The Oak Ridge Chapter of Blacks in Government (BIG), the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE), and the U.S. Department of Energy are sponsoring an evening with African-American artists on Friday, February 1, from 6 to 8 p.m., a press release said.
This event will be held at AMSE, which is located at 115 Main Street East in Oak Ridge. This event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served, the press release said. [Read more…]
The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of a criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who is now 69 and was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court two years ago after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015. Cromwell is pictured above during a hearing in a Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a separate case involving 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of the criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted of homicide after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015.
Cromwell, who is now 69, had been convicted of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court at the end of a three-day trial in February 2017.
But in July 2018, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville said Cromwell is eligible for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges. The court cited misleading and confusing jury instructions. The aggravated assault convictions, which were reversed by the appeals court, had helped to add seven years to Cromwell’s sentence.
The court upheld Cromwell’s one conviction of reckless vehicular homicide and his five-year sentence on that charge.
In August, Cromwell appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Works Department said snow plows are ready if needed, and crews put brine on the roads on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, to try to reduce the impact on driving conditions from the winter weather that is forecast to start overnight Monday and continue into Tuesday morning. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge Public Works Department put brine on roads on Monday to try to reduce the effect that winter weather might have on driving conditions. Snow plows are ready, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department are preparing by bringing in extra emergency response staff, the City of Oak Ridge said.
Snow is possible, and temperatures are expected to plunge in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The snow is expected starting overnight Monday and continuing into Tuesday morning. The low on Wednesday night is forecast at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge and Anderson County schools will be closed Tuesday due to weather.
Snow is possible, and temperatures are expected to plunge in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The snow is expected starting overnight Monday and continuing into Tuesday morning. The low on Wednesday night is forecast at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Police Department has rescheduled the Neighborhood Watch Program Banquet that had been scheduled for Tuesday.
The banquet has been rescheduled due to weather, the ORPD said in a post published on Twitter.
It is now scheduled for 6 p.m. February 12 at Central Baptist Church. [Read more…]
UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, will be closed Tuesday because of the weather.
“Only essential personnel should report,” UCOR said in a post published on Twitter.
The closure applies to UCOR employees at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and “offsite locations,” UCOR said. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy NOAA/National Weather Service
Snow is possible, and temperatures are expected to plunge in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The snow is expected starting overnight Monday and continuing into Tuesday morning. The low on Wednesday night is forecast at 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
“An arctic cold front will move across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians late tonight and Tuesday morning, bringing with it widespread precipitation,” the National Weather Service said in a winter weather advisory. “The precipitation will likely begin as a mixture of rain and snow but quickly transition to all snow around daybreak Tuesday morning. Snow and ice-covered roadways are expected area-wide, causing travel problems.”
A winter storm warning is in effect for the Great Smoky Mountains in Blount, Cocke, Sevier, and southeast Monroe counties from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, with heavy snow expected. [Read more…]
The partial government shutdown that started Dec. 22, 2018, and ended with a temporary spending measure approved Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, affected the National Park Service in Oak Ridge. During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, as pictured above on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Federal employees of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, are back at work after the partial government shutdown ended Friday.
The shutdown started Saturday, December 22, and it lasted 35 days. It was the longest government shutdown ever.
During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. The National Park Service did not monitor or update social media and websites during the shutdown, and it did not provide visitor services at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, including public information. Also, all park programs were canceled.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park said its staff resumed regular operations on Sunday after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a short-term continuing resolution that re-opened the government for three weeks. [Read more…]
Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.
Oak Ridge City Council members on Tuesday suggested next steps for Main Street Oak Ridge. The discussion occurred about a week after Council rejected a revised plan for the second phase of the project in a 4-3 vote, creating uncertainty about what will happen next. The Tuesday evening discussion was meant to help guide Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson in his conversations with RealtyLink, the developer.
The four City Council members who voted against the revised plan expressed a range of concerns on Tuesday that included having a main entrance, ensuring that there is a way to get into and see the center of Main Street, and making sure the project is walkable and has a comprehensive system of sidewalks. Individually or collectively, they objected to the proposed layout of the buildings as the site prepared to welcome a second wave of tenants, advocated for a public forum on the project, and mentioned the importance of mixed-use development. (Mixed-use developments can include retailers and residential and commercial units, among other possibilities.)
The three Council members who voted for the revised plan continued to stress the potential benefits of welcoming four new national retailers to Oak Ridge, pointed out that RealtyLink has spent tens of millions of dollars here, and emphasized the importance of the potential sales tax revenues. They said those revenues will be crucial to help pay off such debts as the renovation of Oak Ridge High School. That debt is expected to spike in 2022 and 2023, about the same time as the city will permanently lose its revenues from the state’s Hall income tax, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said.
Gooch issued a dire warning about the possibility of city inaction bringing the project to a standstill on Tuesday.
“The clock is running, and it’s going to impact us going forward,” Gooch said. “I view this as absolutely imperative to go forward. The fiscal viability of this city is at risk.”
The Council members who have raised concerns and voted against the revised plan on Monday, January 14, have stressed the importance of making sure that the city and developer pursue the best development option. They have said they want to ensure the project’s long-term success.
Here is a summary of some of the city officials’ comments from the Tuesday night non-voting work session: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge basketball games that had been scheduled for Tuesday at Karns have been moved to Monday because of the threat of snow and cold winter weather on Tuesday.
There is an 80 percent chance of snow in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday, and the low Tuesday night could be 16 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown. [Read more…]
Image by Oak Ridge Police Department
The Oak Ridge teenager who had been reported missing this month was safely located in Campbell County on Saturday night, police said.
The teen, Devin Davis, 17, of Oak Ridge, had been last seen on January 8, the Oak Ridge Police Department said last week. He was reported missing by his legal guardian. The ORPD asked for help locating Devin and said he could be in the Campbell County/LaFollette area.
“Thanks to all who shared this information during the search,” the ORPD said Sunday.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Brady Hutton
The Anderson County Grand Jury has indicted Brady Daniel Hutton, 27, on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect after a child who is less than eight years old was reported to have had serious injuries.
Hutton was arrested at his work last week by the United States Marshals Service and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, a press release said.
Before his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department had received a referral from the Department of Children’s Services on October 24 about a severe child abuse complaint they received from the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital staff in Knoxville, the press release said. At the hospital, Hutton was interviewed by DCS and ACSD Detective Darrell Slater, and it was determined there was enough probable cause to present the case to a grand jury, the press release said. [Read more…]
