Oak Ridge Today

Two churches plan forum on local opioid crisis

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Michael Yates

Michael Yates

Abuse of addictive prescription pain pills and other opioids, as well as deaths from overdoses, are plaguing the nation, state, and local communities. In 2018, nearly 200 Americans every day died from drug overdoses.

What are the consequences of opioid use and abuse in Anderson County? What are the overt and hidden costs to our local communities?

To begin to address the need for local understanding of this mental health issue and public health crisis, two Oak Ridge churches—First Presbyterian and Oak Valley Baptist—will co-sponsor a public forum on three Sunday afternoons in September on the crisis of drug addiction in Anderson County.

The forum sessions will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the fellowship hall of the Sanctuary building at First Presbyterian Church, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike, on the corner of Lafayette Avenue.

David Clark, district attorney general of Anderson County, will speak on September 8 on criminal justice and the opioid epidemic. [Read more…]

Two charged with conspiracy after 45 grams of meth allegedly found in motel room

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William Michael Renfro
William Michael Renfro

An Oak Ridge man and woman are facing drug and conspiracy charges after 45.1 grams of methamphetamine were allegedly found in a motel room on South Illinois Avenue in May, according to court records.

Charged in the case are William Michael Renfro, 18, and Carlie Alise Wisman, 22.

Carlie Alise Wisman
Carlie Alise Wisman

A black backpack with 45.1 grams of methamphetamine was found in a room at Days Inn on May 7, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Adam Fairbanks.

Video from a surveillance camera showed Renfro entering the motel room with the black backpack, and another video showed him leaving the room without the backpack, Fairbanks wrote in the affidavits. Affidavits are narrative descriptions of alleged crimes that are attached to arrest warrants.

[Read more…]

School board approves change in residency requirement

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday approved, in the first of two votes, a policy change that would require the superintendent and principals to live in Oak Ridge.

Assistant principals, the executive director of school leadership, and the executive director of teaching and learning would be required to live in Oak Ridge if they are relocating to the region after being hired by Oak Ridge Schools. This would not apply to new administrators in those positions who already live in adjacent counties, such as Knox County.

The policy change would reduce the number of administrative positions with a residency requirement. The current policy requires the superintendent, executive director of school leadership, executive director of teaching and learning, director of pupil services, principals, and assistant principals to live in Oak Ridge “to be thoroughly familiar with the community and to be available beyond the regular day.”

But the current policy is suspected of reducing the number of candidates who apply for jobs at Oak Ridge Schools, according to administrators.

[Read more…]

DOE has scoping EIS meeting on Versatile Test Reactor on Wednesday

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The U.S. Department of Energy will have a scoping meeting Wednesday night for an environmental impact statement, or EIS, for a Versatile Test Reactor that could be located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or Idaho National Laboratory.

The Versatile Test Reactor would be used to test fuels and materials for commercial nuclear power reactors.

Besides being under consideration for the Versatile Test Reactor, Idaho National Laboratory is also under consideration for the fabrication of the fuel needed to run the Versatile Test Reactor. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina is also being considered for the fuel fabrication.

The public can comment through September 4 about what should be included in a draft environmental impact statement for the reactor, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. DOE will publish the final EIS and make it available to the public for 30 days before issuing a record of decision, TDEC said.

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Anderson County will also stop recycling glass

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Like other counties and Oak Ridge, Anderson County will stop recycling glass.

The county announced the suspension of glass recycling in a press release on Monday.

The press release said Anderson County Solid Waste was notified on August 15 that WestRock, the county’s recycling vendor, would suspend the “receiving, handling, and marketing of glass bottles and jars collected at (the) county’s drop off centers” effective September 1.

To prepare for the change, the Marlow Convenience Center will stop accepting glass for recycling on August 29, the press release said. Residents should place glass in their regular garbage for disposal, the release said.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge man charged with murder in drug death

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Ronald Nicholas Bunch
Ronald Nicholas Bunch

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with second-degree murder in the drug-related death of another Oak Ridge man in February.

It could be the first time that anyone has been charged with murder, rather than homicide, for a drug-related fatality in Anderson County. There has been a previous case where a man was charged with and convicted of homicide in a drug overdose death.

The man who died on February 6 was Steven Douglas Scruggs, 34.

Indicted in his death was Ronald Nicholas Bunch, 28, of West Wadsworth Circle in Oak Ridge. Bunch’s indictment for second-degree murder on June 4 said he unlawfully and knowingly killed Scruggs through the unlawful distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance, and the drug caused Scruggs’ death. Second-degree murder is a Class A felony in Tennessee.

The charge of second-degree murder, part of a three-count indictment, doesn’t specifically say what drug killed Scruggs. But the second count of the indictment charged Bunch with possessing fentanyl, a Schedule II medication, for resale.

[Read more…]

Man receives 2-year suspended sentence in drug overdose death

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Mike-Ritter-Troy-Venable-Aug-26-2019
Troy Andrew Venable, 30, right, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, after a drug and alcohol overdose killed Lauren Alexandra Fritts, 26, in Oak Ridge on October 8, 2016. At left is defense attorney Mike Ritter. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 5:20 p.m. Aug. 27.

CLINTON—A 30-year-old man received a two-year suspended sentence Monday when he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide after a drug and alcohol overdose in October 2016 killed a 26-year-old employee of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and former goalkeeper for the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team.

The two-year sentence for Troy Andrew Venable was suspended with credit for time served in jail (about four hours), and he was placed on supervised probation during a 15-minute plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday. Venable is to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment. He was also ordered to pay $1,850.50 in court costs.

Lauren Fritts

The overdose killed Lauren Alexandra Fritts, 26, on Saturday, October 8, 2016. She had consumed alcohol, crushed and inhaled 60 milligram roxycodone pills with her boyfriend, Paul Mize, and drank at a bar before using heroin supplied by Venable sometime after midnight—after Fritts and Mize got into an argument, according to alleged facts read in court on Monday.

[Read more…]

NSF grant of about $300,000 to support Roane State’s mechatronics program

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National Science Foundation Mechatronics Grant

Roane State mechatronics program director Gordon Williams, right, works with students at the college’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. The mechatronics program prepares students for careers in advanced manufacturing. For more information, visit roanestate.edu/mechatronics or contact Williams at (865) 354-3000, ext. 4899, or williamsg1@roanestate.edu. (Photo by Roane State)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State Community College has been awarded a three-year grant to make sure the community college’s mechatronics students have a well-rounded technical education to benefit themselves and their future employers.

The National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education grant is for $299,793. It runs through June 30, 2022.

“A great team got this project off the ground and will keep it moving forward to benefit students,” said Shelley Esquivel, the community college’s grants specialist who submitted the proposal to NSF. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: Walk through Wheat with park ranger on Sept. 14

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Wheat Community Before the Manhattan Project
The Wheat community before the Manhattan Project during World War II in the area that is now west Oak Ridge. (Photo submitted by National Park Service)

Join a park ranger for a walk through the pre-Manhattan Project community of Wheat on Saturday, September 14.

Wheat was in what is now west Oak Ridge, around the area of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. It was one of several local communities displaced by the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

Oak Ridge and two other sites involved in the Manhattan Project—Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico—are now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

[Read more…]

Knoxville Mayor Rogero to speak to Democratic women Monday

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Madeline-Rogero

Madeline Rogero

 

The Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club will host an evening with Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero at 6 p.m. Monday, August 26, in the Club Room of the Clinton Community Center at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton.

Elected in November 2011, Rogero was the 68th Knoxville mayor and the first woman to hold the office, a press release said. She was re-elected to a second term in November 2015. She is the first woman to be elected mayor in the four big cities in Tennessee—Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville, the press release said. She is term-limited, and her term will end later this year.

The press release said Rogero has focused on promoting a vibrant local economy, strong neighborhoods, a high quality of life, a thriving downtown, and a greener Knoxville. She believes Knoxville’s strength comes from the diversity of its people and the beauty of its natural resources. [Read more…]

Cedar Hill Playground temporarily closed

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The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department has temporarily closed Cedar Hill Playground due to a tree hazard, the City of Oak Ridge said Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department has temporarily closed Cedar Hill Playground due to a tree hazard. The playground will remain closed until crews are able to fully address the situation, a press release said.

“Crews have been working to safely trim the affected tree, but additional work is required,” the press release said. “Safety fencing and caution tape have been installed around the playground, and signs are being posted to notify the public of the temporary closure.”

[Read more…]

Learn about prairie wild flowers during maintenance at Oak Ridge Cedar Barren on Saturday

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See the prairie wild flowers at the Oak Ridge Cedar Barren on Saturday, August 24, during a hands-on maintenance activity with plant experts to identify wild flowers and grasses. Volunteers are needed to uproot invasive plants that would otherwise shade and kill the native cedar barren prairie plants, a press release said.

Located next to Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, the barren is a joint project of the City of Oak Ridge, the State Natural Areas Division, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. One of just a few cedar barrens in East Tennessee, the area is subject to invasion by Chinese lespedeza, Japanese privet, autumn olive, mimosa, Nepal grass, multiflora rose, and woody plants that threaten the system’s prairie grasses, the press release said.

[Read more…]