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Minor traffic delays possible due to Secret City Half Marathon, 5K

Posted at 9:08 pm November 10, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Minor traffic delays are possible Saturday morning in Oak Ridge during the Secret City Half Marathon and 5K.

Race Director Hannah Fatheree expects nearly 1,000 runners and walkers on city streets and greenways during the family-friendly events.

“Motorists should also be aware of the early morning course preparations,” a press release said. “While the races start at 9 a.m., there will be volunteers setting out cones along the course as early as 6 a.m. The Oak Ridge Police Department will be out in force directing and stopping traffic where and when needed. While no roads will be shut down due to the race traffic, motorists should expect some minor delays due to runners crossing streets on Melton Lake Drive and Emory Valley Road. Motorists are asked to take it slow in these areas and be mindful of the race participants.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Recreation, Sports Tagged With: Hannah Fatheree, Oak Ridge, Secret City Half Marathon and 5K, traffic delays

Burn ban in effect in Oak Ridge, restrictions in OS

Posted at 8:49 pm November 10, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The City of Oak Ridge remains under a burn ban, and there are fire restrictions in Oliver Springs.

Oak Ridge Fire Chief Travis Solomon issued a burn ban on November 5.

“Due to the dry conditions in our region, no burn permits will be issued until further notice,” the City of Oak Ridge said. “Outdoor burning without a permit is banned by city ordinance.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: burn ban, burn permits, fire restrictions, Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Oliver Springs Fire Department, Travis Solomon

School bus driver arrested following alleged assault on elementary student

Posted at 8:13 pm November 3, 2023
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Matthew Bak

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 p.m.

Oak Ridge police arrested a 73-year-old school bus driver Friday evening on an aggravated assault charge after he allegedly acted aggressively toward an elementary-aged student, the city said in a press release. Additional charges are pending, the press release said.

Matthew T. Bak of Oliver Springs was taken into custody Friday following an investigation into reports that he acted aggressively toward an elementary-aged student on the bus he was driving on Thursday evening, the City of Oak Ridge said in the press release. Bak’s actions caused all students on the bus to fear for their safety, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Matthew T. Bak, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, school bus

Man killed in Andover Circle shooting

Posted at 3:02 am October 4, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A 21-year-old Maryville man died in a shooting on Andover Circle early Monday.

The man has been identified as Gavin West. He had a gunshot wound when officers arrived just after midnight Monday, and he died from his injuries, a press release said.

Detectives with the Oak Ridge Police Department responded and began investigating the homicide. West’s body was taken to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center for an autopsy, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Andover Circle, Gavin West, Oak Ridge Police Department, shooting

ORPD investigating fatal crash on South Illinois

Posted at 4:24 pm September 30, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Police Department is investigating a fatal crash on South Illinois Avenue that happened shortly before midnight Friday.

In a press release, the City of Oak Ridge said a vehicle traveling south on South Illinois at Scarboro Road left the road at about 11:22 p.m., hit two utility poles and a tree, and then rolled down an embankment south of the intersection.

The vehicle’s driver, Luis Enrique Gomez Trinidad, 36 of Clinton, died in the crash, the city said. No one else was in the vehicle.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: crash, fatal crash, Luis Enrique Gomez Trinidad, Oak Ridge, South Illinois Avenue

One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash

Posted at 1:03 pm January 26, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Two people were taken to a hospital, one with serious injuries, after a crash between a dump truck and a sport utility vehicle in Oak Ridge on Wednesday evening.

The crash was reported at about 7 p.m. Wednesday at Melton Lake Drive and Edgemoor Road (State Route 170). The Oak Ridge Police Department, Fire Department, and Public Works Department all responded, and so did Anderson County EMS (the ambulance service).

The crash involved a commercial vehicle (a privately owned dump truck) and a passenger vehicle (a mid-size SUV), the City of Oak Ridge said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: crash, Edgemoor Road, Matthew Johnston, Melton Lake Drive, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department

ORPD working with national center to identify newborn, find missing child

Posted at 8:59 am January 18, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Images from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The Oak Ridge Police Department is working with a national center to find a child who was last seen in Oak Ridge in 2016 and to identify a newborn baby found floating along the shoreline of Melton Hill Lake almost three years ago.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has posted information about the two children on its website, which is partially funded through a U.S. Department of Justice grant.

In the first case, investigators said Maria Contreras Lopez was last seen in Oak Ridge on September 29, 2016. She was born August 9, 2000, and was 16 years old when she was last seen. She would be 22 now. Maria is female and Hispanic with brown hair and eyes. She could be about 5’3″ and 115 pounds.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: forensic geneaology, Jason Robbins, Maria Contreras Lopez, missing children, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, Roy Heinz, U.S. Department of Justice, unidentified newborn

CTF: Drugs for sale, cash, gun found in home with young children

Posted at 4:26 pm January 16, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

More than 100 pills and about 100 grams of marijuana along with $9,000 in cash and a Glock 26 9 mm pistol were found in a home with three children younger than eight this month, law enforcement officers said.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force searched the home on Utica Circle with a narcotics warrant on January 10.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Bucky Hart, Buprenorphine, child abuse, CTF, Haley Hart, marijuana, pills, Roxicodone, Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, Suboxone, Tim Buckner

Fentanyl, meth allegedly found during narcotics search

Posted at 3:38 pm January 16, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Fentanyl, methamphetamine, other suspected drugs, and a gun were found during a narcotics search of an Oak Ridge home this month, according to law enforcement officers.

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County searched the home on Jasper Lane on Monday, January 9.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County General Sessions Court, Danielle Brown, fentanyl, Jegarian Cobb, meth, methamphetamine, narcotics search, Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, Tim Buckner

Man received 3-year sentence for assault on officer

Posted at 10:41 pm January 13, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A man who had been accused of fighting with Oak Ridge police officers and significantly injuring one of them was sentenced to three years in prison when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment against one of the officers.

That officer had been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a significant arm injury, and two other officers had been taken to Methodist Medical Center to have their injuries evaluated, the City of Oak Ridge said at the time. One had been hit with a taser taken by the defendant, according to affidavits filed at the time.

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Filed Under: Anderson County, Courts, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Premium Content, Top Stories Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County Criminal Court, Christina Askren, Joe Gibson, Lauren Gray, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, plea agreement, reckless endangerment, Toravanno Ramsey Dewerff, Zach Gauthier

Temps could stay below freezing through Christmas

Posted at 10:13 am December 24, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The extreme cold wind chills will continue much of the day on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. When going outside, dress appropriately. Wear several layers of clothes, coat, hat, and gloves. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

Temperatures could stay below freezing through Christmas, and a wind chill warning remains in effect for Oak Ridge through early Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.

The wind chill warning expires at 1 p.m. Saturday. The NWS forecast said wind chill values could range between -3 and 7 degrees Fahrenheit, with winds of between 5 and 10 miles per hour. Scattered snow flurries are possible between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday.

The high Saturday is forecast near 22. The low Saturday night is forecast at 12.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Weather Tagged With: fire prevention, National Weather Service, NWS, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Department, snow, temperature, wind chill

One injured, charges pending in Turnpike crash

Posted at 12:14 pm December 13, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

One person was injured and charges are pending after a two-vehicle crash involving a semi truck on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. A Lifestar helicopter flew one injured person to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. (Photo by Annah Foard-Barish)

One person was injured and charges are pending after a two-vehicle crash involving a semi truck on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Monday.

The crash was reported at about 1:40 p.m. between Adams Lane and Van Hicks Road, just west of Illinois Avenue, according to law enforcement officers.

A preliminary crash report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Amber O. Carow, 27, was driving west on the Turnpike in a 2004 Toyota Camry when the vehicle crossed over two lanes and hit the trailer of a 2020 Volvo semi truck driving east.

When the Camry stopped, it was facing east, opposite its direction of travel, the report said. The collision knocked the truck trailer off its back tandem.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Police and Fire, Slider, Tennessee Tagged With: Amber O. Carow, crash, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Turnpike, Richard L. Davis, Tennessee Highway Patrol, THP

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