Oak Ridge Today

Man accused of robbing store with large knife, warrant says

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Yorlin Alverez Castillo

Yorlin Alverez Castillo

An Oak Ridge man remained jailed on Friday on a charge that he robbed the Tienda Nony Marketplace on Bus Terminal Road with a large knife on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Yorlin Alverez Castillo, 23, is accused of robbing the store at about 1:06 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A store employee told police that she had her 11-year-old son at work with her at the time, and the boy was behind the counter with her. Castillo allegedly came in the front door armed with a large knife, a deadly weapon, “placing the victims in fear,” Oak Ridge Police Department Detective William Weaver wrote in the warrant.

The employee told Weaver that Castillo’s face was covered with a bandana, and he wore a gray sweatshirt and sweat pants.

“He went up to the counter and stated, ‘It’s a robbery,'” the warrant said. “The victim stated, ‘Yorlin, don’t do this, my son is here.'” [Read more…]

Independence Day Fireworks Celebration at A.K. Bissell Park

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July 4, 2012 Fireworks

The Independence Day fireworks show in Oak Ridge has been scheduled for 10 p.m. Saturday, July 4, at A.K. Bissell Park. (Photo by Charles Samuels)

 

The fireworks display sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge will begin at 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 4. The display will be shot from A.K. Bissell Park.

The fireworks will be accompanied by music played live on-site by Merle 96.7 FM. Radio host Jack Ryan will be transmitting live from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude the live broadcast with a patriotic medley as the fireworks are shot.

The countdown to the fireworks begins at 9:30 p.m. Listeners can tune their radios to 96.7 Merle FM and enjoy the show.

The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform its annual Fourth of July concert at the A.K. Bissell Park Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Read more…]

Appeals court rules in favor of Covenant Health, other defendants in excessive radiation lawsuit

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Methodist Medical Center Main Entrance

A three-judge appeals court panel has ruled in favor of Covenant Health and two other defendants in five lawsuits that alleged that the absence of shielding in part of the emergency department at Methodist Medical Center exposed five X-ray and radiologic technologists, including two who were pregnant, to excessive radiation.

The unanimous opinions by the three Tennessee Court of Appeals judges—D. Michael Swiney, John W. McClarty, and Thomas R. Frierson II—were filed June 9 in Knoxville. They affirmed an order by Anderson County Circuit Court Judge Donald R. Elledge granting a summary judgement in favor of the defendants: Covenant Health, Rentenbach Engineering Company, and TEG Architects LLC.

The lawsuits were filed in January 2014 by Connie Raby, Keith Gillis, Michael Phillips, Mary Ridenour on behalf of her and her child, and Micah Noelle Lewellen on behalf of her and her child.

The lawsuits alleged that the technologists were exposed to excess radiation for several years at Methodist Medical Center because some walls in and around a radiology imaging center in the new emergency department, which opened in February 2006 as part of a hospital remodel, were built without the required lead shielding, elevating the workers’ risk of health problems, including cancer. [Read more…]

Tennessee Court of Appeals affirms dismissal of ouster suit filed against AC law director

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Jay Yeager and Lynn Byrge

Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager, left, the defendant in an ouster suit filed by a group of residents, is pictured with Lynn Byrge, one of the petitioners in the complaint, during an Anderson County Commission meeting in July 2014. (File photo)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 3:25 p.m.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the decision of a trial court to dismiss an ouster complaint filed against Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager.

Twenty-two Anderson County residents tried to remove Yeager, who was appointed law director in September 2006, from his office under Tennessee’s ouster law. The complaint was originally filed in Anderson County Chancery Court in May 2014 and amended the next month.

The Anderson County Chancery Court issued an order granting Yeager’s motion to dismiss on September 22, 2014, but the case was appealed. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the court, which heard oral arguments in April, upheld the trial court’s decision to grant the motion to dismiss, which was issued by Special Judge Don R. Ash.

“I deeply appreciate the County Commission and the Legal Services Advisory Committee for their continued support and confidence during these very difficult times for myself and my family,” Yeager said Thursday morning. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival growing, evolving, but not ending, officials say

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Secret City Festival World War II Re-enactment 2015

A Flak 88 firing during a Battle of Normandy re-enactment at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Rob Welton)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m.

A rumor that circulated widely this month said this was going to be the last year for the Secret City Festival.

But city officials said it’s premature to say that.

It is true that a Special Events Advisory Task Force has been studying changes to the annual festival, including moving it from June and making it into an expanded celebration in the fall, starting in October and continuing through Veterans Day (November 11). It could be renamed the Secret City Celebration, implemented by a new nonprofit expected to become self-sustaining within five years, and add events while continuing to include the Secret City Festival.

At a Wednesday evening meeting, Task Force members said many of the current festival activities could continue, including music, World War II re-enactments, historical displays, and children’s activities. But they also said there could be opportunities for new partnerships with other organizations, including Wounded Warriors and Oak Ridge Playhouse. And it’s not clear that the Secret City Festival would continue to be a two-day event.

Task Force members say they’re hoping to help create something bigger and better. [Read more…]

Body of missing five-year-old boy found in pond near family home

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Olin Elwood Fitton

Olin Elwood Fitton

The body of the five-year-old boy who went missing Wednesday afternoon was found in a pond near his family’s home in Anderson County, authorities said.

Ground search teams working with K-9s tracked the missing child, Odin Elwood Fitton, to a pond in the creek near the family home on Brushy Valley Road, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

“Our dive team was called to search the water, and sadly, the child’s body was found,” Lucas said Wednesday night.

Odin was reported missing at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, and ground and air searches began shortly after that. His family’s home is in the 1600 block of Brushy Valley Road near Interstate 75. [Read more…]

Anderson County, others search for missing five-year-old

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Olin Elwood Fitton

Odin Elwood Fitton

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement agencies are searching for a missing five-year-old boy who apparently wandered away from home at about lunchtime Wednesday.

Authorities have conducted several ground searches on foot with K-9s as well as by ATV and horseback, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Wednesday evening. Knox County Sheriff’s Office Airwatch is assisting by helicopter. The searches are continuing to use assets from several agencies, including the Knoxville Police Department Search and Rescue team, Lucas said.

The child was reported missing around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, and ground and air searches began shortly after that. The home is in the 1600 block of Brushy Valley Road near Interstate 75.

The child information is as follows: [Read more…]

Anderson County teachers disappointed as commissioners delay vote on budget, pay raise

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Anderson County Budget Committee and Rachel Minardo, Chris Phillips, and Connie Aytes

Rachel Minardo, right, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association, asks for a 4 percent pay raise for county teachers and school staff during a May 28 public hearing on the county budget. Also pictured are Chris Phillips, left, director of accounts and budgets for Anderson County, and Connie Aytes, deputy budget director.

 

CLINTON—Anderson County teachers were disappointed as they watched county commissioners postpone a vote on the budget and a possible 4 percent pay raise on Tuesday.

But they’ll be back on Monday, June 29, for the next meeting of the Anderson County Commission, said Rachel Minardo, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association.

It’s not clear if the 16-member Commission will agree to fund the school system’s request for a 4 percent raise for all teachers and staff. That’s what the Anderson County Board of Education unanimously recommended last month. The request could require the equivalent of an 18-cent increase in the property tax rate.

But during debate over proposed pay raises for some county employees on Tuesday, several commissioners said they want to be consistent and fair to all workers. [Read more…]

Preschool concerns over paint, Head Start funding reaching resolution

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Oak Ridge Schools School Administration Building

Concerns over federal funding, lead-based paint, and the Oak Ridge Preschool appear to be reaching a resolution. And that ought to be good news for parents and staff members who have been worried during the past year that the program could lose federal money and even have part of its program shut down.

There have been two separate concerns, one related to lead-based paint at the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and the other related to the reported falsification of federal data.

Work to repair the lead-based paint could start June 29, Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer said after a Monday night meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

And a one-year probationary period with an on-site monitor for the Head Start program ends the next day, on June 30. That monitor was put into place last year as part of a 10-point plan worked out by Anderson County and Oak Ridge schools in April 2014 after concerns were raised about the falsification of federal data at the Oak Ridge Preschool, specifically reports on the motor skills of children.

Oak Ridge Schools will now do its own monitoring, but Anderson County Schools, which supervises the local Head Start program, can come in at any time. [Read more…]

RSI awards eight scholarships to local students

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RSI Scholarships 2015

Scholarship recipients and RSI managers pictured left to right are Staci Ferguson, RSI vice president; Abby Colvais; Peter Caswell, RSI vice president; Sierra Sims; Lonnie Goss; Dmitry Petrov; Morgan Cleveland; Jackson Lloyd; and Paul Clay, RSI President. Not pictured are Christian Ironside and Tyler Moore. (Submitted photo)

 

Restoration Services Inc. and its voluntary Employee Outreach Committee have offered eight $1,000 college scholarships to “help students achieve their greatest potential through higher education,” a press release said.

Six scholarships were awarded to graduating high school students who will be attending college in the upcoming fall 2015 semester. The remaining two scholarships were awarded to children of RSI employees who are upcoming sophomores, juniors, or seniors currently enrolled in an accredited college for the 2015 fall semester. Scholarship recipients were selected from submitted applications that included academic accomplishments, community involvement and leadership roles, and an essay on current environmental threats.

The scholarship recipients entering college are: [Read more…]

Report: Scammers extorting money after claiming missed jury duty

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Oak Ridge officials say unknown suspects have been contacting residents claiming to be representatives of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and claiming to be contacting people who failed to show up for jury duty. The suspects have allegedly extorted money from victims in return for supposedly excusing them from jury duty, a press release said.

The press release said that anyone who is asked to pay money in return for being excused from jury duty should contact their local law enforcement agency immediately. Oak Ridge citizens are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to (865) 425-4399, or dial 911 if it is an emergency.

Local rower finishes 6th in nation at USRowing National Championships

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Sarah Kate Rogers at USRowing Nationals

Sarah Kate Rogers sprints to a second-place finish in the final 250 meters of the Women’s Youth 1x Semifinal at the 2015 USRowing Southeastern Youth Championships. (Photo courtesy J. Rogers)

 

By Jim Rogers

Oak Ridge’s Sarah Kate Rogers continued her memorable run to USRowing’s 2015 Youth Nationals, overcoming windy course conditions and formidable talent to reach the Grand Final of the Women’s Youth sculling singles (WY1x). The Youth Nationals were held June 12-14, in Bradenton, Florida.

Rogers qualified for the Youth Nationals as a result of her victory in the USRowing Southeastern Regionals in May.

Her path to the National Grand Finals was not without significant drama. In her opening heat, she tangled with lane buoys early in the race, and despite a ferocious comeback, finished a narrow fourth. This forced her to the repechage, a last chance to qualify for the semifinals. She responded to that challenge, moving through her opponents to grab the lead at the halfway point and holding off a furious challenge from Rachel Pierce of South Jersey Rowing Club. On short rest, Rogers then out-sprinted Shelby Johnson of Capital Rowing Club in the semifinal to finish second and qualify for the Grand Final. [Read more…]