Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge couple faces drug charges

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An Oak Ridge couple is facing drug charges after Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies served a search warrant at their home on West Outer Drive on Saturday, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

According to the arrest report, Leon and Rebecca Massengale were cooperative when investigators showed up at their door, and 67-year-old Leon Massengale told deputies that he knew why they were there, WYSH said. Massengale led deputies directly to the living room, where they allegedly found a half-pound of marijuana.

He told officers that he smoked marijuana and sold it to his friends to supplement his unemployment benefits, WYSH reported.

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ORPD could unveil public online crime mapping system this week

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

The Oak Ridge Police Department could unveil a new online crime mapping system this week that will publicly display incident information. That information includes crime types, dates and times, and block addresses.

“It enables the public to go online and search out crime in any area, particularly in their own area,” Oak Ridge Police Department Crime Analyst David Gordon said. “You can log in today and see what was going on.”

Free to the public, the RAIDS Online system will show crimes such as assaults, burglaries, homicides, robberies, and thefts. Sexual assaults and traffic stops will not be reported, Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi told City Council members during a work session Monday.

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Body of woman reported missing found at Melton Hill Lake

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Rescuers Search for Missing Woman

Law enforcement authorities and volunteers search near Melton Lake Drive north of Edgemoor Road on Saturday for a woman reported as missing Friday. Her body was later found on the west bank of Melton Hill Lake.

The body of a woman reported missing on Friday was found Saturday afternoon on the west bank of Melton Hill Lake near the Bull Run Fossil Plant, authorities said.

Tara Ann Kobisk, 37, had been missing for about seven hours when a report was filed with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Friday evening, an Oak Ridge Police Department press release said.

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Oily rags possible cause of Wadsworth Place fire

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Wadsworth Place House Fire

Oak Ridge firefighters battle a blaze in a basement at a Wadsworth Place home. (Photo by Tom Scott)

Oily rags might have started a fire in a basement at a home on Wadsworth Place on Monday afternoon, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

He said residents who were home when the fire started at about 3:40 p.m. Monday smelled and saw smoke, and they initially thought it might have been from an electrical box in the basement.

But he said the fire, one of three in Oak Ridge on Monday, might have been started instead by cleaning rags that were improperly stored downstairs and spontaneously combusted.

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Firefighters battle blazes on Lawton Road, truck tires

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Lawton Road House Fire

Firefighters battle a blaze at a Lawton Road duplex Monday morning. No one was home when the fire started. (Photos by Tom Scott)

No one was injured in two separate fires Monday morning, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

The first fire happened at about 10:15 a.m. Monday after tires blew out on a truck on South Illinois Avenue near Rutgers Avenue, Kerley said.

Then, at about 10:30 a.m., firefighters responded to a fire at a duplex at 114-116 Lawton Road.

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Police report: Man stabbed with sword after fist fight

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An Oak Ridge man was allegedly stabbed in the back with a sword on Friday night after a fist fight at Van Hicks Place, according to Anderson County court records.

Jeffrey John Smith, 30, of Van Hicks Place, is accused of stabbing Michael Showalter, who was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with a stab wound that punctured his lung, an arrest warrant said. Showalter survived, Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi said Monday morning.

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Woman suspected in Craigslist scam killed in accident

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The woman wanted for an alleged Craigslist home rental scam in Claxton was killed Thursday morning in a traffic accident on Interstate 75 in Whitley County, Ky., according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

Shannon Renee Leffew, a 37-year-old Clinton resident, had been wanted on 25 counts by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

She was a passenger in a 1995 Toyota Thursday morning at around 11 a.m. on I-75 South near mile marker 1 when the driver apparently lost control and left the roadway, colliding with a pickup truck and camper trailer parked in the emergency lane, WYSH said.

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Top firefighters can issue tickets for parking violations

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Three top officers in the Oak Ridge Fire Department can now issue tickets for parking violations, but they will only use that authority in limited circumstances, such as when drivers block access to a fire hydrant or fire lane, Chief Darryl Kerley said Friday.

“It’s not like we’re going to be out patrolling the area writing tickets,” Kerley said.

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Car accident sends four children, one adult to hospital

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Car Wreck

Four children and one adult were taken to the hospital after an accident Wednesday morning at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive. (Photo by Tom Scott)

Four children and one adult were taken to the hospital after a car accident Wednesday morning at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive.

The accident happened just before 8 a.m. Wednesday when a car driven by Jessica Nicole Sessoms of Oak Ridge allegedly ran a red light and hit a car driven by Melissa D. Carlisle, an accident report said.

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Oak Ridge warns utility customers of multistate scam

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Oak Ridge officials on Thursday warned utility customers to be aware of a new multistate utility scam that has affected Tennessee residents.

A city press release said scammers have told victims that President Barack Obama has approved special funding through the Federal Reserve Bank for utility bill help. But there is no such funding.

The victims are given fraudulent bank account and routing numbers to use when paying their bills, but only after they give their Social Security number and other personal information, the release said.

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Sheriff seeks suspect in Craigslist home rental scam

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Two people have been arrested, and authorities are seeking a third suspect allegedly involved in a Craigslist rental scam involving a home on West Wolf Valley Road in Claxton, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said today.

More than a dozen victims responded to a Craigslist ad about renting the home, and they reportedly left deposits with a person they thought owned the home, but didn’t, White said in a press release.

He said the victims discovered the scam when some of them tried to move into the house.

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Committee recommends Rouse Construction for jail expansion

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An Anderson County committee has unanimously recommended that Rouse Construction Co. of Knoxville be awarded the contract to build a 240-bed pod to help ease overcrowding at the Anderson County jail.

Rouse had submitted a bid of $9.66 million, the lowest of six proposals received, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

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