By Mike Steely One of the most rustic and wondrous areas within a couple of hours drive from Knoxville can be found at Pickett CCC Memorial State Park. The CCC stands for the Civilian Conservation Corps which worked to create the park, as the Depression Era federal work project did for many of our parks. […]
By Jedidiah McKeehan Every single day, in courtrooms across America, criminal defendants are pleading guilty to crimes with which they have been charged and entering agreements to serve their sentences on probation. This is a good thing. If everyone who pleads guilty went to jail, the jails would not just be overcrowded, they would be […]
By Ralphine Major His list of accomplishments is absolutely amazing! A 40-year career at Robertshaw Fultons in Knoxville, Tennessee. In retirement, 12 years blacksmithing at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, for his good friend, John Rice Irwin, founder of the museum. A veteran of World War II. Member of Clapp’s Chapel United Methodist […]
By Rosie Moore In the book of Luke in the Bible, there a short story about a short man. His name was Zacchaeus, who was identified as a wealthy tax collector. Jews often viewed tax collectors as traitors for working for the Roman government collecting taxes from fellow Israelites, as well as frequently demanding […]
By Joe Rector Enough! It’s that simple. This country already has plenty of problems without piling on more and more. Now, this might not make anyone happy, but the truth is that all sides share some of the blame for the mess we are in. It is also true that the extremes on the left […]
By Steve Hunley American Insurrection For the first time since the American Civil War, at least as far as I know, armed secessionists have occupied American soil and territory while legal and legitimate authorities simply stand by and gawk. The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle, Washington is a 7-9 block area occupied by […]
By Ray Hill Pulaski Congressman Ross Bass had defeated Governor Frank Clement for the Democratic nomination to succeed the late Senator Estes Kefauver. Bass faced Republican Howard Baker in the general election. It was the first time Frank Clement had lost an election and his defeat had been sweeping. Congressman Bass confidently approached the general […]
By Dr. Jim Ferguson I came of age during the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. I did not burn my draft card, but I remember the Vietnam War and protests, the race riots of Watts and the assassinations of President John Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King. I suspect modern day teenagers and twenty-somethings will […]
By Mike Steely Did you know our neighbor to the east was once known as Mossy Creek? Yep, until 1901 that’s what Jefferson City was called but was renamed in honor of President Thomas Jefferson. The city has about 8,000 residents, is the home of Carson-Newman College and is located between Knoxville and Morristown along […]
By Mark Nagi Football practice can be a brutal exercise… but the COVID-19 pandemic has made all of us value normalcy. So, it’s no surprise that local coaches and players are happy to simply have the chance to get together and practice the sport they all love, in whatever form possible. Recently I had the […]
The opinions expressed by Focus columnists and those providing comments are theirs alone, and may not reflect the opinions of The Knoxville Focus or any employee thereof.