A new baseball coach, Travis Free, has been named for the Oak Ridge Wildcats.
Oak Ridge High School announced the new coach this week.
Besides coaching, Free will be an eighth-grade math teacher at Robertsville Middle School. [Read more…]
FAA comments on Oak Ridge Airport could be received this week
A revised layout plan for the Oak Ridge Airport at Heritage Center from a presentation to Oak Ridge City Council by project consultant Billy Stair on Feb. 20, 2018. (Image courtesy Billy Stair)
Officials working on the proposed Oak Ridge Airport could receive comments this week from the Federal Aviation Administration about a revised layout plan, a project consultant said Thursday.
Officials are finalizing an airport runway plan. If it is approved, that would be a very positive step, project consultant Billy Stair said.
In February, Stair said the FAA wanted project officials, who are proposing to build what is known as a Class B airport, to plan for a future expansion to a Class C airport—sometime around 2040.
“To plan for such a future expansion, we need to widen the runway and taxiway at the initial construction,” Stair said in February. “We do not need to lengthen the proposed 5,000-foot runway. The new runway alignment avoids encroachment by Highway 58.” [Read more…]
Criminal case pending against man accused of crashing into school playground
Charles Eric Harmon
A criminal case is pending against a Claxton man who was allegedly intoxicated when he crashed through a chain link fence into a playground at an elementary school in Clinton and almost hit two officers with three school-aged children, Anderson County court records said.
Charles Eric Harmon, 59, had a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage about his breath and person,” and he told officers he was intoxicated and had “shot up heroin” earlier in the day and shouldn’t have been driving, Clinton Police Department Sergeant Scott Gregory said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Harmon has been charged with driving under the influence and five felony counts of reckless endangerment.
The crash was reported on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at Clinton Elementary School on North Hicks Street. Harmon has a pre-trial conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, July 30, 2018, in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.
Affidavits filed by Gregory after the crash in October said a vehicle driven by Harmon had traveled through a chain link fence into the Clinton Elementary School playground and uphill into a tree. The Clinton Police Department and Clinton Fire Department both responded. [Read more…]
Woman sentenced to 10 years, $50,000 restitution on meth charges
Kimberly Hughes Welch
CLINTON—A Knoxville woman received a 10-year sentence and was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution after pleading guilty Friday to a methamphetamine manufacturing charge following a raid at an apartment in Oak Ridge two years ago.
The meth lab raid occurred at an apartment on Tusculum Drive in central Oak Ridge on March 30, 2016. Agents found an active meth lab and items used to make meth, according to a property forfeiture affidavit filed by Russell Barker, who was director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County. The raid followed an undercover or covert narcotics investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine.
Kimberly Hughes Welch, 51, pleaded guilty to four charges related to the raid in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday. Three are felonies, and one is a misdemeanor. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge police ask for help finding missing teen
Jade Dush
The Oak Ridge Police Department is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teen. Jade Dush, age 17, of Oak Ridge, was last seen at her home on the evening of July 16, 2018.
She was reported missing the following day by her legal guardian, the ORPD said.
If you’ve seen Jade or have any information on where she might be, contact the Oak Ridge Police Department at (865) 425-4399. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge announces August hours for outdoor pool
Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will extend open hours at the outdoor pool on Providence Road into the month of August. The schedule is as follows:
- Monday-Friday: 100 meter lap swim, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.*
- Monday-Friday: Kiddie/Shallow open swim, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.*
- Wednesdays: After school open swim, 3 p.m.-8 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: Open swim, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
*The 100 meter lap swim and kiddie pool will be closed for a special event on August 1, 2018. [Read more…]
Animal adoption fees will be lower on Aug. 18
The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter on Belgrade Road is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Animal adoption fees will be lower at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter on Saturday, August 18.
The Animal Shelter is participating in the nationwide “Clear the Shelters” pet adoption event that day.
“Reduced adoption fees of $55 will be available all day as staff work to find a forever home for each adoptable animal at the shelter,” a press release said.
Animal shelters all over the U.S. are teaming up as part of the effort to find loving homes for pets in need, the press release said. This is the fourth year for the event. Oak Ridge is one of three animal shelters in East Tennessee to commit to the cause so far this year, the said. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge police kick off new school year with Operation Safe Start
An Oak Ridge Police Department school zone patrol is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A new school year will start next week, and the Oak Ridge Police Department will help to make sure students and families stay safe with Operation Safe Start beginning Monday, July 30, the first day of school, a press release said.
“The effort steps up police patrols to increase awareness of school zones and ensure drivers are following the law,” the press release said. “Residents will likely notice additional police vehicles and officers in school zones across the city.”
The press release said officers will be on the lookout for drivers who exceed posted speed limits, ignore school bus stop signs, and fail to yield for pedestrians. ORPD will also be enforcing seat belt, child passenger restraint, and distracted driving laws, including the new state law requiring the use of hands free devices in active school zones, the press release said. [Read more…]
Prosecutors withdraw death penalty in grandmother’s murder case
Valerie Stenson
Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Oak Ridge grandmother charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter seven years ago.
Announcing the decision, prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.
The state filed a withdrawal notice, announcing it would not seek the death penalty, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on March 16. The withdrawal notice has not been previously reported. [Read more…]
ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia to present community lecture Thursday
Thomas Zacharia
Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give a community lecture on Thursday. It’s the 21st season of the Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.
Besides being ORNL director, Zacharia is also president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle LLC, which operates ORNL for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
On Thursday, Zacharia will talk about the scientific agenda at ORNL in a presentation titled “Science and the State of the Lab,” a press release said. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of ORNL (FORNL) and the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF). It is free of charge, and it will be held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, the press release said.
“The talk will be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said. [Read more…]
Xavier Harper, 10, of Oak Ridge, wins gold at USA Gymnastics Competition
Xavier Harper, a rising fifth-grader at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from July 2-6 in Greensboro, N.C. (Submitted photo)
Xavier Harper, a rising fifth-grader at Robertsville Middle School, competed in the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling National Championships from July 2-July 6 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Xavier, who has attended Linden Elementary School, finished first in the nation on floor for level 10 in the 11-12 age group, a press release said.
He finished fifth in the nation on trampoline for elite level in the 11-12 age group.
He is affiliated with Premier Athletics in Knoxville. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge High School freshman orientation, new student orientation
Oak Ridge High School freshman orientation is Thursday, July 26. It’s scheduled from 8-11:45 a.m.
Students will pick up their schedules and badges in the food court and then make their way to the Auditorium, a press release said.
There will be a welcome session in the auditorium that will last about 30 minutes. Then students will be following their entire schedule (except lunch). They will stay in each class for 10 minutes, and they will be able to meet their teachers, learn their way around, and see who is in their classes, the press release said.
After orientation is over, students will follow instructions to pick up their laptops and have their school pictures taken, the release said. Parents are welcome to attend. While the students are going through their classes, parents will be attending informational sessions.
This press release was submitted by Holly Cross.
