Oak Ridge Today

Rail company offers county two bridge replacement options

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Information from WYSH Radio

CSX Railroad Corp. has given the Anderson County government options on how to address the issues that have kept a railroad-owned bridge on a county road closed since July.

The bridge on Johnson Gap Road—which is the shortest route between Clinton and the Dutch Valley community—has been closed since July 13, when Tennessee Department of Transportation inspectors determined that the wooden bridge supports were no longer safe.

CSX has offered to rebuild the old wooden bridge with a five-ton weight limit at its own expense or allow the county to replace it with a concrete structure. County officials estimate that a concrete bridge would likely cost the county around $450,000. [Read more…]

Anderson committee recommends referendum on federal prisoners at county jail

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Anderson County Legislative Committee on Jail Referendum

The Anderson County Legislative Committee on Thursday recommended a non-binding referendum be put on the August ballot to ask voters whether federal and state prisoners should be housed at the county jail. From left are Whitey Hitchcock, Jerry Creasey, Tim Isbel, Dusty Irwin, and Steve Mead.

CLINTON—An Anderson County committee on Thursday recommended taking steps to ask voters in August whether state and federal prisoners should be housed in the county jail, which is being expanded.

Some county commissioners say that housing pre-trial federal inmates could help cover jail costs, while other county officials, including the mayor, say that they don’t want to get into the federal prison business.

On Thursday, the Anderson County Legislative Committee recommended that the Anderson County Commission consider sending the question to voters in a non-binding referendum in August.

But there are several hurdles. First, 11 of the 16 county commissioners would have to approve the move, possibly during their daytime meeting on Jan. 21, Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts said. Then, a private act would have to be approved in the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville by early June to put the question on the August ballot. [Read more…]

New interchange opens land for development, reuses industrial building

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Centrifuge Way Dedication

Local and state officials and business leaders celebrate the new interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue with a Thursday afternoon ribbon-cutting.

The new interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue opens land for development on top of Pine Ridge and help a uranium enrichment company reuse an industrial building in south Oak Ridge, officials said Thursday.

The $1.6 million state project to improve the interchange at the former Boeing Road was under way in December 2012 and completed in the summer of 2013.

“Because of this interchange, there will be more land available,” Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan said during a Thursday afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony. [Read more…]

Biloski running for Anderson County Juvenile Court judge

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Lauren Biloski

Lauren Biloski

Lauren R. Biloski has announced that she is seeking the office of Anderson County Juvenile Court judge.

Lauren is a partner at Ritter, Biloski, and Associates, located in Oak Ridge. She has developed a thriving multi-county practice that includes criminal defense, civil litigation, and family and juvenile law, a press release said.

She is the third candidate to announce a candidacy for juvenile court judge. The current judge, Brandon Fisher, is running for Anderson County chancellor.

Biloski is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennesseee at Knoxville in three years, the press release said. Immediately following graduation, she earned her J.D. from Indiana University in 2006, where she was the recipient of the Norman Lefstein Award of Excellence. [Read more…]

TDOT commissioner in Oak Ridge on Thursday for Centrifuge Way dedication

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Centrifuge Way Interchange Improvements

Construction work to improve the interchange at South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in Oak Ridge is pictured above in December 2012.

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday for the dedication of a new interchange at Centrifuge Way and South Illinois Avenue, or State Route 62.

Centrifuge Way is the former Boeing Road in south Oak Ridge.

The dedication is at 4:15 p.m.

In December 2012, Oak Ridge Today reported that construction work on the $1.2 million state project had started and was expected to be complete by June 2013. The work included building three detention ponds to be used as sediment basins during construction, reconfiguring the interchange, and extending Centrifuge Way. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department recognized for exceptional fire prevention programs

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Darryl Kerley

Darryl Kerley

Josh Waldo

Josh Waldo

The Oak Ridge Fire Prevention Office has been named Tennessee Fire Educators of the Year for 2013, officials said Wednesday.

The department was nominated by Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley in “recognition of the outstanding efforts put forth by the Fire Prevention staff this year,” a press release said.

Oak Ridge officials was notified of the honor by the State Fire Marshal’s office.

“The nomination was selected above all others from across the state, recognizing the tremendous education and outreach efforts accomplished by the Oak Ridge Fire Department,” said Assistant Commissioner Gary West of the Fire Prevention Division in the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. [Read more…]

TVA system meets single-day electricity record

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TVA Offices in Chattanooga

The Tennessee Valley Authority offices in Chattanooga are pictured above. (Photo courtesy TVA)

Tennessee Valley residents set a single-day record for electricity use while keeping warm during this week’s arctic cold wave, the Tennessee Valley Authority said Wednesday.

Homes and businesses across TVA’s seven-state region used 703 gigawatt-hours of electricity on Tuesday, the most ever for a 24-hour, one-day period. TVA’s previous record was 701 gigawatt-hours on Jan. 8, 2010.

This came one day after TVA had its fourth highest “energy day” ever on Monday with 678 gigawatt-hours.

The Valley’s average temperature Tuesday never got above 21 degrees, and the average was just 4 degrees that morning when TVA’s power system experienced its second highest winter peak power demand in the public utility’s history. [Read more…]

City move could add another police officer to Oak Ridge Schools

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Oak Ridge High School

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

It’s part of a program to improve student safety and use law enforcement to reduce unacceptable student behaviors, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

Oak Ridge Schools now have one school resource officer, or SRO. There have been discussions about adding more officers, especially since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider a resolution that would allow the Oak Ridge Police Department to hire an extra police officer, exceeding its authorized personnel staffing levels, in order to assign an existing police officer as an SRO. There have been proposals to add more—in December, City Council member Trina Baughn proposed one at each of the city’s two middle schools—but Watson and Akagi are recommending one additional officer now. [Read more…]

Myers announces Republican candidacy for Anderson County sheriff

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Randy Myers

Randy Myers

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Randy Myers has announced he will run for Anderson County sheriff in the May 6 Republican primary.

Myers is the second Republican candidate to announce he is running for the seat now held by Sheriff Paul White, a Democrat, in the 2014 election.

In a press release, Myers said he has been a law enforcement officer for 24 years and has worked as a patrol officer, criminal investigator, domestic violence officer, hostage negotiator, Crisis Intervention Team officer, and public relations officer. [Read more…]

Frozen sprinkler pipes burst, flood buildings across Oak Ridge

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Oak Ridge Fire Department at Heritage Fellowship

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to a report of a frozen sprinkler system that burst at Heritage Fellowship on Tuesday afternoon.

Frozen sprinkler pipes burst and flooded buildings across Oak Ridge on Tuesday as a frigid arctic air mass lingered over parts of the central and eastern United States.

Oak Ridge firefighters said it’s likely there will be more calls on Wednesday as temperatures rise and frozen pipes thaw.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley provided a list of buildings where frozen sprinkler systems had burst. They included St. Mary’s School, the back side of the Staples building, a building at the Pine Ridge office complex, Centennial Village Apartments, a U.S. Department of Energy building on Laboratory Road, UBS Financial on East Tennessee Avenue, Weatherford Mortuary, Courtyards at Briarcliff, and Heritage Fellowship on North Illinois Avenue. [Read more…]

AC jail: To house federal prisoners or not?

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Anderson County Detention Facility Construction

At right, the main entrance of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is being remodeled as part of a roughly $10 million jail expansion project. A new 212-bed jail pod is in the background at left.

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Commissioner Dusty Irwin has proposed placing a non-binding referendum on the August ballot asking voters whether or not they want the county to house what have been described as low-risk state and federal prisoners awaiting trial in the soon-to-be-expanded county jail.

The proposal will be considered Thursday by the Anderson County Commission’s Legislative Committee and could be considered by the full Commission later this month. [Read more…]

Meth lab found in Lake City motel room

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Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Sheriff’s deputies seeking to serve outstanding arrest warrants on a man located a meth lab inside a Lake City motel on Monday.

Deputies received information that Tommy Joe White was at the Blue Haven Motel on North Main Street in Lake City and arrived there at around 10:15 a.m. Deputies knocked on the door of room 109 and were given permission by a woman who answered the door to search the room. White was found hiding underneath the bed and taken into custody.

While he was being patted down, deputies reported finding drugs and drug paraphernalia on White. An active, one-pot meth lab was found hidden in a backpack between the room’s refrigerator and dresser. [Read more…]