Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County fire probed as arson

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Information from WYSH Radio

A fire that destroyed a vacant home on Back Vowell Road early Wednesday morning is being investigated as arson.

The fire was reported at around 4:15 a.m. Wednesday and extinguished by the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department. A neighbor told an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy the house had been foreclosed upon and had been vacant for about two years. Investigators reported that the house had an electric meter, but that the fire started at the other end of the building. The cause of Wednesday’s fire is under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Anderson Commission to consider new fees for inmates

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Information from WYSH Radio

As the Anderson County Commission continues to try and find ways to generate sufficient revenue to staff the jail expansion scheduled to open early next year, commissioners on Monday will consider several resolutions drafted by the county law director assessing new fees for inmates incarcerated at the county jail. Law Director Jay Yeager says the new fees are in line with state law and would help take the onus of housing the inmates off of the taxpayers and place it on the offenders themselves.

Some of the proposed fees include charging prisoners for their jail-issued clothing and toiletries as well as instituting medical and dental co-pays and fees for having a jailer escort an inmate to the hospital to visit a sick relative or to the funeral of someone in their immediate family. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students return to school, police enforce traffic safety; teachers, alumni welcomed

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Oak Ridge Superintendent Reception

Oak Ridge Schools had a reception last week for new Superintendent Bruce Borchers, center, and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak. Borchers started in Oak Ridge on June 18. Also pictured above are James Hundertmark, right, who became Robertsville Middle School principal on July 1, and Christopher Scott, vice principal of curriculum and instruction at Oak Ridge High School.

Most Oak Ridge students returned to school on Monday, and police officers started a back-to-school traffic safety campaign. It’s known as “Operation Safe Start” and will focus on drivers who illegally pass school buses, speed in school zones, don’t wear safety belts or fail to ensure that their children do—or commit other unsafe driving actions near the schools.

Students at Willow Brook Elementary School and the Oak Ridge Schools’ Preschool returned to school in July. Oak Ridge will use an alternative schedule during the first week of school. (See the Oak Ridge Schools’ website for more information.)

In Anderson County, students returned to school on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The resumption of classes in Oak Ridge caps a week in which school officials welcomed back representatives of graduating classes from 1946 to 2013, held a reception for new Superintendent Bruce Borchers and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak, and together with the Oak Ridge Police Department, announced a new agreement governing school resource officers, or SROs. [Read more…]

Utility worker injured in Anderson County trench

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Hallsdale-Powell Utility District worker suffered a broken leg Thursday when a piece of rock came loose from the wall of a trench he was working in and fell on him.

James Moore was working on a project to install a water line on East Wolf Valley Road shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday when the accident happened. Moore was pulled from the trench by emergency crews and taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for treatment of his injury.

Seven arrested at alleged meth lab on Oliver Springs Highway

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Brittaney Michelle Blankenblicker

Brittaney Michelle Blankenblicker

Jamie Lynn Fleisch

Jamie Lynn Fleisch

Seven people were arrested Wednesday afternoon at an alleged methamphetamine laboratory on Oliver Springs Highway, authorities said.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies went to the home on a drug investigation and found an active meth lab, Sheriff Paul White said in a press release. [Read more…]

In cities surrounded by good bear habitat, wildlife officials generally let bears keep moving

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Black Bear at Grill

A black bear investigates a backyard grill in north Oak Ridge in May 2012. To encourage bears to move on, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency recommends trying to eliminate outdoor food sources such as dog and cat food, bird seed, and grease traps. (Photo by George Ostrouchov)

Oak Ridge and Knoxville are surrounded by very good bear habitats—including the largest black bear preserve in the world—and it’s not unusual to see up to a half-dozen bears come through the Oak Ridge area each year and at least that many in the Knoxville area, Tennessee wildlife officials said this week.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Sgt. Roy Smith of Morristown said the bear seen in Oak Ridge on Monday was not the first in the area this summer, and there have also been a few in Anderson County.

“It’s not an isolated incident,” Smith said. “We have bears moving through Oak Ridge from time to time.” [Read more…]

Lake City woman dies in Anderson County crash

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A Lake City woman died after she was ejected from her car when it went into the median on Interstate 75 in Anderson County and rolled just before midnight Wednesday, authorities said.

Christina D. Nelson, 23, was in the left lane of southbound I-75 in Clinton at about 11:51 p.m. Wednesday when her 2000 Nissan Altima sedan left the roadway, traveled through the median, and rolled about three times, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Anthony Lay said in a report. [Read more…]

Wednesday fire at European Import Auto Parts said to be accidental

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Information from WYSH Radio

Investigators say that it appears that Wednesday’s fire that destroyed the European Import Auto Parts salvage yard on Clinton Highway was an accident, as they had initially believed. Officials said Thursday that they believe the fire started in a vehicle in the garage with a leaky gas tank, gas from which is believed to have been ignited by a stray spark. The fire spread quickly and set off several explosions before destroying the business.

One Claxton firefighter had to be taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion but was released Wednesday night. No one else was injured.

Trio charged with aggravated burglary after woman hit with baseball bat

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Noah Ethan Ivey

Noah Ethan Ivey

Heather Marie Kemp

Heather Marie Kemp

Two Clinton teenagers and a Jackson woman have been charged with aggravated burglary after a Shetterly Lane homeowner reported that she had been hit in the arm with a baseball bat during an alleged burglary in Anderson County on Wednesday, authorities said.

A male homeowner said he had also been hit, and his Chevy Blazer was struck and dented, arrest warrants said. [Read more…]

Wednesday fire destroys auto parts business

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Information from WYSH Radio

An auto parts business on Clinton Highway was destroyed by a fire Wednesday afternoon that was preceded by several explosions.

European Import Auto Parts sat on the Anderson-Knox County line until Wednesday’s fire, which was reported shortly after 5 p.m. [Read more…]

County denies payment to attorney detained taking pictures near Clinton Middle

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CLINTON—With no discussion Monday, the Anderson County Commission denied a payment request from a local attorney who had allegedly demanded money before filing a lawsuit over an incident last fall where he was detained while taking pictures near Clinton Middle School.

Clinton attorney Phil Harber said he was photographing school buses that were parked on Marshall Street in Clinton on Oct. 10 when he was detained. The buses allegedly block the route to his home, and he was reportedly planning to use the pictures in a lawsuit against the city, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy William S. Lucas said in an incident report. [Read more…]

Man injured after burglars push him out of loft

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County man was seriously injured Thursday night when he was pushed out of his barn loft by a pair of alleged burglars.

Jack Archer, 55, spent Thursday night lying in the rain and the cold after the incident, which he says happened shortly before midnight on Thursday at a barn off of Norris Freeway in Heiskell. [Read more…]