Oak Ridge Today

OS man faces charges after head-on collision injures three on Hwy 61

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An Oliver Springs man is facing charges, including driving under the influence, after a head-on collision injured three people in two vehicles on Highway 61 west of Oliver Springs late Friday afternoon. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

OLIVER SPRINGS—An Oliver Springs man is facing charges, including driving under the influence, after a head-on collision injured three people in two vehicles on Highway 61 west of Oliver Springs late Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Ryan P. Price, 33, of Oliver Springs, will be charged with DUI, vehicular assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm while under the influence, a due care violation, failure to maintain lane, violation of the financial responsibility law, and a failure to carry registration, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said a 2003 Dodge Durango driven by Price was traveling east in the westbound lane on State Route 61 near Scandlyn Hollow Road in Roane County at about 4:55 p.m. Friday.

A 2014 Jeep Wrangler driven west by Rodger Mattox, 66, of Oliver Springs, was also in the westbound lane, which was its travel lane, the THP said. [Read more…]

Four Oak Ridge students sing in Bijou Awards competition

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Four Oak Ridge students sang in the Bijou Awards competition at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016. They are, clockwise from top left, Oak Ridge High School seniors Jacob Moreno and Treston Henderson; Marian Vacaliuc, a 7th-grader at Jefferson Middle School; and Sarah Hepler, an 8th-grader at Robertsville Middle School. (Photos by Savanna Schubert)

 

KNOXVILLE—On Saturday night, students from all over East Tennessee gathered for a night of competition at the Bijou Theatre. Students from across the region had the chance to audition to win a spot to perform on stage at the historic location.

The Fourth Annual Bijou Awards was a competition to showcase students and their performing arts talents, such as singing and acting. The competition had five different categories, and five students were selected for each category. The categories were: Rising Star, Male Acting, Female Acting, Male Singing, and Female Singing.

Four Oak Ridge Schools students were chosen to compete in this year’s awards. Sarah Hepler, an eighth-grader from Robertsville Middle School, and Marian Vacaliuc, a seventh-grader from Jefferson Middle School, sang in the Rising Star competition. Treston Henderson and Jacob Moreno, seniors from Oak Ridge High School, competed in the Male Singing category. [Read more…]

Video: Four Oak Ridge students compete in Bijou Awards

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Four Oak Ridge students competed in the Bijou Awards at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016. (Photo by Savanna Schubert)

 

KNOXVILLE—Four Oak Ridge students competed in the Bijou Awards in Knoxville on Saturday.

Freelance contributor Savanna Schubert interviewed the four students and organizer Jay Apking at the Bijou Theatre. The four students are Jacob Moreno and Treston Henderson of Oak Ridge High School, Sarah Hepler of Robertsville Middle School, and Marian Vacaliuc of Jefferson Middle School.

See the video by Schubert here:

See this story for more information about the Saturday night Bijou Awards.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Four people injured after SUV rolls in two-vehicle crash

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Four people were injured in a two-vehicle crash that caused an SUV to roll at the intersection of Manhattan and North Purdue avenues in Woodland on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Four people were injured and one of them was flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter after a two-vehicle crash caused an SUV to roll at the intersection of Manhattan and North Purdue avenues on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The crash behind Food City was reported at about 2:45 p.m. Saturday. It took emergency workers about 30 minutes to remove a passenger trapped in the back seat of the GMC Envoy that rolled onto its top. The other vehicle was a Ford F150 pickup truck.

Three ambulances responded to the scene. So did the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department. A University of Tennessee Lifestar medical helicopter picked up one patient at Methodist Medical Center and flew that person to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Council to receive briefing on Manhattan Project park from Park Service on Tuesday

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Niki Nicholas

The Oak Ridge City Council will receive a briefing on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday.

The briefing by Niki Nicholas, superintendent of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, will be during a Tuesday evening work session on January 21. It will follow a special 6 p.m. City Council meeting for boards and commissions elections in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. (See the work session agenda here. See the special meeting agenda here.)

There will also be an orientation session next week for those interested in volunteering for the new park, which includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. That orientation session starts at 10 a.m. Thursday, January 21, at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road. [Read more…]

Learn about volunteering in the Manhattan Project National Park on Thursday

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You can learn more about volunteering for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, during a meeting at the Midtown Community Center from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. National Park Service employees are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

You can learn more about volunteering for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, during a meeting at the Midtown Community Center on Thursday.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park-Oak Ridge will host a volunteer opportunities information session starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. It’s scheduled to last until 12 p.m.

The new park, which also includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, was formally established on November 10, 2015, in a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. The signing ceremony featured U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. [Read more…]

No one injured after vehicle rolls in two-vehicle crash

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No one was injured in a two-vehicle crash that caused one vehicle to roll onto its top at the intersection of Athens and Atlanta roads on Friday evening, Jan. 15, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

No one was injured in a two-vehicle crash that caused one vehicle to roll onto its top at the intersection of Athens and Atlanta roads on Friday evening, authorities said.

The two vehicles, a white Kia Sportage and a white Chevrolet Equinox, were reportedly traveling in opposite directions on Atlanta Road when the westbound Kia reportedly turned south onto Athens Road in front of the Equinox, authorities said.

The Kia came to rest against a utility pole, but emergency workers said the pole was not damaged. The Kia had to be towed away on a tow truck, while the Equinox was still able to be driven.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Man shot in ear by resident with handgun during burglary early Friday, police say

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Eddie Joe Kimblin

Eddie Joe Kimblin

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6:20 p.m.

A Harriman man was shot in the ear by a resident with a handgun during a burglary on Jefferson Avenue in Oak Ridge early Friday morning, police said.

Police responded to the home at about 12:27 a.m. Friday, January 15, after receiving a report of shots fired.

They leaned that Eddie Joe Kimblin, 47 of Blair Road in Harriman, had attempted to gain entry into the Jefferson Avenue home, an Oak Ridge Police Department press release said.

The resident had heard someone banging on his basement door and went to investigate, the release said. When he opened the door, Kimblin allegedly lunged toward him. The resident then shot a handgun at the intruder, striking Kimblin in the ear, the release said. [Read more…]

July 4 fireworks crash: Charges against driver, including homicide, sent to grand jury

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The 17 charges against an Oak Ridge man accused of killing one person and injuring 11 others in a July 4 fireworks crash at Midtown Community Center have been sent to an Anderson County grand jury. The charges against Lee Cromwell of Oak Ridge, who is pictured above, include homicide and aggravated assault. Cromwell had a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:18 p.m. Jan. 16.

The 17 charges against an Oak Ridge man accused of killing one person and injuring 11 others in a July 4 fireworks crash at Midtown Community Center have been sent to an Anderson County grand jury.

The charges against Lee Cromwell of Oak Ridge include homicide and aggravated assault. Cromwell had a five-hour preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court on Friday, January 15. It included testimony for the prosecution from victims, witnesses, police officers, and an automotive technician. Prosecutor Vickie Bannach was trying to establish probable cause for the charges to be sent to the grand jury.

The next step is for the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office to present evidence to the grand jury for possible indictments against Cromwell.

Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller said he found that probable cause had been met for the charges to be bound over to the grand jury. There is no timeline for when the grand jury might hear the case. [Read more…]

Police dispute stuck-throttle claim in fatal July 4 fireworks crash, widow testifies also

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Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins testified on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, during a preliminary hearing for Lee Cromwell, an Oak Ridge resident accused of killing one person and injuring 11 others during a parking lot crash at the Midtown Community Center on July 4, 2015, after fireworks at A.K. Bissell Park. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8 a.m. Jan. 16.

An Oak Ridge police officer on Friday disputed the claim that the throttle might have been stuck on a pickup truck in a fatal July 4 crash at Midtown Community Center immediately after fireworks in A.K. Bissell Park.

Police say they’ve found no evidence of a malfunction in a Dodge Ram pickup driven backward through the crowded parking lot that night by Lee Cromwell of Oak Ridge, and there were no active recalls on the truck that would have affected the throttle. Police also used witness statements to help refute the stuck-throttle theory during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court on Friday, January 15.

“Several of them (witnesses) said they heard his engine revving up and down,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins testified during the hearing. “If the throttle had been stuck, it would have been stuck at a consistent rpm, not up and down.”

Also Friday morning, Julia Robinson testified. She is the widow of the 37-year-old man who died, James Robinson of Knoxville. The couple was at the Midtown Community Center watching fireworks with their two daughters and a relative. [Read more…]

No one injured when car goes off SR 62, van rolls into creek

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No one was injured when this 1997 Dodge van went down a steep embankment and rolled into a creek alongside State Route 62 on the north side of Oliver Springs in Morgan County on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. Above, workers prepare to pull the van out of the creek. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

OLIVER SPRINGS—No one was injured when a car went down a steep embankment and a van rolled into a creek alongside State Route 62 on the north side of Oliver Springs on Thursday, authorities said.

The two-vehicle collision was reported Thursday afternoon just inside Morgan County, headed toward Wartburg.

Neither driver had to be taken to the hospital, Oliver Springs Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said. The drivers were identified as Larry Oliver and William Byrge. One was driving a 1997 Dodge van, and the other was driving a 1999 Toyota car.

Morgan said the vehicles appeared to be going in opposite directions when one crossed the center line. [Read more…]

Smith named president, CEO at Consolidated Nuclear Security, which operates Y-12, Pantex

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Morgan Smith

Morgan Smith

The chief operating officer at the company that operates Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Texas will become the president and chief executive officer on February 1.

Morgan Smith will replace Jim Haynes in the top leadership position at Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. Haynes is returning to an executive position at Bechtel, a press release said. Bechtel National Inc. is part of the CNS team.

CNS said Haynes successfully led the government contractor through its first phase as a consolidated organization. CNS began managing and operating Y-12 and Pantex under a consolidated contract on July 1, 2014. Both sites are important production facilities for federal nuclear security work.

“With the majority of key consolidation activities complete, CNS moves to its next phase focused on advancing operational performance and increasing production,” Haynes said in the press release. “Morgan Smith is uniquely positioned to lead CNS at this time based on his past experience managing Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program facilities and his time at CNS. Morgan and I have mapped out the path for a successful handoff. I could not be more confident in Morgan’s abilities.” [Read more…]