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First ORHS Middle College class at Roane State about to graduate

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Oak Ridge High School Roane State Community College Middle College 2020
Pictured is the first class of Roane State Middle College students from Oak Ridge High School. Seated from left are Aamariah Crow, Isabella Kelly, Chloe Mallett, Savannah Shropshire, Selena Sterling, and Christina Thomas. Standing from left are Caroline Webb, Katie Swigert, Haley Snyder, Jacob Wright, Shaelyn Deal, and Cameille Schubert. Not pictured: Cameron Malone and Marissa Colvais. (Photo courtesy Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

One wants to be a doctor. Another, a lawyer involved in immigration cases. Two plan to become engineers, another wants to be involved in mission work, and one intends to work as an ultrasound technician.

They are among 14 Oak Ridge High School students who are members of the first Roane State Community College Middle College class, and they’re getting ready to graduate this spring, both from high school and college.

Although they have varying career goals, they have several things in common. They all say they have enjoyed their Middle College experiences, they’ve all been accepted to colleges and universities to continue their educations, and they’re fans of their advisor and English instructor, Assistant Roane State Professor Margaret “Maggie” Bouldin.

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About 600 experiments affected by HFIR shutdown

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The High Flux Isotope Reactor vessel at Oak Ridge National Laboratory resides in a pool of water illuminated by the blue glow of the Cherenkov radiation effect. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

About 600 experiments and roughly 500 users were affected by the nearly year-long shutdown of the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the lab said Thursday.

HFIR, which is used for research and isotope production, restarted October 29, 2019. It had been shut down since November 13, 2018, after an elevated radiation level was detected in the reactor’s primary cooling system.

Reactors users who had approved proposals when HFIR was shut down have been running those experiments since it restarted in the fall, according to a response to questions provided by ORNL spokesperson Morgan McCorkle on Thursday. The backlog is expected to be completed by the spring.

The shutdown did not affect the production of plutonium-238, but it did delay the production and distribution of some medical and industrial isotopes, the lab’s response said.

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For members: Man charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, heroin, meth

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Joshua Andrew Koch

 

A 42-year-old Anderson County man is facing federal charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine after a search of a home in Claxton in July allegedly found about 230 grams of a white, crystal-like substance thought to be methamphetamine and roughly 69.5 grams of a brown powder substance suspected to be heroin, according to state and federal court records.

The defendant has also been charged with federal financial and firearms crimes, and he has seven co-defendants in the case, although the charges vary by defendant.

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Downtown Hardware closing in March

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Roger Clary and Ann Clary Bratton, co-owners of Downtown Hardware Company, pose with photos from the store’s 64-year history and hold a photo of Clary family members who have worked at the store over the years. Downtown Hardware is closing in March so the Clarys can retire. A store liquidation sale is going on beginning Jan. 10, 2020. (Submitted photo)

Downtown Hardware is closing in March, after more than 64 years of being in business in Oak Ridge.

Downtown Hardware was one of the first businesses to set up in the “Downtown Shopping Center” built in 1955 in what is now Main Street Oak Ridge.

“We were located on Wilson Street in the bottom floor of the building that now houses the American Museum of Science and Energy,” a press release said.

Today, Downtown Hardware is located at 298 South Illinois Avenue, facing Tuskegee Avenue in Oak Ridge.

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For members: Man sentenced to 20 years for shooting that injured two

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Claxton-Shooting-Jan-13-2018

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department investigates a shooting at 3008 Clinton Highway, at the intersection of Clinton Highway and Lonesome Dove Road in Claxton, on Saturday evening, Jan. 13, 2018. Two people were reported to have non-life threatening injuries. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man received a 20-year prison sentence when he pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of attempted first-degree murder after a shooting that injured two people during an argument in a Clinton Highway home about two years ago.

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One flown to hospital after two-vehicle crash

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Salem Road Crash Jan 6 2020
One person was flown to a hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Salem Road on Monday morning, Jan. 6, 2020. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Police Department)

One person was flown to a hospital after a two-vehicle crash in west Oak Ridge on Monday morning, emergency responders said.

The crash was reported at about 6:15 a.m. Monday on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Salem Road. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded.

When they arrived, Oak Ridge Fire Department firefighters found a heavily damaged vehicle with the injured driver still inside. They quickly extinguished a small fire in the engine compartment of the vehicle and rescued the driver, emergency responders said. The injured driver was then flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. The driver of the second vehicle reported no injuries.

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Proposed power lines at Horizon Center to be discussed Tuesday

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Virginia Dale
Virginia Dale

The power lines proposed at Horizon Center will be discussed during a Tuesday lunch in Oak Ridge.

The project, advocated by Oak Ridge officials for industrial development, has raised concerns among environmentalists and people who use the city’s greenways.

The guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, January 7, will be Virginia Dale. Dale is a corporate fellow emeritus with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she worked in the Environmental Sciences Division. She is currently a researcher in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Tennessee, a press release said. Dale has been the author of 11 books and more than 250 published articles.

Her presentation on Tuesday will focus on the city’s recent action to seek authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy to build an electric transmission line along the DOE patrol road on the boundary between the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement and the Horizon Center industrial park, or by cutting through other “natural areas,” the press release said. These “natural areas” are identified in mitigation conditions required for a federal finding of no significant impact, which allowed the subsequent development of the Horizon Center, the press release said.

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United Grocery Outlet closing Jan. 18

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United Grocery Outlet on Oak Ridge Turnpike in west Oak Ridge is closing Jan. 18, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

United Grocery Outlet in west Oak Ridge is closing January 18.

“We are unable to provide our customers with the options we have at our other locations, and we are unable to sustain in our current environment,” the store said in a sign posted on its front door.

New hours went into effect today (Monday, January 6): Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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For members: Man sentenced to more than 12 years on federal meth conspiracy charge

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Samuel McCoy Wade

 

An Oak Ridge man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

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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. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.

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Meth, conspiracy charges dismissed after warrantless search

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William Michael Renfro
William Michael Renfro

Citing a warrantless search, an Anderson County judge has dismissed drug and conspiracy charges in a case where police allegedly found 45.1 grams of methamphetamine in a backpack in an Oak Ridge motel room in May.

“I hate to dismiss serious charges,” said Roger Miller, judge of the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge. But, he added, “I don’t think the proof would hold up.”

Suggesting that a search warrant should have been obtained, Miller said he is accessible and signs many search warrants.

The two people charged in the case had been William Michael Renfro, 18, of Oak Ridge, and Carlie Alise Wisman, 22, also of Oak Ridge.

Renfro had been charged with manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing a schedule II controlled substance (the 45.1 grams of meth), a Class A felony; criminal conspiracy, a Class B felony; manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing a schedule IV controlled substance (9.5 grams of marijuana), a Class D felony; and possession of a firearm (a Ruger Security Six .357 revolver with six rounds) during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, a Class D felony.

All four of those charges were dismissed after a preliminary hearing for Renfro in Anderson County General Sessions Court on Thursday, December 12. During a preliminary hearing, a judge can hear from witnesses, victims, and police officers, and determine whether there is probable cause to send the charges to the Anderson County Grand Jury.

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New federal designation means more law enforcement funding, full-time ATF agent

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Anderson-County-High-Intensity-Drug-Trafficking-Area-Press-Conference-Dec-17-2019
A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Anderson County is now a high-intensity drug trafficking area, or HIDTA. That designation came from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. It occurred in September and will go into effect January 1.

As part of a two-part announcement this month, law enforcement officials said the White House also selected the county’s task force, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, as an Appalachia HIDTA, or AHIDTA. It’s the only locally led drug task force in Tennessee, according to Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark. The county’s Crime Task Force, or CTF, is led by Director Simon Byrne.

“No other drug task force in Tennessee has been awarded an AHIDTA grant,” Clark said. “I am very proud of our leadership team for thinking outside of the box and in looking for smart ways to make our communities safer as well as be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We are more excited than we can convey, but in short believe that this development has the potential to be transformative as to what we are able to do in Anderson County to protect and serve our communities.”

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TVA, law enforcement investigating suspicious package on Norris Dam

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Norris Dam is pictured above on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. (Photo by Tennessee Valley Authority)

Tennessee Valley Authority Police and local law enforcement officers are investigating a suspicious package found on Norris Dam on Thursday.

TVA Police responded to Norris Dam to investigate the suspicious package at about 3 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, officers found an abandoned package on top of the dam.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the highway was closed, and mutual aid was requested from the Knox County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad,” TVA said in a statement. “The bomb squad responded and determined that the package was not a threat to the dam nor the public. The highway crossing the dam was then reopened (9 p.m.). TVA Police and local law enforcement agencies will continue to follow up on this matter.”

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