Oak Ridge Today

Powell man charged with attempted murder in brother’s shooting

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Jamie Lynn Lowe

Jamie Lynn Lowe

Note: This story was updated at 9:54 a.m.

A Powell man has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the shooting of his brother on Johnson Gap Road on Feb. 1, authorities said.

Jamie Lynn Lowe, 30, of Powell, was arrested Tuesday at a home on Mehaffey Road in Claxton on a fugitive from justice warrant for a parole violation in Michigan, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said in a Thursday morning press release. Warrants for the new charges were served at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Wednesday.

Lowe’s brother, Jeffery Allen Lowe, 28, was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with a potentially life-threatening wound after the Feb. 1 shooting at their mother’s home on Johnson Gap Road near Clinton, authorities said.

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Former officer drops lawsuit that alleged hostile workplace, sexual rumors

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Note: This story was updated at 3:51 a.m. Feb. 21.

A former Oak Ridge police officer who had alleged she was the subject of sexual rumors that had created a hostile work environment has withdrawn a $1.25 million federal lawsuit against the city.

Former Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christina Targonski had alleged that another officer had spread sexual rumors about her—allegedly telling other officers that she had invited him to an orgy and was distributing nude photos of herself to “whoever wanted them,” federal court records said.

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Stolen Knox County school bus found in Anderson County

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A school bus reported stolen in Knox County this morning was soon found in Anderson County, authorities said.

Bus 117 appears to have been stolen from its owner’s home on Prosser Road, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.

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Sheriff: Beer ‘sting’ nets four businesses

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Four businesses sold beer to an underage person during a compliance check at 19 local businesses last week, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Tuesday afternoon press release.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department conducted the compliance checks at local businesses that sell beer on Wednesday, Feb. 13, with help from Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP, a press release said.

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Report: Child playing with lighter under bed when fire found

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East Tennessee Avenue Mattress Fire

A child admitted playing with a lighter under a bed when a mattress fire was found in an East Tennessee Avenue home Monday night, authorities said. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A child admitted playing with a lighter under a bed in a home on East Tennessee Avenue when a mattress fire was found at about 7:04 p.m. Monday, an Oak Ridge Fire Department report said.

Firefighters reported light smoke inside the house when they arrived, and they quickly found a smoldering mattress fire in a bedroom inside, the report said.

They reported the fire was under control, ventilated the home, and removed the mattress and box frame.

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Clinton man arrested on theft, drug charges

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Clinton man was arrested Friday in Oliver Springs after he allegedly tried to sell a stolen truck and utility trailer to a scrap metal business.

Oliver Springs Police were called to Tri-County Metals on Friday on a report of a suspicious individual. Employees told police that 29-year-old Nathan Bradley Welch had tried to sell them a Ford F150, a trailer, and some diesel fuel tanks but did not have the titles for the truck or the trailer or any information about the tanks.

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Three found after unexpected camping trip

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Information from WYSH Radio

Rescue crews located three people reported missing after not returning from an ATV ride uninjured Saturday morning.

Crews from the Anderson and Morgan County rescue squads as well as crews from the Marlow and Briceville volunteer fire departments and others assisted in the search for a grandfather, father, and son who went riding Friday on Windrock Mountain, got lost, and had to camp out in the elements overnight. The trio was located Saturday morning and, aside from one mild case of hypothermia, was safe and sound.

Police Department starts crosswalk safety operation Friday

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Starting Friday, the Oak Ridge Police Department will conduct an intensive eight-day pedestrian crosswalk safety operation that will focus on drivers who fail to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, a press release said.

Known as Operation Drive Safe 2013, the operation starting Friday will focus on a particularly dangerous location on Emory Valley Road, the press release said. It’s meant to improve pedestrian and traffic safety in the city.

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Police chief stops two theft suspects at former fitness center

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

For the second time in a week, Oak Ridge Police James T. Akagi has helped arrest two suspects.

Last week, the chief tackled one of two men who fled from him in a car through Scarboro and then on foot.

This week, Akagi stopped a white van at the former Paragon Athletic Club on Emory Valley Road. In the back of the van, an apparent HVAC unit valued at $11,000 was visible through an open rear hatch, and it appeared to have been cut from the fitness center, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Nathan Stinnett said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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Anderson task force allegedly finds crack, marijuana, revolver during search

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An Anderson County task force serving a search warrant on Waltham Lane on Feb. 1 allegedly found 46.2 grams of purported cocaine base, or crack cocaine, in a kitchen drawer, authorities said.

The task force also allegedly found 8.3 grams of purported marijuana in the kitchen drawer, court records said, and a fully loaded chrome Trooper MK III 357 caliber Colt revolver was found in a master bedroom closet. A small digital scale that had allegedly had marijuana and white residue was found on the kitchen counter, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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Teen accused of beating girlfriend’s dad, who was found unconscious

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An Oak Ridge teenager is accused of repeatedly hitting his girlfriend’s father in the face early Saturday morning, and the man was lying unconscious in a Robertsville Road yard when officers arrived, authorities said.

The man had severe injuries to his face, and his facial bones were probably fractured, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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Oliver Springs man accused of ramming car with wife, child

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An Oliver Springs man has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault after he allegedly used his truck to ram a car containing his wife and her four-year-old daughter, authorities said.

Goman Harness, 47, and his wife had reportedly been arguing in Oliver Springs on Saturday before the wife drove away with her young daughter. While on her way home, the wife said, Harness allegedly rammed her car with his truck, causing her car to spin, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

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