Oak Ridge Today

Council to consider Blankenship design agreement, money for relocated court

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The renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium could start in January and be complete by June, officials said Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, will consider an in-kind design agreement for renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider an in-kind design agreement for renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium and $70,000 in funding for renovations for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, which is moving to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.

The Blankenship Field design contract would be awarded to Barge Design Solutions of Knoxville. It would be an in-kind donation to the project, valued at up to $50,000, and used to help meet the requirement to have matching funds for a Local Park and Recreation Fund grant awarded to the city by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. That $496,000 grant required a 50 percent local match, which is to come from the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation.

The Barge Design Solutions work would include surveying, civil engineering, landscape design, permitting, and construction administration.

The roughly $1 million project is called the Oak Ridge Blankenship Field Renovation and Trailhead Improvement Project. [Read more…]

Council approves rezoning at site where Taco Bell could be built

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A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request was approved by Oak Ridge City Council in the first of two monthly readings, or meetings, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.

 

Although they didn’t approve a specific development, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved a rezoning that could allow a Taco Bell restaurant with a drive-through on property that now houses a courthouse at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Council was approving a rezoning only. Any specific proposal to develop the property would undergo the city’s normal site review.

The 1.1-acre site is now home to Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, which is expected to move soon to a county-owned building that once housed the Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center on Emory Valley Road.

The rezoning has been requested by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning would change the property from an O-2 Office District to a B-2 General Business District. Restaurants are allowed as special exceptions in the O-2 district, as long as there is no drive-through, Oak Ridge Community Development Senior Planner Kelly Duggan said in a December 18 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. B-2 districts allow drive-through restaurants “by right,” Duggan said. [Read more…]

Two charged with aggravated assault in West Bryn Mawr shooting

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Terris Lavonte Marsh

Terris Lavonte Marsh

 

A man and woman, both 18 years old, have been charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the shooting that was reported into a house with five people inside, including three juveniles, on West Bryn Mawr Circle in west Oak Ridge on November 15, according to court records.

The suspect has been identified as Terris Lavonte Marsh, 18, a transient in Oak Ridge and Knoxville, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

In the warrants, Oak Ridge Police Department Detective A. Marvell Moore said Marsh was identified through interviews, physical evidence, and social media posts, and he was interviewed at the Knox County Detention Facility.

After he was advised of his Miranda rights, Marsh said he shot into the home on West Bryn Mawr Circle because of an ongoing dispute with one of the residents, Moore said in the affidavits attached to the warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Taco Bell could be built on current site of General Sessions Court

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A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

 

A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning would change the property from an O-2 Office District to a B-2 General Business District.

The development plan calls for a Taco Bell fast-food restaurant with a drive-through on the property, according to a rezoning request that will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, December 14, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

It’s not clear if the existing building, which once housed the city’s police station and later the Oak Ridge Utility District, would remain. Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, has been there since January 2009, but the court is moving to a county-owned building that once housed the Oak Ridge Senior Center on Emory Valley Road. [Read more…]

Kidnapping, assault charges sent to grand jury in Hibachi Burger robbery

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Dominique Leshawn Gordon

Dominique Leshawn Gordon

 

Sixteen assault and kidnapping charges in a robbery reported at gunpoint at Hibachi Burger in Oak Ridge in January were sent to a grand jury on Tuesday.

An aggravated robbery charge was dismissed due to a technical issue with a warrant, but that charge is expected to also be considered by the Anderson County Grand Jury. An indictment by the grand jury would move the case from Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge, where it has been, to Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

The armed robbery was reported at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, January 10, at the Hibachi Burger restaurant, which is in Grove Center.

The defendant, Dominique Leshawn Gordon, 22, allegedly entered Hibachi Burger while displaying a firearm, and he demanded money from the register while showing the gun to several employees and customers, “placing them in fear of serious bodily injury,” according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

After getting the money, Gordon fled on foot, but he was caught a short time later by Oak Ridge Police Department patrol officers, the affidavits said. Officers who searched him after his arrest found the money that had been taken from the restaurant, according to the affidavits, which were filed by ORPD Detective A. Marvell Moore. [Read more…]

County Commissioners to tour new home of Oak Ridge courtroom Tuesday

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Anderson County could renovate the former Oak Ridge Senior Center, which was once housed in this part of a building owned by Anderson County on Emory Valley Road, and use the space for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Anderson County is renovating the former Oak Ridge Senior Center, which was once housed in this part of a building owned by Anderson County on Emory Valley Road, and plans to use the space for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Anderson County Commission on Tuesday will walk through and discuss renovations that are part of the project to relocate Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, from a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge.

The public meeting is at 4 p.m. Tuesday, December 12, at the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center, a county-owned building at 728 Emory Valley Road. Parts of that building complex have been home to the Oak Ridge Senior Center, satellite offices of the Anderson County Clerk and Anderson County Trustee, Emory Valley Center, and The ARC Anderson County.

The Oak Ridge Senior Center has temporarily moved from that building to the Oak Ridge Civic Center until a new senior center can be built at Alvin K. Bissell Park.

The new General Sessions courtroom at the county-owned building will be in the big room where the pool and billiard tables used to be at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. [Read more…]

Clinton man accused of stealing $2,000 in coins from car wash

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Joshua Steven Brinyark

Joshua Steven Brinyark

 

A Clinton man is accused of breaking into a car wash, stealing $2,000 worth of coins, and exchanging about half the coins for cash at a coin machine, according to court records.

Joshua Steven Brinyark, 30, was seen on a surveillance video breaking a door window and entering an inner office to steal the coins at Pop’s Car Wash on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

Brinyark then called a second man, Joshua Allen Bryant, at 7:34 a.m. and asked Bryant to pick him up at a Git’ N Go Market that is also on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard, according to the affidavits. Brinyark said he would give Bryant money for the ride, the affidavits said.

“Bryant picked up Brinyark and took him off another road in Clinton near some railroad tracks, where he got out of the vehicle and picked up two buckets filled with coins,” the affidavits said. “Brinyark then asked Bryant to take him to Walmart to cash the coins, and he’d give him money.” [Read more…]

Anderson County woman could face federal charges in alleged mail theft

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Tina May Carroll

Tina May Carroll

 

After mail thefts had been reported in the area, an Anderson County deputy found about 150 pieces of U.S. mail from more than 40 different addresses in a pickup that he searched on Beets Valley Road on Wednesday, an incident report said.

The 32-year-old woman who was arrested in the case could now face federal charges, according to the incident report, which was from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputy Adam Warren responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle, a red 1989 Chevrolet Silverado pickup partially parked in the road on Beets Valley Road, at about 8 a.m. Wednesday. Beets Valley Road is west of Lake City Highway (US 25W) between Clinton and Rocky Top (the former Lake City).

As he approached the truck, Warren said he noticed several pieces of mail in the grass close to the driver’s side door. He saw a female, later identified as Tina May Carroll, asleep behind the wheel of the truck with the keys in the ignition, according to the incident report. [Read more…]

Woman pleads guilty in fatal car-pedestrian crash on Clinton Highway

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Destany Lynn Cotner

Destany Lynn Cotner

 

A Clinton woman has pleaded guilty in a fatal car-pedestrian hit-and-run crash on Clinton Highway in March.

Destany Lynn Cotner, 25, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday to two charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death and driving under the influence (first offense).

As part of the plea agreement, two other charges were dismissed. Those charges were driving with a suspended or revoked license (first offense) and possession of contraband in a penal facility.

It was a plea by information, meaning Cotner had not yet been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury.

Cotner initially told the Tennessee Highway Patrol that she was the driver the night of the crash, but she later changed her story to say her co-defendant Isaac Irwin, 26, also of Clinton, was the driver, according to a narrative filed in the case and attached to warrants.

Cotner received a two-year prison sentence on the conviction of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. As a standard offender, her release eligibility is 30 percent. Her sentence on this felony conviction was suspended, and she will be placed on supervised probation. [Read more…]

Mental evaluation ordered in alleged dog stabbing, arson

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Sklyer Christian Griffin

Sklyer Christian Griffin

 

An evaluation of competency and mental capacity has been ordered in the case in which police say a 19-year-old man fatally stabbed a 10-year-old dog and then started a fire in the living room of an apartment on Villanova Road in Oak Ridge.

The evaluation at Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital was ordered Tuesday by Judge Roger Miller of Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

The evaluation should include a determination of the mental capacity of the defendant, Skyler C. Griffin, at the time of the alleged crime, his competency to stand trial, and his ability to assess the nature of his conduct, according to the order.

Griffin had a court hearing on Tuesday afternoon in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. He now has a status hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. November 7. [Read more…]

Meth, heroin thrown out car window, patrol cars hit, THP says

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Clarissa Sharee Tindell

Clarissa Sharee Tindell

 

Sixty-three grams of methamphetamine were thrown out of a car window and two patrol vehicles were hit during a police chase that started in Clinton and ended in Rocky Top on Sunday, July 30, authorities said. The vehicle occupants also threw out about one-half gram of heroin, and the car they were in almost hit two Anderson County patrol vehicles head-on, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

That afternoon, THP Trooper Isaiah Lloyd tried to stop a black Honda sedan for failure to yield the right of way and a turn signal violation at the intersection of State Route 61 (North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard) and Longmire Road in Clinton, near the Clinch River and Anderson County Detention Facility, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

The 1992 Honda Accord had cut off a red pickup truck at the intersection, Lloyd said.

But the car refused to stop after he activated his emergency equipment, Lloyd said.

While the Honda was traveling down Longmire Road, the car occupants threw two items out the window, according to Lloyd:

  1. a baby formula can that contained a jar with about 63.93 grams of methamphetamine, and
  2. a black metal box that contained a set of scales, 0.53 grams of heroin, and multiple plastic bags.

[Read more…]

Man stabs dog, then starts fire, police say

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Sklyer Christian Griffin

Sklyer Christian Griffin

 

An Oak Ridge man stabbed a dog, which died from its wounds, and then started a fire in the living room of a home on Villanova Avenue on Friday, according to police.

Skyler C. Griffin, 19, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, aggravated arson, and vandalism, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kenneth Prickett said Griffin came through the front door of an apartment on Villanova Avenue on Friday and physically attacked a 10-year-old male beagle mix that lives there.

“Griffin admitted to striking the dog with his hands and closed fists before pulling out his pocket knife and stabbing the dog in the neck and in the lower abdomen,” Prickett said. “The dog ran from the living room area and onto the outside balcony, where it succumbed to the stab wounds.” [Read more…]