Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is retiring in May.
Watson, who has been city manager since 2010, announced his May 5 retirement during an Oak Ridge City Council work session on Tuesday.
Oak Ridge city manager retiring
CTF: Drugs for sale, cash, gun found in home with young children
More than 100 pills and about 100 grams of marijuana along with $9,000 in cash and a Glock 26 9 mm pistol were found in a home with three children younger than eight this month, law enforcement officers said.
The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force searched the home on Utica Circle with a narcotics warrant on January 10.
Fentanyl, meth allegedly found during narcotics search
Fentanyl, methamphetamine, other suspected drugs, and a gun were found during a narcotics search of an Oak Ridge home this month, according to law enforcement officers.
The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County searched the home on Jasper Lane on Monday, January 9.
ORNL isotope center estimated to cost $250 million
Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.
A new center to research and produce isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could cost an estimated $250 million.
Man received 3-year sentence for assault on officer
A man who had been accused of fighting with Oak Ridge police officers and significantly injuring one of them was sentenced to three years in prison when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment against one of the officers.
That officer had been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a significant arm injury, and two other officers had been taken to Methodist Medical Center to have their injuries evaluated, the City of Oak Ridge said at the time. One had been hit with a taser taken by the defendant, according to affidavits filed at the time.
Weigel’s proposed at Union Valley
A new Weigel’s store has been proposed along South Illinois Avenue.
The 6,600-square-foot store would be on about 3.61 acres at the intersection with Union Valley Road.
Lead trial court prosecutor retires
Anthony Craighead, deputy district attorney general in Anderson County, has retired.
“This week marks the well-deserved but bittersweet retirement of my friend and crime fighting partner, Deputy District Attorney General Tony Craighead,” Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said on Saturday. “Tony has been fighting for justice and victims for 30 years in Tennessee, and for the last eight years, he has been our leading trial court prosecutor here in Anderson County.
“The job of being a chief law enforcement officer for a portion of our state is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility. The pressure, emotional, physical and psychological burden of the responsibility for resolving the homicides, child abuse, home burglaries and child pornography cases collectively wear on one’s soul. Tony has carried that load for all of us for a long time.”
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[Read more…]MartinFed acquires Xcel Engineering
MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated of Oak Ridge.
“The acquisition of Xcel Engineering is a strategic move for MartinFed as it continues to expand its presence in the federal marketplace,” a press release said.
MartinFed is based in Huntsville, Alabama. The company offers services to federal agencies and contractors in cybersecurity, information technology, training, contract vehicles, and engineering and technical solutions, according to its website.
Xcel Engineering, which is located in Commerce Park, provides information technology and engineering services. The services include IT staffing and solutions, environmental engineering, and project management and consulting, the press release said.
[Read more…]Thornton named director of ORNL Climate Change Science Institute
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory appointed Peter Thornton as director of its Climate Change Science Institute, or CCSI, effective November 1.
“CCSI was launched at ORNL in 2009, bringing together the lab’s multidisciplinary expertise and big science capabilities to predict the future of the planet’s climate and to evaluate potential mitigation solutions at the intersection of climate, clean energy, national security, and environmental justice,” a press release said. “ORNL’s modeling work informs solutions to meet the nation’s climate goals of a 40% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.”
“I am very pleased that Peter will help develop and guide new local, regional, and national activities within CCSI,” said Stan Wullschleger, associate laboratory director for Biological and Environmental Systems Science. “Peter’s extensive expertise will ensure that our Earth system models provide the best projections of our changing planet and potential resilience strategies for our citizens, industry and society.”
[Read more…]NWS: Temps above normal in 2022, but record cold Christmas Eve
The average temperatures in 2022 were above the normal temperatures in East Tennessee, but there were record cold temperatures reported on Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service said.
The number of cold hours around Christmas in late December might have seemed long, but it was not a record-breaker, the NWS said.
“The arctic front that ushered in this outbreak of cold weather moved through during the early morning hours on December 23,” the NWS said. Between then and the end of the cold streak, several locations recorded more than 100 consecutive hours at or below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit). Wise, a city in southwest Virginia north of Tennessee’s Tri-Cities, reported 107 hours below freezing, the NWS said. That’s equivalent to about 4.5 days. Oak Ridge was below freezing for 106 hours and Knoxville for 104 hours, both also close to 4.5 days.
[Read more…]After guilty plea in fatal hit-and-run, man faces separate traffic charges
After pleading guilty to a fatal hit-and-run crash, a 51-year-old man is facing separate criminal charges after he was allegedly found passed out behind the wheel with an open bottle of whiskey and a bag of a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine.
This alleged case of driving under the influence (third offense) occurred in downtown Clinton on Halloween day 2021, just three weeks before the fatal hit-and-run crash in south Clinton.
