Oak Ridge Today

Reminder: National Night Out today features food, family-friendly activities

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Bucket Ride

The National Night Out celebration on Saturday, October 11, will feature bucket rides on an Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket truck. (Submitted photo)

 

This is a reminder: The National Night Out celebration at A.K. Bissell Park today will feature free food, family-friendly activities for children and adults, and crime prevention presentations and information.

The National Night Out is from 3-7 p.m. Saturday, October 11, at A.K. Bissell Park near the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The community is invited.

The Oak Ridge Police Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program will host the 2014 National Night Out celebration, a crime prevention program promoted by National Association of Town Watch. This year marks the 31st anniversary of this community-police partnership, a press release said.

Magician Danny Whitson will perform feats of magic during the celebration. Festivities will also include Oak Ridge Police K-9 demonstrations, the Mobile Meth Lab exhibit, safety and health exhibits, Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket rides, drug abuse prevention information, Doug LaVerne on steel drums, music, and games. Child fingerprinting and bike registration will be offered. In case of rain, the celebration will move into the Civic Center. [Read more…]

Schools notify parents of solicitation scam

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

Oak Ridge school officials have notified parents of fraudulent school solicitations.

School officials have been told that unknown people are driving around town and soliciting donations for the Parent-Teacher Organization at the schools, Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak told parents in a Skylert call on Thursday.

“We do not send parents or employees door-to-door to collect money,” Marczak said. “These people are not collecting for any of our schools. If you are asked for money, please do not donate and immediately contact the police department.”

Lincoln’s able to sell beer again while appeal pending

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Lincoln's Sports Grille

Lincoln’s Sports Grille on South Illinois Avenue is pictured above on Monday evening.

 

They weren’t able to sell beer for more than a month, but an agreement reached with a city board in September, modified on Thursday, and approved by a judge on Friday allows Lincoln’s Sports Grille to resume selling the alcoholic beverage for now.

The Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board revoked Lincoln’s beer permit on August 28. The revocation went into effect immediately.

But Lincoln’s has appealed that decision and had asked that the revocation be put on hold while the legal case is pending. On September 16, the Beer Board agreed in a 5-2 vote.

The board’s agreement was initially conditioned upon a list of 13 items. One of the conditions, which would have required an owner to be present at all times, has since been removed. (The board approved the removal in a 4-0 vote on Thursday after a pair of split 2-2 votes.) [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Animal Shelter celebrates 40 years with half-price adoptions

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Oak Ridge Animal Shelter Peabody

Peabody at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter is celebrating 40 years at its 395 Belgrade Road location with a whole month of specials and activities.

Through the month of October, the Shelter will feature half-price adoptions. Every available animal will have an adoption fee of $55 instead of $110. The discount price still includes spaying and neutering, microchips, DHPP and Bordatella vaccines (for dogs), FVRCP vaccine (for cats), a rabies vaccine, a dose of Frontline (for fleas and ticks), and a dose of dewormer.

The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter will be participating in several events for their celebration and invite you to attend: [Read more…]

National Night Out Celebration to feature food, family-friendly activities

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Bucket Ride

The National Night Out celebration on Saturday, October 11, will feature bucket rides on an Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket truck. (Submitted photo)

 

A National Night Out celebration at A.K. Bissell Park this month will feature free food, family-friendly activities for children and adults, and crime prevention presentations and information.

The National Night Out is from 3-7 p.m. Saturday, October 11, at A.K. Bissell Park near the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The community is invited.

The Oak Ridge Police Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program will host the 2014 National Night Out celebration, a crime prevention program promoted by National Association of Town Watch. This year marks the 31st anniversary of this community-police partnership, a press release said.

Magician Danny Whitson will perform feats of magic during the celebration. Festivities will also include Oak Ridge Police K-9 demonstrations, the Mobile Meth Lab exhibit, safety and health exhibits, Oak Ridge Electric Department bucket rides, drug abuse prevention information, Doug LaVerne on steel drums, music, and games. Child fingerprinting and bike registration will be offered. In case of rain, the celebration will move into the Civic Center. [Read more…]

ORHS evacuated after chemistry experiment sets off smoke detectors

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Oak Ridge High School Chem Lab Evacuation

Oak Ridge High School students were briefly evacuated Tuesday morning after a chemistry lab experiment in LC212 set off smoke detectors. The students were let back in about 20 minutes after the 10:30 a.m. call.

 

Students at Oak Ridge High School were briefly evacuated Tuesday morning after a chemistry experiment set off smoke detectors, authorities said.

A small amount of zinc chloride and water created water vapor that set off the smoke detectors, which then shut chemistry lab hoods, Oak Ridge firefighters said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department manually opened the vents in the room (LC212) until the smoke detector system reset. Firefighters checked the air, making sure it was safe to breathe, Battalion Chief Jody Durham said.

There was no fire, no damage, and no injuries, firefighters said.

“No student was ever in any real danger,” Durham said.

[Read more…]

Saturday: Household hazardous waste drop-off, prescription drug take-back

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There is a prescription drug take-back in Oak Ridge through 2 p.m. today (Saturday, September 27). There is also a collection of household hazardous waste, and it also ends at 2 p.m.

The prescription drug take-back is at the Oak Ridge Police Department at 200 South Tulane Avenue. The ORPD is doing this in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration Prescription Drug Take-Back Day and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) of Anderson County.

“The Oak Ridge Police Department will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs,” a press release said. “The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.” [Read more…]

Fifty evacuated, one treated after small fire at Callaghan Towers

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Robert Burk and Jean Rivera Evacuation

Oak Ridge Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Robert Burk, right, evacuates Jean Rivera, a resident of the six-story Frank Callaghan Towers on Fairbanks Road after a small fire on Thursday afternoon. Burk is carrying Rivera’s dog Taco. Rivera, who can’t walk steps, said firefighters practically had to carry her downstairs. “I’m shook up,” she said. “I’m nervous.”

 

About 50 residents were evacuated and one person was treated for smoke inhalation after a small fire was reported in an apartment at Frank Callaghan Towers on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The fire appears to have been caused by an electrical short at an outlet in a second-floor apartment on the northwest side of the building, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

A clothes hamper full of clothes ignited, and the fire burned the side of an entertainment center, two lamps, and materials around a window, Kerley said.

“It was a fairly small fire, but it generated a lot of black smoke,” he said. The first three floors of the six-story building were evacuated, and two cats were rescued from the apartment that burned. The apartment resident was not at home at the time. [Read more…]

Video: Oak Ridge Turnpike natural gas line fire

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A westbound Honda Odyssey crashed into an aboveground natural gas pipeline on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike on September 20, sparking a fire.

Updated: Driver injured, pulled from van crash that sparks gas line fire

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Car Crash and Gas Line Fire Oak Ridge Turnpike

The male driver of this Honda Odyssey minivan was taken to the hospital after he crashed into a wooded area alongside Oak Ridge Turnpike and sparked a gas line fire. The area of the gas line fire is in the left foreground.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:05 p.m.

A male driver was taken to the hospital after a westbound minivan went down a small embankment on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike, crashed into a wooded area, and sparked a gas line fire on the east end of town.

Driver Thomas Debusk, 43, of Knoxville, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

The cause of the crash, reported at about 1:43 p.m., was not immediately known. The gold 2003 Honda Odyssey van driven by Debusk struck an aboveground natural gas pipeline in a small basin below Oak Ridge Turnpike and next to the parking lot at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which is across from Tractor Supply. [Read more…]

Mutt Strutt on Saturday benefits Animal Shelter

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Mutt Strutt 2014

The 4th Annual Mutt Strutt on Saturday will benefit the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter.

The charity dog walk is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday at the PetSafe Dog Park at Big Turtle Park on Oak Ridge Turnpike in west Oak Ridge. It’s been organized by the Young Professionals of Oak Ridge.

The Mutt Strutt will feature a group dog walk, raffle prizes, and dogs available for adoption.

Visit www.ypor.org for more information.

ORPD Records to close part of Oct. 1 for training

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The Oak Ridge Police Department Records Bureau will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 1 while staff attends training. The office will then be open from 2 to 5 p.m.