Oak Ridge Today

Lightning starts bedroom fire

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No injuries were reported when lightning sparked a fire in a bedroom in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, firefighters said. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

No injuries were reported when lightning sparked a fire in a bedroom in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, firefighters said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to reports of a tree being struck by lightning in the 100 block of Baltimore Drive at about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 2.

Firefighters said the energy from the lightning strike ran into a nearby home, causing the electrical outlets in a bedroom to arc. The electrical arcing set a bed on fire, which heavily damaged the bedroom and its contents, a press release said.

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Photos: July 4 fireworks

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The annual fireworks show was in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 4, 2019. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The annual fireworks show was in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Thursday. The Oak Ridge Community Band performed before the fireworks.

Here are photos by Julio Culiat and D. Ray Smith.

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Oak Ridge resident appointed to state judicial conduct board

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Edwena L. Crowe of Oak Ridge has been appointed to Tennessee’s reconstituted Board of Judicial Conduct.

The appointment was announced in a Wednesday afternoon press release from the office of Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican.

The Board of Judicial Conduct was created by the Tennessee Legislature to investigate complaints against judges and ensure accountability and ethical conduct in the judiciary, the press release said.

“Edwena Crowe is a pillar of this community and a woman of strong ethical character,” McNally said in the press release. “The Board of Judicial Conduct needs citizens who are able to look at the evidence, make decisions, and stand by them. Edwena is a highly skilled executive who understands how to make good decisions based on the evidence presented. The Board will be stronger with her contributions. I am confident she will do well.”

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For members: Man sentenced to 8 years in death of son in crash

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An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison when he pleaded guilty Friday, June 28, 2019, to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son on January 13, 2017. The defendant, Jason Robert Braden II, is pictured above at center in Anderson County Criminal Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represented Braden. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday when he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son in January 2017.

The man told police that he had injected roxycodone about six to eight hours before the crash and was driving to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with a man who had overdosed at the time of the two-vehicle collision at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive, according to court documents.

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison when he pleaded guilty Friday, June 28, 2019, to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son on January 13, 2017. The defendant, Jason Robert Braden II, is pictured above at center in Anderson County Criminal Court on Friday, March 29, 2019. At left is defense attorney David Stuart, who represented Braden. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Anderson County man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday when he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash in Oak Ridge that killed his three-year-old son in January 2017.

The man told police that he had injected roxycodone about six to eight hours before the crash and was driving to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with a man who had overdosed at the time of the two-vehicle collision at Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive, according to court documents.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.  Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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NRC has hearing on Oak Ridge site that could host small nuclear reactors

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Image by the NRC from the April 2019 “Reader’s Guide” for the “Final Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit at the Clinch River Nuclear Site.”

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a hearing for an application for a site in west Oak Ridge where small modular nuclear reactors could be built.

The hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, August 14, at the NRC in Rockville, Maryland.

The NRC will discuss an early site permit application submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Clinch River Nuclear Site. TVA has proposed using the 935-acre site, which is along the Clinch River south of Heritage Center (the former K-25 site), to build two or more small modular reactors. The site once hosted the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project.

During the August 14 hearing, the NRC will have an evidentiary session to hear testimony and receive exhibits in the uncontested proceeding for TVA’s early site permit application, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Monday.

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FAA conditionally approves Oak Ridge Airport

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This is an aerial image of the current layout plan for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority)

The Federal Aviation Administration provided a conditional approval for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport in a February letter, a consultant said Thursday.

The conditions included in the February 22 letter included the completion of a benefit cost analysis and an environmental assessment for the airport property, project consultant Billy Stair said.

In response to the conditional approval, the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority’s board of directors approved a work authorization for CHA Consulting Inc. during a June 19 meeting. CHA Consulting, which has an office in Louisville, will provide professional services for “qualifications development and agency scoping” for the design, environmental assessment, and benefit cost analysis for the proposed airport.

“This puts in motion the process for undertaking the BCA (benefit cost analysis) and EA (environmental assessment),” Stair said.

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Celebrate 50th anniversary of moon landing

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Julie Rhyne

Tamke-Allan Observatory will begin its summer public stargazing with a 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing on Saturday, July 6. The gates will open at 7:30 p.m., and a public lecture will be presented at 8 p.m. by guest lecturer Julie Rhyne, a press release said.

July marks the 50th anniversary of landing humans on the moon, the press release said. NASA’s Project Apollo, the program developed to land people on the moon, represented the “remarkable efforts of engineers, scientists, and many various industries around the country working together to accomplish one of the greatest feats in human history,” the press release said.

It said the July 6 presentation will provide an overview of the spacecraft and the Apollo missions. There will be pictures and memorabilia, moon globes, and hands-on learning about the Saturn V rocket that launched men to the moon, the release said.

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Secret City Weather has new website

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Secret City Weather launched a new website on Sunday evening, which is now available at www.SecretCityWeather.com.

The new website replaces the former SecretCityWx.weebly.com, which will remain active for the foreseeable future, a press release said.

“The new website makes it easier to find local weather content for the East Tennessee area and adds to our growing portfolio of social media platforms that we use to publish local weather conditions, forecasting, and analysis,” said Brandon Bonds, owner of Secret City Weather. [Read more…]

Recreation Department to host indoor yard sale

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Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host an indoor yard sale on Saturday, July 20. The sale is open to the community, a press release said.

Anyone interested in selling items at the event can reserve space for a small fee, the press release said. The sale is scheduled from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. inside the Oak Ridge Civic Center gymnasium.

The cost to reserve one vendor space is $15. Sellers can purchase up to two spaces while they are available. 

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Photos: USA Cycling championships in Oak Ridge

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The USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships opened Thursday, June 27, 2019, on Melton Lake Drive with the Individual Time Trial events. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships opened Thursday with the Individual Time Trial events on Melton Lake Drive in Oak Ridge.

The championship racing events continued Friday through Sunday in Knoxville.

Here are photos from Thursday’s races by Julio Culiat.

In the races in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Amber Neben, 44, of Lake Forest, California (Cogeas – Mettler Pro Cycling Team), successfully defended her title in the elite women category, according to USA Cycling. She was in a field of 23 women, and she secured her third consecutive gold medal in the individual time trials with a time of 30 minutes and 19 seconds.

The time trial course was 7.12 miles (11.5 kilometers). Women completed two laps, and men raced for three.

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For members: Woman pleads guilty to homicide in death of son

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Ashley Marie Ann Braden

CLINTON—A Clinton woman pleaded guilty Thursday to a homicide charge in the death of her three-year-old son in a crash in Oak Ridge in January 2017.

Ashley Marie Braden, 24, pleaded guilty to a single charge of criminally negligent homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton during a 15-minute hearing Thursday morning.

Ashley Marie Ann Braden

CLINTON—A Clinton woman pleaded guilty Thursday to a homicide charge in the death of her three-year-old son in a two-vehicle crash in Oak Ridge in January 2017.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.  Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Clinton man charged with attempted murder

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Terry Lee Crawford

The Clinton man who allegedly shot at two people before one of them, his son, shot back, has been charged with attempted murder, according to court records.

The Anderson County Grand Jury indicted Terry Lee Crawford, 62, on two counts of attempted second-degree murder on June 4. Those charges allege that Crawford tried to kill Joshua Crawford and Ashlee Crawford. The alleged shooting was reported at a home adjacent to Crawford’s on Lee Lane in Clinton on December 26.

Crawford was also charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. The aggravated assault charges allege that Crawford caused Joshua and Ashlee Crawford to fear imminent bodily injury because of the gun, and the reckless endangerment charges allege that Terry Crawford engaged in reckless conduct that placed Joshua and Ashlee Crawford in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury through the use of a deadly weapon.

Crawford faces two other charges as well: being a convicted felon who possessed a handgun and vandalism between $1,000 and $2,500. The vandalism charge alleges that Crawford damaged the exterior of Joshua and Ashlee Crawford’s home, causing more than $1,000 in damage.

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