Oak Ridge Today

Already charged with murder, two also charged with child rape, sexual exploitation

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Sean Finnegan, one of two defendants in a series of gruesome alleged crimes in Oak Ridge some time between December 2019 and August 2020, including murder, sex crimes, and kidnapping, is pictured above in a mugshot from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Two Oak Ridge defendants who were previously charged with first-degree murder, aggravated rape, and abuse of a corpse in the death of a 36-year-old woman have now been charged with aggravated child rape and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Sean S. Finnegan, 53, and Rebecca E. Dishman, 23, were charged last summer with murder, sex crimes, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse after Jennifer Gail Paxton, 36, was allegedly tortured, raped, and strangled, and her body was allegedly cut and broken before being stuffed into a freezer in a home on East Fairview Road in Oak Ridge.

The new child rape and sexual exploitation charges followed an investigation by the Oak Ridge Police Department, according to a press release from the office of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark in Clinton. Finnegan and Dishman have been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury, the press release said.

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Cole seeking re-election as county clerk

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Jeff Cole (File photo)

Jeff Cole is seeking re-election as Anderson County clerk in the 2022 election.

Cole has worked in the Anderson County Clerk’s office since 1989, and he has served as Anderson County clerk since 2002, a press release said.

Cole is a certified public administrator from the University of Tennessee, and he is a graduate of the University of Tennessee Local Government Leadership Program. Cole was president of the County Clerks Association for the State of Tennessee, and he was chosen as County Clerk of the Year by all county clerks in the state of Tennessee in 2015, the press release said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the office has had a continued interest in protecting Anderson County families and businesses that use the clerk’s office, the press release said. Recently, the office installed new counters that have enhanced safety features and allow for better service, the release said.

The County Clerk’s office is responsible for waiting on more than 120,000 customers a year, according to the press release. The office has more than $8 million in receipts per year and offers more than 15 different services to the citizens of Anderson County.

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Flatwater Tales Virtual Storytelling Festival is June 5

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Bil Lepp performs at the 2019 Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, held at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge. (File/submitted photo)

The 2021 Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival, featuring three world renowned storytellers, is scheduled for Saturday, June 5.

The festival will offer an evening performance recorded in front of a live audience, three live online interactive workshops, and a live online after-party, a press release said.

The annual event is led by volunteers from the three Rotary Clubs in Oak Ridge. Due to concerns about COVID-19, this year’s event will be online.

The featured storytellers are three acclaimed performers: Andy Offutt Irwin, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. They are known to audiences nationwide for their wit, wisdom, and abilities to make audiences laugh, cry, and reminisce, the press release said. The three storytellers have achieved national recognition and appear regularly at festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

On Saturday, June 5, the Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival will present the art and magic of storytelling with a virtual performance at 8 p.m. The three tellers will record a live show that will be performed before a small audience exclusively for Flatwater Tales. This performance will include an unrehearsed improvisation segment, hosted by emcee Paula Gordon Lepp, a new feature in the storytelling world, the press release said.

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COVID-19 vaccines at ORHS for students 12 and older in June

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Oak Ridge Schools and Anderson County Health Department will have a vaccine clinic for students 12 and older in June.

The vaccine clinic will be in Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School on June 4 and 25. It will feature the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with the first shot on Friday, June 4, and the second on Friday, June 25. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose.

The vaccine clinic will begin at 9 a.m. both days.

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Masks to continue in ORS through May 28, optional for summer school

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Mask use will continue in Oak Ridge Schools through the end of the school year, May 28, but will be optional for summer school.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers recommended the change during a special meeting Monday evening. The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved it unanimously.

Masks have been required in Oak Ridge Schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students can take off their masks outside. Visitors will be allowed starting in school in July.

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Soccer: Wildcats win district championship

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 1-0 victory at Powell on Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

POWELL—The Oak Ridge soccer team won the district championship with a 1-0 victory at Powell on Thursday.

It was the first time the Wildcats have won the District 3-AAA soccer championship since 2017.

Marvin Media-Jovel scored the one goal for the Wildcats in the 52nd minute on Thursday, getting the ball around a Powell defender on the left side of the net and kicking it into the right side.

Oak Ridge coach Tom Gorman said the first half was back-and-forth between the Wildcats and Panthers, but he was concerned because Powell had better scoring opportunities. But Oak Ridge weathered the storm, settled down in the second half, and played better, Gorman said.

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Soccer: Oak Ridge plays Powell for district championship

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Oak Ridge will play Powell for the District 3-AAA soccer championship on Thursday.

Powell is the number one seed in the district tournament, and Oak Ridge is the number two seed.

The Thursday game will start at 7 p.m. at Powell.

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New COVID-19 cases drop to 6 per day, positivity rate below 3 percent

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Anderson County has dropped to about six new cases per day, on average, and the positivity rate is now at less than 3 percent. Those are the lowest levels in months, since before the winter holiday peaks.

The last new hospitalization for COVID-19 in Anderson County was reported May 1. The last death due to COVID-19 was reported April 21, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

The average new number of cases per day peaked at more than 100 in December, when the positivity rate was up around 20 percent. The 20 percent positivity rate meant that roughly one of five COVID-19 tests each day returned, on average, a positive result.

After those December peaks, the average number of new cases and the average positivity rate both dropped in January and tapered down overall from February to May. (New hospitalizations also peaked in December, but deaths reached their highest monthly level in January.)

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For members: Residential lots proposed on Oak Ridge Summit

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Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, pictured above on Friday, May 7, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, the former Pine Ridge above South Illinois Avenue.

The 45-acre site could have 57 single-family lots, as well as open space, on a new street and cul-de-sac with access off Summit Drive on the former ridge, according to the agenda for an Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission meeting on Thursday.

First Presbyterian offers free meals, groceries on May 13

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First Presbyterian Church will provide a free meal and bag of groceries to food-insecure guests who drive by the church between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 13.

The church’s monthly Welcome Table community meal program plans to supply each guest with a hot meal consisting of taco soup, Fritos chips, fresh fruit, and brownies or cookies, a press release said.

In addition, a bag of groceries with the ingredients for a family meal at home will be delivered to each car, the press release said. [Read more…]

City wants to buy three drones for police, fire

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The City of Oak Ridge wants to buy three drones for the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department.

The drones could minimize risks to emergency responders, according to a city memo. Drones could help officers and firefighters perform dangerous tasks such as responding to reports of armed people and other imminent threats, and evaluating fires and hazardous material incidents, the city said. Drones could also help with searches for lost people, which are often impeded by dense vegetation or delayed while waiting for all-terrain vehicles or boats.

“A drone can perform these tasks without delay and without placing responders at risk,” the memo said.

The drones could be used for aerial observation and intelligence collection, the memo said.

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International fusion energy project to be discussed

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David Rasmussen

 

An international fusion energy project that involves Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be discussed in an online meeting on Wednesday, May 19.

The featured speaker will be David Rasmussen, the leader of the technical integration of the U.S. contributions to the international fusion project, which is under construction in France and known as ITER.

Rasmussen’s areas of responsibility have included the ITER plasma heating and fueling systems, a press release said. He has been a plasma research scientist at ORNL since 1981. He has more than 35 years of fusion and plasma science experience in diagnostic measurements and the technology development needed for magnetic confinement fusion and other plasma technology applications, the release said. Rasmussen received a Ph.D. in applied science, specializing in plasma physics, from the University of California at Davis in 1981 where his graduate work was a study of inertial laser fusion wave plasma interactions.

The May 19 talk is hosted by ORION, an amateur science and astronomy club based in Oak Ridge. The talk is scheduled to begin on Zoom at 7 p.m. May 19, and it is open to the public. If you are interested in joining, the Zoom meeting ID is 885 2873 5960, and the passcode is 716689. Alternatively, you can follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88528735960?pwd=KzY4bnBHcjlhTzg3L3pOcjY0TFovUT09. [Read more…]