Oak Ridge Today

Sustainability group will form large ‘350’ with people at Secret City Festival today

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Secret City Sustainability, a student-led initiative to promote divestment from fossil fuels, is having an event at the Secret City Festival at 2 p.m. today. They are going to make a large “350” with people to signify the organization 350.org.

The organization was founded by Bill McKibben, a leading environmental activist who will be coming to speak at the Oak Ridge High School Auditorium on Aug. 18. The students are trying to get the word out about his talk by forming a “350” in the grass.

Deputies arrest man accused of beating uncle with bat

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Joseph Allen Huskey

Joseph Allen Huskey

A Clinton man accused of beating his uncle with a wooden baseball bat on Saturday and stealing his prescription medications, including Xanax and oxycodone, was arrested Wednesday, authorities said.

Joseph Allen Huskey, 30, has been charged with especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and theft, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. He is being held in the Anderson County Jail under a $152,500 bond.

Huskey allegedly beat his uncle at the Belmont Lane home they shared, breaking a bone in his right leg and bruising his shins, arms, and hands, according to a Sheriff’s Department incident report. [Read more…]

Police: Boy hit by car while riding bike out of driveway, across West Outer

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An Oak Ridge boy was hit by a car while riding a bike from a driveway on West Outer Drive across the road toward Waltham Lane on Thursday afternoon.

A witness said the eight-year-old boy rode in front of the car suddenly, not allowing the driver any time to stop or evade the collision. [Read more…]

Roane County man accused of shooting stepson in leg during dispute

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John Wayne Williams

John Wayne Williams

A Roane County man is accused of shooting his stepson in the leg with a shotgun during a family dispute Thursday night, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office said.

The shooting occurred at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at 178 Maddox Hollow Road, which is south of Kingston between Watts Bar Lake and Interstate 75. [Read more…]

Clinton car dealership hit by thieves

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Clinton Police Department is investigating the theft of some $570 worth of auto parts from Worthington Motors on South Seivers Boulevard.

Owner David Worthington called police shortly before noon Thursday after discovering that someone had broken into a locked, fenced-in area on the lot and stolen several items. Worthington reported that the suspect or suspects stole four black SHO wheels with a honeycomb pattern, 20 old radiators, and two old batteries being saved for scrap metal and two aluminum wheels. [Read more…]

TBI seeks public’s help in Morgan man’s murder

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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help in finding out who killed an elderly Morgan County man whose body was found inside his house last weekend.

Morgan County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to the home of Harold Dean Reed, 76, on White Oak Creek Lane last weekend and found the man’s body with what were described as obvious signs of trauma. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival features ‘something for everyone’

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Homemade Wine Band

The Homemade Wine Band played after the Friday morning opening ceremony at the Secret City Festival.

The annual Secret City Festival started today, and it features Manhattan Project bus tours and history displays, World War II living history activities and demonstrations, arts and crafts and antiques dealers, food vendors and exhibitors, a children’s festival area and youth events, and a car show and concerts.

“Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present,” a press release said.

Oak Ridge was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s atomic bombs, and the festival celebrates the city’s heritage.

Festival organizers have provided an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival:
 [Read more…]

Secret City Festival announces return of ‘Kid City Circuit’

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For the second year in a row, Oak Ridge has been named a Playful City and is proud to announce the return of the Kid City Circuit to the children’s area of the Secret City Festival. Playful City USA is a nationally recognized program honoring cities and towns that make play a priority and use innovative programs to get children active, playing, and healthy.

Because the Secret City Festival is focused on community unity and children’s and family activities are such a big part of the festival, organizers are excited about the return of this festival favorite. [Read more…]

Chancellor Lantrip announces retirement

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Note: This story was updated at 1:51 p.m.

William E. Lantrip, longtime chancellor in Anderson County’s Seventh Judicial District, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2014.

“I have shared this decision with my fellow judges and members of the bar for some time and now believe it appropriate to make this decision known publicly,” Lantrip said in a Friday morning press release. “I have encouraged those interested in this office to consider pursuing election during next year’s election. I look forward to completing my service as I contemplate my retirement.” [Read more…]

Federal decision on new protest of Y-12, Pantex contract due Sept. 25

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Federal officials have a Sept. 25 deadline to rule on a new protest filed last week by one of the two teams that lost a contract competition earlier this year to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

The new bid protest was filed on June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has 100 days to respond to the latest protest but could issue a decision earlier.

The bid protest is related to the consolidated management and operating contract at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

State releases information on weekend crashes that ended high-speed chase

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The Tennessee Highway Patrol has released information on the Saturday night crashes in Oak Ridge that ended a high-speed chase, caused one vehicle to overturn, and sent two people to a hospital.

The chase started in Kingston late Saturday night after the suspect, Austin Cody Burns, 21, of Tellico Plains, nearly collided head-on with a vehicle driven by a deputy, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office reported. Burns allegedly fled from Roane County and Kingston Police Department officers at speeds that exceeded 90 mph. [Read more…]

IMPACT Services cleanup coming to end with one million pounds shipped

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IMPACT Services Waste

The last of more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste at the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge will be shipped out next Thursday.

Considered a success story, the one-year, $1.2 million state project to ship out more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste from the west Oak Ridge site of a company that declared bankruptcy about one year ago will end next week.

Already, about 1.1 million pounds of waste in about 1,200 containers have been shipped off the Heritage Center site, including to other processors and sites in Oak Ridge, Florida, and an EnergySolutions landfill in Clive, Utah, officials said during a Thursday morning tour.

A half-dozen shipments remain between now and Friday, June 28, said Judy Hardt, project manager for SAIC, which is performing the on-site work under a contract with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. [Read more…]