The Jackson Square fountain is pictured above on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Oak Ridge, Clinton officers receive DUI Officer of the Year awards
Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Derek Burchfield, left, received a DUI Officer of the Year Award on December 7 at the Governor’s Highway Safety Office annual joint network meeting in Knoxville. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department)
Officer Derek Burchfield of the Oak Ridge Police Department and Patrolman Adam Warren of the Clinton Police Department have received DUI Officer of the Year awards.
They were among nearly 100 officers and law enforcement agencies recognized by the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office. The awards were given out at regional meetings in Jackson, Murfreesboro, Pikeville, Knoxville, and Greeneville.
The Knoxville meeting was on December 7. Seventeen East Tennessee officers received the DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Officer of the Year Award. More than 120 officers attended.
Chief James Shetterly of the Rocky Top Police Department received a Partner of the Year Award, and Officer Stanley Wade and Jacqueline West of the Rocky Top Police Department were named Child Passenger Safety Technicians of the Year. [Read more…]
City to discuss power interruptions in east Oak Ridge on Monday
Oak Ridge municipal staff members will discuss short power interruptions, or “blinks,” that have occurred in parts of east Oak Ridge in the past weeks during an informal meeting on Monday.
The meeting is scheduled from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, December 21, at the Centennial Golf Course Clubhouse.
“The purpose of the meeting will be to make information available to residents and other interested parties regarding a series of short power interruptions, or blinks, which have been occurring in the area for the last several weeks,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.
The areas that have been affected include: [Read more…]
Remaining middle school students to get convertible laptops in January
More than 300 convertible laptops were given to Oak Ridge middle school students for educational use in November. About 190 are being used by seventh-grade students at Robertsville Middle School, and roughly 130 were distributed at Jefferson Middle School. The remaining laptops will be distributed to the other middle schools students in January. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
They’ve tried a pilot program at the city’s two middle schools, and in January, school officials will distribute convertible laptops to the rest of the students at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools.
The pilot program was considered successful. It distributed more than 300 convertible laptops to about 190 seventh-grade students at Robertsville Middle School and roughly 130 sixth-grade students at Jefferson Middle School in November.
The laptops, which must be returned at the end of each school year, are part of a new program named Access Oak Ridge.
The students, grades 5 through 8, are using Lenovo Yoga 11e convertible laptops that can be used as laptops, tablets, tents, or stands. The children can use the computers for all subjects. [Read more…]
City Council to discuss state legislative agenda with legislators on Tuesday
DA Johnson: TBI investigating Morgan County Jail
State officials are investigating allegations of assaults on an inmate at the Morgan County Jail, a law enforcement official said Friday.
The two investigations by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were acknowledged on Friday by Ninth District Attorney General Russell Johnson.
The first investigation focuses on an allegation that an inmate was assaulted by another inmate on November 24, and two corrections officers may have encouraged the assault or at least stood by while it occurred, a press release said.
The second investigation involves an allegation that four corrections officers assaulted an inmate on December 15, hours after that same inmate made a seemingly unprovoked but violent assault against two corrections officers, the press release said. [Read more…]
ORNL’s Dai ranked among world’s most influential scientists
Sheng Dai (Photo by ORNL)
Sheng Dai of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named to a list of the most highly cited researchers in the world.
Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers is an annual list that recognizes some of the world’s leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences. About 3,000 researchers were named to the 2015 list.
Dai is a UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow and serves as the group leader of the Nanomaterials Chemistry Group in ORNL’s Chemical Sciences Division. He also holds a joint appointment with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee. His research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of materials for energy-related applications. [Read more…]
UCOR repairs water leak at Oak Ridge Research Reactor at ORNL
Workers turn off the valves after draining of the pool was completed at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at ORNL. (Photo by UCOR)
Workers have repaired a water leak at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, officials said this week.
The completion of the work was announced by UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor and partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.
The seep was detected in the reactor’s pool in September 2014. While it did not pose any immediate dangers to workers or the environment, it prompted quick action by the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees ORNL. DOE asked UCOR, its prime cleanup contractor, to develop and implement a solution to remedy the seep, a press release said. [Read more…]
County Commission approves 18-month lease for General Sessions Court
The seven-year lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires Dec. 31, 2015, but the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease to keep the courthouse where it is now. That will give county officials time to consider options for where to locate the courthouse. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 1:50 p.m. Dec. 18.
CLINTON—With no other alternative lined up yet, the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease for the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That will keep the courthouse at its current home until mid-2017, giving county officials time to consider where to locate the General Sessions Court, Division II.
The courthouse is used by police officers in Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top, among other agencies and businesses.
The current seven-year lease expires at the end of the year, and officials have been trying to determine since October whether to keep the courthouse where it is now, find a new location in Oak Ridge, or move the Division II court to Clinton, where Division I is located.
County commissioners approved the 18-month lease at a rate of $5,500 per month during a Thursday evening meeting. The lease, which was approved 12-2, will not include a warehouse building used by the county at the courthouse site on Bus Terminal Road. [Read more…]
Grace Covenant Church has community meal this evening
Grace Covenant Church of Oak Ridge will serve its regular third Thursday community meal on Thursday, December 17, from 5-6 p.m.
The menu includes Honey Baked ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, congealed salad, and dessert.
The meal is free, and all members of the community are welcome. Please park in the church’s upper parking lot at 320 Robertsville Road, and follow the sidewalk to the Social Hall on the lower level.
Disabled parking only is available in the lower parking lot.
Oak Ridge Animal Shelter closed Dec. 24-26, re-opens Dec. 29
AC Sheriff’s Department asks for help identifying burglary suspect
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspect in this photo. The person was involved in a residential burglary on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 on Old Tacora Hills Road near Clinton.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking the public for help in identifying the suspect in the photo above. The suspect was involved in a residential burglary on Tuesday, December 15, on Old Tacora Hills Road near Clinton.
Anyone having information on this person is asked to contact Investigator Jeff Gilliam at (865) 457-6255, extension 142, or the Sheriff’s Communications Center at (865) 457-2414.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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