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AC, ORPD to discuss program to combat elder abuse

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

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Elder abuse is a new focus of Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department. The two agencies are preparing to jointly implement a Senior Citizens Awareness Network, or SCAN, program that will likely start later this year to deal with the crime.

District Attorney General David Clark of the Seventh Judicial District and his Anderson County office are leading the charge on combating elder abuse, and the office will be running the SCAN program, according to a press release. RPD will help implement the program in Oak Ridge.

Clark and ORPD Detective Wendy Zolkowski will speak Thursday, January 16, about the SCAN program, elder abuse in Oak Ridge, and the ways seniors can be protected.

Their talks will be the first in 2020 in the lecture series sponsored by Roane State Community College and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning. They will speak at 2 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally building on RSCC’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue. ORPD is hosting the presentation, which will be preceded by a reception with refreshments at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby. [Read more…]

Domestic Violence Symposium on Friday in Clinton

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Don-Layton-Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Don Layton is pictured above on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

There is a Domestic Violence Symposium scheduled for Friday in Clinton.

The symposium has been announced by Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge, Division I, Don A. Layton, in partnership with Probation Services Incorporated, or PSI.

The symposium is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Friday, October 28, in the PSI conference room at 135 South Main Street in Clinton, a press release said.

The symposium will feature presentations from Anderson County District Attorney General David Clark and others, including Russell Barker, Rex Lynch, Mary Ann Young, and Chad McNabb, the press release said. [Read more…]

AC man allegedly assaulted at jail files $1 million federal lawsuit

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U.S. District Court in Knoxville

The U.S. District Court in Knoxville is pictured above. (Photo by U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee)

An Anderson County man who was allegedly assaulted while an inmate at the county jail in October 2014 has filed a $1 million federal civil rights lawsuit against a former jailer and other parties, and a jury trial has been scheduled for June 20, 2017, in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

Before the lawsuit was filed, the former jailer, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Dustin McCoig, was indicted on a misdemeanor assault charge by the Anderson County Grand Jury. He was indicted in March 2015.

McCoig is named as a defendant in the federal lawsuit, which was filed October 21, 2015, along with three other former Sheriff’s Department employees: Homer Bullman, Jason Wills, and Amber Stocks. Also named as defendants are Anderson County Sheriff Paul White, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Anderson County.

There is a separate case pending in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court, where a jury trial on the assault charge against McCoig has been scheduled for April 13, 2016. [Read more…]

Report: Man fires gun into ground during parking dispute

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Justin Kane Hornung

Justin Kane Hornung

An Oak Ridge man who allegedly fired a gun into the ground during a parking disturbance on Tucker Road on January 18 has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

Justin Kane Hornung, 37, told Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher W. Wallace that he did not have space to park his vehicle on Tucker Road when he came home because guests of a neighbor had filled the on-street parking spaces, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A discussion between Hornung and his neighbor about the parking situation reportedly escalated into a disturbance, and the victim allegedly told Hornung he was going to “kick his (expletive)” and yelled other obscenities, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

County officials urged to hire attorneys in ouster suit as legal fees rise

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Jay Yeager and Lynn Byrge

Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager, left, the defendant in an ouster suit filed by a group of residents, is pictured with Lynn Byrge, one of the petitioners, during a Monday morning Anderson County Commission meeting.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:06 a.m. July 22.

CLINTON—The legal fees in a few high-profile disputes between top Anderson County officials could approach a half-million dollars, and Anderson County commissioners should all seek their own legal counsel in an ouster lawsuit filed against the law director, stunned commissioners were told Monday.

Subpoenas have already been issued in the ouster suit, and several officials, including a few County Commissioners, have reportedly received letters asking them to waive their attorney-client privilege.

Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski, who is former interim mayor, said some of the records he’s been asked to provide go back 10 years, and some of them are personnel records. Iwanski said he needs legal representation because he doesn’t want to disclose anything improper, a mistake that could lead to another lawsuit.

“It’s about trying to do what’s right for the county,” Iwanski said.

He said former Anderson County Jail Administrator Avery Johnson has also been served with a subpoena and will need legal representation.

“This is just the start of the legal battle,” Iwanski said. [Read more…]

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