KNOXVILLE, TN (Story courtesy of WVLT) – Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie says she is planning to motion to delay a city council vote on the sale of part of Chilhowee Park to Emerald Youth next week.
The City of Knoxville says Councilwoman McKenzie intends to do this during the city council meeting on Sept. 2. She says this move will give her and her colleagues more time to listen to the community’s questions, suggestions and concerns about the sale.
She intends to postpone the vote for another two weeks.
Around mid-August, the city announced it was thinking about selling a part of Chilhowee Park to the Emerald Youth Foundation for it to potentially become an athletic complex.
However, the plan was not met with support from some community members who say they were frustrated about the city’s transparency about the sale. They also said they believed there were better ideas of what to do with that area of the park, such as more greenspaces, adding historic signage to honor the park’s legacy and other amenities.
Due to these concerns, Knoxville City Council members voted to delay the sale on August 19th so they could have more conversations with the public.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White announced Thursday afternoon the signing of a lifetime contract for head men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, live on the Mike Keith Show.
The most accomplished leader in the history of Tennessee men’s basketball, Barnes owns a dazzling 232-109 (.664) record in 10 years on Rocky Top, including a 112-67 (.626) mark in SEC play. He has led the team to six 25-win seasons, four Sweet 16 trips, four top-10 finishes, three SEC championships and two Elite Eight berths.
“Rick has taken our program to unprecedented heights, and we are absolutely thrilled to have him continue coaching on Rocky Top for the rest of his career,” White said. “He has constructed this program the right way, achieving elite-level success on the court while also ensuring that all our players excel off the court.”
The active Division I wins leader with 836 victories across his 38 illustrious seasons as a head coach, Barnes is a six-time conference coach of the year, including garnering SEC plaudits in 2017-18. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ballot in both 2024 and 2025, Barnes was both the Naismith Coach of the Year and USBWA Coach of the Year in 2018-19.
Barnes has elevated the Tennessee program to unforeseen heights during his tenure on Rocky Top. The Volunteers have played in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, good for the fourth-longest active NCAA-recognized streak in the country. They are one of only two teams to reach each of the last three Sweet 16s and the past two Elite Eights.
Over the last eight years, since 2017-18, Tennessee owns 201 wins to rank seventh in Division I and first in the SEC. Barnes’ team leads the league with 98 conference triumphs during that time.
Tennessee has an SEC-best 109 victories in the last four years and has been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 the entire time, earning 80 consecutive nods. That is the second-longest active streak in the nation and it features 50 top-10 placements, including 24 in the top five and five at No. 1 overall. In total, the Volunteers own 134 AP rankings in Barnes’ tenure, with 76 in the top 10, 38 in the top five and nine atop the list.
“I am incredibly thankful God brought me to the University of Tennessee 10-and-a-half years ago. It is an honor and a blessing to serve as the head basketball coach here,” Barnes said. “I have had the chance to meet so many wonderful people, both on and off campus, who have impacted my life. The Knoxville community means so much not just to me, but to my entire family.
“I am beyond grateful to Randy Boyd, Donde Plowman and Danny White for their continued belief in our program,” Barnes continued. “Tennessee basketball would not be where it is today without the consistent efforts of so many players, coaches and staff members whom I am forever indebted to. Their relentless dedication and the unrivaled support of Vol Nation are truly why we have been so successful.”
The last two seasons alone, Tennessee is 57-17 (.770) overall, including 26-10 (.722) in league action. In 2022-23, the Volunteers reached the Elite Eight and won an SEC title in the same campaign for the first time. In 2024-25, they reached the Elite Eight and amassed 30 victories in the same year for the first time. Barnes led the team to a fifth-place finish in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom rankings after both seasons, setting or tying program bests in each category.
Barnes, who earned the 2025 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Pat Summitt Lifetime Achievement Award, has helped the Volunteers create one of the best atmospheres in the sport. Tennessee has finished top-five nationally in average attendance each of the last six full-capacity seasons, with a mark over 18,200 in each of them.
Most recently, in 2024-25, Tennessee finished third in the country, a program best, by averaging 20,026 fans per game at Food City Center. The 2025-26 season is already sold out, marking the third straight campaign Tennessee has achieved that feat.
Barnes’ teams on Rocky Top have also thrived in the classroom. In seven of the past eight years, Tennessee has recorded a perfect 1,000 single-year APR score. It is also the only program in the SEC to earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award each of the last four seasons.
In 2024-25, all 14 Tennessee players made either the SEC Winter Honor Roll or the SEC First-Year Honor Roll. The team set a program overall record with a 3.54 GPA and a semester record with a 3.59 mark in the spring.
Barnes and the Volunteers open the 2025-26 season with a sold-out Oct. 26 exhibition game against Duke at Food City Center. They begin the regular season with a Nov. 3 home matchup against Mercer.
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. – Coming off its second trip to the national semifinals at the Women’s College World Series in the past three seasons, Tennessee softball is set to return to the diamond with its 2025 fall schedule.
The Lady Vols are slated to play eight games, including six at home and a road doubleheader. Admission is free for all fall contests at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. Gates will open one hour prior to first pitch. Restrooms will be open, but concessions will not be available for fall softball games.
UT opens fall play Sept. 27 against Roane State. The Big Orange then hosts Carson-Newman on Oct. 3 and East Tennessee State on Oct. 4. Lee University visits Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Oct. 10 to wrap up the homestand.
Tennessee makes its lone road trip of the fall on Oct. 18, traveling to Atlanta for a doubleheader against Georgia Tech.
The Lady Vols close out the schedule at home, hosting Tusculum on Oct. 22 and Tennessee Tech on Oct. 25.
Tennessee returns two-time consensus first-team All-American and two-time SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens for her final season on Rocky Top, along with 14 members of last year’s squad. The program also welcomes nine newcomers, including three transfers and six freshmen.
UT’s full fall schedule can be viewed below. Dates and times are subject to change. All times are in Eastern.
Morgan County, TN (WOKI) There’s now a new resource for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in East Tennessee.
Domestic violence can happen to anyone, anywhere and people sometimes don’t know where to go.
Avalon Center Director of Client Services Lacie Norris wants to reach more people in rural communities and recently launched the Care Cabinets Program.
These cabinets are placed in public places in several counties including Cumberland and Morgan.
Norris says inside are free supplies and resources, including feminine products, contact information for the center and an emergency blanket.
The director of the Wartburg Public Library partnered with the Avalon Center to have a care cabinet to spread awareness in the community.
You can donate items for these care cabinets. Instructions on how to donate are provided on their Facebook page.
Cabinets will rotate around Rhea, Cumberland, Bledsoe, Fentress, Van Buren and Morgan Counties. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Knoxville, TN (WVLT) The Knox County Commission passed an honorary resolution on Monday recognizing the Knox County Sheriff’s Office’s partnership with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
KCSO participates in the 287(g) program, which offers federal dollars in exchange for helping ICE enforce U.S. immigration laws. Knox County has participated in the program since 2017, but its commitment has received more attention recently because of an increase in immigration detainees in the county over the past year.
KCSO booked nearly 400 immigration detainees in April alone, a huge jump from about 60 last October. The increase is one of the reasons Commissioner Andy Fox detailed in the resolution he felt should be recognized.
The resolution also says, “the Commission urges continued collaboration between the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, ICE and other federal and state agencies to uphold public safety and enforce immigration laws.”
“I hope that the Sheriff’s Department continues to be involved in this program,” Fox said at the meeting on Monday. “In fact, I hope this program gets expanded.”
The resolution also applauds the work of deputies. Commissioner Angela Russell said that was a reason she supported the measure.
“This isn’t a matter of us choosing what we want done,” Russell said. “This is a matter of, ‘Do we support the poor boys? Like in Vietnam? Who are having to go and do this job?”
Three commissioners voted against the resolution. Commissioner Courtney Durrett, who voted no, said Sheriff Tom Spangler asked on ‘several occasions’ for the resolution to be removed.
“Sheriff Spangler didn’t see it as necessary or helpful and communicated that to Commissioner Fox. The resolution has no bearing on the men and women doing their jobs. Sheriff will continue cooperation with ICE under the 287(g) MOU,” a representative with KCSO said in a statement.
Commissioner Damon Rawls brought up concerns about the strain of the contract on local resources.
“It talks about the rising number of detainees as this mark of success, but for those numbers, those numbers carry a cost,” Rawls said. “They carry a cost to our detention facility. They carry a cost to the sheriff’s executing that programmatic cost.”
A WVLT Investigation found ICE pays the county a fee each day they house an inmate, but the fee doesn’t cover the full cost. From October 2024 to April 2025, the county paid more than $150,000 to house ICE inmates.
At the time of that investigation, a representative with KCSO said Sheriff Tom Spangler had no plans to discontinue the contract.
A representative with KCSO said Sheriff Spangler didn’t see the resolution as ‘necessary or helpful.’ (Courtesy: WVLT)
Morristown, TN (WOKI) A Morristown West High School teacher is accused of making unlawful sexual contact with a teenager.
According to Hamblen County Court documents, teacher Dennis G. Cupp is accused of using a ruler to make unlawful sexual contact with a 16-year-old female back on May 21.
According to a warrant, Cupp admitted to the act during a voluntary interview Wednesday, August 27. He is charged with sexual battery by an authority figure.
Hamblen County Schools officials say, upon receipt of the allegation against Cupp, he was suspended immediately pending investigation and removed from the classroom. An internal investigation has also been launched.
Cupp’s bond was set at $100,00, and he was arraigned in Hamblen County Criminal Court on Thursday, August 28.
Cupp was arrested on Wednesday by the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office. (Courtesy: HCSO)
Be sure to check out “The Short Game” in Theaters August 29th!
Jeremy Avery is vying for a college golf scholarship awarded to the State Championship winner. But caring for his autistic brother Ethan – while competing against a rival who will do anything to win – forces him to reconsider his priorities and discover his brother’s savant-like gifts. Now he must choose between realizing his dreams or standing by his brother. The Short Game – in theaters August 29th. Rated PG.
A lawsuit has been filed against Kiddie Korner day care in Clinton by parents who say their child was injured while at the daycare.
The parents were told their child had a “minor” incident at Kiddie Korner when she rolled over during nap time and fell face first on the floor.
The parents say the child had physical injuries, including visible marks, that would have come from some sort of abuse.
A Kiddie Korner employee reported the incident to the Department of Children’s Services and “an investigation was conducted and it was determined the child had been aggressively slammed to the ground by Micayla Wald.
DCS cited Kiddie Korner for violating State of Tennessee rules and regulations that prohibit inappropriate discipline to children.
The lawsuit requests a jury trial, and the parents are seeking a monetary judgement.
