Oak Ridge Today

Family displaced, but no one injured in Rocky Top fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

A house fire displaced a Rocky Top area family on Wednesday night, but no one was injured, authorities said.

Firefighters from the Rocky Top and Medford fire departments responded to the fire, which was reported shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday in Cumberland View Estates in Rocky Top.

Anderson County Sheriff”s Department deputies arrived on the scene as well and were told by the resident, Jennifer Hutchins, that she was getting ready to take a shower when she heard a popping noise from the kitchen. When she went to investigate, she saw the microwave and the oven on fire. Hutchins immediately grabbed her two children and got out of the house, authorities said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge, Clinton officers receive DUI Officer of the Year awards

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Oak-Ridge-Police-Department-Burchfield-DUI-Officer-Year

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Derek Burchfield, left, received a DUI Officer of the Year Award on December 7 at the Governor’s Highway Safety Office annual joint network meeting in Knoxville. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department)

 

Officer Derek Burchfield of the Oak Ridge Police Department and Patrolman Adam Warren of the Clinton Police Department have received DUI Officer of the Year awards.

They were among nearly 100 officers and law enforcement agencies recognized by the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office. The awards were given out at regional meetings in Jackson, Murfreesboro, Pikeville, Knoxville, and Greeneville.

The Knoxville meeting was on December 7. Seventeen East Tennessee officers received the DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Officer of the Year Award. More than 120 officers attended.

Chief James Shetterly of the Rocky Top Police Department received a Partner of the Year Award, and Officer Stanley Wade and Jacqueline West of the Rocky Top Police Department were named Child Passenger Safety Technicians of the Year. [Read more…]

Six AC businesses sell beer to minor in sting

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Anderson County Sheriff Patch

During the last two weeks, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, in cooperation with the Rocky Top Police Department, the Oliver Springs Police Department, and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP, conducted compliance checks of local businesses who sell beer.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit and officers from the Rocky Top and Oliver Springs Police Departments visited 36 businesses to try to buy beer, a press release said. Six sold beer to the underage person. Four of the six checked for identification but still sold beer to the underage purchaser. Two businesses were closed.

The following businesses sold beer to the underage person:

Al’s Market New River Highway Briceville
Hitching Post Clinton Highway Clinton
Marathon (Fast Track) Lake City Highway Rocky Top
Smokes and Things Clinton Highway Powell
V Night Club North Main Street Rocky Top
Weigel’s Clinton Highway Powell

[Read more…]

Options for county courthouse in Oak Ridge: Extend lease, stay put, move to govt. building

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Anderson-County-General-Sessions-Court-Exterior-Nov-19-2015

The lease on Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires Dec. 31, but officials will ask for a one-year lease extension while courthouse options are considered. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—Several alternative locations have been proposed, including a city-owned building at A.K. Bissell Park and a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road, but for now, the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge could remain at a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road.

Once housed at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building, the General Sessions, Division II, courthouse has been on Bus Terminal Road since January 2009.

But the lease expires December 31.

On Monday, November 16, the Anderson County Commission voted 15-0 on a voice vote to ask for a one-year lease extension with no penalty and to work with Oak Ridge to share courthouse costs.

“That year buys us time to look at all the options,” said County Commissioner Myron Iwanski, who represents District 8, which includes Emory Valley, Woodland, and Hendrix Creek. [Read more…]

RT man charged with attempted murder after allegedly threatening wife, firing gun

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Steven Wayne Rice

Steven Wayne Rice

A Rocky Top man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after allegedly threatening his wife with a pistol early Sunday and firing it when three other people in the home tackled him and took away the gun, authorities said.

Steven Wayne Rice, 36, has also been charged with reckless endangerment, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The Rocky Top Police Department responded to the call of a shot fired at 411 Wallace Avenue at about 2:55 a.m. Sunday, August 30.

RTPD Officer Richard Foschino said Rice was on the front porch when he arrived. When asked what happened, Rice responded, “I fired the gun,” Foschino said. [Read more…]

Bear spotted in Rocky Top on Friday

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Bear in Rocky Top on June 19, 2015

A bear was spotted at 320 Norris Freeway in Rocky Top, across from the Dollar Store, at about 12:30 p.m. Friday. (Photo courtesy Raymond Jobe)

A bear was spotted in Rocky Top on Friday.

Authorities received a report of a bear near the intersection of U.S. 441 (Norris Freeway) and North Main Street at about noon Friday, a Rocky Top dispatcher said. It was across from Advance Auto Parts.

Dispatchers contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which recommended leaving the animal alone. TWRA said the bear was probably looking for food, and berries will “come out” in about another two to three weeks.

The dispatcher said the bear drifted off from that intersection downtown and was seen elsewhere around Rocky Top (the former Lake City) before disappearing. [Read more…]

Pilot robbery suspect arrested in Rocky Top

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Walter John Meachum

Walter John Meachum

A Caryville man suspected of robbing a Pilot Travel Center in east Knox County on Tuesday was arrested at a motel in Rocky Top in Anderson County on Wednesday, authorities said.

They said Walter John Meachum, 21, has been charged with aggravated robbery for an alleged armed robbery just before 2 a.m. Tuesday at the Pilot Travel Center at 1915 East Raccoon Valley Road in Knox County.

On Tuesday, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect was armed with a black and silver weapon, according to the initial investigation. Authorities said the suspect fled west on Raccoon Valley Road in a silver convertible with a black top after receiving an undisclosed amount of money from the business. He was described as wearing a skull mask, black hooded jacket, white shirt, and blue jeans at the time of the robbery.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said Meachum was arrested early Wednesday morning at the Scottish Inn in Rocky Top by its Major Crimes Unit in conjunction with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, and Rocky Top Police Department. As of Wednesday, Meachum was being held at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility on a $20,000 bond. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Two arrested on child pornography charges

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Mario Luis Castilla

Mario Luis Castilla

Two Anderson County men have been arrested in unrelated child pornography cases, authorities said.

Mario Luis Castilla, 29, of Offutt Spur Road in Rocky Top, was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on three counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and arrested January 8, Sheriff Paul White said.

Jeremy Keegan Cosgrove, 30, of Jersey Lane in Oak Ridge, was indicted on two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and arrested January 31, White said. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Arrest made after indoor marijuana grow, other drugs found

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Nathan Allen Underwood

Nathan Allen Underwood

A Rocky Top man was arrested Tuesday when officers serving a search warrant found marijuana plants in various stages of a grow operation, along with indoor grow equipment such as lights, as well as other drug paraphernalia, authorities said. In addition, mushrooms and suspected prescription narcotics were also found, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said.

White said investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit, along with officers from the Rocky Top Police Department, and the 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force, served a search warrant at a home on Industrial Park Road in Rocky Top on Tuesday afternoon. The search warrant was the result of a joint drug investigation with these agencies.

Authorities arrested Nathan Allen Underwood, 32, of Rocky Top, and he was charged with several drug and weapons offenses, White said. The charges include manufacturing, delivering, selling, or possessing a controlled substance; possession of Schedule I drugs; possession of Schedule II drugs; possession of drug paraphernalia; and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The sheriff said charges on two other people are expected, pending more investigation into the case.

Underwood remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Sunday afternoon, and his bond has been set at $35,000.

State officials, local agencies to crack down on seat belt use, impaired driving

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Kendell Poole

Kendell Poole

Traffic fatalities in Anderson County are up significantly this year, and Tennessee officials and local law enforcement agencies will announce a campaign on Monday to crack down on drivers not using seat belts or driving while impaired during the holidays.

The announcement is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, November 10, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Among those participating will be Kendell Poole, director of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office, and members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, as well as representatives of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Rocky Top police departments.

“There have been 16 traffic fatalities in Anderson County in 2014, which represents a 77 percent increase compared to 2013,” a press release said. “This is the third highest year-to-date difference in fatalities that an individual county has seen in Tennessee. Seventy-five percent of the fatalities were unrestrained. In an effort to prevent additional fatalities and injuries, Anderson County agencies will be increasing enforcement and conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.” [Read more…]