Today, April 9, 2025, Knoxville Fire Department investigators arrested and charged 42-year-old Brandon Humfleet with arson.
Humfleet was arrested earlier this morning following a fire at a business at 1520 Liberty Street. The fire was initially reported at 3:50 a.m.
When firefighters arrived at the business, they determined that the blaze had been intentionally set. Investigators worked throughout the morning to identify and locate the suspect.
Humfleet has now been charged with one count of arson and is being held at the Knox County Detention Facility.
No injuries were reported. The building received moderate fire damage and is open for business.
Today, April 9, 2025, Knoxville Fire Department investigators arrested and charged 42-year-old Brandon Humfleet with arson.
Humfleet was arrested earlier this morning following a fire at a business at 1520 Liberty Street. The fire was initially reported at 3:50 a.m.
When firefighters arrived at the business, they determined that the blaze had been intentionally set. Investigators worked throughout the morning to identify and locate the suspect.
Humfleet has now been charged with one count of arson and is being held at the Knox County Detention Facility.
No injuries were reported. The building received moderate fire damage and is open for business.
Maryville, TN (WOKI) The Blount County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents to be aware of an ongoing phone scam involving ankle monitors.
BCSO officials say scammers claiming to be law enforcement are telling victims that they need to pay for an ankle monitor after being released from jail or be arrested.
BCSO says that the scammer is telling victims to use Apple Pay, PayPal or gift cards to pay, adding that some victims have lost thousands of dollars to this scam.
“The Blount County Sheriff’s Office, nor any agency in Blount County, will call an individual after they’ve been released from jail to tell them they need to pay for an ankle monitor,” Sheriff James Lee Berrong said. “Any bond conditions are settled prior to an individual being released from jail.”
BCSO says “if you receive a call like this, ignore it.”
Anyone who questions the legitimacy of a phone call is asked to call BCSO’s main number at 865-273-5000 during normal business hours.
Jefferson City, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to replace the current aeration system at Cherokee Dam with new turbine technology by next year.
In anticipation of that change, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is asking anglers for feedback as they assess how the change to the Cherokee Dam could harm a “critical survival zone” for large Striped Bass.
The upgrades, designed to improve water quality downstream, may have unintended consequences for aquatic wildlife in Cherokee Reservoir, particularly Striped Bass.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is evaluating these potential impacts.
These fish rely on cooler, well-oxygenated water to make it through Tennessee’s hot summers, and Cherokee Reservoir provides limited natural options. According to TWRA, the planned turbine upgrades will cause the refuge area for Striped Bass to disappear, significantly reducing their chances of surviving.
Anglers and stakeholders are invited to share their feedback and questions by contacting the agency at [email protected].
Officials said the change will cause the refuge area for Striped Bass to disappear, significantly reducing their chances of surviving the summer. (Courtesy: TWRA)
Loudon County, TN (WOKI) The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office together with several other agencies is actively searching for two teens they say jumped from a bridge during a police chase.
The incident occurred on a bridge on I-75 south between exits 76 and 72. The sheriff’s office says a chase with three teenage males ended last night when the suspects jumped off that bridge and into the Tennessee River.
Officials with the Tennessee Highway Patrol say troopers and the Sweetwater Police Department were involved in the chase, which involved a stolen car, at around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
One teen is in custody, but there is an active search for the other two who jumped.
Authorities are asking anyone who sees suspicious activity, particularly in the Lake Drive area, or has any information to call the Loudon County Communication Center at 865-458-9081.
Other agencies assisting in the search include the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Loudon Fire Department, Tellico Village Fire Department, Priority Ambulance Service and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says a man has been arrested and charged with attempted 1st degree murder following a hit and run accident involving a pedestrian.
Deputies were called to Wheeler Road in White Pine for vehicle crash and found a man lying in the road and they say the vehicle that hit him left the scene.
The man was flown by UT Lifestar to the hospital and is in critical but stable condition.
Investigators secured a warrant at a location on Main Street in White Pine where the suspect, 51 year-old James Locklear, and his vehicle were found and the search lead to his arrest.
He was taken to the Jefferson County Detention Center.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 4/5 Tennessee got back in the win column with a 10-2 victory over Alabama State on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (29-4) scored eight of their 10 runs in the fourth inning to break open a scoreless game up until that point. Reese Chapman, Christ Newstrom and Dean Curley all homered in the inning to account for four of the eight runs.
AJ Russell started for the second consecutive midweek game and tossed two scoreless innings, striking out a pair while allowing just one hit as he continues to work his way back from offseason elbow surgery.
Newstrom continued his impressive stretch of games at the plate with a career night on Tuesday, finishing 3-for-5 with a run scored, a home run and four RBIs to lead the Vols offensively.
The freshman drove in three of UT’s eight runs in the fourth inning with a solo homer and a two-run double. Newstrom has now recorded multiple hits in each of his last four games played.
Grimmer Keeps Raking
Redshirt freshman Blake Grimmer made his third straight midweek start and provided Tennessee with another productive performance, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.
In those three midweek starts, Grimmer is 6-for-10 with five runs scored, two home runs and seven RBIs. The Spring Lake, Michigan, native also recorded his first-career SEC hit last weekend with a pinch-hit single in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against Texas A&M.
Up Next
The Vols head back on the road for a top-10 series at No. 6 Ole Miss this weekend in Oxford. Friday’s opener is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the second consecutive season, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team placed fifth in the year-end national polls.
Tennessee (30-8, 12-6) finished fifth in the country in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Volunteers ascended one position on each list, as they started the NCAA Tournament sixth overall. Tennessee beat Wofford, UCLA and then-No. 18/21 Kentucky to advance to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. Once there, it fell to Houston, an eventual NCAA finalist.
Tennessee’s fifth-place finish in the AP Poll matches a program previously record in 2023-24, 2021-22 and 2007-08. This is the second time the Associated Press has released a year-end poll after the NCAA Tournament, as the final poll from 1948-49 through 2022-23 came beforehand. The Volunteers have finished fifth in both iterations of the post-NCAA Tournament AP Poll.
Meanwhile, the Volunteers’ fifth-place spot in the Coaches Poll—the outlet has traditionally released a ranking after the NCAA Tournament—ties the program record set just last season, in 2023-24. Before this two-year stretch, their top mark was seventh in 2007-08.
The Volunteers were one of only four teams to rank in the top 12 of the AP Poll and/or Coaches Poll the entire season, alongside Alabama, Auburn and Duke. One of five teams to hold the AP No. 1 position this year, Tennessee spent five weeks atop the list, tied with Kansas for the second-most of any team.
Tennessee notched 11 AP top-10 placements in 2024-25, passing the nine it had last season for its second-most ever in a single campaign. That figure trails only the 14 it posted in 2018-19.
This is the 18th consecutive AP top-10 ranking for the Volunteers—all were in the top eight—dating to Nov. 25, 2024. That is the second-longest streak in program history, behind only the 20-week ledger in 2018-19. All three marks in program of 15-plus weeks are over the last seven years under the direction of head coach Rick Barnes.
In total, Tennessee is in the AP top 10 for the 76th time in Barnes’ 10 seasons, all since 2017-18, after it earned 28 AP top-10 nods in the 14 years (2001-15) before his hiring. The Volunteers have garnered an AP top-10 ranking in 37 of the 42 AP Poll releases over the past two seasons, including a top-eight spot in 33 of the past 36.
Over the last 58 AP Poll announcements—that extends back to Nov. 28, 2022—Tennessee has collected a top-15 spot in 55 of them, all but three.
The Volunteers are in the AP top 25 for the 80th straight week, a tally that spans four full campaigns, since the 2021-22 preseason poll. That figure is 43 above the previous program record of 37 weeks, set March 1999 to Feb. 2001. Tennessee’s 80-week streak is the second-best active mark in the nation, behind only Houston (106). No other school is at even 60-plus, while the closest SEC team is fifth-place Kentucky with a 42-week count that is 38 behind the Volunteers.
Tennessee concluded the year with 1,220 points in the AP Poll balloting and 621 in the Coaches Poll voting.
The Volunteers are one of eight SEC teams in the year-end rankings, four of which are in the top six. They are joined by top-ranked Florida, fourth-ranked Auburn, sixth-ranked Alabama, No. 12/14 Kentucky, No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 20/25 Arkansas.
In addition to coming in at fifth in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, the Volunteers finished fifth on KenPom.com to tie the program-best mark set in 2023-24. Tennessee also ranked fifth on Haslametrics.com, fifth on ESPN BPI, sixth on BartTorvik.com, sixth on ESPN SOR and seventh on EvanMiya.com. This is the second season in a row Tennessee placed top-seven on all those lists.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens has earned back-to-back NFCA and SEC Pitcher of the Week honors, marking the first time in program history a Lady Vol has claimed national weekly recognition in consecutive weeks.
Pickens, a junior right-hander, dominated No. 17 Mississippi State in a series win, securing two victories while allowing just six base runners over 10 innings. She recorded 10 strikeouts and threw two complete-game shutouts to improve her season record to 15-4. She opened with a four-hit shutout (6 K, 0 BB) in game one and closed out the series with a one-hitter, fanning four and walking one. Pickens now has five shutouts on the season. Her stellar performance lowered her ERA to 0.94, the best in the SEC and fourth in the nation.
This marks Pickens’ second NFCA Pitcher of the Week award and her eighth SEC weekly honor in her decorated career.
Tennessee returns to the diamond this weekend as it takes on No. 1 Texas April 11-13 in Austin.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly vandalized Lakeshore Park.
Knoxville Police and staff at Lakeshore Park say several people were caught on security video jumping the playground fence and spray painting inappropriate images and words on the slide and sidewalk last month.
KPD say the suspects are 20-year-old Victoria White and 19-year-old Austin Rogers, both of Loudon.
White and Rogers have both been charged with one count of vandalism and are scheduled to appear in court on June 3.
