Jade Dush
The Oak Ridge Police Department is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teen. Jade Dush, age 17, of Oak Ridge, was last seen at her home on the evening of July 16, 2018.
She was reported missing the following day by her legal guardian, the ORPD said.
If you’ve seen Jade or have any information on where she might be, contact the Oak Ridge Police Department at (865) 425-4399. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will extend open hours at the outdoor pool on Providence Road into the month of August. The schedule is as follows:
*The 100 meter lap swim and kiddie pool will be closed for a special event on August 1, 2018. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter on Belgrade Road is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Animal adoption fees will be lower at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter on Saturday, August 18.
The Animal Shelter is participating in the nationwide “Clear the Shelters” pet adoption event that day.
“Reduced adoption fees of $55 will be available all day as staff work to find a forever home for each adoptable animal at the shelter,” a press release said.
Animal shelters all over the U.S. are teaming up as part of the effort to find loving homes for pets in need, the press release said. This is the fourth year for the event. Oak Ridge is one of three animal shelters in East Tennessee to commit to the cause so far this year, the said. [Read more…]
An Oak Ridge Police Department school zone patrol is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A new school year will start next week, and the Oak Ridge Police Department will help to make sure students and families stay safe with Operation Safe Start beginning Monday, July 30, the first day of school, a press release said.
“The effort steps up police patrols to increase awareness of school zones and ensure drivers are following the law,” the press release said. “Residents will likely notice additional police vehicles and officers in school zones across the city.”
The press release said officers will be on the lookout for drivers who exceed posted speed limits, ignore school bus stop signs, and fail to yield for pedestrians. ORPD will also be enforcing seat belt, child passenger restraint, and distracted driving laws, including the new state law requiring the use of hands free devices in active school zones, the press release said. [Read more…]
Valerie Stenson
Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Oak Ridge grandmother charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter seven years ago.
Announcing the decision, prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.
The state filed a withdrawal notice, announcing it would not seek the death penalty, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on March 16. The withdrawal notice has not been previously reported. [Read more…]
Thomas Zacharia
Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give a community lecture on Thursday. It’s the 21st season of the Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.
Besides being ORNL director, Zacharia is also president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle LLC, which operates ORNL for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
On Thursday, Zacharia will talk about the scientific agenda at ORNL in a presentation titled “Science and the State of the Lab,” a press release said. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of ORNL (FORNL) and the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF). It is free of charge, and it will be held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, the press release said.
“The talk will be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 19, 2018, recommended a rezoning that could allow about 200 homes on 32 acres near South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in south Oak Ridge, pictured above on Monday, July 23, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission has recommended a rezoning that could allow about 200 homes on 32 acres near South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in south Oak Ridge.
The Planning Commission approved the rezoning request 8-0 on Thursday, said Stephen Whitson, Planning Commission chair.
There was no opposition.
The Planning Commission also voted 8-0 to recommend an associated land use plan map amendment.
The rezoning request and land use plan map amendment will now be considered by Oak Ridge City Council.
The property is currently zoned industrial. If approved by Council, the request would rezone the 32 acres as low-density residential. [Read more…]
Pictured above from left to right are Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, of Anderson County; Moshin Agha, 30, of India; and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, of Anderson County. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)
Thousands of pills were seized from a home in Anderson County during an investigation of prescription pills being shipped into the United States for distribution, possibly from Internet sales from international sources, authorities said Monday.
Three people have been indicted and arrested in the case. One was detained overseas this month, in the international airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general.
The apprehension of Moshin Agha, 30, of India, was reported first by Oak Ridge Today on Monday. In a press release Monday afternoon, Clark said Agha, who had been entered into a national police database, was located at the international airport in Dubai sometime in the late evening of Friday, July 13, or early the next morning.
Agha’s co-defendants, Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, both of Anderson County, have already pleaded guilty in the case. [Read more…]
Site work is pictured above on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, on the lot where a Tire Discounters will be built along South Illinois Avenue in front of the American Museum of Science and Energy. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Site work was under way last week for a Tire Discounters on property south of the American Museum of Science and Energy, the first development on any part of the museum site.
There could be other developments later on the southern 7.4 acres of the 19-acre museum site, possibly including a grocery or retail store of about 55,000 square feet and retail or restaurant space. (See here and here.)
The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously approved a rezoning for the 7.4 acres, which will include the Tire Discounters store, in November.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission unanimously approved a final master plan for a planned unit development on the property during a special meeting in March. The final master plan was subject to certain conditions. Among them were one requirement to submit a new or revised traffic impact study when the site plan for the grocery store or large “box” store is submitted and one to install sidewalks on the northern boundary of the property. [Read more…]
Clinton Fire Department Tower Truck (Picture via WYSH Radio)
Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today
The Clinton Fire Department will possess the largest fire truck in Anderson County on Friday.
Officials recently agreed to purchase a new truck with a ladder capable of reaching heights of 110 feet and will take possession of it on Friday, according to Clinton Fire Chief Archie Brummitt and Assistant Chief Jeff Little.
The new apparatus is thought to be the largest single purchase in the history of the city at $991,000. The funding came from the city’s capital project fund, as well as a $200,000 donation from Clinton manufacturing company SL Tennessee.
The ladder truck has an expected lifespan of 25-30 years, according to Brummitt, who said the tower truck has been on the department’s wish list for some time. [Read more…]
Picture of African Dancers in the 2016 parade in Scarboro. (Submitted photo)
The Scarboro Community Alumni Association will have a weekend of festivities this month as part of Oak Ridge’s 75th anniversary celebration.
It’s a reunion scheduled from July 27-July 30.
The 2018 theme, “Connecting the Dots,” commemorates the generations that made lifestyle choices that affect the growth and development of a vibrant Scarboro and Oak Ridge community, a press release said.
“Some additional 200 persons will return back to Oak Ridge to rekindle old memories of growing up in the Scarboro community,” the release said.
Festivities will begin with the Meet and Greet held Friday, July 27, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Scarboro Community Center at 148 Carver Avenue. There, people may receive their registration information, talk with old friends, and enjoy music and appetizers, the press release said. [Read more…]
Noelle Leigh Patty
CLINTON—A trial has been scheduled this month for an Oak Ridge woman charged with homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016.
The felony jury trial for Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, is scheduled for July 24 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Patty has been charged with homicide in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.
On Friday, Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge rejected a motion to dismiss two of the five charges filed against Patty: criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The Anderson County Grand Jury has found probable cause on the five charges, Elledge said, and no facts or evidence had been presented to the court yet. He called the motion to dismiss “totally premature.”
Patty was indicted on the five charges by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017. Besides homicide and reckless endangerment, the charges included failure to yield the right-of-way resulting in death, failure to obey a traffic control device, and failure to provide proof of insurance.
The crash occurred between a Cadillac STS car and Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle on Sunday evening, January 31, 2016, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center. Authorities said Patty, who was driving the Cadillac, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at that exit, and she failed to yield to Shephard, who was riding the motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after he collided with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. The rest of the story includes information about the “undisputed facts,” results of alcohol and drug tests, and arguments for and against dismissing two of the five charges.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Please let us know if you advertise on Oak Ridge Today, have recently contributed, or subscribe through PayPal or check payments, but you have not yet been added to our website as a member. You can send an email to john.huotari@oakridgetoday.com to be added. Thank you!
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include coverage of court cases and in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.
