Oak Ridge Today

CTF finds about 10 grams of suspected heroin in second search of home

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James William Donald

James William Donald

 

Law enforcement officers found about 10 grams of suspected heroin in their second search of a home on West Outer Drive in less than two years.

The defendant, James William Donald, 71, told Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force Agent Kenneth Woods that he would “take money from other individuals for the purchase of heroin as well as provide heroin to friends that would visit his residence,” according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge in December.

The home on West Outer Drive is within about 75 feet of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, according to the warrants.

The most recent search by the Crime Task Force occurred on Thursday, December 20. The CTF had a search warrant to seize all controlled substances, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Y-12 criticality alarms function properly in tests

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A Nuclear Materials Corporation GA-6 Radiation Detector. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Nuclear Materials Corporation GA-6 Radiation Detector (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

 

Alarms designed to detect a nuclear criticality accident at the Y-12 National Security Complex have been tested, and the systems functioned appropriately and as required, the plant said in November.

Y-12 has had a criticality accident alarm system since 1945. A criticality accident would occur if there were an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. It could result in the release of radiation and significant exposures to nearby workers if the area were not immediately evacuated. It’s something that the plant takes steps to avoid. The alarms are designed to alert workers if there is an accident.

A nuclear criticality alarm at the 811-acre plant, which works on nuclear weapons components and stores highly enriched uranium, has been given credit for helping to save lives in a nuclear criticality accident in 1958. In that case, which was the first process criticality accident in the United States, Y-12 employees immediately evacuated when they heard the alarm.

A report published by Consolidated Nuclear Security, a federal contractor, said the basic design and electronic configuration of the older criticality alarm system installed in Y-12’s existing facilities, with the exception of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, date back to 1957. The legacy system has received many upgrades since installation, and detector stations have been removed and relocated as enriched uranium operations have evolved, said the report, titled “Qualification of Y-12 Legacy Criticality Accident Alarm System Detectors.” [Read more…]

Reminder: AC Commission has workshop on proposed DOE waste facility

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The Anderson County Commission will hold a workshop today (Monday, January 7), starting at 6 p.m., to discuss the U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed construction and operation of a new hazardous waste disposal facility on the federal reservation in Oak Ridge.

The purpose of the meeting is to allow commissioners, officials, and residents to provide comments before the deadline for public comment on Wednesday January 9, on the proposed Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF). The deadline was pushed back to this month after officials requested more time to look over the information.

David Adler, director of the Quality and Mission Support Division for the DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, will attend Monday’s meeting, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton. [Read more…]

Map: How common are earthquakes in the area?

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The recent 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur that was felt in Oak Ridge, and other reported earthquakes since then, made us wonder: How common are earthquakes in the area?

Minor earthquakes, those that can’t be felt, are fairly common, according to a customized search of data available through the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were 247 earthquakes in a roughly three-year period in an area outlined by a custom-drawn map that includes much of East Tennessee and part of western North Carolina.

But with one exception, all of the earthquakes were 3.0 magnitude or less. Earthquakes that weak are generally not felt. [Read more…]

State approves demolition of Biology Complex buildings at Y-12

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Tennessee officials have approved the demolition of two large buildings—buildings 9207 and 9210—at the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Y-12 announced in December 2018. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

Tennessee officials have approved the demolition of two large buildings—buildings 9207 and 9210—at the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex, Y-12 announced in December 2018. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Tennessee officials have approved the demolition of two large buildings at the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Biology Complex once housed more people with doctorates than anywhere in the world, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. DOE has said the men and women who worked there radically enhanced the world’s knowledge in biology, including the discovery of the Y chromosome.

Y-12 announced in December that the Tennessee Historical Commission had approved the demolition of the two buildings: Buildings 9207 and 9210. The buildings date back to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Oak Ridge was part of that project.

The demolition work at the Biology Complex is being overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. [Read more…]

Y-12 manufactured uranium core for space power experiment

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The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge manufactured the uranium core piece for the KRUSTY experiment, which is testing a new power source that could provide safe, efficient energy for future robotic and human space exploration missions. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge manufactured the uranium core piece for the KRUSTY experiment, which tested a new nuclear power source that could provide safe, efficient energy for robotic and human space exploration missions. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge manufactured the uranium reactor core for a federal experiment that tested whether a nuclear energy source could provide power for space exploration.

“The full-power run showed that it may be feasible for NASA to use small fission reactors for deep space exploration and manned missions to the moon and Mars,” the National Nuclear Security Administration said in May.

The NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, worked with NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on the project. It’s nicknamed KRUSTY, an acronym for Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology.

“In a joint venture with NASA last year, NNSA completed final design, fabrication, and full-power testing of a nuclear criticality experiment that can be used for a manned lunar or Mars space mission,” NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty said in a post published on Twitter on Friday.

The uranium reactor core from Y-12 was delivered to the National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site in the fall of 2017. [Read more…]

Homicide case ends when defendant dies

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Christy-Duncan-Memorial-Oak-Ridge-Turnpike-May-10-2016

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May 2016 ended when the defendant, Vickie Gay Gilmore, died in 2018. A memorial to Christy Duncan, the woman who died in the three-vehicle crash, was set up on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash in Oak Ridge ended when the defendant died.

The case against Vickie Gay Gilmore, 64, had been pending in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. In July, another evaluation was ordered at the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga. Gilmore was to be evaluated for her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense). She had been found to be capable of adequately helping in her defense in an earlier evaluation at Moccasin Bend in 2016, but a later evaluation by a doctor produced contrary findings, according to an April 2018 order for a new competency evaluation.

The new evaluation order in July was stayed, or delayed, in September because of Gilmore’s deteriorating health and her inability to travel.

The charges against her were dismissed in a judgement dated October 9 and filed in November. [Read more…]

Basketball: Bench provides lift in Wildcats’ win over Clinton

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Oak Ridge trailed by seven points early in a Thursday night game against Clinton, but three Wildcats came off the bench and helped flip the lead.

Clinton had taken an early lead and widened it to 15-8 halfway through the first quarter in a district game at Wildcat Arena.

But Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green put in three bench players: senior forward Shemar Smith, junior guard Jack Replogle, and sophomore guard/forward Jonathan Stewart.

The Wildcats then went on a 13-0 scoring run in the next 3.5 minutes to take a 21-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They never trailed after that. [Read more…]

Basketball: Lady Wildcats blow out Clinton 67-23

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats had a blowout 67-23 win over Clinton at home on Thursday.

Oak Ridge (16-2, 4-1 District 3-AAA) outscored Clinton 25-1 in the first quarter and continued to outscore the Lady Dragons in the next three quarters.

The Lady Wildcats were led by senior guard Jada Guinn, who scored 22 points, including 12 in the second quarter.

Sophomore guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen added 15 points for Oak Ridge, including three three-point shots. [Read more…]

Morgan County officers break up large underage drinking party in ‘The Cove’

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies responded to a New Year’s Eve party where underage teen drinking and drug use were occurring early on New Year’s Day, and deputies said several partygoers needed medical attention.

In a press release, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Wren said Morgan County dispatchers had received a call transferred from the Anderson County 911 Center at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in which someone reported a “large number of teenagers drinking and using drugs at remote property in ‘The Cove,’ a community located near Oliver Springs, just inside the Morgan County line.”

Sheriff Wayne Potter and several deputies responded to the location on Cove Lane, and they saw 15 to 20 people immediately run off into the woods. Another 25 to 30 people were found in what was described as an “open structure” on the property.

Officers immediately noticed that the majority of them were impaired and that there were numerous containers of alcohol also in the structure. Four people were immediately taken by ambulance to a hospital, including an unconscious 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy who was in “physical distress.” [Read more…]

Family escapes after kitchen fire spreads to attic

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An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2019, firefighters said. (Photo by Tom Scott/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2019, firefighters said. (Photo by Tom Scott/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

 

An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday, firefighters said.

The fire was reported just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 2.

The residents said they were cooking on the stove when a pan of grease caught fire, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. The residents were able to slow the spread of the fire with an extinguisher, but flames quickly extended through the stove hood and into the attic, the ORFD said. [Read more…]

Affidavit: Clinton man shot at two people before being shot

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Terry Lee Crawford

Terry Lee Crawford

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m.

The man shot in Clinton last week had first shot at two people before one of them, his son, shot back, according to police and an arrest warrant filed last week.

The warrant includes an affidavit, which is a brief description of an alleged crime. It alleged that Terry Lee Crawford, 61, who was arrested Monday, had shot at Joshua and Ashlee Crawford before Joshua Crawford shot back.

The shooting last week was reported at about 4:42 p.m. Wednesday, December 26, near the intersection of Lee Lane and State Route 61, which connects Oak Ridge and Clinton. Lee Lane is near a gas station and convenience store and the entrance to the Mariner Point residential subdivision.

At the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit, Joshua and Ashlee Crawford were in their house on Lee Lane when they heard gun shots, which sounded very close to their home. [Read more…]