Oak Ridge, TN (WOKI) Oak Ridge Schools is teaming up with Southwest Food Excellence to give free meals to anyone under 18 over the summer.
The meals will come from ETHRA Sunshine Busses at several locations across the region and will be served, Monday through Friday, through June 27.
The schedule is below:
The Blossom Center – 280 Royce Circle, Oak Ridge (10:30-11:00 a.m.)
Oliver Springs Library – 610 Walker Ave., Oliver Springs (11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)
Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool – 172 Providence Rd., Oak Ridge (12:30-1:30 p.m.)
Clinton Splash Pad – 110 S Charles G Seivers Blvd, Clinton (2:15-3:15 p.m.)
“We’re committed to supporting our students and families year-round,” said Kristina Barnard, SFE General Manager. “This partnership allows us to continue providing nutritious meals even when school is not in session, helping ensure no child goes hungry during the summer months.”
Those who cannot make it to a bus location can also go to Oak Ridge High School from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Oak Ridge program offers kids free meals over the summer. (Courtesy: Oak Ridge Schools)
Morristown, TN (WOKI) Hamblen County is getting ready to open their new jail this summer.
At the current Hamblen County Jail, Sheriff Chad Mullins says they’ve dealt with overcrowding issues for years.
At times, they’ll have as many as 400 inmates at a building that only holds about 250 beds so fighting happens every day with six to eight people in a cell.
The new jail next door will be much larger with at least 600 beds, with two-man cells.
The jail, which cost $100 million dollars to build, was supposed to be ready last October but they had some issues and delays with construction.
Now, officials say, the jail is expected to open this August.
The Sheriff says they need 30 new people and the Hamblen County Commission passed a first reading last week that would give sheriff’s office employees and jail staff a 10% raise, bringing their hourly pay to around $20 an hour.
That raise is not final and will have to pass a second reading later this month.
The new jail costs $100,000,000 and will create much needed space for inmates and staff. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Two people were arrested after KPD officers responded to shots fired at the Evape Tavern and Dispensary on North Central Street early Tuesday morning.
At around 2:40 a.m. on June 3, 2025, officers responded to a shooting at the Evape Tavern and Dispensary on North Central Street. Witnesses reported that 58-year-old Robert Vandergriff repeatedly tried to get the bar staff to serve his girlfriend, 59-year-old Glenda Savage. The bar staff had determined Savage was intoxicated and refused to serve her. The two were then told to leave.
After leaving, Vandergriff and Savage drove back to the bar. Vandergriff parked on Central Street, exited the vehicle and began shooting at the building’s exterior from the street. One person was outside the building. Two people were inside. Fortunately, nobody was struck or injured.
Vandergriff and Savage were quickly identified and, shortly after, both were located and arrested. Vandergriff was charged with three counts of aggravated assault, while Savage was charged with one count of aggravated assault.
If you’re seeing bear cubs around, leave them alone.
Appalachian Bear Rescue says it’s normal to see cubs this time of year and they have been getting calls about bear cubs that might be orphaned.
ABR says that mother bears will often leave their cubs in trees while they go and look for food.
They say the mom will eventually return to get her kids. ABR says rescuing cubs too soon can orphan them. June also is when family bear breakup season begins, moms push the cubs out alerting it’s time to learn on your own. If you see a bear, leave it alone.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is using part of its $80 million dollars in recurring and $1 billion dollars in non-recurring dollars to accelerate, leverage, and add new projects to the department’s fiscally constrained 10-Year Plan.
Some of those recurring dollars will lead to an additional 130 lane miles of resurfacing annually as part of their Pavement Preservation Program.
That work is being done this week on State Route 338 (Boyd’s Creek Highway) in Sevier County.
TDOT reminding drivers to always use extreme caution and slow down whenever you are driving through a work zone.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Tennessee is Super Regional bound once again after defeating Wake Forest, 11-5, in a decisive seventh game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional on Monday night at a raucous Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
A seven-run explosion in the fourth inning was the difference as the Volunteers won their fifth consecutive regional to secure a spot in this weekend’s NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional against No. 3 seed Arkansas.
UT’s fourth-inning outburst was punctuated with a pair of home runs from Manny Marin and Andrew Fischer to break the game wide open and send the sellout crowd into a frenzy. Marin’s three-run shot to right-center field was just his third of the season while Fischer’s two-run blast was his team-leading 24th long ball.
Marin, a true freshman, had his best game of the season, finishing 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs to lead Tennessee (46-17) at the plate.
The Vols’ got key outings out of a handful of different pitchers on Monday night, starting with junior righthander AJ Russell, who got the starting nod and struck out three batters over 1.2 innings to get things rolling.
Freshman righty Brayden Krenzel pitched the next 2.2 frames, allowing just one hit while striking out three to earn his third win of the year.
Dylan Loy and Tanner Franklin followed, allowing just one run on two hits over the next 2.1 innings before handing the ball off to Liam Doyle. The junior ace took it from there, retiring the final seven Wake Forest hitters on the game in order while striking out five of them to earn his first save of the season.
Doyle Breaks UT Single-Season Strikeout Record
With his five punchouts on the night, Doyle moved past Vols’ legend Luke Hochevar as the program’s single-season strikeout leader with 158, breaking Hochevar’s 2005 record of 154.
Tennessee NCAA Regional Dominance
With Monday’s victory, Tennessee improved to 18-3 in NCAA regional play under head coach Tony Vitello and has now won five consecutive regionals (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). The Vols are 16-1 in home regional games since Vitello arrived on Rocky Top, as well.
UT had four players voted onto the Knoxville All-Regional team, led by Doyle, who was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after going 1-0 and recording a save in two appearances. The Derry, New Hampshire, native pitched nine innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits while striking out 16 batters.
Fischer (1B), Dean Curley (2B) and Marin (3B) were also named to the all-regional team.
Up Next
The Big Orange will head back to Fayetteville for a rematch against the Razorbacks in this weekend’s super regional. Arkansas won two of three games against Tennessee in the final series of the regular season at Baum-Walker Stadium just a few weeks ago.
The schedule for all eight of the NCAA super regionals will be announced on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. (ET) via a press release and the NCAA Baseball social media channels.
OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 7 Tennessee’s season came to an end Monday afternoon, falling to sixth-ranked Texas, 2-0, in the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.
Facing elimination, the Lady Vols (47-17) ran out of gas following several impressive showings at Devon Park during the last week. The Longhorns (54-11) received a strong outing from their pitchers and defense, as the Big Orange finished with just three hits and two walks in seven innings, while striking out seven times and leaving five runners on base.
In the circle, Karlyn Pickens had her best showing of the week, striking out nine batters and allowing just five hits and one earned run on the day. During the third inning, she became just the third Lady Vol ever to record 300 strikeouts in a single season, joining Monica Abbott (2004-07) and Stephanie Humphrey (2002). She finished the year with 306 punchouts, moving her into sixth on the program’s single-season leaderboard.
Two of UT’s three hits in the contest came as singles from the duo of Taylor Pannell and Laura Mealer, who enjoyed two of the best WCWS performances in program history. Pannell tallied eight hits throughout the week, marking the most by a Lady Vol ever in a single trip to Oklahoma City, to go along with five runs scored and three runs batted in.
For Mealer, she posted seven hits throughout the four-game stretch, which is tied for the second most in a single WCWS with India Chiles (2007). She will always be remembered for her heroics against No. 9 UCLA, when she had the walk-off single to left field and three RBIs on the day to send the Lady Vols to a second semifinals appearance in three seasons.
Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth, Texas’ Katie Stewart got under a pitch and sent it just over the left field wall for a solo home run. The Longhorns added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a throwing error, making it a 2-0 game.
The Big Kahuna Wing Festival has become one of the best culinary and firework events in the region. Every year, attendees from all over the Southeast enjoy thousands of pounds of wings, including flavors from around the world, cooking and eating competitions, live entertainment, kid’s activities, and the most comprehensive pyro musical fireworks show around. Come enjoy the fun this Labor Day weekend!
The Big Kahuna Wing Festival has become one of the best culinary events in the region. Last year the festival attendees enjoyed over 100 different sauces from 25 different teams representing restaurants, cooking teams, businesses, and The University of Tennessee Culinary Institute. Attendees and visitors come from all over the region. All for the love of the “Buffalo Wing” and to raise money for charity.
In 2011, Matt Beeler traveled to Memphis to be a part of the local Hot Wing Festival. It was there that he discovered something that was missing from his hometown on the other side of the state. With all the wing lovers in the East Tennessee area why wasn’t there a festival to celebrate Wings!
Upon returning to Knoxville, he began the process of building a wing festival with the intent to donate 100% of the proceeds local charities, asking the community for its support. That was over 13 years ago and over $630,000 in charitable contributions! Now, the wing festival has evolved into a full-fledged Flavor Day event with great live music, numerous family activities, and the much-anticipated Pyro musical fireworks show!
Gatlinburg, TN (WOKI) UPDATE: We’re learning more now about a crash Sunday afternoon in downtown Gatlinburg that injured several people.
Officials with the Tennessee Highway Patrol confirming that seven people were injured when a minivan “accelerated unexpectedly” in the 700 block of Parkway, struck a pedestrian in the crosswalk and then collided with several vehicles.
THP says one of the cars the minivan hit crashed into a road sign which then fell and hit another pedestrian.
Officials say THP’s early investigation shows some sort of medical emergency contributed to the crash.
ORIGINAL STORY: An investigation is underway after several people are taken to the hospital after a multi-car crash in downtown Gatlinburg.
Our news partner WVLT reporting the crash happened in the 700 block of Parkway in the downtown area yesterday afternoon.
Three people were flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, while three others were taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The crash shut down the roadway for several hours.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is assisting the Gatlinburg Police Department with the investigation.
One of the cars the minivan hit crashed into a road sign, THP said, which then fell and hit another pedestrian. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Nashville, TN (WOKI) Though kids in Tennessee have just begun to enjoy being out of school for the summer, you may want to plan now for back-to-school shopping.
That’s because the State of Tennessee has announced its popular tax-free weekend where you can secure back-to-school essentials such as clothing, school supplies, and certain electronics, tax-free.
We have the complete list of qualifying items and price points below:
Clothing
Tax-Free: General apparel that costs less than $100 per item. Things like shirts, pants, socks, shoes and dresses.
Not Tax-Free: Items over $100, jewelry, handbags and sports equipment
School Supplies
Tax-Free: School supplies that are less than $100 per item. Think backpacks, pencils, notebooks and art supplies.
Not Tax-Free: School supplies more than $100 each.
Computers
Tax-Free: Computers less than $1,500. Laptops and tablets as well.
Not Tax-Free: Storage media like flash drives, printer supplies or household appliances.
This year’s tax-free holiday is slated for Friday, July 25 through Sunday, July 27.
Tennessee’s tax-free weekend to return in July. (Pexels)
