The Oak Ridge Police Department is investigating after a newborn’s body was found near the bank along Melton Lake Greenway just north of the Edgemoor Road bridge on Thursday.
The body was reported by a resident at about 12:46 p.m. Thursday, and officers arrived at 12:53 p.m.
ORPD, Oak Ridge Fire Department, and Anderson County EMS, and the medical examiner’s office all responded.
[Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 8:35 a.m. Feb. 24.
No injuries were reported in a fire that destroyed a home on Outer Drive near Ogden Lane early Friday.
The cause of the fire, reported at about 2:19 a.m. Friday, is under investigation.
“The first arriving unit was on scene within minutes and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the residence,” the City of Oak Ridge said. “The resident was not home at the time of the fire.”
Outer Drive was closed at Ogden Lane on Friday morning as the Oak Ridge Fire Department watched for hot spots and continued to spray water on the charred home, which appeared to have a second story that had collapsed. The road re-opened shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.
[Read more…]
An Oak Ridge firefighter was injured in a fire in a vacant house on Artesia Drive early Friday, February 14.
The fire was reported at about 3:20 a.m. February 14.
When the Oak Ridge Fire Department arrived, firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the windows and eaves of the home, a press release said.
“The fire crew entered through the front door and quickly extinguished the fire in the kitchen area,” the press release said.
[Read more…]
The Lunch with the League program on Tuesday, February 18, will feature Melissa Miller, site coordinator of the new Anderson County Family Justice Center, and Detective Wendy Zolkowski of the Oak Ridge Police Department.
The Anderson County Family Justice Center will open in July 2020, a press release said.
“Miller and Zolkowski are working together to set up a world-class center that will provide a combination of services and interventions available in one location to help victims of child abuse, elder abuse, and domestic violence,” the press release said. “The Center will help victims break the cycle of violence and become thriving survivors by providing access to onsite professionals who will assist them in making this transition. The Center will be a free and confidential resource for clients.”
[Read more…]
Dave Clark
Submitted
Elder abuse is a new focus of Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department. The two agencies are preparing to jointly implement a Senior Citizens Awareness Network, or SCAN, program that will likely start later this year to deal with the crime.
District Attorney General David Clark of the Seventh Judicial District and his Anderson County office are leading the charge on combating elder abuse, and the office will be running the SCAN program, according to a press release. RPD will help implement the program in Oak Ridge.
Clark and ORPD Detective Wendy Zolkowski will speak Thursday, January 16, about the SCAN program, elder abuse in Oak Ridge, and the ways seniors can be protected.
Their talks will be the first in 2020 in the lecture series sponsored by Roane State Community College and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning. They will speak at 2 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally building on RSCC’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue. ORPD is hosting the presentation, which will be preceded by a reception with refreshments at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby. [Read more…]
One person was flown to a hospital after a two-vehicle crash in west Oak Ridge on Monday morning, emergency responders said.
The crash was reported at about 6:15 a.m. Monday on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Salem Road. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded.
When they arrived, Oak Ridge Fire Department firefighters found a heavily damaged vehicle with the injured driver still inside. They quickly extinguished a small fire in the engine compartment of the vehicle and rescued the driver, emergency responders said. The injured driver was then flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. The driver of the second vehicle reported no injuries.
[Read more…]
Samuel McCoy Wade
An Oak Ridge man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Learn about our advanced subscription options here.
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!
Citing a warrantless search, an Anderson County judge has dismissed drug and conspiracy charges in a case where police allegedly found 45.1 grams of methamphetamine in a backpack in an Oak Ridge motel room in May.
“I hate to dismiss serious charges,” said Roger Miller, judge of the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge. But, he added, “I don’t think the proof would hold up.”
Suggesting that a search warrant should have been obtained, Miller said he is accessible and signs many search warrants.
The two people charged in the case had been William Michael Renfro, 18, of Oak Ridge, and Carlie Alise Wisman, 22, also of Oak Ridge.
Renfro had been charged with manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing a schedule II controlled substance (the 45.1 grams of meth), a Class A felony; criminal conspiracy, a Class B felony; manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing a schedule IV controlled substance (9.5 grams of marijuana), a Class D felony; and possession of a firearm (a Ruger Security Six .357 revolver with six rounds) during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, a Class D felony.
All four of those charges were dismissed after a preliminary hearing for Renfro in Anderson County General Sessions Court on Thursday, December 12. During a preliminary hearing, a judge can hear from witnesses, victims, and police officers, and determine whether there is probable cause to send the charges to the Anderson County Grand Jury.
[Read more…]
A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Anderson County is now a high-intensity drug trafficking area, or HIDTA. That designation came from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. It occurred in September and will go into effect January 1.
As part of a two-part announcement this month, law enforcement officials said the White House also selected the county’s task force, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, as an Appalachia HIDTA, or AHIDTA. It’s the only locally led drug task force in Tennessee, according to Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark. The county’s Crime Task Force, or CTF, is led by Director Simon Byrne.
“No other drug task force in Tennessee has been awarded an AHIDTA grant,” Clark said. “I am very proud of our leadership team for thinking outside of the box and in looking for smart ways to make our communities safer as well as be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We are more excited than we can convey, but in short believe that this development has the potential to be transformative as to what we are able to do in Anderson County to protect and serve our communities.”
[Read more…]
An Oak Ridge woman was charged with attempted murder after she allegedly stabbed a man in his abdomen, tricep, and thigh on Utica Circle early Friday morning, according to Anderson County court records.
Stephanie Shinlever, 23, was initially charged with attempted criminal homicide and tampering with evidence on Friday. But the attempted criminal homicide charge was amended to attempted first-degree murder on Tuesday, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a reported assault at a Utica Circle apartment at about 2:12 a.m. Friday. When they arrived, they were led to a unit where the victim, Skylar Patterson, was laying on a couch, bleeding profusely from his abdomen, the affidavits said.
[Read more…]
Six women were arrested Thursday and charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after they allegedly ran from a shoe store in Main Street Oak Ridge with about $3,300 worth of stolen merchandise, police officers said.
Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Marvell Moore said he had been conducting a retail theft patrol near Rack Room Shoes at about 1:19 p.m. Thursday. While in the parking lot, Moore said in arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court, he saw the women enter Rack Room Shoes with large purses and plastic bags that appeared to be empty.
“Based on my training and experience, I know that shoplifters will carry large empty bags to conceal merchandise,” Moore said in the warrants.
After a short time, Moore said he saw the women run out of Rack Room Shoes with the same bags that they had when they entered. However, now the bags were full, Moore said.
[Read more…]Oak Ridge main roads to be affected
The Secret City Half Marathon and 5K is in Oak Ridge on Saturday, November 16, and several main roads and intersections will be affected by the race in the morning.
Explore Oak Ridge and the City of Oak Ridge expect more than 1,000 runners and walkers on the city’s streets and greenways as they participate in these family-friendly races, a press release said. See below for the race routes and also visit the SCHM website at www.SecretCityHalfMarathon.com for a map of both routes.
[Read more…]