Oak Ridge Today

Greenback man dies after hunting accident with crossbow

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A Greenback man died early Thursday morning after he was accidentally shot in the head by a crossbow during a deer hunting trip in Loudon County on Wednesday, authorities said.

William Nathan Norris, 37, from Greenback at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said.

Norris and an unnamed partner were deer hunting on private property off South Highway 411 in Greenback when the incident occurred, the TWRA said. Greenback is south of Lenoir City. [Read more…]

Driver cut from vehicle, taken to UT after crashing into power pole

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Old Edgemoor Road Power Pole

The Oak Ridge Electric Department installs a new utility pole after a driver crashed into the old one and broke it on Old Edgemoor Road on Thursday morning.

A driver had to be cut from his upside-down SUV and taken to the hospital on Thursday morning after he crashed into a guide wire on a utility pole on Old Edgemoor Road, traveled up the wire, and then hit the pole and broke it, authorities said.

The Mercury Mountaineer likely went about 10 feet in the air and then fell on its top, crushing the roof, said Marty Griffith, Oak Ridge Fire Department battalion chief. Electrical lines landed on top of the vehicle, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department was called to turn off the power.

Griffith said the driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a head laceration. He did not have any other obvious injuries. Griffith said the man might have had a medical emergency before the crash. [Read more…]

Claxton fire burns through roof at home behind Bread Box

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Dogwood Road Fire

Firefighters battle a blaze that spread into the attic and burned through a roof at a home on South Dogwood Road in Claxton. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A Monday evening fire burned through the roof of a home behind the Bread Box convenience store on Edgemoor Road in Claxton.

The fire at 110 S. Dogwood Road was reported at about 6:45 p.m. Monday, photographer Tom Scott said. It was originally reported as a kitchen fire, but the fire extended into the attic and burned through the roof, causing extensive damage.

Before firefighters arrived, a neighbor kicked open a door after hearing what sounded like a cry for help and freed a trapped cat, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton. No injuries were reported.

The initial response was by the Claxton Fire Department. In one of the larger Anderson County mutual aid operations in recent years, the Rural Metro, Andersonville, Marlow, Medford, and Briceville fire departments responded, and so did Anderson County Emergency Medical Services and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Scott said. The American Red Cross also responded to help the residents. [Read more…]

Shed, motorcycle destroyed in fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

A storage shed was destroyed along with a motorcycle Monday night in the Marlow community. The call came in shortly before 7 p.m., and crews responded to 397 Marlow Road, where they found the building in flames.

The structure and a 1985 Yamaha motorcycle were destroyed in the fire. The cause has not been determined.

Oak Ridge man remains jailed after allegedly threatening woman with knife

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An Oak Ridge man was charged with aggravated domestic assault after a police officer witnessed him standing near a woman with a knife held over his head in a malicious manner and the blade facing the victim, authorities said.

Charles K. Hollinsworth, 45, was arrested after the family disturbance call on Mayfair Lane at 11:34 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20, and he remained jailed on Monday afternoon.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher Bayless responded to the call, and he said he found a distressed child outside the home, according to a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. As Bayless approached the house, he said he could hear a loud, escalating argument and a high-pitched in-distress yell coming from a female. [Read more…]

Bicyclist reports man yells obscenities before running over his bike in Solway

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A 32-year-old man reported that a suspect leaving the Raceway gas station in Solway on Sunday afternoon first yelled obscenities toward him and then ran over his bicycle, authorities said.

The victim was examined by Rural Metro, but he said he was not injured in the incident, which occurred at 2:23 p.m. Sunday, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report.

The suspect, who was reported to be driving a black Chevrolet Blazer, left before officers arrived.

Residents evacuated, but home heavily damaged in Oliver Springs fire

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Oak Circle Oliver Springs Fire

Residents were safely evacuated, but a home and car were heavily damaged during a Saturday night fire on Oak Circle in Oliver Springs. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Residents were safely evacuated, but a home and car were heavily damaged during a Saturday evening fire in Oliver Springs.

The fire was reported at about 7:35 p.m. Saturday at 446 Oak Circle. A Nissan Sentra parked near the house suffered major damage, photographer Tom Scott said.

The home is on a hill. An Oliver Springs Volunteer Fire Department engine was positioned at the bottom of the driveway during the fire, and fire hoses were pulled up the hill, Scott said. [Read more…]

Fire destroys home on Hoskins Gap Road

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Jordan Alcorn at Hoskins Gap Road Fire

Oliver Springs Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Jordan Alcorn battles a fire that destroyed a home on Hoskins Gap Road near Winrock Road at about 7 a.m. Friday. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A fire destroyed a home on Hoskins Gap Road at about 7 a.m. Friday, but no injuries were reported.

The home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, photographer Tom Scott said.

The home is near Windrock Road and in the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department area, but firefighters from Oliver Springs also responded, as did Anderson County Emergency Medical Services and the Sheriff’s Department.

Two people were reported to have escaped the fire, which was apparently started by a wood-burning stove. [Read more…]

THP IDs man found on I-40 in Roane County near Hwy 95, seeks help

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Brian William Taylor

Brian William Taylor

Authorities have identified the man found dead early Christmas morning on Interstate 40 in Roane County, and they said he appears to have either jumped or fallen from a moving vehicle before being struck by another vehicle.

The body of Brian William Taylor, 42, of Heath Springs, S.C., was found on the eastbound lanes of I-40 at mile marker 364, which is near Highway 95 and south of Melton Hill Dam, at about 2:30 a.m. Dec. 25, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a press release.

Taylor is a white man, and when he was found, he was wearing blue jeans, a blue and white checked flannel type shirt, and tan work boots, the THP said. [Read more…]

Report: Woman who fell into fountain and died had been ‘huffing,’ witness says

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Fountain

The Oak Ridge woman who fell into this fountain at the Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

The 26-year-old woman who fell into a fountain at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

After she was pulled from the fountain, rescuers tried CPR on Sarah Christine McAdams, but she was unresponsive and given only a 10 percent chance of surviving the first night at Methodist Medical Center, hospital staff told Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig.

On June 6, ORPD Detective David Stephens reported that McAdams, who had lived on Manhattan Avenue in Woodland, had been placed in an induced coma and had not been able to communicate. She died at the hospital on June 16, according to a copy of the death certificate provided by her mother, Lori Holt, of Murrell’s Inlet, S.C. [Read more…]

Andersonville fire displaces family on Christmas Eve

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Tuesday morning fire badly damaged an Andersonville family’s home.

The fire started around 5:30 a.m. off Hinds Creek Road near Norris Freeway. According to the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department, no one was hurt in the fire that destroyed about half of the home.

Firefighters say the blaze started near the dryer in the utility room and that it was an electrical fire, but it is unclear exactly what started it. There were space heaters connected to an extension cord near where the fire started. [Read more…]

Suspects used stolen pickup truck, Bobcat in attempted theft of ATM safe

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Bobcat and ATM Safe from Y-12 Federal Credit Union

Authorities said unknown suspects used this stolen Bobcat in a Christmas morning plot to steal a safe from a standalone ATM in east Oak Ridge. The attempted heist appears to have gone awry after the Bobcat tipped over on its side in a small culvert next to Bogola Road.

Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m.

A stolen pickup truck and Bobcat were used in the unsuccessful Christmas morning plot to steal the safe from a standalone ATM in east Oak Ridge, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department said the unknown suspects used the truck, stolen from the nearby Waste Connections convenience center, to try to knock the automated teller machine off the concrete pad. When that didn’t work, they allegedly used the Bobcat, which was also stolen from Waste Connections.

The Bobcat demolished the ATM and hauled the ATM several hundred feet away before flipping over in a small culvert next to Bogola Road, which is the Oak Ridge Turnpike entrance to the convenience center. [Read more…]