Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips
The runaway juvenile who had last been seen on Tuesday has been located, authorities said Friday.
Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips, 15, was located by investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and detectives from the Clinton Police Department, authorities said.
“Thanks to everyone for their help,” said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) led the Wildcats with a game-high 15 points, including three three-point shots, during a 70-40 win over Karns in the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday, March 3, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 5:15 p.m.
Continuing a string of successes on the basketball court, the Oak Ridge Wildcats won the Region 2 championship in a 70-40 victory over Karns on Thursday. The boys’ regional win at home came one day after the girls won a Region 2 championship at Bearden.
This year, the two teams both won the District 3-AAA championships and the Region 2-AAA championships. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2008.
The Wildcats (34-2), the Region 2 champion, now move on to play David Crockett, the Region 1 runner-up, in a Class AAA sectional game on Monday. The winner advances to the state tournament. David Crockett (29-5) is one of only two teams that beat Oak Ridge this year.
“They are one of the better teams we’ve played all year,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. “It’s going to be a tough game. It should be a tremendous basketball game. There’s a lot on the line.”
The Pioneers eked out a two-point 89-87 win over the Wildcats on two free throws in double overtime in the Arby’s Classic on December 29. [Read more…]
Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for help finding a runaway juvenile, Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips, 15. Phillips was last seen on Tuesday, March 1, and she has not returned home, authorities said.
Here is a description of Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips:
Oak Ridge freshman Jada Guinn (24) led the Lady Wildcats with a game-high 17 points during a 49-35 upset over Bearden in the Region 2-AAA championship at Bearden on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 p.m. March 3.
KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats upset Bearden and won their first Region 2-AAA championship since 2010 on Wednesday, and freshman Jada Guinn was named most valuable player in the regional tournament—one week after being named most valuable player in the district tournament.
The 49-35 win for Oak Ridge, the Region 2 champion, means the Lady Wildcats (27-4) will have home-court advantage when they play Dobyns-Bennett in a Class AAA sectional at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. Dobyns-Bennett (25-10) is the Region 1 runner-up.
Bearden (27-6), the Region 2 runner-up, will also play in a Class AAA sectional, but the Lady Bulldogs will have to travel to Morristown West (30-3), the Region 1 champion.
Sectional winners advance to the state tournament. [Read more…]
A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26, 2016. Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)
A significant slope slide occurred near Mile Marker 142 on I-75 North in Campbell County on Friday, February 26.
Currently, all lanes are closed in both the northbound and southbound directions between the Caryville and Jellico exits.
The video below is from the Tennessee Department of Transportation from Monday, February 29. It shows just how much debris has made its way onto the road. Rocks continue to drop all the way to the median, and some ended up on the southbound lanes as well, according to TDOT.
The I-75 South ramp to I-640 East was closed Wednesday morning due to an overturned tractor trailer. (Photo courtesy TDOT/Mark Nagi via Twitter)
A tractor-trailer and a tanker truck overturned in Anderson and Knox counties on Wednesday morning, causing some temporary closures on roadways that have since re-opened.
The tanker truck crash was reported in Anderson County shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 75 at Mile Marker 120, authorities said. The truck went into the median and was leaking fuel from the tanker.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Anderson County EMS, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Andersonville Fire Department. Anderson County Emergency Management was called to the scene to assess the fuel spill, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation also brought resources to contain and clean up the spill, authorities said. [Read more…]
Powell had nine more rebounds than Oak Ridge and Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats battled to beat the Panthers for the fourth time this season, this time during a Region 2-AAA semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Pictured above are Oak Ridge junior Tajion Jones (3) and Powell senior Conley Hamilton (34). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Powell had more rebounds and Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats prevailed over the Panthers in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with help from the 32 points of juniors E.J. Bush and Tee Higgins.
The 53-48 win in a playoff elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday sends Oak Ridge (33-2) to the Region 2-AAA championship game on Thursday. Oak Ridge will face Karns (22-7) for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats have won the previous three contests.
Tuesday’s game was the fourth time that Oak Ridge battled Powell (22-11) this season. The Wildcats won all four matches, a difficult feat, Green said. Two of the wins were in the regular season, one was in the District 3-AAA tournament, and the last was in the Region 2-AAA tournament on Tuesday.
It’s hard to beat a team four straight times, Green said. The Tuesday night game was the closest of the four this year.
“I told the guys the last two days this is going to be a dog fight,” Green said. “This is the toughest game of the year.” [Read more…]
The Heritage Center airport development plan is pictured above in a file image from August 2015. (Cropped image from DOE Draft Environmental Assessment)
An environmental assessment has been completed for the transfer of 170 acres at Heritage Center for a general aviation airport in west Oak Ridge, and the assessment found no significant impact, officials said Tuesday.
The assessment was completed by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The land would be transferred to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.
In August, officials said conditions are subject to change, but plans then called for starting construction on the airport at the former K-25 site in 2018. An estimate at that time said the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million.
The airport would have a 5,000-foot runway that would accommodate general aviation aircraft including corporate jets, private airplanes, and emergency medical services aircraft. A development plan shows the airport at the south side of Heritage Center along Oak Ridge Turnpike, or State Route 58. [Read more…]
Jeremy Biggs
Mike Belbeck, the current president of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, will become the executive vice president of operations for Covenant Health, and a new president and chief administrative officer will succeed Belbeck at MMC on April 1.
The leadership changes were announced by Covenant Health on Tuesday.
Covenant Health, which is headquartered in Knoxville and the region’s largest employer, had previously announced its current president and chief executive officer, Anthony L. Spezia, will become CEO emeritus, and Jim VanderSteeg, current executive vice president of operations, will become president and CEO.
Belbeck, who is also chief administrative officer, or CAO, at Methodist Medical Center, will succeed VanderSteeg as the health system’s executive vice president of operations.
Jeremy Biggs, president and chief administrative officer of Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, will succeed Belbeck as president and CAO of Methodist Medical Center. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge junior Courtney Ellison (10) scored a career-high 21 points for the Lady Wildcats during a 64-53 Region 2-AAA semifinal win over William Blount at Bearden on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 2:25 a.m.
KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats battled back from an eight-point deficit in the second quarter of a Region 2 semifinal win against William Blount on Monday and kept their composure against a swarming defense to advance to the regional championship against Bearden on Wednesday.
The Lady Wildcats (26-4) permanently seized the lead about halfway through the second quarter behind the 10 first-half points of junior Courtney Ellison. They widened the lead to as many as 16 points in the second half before finishing ahead 64-53 in the Region 2-AAA elimination semifinal at Bearden High School.
Ellison led Oak Ridge with 21 points, a career high. Late in the third quarter, she made a three-point shot and a field goal within about 45 seconds to help open up a 44-31 lead. She added two more field goals from the left and right baseline late in the fourth quarter to maintain an Oak Ridge margin of about 10 points.
“I was really into it tonight,” Ellison said. “I was really wanting the win, and it was there.”
It’s the first time the Lady Wildcats have made it to the regional championship since 2010, the last year Jill Prudden coached Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Winning first place in the 2016 Tennessee Science Bowl is Cedar Springs Homeschool of Knoxville. Pictured left to right with their trophy are Lily Turaski, Josiah Boyle, Tara Conway, Tyler Fulghum, Wesleigh Wright, and Coach Dee Dee Turaski. (DOE photo courtesy Lynn Freeny)
Cedar Springs Homeschool advances to National Science BowlÂ
Countless hours studying math and science paid off for some exceptionally bright students from Cedar Springs Homeschool. They were first-place winners in the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual Tennessee Science Bowl this past weekend.
Cedar Springs Homeschool competed against 58 other high school teams on Saturday, February 27, to place first in the annual competition. The schools edged out its competition by successfully answering challenging questions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth and space science, and energy.
Held at Pellissippi State Community College’s Blount County Campus, the Tennessee Science Bowl is the nation’s third largest regional competition. The regional bowl prepares students to compete nationally with other exceptional students from schools across the country. As the first-place team, Cedar Springs Homeschool receives an all-expenses-paid trip to the DOE National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., April 28-May 2, as well as a $1,000 cash prize and a first-place trophy. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior forward Javien Johnson (11) celebrates during a 39-30 Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win over Farragut at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m.
Farragut had this strategy coming into a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal game against Oak Ridge on Saturday: Limit the number of possessions, shorten the game, keep the score low, and play as little defense as possible.
The goal: Hold the ball for two minutes at a time, or about one-fourth of an eight-minute quarter.
For a while, it worked. Oak Ridge (32-2) found itself in the unusual position of being down two points at halftime, 17-15. But the Wildcats, the District 3 champion, found a way to win in the second half and they eked out a 39-30 victory to advance to a Region 2-AAA semifinal against Powell at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday.
“I’m just proud of our guys for getting it done,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
The Farragut strategy bewildered, frustrated, and irritated Oak Ridge fans. Fans and players called it “keep away” or “stall ball.” It’s a strategy often used near the end of a half or quarter, maybe when there is a minute or so remaining and a team wants the last shot, but it’s generally not used throughout a game. [Read more…]
