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Map: How common are earthquakes in the area?

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The recent 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur that was felt in Oak Ridge, and other reported earthquakes since then, made us wonder: How common are earthquakes in the area?

Minor earthquakes, those that can’t be felt, are fairly common, according to a customized search of data available through the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were 247 earthquakes in a roughly three-year period in an area outlined by a custom-drawn map that includes much of East Tennessee and part of western North Carolina.

But with one exception, all of the earthquakes were 3.0 magnitude or less. Earthquakes that weak are generally not felt. [Read more…]

DA Clark to discuss Neo-Nazism in East Tennessee on Tuesday

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark will discuss Neo-Nazism and the root causes of its rise in East Tennessee on Tuesday, a press release said.

Clark, the DA in Anderson County, will be the speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

His general topic will center on Neo-Nazism, and the root causes of its rise in East Tennessee, the press release said.

The meeting will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

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A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

More on Clinton schools’ decision to close on Eclipse Day

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Information from WYSH Radio

As you are no doubt aware, there will be a total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, with the path of totality expected to pass over East Tennessee. Several area school systems will be closed that day, including those in Anderson County and the city of Clinton.

Originally, the school system had planned to keep schools open and allow parents to join their students to view the eclipse with their teachers to take advantage of the unique educational opportunity, but that has changed over the past week or so, as Director of Schools Kelly Johnson explained Wednesday morning, with many parents citing safety concerns associated with viewing an eclipse and a desire to have more of a role in determining the level of their student’s involvement. [Read more…]

UCOR awards 25 mini-grants for local school projects

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URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday, May 15, 2017, announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday, May 15, 2017, announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

 

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching.

Awarded annually since 2012, grant funds assist classroom teachers in developing specific projects or curricula, focusing primarily on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), a press release said.

“One of UCOR’s primary objectives is to support and encourage education initiatives,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “The UCOR Mini-Grant Program enables teachers to enhance their students’ educational experiences. Selected projects funded by our program give students a greater insight into the essential STEM subjects in fun and exciting ways.”

Applications were screened and awardees selected using a blind process that prevented members of the selection panel from knowing the names of the teachers or the schools. Schools in Roane, Anderson, Loudon, Knox, and Morgan counties were eligible to submit proposals. [Read more…]

Trees fall, roads flood, driver escapes floodwaters as rains continue

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Airport-Road-Flooding-Oliver-Springs-Storms-April-22-2017

The driver was reported to have made it out of floodwaters before emergency responders arrived on Saturday afternoon, April 22, 2017, but her black Nissan Altima remained partially submerged on Airport Road near Oliver Springs on Sunday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8 p.m.

Roads flooded and trees fell—sometimes on homes, power lines, and roads—as rain continued to fall in East Tennessee on Sunday. One driver was reported to have escaped from her car in floodwaters on Airport Road near Oliver Springs on Saturday afternoon, but the black Nissan Altima remained partially submerged in the water on Sunday.

There appeared to have been at least 10 reports of fallen trees in Oak Ridge during the severe thunderstorms that started Saturday afternoon and continued with rain showers on Sunday. Most of those trees were reported to have fallen on homes, power lines, across roadways, or on personal property such as an automobile. There were five reports of fallen trees between about 3 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, including a tree that fell across both lanes of Melton Lake Drive near Calhoun’s restaurant, causing a temporary closure of that two-lane road.

There were more reports of trees that had fallen but not damaged anything.

Large trees are falling due to excess rain, the City of Oak Ridge said Sunday. Electric crews have been out all night, and backup is on the way, the city said, but it may be tomorrow (Monday, April 24) before all power is back.

At various times on Sunday, there were reports of flooding or flood watches across Oak Ridge, including on Vermont Avenue, near Heritage Center (the former K-25 site), on California Avenue, and at Jefferson Avenue and North Jefferson Circle.

There were also reports of trees down and road closures in Clinton. Briceville Highway was reported to be closed in Briceveille due to sinking pavement on Sunday afternoon. Earlier Sunday, State Route 71 in Anderson County was closed for several hours at Norris Dam State Park because trees were blocking the road, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Some school districts have announced they will be closed Monday. Roane County Schools said it will be closed due to “concerning road conditions throughout the county.” Anderson County Schools said it will be closed because of dangerous conditions with flooded roads and trees being down.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said a record for daily rainfall was set at Knoxville Mcghee Tyson Airport on Sunday. The NWS said 1.89 inches had fallen as of 5 p.m. Sunday, breaking the old record of 1.63 inches in 1977.

[Read more…]

Fast-moving weather system could bring snow to East Tennessee

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Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

A fast moving clipper will push across the southern Appalachian region late this afternoon through Friday morning. Rain showers will change to snow across Southwest Virginia this evening and snow showers will continue to spread across the area overnight. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia where 1 to 3 inches are possible. Elsewhere, up to 1 inch of snow is expected across valley locations, before tapering off around sunrise Friday morning. With surface temperatures below freezing, snow will accumulate on untreated roads. This may result in in negative travel impacts to motorists, especially during the Friday morning commute. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

 

Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m.

A fast-moving weather system could bring snow to East Tennessee as it pushes across the southern Appalachian region late Thursday afternoon through Friday morning, forecasters said.

Rain showers will change to snow across Southwest Virginia on Thursday evening, and snow showers will continue to spread across the area overnight, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown. Snowfall accumulations will be greatest along the Northern Plateau of East Tennessee and the Cumberland mountains of Southwest Virginia, where one to three inches are possible.

Elsewhere, up to one inch of snow is expected across valley locations, before tapering off around sunrise Friday morning. [Read more…]

Interior Department protects 75,000 acres from surface mining, including in Anderson County

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U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell

 

A federal decision announced Wednesday designates about 75,000 acres of mountain ridge lines, including in Anderson County, as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations, a press release said.

The decision, which affects mountains in East Tennessee, was announced by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

“Today’s action helps protect a spectacular area of eastern Tennessee that is critical to the region’s tourism and outdoor recreation economy, provides valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and supports a healthy watershed,” the press release said.

The release said the Interior Department designated the mountain ridge lines as unsuitable for surface coal mining at the request of the State of Tennessee. Besides Anderson County, the other affected counties include Campbell, Scott, and Morgan. [Read more…]

Weather Service: Few inches of rain possible next week

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Image by National Weather Service in Morristown

 

A few inches of rain are possible starting Monday in areas hardest hit by the drought, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.

That would be a reversal of a months-long trend as a drought persists in the Southeast. The Knoxville area hasn’t had more than one inch of rain in more than four months, or 142 days, the National Weather Service said. The last time Knoxville had more than one inch of rain was July 5.

The Weather Service said a slow-moving upper-level storm system will start affecting the region during the early to middle part of next week.

“Good chances for some beneficial rains will exist late Monday through Wednesday evening,” forecasters said. [Read more…]

Air quality forecast for Wednesday: Unhealthy

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air-quality-forecast-nov-16-2016

The air quality forecast on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee. Yellow is moderate, orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups, and red is unhealthy. (Image courtesy AirNow.gov)

 

The air quality forecast on Wednesday is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee.

The air quality conditions in the Knoxville area at about noon Wednesday were moderate, according to AirNow.gov.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said the unhealthy air quality conditions will continue across must of the area into today. People with lung disease such as asthma and children and older adults should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure to the smoke, the Weather Service said.

“Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” the NWS said. [Read more…]

Governor issues regional burn ban, including Anderson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane

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neddy-mountain-fire-cocke-county-nov-13-2016

A Chinook helicopter drops water near a home to protect it from an advancing wildfire on Neddy Mountain in Cocke County on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016. (Photo by Tennessee Division of Forestry)

 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam on Monday issued a proclamation declaring a regional ban on burning in 51 counties in response to the ongoing drought and destructive wildfires throughout Middle and East Tennessee.

All eastern Tennessee counties are now under the burn ban. The counties include Anderson, Campbell, Loudon, Knox, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union.

Effective immediately, residents in counties covered by the regional ban are not permitted to conduct any open-air burning, a press release said. The ban includes campfires, and burning of brush, vegetation, household waste, or construction debris. The ban will remain in effect until December 15. The counties under the ban are listed below.

On Monday, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry was fighting 67 wildfires across nearly 16,000 acres in the Cumberland and East Tennessee districts.

One of the largest active fires in the area was a 2,432-acre fire on White Oak Circle in Morgan County. That fire was caused by arson, according to the Division of Forestry. That fire appears to be northwest of Harriman and Oakdale. [Read more…]

Football: Oak Ridge remains at No. 2 in Class 5A; Farragut moves up to No. 5

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Associated Press high school football polls for this week were released on Monday, and once again, East Tennessee is well-represented across the board.

In Class 6A, Maryville remains number one with Bradley Central representing East Tennessee as well at number four.

The Class 5A polls is dominated either by teams from our coverage area or those teams they could face in the postseason. Oak Ridge remains at number two, while Farragut moved up to number five after their win at Campbell County last week. Rhea County slipped to number six, McMinn County—which hosts Oak Ridge Friday—is number seven, with Campbell County falling three spots to number eight and Knox West hanging in the top 10 at number 10.

See the rest of the story on WYSH Radio for more information.

WYSH Radio in Clinton is an Oak Ridge Today news partner.

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