One of two homes heavily decorated with Christmas lights and lawn ornaments on Browder Circle in Oliver Springs.
OLIVER SPRINGS—A steady stream of cars drove down Browder Circle in Oliver Springs after the Christmas parade on Saturday night, admiring two homes heavily decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments.
Here is one picture. We’ll add more later.
In the meantime, feel free to share any photos you might have of well-decorated homes that catch your attention.
Two more finalists for Oak Ridge Schools superintendent have withdrawn, and the search will have to be re-opened, an official said Wednesday.
One candidate, Roger Collins, toured Oak Ridge this past Friday. The other, Dan Lawson, was scheduled to be here Thursday, but that visit has been canceled.
On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said Collins and Lawson have decided they want to stay where they are. Collins has been superintendent of Nelson County Public Schools in Lovingston, Va., for 10 years. Lawson, superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn., has been with his district 16 years.
The school shootings in Newtown, Conn., on Friday have focused attention on school security in Tennessee, led to pledges to increase the police presence at some schools, and bolstered calls for more school resource officers across the state.
It has also revived an intense debate about gun control in the United States.
The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown last week killed 20 children, six adults, the gunman, and his mother. On Tuesday, the National Rifle Association said it was prepared to “offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again” and would have a major news conference on Friday.
In Tennessee, a few legislators have proposed requiring school resource officers in all schools, training at least one staff member to use firearms, or allowing teachers to carry handguns into schools not patrolled by armed police officers. But it’s not yet clear how much support—or funding—those proposals will have.
In Oak Ridge, Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said education officials will continue to advocate for more school resource officers, or SROs. But local officials said adding SROs could depend upon funding.
In Anderson County, Mayor Terry Frank sent out information on Tuesday on the positive measures taken this week by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after last week’s shooting, including four walk-throughs at Dutch Valley Elementary School on Monday.
Request forms are now available for those interested in using Oak Ridge athletic facilities between March 1 and July 31.
The forms are available through the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department at the Civic Center front desk or online at www.orrecparks.org.
The “meet and greet” that had been scheduled with a second school superintendent candidate on Thursday has been canceled, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday.
The session had been scheduled for lunchtime Thursday with Dan Lawson. He is superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday appointed 43 members to 17 city boards and commissions. Some of the appointees are new board members, and others are incumbents.
Some were for designated positions. For example, two hotel representatives were appointed to the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, and one City Council member was appointed to the Planning Commission.
Here is a list of the appointments:
An Athens man is accused of “head butting” an Oak Ridge woman on Friday night, punching and kicking her, and choking her “to the point of unconsciousness,” authorities said.
Gerald D. Wells, 26, has been charged with aggravated assault (domestic), and he remained jailed Tuesday morning.
To help save lives this holiday season, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is launching a special “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” crackdown to stop impaired drivers and to save lives on our roadways. Sheriff’s deputies will be aggressively looking for drunk and impaired drivers.
“Lots of folks will be out during this busy holiday season, enjoying themselves and the holiday festivities, and we want everyone to be safe on our roadways,” Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. “That’s why we will be stepping up enforcement to catch and arrest impaired drivers. If you are caught drinking and driving impaired, you will be arrested. No warnings. No excuses.”
There are three simple steps people can take to stay safe and out of trouble:
The 100th photo from a collection of World War II pictures taken by James Edward Westcott, the official U.S. Army Manhattan Project photographer, was added to an American Museum of Science and Energy website today.
During the past year, the World War II images taken in Oak Ridge by James Edward Westcott, the official U.S. Army Manhattan Project photographer, have been scanned one image at a time every Tuesday and Thursday into the American Museum of Science and Energy’s website.
Today, the AMSE website will add the 100th photograph. The picture shows people waiting in line outside the telephone office in Oak Ridge, and it was taken by Westcott in 1944.
“The photos of Oak Ridge taken by Ed Westcott during the Manhattan Project years are invaluable to the preservation of the story of a unique moment in the United States history,” said Julie Kellis, AMSE collections curator.
From extreme drought to super storms, many wonder what the future holds for the climate of the eastern United States. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville does away with the guessing.
Results show the region will be hotter and wetter.
Joshua Fu, a civil and environmental engineering professor, and Yang Gao, a graduate research assistant, developed precise scales of cities that act as a climate crystal ball, seeing high-resolution climate changes almost 50 years into the future.
The study found that heat waves will become more severe in most regions of the eastern United States and that both the Northeast and Southeast will see a drastic increase in precipitation.
Note: This story was last updated at 8:12 p.m.
Four people have been arrested after two separate robberies in Anderson County on Saturday, one at knifepoint at a store on Lake City Highway and the other at a home on Sulphur Springs Road, authorities said.
The first robbery occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Town Talk Market on Lake City Highway, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Monday afternoon news release. The suspect allegedly threatened to cut the clerk’s throat, the sheriff said. The clerk said he gave the suspect money from the cash register, and the suspect left the store, an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department incident report said.
The suspect was reportedly accompanied by another man and woman, and witnesses described their older model black Chevrolet sports utility vehicle to deputies. The description was broadcast to all area law enforcement agencies. Investigators also determined the identity of the robbery suspect and broadcast that information as well, White said.
The second of three finalists for Oak Ridge Schools superintendent will visit the city on Thursday.
Dan Lawson, superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn., will be at a “meet and greet” session at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce from 11:30-12:30 p.m. Thursday.
As part of his tour, he could also visit Willow Brook Elementary School and the Oak Ridge Preschool, Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said Monday.
