Oak Ridge Today

ADFAC to honor Cande Seay with Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award

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Cande Seay

Cande Seay

 

ADFAC will honor dedicated volunteer and advocate Cande Seay with its Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award in a celebration and fundraiser on Tuesday.

It’s the Third Annual Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Celebration and Fundraiser. It will be held Tuesday, October 27, from 5:30-8 p.m. at St. Mary’s Parish Life Center in Oak Ridge.

“Our community will come together to honor this very special lady, and we hope family, friends, past coworkers, and the many admirers of Cande Seay will join us!” a press release said.

Seay was unanimously chosen earlier this year as the 2015 winner of ADFAC’s Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award. Previous winners of the prestigious award have been Ray Smith and the late Tim Myrick. [Read more…]

Linden Elementary has Scholastic Monster Book Fair Oct. 26-30

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Linden Elementary School Book Fair October 2015

Linden Elementary School has a Scholastic Monster Book Fair from Oct. 26-30, 2015. (Submitted photo)

 

Linden Elementary School has a Scholastic Monster Book Fair this week.

The Book Fair is scheduled from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday, October 26, to Friday, October 30.

There are extended hours until 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

Clinton Church of Christ has ‘Trunk-or-Treat’ on Halloween

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The Clinton Church of Christ has a “Trunk-or-Treat” on Halloween night, Saturday, October 31, starting at 5 p.m. in the parking lot of their facility at 500 North Main Street in Clinton.

“Stop by on your trick-or-treat route and join us!” the church said.

Thanksgiving community meal being organized in Oak Ridge

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A community meal is being organized on Thanksgiving (November 26) for those who are in need.

The meal will be held at the Robertsville Middle School Cafeteria from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thanksgiving. It will be served by a group called @1558neighbor, which is a group that has a mission to help and give a hand up to our neighbors in need, an announcement said.

“This meal will be a community meal, and with that being said, we will be counting on the Oak Ridge community to help volunteer whether by donating money, time, or food,” the announcement said. [Read more…]

Pumpkin Festival is Saturday in Grove Center

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Pumpkin Fest 2015

By Jim Widener

The 13th Annual Pumpkin Festival in the Historic Grove Center on Halloween will feature live music, family-friendly activities, and food vendors. The Pumpkin Festival is from noon until 6 p.m. Saturday, October 31, at Oak Ridge’s Historic Grove Center. The community is invited to enjoy Halloween with us!

Dress up and get in the spirit. Kids are especially encouraged to enter the costume contest. Our celebrity judges will present prizes for the best costumes. Pets and their people are encouraged to dress in outrageous, fanciful costumes and join in the fun! Pets are allowed to come in on a foot-powered float, like a wagon or decorated bicycle. And don’t forget the pumpkin chunkin’ contest! [Read more…]

Relics of a Firefighter: Retired volunteer fireman, avid collector to lead educational event Saturday

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Relics of a Firefighter

Tom Scott, a retired volunteer fireman and avid collector, will be the guest speaker at an educational event on Saturday titled “Relics of a Firefighter.” It starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 24, at Through the Looking Glass Antiques in Jackson Square.

Scott was a volunteer firefighter in Newport, Rhode Island; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Aiken, South Carolina.

He has been a member of the Oliver Springs Fire Department since 1974.

In 1992, he became the volunteer photographer for the Oak Ridge Fire Department. [Read more…]

Democratic women host discussion on climate change on Monday

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Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith

Climate change will be the focus of a panel discussion presented by the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club at 6 p.m. Monday, October 26. The discussion will be at the Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 South Hicks Street in Clinton. Panel members will be Ellen Faby, Jo Ann Garrett, Jan Newsome, and Ellen Smith.

Mary Headrick, a retired physician who was a Democratic candidate for the Third Congressional District, will facilitate the discussion, which will focus on protecting the environment and the effects of climate change on health.  A question-and-answer session will follow presentations by the panelists.

Those attending are invited to bring a pot luck item to share. Beverages will be provided. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has annual Owl Prowl on Saturday

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UTAS Owl Prowl

Katie Cottrell, right, and Kathy Strunk are pictured at an earlier Owl Prowl at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The Owl Prowl, one of the most popular events offered at the University of Tennessee Arboretum, will again be sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society on Saturday, October 24. It’s at the UT Arboretum, which is at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge.

Presented by the Clinch River Raptor Center, Kathy Strunk and Katie Cottrell will bring live owls for display and will give information about their natural history, a press release said.

The Raptor Center was started by John Byrd 30 years ago at Clinton Middle School. So far, 2,000 birds have come to the Raptor Center to be rehabilitated. Strunk and Cottrell have shared the responsibility as co-directors of the Raptor Center for more than 25 years, and they have given hundreds of programs in East Tennessee on birds of prey, the press release said. [Read more…]

One legally blind, the other in a wheelchair, racing duo trains for marathon Sunday

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Melissa Peplow and Vicky Wallace at Oak Ridge Marina on Oct. 21, 2015

Melissa Peplow, left, is legally blind, and Vicky Wallace, in wheelchair, has lost use of the left side of her body after four strokes. But together the two compete in running races. Here they train at the Oak Ridge Marina. On Sunday, they’ll compete in the 40th Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

One running partner is legally blind. The other has had four strokes and lost control of the left side of her body.

But together, they’ve formed a racing duo that’s competed in 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, and half-marathons.

This weekend, the duo, Melissa Peplow and Vicky Wallace, will compete in the their longest race yet, a full marathon. It’s the 40th Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Peplow is legally blind. She runs behind Wallace’s wheelchair and helps push it.

Wallace’s left side is paralyzed. She helps navigate and uses her right hand to help push her wheelchair, and her right leg to help pull it.

The two competed in back-to-back half-marathons in East Tennessee last November, racing in Farragut on a Saturday and then in Alcoa on a Sunday.

Wallace, who is co-owner of J&M Butcher Shop in Oak Ridge, keeps a sticker-box checklist of the races they’ve completed (5k, 10k, 15k, 13.1 (half-marathon)) on the back of her SUV. One box remains unchecked: 26.2. That’s short for 26.2 miles, the length of a marathon.

[Read more…]

Clinton man charged with trespassing after crashing car at Y-12, fleeing from officers

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Timothy D. Preston

Timothy D. Preston

A 34-year-old Clinton man was charged with aggravated trespassing after allegedly driving through the east gate at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday, crashing near a parking lot area, and then fleeing on foot into a heavily wooded area inside the nuclear weapons plant, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 5:52 a.m. Thursday after a person, later identified as Timothy D. Preston, 34, of Clinton, drove through the east gate of Y-12 near Scarboro Road.

Y-12 security and Oak Ridge police officers responded immediately and established a containment area inside and outside the perimeter of the facility, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

Preston was taken into custody at about 7:40 a.m. and transported to the Methodist Medical Center, where he was treated and released for minor injuries, the press release said. He was interviewed at the Oak Ridge Police Department and then transported to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, where he was charged with aggravated trespassing, trespassing by motor vehicle, felony vandalism, and driving on a revoked license (third offense). [Read more…]

Wanted after Oak Ridge shooting, Williams now faces federal gun charge

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Larry Dewayne Williams

Larry Dewayne Williams

The Oak Ridge man wanted after a shooting and crash in north Oak Ridge in September now faces a federal firearms charge after police found a pistol and ammunition manufactured outside Tennessee in his house and car, authorities said.

Larry Dewayne Williams, 28, was indicted by a federal grand jury this month on one count of being a convicted felon who possessed a gun and ammunition, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on October 6.

Williams, who was arrested near a South Knoxville club early Sunday, allegedly fled from Oak Ridge police in a silver Infiniti after the September 21 shooting on Wakefield Road. After he allegedly ran from the car following a three-vehicle crash at North Illinois Avenue and West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer James Elkins found an AR-15 type firearm on the passenger floorboard of Williams’ Infiniti and a semi-automatic pistol lying inside.

During the hunt for Williams, an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9 tracked Williams to a nearby home at 612 West Outer Drive, a house that Williams shares with Chelsea Lively, 22. Inside that house, police found hand gun cases and gun magazines in plain view, according to an affidavit that accompanies a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court on October 2.

They also found about two ounces of suspected heroin and roughly 7.72 ounces of suspected marijuana. [Read more…]

Y-12 reopens after man drives through gate, crashes into parking lot

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (File photo)

 

Officials at the Y-12 National Security Complex have reopened the plant to employees following a temporary closure early Thursday morning after a person drove through the east gate of Y-12 at Scarboro Road and crashed his vehicle near a parking lot area.

The crash occurred at about 5:52 a.m. Thursday.

Y-12 security police officers responded and subsequently apprehended the man, who was then arrested by the Oak Ridge Police Department, a press release said. [Read more…]