Oak Ridge Today

Tuck running for General Sessions judge

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Matt Tuck

Anderson County attorney Matt Tuck is running for election to serve as Anderson County General Sessions Court judge in Division II in Oak Ridge.

Tuck said he will seek the nomination as a Republican Party candidate in the election next year. He is running against the incumbent, Roger Miller. Miller has announced he is seeking re-election to a second eight-year term in 2022.

In a press release, Tuck said he has practiced civil and criminal law in Anderson County for more than a decade and currently operates the Tuck Law Firm in Oak Ridge’s historic Jackson Square.

After receiving his undergraduate degrees from the University of Tennessee, Tuck obtained his law degree and master’s of business administration from the University of Memphis in 2006, the press release said.

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Five Below opens in second phase of Main Street Oak Ridge

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The new Five Below store had a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Main Street Oak Ridge on Friday, July 16, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The first store has opened in the second phase of Main Street Oak Ridge.

The new store, Five Below, had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday morning.

Five Below has many products priced between $1-$5, and some over $5. Products sold in the store include art and creative products, clothing and sporting items, candy, and technological equipment.

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Appeals court upholds attempted murder conviction

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Curtis-Isabell-McKinley-McGee-Sentencing-Sept-9-2019
McKinnley Earl McGee, 51, of Oak Ridge, who is pictured above at right, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, for an attempted murder during a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment, a judge and prosecutor said. At left is defense attorney Curtis Isabell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld an attempted murder conviction against an Oak Ridge man who received the maximum 20-year prison sentence for a stabbing that injured a woman so severely that she reportedly would have died if she hadn’t received medical treatment.

McKinnley McGee was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with serious bodily injury two years ago, after a one-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in July 2019. He was convicted of stabbing and trying to kill Machel Elaine Avery on Utica Circle in Oak Ridge on January 12, 2018.

Manhattan Project Park will commemorate atomic bomb effects

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The International Friendship Bell is pictured above in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will ring the International Friendship Bell 76 times on Friday morning, August 6, to commemorate the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 76 years ago.

The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945. It was the first atomic bomb used in war and the first of two dropped on Japan near the end of World War II. Uranium for the first bomb, which was code-named “Little Boy,” was enriched in Oak Ridge. The bomb had about 140 pounds of uranium fuel and had an explosive force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, according to Atomic Heritage. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the 10-foot, 9,700-pound bomb in the four-month period following the explosion, Atomic Heritage said.

The National Park Service is calling the August 6 ceremony “Days of Peace and Remembrance.”

“During this silent event, we will be requesting visitors to come up and ring the bell,” a press release said. “Visitors will be able to write down their own hopes and messages of peace.”

The United States dropped a second atomic bomb, a plutonium-fueled weapon, on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing. It had about 13.6 pounds of plutonium fuel and an explosive force equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT. About 80,000 Japanese died by the end of 1945 because of that bomb, which was called “Fat Man,” Atomic Heritage said.

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Public hearing, interviews Friday for appointment of Circuit Court judge

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There will be a public hearing and interview session in Clinton on Friday for the appointment of a judge to fill a vacancy created when Seventh Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Don Elledge retired at the end of June.

The public hearing of the Trial Court Vacancy Commission will start at 9 a.m. Friday, July 16, in the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

The commission is beginning the process of filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Elledge. His term hadn’t expired yet; it will end next year.

WYSH Radio in Clinton has reported that there are five applicants for the judge’s position. Here are the five applicants, according to WYSH Radio:

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COVID case rate remains low in Anderson County

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These charts show the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations reported by month in Anderson County from March 2020 through June 2021. (Data from Tennessee Department of Health/Charts by Oak Ridge Today)

The COVID-19 case rate remains low in Anderson County. The county continues to report about one new case of COVID-19 per day.

The positivity rate, the percentage of patients who test positive for COVID-19 out of those tested each day, also remains below 5 percent, in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

Anderson County reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 in June, an average of a little more than one new case per day. There were three hospitalizations and three deaths, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health.

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Council to consider chlorine purchase Monday evening

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the purchase of up to about $60,000 worth of chlorine briquettes for the city’s outdoor pool on Providence Road this evening (Monday, July 12). Approval of the purchase would ensure that the large, unique pool can continue operating past mid-July, according to the city.

The purchase of the chlorine became controversial after Council member Rick Chinn, who is mayor pro tem (like a vice mayor), voted against the purchase of the briquettes last month. Chinn said he did not want to spend any more money on the pool. Residents and pool users responded with outrage, with hundreds of comments posted to social media. Some pledged to oppose Chinn’s re-election to Council next year.

Last month’s vote was for a sole-source purchase that hadn’t been released for a bid, possibly because the city’s supplier, Duffield Aquatics, had been identified as the sole provider in the region. The city uses Pulsar chlorinating briquettes supplied by Duffield Aquatics.

The sole-source purchase meant that last month’s vote required a unanimous vote. So, Chinn’s vote against the purchase meant it wasn’t approved.

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For members: Big change for Y-12 water permit is Mercury Treatment Facility

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The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The biggest change for a water discharge permit drafted for the Y-12 National Security Complex is the construction and operation of a Mercury Treatment Facility, a state official said Tuesday.

The mercury treatment facility, which is under construction and could begin operating next year, is expected to capture and treat most of the mercury released as old, unused mercury-contaminated buildings, equipment, and soils are demolished and removed, especially on the west side of the nuclear weapons production site.

Two taken to hospital after three-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road bridge

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Two drivers were taken to a hospital with serious injuries after a three-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road bridge on Friday evening.

The crash was reported on State Route 170 at about 8:45 p.m. Friday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. The bridge crosses the Clinch River near the Bull Run Fossil Plant.

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For members: Y-12 waste had pressurized gases, ‘energetic material,’ but posed no safety risk

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The waste shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex that violated a solid waste permit in Nevada included small volumes of pressurized, non-flammable gases and an energetic material, but the shipments did not pose a safety risk, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday.

“These items were contained within a sealed, thick steel assembly that was disposed within a large metal box,” DOE said in response to questions. “Though the presence of these internal items were not known at the time of disposal, they do not pose any safety risk because the inner assembly is capable of containing any release of the small volumes of pressurized gases and the energetic material.”

Nevada announces settlement with DOE over non-compliant waste from Y-12

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

On Thursday, Nevada announced details of the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy over low-level radioactive waste that was incorrectly identified and shipped from Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge to DOE’s Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas between 2013 and 2018.

Oak Ridge Today first reported about the settlement agreement on Wednesday. The Nevada announcement on Thursday provided additional information.

Here is Nevada’s announcement:

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For members: Three plead guilty, one sentenced to 10 years in drug conspiracy after overdose death

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The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Three people have pleaded guilty in federal court to drug and conspiracy charges related at least in part to an overdose death due to fentanyl in Oak Ridge in 2017. One of the defendants, a 28-year-old Knoxville woman, was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison on Thursday. The drug conspiracy involved the distribution of fentanyl and heroin.

The Knoxville woman, Katarina S. Carinci, pleaded guilty last year. She was sentenced to 125 months, or 10 years and five months, on July 1 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville by District Court Judge Thomas Varlan. Her prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.