Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Oliver Springs resident dies in collision with truck

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Note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m. Jan. 22.

Information from WYSH Radio

A head-on collision involving a tractor-trailer in Oliver Springs on Sunday night killed one person and shut down Highway 61 leading into Oliver Springs for about 22 hours while crews cleaned up debris.

The Oliver Springs Police Department said that the fatal crash happened when a tractor-trailer dump truck was struck head-on by a car that crossed over the center line. The collision sent the tractor-trailer off the road and down an embankment, where it overturned and spilled diesel fuel and its cargo of sand. [Read more…]

Reports: Deputy, prisoner injured in crash

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Yoonsik Jung

Yoonsik Jung

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy and a prisoner were injured in a three-vehicle rear-end crash at Interstate 75 early Sunday, and a Clinton man is facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving, among other counts, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 1 a.m. Sunday on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard (Highway 61) at I-75.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley, 49, of Knoxville, was transporting a prisoner for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, and he was stopped at the traffic light at the I-75 southbound exit ramp when he was struck in the rear by a driver reported to be intoxicated, ACSD Chief  Deputy Mark Lucas said. TWRA had made an arrest on Norris Lake for domestic assault, and the Sheriff’s Department had responded to transport the person who had been arrested to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

Stanley, the deputy, was stopped for the red light when his car was hit in the rear, Lucas said. Both Stanley and the prisoner, Eric Allen Rose, 25, of Powell, were taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge by Anderson County EMS for non-life threatening injuries after the crash, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Harriman man killed in Roane County crash

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A Harriman man died in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 61 in Roane County on Friday, authorities said.

Martin J. Palenski, 37, was not wearing a seat belt, and he was ejected when the car he was driving rolled after hitting an embankment at about 12:36 p.m. Friday, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

The THP said Palenski was driving a 2002 Ford Taurus west on Highway 61. While going around a righthand curve, the Taurus went off the left side of the road, a crash report said. Palenski overcorrected and hit an embankment on the right side of the road, the THP said. The Taurus then rolled, and Palenski was ejected, the THP said. [Read more…]

Three injured in two crashes on Oliver Springs Highway on Thursday

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Oliver-Springs-Highway-Crash-Pine-Ridge-Road-March-17-2016

Three people were injured in two crashes on Oliver Springs Highway in Marlow on Thursday. One vehicle overturned in the first crash, which occurred overnight, and two vehicles came close to going into a pond into the second, which happened Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Steve Newby)

 

MARLOW—Three people were injured in two crashes on Oliver Springs Highway in Marlow on Thursday.

One vehicle overturned in the first crash, which occurred overnight, and two vehicles came close to going into a pond into the second, which happened Thursday afternoon.

The first crash was reported at about 12:13 a.m. Thursday. Bobbie Lane, 47, of Clinton, was driving west in a 1999 Toyota 4Runner on Highway 61, also known as Oliver Springs Highway, when she failed to maintain control and went off the right side of the road, went over a curb, and hit a tree, which caused the vehicle to overturn, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Lane was injured, the THP said. She was not wearing a seatbelt, authorities said. [Read more…]

OS man faces charges after head-on collision injures three on Hwy 61

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Harriman-Highway-Crash-Jan-15-2016

An Oliver Springs man is facing charges, including driving under the influence, after a head-on collision injured three people in two vehicles on Highway 61 west of Oliver Springs late Friday afternoon. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

OLIVER SPRINGS—An Oliver Springs man is facing charges, including driving under the influence, after a head-on collision injured three people in two vehicles on Highway 61 west of Oliver Springs late Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Ryan P. Price, 33, of Oliver Springs, will be charged with DUI, vehicular assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm while under the influence, a due care violation, failure to maintain lane, violation of the financial responsibility law, and a failure to carry registration, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said a 2003 Dodge Durango driven by Price was traveling east in the westbound lane on State Route 61 near Scandlyn Hollow Road in Roane County at about 4:55 p.m. Friday.

A 2014 Jeep Wrangler driven west by Rodger Mattox, 66, of Oliver Springs, was also in the westbound lane, which was its travel lane, the THP said. [Read more…]

Norris Bulletin provides detour ideas over I-75

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Information from WYSH Radio

With traffic over Interstate 75 on Highway 61 down to one lane in either direction for bridge repair work, drivers can expect delays now through October 31, but our friends at the Norris Bulletin have a couple of alternate routes you may want to consider.

In the Wednesday edition, the Bulletin said westbound drivers can get to the other side of the interstate pretty quickly by taking the back route via Alley Road off the Norris Freeway and then following Hillvale Road all the way to back to Highway 61, adjacent to Harrison’s, Waffle House, and WalMart. The Bulletin said that detour will work for westbound traffic trying to get to I-75 South or to Clinton, but eastbound traffic probably will not get much benefit from that route due to expected backups.

For eastbound drivers, the Bulletin suggested turning left onto Miller Road just before Ray Varner Ford and following that route until reaching Hillvale, where you would then turn left, and proceed to Alley Road back into Norris.

Another option, especially for those living in Andersonville or south on Norris Freeway is to take Mountain Road east across the interstate. To reach Mountain Road from Clinton, take Sinking Springs Road (you can either turn right after crossing the Clinch River Bridge just past the soccer fields and Hammer’s, or continue on to Bland Road) until reaching Irwin Mill Road. Turn right there and proceed to Mountain Road. Turning left on either Bethel Road, Cross Pike, or Norris Freeway will return you to Highway 61.

Bridge repair project = lane closures

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Information from WYSH Radio

A bridge repair project on Highway 61 will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction on the bridge over Interstate 75 beginning Tuesday, July 14, and continuing until the project’s scheduled completion date of October 31.

Mid-State Construction, based out of Livingston, sent a letter as required by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to the Clinton Police, Fire, and Public Works departments, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County EMS, the U.S. Postal Service, and both the Clinton and Anderson County school systems. All of them could be affected by the project, so they were informed of the upcoming lane restrictions. [Read more…]

Report: Haslam in Norris on Friday

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Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (File photo by Rob Welton)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

According to the Norris Bulletin, Governor Bill Haslam will be in Norris on Friday to announce that the city has been awarded a $347,000 grant by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to build a new sidewalk along East Norris from Dairy Pond Road to the intersection with Highway 61.

The grant will also provide financing for a new crosswalk that will permit easier pedestrian traffic and easier access to the existing retail shops on the other side of the highway.

Officials told the Bulletin that a significant amount of preliminary engineering and design work will be required before construction on the project can begin and said it is likely that no actual work would begin for at least a year. [Read more…]

One airlifted to UT hospital after two-vehicle rollover crash

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Harriman Highway Jeep Rollover

The driver of a Jeep SUV that turned over was airlifted to a hospital in Knoxville after a two-vehicle crash on Harriman Highway west of Oliver Springs on Friday evening. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:36 a.m. Feb. 28.

OLIVER SPRINGS—The driver of a Jeep SUV that turned over was airlifted to a hospital in Knoxville after a two-vehicle crash on Harriman Highway just west of Oliver Springs on Friday evening.

The crash between the Jeep and a Dodge Ram pickup occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Friday on Harriman Highway (Highway 61) near Scandlyn Hollow Road in Roane County.

The Jeep’s driver was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, said Tennessee Highway Patrol Lieutenant Lucious Howard. The driver was later identified, after his family had been notified, as Joshua Brown, 33, of Oliver Springs. His condition was unknown early Saturday morning. [Read more…]

Pioneer man faces vehicular homicide charge in fatal crash on Hwy 61

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Shawn Earl Wright

Shawn Earl Wright

A Pioneer man has been arrested on a half-dozen charges, including vehicular homicide, for the October death of an Oneida man in a crash on Highway 61 at the on-ramp to I-75 North in Clinton.

Christopher Strunk, 32, of Oneida, died in the fatal crash on Friday morning, October 4. The Clinton Police Department reported that Strunk was a passenger in a Honda Civic driven by Shawn Wright, now 27, of Pioneer, WYSH Radio in Clinton reported at the time.

Wright now faces six charges: vehicular homicide, criminally negligent homicide, reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and failure to stop at a red light. He was indicted by an Anderson County grand jury on August 5 and arrested Tuesday. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton early Wednesday afternoon. [Read more…]

ACSD sued over erroneous arrest

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Information from WYSH Radio

A lawsuit filed last week in Anderson County Circuit Court alleges that a man was injured during what turned out to be his wrongful arrest in September of last year.

The lawsuit was filed last week against the Anderson County sheriff and four deputies by Carlen Reeves. Reeves was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by deputies in September on Highway 61.

The lawsuit states that when the driver pulled over, four deputies approached the vehicle with their guns drawn and ordered the driver and Reeves out of the car with their hands up and ordered them to walk backward toward the sounds of the deputies’ voices. Reeves was ordered to the ground with his hands still in the air, and the lawsuit says that when his knees hit the pavement, he heard a loud pop and then felt sharp pain in his left knee. [Read more…]

Atlanta burglary suspect jailed after high-speed police chase, CPD says

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Victor Allen Webb

Victor Allen Webb

A 26-year-old Georgia man remained in jail on Saturday after a high-speed police chase on Friday that started in Clinton and ended between Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs, authorities said.

The suspect, Victor Allen Webb of Atlanta, is facing charges in connection with at least two local home burglaries, the Clinton Police Department said in a press release.

On Friday morning, a CPD officer on special neighborhood patrol spotted the suspect vehicle near the scene of burglaries this week, the release said.

“I had asked Patrolman Brian Galloway to keep an eye on homes in the western end of Clinton between Charles G. Seivers Boulevard and the river, due to recent burglaries,” Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough said. “When officer Galloway attempted to stop the white Kia, instead of stopping, the suspect continued on.”

Reports indicate that the pursuit continued through parts of Oak Ridge, finally ending on Oliver Springs Highway (Highway 61), the CPD said. [Read more…]