Oak Ridge is sponsoring a Christmas tree recycling event on Saturday, Jan. 5, and Saturday, Jan. 12.
Trees can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the parking lot at Big Turtle Park off Monterey Road.
Supercomputers, materials and bears: ORNL marks eventful 2012
ORNL’s newest supercomputer, Titan, seen here with associate lab director for computing and computational sciences Jeff Nichols, took the top spot in November’s Top500 rankings. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory regained the lead in high-performance computing, enjoyed record-setting recognition for its research, and became a showpiece for renewable energy technology during 2012.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science reciprocated with favorable marks in its annual appraisal of managing contractor UT-Battelle. DOE cited the laboratory’s operation of its scientific user facilities, its “delivery of impactful science,” and a successful workforce restructuring to reduce operating costs.
“The dedicated efforts of our laboratory staff in all phases of science and technology and operational support have resulted in an excellent record of delivering science to the nation in 2012,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “ORNL will continue to set the pace in research toward a clean and secure energy future.”
ORNL’s 2012 included achievements in both research and support.
Two alleged Christmas shopping robberies this month
The alleged robbery and assault reported to Oak Ridge police on Saturday was the second time this month someone reported they were robbed while Christmas shopping and would not be able to identify a suspect.
On Saturday, a 32-year-old Knoxville man told police he was assaulted and robbed of $300 while Christmas shopping for his children, but lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.
Earlier this month, a 34-year-old Hillside Road man reported he was robbed of about $700 in cash in Shoney’s restaurant parking lot while Christmas shopping with a female friend. The man said he was counting his cash in the parking lot, making sure he had enough money for lunch, when a woman walked up to him, took his cash, and fled in a gold Cadillac down Tulsa Road, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.
Man shopping for Elmo doll for son says he was assaulted, robbed
A Knoxville man shopping for an Elmo doll for his son for Christmas said he was assaulted and robbed of $300, but he told Oak Ridge police he lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.
The 32-year-old man also could not explain a wet, blue towel in his truck with blood on it, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.
The man reportedly drove himself to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with broken cheek bones after the alleged Saturday evening assault and robbery. He also had a red, swollen face; cuts and abrasions on his face and head; two large knots on the back of his head; a busted, bleeding lip; a one-inch cut above his right eye; purple marks on his face—and what appeared to be a shoe tread on the left side of his face, the police report said.
Police dog finds man’s missing gun on Robertsville soccer field
An Oak Ridge police dog located a missing revolver in the grass on a soccer field at Robertsville Middle School early Friday morning, authorities said.
Leshawn Graham, 21, of Royce Circle in Oak Ridge, told police he had laid the gun down in the soccer field but could not find it, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.
Former Medford fire chief dies in single-vehicle accident in Oak Ridge Turnpike
A Lake City man died Wednesday evening during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive. Braden’s pickup truck went down an embankment and hit a tree, but his passenger survived. (Photos by Tom Scott)
A Lake City man who was also a former volunteer fire chief in Medford died during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive at about 4:46 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.
Ronnie L. Braden, 62, was driving a black 2001 Ford pickup that went 15 feet down an embankment and into a tree, according to an Oak Ridge Fire Department report.
Rescuers said Braden had been complaining of chest pains before the accident.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Oak Ridge Police Department said Braden was declared dead at the scene by Anderson County Emergency Medical Services.
Eight-point buck, three-car collision, two injuries on Christmas Eve
Three cars collided on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve, injuring two people, after two vehicles stopped for an injured deer in the eastbound lanes. (Photos by Tom Scott)
Two people were injured in a three-car collision on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve after two vehicles stopped in the eastbound lanes for a deer in the roadway and a third vehicle hit the first two.
The 6:55 p.m. accident occurred just east of Wiltshire Drive. A 2007 Lexus car driven by Paula Arlene Flowers, 44, of Oak Ridge, and a 1993 Nissan pickup driven by Bryan Keith Roberts, 42, of Clinton, had stopped for an eight-point buck that had reportedly been hit in the westbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike and staggered across to the eastbound lanes.
Report: Subway robbed Saturday
The Subway restaurant in west Oak Ridge was allegedly robbed on Saturday night, authorities said.
An unknown man wearing a denim jacket with a grey hood and gray sleeves allegedly robbed the store on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, taking $421.64, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department report and Oak Ridge Police Lt. Robin Smith.
Smith said the suspect did not display a weapon.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Driver says he swerved to avoid deer, hit parked car
A Kentucky man said he had swerved to avoid a deer on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning when his Ford Taurus hit a parked GMC Sonoma. (Photo by Tom Scott)
About 20 minutes after a rollover accident on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning, police responded to a second collision.
The driver in the second wreck, Joshua Whaley, 25, of Florence, Ky., told police he had swerved to avoid a deer while driving westbound on Robertsville Road when his Ford Taurus struck a GMC Sonoma parked in on-street parking, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.
Oliver Springs man stable at UT hospital after car rolls over, ejects him
An Oliver Springs man remained in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on Wednesday after being ejected from a Cadillac SRX on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning. (Photos by Tom Scott)
An Oliver Springs man was in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on Wednesday evening after being ejected from a vehicle that overturned on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning, authorities said.
Jared M. Coker, 25, was westbound on Robertsville Road in a Cadillac SRX just west of Bermuda Road at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday when he veered right into on-street parking, striking an unoccupied Chrysler sedan.
Strong, damaging winds possible through this afternoon
A strong low pressure system moving northeast through East Tennessee and southwest North Carolina and Virginia could produce damaging winds through this afternoon along the foothills and eastern mountains, and some snowfall is possible in the region, forecasters said.
The system could produce strong southerly winds between 25 and 40 mph, and gusts over 70 mph are possible, the National Weather Service in Morristown said.
“As a cold front moves through the region today, cold air will rush in behind it, changing the rain to snow late this afternoon, with some snow showers persisting across the area tonight,” an NWS hazardous weather outlook said. “Light snowfall is possible, especially across the higher elevations of southwest Virginia and far East Tennessee mountains Wednesday night into Thursday.”
Anderson County Commission planning to audit Andersonville Fire Department
Information from WYSH Radio
Last week, the Anderson County Commission voted to get the ball rolling on an audit of the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department.
Earlier this year, the department announced it was switching to a subscription-based service due to a lack of funds so severe, officials said, that the AVFD might have to close without the subscription plan.
The county has a 40-year lease with the AVFD for the land where the new Belmont Fire Station is being built, and part of the lease agreement calls for the department to be audited each year. The matter was referred to the Commission’s audit and budget committees for consideration and further discussion.
