Oak Ridge Today

Education Foundation to award over $100K in grants in April ceremony

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The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $104,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $104,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $104,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 25, a press release said.

Chuck Carringer, who has previously worked for Oak Ridge Schools and is now president of Chuck Carringer Executive Coaching, which provides leadership and management development services, will be the featured speaker at the April ceremony, the press release said. His talk will be titled “Teachers Making a Difference.”

The ceremony is open to the public, and it will be held in the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria beginning at 4 p.m. April 25. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given after the formal ceremony, the press release said. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District.

Here are the 2018 grant recipients: [Read more…]

Ben Stephens appointed to Oak Ridge school board

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Ben Stephens

Ben Stephens

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday appointed Benjamin Stephens to fill the seat being vacated by Vice Chair Robert S. Eby, who is resigning at the end of March in order to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education.

Stephens will serve through the county election in August. The winning candidate in that election will then serve through the November election, which will have candidates for municipal, state, and federal offices.

Stephens is manager of academic partnerships at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has been involved in community activities, and he serves on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

At Monday’s meeting, BOE member Angi Agle said she and Laura McLean, another board member, served on a 2020 Committee with Stephens and were impressed with his service there.

Stephens said he has worked with the board on several strategic plans, and he is honored to serve on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

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A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

Monday night: Oak Ridge school board to consider appointing new member

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider appointing a new school board member tonight (Monday, March 26).

The new member will replace Bob Eby. Eby, who has been vice chair of the school board, announced in February that he was resigning at the end of March because Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is appointing him to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education effective April 1.

Eby will represent Tennessee’s Third Congressional District, which includes Oak Ridge, on the state school board, according to his resignation letter. [Read more…]

Tonight: Learn about candidates, campaigns at Democratic Women’s Club Meeting

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Will Winters

Wil Winters

You can learn about campaigning and meet Democratic candidates running for county and state offices in Oak Ridge tonight, a press release said.

“Join the Blue Wave Campaign, learn how volunteers can campaign effectively, and meet the Democratic candidates running for county and state offices,” the press release said.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Monday, March 26, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club has invited candidates running for any office in Anderson County, from county sheriff to state governor, to attend or send a campaign representative to the meeting, the press release said. [Read more…]

Breakfast with Legislators is Monday

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The next Breakfast with the Legislators is Monday. It’s hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge.

Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about this session of the Tennessee General Assembly, and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, a press release said. The public is invited to attend.

The meeting will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Monday in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.  A free continental breakfast will be served, the press release said. [Read more…]

Knox County sheriff candidates to participate in forum on Tuesday

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There is a forum for candidates for Knox County sheriff on Tuesday. It’s hosted by the League of Women Voters of Knoxville/Knox County and the Alpha Mu Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Both candidates have confirmed attendance, a press release said. They are Tom Spangler and Lee Tramel.

Oak Ridge is near Knox County. Solway, just across the Clinch River from Oak Ridge on Pellissippi Parkway, is in west Knox County.

Tuesday’s forum is scheduled from 7-8:30 p.m. at Knoxville Public Works Center, which is at 3131 Morris Avenue Northwest in Knoxville.

Man charged with homicide in crash that killed 3-year-old boy

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Jason Robert Braden

Jason Robert Braden II

 

An Anderson County man has been charged in an 11-count indictment that includes vehicular homicide by intoxication after a crash that killed a three-year-old boy and injured at least three other people in Oak Ridge last year.

Jason Robert Braden III, 3, died in the two-vehicle crash, which was considered a mass casualty event. It was reported at about 5:20 p.m. Friday, January 13, 2017, at the intersection of Emory Valley Road and Lafayette Drive.

Charged in the 11-count indictment is Jason Robert Braden II, 24, of Bush Road in Marlow. The charges against Braden include vehicular homicide by intoxication, vehicular homicide by recklessness, four counts of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle) is involved, driving under the influence, driving without a license, speeding, and violation of the child restraint law.

The Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton indicted Braden on February 27. He was arrested March 4. His bond has been set at $125,000, and he was released from the Anderson County Detention Facility on Monday, March 19. He has an arraignment set for Monday morning, March 26, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]

Criminal charges pending in fatal crash in Poplar Creek

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A 50-year-old Rocky Top man died when a 2006 Mazda car crashed off Poplar Creek Road and into Poplar Creek just north of west Oak Ridge late Tuesday morning, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A 50-year-old Rocky Top man died when a 2006 Mazda 3 car crashed off Poplar Creek Road and into Poplar Creek just north of west Oak Ridge late Tuesday morning, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

ROANE COUNTY—A 50-year-old Rocky Top man died and one person was injured when a car crashed off Poplar Creek Road and into Poplar Creek just north of west Oak Ridge late Tuesday morning, and criminal charges are pending, authorities said.

The man who died, Warner D. Martin, was a passenger in a silver 2006 Mazda 3 four-door car driven by Rebecca L. Vanasse, 26, of Oak Ridge, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Carrying three people, the car swerved on the narrow, curvy road and overcorrected, the THP said in a fatality report. Because of the overcorrection, the vehicle went down an embankment along the westbound side of the road and into the creek, where it became fully submerged, the THP said.

The single-vehicle crash was reported on Poplar Creek Road a few miles east of Blair Road at about 11:04 a.m. Tuesday. The front end of the car appeared to have plunged into the creek first. [Read more…]

For first time in 30 years, Savannah River dissolving spent nuclear fuel from ORNL reactor

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The reactor pool is pictured above in the reactor bay inside the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Spent nuclear fuel is stored inside the pool. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The reactor pool is pictured above in the reactor bay inside the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Spent nuclear fuel is stored inside the pool. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

For the first time in 30 years, spent nuclear fuel from the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been dissolved at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The work is important because it is expected to allow the reactor, known as HFIR, to continue its mission, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

HFIR, which uses highly enriched uranium, is one of the world’s most powerful nuclear research reactor facilities. It’s the highest flux reactor-based source of neutrons for research in the United States. Flux refers to the rate of flow of fluids, particles, or energy. In HFIR’s case, the flux is measured in neutrons per square centimeter per second. HFIR is used for neutron scattering and isotope production, among other missions.

ORNL will reach its maximum capacity for storing HFIR fuel in fiscal year 2020, the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in an “EM Update” electronic newsletter on Tuesday. [Read more…]

Man accused of robbing pregnant woman, kicking her in stomach

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Jordan Lamar Young

Jordan Lamar Young

 

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into an apartment on Utica Circle on Monday, threatened a pregnant woman while brandishing a folding pocket knife, and demanded prescriptions and cash, Anderson County court records said. When the woman resisted, the court records said, she was thrown to the ground and kicked in the stomach, and the man jammed his knee into her back to try to get her to comply.

“The victim was in fear of great bodily harm or death to herself or her unborn child,” according to affidavits filed Tuesday in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The affidavits, filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Investigator A. Marvell Moore, said the victim is seven months pregnant.

After the alleged home invasion robbery, the suspect, Jordan Lamar Young, 31, of Tuskegee Drive, fled the apartment with the pregnant woman’s prescription medication and $301 in cash, the affidavits said. [Read more…]

Authorities investigate car crash in creek in Roane County

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.ROANE COUNTY–Authorities are investigating a car crash in a creek alongside Poplar Creek Road in Roane County early Tuesday afternoon.

More information will be added as it becomes available.