Oak Ridge Today

Lockdown lifted at Oak Ridge High School

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A lockdown was lifted at Oak Ridge High School Thursday morning after a staff member called police saying she spotted an unknown person walking outside one of the buildings.

The initial call came into the Oak Ridge Police Department at 10:52 a.m. Thursday, authorities said. The first officers were on scene within minutes and the school was placed on a level three lockdown.

The staff member told officers she saw a man dressed in all black clothing walking by the windows of the Secret City Academy building. She and other staff said they were alarmed after seeing the man act suspiciously, possibly jumping over a fence and several railings, so they called police, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

ORPD officers searched the exterior school property while the school resource officer assisted staff inside the school. No one was found. Officers believe the person left the area before they arrived. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge: Driver runs red light, crashes into school bus

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No students were injured in a school bus crash on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 19, 2016, when the driver of a car ran a red light and collided with the bus at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Georgia Avenue, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 6:10 p.m.

No students were injured in a school bus crash on Wednesday afternoon when the driver of a car ran a red light and collided with the bus, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

The crash was reported at about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Georgia Avenue. A preliminary investigation by Oak Ridge Police Department officers revealed that the driver of a four-door Volkswagen Passat sedan ran the red light, causing a collision with the school bus, the press release said.

There were three children on the bus at the time of the crash, along with the school bus driver. None of them were injured, the city said. [Read more…]

Emergency crews use boat to rescue injured mountain biker

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Emergency crews use a boat to rescue an injured mountain biker from Haw Ridge Park on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016. (Submitted photo)

 

Emergency crews used a boat to rescue a mountain biker with a broken ankle in Haw Ridge Park on Sunday, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded at 5:12 p.m. Sunday, October 16. Dispatchers had received a reported a man down on a Haw Ridge bike trail with a broken ankle.

The Oak Ridge 911 dispatchers were able to ping the caller’s cell phone and determine the approximate location of the accident, a press release said. They determined the biker was near the water on the southeast side of the trail.

Oak Ridge paramedics from Engine 3 and Rescue 1 began hiking to the incident while the rescue boat responded and was launched from Solway Park boat ramp. The ORFD boat located the patient within 25 minutes of the call, the press release said. [Read more…]

Fire destroys vacant home in Rocky Top

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Information from WYSH Radio

A fire Monday afternoon destroyed a vacant house on Old Bryant Lane in Rocky Top.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene shortly before 3 p.m. and reported that the house was still on fire and almost completely destroyed upon their arrival. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department investigating stabbing

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Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies are investigating a stabbing that occurred Monday afternoon.

Deputies responded to the emergency room at Methodist Medical Center and made contact with Randy and Courtney Roach. Randy Roach was unable to provide too much information as doctors tended to his wounds before he was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, but he did tell officers that he and Courtney had been walking along Old Lake City Highway on Monday afternoon when a small silver Honda or Toyota car stopped and two men jumped out and stabbed them. Both Randy and Courtney Roach said that they did not know either of the men and that the suspects did not steal anything from them during the incident. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch has fundraiser at Gondolier on Wednesday

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The Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program has a fundraiser at Gondolier Restaurant on Wednesday.

The fundraiser is scheduled from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, October 12. Ten percent of receipts will be donated to Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program, an event flyer said.  The fundraiser is to raise money to purchase Halloween safety items to distribute to children at Party In The Park on October 29.

The Gondolier Restaurant is located at 792 Briarcliff Avenue. You can eat dine-in or carry-out.

Two women escape fire that destroys log home in Clinton

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Two women escaped a fire that destroyed a home on Riverview Drive in south Clinton on Friday morning, Oct. 7, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—Two women escaped a fire that destroyed a log home in Clinton on Friday morning, authorities said.

The fire at the two-story log home was reported at about 9:50 a.m. Friday on Riverview Drive in south Clinton.

One adult female inside at the time of the fire jumped from the second floor to escape, said Jeff Little, assistant chief of the Clinton Fire Department. She had what appeared to be minor injuries on Friday morning, Little said.

The woman’s mother also escaped from the fire. [Read more…]

Roane State offering spring start for paramedic program; apply by Oct. 31

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There’s an October 31 application deadline to start Roane State Community College’s paramedic program in the spring semester.

The three-semester program, which features several courses each semester, is normally not offered with a spring semester starting point. It has been added to meet a local, statewide, and national shortage of paramedics, said David Blevins, program director.

The shortfall in advanced emergency medical technicians and paramedics is frequently mentioned during monthly regional meetings of EMS directors, he said.

There are 12 openings for the program, and candidates must be licensed as advanced EMTs or be in the Advanced EMT program now in progress. [Read more…]

Dump truck driver cited for trailer brake, safety chain violations after crash with car

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Rescuers said it was a miracle that a woman survived when a trailer carrying a small skid steer loader crashed into her Toyota Camry on Emory Valley Road on Friday evening, Sept. 2, 2016. The black dump truck reported to be pulling the trailer before the crash is partially visible in the background behind the tow truck above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Knoxville man who was allegedly driving a dump truck pulling a trailer that came loose and struck a car head-on on Emory Valley Road in September, trapping and injuring a driver, has been cited for violations of state laws governing trailer brakes and adequate safety chains, according to court records.

Gerald D. Cureton, 71, had an initial appearance scheduled on Wednesday morning in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The court date was reset to November 9 to see if Cureton hires an attorney.

A violation of the brake requirement is a Class C misdemeanor, according to a copy of that section of state law, Tennessee Code Annotated 55-9-204, posted on LexisNexis.

A violation of the safety chain requirement is punishable by a fine of $50 on a first offense and a fine of between $50 and $500 on second and subsequent offenses, according to a copy of another section of state law, TCA 55-7-114, posted on LexisNexis. [Read more…]

Second homicide charge added, preliminary hearing set in crash that killed school employee

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Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, of Oak Ridge, is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee in a fatal three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue on May 6, 2016. A preliminary hearing for Gilmore, who is pictured above on Thursday, Sept. 29, has been set for 10 a.m. Oct. 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee after a three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May.

The new charges, filed against Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, on September 29, also include aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The new homicide charge is vehicular homicide (recklessness).

The original charges filed against Gilmore, who is suspected of using a narcotic pain-reliever, were vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, reckless driving, failure to maintain a single lane, leaving the scene of an accident, violation of the implied consent law, and duty upon striking a fixture. The original charges were filed in May.

A preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. October 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. During a preliminary hearing, a judge can hear from victims, witnesses, and investigators, and determine whether charges should be bound over, or sent to a grand jury for its consideration. An indictment by a grand jury bumps a case from general sessions court to criminal court. [Read more…]

Claxton brush fires investigated as arson

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating several small brush fires in the Claxton area.

Just before noon on Monday, deputies were notified of three small brush fires burning in the 600 block of Edgemoor Road. When Deputy Roger Sexton arrived, the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department was already on scene dousing the fires, which were located within 50 yards of one another about 20 feet from the roadway.

While Sexton was still on the scene of the Edgemoor fires, a call came in about another brush fire on Old Emory Road near Crawford Lane, and he went to investigate. When he arrived, he found a homeowner putting out the fire with a garden hose. That fire, too, was about 20 feet from the roadway. [Read more…]

Two killed, four injured in four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway

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A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said. A short section of Clinton Highway was closed for about five hours between Mehaffey Road and Old Clinton Pike as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the fatal crash, which also injured four people. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said.

Four other people were injured in the crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The men who died were driver Roy Simmons, 29, of Helena, Georgia, and passenger Charles Miller, 25, of Powell, Tennessee, the THP said in a fatal crash report. The two men were in a 2001 Ford TSS driven by Simmons.

The crash was reported at about 11:32 a.m. Friday on Clinton Highway near the intersection with Old Clinton Pike in Anderson County, near the Anderson-Knox county line, the THP said.

The fatal crash report said a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was trying to stop the car driven by Simmons in the northbound lanes of Clinton Highway near West Beaver Creek in Knox County, but the car fled. While fleeing, the car lost control and crossed the center line while going left around a curve, the crash report said. [Read more…]