Oak Ridge Today

Free food tastings, classes offered Saturday at Winter Farmers’ Market

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Children 12 and under who taste two bites of a vegetable get $2 to spend on fruits and vegetables at the Winter Farmers’ Market in the free Power of Produce Club. (Submitted photo)

The Winter Farmers’ Market, located in the gym at St. Mary’s School, 323 Vermont Avenue in Oak Ridge, is offering a series of free market workshops on healthy eating and gardening this winter.

On Saturday, January 25, at 11 a.m., Dr. Elaine Bunick will present “Healthy Eating on a Budget,” with a variety of healthy foods to sample and recipes to share. Bunick is a retired endocrinologist who has helped hundreds of patients manage diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases, a press release said. Bunick says she wants “kids and adults to see how good healthy eating can be.”

The UT Extension Service will also be at the market, offering healthy recipes and food tastings as well. The market is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., through March. 

For children, the Anderson County Health Department’s public health educator Sabrina Greene will present an “All About Veggies” activity. Plus, the market’s popular Power of Produce Club will offer free vegetable tastings for children 12 and under. Those who take two bites get $2 to spend on fruits and vegetables in the market.

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Higgins will enter 2020 NFL draft

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Catch at Ooltewah Nov. 13, 2015
Before he was injured, Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins (5) makes a catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (File photo by Julio Culiat)

Tee Higgins, a former star wide receiver for the Oak Ridge Wildcats who won a college football championship at Clemson University, announced this month that he will enter the 2020 NFL draft.

Higgins announced his decision on Twitter on Wednesday, January 15.

“It has always been my dream to play in the NFL and take care of my family,” Higgins, a junior at Clemson, said in his Twitter announcement. “Because of Clemson, I now have the opportunity to do that. So it is with a grateful heart that I announce today my intention to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.”

The draft is scheduled from April 23-25 in Paradise, Nevada.

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For members: Mason found guilty of federal gun, drug charges

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Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019
An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison. Charles Edward Mason, 52, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Thursday, July 25, 2019, when one count of attempted first-degree murder and five aggravated assault charges were sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison.

A 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours Friday morning before reaching a unanimous verdict on the four federal charges:

Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019

KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison.

A 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours Friday morning before reaching a unanimous verdict on the four federal charges.

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Earthquake of 3.8 magnitude reported in East Tennessee

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Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey

Note: This story was last updated at 3:35 p.m.

An earthquake of 3.8 magnitude was reported in East Tennessee on Monday afternoon.

The earthquake was felt in Oak Ridge at about 2:12 p.m. Monday, where it rattled homes and windows.

It was centered in Campbell County about one kilometer east of Fincastle, Tennessee, northeast of LaFollette, which is northeast of Oak Ridge, at a depth of about 35.4 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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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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Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Center relocates, opens Feb. 3

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The Oak Ridge Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Center has relocated, and it will open Monday, February 3.

The VITA program is an Internal Revenue Service initiative to help taxpayers by providing trained volunteers to prepare and electronically file individual tax returns at no cost to the taxpayers, a press release said.

For 2020, the VITA office has moved from the Trinity Center on Robertsville Road to the United Way Office at 728 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge, the press release said. The hours are from 3-5:30 p.m. on Mondays, 3-8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The office is staffed entirely by volunteers—19 preparers, 8 greeters and one computer expert. United Way of Anderson County provides funds for software and provides office space.

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Census Bureau hiring, job fairs scheduled

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The Oak Ridge Public Library will host several job fairs between January and March as the U.S. Census Bureau looks to fill census taker positions in Anderson and Roane counties.

The job fairs will be held on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the following dates:

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Humphries named ORISE group manager for ORNL office

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Leigha Humphries
Leigha Humphries

Leigha Humphries has been named group manager for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

In her role, Humphries will provide leadership and development oversight for STEM-based workforce development and education programs averaging up to 2,000 research participants a year and an equal number of mentors, a press release said. (STEM is an acronym referring to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.) In addition, Humphries will also represent ORISE at external venues, including professional meetings and site visits with potential and current customers.

“We’re excited for Leigha to take on this role as she possesses extensive management and stakeholder engagement experience within the communications and human resources sectors,” said ORISE Director Jim Vosburg. “Her addition to the ORISE team will further strengthen the management of our research participation programs by helping to ensure continuity between ORNL and ORISE.”

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More meth than marijuana submitted to TBI labs in 2019

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More methamphetamine than marijuana was submitted to Tennessee Bureau Investigation crime laboratories in 2019, a sign of a troubling drug trend, the TBI said Monday.

It’s the first time that’s happened since TBI crime laboratories began keeping detailed statistics, a press release said.

“Drug addiction continues to be a major issue in Tennessee, and I believe this sharp increase in methamphetamine has a connection to our state’s ongoing opioid epidemic,” said TBI Director David Rausch. “Drug abusers often flow from depressants to stimulants and back again. As more people struggle with opioid addiction many of them will—with time—seek out stimulants like methamphetamine. Unfortunately, those who run drug operations, often based outside the United States, know there’s an increased demand here. Alongside our local, state, and federal partners, we’ll keep doing what we can to dismantle these operations, but we’d also urge anyone struggling with drug problems to get help before addiction costs you your life.”

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AC, ORPD to discuss program to combat elder abuse

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

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Elder abuse is a new focus of Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department. The two agencies are preparing to jointly implement a Senior Citizens Awareness Network, or SCAN, program that will likely start later this year to deal with the crime.

District Attorney General David Clark of the Seventh Judicial District and his Anderson County office are leading the charge on combating elder abuse, and the office will be running the SCAN program, according to a press release. RPD will help implement the program in Oak Ridge.

Clark and ORPD Detective Wendy Zolkowski will speak Thursday, January 16, about the SCAN program, elder abuse in Oak Ridge, and the ways seniors can be protected.

Their talks will be the first in 2020 in the lecture series sponsored by Roane State Community College and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning. They will speak at 2 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally building on RSCC’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue. ORPD is hosting the presentation, which will be preceded by a reception with refreshments at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby. [Read more…]

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, Joshua Andrew Koch, 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. A seven-count federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville in November alleged a two-year conspiracy.

 

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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