Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips
The runaway juvenile who had last been seen on Tuesday has been located, authorities said Friday.
Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips, 15, was located by investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and detectives from the Clinton Police Department, authorities said.
“Thanks to everyone for their help,” said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
A workshop on lawn and garden tool maintenance is being offered at the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
The workshop is sponsored by UT Arboretum Society and Downtown Hardware of Oak Ridge. It’s scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Roger Clary of Downtown Hardware and the store’s Husqvarna representative, David Waugh, are working with the UT Arboretum Society to put on the workshop, organizers said.
Door prizes will be given away along with store coupons. The UT Arboretum Society will accept donations for its program.
“Last year’s workshop was a great success!” organizers said.
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Japan Consulate-General Masami Kinefuchi, left, presents Shigeko Uppuluri of Oak Ridge with the Foreign Minister’s Commendation Award in a ceremony at ORAU on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)
An Oak Ridge resident who has advocated for a “sister city” relationship between Oak Ridge and Naka, Japan, and proposed the International Friendship Bell in Oak Ridge received a Foreign Minister’s Commendation Award from the consul-general of Japan on Wednesday.
The award was presented to Shigeko Uppuluri by Masami Kinefuchi, consul-general of Japan, during a ceremony at Pollard Technology Conference Center of Oak Ridge Associated Universities on Wednesday. It recognized Uppuluri’s contributions to the friendship and understanding between Oak Ridge and Japan.
Uppuluri is the first Oak Ridge resident to receive the award.
The consul-general honored Uppuluri for her dedication to the creation and maintenance of the sister city relationship between Oak Ridge and Naka, Japan, a press release said. She has advocated for and participated in exchanges between the two cities, contributing to the goodwill and understanding between Japan and Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will host the opening of an exhibition by Harvey Towns commemorating the 80th anniversary of the completion of Norris Dam. The opening reception will be from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Children’s Museum, which is at 461 West Outer Drive. Refreshments will be provided.
On March 4, 1936, the outlet conduit gates in Norris Dam were closed and the storage of water in the reservoir began. This exhibit displays rare and historic photographs of construction leading up to that event. Norris Dam, hydroelectric facility, was the first dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
In March 2015, a cache of original panorama photographs taken by contract photographer Rell Clements to document construction of the dam was discovered at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge by Exhibit Director Margaret Allard. Because of the age and fragile condition of the photographs, an effort to digitize and reproduce modern copies was begun. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) led the Wildcats with a game-high 15 points, including three three-point shots, during a 70-40 win over Karns in the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday, March 3, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 5:15 p.m.
Continuing a string of successes on the basketball court, the Oak Ridge Wildcats won the Region 2 championship in a 70-40 victory over Karns on Thursday. The boys’ regional win at home came one day after the girls won a Region 2 championship at Bearden.
This year, the two teams both won the District 3-AAA championships and the Region 2-AAA championships. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2008.
The Wildcats (34-2), the Region 2 champion, now move on to play David Crockett, the Region 1 runner-up, in a Class AAA sectional game on Monday. The winner advances to the state tournament. David Crockett (29-5) is one of only two teams that beat Oak Ridge this year.
“They are one of the better teams we’ve played all year,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. “It’s going to be a tough game. It should be a tremendous basketball game. There’s a lot on the line.”
The Pioneers eked out a two-point 89-87 win over the Wildcats on two free throws in double overtime in the Arby’s Classic on December 29. [Read more…]
The Coal Creek Miners Museum in Rocky Top will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting on March 11.
The museum tells the story of the miners that lived, worked, and died in Coal Creek, Fraterville, and Briceville, and it also tells about the historically significant events that changed the mining industry, a press release said.
The grand opening is scheduled from 2-5 p.m. March 11 at the new museum, which is at 201 South Main Street in Rocky Top (formerly known as Lake City). The ribbon-cutting with the Rocky Top Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Here is more information from a press release:
The story starts in the late 1800s when the “free” miners fought against the convict lease system, a struggle that ultimately ended the system in the southern states. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge freshman Jada Guinn (24) led the Lady Wildcats with a game-high 17 points during a 49-35 upset over Bearden in the Region 2-AAA championship at Bearden on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 p.m. March 3.
KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats upset Bearden and won their first Region 2-AAA championship since 2010 on Wednesday, and freshman Jada Guinn was named most valuable player in the regional tournament—one week after being named most valuable player in the district tournament.
The 49-35 win for Oak Ridge, the Region 2 champion, means the Lady Wildcats (27-4) will have home-court advantage when they play Dobyns-Bennett in a Class AAA sectional at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. Dobyns-Bennett (25-10) is the Region 1 runner-up.
Bearden (27-6), the Region 2 runner-up, will also play in a Class AAA sectional, but the Lady Bulldogs will have to travel to Morristown West (30-3), the Region 1 champion.
Sectional winners advance to the state tournament. [Read more…]
A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26, 2016. Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)
A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26.
Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions between the Caryville and Jellico exits.
The video below is from the Tennessee Department of Transportation from Monday, February 29. It shows just how much debris has made its way onto the road. Rocks continue to drop all the way to the median, and some ended up on the southbound lanes as well, according to TDOT.
The I-75 South ramp to I-640 East was closed Wednesday morning due to an overturned tractor trailer. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)
A tractor-trailer and a tanker truck overturned in Anderson and Knox counties on Wednesday morning, causing some temporary closures on roadways that have since re-opened.
The tanker truck crash was reported in Anderson County shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 75 at Mile Marker 120, authorities said. The truck went into the median and was leaking fuel from the tanker.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Anderson County EMS, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Andersonville Fire Department. Anderson County Emergency Management was called to the scene to assess the fuel spill, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation also brought resources to contain and clean up the spill, authorities said. [Read more…]
Powell had nine more rebounds than Oak Ridge and Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats battled to beat the Panthers for the fourth time this season, this time during a Region 2-AAA semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Pictured above are Oak Ridge junior Tajion Jones (3) and Powell senior Conley Hamilton (34). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Powell had more rebounds and Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats prevailed over the Panthers in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with help from the 32 points of juniors E.J. Bush and Tee Higgins.
The 53-48 win in a playoff elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday sends Oak Ridge (33-2) to the Region 2-AAA championship game on Thursday. Oak Ridge will face Karns (22-7) for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats have won the previous three contests.
Tuesday’s game was the fourth time that Oak Ridge battled Powell (22-11) this season. The Wildcats won all four matches, a difficult feat, Green said. Two of the wins were in the regular season, one was in the District 3-AAA tournament, and the last was in the Region 2-AAA tournament on Tuesday.
It’s hard to beat a team four straight times, Green said. The Tuesday night game was the closest of the four this year.
“I told the guys the last two days this is going to be a dog fight,” Green said. “This is the toughest game of the year.” [Read more…]
Brian Witham
Note: This story was last updated at 5:40 p.m.
A Maine man charged in several armed bank extortion plots, including at Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, authorities said.
Brian Scott Witham, 45, of Waterville, Maine, pleaded guilty to the charges contained in a 15-count indictment from December 2015 involving armed bank extortions of the Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, SmartBank in Knoxville, and Northeast Community Credit Union in Elizabethton, said Nancy Stallard Harr, acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Witham is one of two people charged in the bank extortion scheme.
As part of his plea agreement, Witham agreed to plead guilty to similar charges from three other federal jurisdictions including the Western District of North Carolina, the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the District of Connecticut, authorities said. Witham, U.S. attorneys, and a federal judge all agreed to transfer the similar charges to U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee, a press release said. Those charges include being a felon in possession of a firearm in Haywood County, North Carolina; armed robbery of an Ingles in Arden, North Carolina; armed robbery of the Peoples Security Bank and Trust in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania; and attempted armed bank extortion of the Achieve Financial Credit Union in New Britain, Connecticut, authorities said. [Read more…]
The Heritage Center airport development plan is pictured above in a file image from August 2015. (Cropped image from DOE Draft Environmental Assessment)
An environmental assessment has been completed for the transfer of 170 acres at Heritage Center for a general aviation airport in west Oak Ridge, and the assessment found no significant impact, officials said Tuesday.
The assessment was completed by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The land would be transferred to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.
In August, officials said conditions are subject to change, but plans then called for starting construction on the airport at the former K-25 site in 2018. An estimate at that time said the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million.
The airport would have a 5,000-foot runway that would accommodate general aviation aircraft including corporate jets, private airplanes, and emergency medical services aircraft. A development plan shows the airport at the south side of Heritage Center along Oak Ridge Turnpike, or State Route 58. [Read more…]
