Oak Ridge Today

Ticket information for Oak Ridge-Walker Valley football game Friday

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The first-round playoff game between Oak Ridge and Walker Valley will start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 4, on Blankenship Field. Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats after a 28-0 region championship win at Campbell County on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The first-round playoff game between Oak Ridge and Walker Valley will start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 4, on Blankenship Field.

The gates open at 5:30 p.m. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

All tickets are $8. No passes will be honored. There is no charge for pre-schoolers.

No pass lists will be honored, according to information from Oak Ridge High School. Everyone must pay.

Tickets are on sale in the Main Office at ORHS until 2 p.m. Friday and at The Ferrell Shop in Jackson Square. [Read more…]

Check out this video of Nebraska Avenue Halloween House

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By City of Oak Ridge

Have you seen the Nebraska Avenue Halloween House? We stopped by today as the Scott family was putting the finishing touches on their elaborate attraction.

It takes them three solid months of work to get all these decorations in place. They give out tons of candy and see thousands of people pass through every Halloween.

In a week or so, it’ll all come down so they can start putting up their Christmas display. [Read more…]

TBI agent to discuss human sex trafficking in Tennessee during Tuesday lunch

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Human sex trafficking has been defined as modern day slavery, a travesty that is hidden in plain sight. It happens in every zip code and crosses all socioeconomic, educational, and racial lines. Tennessee is no exception.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent-in-Charge Margie Quinn will give her perspective on human sex trafficking in Tennessee at the next Lunch with the League on Tuesday, November 1. The program will be at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Quinn will discuss what’s being done to combat human sex trafficking in Tennessee, a press release said. [Read more…]

Higgins won’t play basketball this season in order to focus on football

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This photo is property of Allen Greene. Unauthorized use of this photo is not permitted without consent.

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins won’t play basketball for the Wildcats this season in order to focus on football. Higgins (5), who was then a junior, scored 25 points for the Wildcats in a double-overtime 87-85 quarterfinal loss to David Crockett in the Arby’s Classic basketball tournament in Bristol on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. (Photo by Allen Greene/TriCitiesSports.com)

 

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins, a standout in football and basketball, confirmed on Sunday that he won’t play basketball for the Wildcats this season in order to focus on football.

Higgins is a wide receiver who has committed to Clemson. He had posted on Twitter on Friday that it was his decision to not play basketball this year.

Higgins, who was listed as 6’5″ and 190 pounds earlier this football season, has been one of the most dynamic players for the Wildcats on the basketball court. He has had the ability to fire up crowds with powerful dunks. (One dunk at Gibbs in December got the attention of ESPN.) Higgins played as a freshman on the 2014 runner-up team in the state championship game, and since then, he’s been a key part of the team and a regular starter, with some memorable clutch free throws and three-point shots in big basketball games.

Higgins was regularly one of the top scorers for the Wildcats, and he was one of three Class AAA Mr. Basketball finalists earlier this year. (You can see the list of finalists and winners here.) He had picked up basketball scholarship offers from Tennessee, Louisville, Auburn, and others, according to PrepXtra at the Knoxville News Sentinel. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man indicted on aggravated robbery, aggravated assault charges

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Duran Maszae Lee

Duran Maszae Lee

An Oak Ridge man has been indicted on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for an alleged home-invasion robbery on Dewey Road three years ago.

Duran Maszae Lee, 32, has been charged with aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and possession of more than 14.175 grams of marijuana. The indictments were returned by the Anderson County Grand Jury on October 4.

Lee has an arraignment scheduled for Monday in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton.

He remains jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, according to jail records.

Arrest warrants filed after the alleged robbery on Dewey Road on November 22, 2013, said an Oak Ridge man was allegedly hit in the head and face with a pistol and a woman who was nine months pregnant at the time blacked out from fear when a suspect pointed a silver revolver at her during the Friday night home invasion.

The suspects allegedly stole a Sentry safe containing $3,000 from a closet and fled in a vehicle before officers arrived, according to affidavits attached to the arrest warrants and filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Rocky Top donates to Family Drug Treatment Court of Anderson County

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Pictured left to right are Rocky Top Police Chief Jim Shetterly, Mayor Michael Lovely, Stephanie Strutner of ASAP, and City Manager Michael Foster. Rocky Top City officials presented a $500 check to ASAP of Anderson County to support the Family Drug Treatment Court. (Submitted photo)

 

At the Rocky Top City Council meeting last week, Mayor Michael Lovely, Police Chief Jim Shetterly, and City Manager Michael Foster presented a check for $500 to Stephanie Strutner, executive director of Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County Inc., to support the Family Drug Treatment Court of Anderson County.

“The Family Drug Treatment Court has been under development for a number of years based on best practices from effective programs from across the country,” Strutner said. The program is geared toward rehabilitating not only adolescents through the Juvenile Court system, but their family unit as well, a press release said.

“This program offers the possibility to break the generational cycle of substance abuse many of our juvenile offenders experience,” Juvenile Court Judge Brian Hunt said. “It also offers hope—hope that these adolescents can stay out of jail as adults and become contributing members of their community.” [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department offers Halloween safety tips

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Halloween will be Monday, October 31, and neighborhoods will once again be scattered with trick or treaters. For a fun and safe Halloween, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is offering the following safety tips: [Read more…]

FBI seeks help identifying suspect in Farragut bank robbery on Thursday

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Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect who robbed the Capital Bank in Farragut on Thursday., Oct. 17, 2016. (Photo courtesy FBI)

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect who allegedly robbed the Capital Bank in Farragut on Thursday.

The armed robbery was reported at Capital Bank at 136 Concord Road in Farragut at about 9:32 a.m. Thursday, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

“Reports indicate that a masked man entered the Capital Bank, brandished a semi-automatic handgun, and demanded money from the bank employees,” an FBI press release said. “After obtaining an undetermined amount of money, the suspect fled the scene.”

Here is a description of the suspect, according to the FBI: [Read more…]

Public safety meeting on Nov. 10 to discuss pedestrian safety improvements on Turnpike

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A $433,000 grant awarded to the City of Oak Ridge would be used to make traffic signal and pedestrian improvements at two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, including at South Tulane Avenue. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

There will be a public meeting in November to discuss pedestrian safety improvements on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, November 10, at the Central Services Complex at 100 Woodbury Lane (behind the Hobby Lobby/Kmart shopping center). The meeting will include a project overview and public input session, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

The pedestrian safety improvements are being designed for Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Route 95) at Tulane Avenue and East Division/Tennyson roads.

“These upgrades are necessary to improve accessibility and provide a safe transportation link for people in the area,” the press release said.

The press release said the intersection improvements will include: [Read more…]

Oak Ridge girls’ team runs best race of year, but finishes fourth in region; Schwartz going to state

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Genevieve Schwartz of Oak Ridge, right, finished 10th in the Region 2-AAA girls’ cross country race at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. Behind Schwartz is Jenna Wall of Hardin Valley Academy, who finished eighth. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge girls’ cross country team ran its best race of the year but finished fourth in the region on Thursday, just missing the cutoff to advance to the state meet next Saturday.

Only the top three teams in the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday advanced to the state meet in Nashville next Saturday.

However, Oak Ridge junior Genevieve Schwartz finished 10th in the 5,000-meter, or 5k, race. Anyone who finishes in the top 10 and is not on a qualifying team advances to state.

The top three girls’ teams in the Region 2 meet were West, Farragut, and Hardin Valley. West, a Knoxville school, had the top two runners, Lindsey Stallworth and Madeline Shook.

Anderson County and Hardin Valley each had two runners in the top 10, and like Oak Ridge, Farragut had one.

It will be the first trip to state for Schwartz, who finished with a time of 20:36.90. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge boys, Etheridge are Region 2 champs, headed to state cross country meet

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Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the boys’ race in the Region 2-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge and the boys’ cross country team finished first in the Region 2-AAA meet in Knoxville on Thursday, and they will race in the state meet next Saturday.

It’s the third regional championship in a row for the boys’ team. It’s the second year in a row for Oak Ridge to have the top male racer. Gashaw Duhamel, who ran for Oak Ridge as a senior last year, was the top runner last year.

The boys’ cross country team finished as state runner-up in 2015. Brentwood, a Nashville area school, was state champion with two of the three top runners (one a sophomore and one a junior), and that team is considered a favorite again this year. Other top teams this year include Daniel Boone of upper East Tennessee, which has been a strong team, and Wilson Central of Nashville.

Etheridge led the entire 5,000-meter, or 5k, run during the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday.

“I got out hard, and I kept going,” said Etheridge, who finished with a time of 16:27.87. That was about 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Seth Bowden of Maryville High School. [Read more…]

Cross country photos: Oak Ridge boys win Region 2-AAA championship

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Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the boys’ race in the Region 2-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ cross country team finished first in the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. It was the third year in a row that the boys have won the regional championship.

The boys will race in the state cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday, November 5.

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the regional meet on Thursday. Sophomore Dalton Morgan was fourth. Daeton Byars was eighth, Reid Dukes was 10th, Will Jeter was 15th, Christian Borden was 21st, and Jose Villegas was 29th.

Here are photos from the Thursday meet by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today.

[Read more…]