Anderson County Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Deadline today to vote in student manufacturing competition

Posted at 12:49 pm April 19, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The videos are in, and it is now time to vote in Anderson County’s “Dream it. Do it.” middle school competition.

The program is in its fourth year, and it includes six schools from Anderson County and Oak Ridge school systems.

“Dream it. Do it.” is sponsored by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, Anderson County and Oak Ridge schools, and Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. The competition is designed to bring student awareness of job opportunities in advanced manufacturing, a press release said.

Using GoPro cameras provided by CNS, six teams of eighth-graders were paired with area industries to create videos about the companies, the press release said. These videos are now posted online for public voting.

[Read more…]

ASAP to host Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series

Posted at 11:17 pm March 28, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

ASAP partners with local providers to educate on opioid alternatives

ASAP of Anderson is hosting a bi-monthly Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series at Methodist Medical Center. Each Lunch and Learn will provide information about a specific opioid alternative treatment from a qualified professional, a press release said.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) on April 23
Massage Therapy on June 25
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on August 27
Physical Therapy/Wellness on October 29
Acupuncture on December 17

The Opioid Alternatives Lunch and Learn Series is a follow-on to two continuing medical education trainings hosted by ASAP in March 2018 and early March 2019, the press release said. These trainings covered opioid prescribing and pain management, including behavioral aspects of pain management. [Read more…]

Anderson County Legal Notice of Public Hearing

Posted at 5:26 pm March 7, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Legal Notice of Public Hearing

(Published in Compliance with TCA 13-7-105)

The Anderson County Board of Commissioners will hold a Public Hearing on March 18, 2019, at 6:00 PM in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse, 100 N. Main Street, Clinton, Tennessee to consider a request for rezoning of property located at 819 Sinking Springs Road Clinton, TN 37716. This property can be further described as Anderson County Tax Map 055, Parcel 34.00, 60 +/- acres.

David Crowley, Anderson County Building Commissioner

WHEREAS the Anderson County Regional Planning Commission had recommended that the property located at 819 Sinking Springs Road Clinton, TN 37716 is to be rezoned from A-2 Rural Residential District to R-1 Suburban – Residential District in accordance with Section 13-7-105 (a) of the Tennessee Code Annotated; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Anderson County Board of Commissioners does hereby amend the Anderson County Zoning Map by rezoning properties further described as Anderson County Tax Map 055, Parcel 34.00 from the A-2 Rural-Residential District to R-1 Suburban -Residential District.

This resolution shall take effect immediately after its notification and passage, the public welfare requiring it.

Tracy Wandell, Chairman

See the PDF version of the legal notice here.

One lane of SR 116 open, with temporary signal, for 4-5 weeks

Posted at 1:05 pm February 15, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

State Route 116 is closed Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, in north Anderson County between Indian Fork Lane and Bunch Cemetery due to a slide after heavy rains on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Transportation)

State Route 116 was closed Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, in north Anderson County due to a slide after heavy rains on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Transportation)

One lane will be open on State Route 116 in mountainous north Anderson County, with a temporary traffic signal, for the next four to five weeks, a state official said Thursday.

The road, which is also known as New River Highway, was affected by a landslide near mile marker 9.4 after heavy rains on Thursday, February 7. The road was closed for several hours.

“The roadway is currently open to one lane of traffic under a temporary signal condition,” Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Mark Nagi said Thursday. “The roadway will remain in this configuration over the next four to five weeks while TDOT works to repair the roadway at this location.” [Read more…]

Man died after removing wife from fire, trying to rescue her special needs sister

Posted at 2:31 pm February 14, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Law enforcement officials believe that a 64-year-old man removed his wife from a mobile home fire in Anderson County on Wednesday evening and died trying to rescue his special needs sister-in-law, who also died in the fire.

The fire was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on Scott Brogan Lane, which is off Old Lake City Highway south of Rocky Top.

The mobile home was engulfed in flames when rescue personnel arrived, and victims were trapped in the home, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

The woman who was removed is Marianne Gremillion, said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. She was flown by a medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the Wednesday evening fire. [Read more…]

Two people die in fire, one person in critical care

Posted at 11:02 pm February 13, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Two people died in a fire in Anderson County Wednesday evening, and one person is in a critical care unit, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on Scott Brogan Lane, which is off Old Lake City Highway south of Rocky Top.

The house was engulfed in flames when rescue personnel arrived, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

One person was flown by a medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and is in critical care there, said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. [Read more…]

TDOT: Section of SR 116 could be closed several weeks

Posted at 2:38 pm February 11, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

State Route 116 is closed Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, in north Anderson County between Indian Fork Lane and Bunch Cemetery due to a slide after heavy rains on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Transportation)

A section of State Route 116 in Anderson County could be closed three to four weeks after a landslide last week, a state official said Monday.

The closure was announced by Mark Nagi, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The section of SR 116 was closed Thursday morning in north Anderson County after a landslide following heavy rains on Wednesday. The hillside alongside and beneath the road gave way, and part of the road collapsed. [Read more…]

SR 116 closed after landslide in north Anderson County

Posted at 12:51 pm February 7, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A section of State Route 116 is closed Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, in north Anderson County due to a landslide after heavy rains on Wednesday, Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Transportation)

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. Feb. 8.

A section of State Route 116 was closed Thursday morning in north Anderson County after a landslide following heavy rains on Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The hillside alongside and beneath the road gave way, and part of the road collapsed.

TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi said there is no timeline for how long the road might be closed, but it will be a long-term closure.

On Friday, WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that one lane of the road was open. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge, Anderson County schools closed Tuesday due to weather

Posted at 7:57 pm January 28, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge and Anderson County schools will be closed Tuesday due to weather.

Snow is possible, and temperatures are expected to plunge in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown.

The snow is expected starting overnight Monday and continuing into Tuesday morning. The low on Wednesday night is forecast at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. [Read more…]

After two wins at the buzzer, Lady Wildcats play for championship today

Posted at 1:12 pm December 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn (24) was named most valuable player at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. She had a winning shot at the buzzer against Daniel Boone in a first-round game at the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament in Greenville on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats Basketball/Paige Redman)

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

After two wins at the buzzer this week, the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play for the championship in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament in Greenville today (Saturday, December 29).

It’s the second championship game in a week for the girls. Oak Ridge (14-2, 3-1 District 3-AAA) won their divisional championship in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix last Saturday.

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn was named the most valuable player of the Nike Tournament on Saturday, December 22.

She had one of the buzzer-beating shots, a layup, in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic this week. That was in the final five seconds of a 50-48 win over Daniel Boone, an upper East Tennessee team, in a first-round game on Wednesday.

The Lady Trailblazers ended the Lady Wildcats’ last season with a 62-51 Class AAA sectional win in March, and Guinn told 5StarPreps, a high school sports website, that she didn’t want to lose to Daniel Boone this week. [Read more…]

Basketball: Mavericks stun Oak Ridge with last-second win

Posted at 11:25 am December 15, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith (2) scored a career-high 34 points during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith (2) led all scorers with 21 points during a 65-64 district loss to Anderson County at Wildcat Arena on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018. Smith is pictured above during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge boys hadn’t lost a basketball game to Anderson County in more than eight years.

That changed Friday. The Mavericks, who trailed by 12 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, scored on a game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds remaining to beat the Wildcats 65-64.

It was a stunning comeback victory and the first Anderson County win over Oak Ridge since February 24, 2010. That’s when the Mavericks won the third-place game, 61-53, in the District 3-AAA playoffs.

Since then, the Wildcats had won 17 straight games in the series. Oak Ridge had won nine of those by 30 points or more. The Wildcat’s most recent win was a 69-61 victory in the district tournament semifinal at Halls in February.

Anderson County senior Stanton Martin, a two-time Mr. Football finalist as Mavericks quarterback, scored the winning layup from the left side of the lane in the Friday night game at Wildcat Arena. Oak Ridge was unable to score in the final 1.2 seconds, and the Mavericks erupted into a celebration on the floor at the final buzzer. [Read more…]

CTF: 53 grams of suspected meth found in hotel room search

Posted at 11:56 am December 3, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Bobby M. Baucum

About 53 grams of suspected crystal methamphetamine were found during a hotel room search in Clinton in October, authorities said.

Bobby M. Baucum, 47, of Knoxville, was arrested after the search, which was led by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force of Anderson County, according to Anderson County court and jail records. Baucum was charged with possession of schedule II drugs (methamphetamine) for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Baucum had been using a hotel room at the Red Roof Inn and Suites on Buffalo Road in Clinton, according to affidavits filed by Jonathan Wilson of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force. Officers, who had a search warrant, searched the room on October 3, the affidavits said.

The search of the hotel room found the roughly 53 grams of suspected meth and a digital scale and plastic bags, Wilson said in the affidavits. [Read more…]