The City of Knoxville says crews would be beginning the final phase of renovations for Cradle of Country Music Park this fall.
The park is located at Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive near the Arts District. It’s a half-acre green space in the center of downtown that will soon be getting a large piece of public art and several new mature trees.
The sculpture was designed by a New York studio and marks a more than $1 million investment for the space between the art and the landscaping.
This park pays tribute to Knoxville’s role in shaping country music and soon will be able to host music and small concerts under the trees and is expected to reopen in full late fall.
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s (TDOSHS) is issuing free replacement identification licenses and driver licenses to citizens directly impacted by the East Tennessee floods at the Elizabethton Driver Services Center, Unicoi Police Department and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s (TEMA) three Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs).
Driver Services are available at the MARCs located at 466 Learning Road (or Learning Way) in Newport; 1749 HWY 19E in Elizabethton and 306 Forest Drive in Jonesborough. At the MARCs, individuals affected by Hurricane Helene can also access available resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal, state and regional partners. The MARCs are open Monday through Saturday from7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.
The TDOSHS Driver Services mobile unit is at the Elizabethton Driver Services Center, 1741 Hwy 19E Bypass, while the center is temporarily closed due to the storm. In addition to the free duplicate licenses for flood victims, any Tennessean can complete a road skills and vision test, obtain a regular driver license, commercial driver license, REAL ID, photo ID, or update, replace, or renew their driver license at the mobile unit. The mobile unit is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT and can only accept payment by credit or debit card.
The TDOSHS temporary location at the Unicoi Police Department, 3600 Unicoi Drive, provides Driver Services including free duplicate licenses to flood victims. This location is not serving the general public. The Unicoi Police Department temporary location is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT and can only accept payment by credit or debit card.
Due to storm damage, Driver Services are currently unavailable at the Greene County and Cocke County Clerk’s offices.
Citizens may also be able to complete many Driver Service transactions online. Visit tn.gov/safety/driver-services/online.html to learn more about the TDOSHS’s online services.
Three people are in custody after a shooting in Greene County.
Deputies with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office were called to the 7000 block of Old Stage Road for a burglary call on Friday.
Not long after the initial call, a woman called from the home saying she had been shot twice. When deputies got inside, they reportedly found a 24-year-old who had been shot in the hand and back, she is in stable condition.
GCSO says 23 year-old Mikaila Chapman-Delotto, 20 year-old Stephen Turner and 29 year-old Trevonde Conner are in custody.
Chapman-Delotto and Turner are facing charges for especially aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, theft and criminal responsibility for attempted first degree murder.
Conner is facing charges for attempted first degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and theft.
Knoxville Police Department detectives are investigating a shooting and robbery that happened late Wednesday night at a West Knoxville bar.
At around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, KPD officers responded to the BucketHead Tavern on Ray Mears Boulevard.
Officers arrived on scene, where man had been shot multiple times in the parking lot. The victim, a 61-year-old man from Florida, was transported to the UT Medical Center for treatment for injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening.
Detectives learned that the victim exited the bar and was confronted at gunpoint by at least two currently unidentified suspects. The victim was shot, and the suspects left the scene in the victim’s car, a red Cadillac XT6.
The victim’s vehicle was found abandoned this morning on Atlantic Avenue. Efforts remain ongoing to identify the suspects.
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is encouraged to contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 865-215-7165.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Detroit man is facing drug charges after multiple Knoxville-area agencies executed a search warrant Tuesday on an Oldham Avenue home.
Officials with the Knoxville Police Department say 57-year-old Sean Johnson was taken into custody and charged with maintaining a dwelling for drug purposes and manufacture/sale/delivery of schedule I, II and VI narcotics.
KPD says authorities found more than 30 grams of cocaine, a gram of heroin, two marijuana plants and over $17,000 in cash.
Additionally, a 43-year-old woman at the home was taken into custody for an unrelated charge.
According to KPD Communication Manager Scott Erland, KPD Organized Crime Unit detectives and members of the Drug-Related Death Task, which included KPD, Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation personnel searched the house at 900 W. Oldham Avenue.
Erland says the search warrant originated from an investigation into a series of suspected overdose deaths that occurred in and around the Lonsdale area in 2023.
A Detroit man is facing drug charges after multiple Knoxville-area agencies executed a search warrant on an Oldham Avenue home. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Knoxville Police Department detectives are seeking information regarding a vehicle allegedly involved in a shooting Sunday on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
KPD says shots were fired around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 13 from what appears in surveillance footage to be a GMC Yukon, at another car in the area of Lakeside Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
A 41-year-old man who was outside of his home at the time of the shooting was struck in the leg by the gunfire.
Anyone with information is urged to contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Knoxville police release pictures of suspect’s car after man shot in leg. (Courtesy: KPD)
Sevier County, TN (WOKI) A Knoxville man is arrested for child sex crimes following a sting operation in Sevier County.
Officials with the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office say an internet crimes against children investigator with the office, posing as a 13-year-old, chatted online with the man. During the investigation, investigators reportedly identified the man as 34-year-old Howard Rupprecht.
SCSO says Rupprecht went to Seymour to meet with the “teen” for a “sexual encounter.” Instead, deputies took him into custody.
Rupprecht was booked into the Sevier County jail on a $2,500 bond and has been charged with solicitation of a minor.
(Knoxville, TN WOKI) Early voting begins today (Wednesday) in this year’s Presidential and Federal / State General election.
It runs through October 31st and in addition to President, Knox County voters will cast their ballot in Tennessee House of Representative races, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives races and there are some other items for consideration.
Knox County Election Commission officials say they are expecting a large voter turn out for this election so you could expect long lines. There will be twelve early voting locations which includes two brand new locations and two Saturdays available to cast your ballot in the 2024 Presidential and Federal / State Elections.
If you’d like participate in early voting, please go to https://www.knoxcounty.org/election/ to view times and a sample ballot or to get more information.
Election Day is November 5th and the last day to request an absentee ballot is October 29th.
Here are your early voting locations in Knox County:
An investigation is underway following a crash that left one person dead and injures another in Cocke County.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol says 70-year-old Barbara Williamson was driving north on Highway 321, commonly known as Cosby Highway, Monday afternoon and failed to stay in her lane while driving around a curve in the 2700 block of the Highway and hit a pick-up truck head-on, killing that driver.
Williamson was injured, the extent of her injuries have not been released.
Charges against Williamson are pending the outcome of the investigation.
