Oak Ridge Today

Sheriff’s Department has county-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting on Tuesday

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Neighborhood Watch Logo

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The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will be holding a county-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting at the Clinton Middle School auditorium at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will highlight the success of Neighborhood Watch and the dedicated volunteers who have contributed so much to reducing crime. A presentation will demonstrate how the department’s crime analysis and crime mapping aids citizens in keeping neighborhoods safe.

Neighborhood Watch is one of the oldest and most effective crime prevention programs in the country, bringing citizens together with law enforcement to deter crime and make communities safer. Throughout the county, there are some 30 Neighborhood Watch groups keeping a close eye on their community. [Read more…]

Labor Department recovers nearly $144,000 in back wages, penalties from Sitel in Oak Ridge

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The U.S. Labor Department has recovered nearly $144,000 in back wages and penalties from Sitel Operating Corp. in Oak Ridge, federal officials said Thursday.

Sitel has agreed to pay 486 employees $68,901 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping provisions at the company’s facility in Oak Ridge, a press release said. Sitel also paid civil money penalties of $74,900, which were assessed for repeat violations of the FLSA, the release said.

It said investigators from the division’s Nashville District Office found that employees who worked on one client account, United Services Automobile Association, were not paid for time spent conducting required preparatory work before their shifts started. [Read more…]

Clark Center Park closing due to government shutdown

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Note: this story was last updated at 6:35 p.m.

Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge will close at 10 p.m. today (Wednesday) because of a lapse in federal government funding.

The park is located on the south side of town on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation at 2000 Bull Bluff Road. The park will remain closed until further notice, a DOE statement said.

The partial government shutdown started more than two weeks ago on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill. Some agencies such as DOE and its contractors continued to operate until there was a lapse in funding and all available money was spent. [Read more…]

Youth Showcase to benefit Child Advocacy Center on Nov. 2

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Taylor Kress

Singer/songwriter Taylor Kress will be one of the featured performers at the first Youth Showcase on Nov. 2, a benefit for the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County. (Submitted photos)

Singing, dancing, and comedy—coupled with great food and celebrity entertainment—will kick off the first Youth Showcase on Nov. 2, a benefit for the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County.

The fundraiser for CACACT will feature some of the area’s most talented youth, a press release said. It starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the High Places Community Church in Historic Grove Center in Oak Ridge.

The young performers include ballet dancer Taylor Gober and singer/songwriters Nic Cagle, Taylor Kress (who has also appeared on WDVX), and Lara Manning. Two voice majors from UT, Breyon Lattrell Wess and Taylor Stone, and other local singers Maddie and Sydney Buckner will also perform. [Read more…]

Appeals Court rules against rock quarry foes

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Court of Appeals late last week ruled against a group of citizens who had sued the city of Clinton and the Rogers Group over the city’s rezoning of land near the Bethel community to allow for the road-paving company to reopen its controversial rock quarry.

Citizens for Safety and Clean Air had filed the suit, alleging that the city’s rezoning of the land to M-2—or heavy industrial use—had been capricious and arbitrary and that it had constituted illegal spot zoning.

Anderson County Chancellor William Lantrip ruled against the plaintiffs earlier this year, and the case was appealed. [Read more…]

Robertsville Rams finish season 8-1, win conference championship

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Robertsville Middle School Rams

The Robertsville Rams capped off a great season Thursday night with a 34-14 win over conference rival Rhea Central Middle School. The Rams finished the season with an 8-1 overall record. (Submitted photo)

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The Robertsville Rams capped off a great season Thursday night with a 34-14 win over conference rival Rhea Central Middle School. The Rams finish the season with an 8-1 overall record, with their only loss coming in a double overtime thriller against Christian Academy of Knoxville.

This team is the first to win a conference championship at Robertsville since 2006. The win over Rhea Central marks an impressive seven-game win streak for the Rams football program led by some strong future Oak Ridge Wildcats.

“This team has been fun to coach. They battle every game. Even in our one loss, they realize and see how close we were,” said Chris Layton, head football coach of Robertsville Middle School. [Read more…]

ES&H names business development director

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Lynne Musick

Lynne Musick

ES&H Inc., a company that has offices in Oak Ridge, has named Lynne Musick as business development director.

Musick previously served as director of business development for JOSEPH Construction Co. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Musick’s career focus has been in leading professional service and construction companies in their marketing, sales and customer service activities, a press release said.

Musick is a graduate of Leadership Blount, has served on a variety of boards, including the Hearing and Speech Foundation, tnAchieves mentor, Blount County Habitat for Humanity, and various economic development entities. [Read more…]

Four inducted into Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame

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Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame

The 2013 inductees into the Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame are pictured above. From left in the front row are Jennifer Cristy Strawn, Bobby Richards, and Jennifer Wilson Galloway. Barry Saunders is in the back row. (Photo courtesy Mike Kelly)

Four people were recently inducted into the Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame.

They are Barry Saunders, Bobby Richards, Jennifer Wilson Galloway, and Jennifer Cristy Strawn.

An induction ceremony took place during halftime of the recent Oak Ridge High School homecoming game against Gibbs High School.

Here is more information on the four:

Barry Saunders has been a member of the football coaching staff at Oak Ridge High School for more than 35 years. [Read more…]

Local church to offer neighborhood Bible study

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Christ Community Church

Christ Community Church will offer a new Bible study starting Thursday, Oct. 17. (Photo courtesy Julio Culiat)

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Promises. We’ve all made them and we have all had them made to us. Hopefully we’ve felt the elation of a promise kept. Most likely we’ve all experienced the heartbreak of a promise broken.

Indeed, promises can be tricky when made by mortal man.

But what about the promises that God makes to us? Can we trust him to be better at it than we are?

Beginning on Thursday evening, Oct. 17, Christ Community Church invites you to come and find out as we begin a new Bible study entitled “Covenant-Knowing God’s Promises.” [Read more…]

Anderson Operations Committee to discuss solutions to sheriff’s salary suit

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An Anderson County committee will discuss possible solutions to the ongoing legal dispute over Anderson County Sheriff’s Department salaries during a meeting this evening.

The dispute is between Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and County Mayor Terry Frank. Possible solutions will be discussed during an Anderson County Operations Committee meeting at 6 p.m. today (Monday) in Room 312 of the Courthouse.

Other agenda items include the election of a committee chair, consideration of a private act regarding the donation of real estate to nonprofit organizations, an update from Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager on efforts to get the railroad-owned bridge on Johnson Gap Road re-opened, and the discussion of possible alternate sites for the Glen Alpine convenience center.

Man allegedly beaten, robbed in Anderson County

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home on Webber Lane Saturday night after a man was allegedly assaulted and robbed.

Few details of the incident have been made available, but responding deputies said that when they arrived at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Tommy Lowe was being loaded in to an ambulance bound for the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of a black eye and laceration to his head.

Deputies were told that Lowe had been assaulted and robbed of $50 in cash and a cell phone. The Criminal Investigations Division is following up.

Two buildings destroyed by fires in Briceville

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Information from WYSH Radio

Two buildings were destroyed by fires on Vowell Road in Briceville early Saturday morning. Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene of the fire shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday, and when they arrived, they reported that a house later determined to be vacant and an outbuilding were fully engulfed by flames.

Crews from the Briceville and Medford Volunteer Fire Departments extinguished both blazes, but both structures were destroyed. The cause of the fires is unknown.