Oak Ridge Today

Jail’s workhouse designation allows some inmates to keep jobs

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above while still under construction in December. The expansion allows the county to declare the jail a workhouse, which lets some qualified low-risk offenders keep their current employment.

CLINTON—Some qualified low-risk inmates will be able to keep their jobs even after sentencing now that the Anderson County jail has been declared a workhouse, officials said Monday.

When a judge agrees, the inmates could continue their current employment, stay at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton when they’re not at work, and pay $15 to $17.50 per day for their jail time.

Female inmates judged to be low-risk offenders might be able to spend a few hours at home with their families and children, Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager said.

The Anderson County Commission unanimously declared the jail a workhouse after a brief discussion during a Monday night meeting. Yeager said the designation has been allowed for some time under Tennessee law, but Anderson County is only able to use it now because the jail is being expanded, giving deputies more room to house and segregate inmates. [Read more…]

AC Commission to consider workhouse designation for jail

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above under construction in December.

When it meets on Monday, the Anderson County Commission will consider a resolution declaring the Anderson County Jail as a county workhouse.

The proposal was unanimously approved on Monday by the county’s Operations Committee. If approved Monday by the full Commission, it will give judges more options when sentencing certain offenders. Additionally, some inmates could get time taken off their sentences in exchange for days spent on county work details.

The resolution declaring the jail a workhouse will allow some offenders to serve their jail sentences at night after being allowed to go to their jobs or in some cases to take care of their families during the day. [Read more…]

Andersonville man, 83, reports armed robbery at his home; sheriff searches for suspect

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An 83-year-old Andersonville man was robbed at gunpoint at his home on Andersonville Highway just after noon Wednesday, authorities said.

The suspect walked up to the victim, who was in his garage, displayed a small handgun, and robbed him of cash and his car, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. The victim called 911, and several deputies responded.

A description of the victim’s car was broadcast to responding deputies, and about three minutes later, it was spotted a short distance away on Indian Gap Road. The suspect jumped from the car and fled on foot into the woods, the Sheriff’s Department said.

“A search of the area was done, but the suspect was not located,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Six clerks cited for selling beer to minor

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Six clerks in Anderson County were cited to court after businesses in Lake City and Oliver Springs sold beer to a minor during a compliance check in February, authorities said.

The sting was conducted on Feb. 20 and 21 by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, with help from the Lake City Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit visited 24 businesses to try to buy beer. Six sold beer to the underage person, the department said in a press release. Two of the six businesses did not check identification showing the person to be under 21, and four checked but sold the beer anyway. One on-premise business served the underage person, but the server realized the age before the sale was completed. [Read more…]

Guest column: A visit to the Medford Volunteer Fire Department

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Robin Biloski

Robin Biloski

Oak Ridgers have a first-rate fire department funded through our tax dollars. So I realized as the newly elected chairperson for the Anderson County Fire Commission (and the first commission chair from Oak Ridge), I needed to educate myself in the workings of our volunteer fire departments. I was pleased after my first meeting; the volunteers at Medford quickly invited me to come out for a visit. What a valuable educational process I encountered in my visit.

The Medford community is located between Lake City and Clinton on Route 25W. These dedicated folks meet every Thursday evening to discuss relevant issues, do “training” on equipment, and check trucks. This volunteer crew has about 33 members, not including their Junior Fire volunteers. I was quite impressed that in order to be part of the Junior Crew, you must maintain a certain grade point average. I learned some have been volunteers for over 40 years, and the camaraderie they all share for helping their community, pride in all they do on very limited funds, and love of God which guides them through their dedication.

They appreciate the $20,000 donation county government gives them yearly and try to fill in voids for possible grants that might come along, but still embark on other fundraisers just to stay afloat in their service: concession of food sales at events, “Boot Drives,” and their famous Chili Supper/Auction, which I attended Feb. 22. Those men and women served over 500 people a fabulous meal and gathered items for an auction for desperately needed funds. It was certainly something to behold! They can count me in to be there every year as what fun I had meeting all the great folks in that part of Anderson County! [Read more…]

THP: One killed, one injured in Anderson wreck

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Powell man was killed and an Oak Ridge woman injured in a single-vehicle crash that occurred Wednesday night on Clinton Highway, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

The THP reported that the wreck happened shortly after 9:30 p.m. just inside the Anderson County line near the intersection with Old Clinton Pike. Troopers said a 2004 Buick Rendezvous driven by Patrick Johnson, 40, of Powell had been headed south when the SUV left the right side of the roadway and slammed into a truck legally parked by the side of the road. [Read more…]

Two plead guilty to money laundering…literally

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Information from WYSH Radio 

Two men pleaded guilty this week to charges that they literally laundered money stolen in a Knox County bank robbery.

Danny Ray Idles, 36, of Clinton and Christopher Coward, 31, of Powell, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Anderson County Criminal Court to four counts each of money laundering and were sentenced to serve four 12-year jail sentences to run concurrently. [Read more…]

Rescuers locate trio stranded overnight on Windrock Mountain trail

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Rescuers have located three people stranded overnight on Windrock Mountain near Oliver Springs.

The trio—ages 19, 22, and 24 years old—were stuck in vehicles on a trail and called Anderson County 911, authorities said.

“Our dispatch mapped the coordinates and forwarded the information to the rescue squad,” Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

He said all three were located. The two men were checked out by EMS at the scene, and the woman was taken to Methodist Medical Center as a precaution. [Read more…]

Probation company announces literacy program for probationers

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PSI Probation has established a literacy program for probationers that will emphasize instructional reading for those with reading deficiencies, a press release said.

In addition, PSI is going to help any probationers who want to earn a high school diploma through a GED program. That help is being offered at the request of Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Don A. Layton, a press release said. [Read more…]

Myers, candidate for sheriff, has March 14 fundraiser

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Randy Myers

Randy Myers

Randy Myers, a candidate for Anderson County sheriff, will hold a fundraiser at the Comfort Inn in Oak Ridge from 5 to 7 p.m. March 14. All are invited to attend.

Comfort Inn is located on the corner of Rutgers Avenue and South Illinois Avenue in front of Walmart. Food will be provided, and door prizes will be given away, a press release said. A $20 donation will be received at the door.

Visit www.randymyersforsheriff.com for more information.

One Anderson man gets life, second 30 years in meth conspiracy

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Jeffery Scott Braden

Jeffery Scott Braden

Two Anderson County men convicted of conspiring to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine were sentenced to lengthy prison terms this week, federal officials said Friday.

Officials estimate that the conspiracy resulted in the production of about 1,500 grams of methamphetamine.

Jeffrey Scott Braden, 37, of Vowell Mountain—the only one of 42 people indicted in the conspiracy to go to trial—received a mandatory life sentence on Thursday in a hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville, officials said.

Then, on Friday, Varlan sentenced conspiracy leader Lawrence “Stoney” Scriver, 46, of Lake City, to serve 30 years, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release. [Read more…]

Car, driver involved in pedestrian hit-and-run on Monday not yet identified

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The car and driver that hit and injured an Oliver Springs man on Old Batley Road on Monday night have not been identified, according to preliminary information released by state officials on Friday.

The unidentified vehicle and driver were traveling north on Old Batley Road near State Highway 62 in Anderson County at about 7:07 p.m. Monday when they hit Derek Jones, 23, of Oliver Springs.

“Vehicle 1 was exiting a left hand curve heading north on Old Batley Road when it hit pedestrian Derek Jones,” state officials said. “Mr. Jones was walking on the right hand side of the roadway heading north. The vehicle struck Mr. Jones, causing him to enter a ditch and then left the scene. Mr. Jones was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.” [Read more…]