed Scruggs. But the second count of the indictment charged Bunch with possessing fentanyl, a Schedule II medication, for resale.

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Man receives 2-year suspended sentence in drug overdose death

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Mike-Ritter-Troy-Venable-Aug-26-2019
Troy Andrew Venable, 30, right, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, after a drug and alcohol overdose killed Lauren Alexandra Fritts, 26, in Oak Ridge on October 8, 2016. At left is defense attorney Mike Ritter. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 5:20 p.m. Aug. 27.

CLINTON—A 30-year-old man received a two-year suspended sentence Monday when he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide after a drug and alcohol overdose in October 2016 killed a 26-year-old employee of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and former goalkeeper for the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team.

The two-year sentence for Troy Andrew Venable was suspended with credit for time served in jail (about four hours), and he was placed on supervised probation during a 15-minute plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday. Venable is to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment. He was also ordered to pay $1,850.50 in court costs.

Lauren Fritts

The overdose killed Lauren Alexandra Fritts, 26, on Saturday, October 8, 2016. She had consumed alcohol, crushed and inhaled 60 milligram roxycodone pills with her boyfriend, Paul Mize, and drank at a bar before using heroin supplied by Venable sometime after midnight—after Fritts and Mize got into an argument, according to alleged facts read in court on Monday.

[Read more…]