Oak Ridge Today

Three boaters injured in two-boat collision on Norris Lake

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ANDERSONVILLE—A two-boat collision on Norris Lake near Anderson County Park sent three occupants to the hospital early last night.

The accident occurred on Friday night around 9:21 p.m. when a runabout boat and a bass boat collided nearly head-on, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Sgt. Roy Smith. Two of the bass boat’s occupants were ejected, and all three passengers were transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The two occupants of the runabout were uninjured. [Read more…]

Get rid of old medicines Saturday

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The Oak Ridge Police Department will take unused medicines and won’t ask for identification on Saturday morning.

From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, people will be able to drop off old and expired drugs at the ORPD headquarters at 200 S. Tulane Ave. [Read more…]

Report: With four children in car, chase exceeds 100 mph, mother urges driver to go faster

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Billy Ray Fox

Billy Ray Fox

Heather Renee Buchanan

Heather Renee Buchanan

Note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. Aug. 24.

With four unrestrained children in the car, an East Tennessee man and woman fled from officers at speeds exceeding 100 mph on Thursday afternoon, crossing from Anderson County into Union County, and a mother allegedly urged the driver to go faster, authorities said.

The high-speed chase began at about 4:22 p.m. Thursday when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of an aggravated burglary on Foster Road. They located a suspect gray Pontiac Grand Am being driven by Billy Ray Fox, 28, of Corryton, on Hickory Valley Road and Collins Gap Road. [Read more…]

Anderson mayor, sheriff reach interim agreement allowing some new staff

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Anderson County Detention Facility

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White have reached an interim agreement in their dispute over a salary agreement that will allow the sheriff to hire another 15 deputies for an expanded jail and also hire a coordinator for the Alternatives to Incarceration program.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White have reached an interim agreement in their dispute over a salary agreement that will allow the sheriff to hire another 15 deputies for an expanded jail and also hire a coordinator for the Alternatives to Incarceration program.

“Attorneys for Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White have jointly submitted to the court an interim order that allows the sheriff to continue to employ his current deputies and hire 15 additional deputies and a coordinator for the Alternatives to Incarceration program,” a Friday morning press release said. “This agreed order is consistent with the mayor’s position and will allow the sheriff to begin increasing the number of deputies he employs in anticipation of opening the new jail.” [Read more…]

Lightning strike causes house fire, damage estimated at $10,000

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Royal Troon House Fire Lightning Strike

A lightning strike started a fire at a home on Royal Troon in east Oak Ridge on Wednesday afternoon, causing an estimated $10,000 in damage, authorities said. (Photos courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

A lighting strike appears to have started a fire at a home on Royal Troon in east Oak Ridge during an intense storm Wednesday afternoon, causing an estimated $10,000 in damage, authorities said.

There were no injuries, but the homeowners will be relocated while repairs are made, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

The lightning strike occurred at about 2:24 p.m. Wednesday. It appears to have traveled into the home by either the electrical system or natural gas pipes, Kerley said. [Read more…]

Green ruled competent to stand trial in 2011 shooting

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Information from WYSH Radio

The man accused in the fatal shooting of a Clinton pawn shop employee in November of 2011 has been ruled competent to stand trial.

James Allen Green, 65, is accused of shooting 59-year-old Larry Snellings after asking to see a gun at the South Clinton Pawn Shop. When Snellings handed him the gun, Green allegedly loaded it and shot him. [Read more…]

Suspicious barn fire probed

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Tuesday night fire that destroyed a barn in Anderson County is being investigated as suspicious. The fire occurred at a barn on Miller Hollow Lane shortly after 11 p.m., according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, which said the property owner heard a loud noise outside his house, and when he went to investigate saw the barn engulfed by flames.

The property owner told deputies he had recently been involved with a legal dispute and that he believed that the fire had been deliberately set. The investigation is ongoing. No injuries were reported.

Anderson commissioners approve new jail fees for inmates, new costs covered by Time magazine

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The Anderson County Commission on Monday approved three new sets of fees for inmates, including charges for supplies ranging for pants and shirts to toothpaste and toilet paper. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—Anderson County inmates could soon pay for items such as pants and shirts, bras and underwear, and toothpaste and toilet paper, with costs ranging from three cents for soap to $24.65 for a coat.

The new fees were approved with no opposition by the Anderson County Commission on Monday. The money would be deducted from the inmate’s jail trust account or any other account or fund set up for the prisoner. The fees would not be added to court costs.

The supply fees were one of three new sets of inmate fees approved by commissioners on Monday. [Read more…]

Two more police officers, sergeant stationed at ORHS, Alternative School

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Oak Ridge High School

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. The ORPD now has a school resource officer, a sergeant, and two non-patrol officers at the two schools.

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. However, they are not school resource officers, or SROs.

For the past few years, the ORPD has had an SRO who works mostly at the high school. This year, though, a sergeant and two non-patrol officers are also stationed there and at the Alternative School next door, ORPD Chief Jim Akagi said Monday.

School officials had requested more SROs this year, following the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but funding has been an obstacle. While the new arrangement doesn’t add SROs, it will increase the police presence and visibility, Akagi said.

[Read more…]

‘Clinton 12’ statues vandalized

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Information from WYSH Radio

This past weekend, someone threw eggs at the statues of the 12 students who desegregated Clinton High School in 1956 that stand in front of the Green McAdoo Museum.

On Saturday afternoon, the Clinton Police Department was called at about 5 p.m. to the museum that pays tribute to those students—and tells the story of the South’s first desegregated public high school. Officers made contact with a woman who said she had come to visit the museum, not realizing it closed at 4 p.m., and had noticed the vandalism to the statues. [Read more…]

Suspicious fire probed in Oliver Springs

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Information from WYSH Radio

For the second time this month, Anderson County investigators are probing a fire at a vacant, foreclosed house.

The most recent incident happened Wednesday afternoon at a home on Cove Lane in Oliver Springs. The Oliver Springs Fire Department was called to the house at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, and firefighters reported that the structure was fully engulfed by flames. No injuries were reported, and the fire is being investigated as suspicious since there was no electricity hooked up to it at the time of the blaze.

Man found with gunshot wounds in Ridgeview parking lot taken to hospital but dies

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Emergency workers were unable to save a man found with two apparent gunshot wounds in his chest on Tuesday in the rear parking lot of a mental health center in Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Police Department has not released the man’s name or age, and a report said the shooting remains under investigation. [Read more…]