Knoxville, TN (WOKI) After being without a station for months, the Knoxville Fire Department reopened its doors at Station 6 Friday in the Burlington area, but it’s part of a larger goal to provide area residents with a new fire station in the not-too-distant future.

“I hope it is going to encourage developers to be able to come in and to put quality buildings and businesses and investment back into this community so once again we can be thriving and our young people can see that and experience as part of their growing up,” said Knoxville City Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie at Friday’s reopening ceremony.

The East Knoxville fire station had been closed since the Spring due to renovations but reopened after safety concerns were addressed.

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon is expected to propose more than $1 million in investments into building a new fire station in the same area.

Kincannon will make her pitch to the full city council Tuesday.

Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Knoxville nurse’s death in September is now being investigated as a homicide.

Knoxville Police Department officials say detectives were notified Wednesday, December 6 by the Knox County Regional Forensic Center that the death of 61 year-old Janice Allison of Knoxville had been classified as a homicide.

Police report that on September 23, 2023 a patient pushed Allison down while working at East Tennessee Behavioral Health on Old Weisgarber Road. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of her injuries.

KPD says that on October 25, 2023 Allison died as a result of medical complications from injuries sustained in the September incident.

The Homicide Unit officially opened the investigation based on the Medical Examiner’s determination of the cause of death. The Homicide Unit will continue to collaborate with the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Knox County District Attorney’s Office.

At this time, no charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing.

Maryville, TN (WOKI) A Maryville man is in custody after leading officers on a 120 mile-per-hour chase Tuesday in a rented Maserati.

Twenty-seven year-old Isaiah Hearn was driving the car on I-40 near Papermill Drive in Knoxville. Police say he was driving at “excessive speeds” and swerving in and out of traffic. Initially, police thought the car had been stolen because of a dispatch report so they pursued Hearn who took them on a chase along Cherry Street and I-40.

Police eventually tracked Hearn down based on information from the car’s owner who told them that she rents the car using Turo. Hearn was taken into custody at his home; he was charged with speeding, evading arrest and reckless driving.