Oak Ridge Today

AC Senior Center a step closer to reality

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

On Monday night, the Anderson County Operations Committee unanimously voted to approve a five-year lease with B&B Properties on a building in Clinton that will serve as the home of a new Anderson County Senior Center.

The next step in the process will be consideration by the full Anderson County Commission on Monday of the $1,896-a-month lease for the building at 439 South Charles Seivers Boulevard. If approved by the Commission, the Anderson County Office on Aging hopes to be in the new facility by the end of July.

Supporters of a senior center have long decried the lack of adequate space to conduct activities and programs for seniors in the current home of the Office on Aging on Leinart Street. This is the same property officials thought they had an agreement to lease earlier this year that fell through due to a higher-than-expected monthly rent.

The Office on Aging will be providing WYSH with a list of needed items for the new facility in the next few days, and they will pass that information along when it becomes available.

ACSD investigating robbery

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a report of an armed robbery that occurred late Wednesday night near Rocky Top.

The victim, Jacob Fry, called deputies just after midnight Thursday and told them that he had been assaulted and robbed by three people, two of whom he knew. Fry said that a man he knew called him at around 10 p.m. and asked if he wanted to play basketball, and Fry agreed.

A short time later, the man and a woman—whom he also knew—picked him up, and the three drove to the Pine Hill community park in Rocky Top. Fry later told deputies that he thought that the woman had been acting strangely on the ride.

When they reached the park, the man said he was going to call another man to play ball with them, and while Fry stood outside the truck smoking, he said he heard the man tell his friend that they “were just outside and to come out and meet them.” [Read more…]

Third Clinton car lot hit by thieves

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

For the third time in a month, a Clinton auto dealership was hit by thieves over the weekend.

The first two instances occurred at Fox Toyota, where a horse trailer and a 2015 Toyota 4Runner were stolen during the past few weeks.

On Saturday, the Clinton Police Department was called to Ray Varner Ford on Seivers Boulevard on a report of a stolen SUV. When they arrived, officers were told that a black 2012 Ford Explorer valued at $28,000 had been taken from Varner’s lot sometime between March 31, when employees put new tires on it, and Saturday morning. [Read more…]

AC tax deadline looms, alternate plans being made

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County property taxes are due on Saturday, February 28, but with the winter weather in the area, officials are making plans to allow citizens to pay those taxes without undue stress.

The Courthouse is open today (Wednesday, February 25), and County Trustee Rodney Archer’s staff is exceptionally busy as residents who have been snowbound have been paying their taxes steadily all day.

County Mayor Terry Frank said this morning on WYSH’s “Ask Your Neighbor” program that the Trustee’s office will be open—weather permitting—on Saturday in Clinton, Andersonville, and Oak Ridge so that you can pay your taxes before the deadline.

If the weather does not permit, property tax payments will be accepted as “on time” by mail as long as they are postmarked no later than Monday, March 2.

For more information, call the Trustee’s office at (865) 457-6233.

Clinton police investigating man’s death

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

According to a police report on file at the Clinton Police Department, investigators are looking into the death of a 36-year-old Clinton man.

The incident occurred on December 27 when Clinton Police were called to a home on Lee Lane and found 36-year-old Jason Sharp unconscious on the floor, bleeding from his mouth and not breathing.

Despite the efforts of first responders, Sharp died shortly after arriving at Methodist Medical Center. [Read more…]

Fire at Clinton Towers injures none, displaces 30

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

What was described as a “room and content” fire at the Clinton Towers on Seivers Boulevard on Wednesday night caused some damage and displaced about 30 residents.

The fire was reported at around 11 p.m. inside a room on the second floor. No one was injured.

Clinton Fire Chief Archie Brummitt said the sprinkler system inside the room “did its job,” allowing firefighters to completely extinguish the blaze within just a few minutes of their arrival. But he described the room as a “total loss.” [Read more…]

WYSH: County officials request records from Clinton as Courthouse case crosses street

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Clinton City Hall

Clinton City Hall (Photo courtesy City of Clinton)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The controversy and conflict regarding the copying of hard drives from computers in the Anderson County Human Resources Department has spilled across the street from the County Courthouse to Clinton City Hall.

As we have reported, County Human Resources Director Cathy Best announced her resignation Monday after almost 10 years on the job and her looming departure, along with that of her second-in-command Kerri Ashley, prompted County Mayor Terry Frank to try to have their hard drives copied. Her request was made after she was informed last month that former building inspector Lisa Crumpley was planning on filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county, alleging that she was fired for cooperating in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe that led to the indictment of her boss, David Crowley, on charges of inspecting buildings without the necessary certifications.

Frank wanted to copy all forensic evidence on the computers used by Best and Ashley, as they may contain information regarding Crumpley’s termination and what became of her personnel file, which went missing days after she was fired. [Read more…]

Repairs made to Jaycee Park walking trail

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Clinton Public Works and Parks and Recreation employees recently completed some much-needed work on the walking trail at Jaycee Park.

In a press release, Public Works Director Lynn Murphy said this is the first major repair effort on the trail in about 15 years. Murphy said that the city had received some complaints about the condition of the trails, which raised questions for officials about walkers’ safety.

Several sections of asphalt were either completely removed and replaced or, when possible, repaired. Officials hope that further improvements to the Jaycee Park walking trail can be made in the near future.

Two of three plotters plead guilty in murder attempt

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Two people accused of conspiring to kill an elderly man pleaded guilty in an Anderson County courtroom on Monday.

David Lee Suddeth, 44, and Dorothy Roxanne McFarland, 53, both pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, attempted aggravated arson, attempted aggravated kidnapping, and theft under $500. In exchange for those pleas, each was sentenced to nine years behind bars.

A third person, the alleged mastermind of the plot, 50-year-old Randolph Lane, is expected to enter a plea in this case on Wednesday. The trio was accused of plotting to kill then-73-year-old Luther Byrge—with whom they were all living—in January of 2012. Their plan was to lock Byrge inside his bedroom, disable the smoke detector, cut the phone lines, and set his house on fire while he was inside. The plan almost worked too, as the phone and smoke detector were disabled and Byrge was locked in his room, but according to testimony in court, the plan ultimately failed when the gasoline that was ignited under a bathroom sink melted the pipes and extinguished the fire. [Read more…]

Burglar steals cash from Shop Rite in Rocky Top

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

WYSH Radio has received several calls over the past two days about why the Shop Rite grocery store in Rocky Top (Lake City) was closed most of the day Tuesday. Rocky Top Police confirmed to WYSH Tuesday that the store was indeed targeted in a burglary sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

The culprits disabled the store’s security cameras and alarms, which also disrupted the store’s computer system, and stole an undisclosed but significant amount of money from the safe. Rocky Top Police were called to the store Tuesday morning, and according to the store manager, had identified a suspect within just a few hours and gotten a confession a short time later.

Store officials say that the burglary was an “inside job.” The delay in reopening the store was due to rebooting and reinforcing security on the store’s computer system.

The Shop Rite in Rocky Top reopened to shoppers at around 5 p.m. Tuesday. No one was inside the store at the time of the burglary, and no one was injured. Police say the case will likely be presented to a grand jury and, as of the time this report was filed, the identity of the suspect or suspects has not been released.

Information in this story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.

TBI: Roane officers justified in using deadly force

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

An investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has concluded that the shooting of an armed burglary suspect in Harriman on Tuesday was justified. Officers shot and killed 28-year-old Miranda Michelle Guy inside her home on Fairchild Street on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a joint press release from District Attorney General Russell Johnson, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harriman Police Department, Guy pointed a handgun at the officers and was advancing on one of them when they opened fire. The preliminary autopsy showed that Guy was hit multiple times in her right arm, which was holding the gun, and her front torso.

Officials said that while a Harriman Police Department officer was speaking to witnesses of a burglary at a storage building in South Harriman, a white pickup truck drove by that the witnesses identified as the vehicle that the suspect in the break-in had been driving. The release said the officer could see items in the bed of the truck that matched the description of some of the stolen items. The officer ordered the truck to stop, but the driver, who was identified as Guy, sped up and drove away.

The officer started a pursuit, which was joined by a HPD investigator and two Roane County Sheriff’s Department deputies. The four officers followed Guy to her house, where they saw her run inside. The officers split up, with two going to the back of the house while the other two followed Guy inside through the front door. [Read more…]

Two killed, two injured in car-train accident in Harriman

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Two people were killed and two others seriously injured after a train crashed into a car Friday evening in Harriman.

Three of the four people in the car were basketball players at Roane State Community College, including two siblings, according to school officials. The Tennessee Highway Patrol report states that their vehicle was heading west on Tanglewood Drive when it attempted to cross at a railroad crossing and was hit by a train at around 8:45 p.m. Friday.

According to the report, 20-year-old Darius J. Gallaher of Harriman was driving the car and the passengers have been identified as 22-year-old Roderick Drummond from Greenville, S.C., 18-year-old Jadah Gallaher of Harriman, and 20-year-old Hunter Crass from Harriman. [Read more…]