Oak Ridge Today

Rocky Top woman charged with homicide in death of 83-year-old

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Christy Viola Comer

Christy Viola Comer

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. September 3.

A Rocky Top woman has been arrested and charged with homicide in the death of an 83-year-old man, state authorities said.

Christy Viola Comer, 37, was arrested by special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, with help from several local law enforcement agencies, a TBI press release said.

On Friday morning, authorities found the body of J.C. Copeland outside of his home in the 600 block of Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top. TBI agents started investigating at the request of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and with help from the Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

Area teachers go ‘back to school’ at ORAU for interactive STEM courses

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ORAU GPS Teacher Workshop

Daryl Sibble (center), graduate student working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), demonstrates to area teachers how GPS can be incorporated in the classroom and for outdoor lessons. Teachers in photo include Eric Good from William Blount High School (left), Sherilyn Dawson from Concord Christian School and Judy Pearson from Heritage Middle School (back to camera) during last week’s workshop at ORAU’s Center for Science Education. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Teachers participate in GPS workshop

More than 190 elementary, middle school, and high school educators from East Tennessee gathered in ORAU’s Center for Science Education last week to participate in a variety of technology professional development workshops. The free workshops offered educators the chance to enhance their STEM knowledge and curricula through hands-on experiences.

One of last week’s workshops focused on how GPS could be used during an outside exercise. Workshop participants took an excursion outside for a hands-on activity where the first three participants to locate a hidden GPS device using provided coordinates actually won a GPS device.

“I learned a great deal about GPS, because I was a total stranger to GPS before this workshop,” said Arnold “Rocky” Warren from Morgan County Career and Technical Center. “I have some GPS devices in my classroom, but I did not know all the ways I could use them. Now, I feel confident I can instruct my students on how to use them in my physics class.”

The workshops are designed so teachers can take the information back to their students and use it immediately. The Twitter Workshop proved popular as well. [Read more…]