By Steve Williams The Battle in Rocky Top youth football tournament turned 15 years old this season and “it’s really grown,” said Josh Jones, who started the tourney in 2006. Jones, a former longtime local youth coach who now is the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Powell High, went on to call it […]
By Ray Hill In the twentieth century, only four nominees to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States have been rejected; all were the nominees of a Republican president and three of the four were rejected by Democrats, who controlled the United States Senate. John J. Parker, was the first nominee to […]
By Steve Williams Local high school teams and student-athletes were ready and eager to help during the holidays this year like they normally do, but with the pandemic, this hasn’t been a normal year. Therefore, their community service wasn’t needed as some annual holiday events were canceled or they were not allowed to assist […]
By Tom Mattingly On October 27, 1928, Maj. Bob Neyland was in the midst of his first tenure as Volunteer head coach. The Vols had defeated Alabama the week before in Tuscaloosa, 15-13, led by Gene McEver’s 98-yard return of the opening kickoff. Neyland’s charges were 4-0, having defeated Maryville, Centre, and Ole Miss, before […]
County Offices Closed Thursday, Friday Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs plans to share a holiday message at 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 25. The message will be posted Mayor and County’s social media accounts. Please note, COVID-19 testing at the Knox County Health Department will close at noon today (Wednesday, Dec. 23) and the […]
Christmas Community Day serves 128 families First Farragut United Methodist Church, 12733 Kingston Pike, hosted its 13th Christmas Community Day (CCD) event on Sunday, December 6. The event served 128 families, a total of 607 individuals from Loudon, Knox, Roane, Monroe and Sevier counties. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event took place outside the church […]
By Steve Hunley The Knoxville City Council may very well have taken the first step to raising taxes next year. There were two actions in particular that can be considered big ticket items approved by the city council. Vice Mayor Gwen McKenzie put her city council colleagues on the spot and they all dutifully voted […]
By Steve Williams Bearden High’s boys basketball team had a 10-1 record when it found out athletics would be shut down by the Knox County School system the week before winter break. The layoff, which included games and practice, prevented the Bulldogs from making a trip to Middle Tennessee during the holidays (Dec. 17-19) and […]
By Ray Hill Edward Terry Sanford, an Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, had set out for a routine visit to his dentist’s office on the morning of March 8, 1930. Within a few hours, Justice Sanford was dead. President Herbert Hoover nominated Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals judge John J. Parker of […]
By Steve Williams The Focus / Coaches’ 2020 All-Knox County first-team defense carries a lot of clout. Player of the Year Kalib Fortner heads it up from his outside linebacker position. Farragut Coach Eddie Courtney said he did not see all of the Knox County teams in action this season, but “I did see the […]