Oak Ridge Today

Neighborhood cleanup focuses on Highland View on May 2

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Keep Anderson County Beautiful T-shirt

Photo submitted by Mare Martell

Help put the unity back in commUNITY at this year’s neighborhood cleanup hosted by the Oak Ridge Police Department Community Resource Office, the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program, Keep Anderson County Beautiful, and Central Baptist Church.

All participants will rally in the big parking lot of Central Baptist Church at the Hillside Road side. Sign-in and equipment pickup starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 2. The event will run from 9 a.m.-12  p.m. This happens rain or shine.

If you have a particular area on which you prefer to focus your attention, please call one of the contact numbers to arrange for the pickup of the trash-filled bags. (The sign-in and equipment pickup applies even for the people who have special requested a particular area before May 2 by contacting Officer Brandan Sharp or Sharon Crane). [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman convicted of abuse charge

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Note: This story was updated at 11:05 a.m. April 17.

Oak Ridge Today/WYSH Radio

An Oak Ridge woman will spend the next 15 to 25 years in a state penitentiary after an Anderson County jury needed less than 20 minutes Tuesday to convict her of aggravated child neglect following a trial in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Melissa Lopez, 37, was charged with failing or refusing to seek emergency medical care for her then-10-month-old son, who had suffered what the Anderson County District Attorney’s Office described as “horrible,” second-degree chemical or thermal burns to his skin and injuries to his eyes in November 2008.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services began an investigation after someone called and told them about the infant’s injuries, and DCS workers compelled Lopez to take the boy to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for treatment of his skin burns, eyes, and management of his pain. [Read more…]

Neighborhood Watch hosts pancake breakfast Saturday

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Neighborhood Watch March Clean-up

Jerrold Eaton, Woodland block captain with the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program, joins volunteers from Neighborhood Watch and Central Baptist Church to clear brush away from the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Tulane Avenues and Providence Road recently. The ORNWP pancake breakfast supports activities of Neighborhood Watch. (Submitted photo)

 

Join your neighbors at a Community Pancake Breakfast from 8-10 a.m. Saturday, April 18, hosted by the Oak Ridge Police Department Community Resource Office and the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program.

The breakfast will be held at Applebee’s, 1213 Oak Ridge Turnpike, and tickets are $5. Tickets are available at the door.

The breakfast offers residents an opportunity to learn more about the city’s Neighborhood Watch crime prevention program. Neighborhood Watch block captains and district leaders will serve breakfast at the event. [Read more…]

Tuesday fire apparently started in kitchen microwave

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A Tuesday night fire on Bland Road in Anderson County apparently started in a kitchen microwave, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department responded.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Michael A. Poole said he saw smoke pouring out of the front door of the home when he arrived, but no visible flames. Firefighters were already inside trying to extinguish the fire. [Read more…]

Two charged with robbery after alleged attack, skateboard theft

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Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Two East Tennessee men have been charged with robbery after allegedly attacking a boy riding a skateboard in a parking lot at Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge on Sunday and stealing his skateboard.

Nicholas A. Turnbill, 19, of Harriman, allegedly came up behind the victim and hit him on the back of the head with a closed fist and “turned back around, kicking him in the head while the victim was on the ground,” according to a a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

“The defendant and his accomplice used violence and attacked the victim, committing theft by taking the defendant’s skateboard,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Thomas Bolling wrote. [Read more…]

Police raising money for Officer Winningham for medical bills, other expenses

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Winninghams

Chris Winningham is a veteran member of the Oak Ridge Police Department, but he’s currently on leave and unable to work for an undetermined amount of time due to complications with pneumonia and pleurisy, friends say.

Officer Winningham has also been diagnosed with an enlarged heart and diabetes, and doctors are concerned that he may be going into congestive heart failure, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help raise money for his family.

The diagnoses affecting Officer Winningham come on the heels of the loss of his daughter Courtney to cancer in January, the page said. [Read more…]

Man accused of waving pistol at bystanders charged with aggravated assault

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Deshon Marquece Meadow

Deshon Marquece Meadow

An Oak Ridge man accused of waving a pistol at bystanders on Utica Circle on Monday night has been charged with seven counts of aggravated assault, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to the Utica Circle Apartments at about 11:23 p.m. Monday, April 6, in response to a complaint of a man threatening others with a firearm, a press release said.

“Upon arrival, officers found Deshon Meadow on the premises waving a pistol at bystanders,” the City of Oak Ridge release said. [Read more…]

Video, picture: Help CPD catch a theft suspect

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Scrap Metal Solutions Theft

Clinton Police Department detectives are looking for a suspect (or suspects) involved in the burglary of Scrap Metal Solutions on J.D. Yarnell Industrial Parkway.

According to the initial investigation, it’s believed the break-in occurred sometime during the weekend.

“We’re asking you to take a look at this video,” the CPD said. “If you know the suspect or have any information, please contact Lieutenant Carl Bailey or Detective Jason Lawson at (865) 457-3112.”

See the video here: [Read more…]

Clinton police seek help finding driver in horse trailer theft

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The Clinton Police Department is asking for the public’s help finding the vehicle pictured here. The driver is wanted for questioning in the theft of a horse trailer from Fox Toyota this past weekend, authorities said.

If you can provide any information, call CPD Lieutenant Carl Bailey or Detective Jason Lawson at (865) 457-3112.

20150406out3 [Read more…]

Four charged with aggravated robbery in alleged plot to steal rent money

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Raymond R. Gray

Raymond R. Gray

Four young Oak Ridge adults have been charged with aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy in an alleged plot to rob a woman for rent money, authorities said.

The alleged armed robbery occurred on Highland Avenue at about midnight April 1, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins said in warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The victim said three men who had their faces covered had robbed her at gunpoint and fled in a black Chevy sedan, the warrants said. The victim followed them north on Highland Avenue. [Read more…]

Former Scott County deputy nabbed in TBI theft, misconduct case

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Cody Scott Yancey

Cody Scott Yancey

Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have obtained indictments for a former Scott County Sheriff’s Department deputy accused of misconduct, authorities said. The deputy allegedly entered his department’s temporary evidence storage and removed multiple pieces of drug evidence, the TBI said.

At the request of Eighth District Attorney General Jared Effler, TBI special agents began investigating Cody Scott Yancey on October 16, 2014, a press release said.

“During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that on several occasions between September 22 and October 14, Yancey made illegal entry into his department’s temporary evidence storage and removed multiple pieces of drug evidence,” the release said. [Read more…]

With help from neighbors, woman escapes home fire as attic burns

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Riverview Drive Garage Fire

An east Oak Ridge woman who uses a walker was able to escape this duplex fire on Riverview Drive on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to help from her neighbors. (Photo by Bob Nuspliger)

 

This story was last updated at 6:40 p.m.

An east Oak Ridge woman who uses a walker was able to escape from her home as her attic burned Tuesday afternoon thanks to help from her neighbors.

The woman, Barbara Osborne, was not injured, although two firefighters who were overheated were treated, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. He said the firefighters, Captain Mike Friley and firefighter Casey Payne, were working close to the fire, near a lot of radiant heat.

Firefighters were also looking for a female cat, Honey, that belonged to the Osbornes.

The duplex they live in on Riverview Drive was destroyed, Kerley said.

The cause of the fire, which appeared to have started in the attic in the garage area of the home, wasn’t immediately known. It took between 16 and 18 firefighters about 45 minutes to extinguish the fire, which burned intensely over the garage on a windy Tuesday afternoon. [Read more…]