Oak Ridge Today

No one injured as ammunition explodes in SUV fire

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SUV With Ammunition in Car Crash

No one was injured after an SUV with several hundred rounds of ammunition was hit by a pickup truck on Melton Lake Drive on Saturday, overturned, and caught fire. (Photos courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

No one was injured, but several hundred rounds of ammunition started exploding after a sport utility vehicle returning from a Wounded Warriors shooting event was hit by a pickup truck on Melton Lake Drive, overturned, and caught fire, authorities said.

The accident happened at about 5:05 p.m. Saturday, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said.

A southbound Toyota pickup truck crossed the center line and hit the SUV, which was driven by Jeff Douglas. The SUV hit the guardrail, spun, and overturned, the ORFD said. [Read more…]

Fifth ‘In God We Trust’ sign, flagpole, vets memorial celebrated at courthouse

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Anderson County General Session Court In God We Trust Sign

Steve McDonald of Calvary Baptist Church introduces a new “In God We Trust” sign on the side of the Anderson County General Sessions Division II Courthouse in Oak Ridge.

A sign inscribed with the national motto “In God We Trust” was unveiled on the side of a Anderson County courthouse in Oak Ridge on Friday.

It’s the fifth “In God We Trust” sign to be posted on a county courthouse since July in a citizen-led initiative that has prompted a debate over the proper separation of church and state.

Also celebrated during a lunchtime ceremony Friday were a flagpole and memorial to five Anderson County veterans killed in the past decade in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Read more…]

Two sacks prove critical in Wildcats’ 600th win

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Ted Mitchell

Ted Mitchell, a junior wide receiver for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, tries to go around a defender for the McMinn County Cherokees on Friday at Blankenship Field.

Two sacks late in the fourth quarter proved critical in the milestone 600th win for the Oak Ridge Wildcats on Friday.

The Wildcats (3-1) were leading 28-19 with less than three minutes to play, but the McMinn County Cherokees had driven downfield and were threatening to score with 2:32 left in the game.

But the Cherokees’ drive stalled with back-to-back sacks by two Oak Ridge defenders, sophomore linebacker Gavin Warrington and senior defensive end Kyler Jones. The Cherokees (1-4) were pushed back from a second-and-7 at the Oak Ridge 18 to a fourth-and-long at about the Oak Ridge 38. [Read more…]

Tax financing meeting for Oak Ridge Mall postponed

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Oak Ridge Mall

A meeting to consider a tax financing agreement for the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall has been postponed. The L-shaped mall is pictured at center above.

The meeting to consider a tax incentive that could be used to help redevelop the Oak Ridge Mall has been postponed in order to allow a city board to update its policy to reflect current state law, a city consultant said Friday.

The meeting, which had been scheduled for Sept. 26, could be rescheduled two to three weeks later, economic development consultant Ray Evans said.

He said the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board has a tax increment financing, or TIF, policy that was initially enacted in 2008 and last updated in 2011. [Read more…]

Clinton woman dies after apparently jumping from fourth-floor window

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A Clinton woman died after apparently jumping from a fourth-floor apartment window at the Charles Seivers Towers on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

Lisa K. Saylor, 55, a resident of the apartment complex, was reportedly dead when emergency medical personnel arrived, the Clinton Police Department said in a news release. [Read more…]

U.S. must combat nuclear proliferation, maintain safe weapons arsenal, NNSA nominee says

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Frank Klotz

Frank Klotz

The United States must continue to lead international efforts to limit and reduce nuclear arsenals, combat nuclear proliferation, and secure nuclear materials across the globe, the retired military officer who has been nominated to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration told a Senate committee.

But the NNSA has a second, unique responsibility: maintain a safe weapons arsenal, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz said in prepared remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning. [Read more…]

Tester Duncan

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Tester Duncan, better known as “Tes,” age 86, of Briceville, passed away Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, at Golden Living Center – Windwood in Clinton.

Tes was a loving father and enjoyed family time. He was a hard worker and spent many years in Ohio, where he retired from General Motors, then returned to Tennessee to work as a mine guard in the mines and proceeded to work for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Tes was a member of Fratersville Baptist Church, Masons Alpha Lodge # 376 Clinton, Shriners, and Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He was a veteran and served in World War II. [Read more…]

Traffic stop leads to $8,000 in cash, suspected painkillers, police say

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Jennifer Leean Marlowe

Jennifer Leean Marlowe

James Phillip Chase

James Phillip Chase

Oak Ridge police allegedly found $8,000 in cash and an estimated $4,000 worth of suspected Roxicodone during a traffic stop last week for possible license plate and window tint violations.

A Wartburg couple, James P. Chase, 51, and Jennifer L. Marlowe, 26, were arrested and charged with possession for sale of a controlled substance.

Police said they pulled over a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by Chase on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Fairbanks Road on Friday afternoon because its tinted license plate cover violated state law and city ordinances, and the window tint appeared darker than allowed. [Read more…]

Council gives schools $250,000, school shutdown avoided

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Bruce Borchers and Mark Watson

During a special meeting Tuesday, Oak Ridge municipal officials agreed to give the city school system an extra $250,000 to avoid a potential loss of millions of dollars in state funding and avert a possible Oct. 1 school shutdown. Pictured above are Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, left, and City Manager Mark Watson, who recommended the extra funding on Tuesday. (File photo)

In a short special meeting Tuesday, the Oak Ridge City Council agreed to give the city’s schools $250,000 to allow the system to avoid a potential loss of millions of dollars in state funding and avert a possible Oct. 1 shutdown.

The one-time transfer will come from higher-than-expected sales tax revenues in Roane County.

The vote was 4-1-1. Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller, and Council members Chuck Hope and Charlie Hensley voted in favor of the extra funding, which had been recommended by City Manager Mark Watson. [Read more…]

Demolition begins on last section of historic K-25 Building

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K-25 East Wing Demolition

Workers begin demolishing the last section of the K-25 building on Tuesday. K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof, but it’s been unused for decades. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/UCOR)

Demolition work began Tuesday on the last section of the historic K-25 Building, which was erected to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Most of the building, which is in west Oak Ridge, has already been demolished. Only a small section of the east wing remains at the former mile-long, U-shaped building.

K-25 was built during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons through a process known as gaseous diffusion. Those operations ended in 1964. [Read more…]

Council approves locations for sewer system tanks, county donates land for one

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Emory Valley Road Sewer System Holding Tank

An earlier draft image of what a sewer system holding tank could look like on Emory Valley Road. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

CLINTON—The Oak Ridge City Council had already taken steps to move the planned sewer system holding tanks farther back from major roads or make them less visible, and on Monday, the Anderson County Commission agreed to donate a small parcel on Emory Valley Road for one of the tanks.

Oak Ridge officials have said the tanks are needed to help comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires the city to end all sewer system overflows by September 2015. [Read more…]

Maynardville teen taken to UT hospital after car hits tree

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A Maynardville teenager was taken to a Knoxville hospital after the car in which he was riding spun out on South Illinois Avenue on Saturday evening and hit a tree near Edgemoor Road.

Jason Hale, 18, of Raccoon Valley Road, was trapped or had to be extricated, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. He was injured and taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the report said. [Read more…]