Oak Ridge Today

City workers repair broken water lines Saturday

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An Oak Ridge Public Works Department crew repairs a broken water line underneath Northwestern Avenue near Nevada Circle at lunchtime Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. The crew here is supervised by Oak Ridge Public Works Department Utility Line Maintenance Crew Chief Michael Brown. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge Public Works Department crew repairs a broken water line underneath Northwestern Avenue near Nevada Circle at lunchtime Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018. The crew here is supervised by Oak Ridge Public Works Department Utility Line Maintenance Crew Chief Michael Brown, left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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

The Oak Ridge Public Works Department continued to repair broken water lines on Saturday as cold winter weather caused ground to shift, breaking some pipes.

One crew was repairing a six-inch water line underneath Northwestern Avenue near Nevada Circle at about lunchtime Saturday, and there was another busted line reported on East Tennessee Avenue just east of Georgia Avenue.

Saturday night, city workers repaired another broken water line underneath Northwestern Avenue, this time near Nasson Lane and Princeton Avenue, and two more water line breaks were reported on Emerson Circle and Kentucky Avenue.

A crew was out past 1 a.m. Sunday finishing repairs on that second water line break under Northwestern Avenue, the one near Nasson Lane, as temperatures dropped again overnight. [Read more…]

Opinion: Community leaders convene Community Matters forums

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Editor’s Note: We are including this column on our news page in addition to our opinion page because it includes information about upcoming community forums.

Last November, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. Given the many strong feelings all over the country, several clergy in Oak Ridge decided to address our community. In our public statement, we called for “inspiration, perspiration, and collaboration” in our shared efforts for racial justice. We concluded, “We, the faith community, look forward to partnering in 2015 to foster holistic, long-term, and systemic solutions to the complex set of social, economic, and community challenges that plague our great society.”

In the 11 months since, painful conversations about race across our country have continued in Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; and even now, in Oak Ridge.

This summer, the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church began to display a message on its electronic Oak Ridge Turnpike sign, which reads, “Black Lives Matter.” Given the national scope of this slogan, people have taken this to mean different things. Some have responded, “All lives matter,” while others have answered with, “Police lives matter.” One thing is sure: It has stirred conversation and fostered what Martin Luther King Jr. called “a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” [Read more…]

State: Tennessee legislators introduce bill to stop racial profiling

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Two Tennessee legislators have introduced a bill to help stop racial profiling by law enforcement agencies, a press release said.

The bill was introduced Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican, and State Representative John DeBerry, a Memphis Democrat.

In the press release, Kelsey said the bill was created as a result of the events that took place earlier this year in Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson during a pursuit of the unarmed teenager. The shooting sparked a national debate about law enforcement’s relationship with African Americans as it relates to the use of force and racial profiling, the release said. [Read more…]

Y-12 prepared for possible Ferguson-related protests, but none reported

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Y-12 Prepares Ferguson Protest Preparations

The Y-12 National Security Complex and City of Oak Ridge prepared for possible protests related to the announcement of the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday night. Y-12 had appeared on a list of possible Ferguson-related demonstration sites, but there didn’t appear to have been any protests at Y-12 as of Tuesday afternoon.

 

The Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge and regional law enforcement agencies had prepared for possible protests at Y-12 on Monday, when the grand jury decision was announced in Ferguson, Missouri, but there didn’t appear to have been any protests at the Oak Ridge plant as of Tuesday afternoon.

Y-12 had appeared among a list of demonstration sites on the Ferguson National Response Network Web page. The Y-12 protest was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Monday, the day of the grand jury announcement, and demonstrators were asked to bring cell phones, cameras, signs, and megaphones.

But there didn’t appear to be anyone near the Scarboro road entrance to Y-12 at about 6:30 p.m. Monday or later at about 9:30 p.m. Scarboro Road was hemmed in on one side by Y-12’s temporary fence and on the other by City of Oak Ridge traffic barrels, cones, and police tape. Temporary barricades were erected to block Y-12’s entrances, and concrete barriers inside the main entrance appeared to have been angled in the roadway to deter or slow down unwanted visitors. [Read more…]

NAACP has candlelight memorial service for shooting victims

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The Oak Ridge and Anderson County chapter of the NAACP will have a candlelight memorial service on Wednesday night to remember the young men and women who have died unnecessarily after being shot in American cities, a press release said.

The memorial service will start at 9 p.m. Wednesday in front of the area maintained by the Scarboro Community Neighborhood Watch at Wilberforce and Benedict avenues. It’s been organized by the NAACP Oak Ridge/Anderson County Branch #5607, and it comes less than two weeks after the death of Michael Brown, 18, an unarmed black teenager who was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking daily protests and tense standoffs.

“These young men and women had the potential of becoming the finest citizens in this great country, but their lives abruptly ended by the action of a gunman,” the press release said. “The tragedy in Missouri serves as a prime example, that we the people of God need to always pray for justice and peace in this United States of America.”

“Please bring a candle,” said the press release, sent by Rose Weaver on behalf of The Rev. Walter Ghosten, president of the Oak Ridge/Anderson County NAACP Unit. “Area ministers will be present.”

Father shoots son after Sunday dispute in Roane County

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Note: This story was last updated at 5:59 p.m.

A Roane County man apparently acted in self-defense when he fatally shot his son once after a dispute on Sunday afternoon at a home on Old Harriman Highway, north of Oak Ridge and west of Oliver Springs, authorities said.

Michael Brown, 36, was dead when deputies arrived at about 4:16 p.m. Sunday, the Roane County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement posted on its website.

[Read more…]