Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County Sheriff releases Halloween safety tips

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Halloween will soon be upon us and our neighborhoods will be scattered with trick or treaters. To be sure this will be a fun and safe Halloween, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is offering these safety tips.

  • Parents, please remember when choosing your children’s costumes, face paint is preferable to a mask. Trick or treaters should wear reflective clothing, carry a bright orange bag, and carry a flashlight or glowstick to make it easier for passing cars to spot them. Always walk on the left side of the road facing traffic. Parents and children alike should watch for cars at all times. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department has county-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting on Tuesday

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Neighborhood Watch Logo

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The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will be holding a county-wide Neighborhood Watch meeting at the Clinton Middle School auditorium at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will highlight the success of Neighborhood Watch and the dedicated volunteers who have contributed so much to reducing crime. A presentation will demonstrate how the department’s crime analysis and crime mapping aids citizens in keeping neighborhoods safe.

Neighborhood Watch is one of the oldest and most effective crime prevention programs in the country, bringing citizens together with law enforcement to deter crime and make communities safer. Throughout the county, there are some 30 Neighborhood Watch groups keeping a close eye on their community. [Read more…]

Grandmother facing death penalty in murder case indicted on new child abuse charges

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Valerie Stenson

Valerie Stenson

An Oak Ridge grandmother who is already facing the death penalty and charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter has been indicted on nine new counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children, court records said.

Valerie Stenson, 49, of Teller Village Apartments, was indicted and arrested last year in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and an Anderson County grand jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in 2012.

The new indictments were filed Sept. 3. They include four counts of aggravated child abuse, two counts of aggravated child neglect, and three counts of aggravated child endangerment. The offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims are under 18, the indictments said. [Read more…]

Man allegedly beaten, robbed in Anderson County

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home on Webber Lane Saturday night after a man was allegedly assaulted and robbed.

Few details of the incident have been made available, but responding deputies said that when they arrived at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Tommy Lowe was being loaded in to an ambulance bound for the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of a black eye and laceration to his head.

Deputies were told that Lowe had been assaulted and robbed of $50 in cash and a cell phone. The Criminal Investigations Division is following up.

Two buildings destroyed by fires in Briceville

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Information from WYSH Radio

Two buildings were destroyed by fires on Vowell Road in Briceville early Saturday morning. Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene of the fire shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday, and when they arrived, they reported that a house later determined to be vacant and an outbuilding were fully engulfed by flames.

Crews from the Briceville and Medford Volunteer Fire Departments extinguished both blazes, but both structures were destroyed. The cause of the fires is unknown.

Norris Freeway outbuilding burns

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Information from WYSH Radio

A storage building on Norris Freeway went up in flames early Saturday morning. The fire in the 3000 block of Norris Freeway was extinguished by the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department, but officials were not able to determine the cause of the fire.

The house that shared the property was vacant.

Electrical fire damages mobile home in Marlow

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Information from WYSH Radio

A woman escaped injury when her mobile home caught fire Tuesday night.

The blaze was reported shortly after 10:15 p.m. Tuesday at a home on Center Valley Road in Marlow, and the occupant, Mildred Campbell, was able to make it out safely. She told investigators that she had smelled what she described as “waxy burn smell” and that her fire alarm then went off.

The property owner told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies that Campbell had recently replaced the bathroom floor, and firefighters from the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department determined that the fire was electrical and had started under that floor. The fire—which has been ruled accidental—caused damage to the floor of the mobile home, which is north of Oak Ridge.

Sheriff’s Department receives Governor’s Highway Safety Grant for fifth year

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Sheriff Paul White announced Tuesday that the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded a traffic safety grant for the fifth year.

The grant award of $40,000 from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office will support the traffic safety program “Reducing Fatalities In Anderson County,” a press release said. The grant will increase efforts to reduce fatalities through enforcement of laws governing driving under the influence and impaired driving, as well as seatbelt enforcement. [Read more…]

Fire destroys car, damages house in Briceville

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Information from WYSH Radio

A car was destroyed and the house it was parked next to was damaged early Monday when it caught fire in Briceville.

The incident happened shortly after midnight Monday at a house on Seiber Mountain Lane. Firefighters from the Briceville and Medford Fire Departments responded and put out the fire, which started in a Pontiac Grand Prix, and spread to the nearby house, which was burned through the siding and into the attic, according to the report. [Read more…]

Local agencies receive more than $350K in highway safety funds

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Tennessee officials last week announced $21.1 million in grants to Tennessee agencies to support highway traffic safety efforts, with more than $350,000 designated for local law enforcement agencies.

The grants include about $180,000 to the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office for driving-under-the-influence abatement and prosecution, and roughly $40,000 to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for reducing fatalities in the county. The Oak Ridge Police Department received about $25,000 for alcohol saturation and checkpoints. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department probes house fire as case of arson

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a fire at a vacant mobile home on Moser Lane as arson. The fire was reported at around 7 p.m. Wednesday at 186 Moser Lane and was extinguished by crews from the Medford Volunteer Fire Department.

A deputy was called to the scene after firefighters reported finding two points of origin for the fire, one in the living room and another just inside the back door. [Read more…]

Son convicted of drug charges inside courtroom, father arrested outside

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William Charles Braden

William Charles Braden

Betty Jo Braden

Betty Jo Braden

After his son was convicted inside a federal courthouse in Knoxville on drug charges last week, a Lake City man was arrested outside, charged with selling a controlled substance, authorities said.

The mother was also arrested on drug charges, but she was at home on Vowell Mountain Lane near Lake City when she was picked up, authorities said. [Read more…]