Oak Ridge Today

Vandals damage Claxton mausoleum

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a weekend break-in at Woodhaven Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in Claxton that resulted in the theft of four crypt covers valued at $500 each and more than $5,000 in damages.

Deputy Robert Sexton reported that he had been checking on businesses in Claxton when he noticed the glass on the back door of the mausoleum on Edgemoor Road had been broken out with a lift truck jack used to lift caskets. Inside, the culprits destroyed four other crypt covers, tore the thermostats off the walls, and destroyed light fixtures, benches, and other items. [Read more…]

Briceville man killed in logging accident

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Briceville logger was killed Friday morning while cutting trees in Campbell County. The Sheriff’s Office says that the accident occurred at a worksite on Sharps Lane in Caryville at around 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Investigators say that 60-year-old Calvin Daugherty was cutting a series of trees, and when one fell, it struck the top of a second, smaller tree. The top of the second tree broke off and hit Daugherty, who struck his head on a rock when he fell to the ground. [Read more…]

Y-12 protesters remain jailed while judge considers whether crimes violent

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Y-12 Protesters Detention Hearing

Michele Naar-Obed, wife of Y-12 protester Greg Boertje-Obed, and supporter Paul Magno, center, listen outside U.S. District Court on Thursday as supporter Bill Bichsel of Tacoma, Wash., talks to the media.

KNOXVILLE—The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and vandalized a uranium storage building will remain jailed while a federal judge considers whether their crimes were violent.

Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli were convicted of property depredation and willfully injuring national defense premises on Wednesday. They had a detention hearing Thursday morning. [Read more…]

Y-12 protesters guilty of two federal charges, jailed overnight

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The Fruit of Justice is Peace Slogan on HEUMF at Y-12

Three anti-nuclear weapons activists who sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 splashed human blood and, quoting Proverbs, sprayed paint on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The protesters also hammered the building, causing it to chip, and strung up crime scene tape. (Submitted photo)

KNOXVILLE—The Catholic nun, house painter, and laborer who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on a uranium storage building were found guilty on two federal counts Wednesday, one charging them with property depredation of more than $1,000 and the other alleging they willfully injured national defense premises.

The three protesters—Megan Rice, 83; Michael R. Walli, 64; and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57—were taken to the Blount County jail after the verdict was read at the end of a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. Dozens of courtroom supporters sang softly as the three anti-nuclear weapons activists were taken into custody after about 2.5 hours of deliberations by the nine men and three women on the jury panel.

Boertje-Obed, Rice, and Walli have a detention hearing on Thursday morning. Each faces up to 30 years in prison. [Read more…]

After GAO upholds protests, NNSA to request more info from Y-12, Pantex bidders

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

After one federal agency upheld parts of two bid protests, a second one on Wednesday announced it will request more information from the three teams that submitted bids on a contract to manage and operate two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

In January, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it had awarded a contract valued at about $23 billion to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

Y-12 protester case goes to jury this afternoon

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Y-12 Plowshares Protesters

Pictured above are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.

Note: This story was last updated at 12:51 p.m.

KNOXVILLE—The case against three anti-nuclear weapons activists who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and vandalized a uranium storage building could go to a jury this afternoon.

The government rested its case yesterday, and the defense rested this morning after the three defendants—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—testified.

The three acknowledge sneaking into Y-12 on July 28, cutting through high-security fences, and pouring blood and spray-painting biblical passages on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where most of the nation’s bomb-grade uranium is stored. But they say they were religiously motivated and peacefully protesting the plant’s nuclear weapons work, symbolically disarming the 811-acre plant. [Read more…]

Government rests in federal trial against Y-12 protesters

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The Fruit of Justice is Peace Slogan on HEUMF at Y-12

Three anti-nuclear weapons activists who sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 allegedly splashed human blood and, quoting Proverbs, sprayed paint on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The protesters also hammered the building, causing it to chip, and strung up crime scene tape. (Submitted photo)

The government rested on Tuesday in the federal trial against three protesters accused of vandalizing a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July.

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—face charges of property depredation and willfully injuring national defense premises.

Jury selection was Monday, and the trial started Tuesday.

It resumes at 9 a.m. today in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

Rice is expected to resume testifying this morning.

Company closes deal on Alexander Inn, plans to use for assisted living center

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Alexander Inn

Plans call for converting the Alexander Inn, formerly known as The Guest House, into an assisted living center.

It’s been in the works for months, and officials announced on Tuesday that a local company has purchased the historic but rundown Alexander Inn.

Family Pride Corp. plans to convert the vacant two-story hotel into an assisted living center.

The sale was announced by the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance, a key player in the project. A press release said the agreement announced Tuesday includes a preservation easement with ETPA that will ensure the building is protected forever. [Read more…]

Crime task force searches Carver Avenue home, allegedly seizes marijuana, cash

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The Anderson County 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force searched a home at 248 Carver Avenue in Oak Ridge on Tuesday and arrested two people and  seized about two pounds of marijuana and more than $13,000 in cash, according to a press release provided by the Oak Ridge Police Department.

The release said an adult male and female were arrested, and a warrant was being sought for a third individual. [Read more…]

Police investigate illegal gambling on Oak Ridge Turnpike, charge trio after raid

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Scott William Stockstill

Scott William Stockstill

Three men have been arrested after a Sunday night police raid during an investigation of illegal gambling on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Scott William Stockstill of Clinton was charged with aggravated promotion of gambling, an Oak Ridge Police Department press release said. Two other men, Jeffery Ray Smith of Kingston and William Harold Bailey of Clinton, were cited on misdemeanor charges of promotion of gambling, the release said. [Read more…]

Citing insufficient evidence, Y-12 protesters seek acquittal on most serious charge

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William Quigley and Supporters

William P. Quigley of New Orleans, left, an attorney for one of the three anti-nuclear weapons activists who spray-painted biblical passages and poured blood on a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July, greets supporters outside U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Tuesday.

Attorneys for the three protesters on trial this week for vandalizing a uranium storage building at a nuclear weapons plant said the government doesn’t have enough evidence to convict the defendants on a national defense charge, the most serious of the two remaining charges.

The national defense charge alleges Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli willfully injured national defense premises when they cut through three fences in a high-security Protected Area at Y-12 on July 28 and spray-painted biblical passages and poured blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where most of the nation’s bomb-grade uranium is stored. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker support bill allowing states to collect sales tax on online purchases

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved legislation to allow states to collect sales taxes on items sold online or through catalogs, and senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker on Monday said they supported the bill.

Known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, the legislation passed the Senate in a 69-27 vote. A Tennessee Republican, Alexander was a lead co-sponsor of the 11-page bill.

It still has to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, where antitax forces have vowed to kill it, according to the New York Times. [Read more…]