Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge from Thursday, June 26, and continuing through July 2.
This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]
Auto repair business owner running for Anderson County Commission
Mike Marsh
Michael Marsh is running for Anderson County Commission in District 7 in the Aug. 7 county election. His District 7 voting precincts include Glenwood, Pine Valley, and Highland View.
In a press release, Marsh said the commission has made many contributions during the last 28 years.
“I feel with an open seat in District 7 now is the time to bring fresh ideas and new strategies to our county,” he said in the press release.
Marsh said county officials must work together to reduce taxes and attract new jobs and affordable housing, tourism, and opportunities for small family-run businesses. [Read more…]
Alternative Program administrator named principal at Willow Brook
Willow Brook Elementary School is pictured above in May 2012. (File photo)
The administrator of the Alternative Program at Oak Ridge Schools has been named principal of Willow Brook Elementary School, officials said Wednesday.
Sherrie Fairchild-Keyes will become Willow Brook principal effective July 1. The appointment was announced Wednesday morning by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers. Fairchild-Keyes was selected by an interview team made up of Willow Brook teachers and parents and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak, a press release said.
Fairchild-Keyes will replace the outgoing principal, Lisa Light, who took a position with Knox County Schools as the principal of Gap Creek Elementary. [Read more…]
Spotlight: More than 480 visitors tour Y-12 during Secret City Festival
Former Y-12 employee James Spicer points out the various ID badges used at the site during its 70-year history to his grandson Matthew Sellers. Spicer and Sellers joined more than 480 visitors who toured Y-12 as part of this year’s Secret City Festival. (Photos by Scott Fraker)
More than 480 visitors toured the Y-12 National Security Complex as part of this year’s Secret City Festival, which was earlier this month.
Y-12 has been giving tours of the site for almost 10 years with guests traveling from all over the world to see a piece of history and learn how the site still is ensuring our country’s security, a press release said.
Tourists from 23 states and the District of Columbia toured the site as part of Oak Ridge’s 12th annual Secret City Festival. Here are two pictures by Y-12 photographer Scott Fraker. [Read more…]
Our Hero, #14: Brayden a ‘lively boy,’ attended Woodland, organs to be donated
Brayden Pearson, Our Hero #14 (Submitted photo)
By Sara VanLandingham
On Saturday, June 21, while swimming at Clark Park in Oak Ridge, Brayden Keith Pearson, age 8, began having trouble while snorkeling and was removed from the lake. Family and friends performed CPR, and 911 was called. Oak Ridge Fire and Police Departments responded. The fire department took over life-saving operations and Brayden was flown via UT Life Star to Children’s Hospital. Despite rescue companies’ life-saving efforts, Brayden was pronounced dead at 11:35 a.m. on Monday, June 23, but remained on life support.
Brayden was a lively little boy who attended Woodland Elementary School and played as #14 Boys and Girls Club of America Little League team. The family has decided the best way to continue Brayden’s zest for life is through organ donation to children currently in need. The family asks that anyone wishing to support them please donate to the Brayden Medical Fund at youcaring.com or directly to Children’s Hospital in Brayden’s name.
Due to the enormous outpouring of support, the family will be holding a public memorial service at Click Funeral Home on Middlebrook Pike. Arrangements to be announced or more info can be seen by visiting http://www.clickfuneralhome.com. Anyone planning to participate in the funeral procession is asked to contact Click funeral home directly for time, location, and instructions on lining up. [Read more…]
Emory Valley Road to be closed temporarily as railroad tracks removed
Emory Valley Road will temporarily be closed between Briarcliff Avenue and Fairbanks Road as railroad tracks that are no longer used are removed.
Emory Valley Road will temporarily be closed between Briarcliff Avenue and Fairbanks Road as railroad tracks that are no longer used are removed on Thursday.
Rogers Group Inc., a city contractor, is removing the railroad tracks that cross Emory Valley Road and Briarcliff Avenue on Thursday. The project should be completed on Friday, a city press release said.
The road closure is designed to help make the construction project safe for workers and motorists, and it will will require that traffic be detoured. The detour routes will be clearly marked, the press release said. The closures will affect only one direction of traffic at a time. Message boards will be located on Lafayette Drive to remind motorists of the closure so an alternate route can be taken. All residential and business properties will have access during this closure; however, streets will be posted for no through traffic. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Schools walk zone expanded to 1.5 miles, could affect 1,800
Oak Ridge Preschool Interim Principal Charlsey Cofer, left, says that cutting preschool transportation could result in fewer students, which would in turn result in less funding.
Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 a.m. June 25.
Starting this fall, bus service will no longer be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The move is expected to save $500,000. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce a $1.25 million deficit.
The expansion of the “parent responsibility zone” for school transportation was the largest change approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday. The 1.5-mile walk zone could affect 1,800 students, said Karen Gagliano, Oak Ridge Schools director of business and support services.
Other budget changes approved Monday include a delay in the purchase of textbooks, a move expected to save about $330,000, and a $123,000 reduction in the number of planned hires of technicians. The school system now expects more than $200,000 in additional revenue from state Basic Education Program funding and sales and property tax revenues.
A technology initiative known as 1:1 is no longer being considered as originally envisioned, and 2 percent pay raises for school staff members are off the table.
But the school board worked to save preschool transportation, a program that costs roughly $74,000 per year. Interim Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer warned that cutting transportation for preschoolers could result in a drop in the number of students, which would in turn affect funding. She said about 170 students used the transportation last year out of more than 200 who were enrolled. [Read more…]
Police arrest driver who resisted officer, hit steel post at Rocky Top
Police have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer at a Rocky Top convenience store early Tuesday morning before hitting this steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot.
Knox County and Oak Ridge officers have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer before he accelerated toward a Rocky Top store and hit a steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Sherrius Smith, 20, was arrested at an apartment on West Vista Ridge Way in Knoxville at about 11:10 a.m. Tuesday by members of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division and Oak Ridge Police Department Special Projects Unit, the ORPD said in a press release. He was transferred to the ORPD, which is taking him to the Anderson County Detention Center in Clinton, where he will face the following charges, a press release said:
- two counts of aggravated assault,
- possession of schedule VI controlled substances for resale, [Read more…]
Man who allegedly fired pistol charged with aggravated assault
A man who allegedly shot one round from a pistol during a disturbance in a parking lot at an apartment complex on Wakefield Road on Monday has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. A woman has been charged with tampering with evidence.
An Oak Ridge man who allegedly fired one shot from a pistol during a disturbance in a parking lot on Wakefield Road on Monday has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment, authorities said.
Police responded to the disturbance call, which involved several people, at an apartment complex at 105 Wakefield Road at about 7:40 p.m. Monday, an Oak Ridge Police Department press release said. During the disturbance, a man allegedly fired one shot from a pistol, the release said.
Before officers arrived, witnesses said, the suspect entered Apartment #E, and he possessed a second firearm, the press release said. ORPD officers arrived and set up a perimeter around the apartment building. [Read more…]
Police: Man flees after driving toward store, hitting steel post in parking lot
A Knoxville man fled after resisting an officer, driving toward Rocky Top Convenience Store on Oak Ridge Turnpike, and hitting a steel post in the gas station’s parking lot early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The Oak Ridge Police Department is still searching for the man, identified as Sherrius Smith, 20, of Viking Road in Knoxville. Officers are also searching for a 17-year-old female who was in the car with Smith.
Two ORPD officers responded to Rocky Top at about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday to investigate a suspicious black sedan in the parking lot, occupied by Smith and the juvenile, a press release said. Smith and the juvenile were reportedly intoxicated and had been involved in a verbal disturbance earlier after exiting the store, the ORPD said in the release. [Read more…]
Woodland student pulled from water Saturday dies Monday, school official says
The fourth-grade student pulled from the water at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon died on Monday, a school official said.
Brayden Pearson was a student at Woodland Elementary School, said Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education chair. The school board observed a moment of silence for Pearson during a Monday evening meeting.
Pearson was found underwater while swimming with his family at a picnic area at the park around 4 p.m. Saturday, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. He was not conscious, Kerley said.
CPR was started, and Pearson was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, where he had a pulse on Saturday afternoon and was moved into Intensive Care, Kerley said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Man shows handgun, fires one shot before surrendering as SWAT team arrives
A man who had allegedly brandished a firearm inside an apartment and shot one round outside before barricading himself inside a Wakefield Road apartment surrendered as an Oak Ridge Police Department SWAT team arrived Monday evening, authorities said.
A man who allegedly brandished a firearm inside an apartment and fired one round outside before barricading himself inside a Wakefield Road home surrendered to Oak Ridge police officers as a SWAT team arrived Monday evening, authorities said.
The unidentified man allegedly entered the apartment at Wakefield Road Townhomes and Apartments and brandished the firearm with several people inside, Oak Ridge Police Department Lt. Matt Tedford said. A fight ensued, Tedford said.
The man fired one round outside, but it was not aimed at anyone, police said.
After the man barricaded himself inside his apartment, police set up a perimeter and started negotiations. The SWAT team was notified, and the man decided to come out of his apartment as the SWAT team arrived, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. [Read more…]
