Oak Ridge Today

Breakfast with Legislators is Monday

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McNally-Ragan-Calfee-at-Breakfast-with-Legislators-April-25-2016

Pictured above at a Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, April 25, 2016, are, from left, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Rep. John Ragan, and Rep. Kent Calfee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will host Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, February 26. The meeting will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served, a press release said.

State senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about the legislative outlook for this session of the Tennessee General Assembly and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, the press release said. The public is invited to attend.

The popular community event offers firsthand information on upcoming legislation and House and Senate committee activities, while prompting dialogue among legislators and citizens, and providing a great networking opportunity for members of the community, the press release said. [Read more…]

Clinton High School student charged with threats

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A Clinton High School student is in custody after an investigation of a social media threat, authorities said.

The 15-year-old female student sent messages to a male student on a social media site that ultimately led to threats, according to Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

The threat was investigated by Anderson County school officials and school resource officers and detectives from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Lucas said.

The female student was identified and arrested this morning, Lucas said. She is currently being held in juvenile detention pending a hearing. [Read more…]

Student arrested after threatening to ‘shoot up’ school

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Note: This story was updated at 4:40 p.m.

A Robertsville Middle School student was arrested Thursday after threatening to “shoot up the school,” authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department received a report of the threat at 9:59 a.m. Thursday. The alleged threat came during a moment of silence for the victims of the school shooting in Florida, the ORPD said.

The 13-year-old male student was immediately removed from class and taken to the principal’s office where two ORPD officers conducted an interview, according to a statement from police. The student admitted to saying he was going to “shoot up the school,” but he apologized and told officers he was joking and did not mean it, the statement said.

Officers also interviewed a parent of the student who confirmed that the teen does not have access to any firearms at home. [Read more…]

ORHS Masquers presents ‘The Music Man’ in March

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Bronson Alan as Harold Hill, Lauren McCoig as Marian Paroo, and Olivia Pinkham (behind the piano) as Mrs. Paroo in the Oak Ridge High School Masquers' production of "The Music Man" in March 2018. (Submitted photo)

Bronson Alan as Harold Hill, Lauren McCoig as Marian Paroo, and Olivia Pinkham (behind the piano) as Mrs. Paroo in the Oak Ridge High School Masquers’ production of “The Music Man” in March 2018. (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s drama program, will present “The Music Man,” the classic musical, in four performances in March.

The performances are scheduled for Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Performing Arts Center.

Advance tickets are $8, and they are available at the ORHS office and The Ferrell Shop. At the door, tickets will be $10 for adults and $9 for student-aged children, a press release said.

Under the direction of Dana Wham—who has directed, choreographed, or acted in numerous adult and children productions throughout the region—this year’s “The Music Man” continues the ORHS Masquers tradition of bringing excellent performances, impressive sets, amazing orchestration, and technical panache to the stage, the press release said. [Read more…]

Tuition-free college for adults is here; Get Reconnect Ready at Roane State on March 1

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Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus is a great place for adult students to reconnect with their education, a press release said.

And the timing has never been better. Beginning this fall, the Tennessee Reconnect grant will provide eligible adults with the opportunity to attend Roane State tuition-free.

To learn more about Reconnect, come to Roane State’s free Reconnect Ready event at the Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue, on Thursday, March 1, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. [Read more…]

ORPD officers use tourniquets to help save burglary suspect’s life

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Oak Ridge Police Department officers receive tourniquet training. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge Police Department officers receive tourniquet training. (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge police officers applied tourniquets to the arms of a burglary suspect who had severe, deep cuts and had significant blood loss, and the quick application of the tourniquets likely saved the man’s life, authorities said Tuesday.

The burglary was reported at 5:13 a.m. Tuesday on Manhattan Avenue in the Woodland neighborhood in central Oak Ridge. The resident called 911 when she heard loud noises and glass breaking outside her house, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

“She advised emergency dispatchers that someone was shouting and trying to break in through her front door,” the ORPD said.

Officers responded to the home and found a man on the front porch with severe, deep cuts to both his arms, the Police Department said. [Read more…]

Crash seriously injures motorcyclist, officer applies tourniquet

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The Oak Ridge Police Department investigates a crash between a Kia and a motorcycle that seriously injured a motorcyclist between California Avenue and Ogden Drive on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018. The Toyota at right was not involved in the crash. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Police Department investigates a crash between a Kia and a motorcycle that seriously injured a motorcyclist between California Avenue and Ogden Drive on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018. The Toyota to the right of the motorcycle was not involved in the crash. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m. Feb 23.

A crash between a Kia sport utility vehicle and a motorcycle seriously injured a motorcyclist on Outer Drive on Wednesday afternoon, and a police officer used a tourniquet to help stop bleeding, possibly saving the man’s life, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 3:50 p.m. Wednesday.

The motorcyclist had a serious injury to his lower left leg, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Tim Buckner and Probationary Officer Michael Wilson were the first to arrive at the crash. Buckner, who had received training on a tactical tourniquet in April 2017, applied a tourniquet and stopped the blood flow, Akagi said. The motorcyclist had several punctured arteries and was suffering from blood loss, authorities said. [Read more…]

Vann, who started girls basketball team at ORHS, died Friday

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Sudartha Vann

Sudartha Vann

Sudartha Ellen Vann, who started the girls basketball team at Oak Ridge High School and coached the first sanctioned game in 1973, died Friday, February 16. She was 81.

Born in Radford, Virginia, on December 5, 1936, Vann graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1955. After graduation, she worked for the Oak Ridge Recreation Department as a playground director for two years at Woodland Elementary School.

Later, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1964 and a master’s degree in 1970. She taught health and physical education at Oak Ridge High School for 30 years, according to her obituary.

Vann was a good athlete, and she loved basketball, her obituary said. She participated in the 1954 and 1955 Southern Appalachian Basketball Tournament at Chilhowee Park. These teams were comprised of Oak Ridge Church League players and coached by Margaret Gotshall. Vann earned numerous relay medals swimming at the Oak Ridge Municipal Pool at the ACAC swim meets, where large crowds would gather to watch swimmers compete from several southern states, and she played softball for more than 10 years for the Kerns Methodist team. [Read more…]

Updated: Fisherman finds body of missing man at Bull Run Park

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The Anderson County Rescue Squad and Anderson County Sheriff's Department helped retrieve a body found under water in Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Rescue Squad and Anderson County Sheriff’s Department helped retrieve a body found under water in Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. Feb. 22.

CLAXTON—A fisherman found a body under about four feet of water at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, and it has been identified as the man reported missing from Karns in Knox County on Sunday morning, authorities said.

The body of Freddy Shultz, 66, was located on the slope of the bank of Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park at about 3:48 p.m. Wednesday, according to information from Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The body was located near the New Henderson Road bridge after four days of searching.

Divers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and a boat with personnel from the Anderson County Rescue Squad assisted in the recovery, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

White said identification in the man’s wallet identified him as the missing man. His black pickup truck had been found parked alongside New Henderson Road across the creek from Bull Run Park at about 12:45 p.m. Sunday. [Read more…]

Attempted murder charge sent to grand jury

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William Molette

William Molette

 

An attempted first-degree murder charge filed against an Oak Ridge man who allegedly admitted to shooting a woman over a grudge related to having to surrender a puppy has been sent to the grand jury, according to Anderson County court records.

William Antwon Molette, 44, had a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, February 13.

Besides attempted first-degree murder, two other charges filed against Molette were bound over to the grand jury: armed dangerous felonies and violation of the sex offender registry.

One charge of armed dangerous felonies was dismissed. [Read more…]

Council to receive updates on airport, preschool, senior center on Tuesday

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Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will hear updates on three projects during a special meeting on Tuesday: the proposed Oak Ridge General Aviation Airport, the planned Oak Ridge Preschool, and the planned Oak Ridge Senior Center.

The special meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 20, in the Multipurpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane.

The presentation and status report on the proposed airport is scheduled to be given by aviation consultant Billy Stair and Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. Stair and Marrison gave a status report to Roane County officials in December. The Oak Ridge Airport would be built at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, which is in the Roane County portion of Oak Ridge.

The airport presentation in Oak Ridge was initially scheduled for January, but it was rescheduled to Tuesday because of winter weather last month. [Read more…]

Anderson County Rescue Squad to resume search for missing man

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Rescuers in an Anderson County Rescue Squad boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. At center is Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Rescuers in an Anderson County Rescue Squad boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. At center is Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Anderson County Rescue Squad was going to resume searching Monday afternoon for a missing man whose pickup truck was found parked on the side of the road near the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Sunday, authorities said.

The man, reported to be 66, was reported missing in Knox County on Sunday morning.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said the man’s black pickup truck was located on the side of road across Bull Run Creek from Bull Run Park. The keys were in the truck, and a suicide note was in the truck, White said. The vehicle was parked alongside New Henderson Road at Tracy Allison Lane. Deputies found it near Bull Run Park at about 12:45 p.m. Sunday.

But rescuers aren’t certain that the man is in the water, said White, who was among those on rescue boats searching the cold water on Sunday.

“We don’t know where he’s at or if he’s here,” White said. [Read more…]