Oak Ridge Today

ORPD welcomes new police officers, celebrates deputy chief promotion

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Officials and officers celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith, second from left, to deputy chief during a promotions and swearing-in ceremony in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Also pictured are, at left, Captain Michael Uher, retired TVA Commander Charles Smith (the deputy chief’s father), second from right, and Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, and the department celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith to deputy chief.

Smith has served with the Oak Ridge Police Department since 2012.

Before he joined the ORPD, he served for 17 years with the Tennessee Valley Authority Police. He served the last 14 of those as commander of police operations.

Smith began his law enforcement career with the Sevierville Police Department, where he worked 15 years.

Smith is a 1982 graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and a 1990 graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree in applied organizational management from Tusculum College and master’s in business administration from Bethel University.

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New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Here is information on the new officers sworn into service, provided by the Oak Ridge Police Department: [Read more…]

Toys For Tots can be dropped off at AC Detention Facility through Dec. 15

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Toys for Tots

The staff at the Anderson County Detention Facility has volunteered to let the facility be used as a Toys For Tots drop-off center for Christmas 2014.

Gifts for children that are new or unopened will be accepted in the drop-off box located in the Detention Facility lobby at 308 Public Safety Lane in Clinton. The box will be available to the public from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day until Monday, December 15.

Toys For Tots is an official activity of the United States Marine Corps and a mission of the Marine Corps Reserve, a press release said. First founded in 1947, the U.S. Marine Corps adopted Toys For Tots and expanded it into a nationwide community action project.

Now an international project, in 2012 Toys For Tots distributed almost 17 million toys to more than seven million children across the world, the release said. [Read more…]

NNSA names chief of defense nuclear security

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Nuclear Security Administration has named Jeffrey Johnson the chief of defense nuclear security and associate administrator for the NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Security. The announcement was effective Monday.

In this role, he will be responsible for the development and implementation of security programs for the NNSA, a press release said.

“Jeffrey brings a wealth of experience to NNSA and is eminently qualified to take on the challenges of his new position,” said DOE Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Frank G. Klotz. “I am pleased he will serve our nation in this new role, and I am confident that he will use his expertise to ensure that the security is maintained at all NNSA facilities.” [Read more…]

Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12

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Medal of Honor Recipients at Y-12 National Security Complex

Medal of Honor recipients Herschel “Woody” Williams (USMC, WWII, Iwo Jima); Ron Rosser (US Army, Ponggilli, Korea); and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam) were welcomed by CNS President Jim Haynes (far left) and NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart (far right) at the Medal of Honor Town Hall Forum held at Y-12’s New Hope Center on Friday. (Photo courtesy CNS)

 

Three Medal of Honor recipients were honored at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a Town Hall Forum on Friday, part of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s annual convention held in Knoxville last week.

The Medal of Honor recipients honored at Y-12 were Herschel “Woody” Williams (U.S. Marine Corps, Iwo Jima, World War II), Ron Rosser (U.S. Army, Ponggilli, Korea) and Wesley Fox (USMC, Quang Tri, Vietnam). They were welcomed at Y-12’s New Hope Center by CNS President Jim Haynes and Steve Erhart, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office.

The three recipients discussed their experiences and answered questions from the public. Williams and Rosser also toured the Y-12 National Security complex with Haynes and Y-12 Historian Ray Smith. The group visited 9731, Y-12’s pilot plant during the Manhattan Project, and the south ridge of the site.

Many of the honorees also visited area schools, where Tennessee leads the nation in adopting the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation’s Character Development Program. To learn more about the program, go to http://www.mohknoxville.com/character-development/.

See also this story from the Medal of Honor Town Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Air, ground search under way for pregnant woman missing in California

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (Photo courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)

A dozen search and rescue volunteers and a helicopter crew are searching Joshua Tree National Park in California for a pregnant 19-year-old woman from Oak Ridge who was reported missing on Sunday.

Erin Corwin was last seen leaving her Twentynine Palms, California, home on her way to Joshua Tree National Forest at about 7 a.m. Saturday, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. Her husband, Jonathan Corwin, reported her missing on Sunday.

The Sheriff’s Department said it began an extensive air and ground search using volunteers and search and rescue teams. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Homicide Detail is assisting in the investigation.

Specialized investigators, detectives from Morongo Basin/Twentynine Palms station, and patrol personnel are also at the scene, the Sheriff’s Department said in an update posted late Thursday morning. The search area continues to be in and around the Joshua Tree National Park, authorities said.

KTLA-TV in Los Angeles said Corwin was going to the park to see if it would be a good place for a family outing during a planned visit with her mother, Lore Heavilin of Oak Ridge. Heavilin had planned a trip there to celebrate Erin’s birthday on July 15.  [Read more…]

Post-war photos from Japan in 1945 opens at AMSE

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Joe O'Donnell and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945

A photo exhibit that opened this month at the American Museum of Science and Energy documents the aftermath of the U.S. bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. (Submitted photo)

An exhibit that opened this month at an Oak Ridge museum includes photos documenting the aftermath of U.S. bombing raids in Japan in August 1945 during World War II.

The exhibit at the American Museum of Science and Energy is titled “Japan 1945: Images by U.S. Marine Photographer Joe O’Donnell.” It was organized by the Tennessee State Museum from O’Donnell’s original negatives. It opened Feb. 1 and will be on display through July 28.

[Read more…]