Oak Ridge Today

Man pleads guilty to murder-, robbery-related charges in drug deal that ended in death

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Bronx Washington

Bronx Washington

An Oak Ridge man has pleaded guilty to murder- and robbery-related charges in what police described as a marijuana deal that ended with one man dead.

Bronx Shavon Washington, who is now 22, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday. He entered the guilty pleas on a reduced charge of facilitation to commit second-degree murder, a Class B felony, and a reduced charge of facilitation to commit aggravated robbery, a Class C felony. Washington received a total 14-year sentence on those two charges as well as a drug possession charge. He was the last of three defendants to plead guilty in the case.

Washington and two brothers, Brandon Javon Brooms, now 25, and James Stefan Brooms, now 27, had each been indicted in March 2012 on charges of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in the death of Antonio “Tony” Phillips, 22. [Read more…]

ASAP’s Strutner named 2016 Advocate of Year by anti-drug coalition

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Stephanie-Strutner

Stephanie Strutner accepted CADCA’s National Advocate of the Year Award in National Harbor, Maryland on Feb. 4, 2016. (Submitted photo)

Award recognizes individuals who are exceptional advocates for drug prevention field

Stephanie Strutner has been named the 2016 Advocate of the Year by Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, or CADCA, the nation’s leading substance abuse prevention organization.

Strutner, executive director of Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, accepted the award on Thursday, February 4, during CADCA’s 26th annual National Leadership Forum. The forum was at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

CADCA represents more than 5,000 community anti-drug coalitions across the country.

The Advocate of the Year award recognizes substance abuse prevention leaders who are exceptional advocates in the field, forge relationships and educate their elected officials throughout the year about key substance abuse-related issues, and help to ensure that members of Congress understand the importance of community coalitions. [Read more…]

Pro2Serve, Covenant Health form joint venture in health care data analytics

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Pictured above are Tony Spezia, left, president and CEO of Covenant Health, and Barry Goss, founder and CEO of Pro2Serve. (Submitted photo)

 

Professional Project Services Inc., or Pro2Serve, and Covenant Health have formed VortexT Analytics Inc., a strategic partnership that will address the rapidly evolving field of big data analytics in health care, a press release said.

The joint venture will use VortexT, a data analytics software based on algorithms originally developed and patented by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and licensed and further advanced by Pro2Serve. VortexT is currently being used in critical national security applications and is producing valuable data, the press release said.

Barry Goss, founder and chief executive officer of Pro2Serve, calls VortexT “a disruptive big data analytics technology that is proven, sustainable, and ready to be introduced into commercial markets, starting with healthcare.

“VortexT analyzes more data in less time and at less cost, and produces more valuable information than other big data analytics technologies,” Goss said. “We also hold field-of-use licenses for applying the technology to the insurance, financial services, and legal services industries.” [Read more…]

Early voting starts today in Tennessee

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Note: This story was last updated at 1:30 p.m.

Early voting for the March 1 presidential preference primary, or “SEC Primary,” begins today (Wednesday, February 10).

In this election cycle, voting early may be an important option because of unpredictable winter weather, state officials said in a press release. The number of presidential candidates as well as the number of delegates could also create incredibly long ballots for some voters.

Six Southern states will join Tennessee to help decide who could be the next president of the United States. The Volunteer State’s clout could mean more primary interest than in years past. [Read more…]

Boys & Girls Club Gala is Saturday—enjoy the evening, support youth

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Boys-Girls-Club-Clinch-Valley-Gala-2016The Boys & Girls Club of Oak Ridge has its Gala 2016 on Saturday, February 13.

The Gala includes dinner, dancing, and an auction. Tickets are $100 per person, and black tie attire is encouraged. You must be 21 to attend.

“This will be a beautiful evening to celebrate an early Valentine’s Day and support the youth in our community!” organizers said.

The Gala is from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge.

You can contact Boys & Girls Club staff or board members for tickets, or you can email Jennifer Pettyjohn at JPettyjohn@bgcor.org. You can also visit the event page here.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

With four games scheduled, record-breaking crowd expected at Wildcat Arena on Saturday

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Wildcat-Arena-2016

With four basketball games scheduled, including Oak Ridge vs. Fulton, officials are expecting a record-breaking crowd at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (Photo by David Clary)

 

There are four basketball games scheduled at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, including Oak Ridge vs. Fulton. Officials are expecting a record-breaking crowd, and they are encouraging all Oak Ridge fans to arrive early.

The schools that will be playing are Fulton, Jefferson County, Maryville, and Oak Ridge.

Here are the basketball games scheduled for Saturday, February 13:

3 p.m. girls game—Maryville vs. Jefferson County

Maryville is 19-6 overall and 11-3 in District 4-AAA.

Jefferson County is 16-9 overall and 10-3 in District 2-AAA.

4:30 p.m. girls game—Oak Ridge vs. Fulton

Oak Ridge is 20-3 overall and 14-0 in District 3-AAA.

Fulton is 10-8 overall and 4-4 in District 3-AAA. [Read more…]

Video: Free group guitar lessons at Oak Ridge Senior Center

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Wendall Cook teaches free group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. from January through the first week of October at the Oak Ridge Senior Center.

Freelance contributor Savanna Schubert talks to Cook, a few of his students, and Senior Center Manager Linda McGhee in the video below.

The Oak Ridge Senior Center is at 728 Emory Valley Road. Call (865) 425-3999 for more information.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Cook teaches guitar, love of music at Oak Ridge Senior Center

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Wendall Cook teaches free group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. from January through the first week of October at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. (Photo by Savanna Schubert)

 

Wendall Cook has been playing guitar for more than 60 years. It began when he was growing up, listening to Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Cook started playing and singing with the help from his father, and it began with three chords on the guitar.

Now Cook has a class of his own. He has been giving group guitar lessons every Friday at 9 a.m. for more than 11 years. His group has grown from a small jam session of three people to four classes of more than 60 students ranging from beginner to advanced.

“We started from three people and they kept inviting people in—by the end of the year we had seven or eight,” Cook said. “I never have been a professional teacher, but I like to share.”

Cook’s passion for teaching can be seen just by sitting in on one class. His love for the music and the students are unparalleled. We spoke with a couple of Cook’s students about why they got started and how the group lessons have grown. [Read more…]

Wildcats finish top in district, enter playoffs as No. 1 seed

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Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) scored 10 points for the Wildcats during an 86-60 win over Karns on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Wildcats, who are undefeated in their district, won the regular-season district championship on Friday and will enter the basketball playoffs as the top seed.

The Wildcats (26-2, 14-0 District 3-AAA) will also automatically get a spot in the Region 2 tournament, Coach Aaron Green said.

Oak Ridge played Karns again on Friday. That game was not as close as the last meeting between the two teams, when the Wildcats escaped with a 72-68 win. In that January 5 game, the Beavers whittled the lead down to two points, 70-68, with 1:04 remaining, and they had a chance to tie the game or even take the lead with about 35 seconds left.

The second game, at Wildcat Arena on Friday, February 5, was competitive, but Oak Ridge maintained a healthy lead through most of it, often leading by 10 points or more. They were up by 13 points, 43-30, at halftime, and widened the lead in the fourth quarter to finish with an 86-60 win.

Oak Ridge has two district games remaining. The first had been scheduled for Tuesday, January 9, at Halls (6-19, 2-12), but it has been postponed to Wednesday. The second is at Campbell County (14-12, 5-9) on Friday. [Read more…]

Williams named UCOR chief operating officer

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Fran-Williams

Fran Williams

Fran Williams has been selected as the chief operating officer for UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

Williams will fill the position vacated last month by Matt Marston, who left to accept a senior management position within AECOM, one of the parent companies of UCOR, or URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

Williams is returning to UCOR, where she previously served as manager of Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality Assurance, a press release said. She retired in 2015 after overseeing UCOR’s successful designation as a Star site in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Voluntary Protection Program. Star status recognizes the safest operating sites in the nation.

She also helped set the company on a course to achieve more than five million work hours without a lost-time accident, the press release said. [Read more…]

Top 3 in DOE middle school science bowl: Farragut, Jefferson, Norris

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Farragut Middle School finished first in the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl at Roane State Community College on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. Pictured above from left to right are Kevin Wang, Prajwal Jagadish, Caden Farley, Aditya Bal, Luke Kronzer, and Coach Mary Sue Pruitt. (Submitted photo)

 

Farragut Middle School finished first in the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl on Saturday. Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge finished second, and Norris Middle School finished third.

The sixth annual East Tennessee Middle School Science Bowl was on Saturday, February 6, at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. It highlighted the academic and problem-solving abilities of students representing 13 Tennessee middle schools, a press release said.

“The Middle School Science Bowl is a competition that tests participants’ knowledge in mathematics and the sciences,” the press release said.

There were 16 teams this year, and they included some of the state’s brightest middle school students. The students were quizzed in a fast-paced question-and-answer format similar to the Jeopardy! television game show, the press release said. Each team included four student competitors, an alternate, and a coach who also served as the team’s adviser.

After an intense competition, three winning teams emerged and received monetary awards: [Read more…]

No one injured when fire starts in bed of commercial landscaping truck

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Oak Ridge Fire DepartmentNo one was injured when the Oak Ridge Fire Department extinguished a fire in the bed of a commercial landscaping truck on Melton Lake Drive on Monday morning, authorities said.

The truck fire was reported at about 8:30 a.m. Monday on Melton Lake Drive near Rivers Run Drive. The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department both responded.

The truck belonged to Eastwood Landscaping of Knoxville.

Melton Lake Drive was closed from 8:30 a.m. until just after 11 a.m. due to the fire, a press release said. The exact cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.