A Knox County School is on soft lockdown while Knoxville Police investigate a possible threat.
Northwest Middle school was placed on hard lockdown this (Thursday) morning as a precaution but that lockdown transitioned to a soft lockdown not long after. Officials say there is no active emergency or verified threats at Northwest Middle at this time and officers are investigating where the threat came from.
Update (10:52 a.m. 10/26/23)
I 75 South has re-opened
OriginaI: -75 South is closed at MM 60 in Monroe County due to an overturned tractor-trailer. That’s near the Sweetwater exit.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation says this is a Haz-Mat situation. Traffic is being diverted in the area.
UPDATE (10:33 a.m. 10/26/23) : All lanes of Interstate 40 East have re-opened at Mile Marker 411 but some congestion is still being reported in the area.
Original: Also, TDOT is reporting one lane of Interstate 40 East in Jefferson has reopened at mile marker 411, past the Dollywood exit.
The left two lanes and shoulder are still closed due to an earlier Multi-Vehicle Crash.
Traffic is reportedly backing up over 4 miles. Please use caution in the area.
Updated story: The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal crash in North Knox County and have identified the victim.
Officers called to West Emory Road near Holgate Lane yesterday afternoon and say 23 year-old Daniel Bell died as a result of the crash. No further details have been released.
Original story: The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal crash in North Knox County.
Officers called to West Emory Road near Holgate Lane yesterday afternoon. No details of the crash have been released.
Current Status: October 25, 2023
Bridge repair work scheduled for October 27-October 30 has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the weeks to come.
October 9, 2023
In June 2022, the Tennessee Department of Transportation began rehabilitation of the I-640 corridor between the North Broadway Interchange and the I-40 Interchange (East of downtown Knoxville). The rubbilization efforts required extensive work to remove existing asphalt pavement layers and beak the underlying concrete layers into a gravel base. Once rubbilization of the concrete was complete, crews began placing intermediate asphalt pavement layers.
During winter of 2022, several of the bridges within the project limits began to show significant potholing, which prompted further investigation of the bridge decks for potential repair. The Department added repair work to the bridges within the corridor and the contractor has been coordinating with the railroad to gain proper access and approvals that will allow them to proceed.
Due to the added scope of work and weather limitations for both paving and striping, the contract completion date has been extended to August 31, 2024. There will be a milestone completion for returning traffic to its original configuration on intermediate pavement layer prior to the end of this year’s paving season. The contractor will then return in the Spring of 2024 to complete the final surface paving and permanent striping.
Over the course of the next six weeks, the contractor will be performing bridge repair work as traffic runs in its current configuration. Once Phase 1 bridge work is complete and all intermediate pavement layers have been placed, there will be a traffic shift to allow the contractor access to the other half of the bridges. The contractor will complete Phase 2 bridge work and return traffic to its original configuration following its completion.
Intermittent weekend lane closures to allow the contractor access to I-640 bridges over Rutledge Pike are tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 20 through Sunday, October 22 and Friday, October 27 through Sunday, October 29, weather permitting. We will have more information regarding these traffic impacts in the days to come.
Construction start: July 2022
Estimated completion: August 31, 2024
History and Background
I-640 was designed and constructed in the late 1970s as an east-west loop around the city of Knoxville. Upon completion of the roadway in 1982, it linked I-40 with US 441, I-75/I-275, and other routes in the city, just in time for the World’s Fair.
Today, traffic counts along the interstate connector average between 66,000 and 87,000 vehicles per day. The existing roadway is three lanes in each direction and much of the existing road surface is in substandard condition and needs to be repaired or replaced. An extensive pavement project is needed for the six-lane facility.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Crossville man is arrested Tuesday, October 24 after exposing himself to over 70 children in Knoxville.
Knoxville Police Department officials say around 9:40 a.m. KPD officers responded to a call of indecent exposure at Calhoun’s on the River on Neyland Drive.
They say responding officers spoke with the caller, who told them she was taking 78 school children on a field trip and that some of the children and other chaperones noticed 29 year-old Zachary Walden climbing out of the river naked.
Officers arrested Walden, who yelled and cursed at them in the process; he is charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
A man on the TBI’s most wanted list for two counts of Attempted first degree murder is found dead.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say John Drake, Jr., the estranged son of Metro Nashville’s Police Chief, and the suspect in the shooting of two Middle Tennessee police officers, was found dead in Nashville last (Tuesday) night from what appears to be a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
An investigation into his death is underway and a full autopsy will be performed as part of this investigation.
An investigation is underway following an early morning deadly fire in North Knox County (Wednesday).
Rural Metro responding to reports of a possible explosion and single wide trailer fire in the 5500 Ft. Sumter Road. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office was told a woman lived there and wasn’t able to get out due to the intense fire. Crews found a person dead inside, it’s not yet known if it is the resident.
Update: Knoxville Police say a missing runaway teenage girl is found safe.
14 year-old Lena Manuel was reported missing yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon from her home on Louisiana Avenue.
Original Story: Knoxville Police are asking for your help to find a missing teenage runaway.
14 year-old Lena Manuel was reported missing yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. She was last seen at her home on Louisiana Avenue and might be wearing black Halloween-style pajamas with skulls.
If you see her, call 9-1-1. Anyone with information is asked to call East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165.
The City of Knoxville is officially cutting the ribbon on the new Public Safety Complex in North Knoxville October 25, 2023 at 4 p.m. at 1650 Huron Street.
The ceremony will include Mayor Indya Kincannon, Chief Paul Noel, and Chief Stan Sharp, the Knoxville Fire Department Honor Guard, and the Fulton High School Band.
Members of the community are invited to take part in the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, explore first responder vehicles, and take guided tours of sections of the new facility. In addition, those in attendance will learn more about possible redevelopment on other sections of the former St. Mary’s campus.
While KPD, KFD, the E911 backup system, Pension System offices and City Court operations moved into this new location over several months earlier this year, there is still some ongoing construction.
The City of ensures meaningful access to City programs, services and activities to comply with Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II laws and reasonably provides: translation, interpretation, modifications, accommodations, alternative formats, auxiliary aids and services. To request language translation services, contact the City’s Human Resources Department at [email protected] or 865-215-3100. For disability accommodations, contact City ADA Coordinator Stephanie Brewer Cook at [email protected] or 865-215-2034.
The three-year reconstruction project to transform a vacated North Knoxville hospital into the City’s Public Safety Complex will be substantially completed by the end of 2022/early 2023, with employees and operations moving in incrementally.
The Public Safety Complex consists of three repurposed former St. Mary’s Hospital office buildings between St. Mary Street and Huron Street, near Woodland Avenue, just west of Fulton High School.
The cluster of buildings will serve as a combined complex for the Police and Fire Departments, the E911 backup system, Pension System offices and City Court operations.
Additionally, the City cleared the northern end of the former hospital campus to make room for future private redevelopment – likely, new housing and green space. The private redevelopment will be anchored by the stalwart, stately and iconic 1929 Building, the original St. Mary’s Hospital, which was carefully preserved and safeguarded by the City and its contractors. By clearing the site of obsolete, unusable buildings that had for decades surrounded the 1929 Building, this marble-accented architectural gem is now free-standing and visible from all directions.
Next door, at the former Magdalen Clarke Tower, Lincoln Memorial University is privately investing $40 million and will graduate hundreds of nursing and dental students each year. A tree-lined LMU-funded quadrangle is planned, adjacent to the new City Court.
On the south side of the site, the City, Knox County and McNabb Center are partnering to convert the 25,000-square-foot former St. Mary’s Ambulatory Surgery Center into an urgent care and behavioral health facility.
By the time the Public Safety Complex opens, the City will have invested more than $70 million to consolidate key government services, prevented a vacant hospital campus from devolving into blight, and supported and enhanced with various private partners the surrounding North Knoxville neighborhoods.
Mayor Madeline Rogero announced initial plans for the Public Safety Complex in her April 27, 2018 State of the City budget address https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=11968409
