Walmart coming to Schaad Road
By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com Development was expected following the four-lane expansion of Schaad Road from Oak Ridge Highway to Middlebrook Pike. What some…
Eleanor Roosevelt at the UN
By Ray Hill Eleanor Roosevelt was no ordinary First Lady. Separated from her husband, at least emotionally if not literally, by past mistakes, Mrs. Roosevelt set out to recreate…
The Knoxville Focus for April 20, 2026
Sheriff Tom Spangler Endorses David Amburn for Knox County Sheriff By Steve Hunley, Publisher publisher@knoxfocus.com In a significant move for Knox County’s law enforcement…
FARRAGUT MUSEUM PRODUCES TWO KIDS’ SCAVENGER HUNTS
The Farragut Museum has produced two scavenger hunts for kids to learn local history. The first one, titled “If the Trees Could Talk,” takes families throughout the Town of…
Trees Knoxville Hosts Annual Tree Fest 2026 at Baker Creek Preserve
~ from Trees Knoxville Trees Knoxville invites the community to celebrate our community forest at its annual Tree Fest on Friday, April 24, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Baker Creek…
Smoky Region Top Chef Challenge Delivers Big Flavors in East Tennessee
Regional winner advances to finals after live culinary showdown ~ from Morning Pointe Senior Living The Smoky Region of East Tennessee has spoken, and after an evening of…
EKBPA holding forum for District 1 BOE candidates tomorrow
The East Knoxville Business & Professional Association is proud to host a District 1 Board of Education Candidate Forum. This is a great opportunity to come hear directly from the…
Democrat-Socialists: The Enemy Of Affordability
By Steve Hunley Democrat-Socialists talk about affordability, but actions, as always, speak louder than words. With perhaps as much as $10 billion in taxpayer money lost to fraud…
Knox County RFC Releases 2025 Drug-Related Death Report
~ from the Knox County Regional Forensic Center On Monday, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center released its 2025 Drug-Related Death Report, a 23-page record that details the…
East Tennessee Historical Society to host talk on “Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History” with author Kristina Gaddy
~ from East Tennessee History Center WHEN: April 15, 2026 @ 5:30 p.m. WHERE: East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902 As a compliment to the East…
Muse Knoxville Celebrates Annual Luncheon, Honors Awardees, and Shares Growth Plans
Muse Knoxville celebrated its 13th annual Muse for All Luncheon on Tuesday, April 7, at the Jacob Building. Presented by First Horizon Foundation and Tennessee Valley Authority,…
The Gentleman From Georgia: E. E. ‘Gene’ Cox
By Ray Hill Edward Eugene Cox represented Georgia’s Second Congressional District for more than 25 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In time, Cox would become one of the…
The Knoxville Focus for April 13, 2026
Early voting starts Wednesday By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com There are about 263,918 registered voters in Knox County’s nine districts and some 18 offices on…
Getting to know Steven Goodpaster
By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com If you don’t know Steven M. Goodpaster of Powell, you’ll hear about him. The Sevier County native is an emerging Knox County…
Fire and Technical Rescue Committee elects new officers
By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com The Knox County Fire and Technical Rescue Committee discussed creating a long-term plan and elected officers last Wednesday.…
Halls Republican Club meets Tuesday
~ from the Halls Republican Club The Halls Republican Club will meet on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at the Boys and Girls Club, 1819 Dry Gap Pike, 37918, just off East Emory Rd. As…
Start Your Garden with Saturday’s Spectacular Spring Plant Sale
Saturday, April 11, at UT Gardens, Knoxville Fill your garden with exceptional plants from the University of Tennessee Gardens’ Spectacular Spring Plant Sale. Thousands of…
This Changes Everything
By Justin Pratt, Clear Springs Baptist Church Senior Pastor We are now past Easter. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ all stand as the single most important event…
Spring is Fantastic!
By Joe Rector For the most part, winter seems to have bid us farewell. Yes, around here, half a dozen “special winters” are still to come, but the temperatures are beginning to…
KCS Seeks Outstanding Employees At Annual Recruitment Fair
~ from Knox County Schools On Saturday, April 11, Knox County Schools will host a Recruitment Fair for prospective employees. The event will feature principals from across Knox…
Thoughts on retiring numbers
By Tom Mattingly There are times that someone posts something on the internet that just cries out for historic perspective. One thing is certain. You talk about “retiring…
The King
A Spiritual perspective makes life better now and there is the hope of then. James V. Ferguson, MD, FACP By Dr. Jim Ferguson Here we go again. The fools are marching and…
One Month to Go: The Outlandish Adventure Festival on May 1 & 2, 2026!
~ from Ijams Nature Center With less than one month until the Outlandish Adventure Festival kicks off, adventure seekers, families, and nature fans should plan ahead for this…
Game-changing defensive plays over the years
By Tom Mattingly Here’s the question for today. If “The Stop” against LSU in 1959 is the greatest defensive play in Tennessee history, what play comes in second? Here’s one man’s…
Reflections in the Dark: The Power of Borrowed Brilliance
By Justin Pratt, Clear Springs Baptist Church Senior Pastor It hangs there every night; silent, massive and impossibly distant. Almost 240,000 miles away, the moon drifts in…
Unusual places to visit
A Day Away By Mike Steely I’ve been thinking recently of the many places my wife and I have visited that have left a memory. I had a position for several years that required me to…
New Exhibitions Open at The Emporium on May 1
The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present three new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville opening on Friday, May 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering…
Just War
War is hell. War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman By Dr. Jim Ferguson I am…
Legal and public notices for the week of April 13, 2026
FORECLOSURE NOTICES NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE WHEREAS, default has occurred in the performance of the covenants, terms, and conditions of a Deed of Trust Note dated 10/11/2023, and…
“Be Ready to Welcome Home our Hummingbirds,” a Zoom Presentation by the UT Arboretum Society on Thursday, April 9 at 7pm
~ from the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society After flying thousands of miles, the hummingbirds are almost home. It is hard not to be excited knowing that our hummingbirds…
The Old Days with Stitches
By Joe Rector I ran across a new comedian on YouTube. His schtick covered games children played years ago. That fired my memories about those things that we used to do for fun or…
After scoreless tie, Rebels win shootout at Farragut
By Ken Lay A District 4-3A soccer match couldn’t be decided in 80 minutes of regulation play and 20 more minutes of golden-goal overtime Thursday night. So, when the final whistle…
A War Of Choice, Not Necessity
By John J. Duncan Jr. On March 23, CBS News published a national poll saying that two-thirds of the American people felt the Iran War was a war of choice rather than one of…
Seventeen Scholar-Athletes from Knox County honored
By Steve Williams Seventeen area high school seniors, who excelled in academics and varsity sports in 2025-26, received the annual Johnny Mauer Award Friday at the Bearden Banquet…
Trying Times for Lady Vols
By Mark Nagi What in the name of Abby Conklin is going on here? The Tennessee Lady Vols, one of the most revered and history-making programs in all of women’s basketball, has seen…
Lady Falcons eye trip to first real state tourney
By Steve Williams Fulton looks like it’s on the path to Murfreesboro again, but this time to a real TSSAA state tournament in girls flag football. Last year’s state play wasn’t…
Did You Know Knoxville Once Had A Pro Football Team?
By John J. Duncan Jr. The week before last, I told the story of how I became a batboy and how Earl Weaver became a manager for the Knoxville Smokies. Weaver went on to become a…
West High now competing in boys volleyball
By Ken Lay As the weather warms in East Tennessee, athletes usually head outside to compete in baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, track and field and flag football. High school…