The annual City of Sevierville Bloomin’ BBQ Music & Food Festival will take place in the downtown area on May 17 and 18. To facilitate the event, several streets must be temporarily closed, and the Sevier County Courthouse will be closed on Friday, May 17.
The following streets and parking areas will close at approximately 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 16 (ALL non-event vehicles must be removed from these areas by 6:00 p.m.):
Municipal Parking Lot on Bruce Street. Bruce Street: from the Parkway to Citizens National Bank. Court Avenue: from Commerce Street to Joy Street.
The following roads will be closed as noted on Friday, May 17 (ALL non-event vehicles must be removed from these areas by the time noted):
Bruce Street: from Forks of the River Parkway to Citizens National Bank-6:00 p.m. Court Avenue: from Commerce Street to the Central Hotel-1:00 p.m. Commerce Street-1:00 p.m.
The Sevier County Courthouse will be closed Friday, May 17.
All streets and parking areas will reopen on Sunday, May 19, at approximately 11:00 a.m.
Please remember that although the streets are closing, downtown businesses may remain open. Park in a nearby event parking lot and enjoy a spring stroll to downtown businesses, restaurants and shops.
For more information on the Bloomin’ BBQ Music & Food Festival, call (865) 453-6411 or visit online at https://www.bloominbbq.com/
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1/1 Tennessee battled throughout the afternoon and eventually came out on top to earn a gritty 7-6 victory at No. 25/NR Vanderbilt on Saturday at Hawkins Field, securing its eighth straight series win in the process.
After falling behind 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, the Volunteers struck for four runs in the top of the sixth and added what proved to be another important run in the seventh before fending off a Commodores’ rally in the ninth and holding on for their ninth consecutive victory over their in-state rival.
Christian Moore continued his incredible 2024 campaign with another dazzling performance for the Big Orange, driving in five of the team’s seven runs on three hits, including a three-run homer to the opposite field on a 102-mph fastball from Vandy relief pitcher Greysen Carter in UT’s decisive four-run sixth inning.
The New York native also drove in Tennessee’s first run of the day with an infield single in the top of the third inning and had what turned out to be the game-winning hit with another RBI single with two outs in the top of the seventh. While he didn’t have any RBIs, Blake Burke also had a productive afternoon at the plate, finishing with three hits and a run scored after being held without a hit in Friday’s series opener.
Cal Stark had the only other RBI of the day for UT, driving in Dylan Dreiling with a bases-loaded bloop single into left-center field in the top of the fourth inning. The senior backstop also had a triple to finish the game with a pair of hits.
Drew Beam got the win to improve to 7-2 on the year despite giving up five runs on six hits. The junior righthander battled throughout his outing and finished with six strikeouts in a workmanlike performance.
Relievers Aaron Combs and Nate Snead where able to lock things down over the final 3.1 innings, holding the Dores to just one run on one hit in that span. Combs tossed 2.2 innings before handing the ball off the Snead with one out and the tying run on second in the bottom of the ninth.
The sophomore flamethrower got Colin Barczi to fly out to right field before inducing a groundout from Camden Kozeal to end the game and strand the tying run at second, earning his fourth save of the season in the process.
Kozeal led the Vandy attack with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer that put the Commodores ahead 3-2 in the fourth inning. Carter suffered the loss for VU after allowing four runs on three hits while recording just one out.
STAT OF THE GAME: With his sixth inning blast, Moore became the first Vol to reach the 50-homer mark for his career and also moved into sole possession of second place on UT’s single-season home runs list with 23, just one shy of Sonny Cortez’s program record of 24 set in 1998.
UP NEXT: The Vols (42-9, 19-7 SEC) will attempt to secure their third series sweep in a row over the Commodores (33-18, 11-15 SEC) when the two teams square off at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A go-ahead two-run homer from Kavares Tears kick-started a decisive five-run eighth inning for top-ranked Tennessee as it erased a late deficit to win Friday night’s series opener at No. 25/NR Vanderbilt, 8-4, at Hawkins Field in Nashville.
The Vols jumped out to a 3-1 lead through three innings and looked to be in complete control before the Commodores (33-17, 11-14 SEC) rallied in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Following two quick outs to start the inning, second baseman Camden Kozeal drew a walk to start the rally before three consecutive hits plated three two-out runs for Vandy.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Billy Amick got UT’s rally started with a leadoff single and came around to score one batter later on Tears’ 15th home run of the season to put the Big Orange back in front, 5-4.
Tennessee (41-9, 18-7 SEC) kept the train rolling as Dylan Dreiling tripled to center field and raced home on an RBI single by Hunter Ensley to add to the lead. Cannon Peebles provided the exclamation point with a two-run, pinch-hit home run into the right-field bleachers to give the Big Orange an 8-4 lead, which proved to be plenty for reliever AJ Causey, who finished off the win with back-to-back scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
Causey bounced back extremely well from that disappointing sixth inning by retiring the next nine batters and 10 of the final 11 he faced on the night to lock down his team-leading ninth victory of the year. The Alabama native finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just one walk over 6.1 innings of relief.
Chris Stamos provided another solid effort in a starting role, setting a career high with five strikeouts while allowing just one run on two hits in 2.2 innings. After allowing Vandy’s first two batters to reach in the bottom of the first inning, Stamos buckled down and retired the Commodores’ three, four and five hitters to escape the jam unscathed and keep UT’s 2-0 lead intact.
Dreiling led the charge offensively for the Vols, going 3-for-4 with two run-producing hits, both of which came with two outs. Amick and Ensley both had multi-hit efforts as well while Christian Moore started things with a bang, leading off the game with a solo home run, his 22nd of the year. Moore has now hit three leadoff long balls this season.
Vanderbilt reliever Miller Green fell to 1-4 on the year after giving up three runs on three hits in just a third of an inning after taking over for starter Bryce Cunningham, who rebounded well from a rocky start to pitch 6.2 solid innings while amassing 10 strikeouts.
Jacob Humphrey drove in three of the Dores four runs with a solo homer and a two-run single.
STAT OF THE GAME: With Friday’s victory, Tennessee ran its win streak against Vanderbilt to eight consecutive games, matching its longest winning streak against the Commodores since May 9, 1993, through May 19, 1994.
UP NEXT: The Volunteers will look to win their eighth straight SEC series when they head back to Hawkins Field on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. ET contest that will be televised on the SEC Network.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) Three Food City cash registers in the Knoxville-area were recently the targets of scammers using card skimmers.
Representatives of K-VA-T Food Stores, the grocery store’s parent company, announcing the breach Friday afternoon say the locations in Kodak, Gatlinburg, and the Mechanicsville area of Knoxville were targeted. Security found the devices and called the police, prompting an investigation.
According to K-VA-T Food Stores, only customers who swiped their cards using the magnetic strip had any data taken, and that data was limited to card numbers and pins rather than any identifying information.
Security also reportedly used surveillance cameras to identify the scammers, and they were detained when they returned to the stores to collect the data. The company provided the following statement to our news partner, WVLT:
At K-VA-T Food Stores, the privacy and security of our customers is our top priority. We have security protocols in place at each location to help us identify fraudulent activity. We recently experienced an incident that may have impacted some customer information. The incident only involved the following store locations in Tennessee: Kodak, Gatlinburg, and Mechanicsville/Knoxville.
Recently we discovered one unauthorized device on a single card reader at each of the three store locations above. We immediately removed the skimming device, contacted law enforcement, and launched an investigation. We completed a thorough examination of the 2,500+ remaining card readers throughout the company and no other fraudulent activity was found. We also increased the number of times we inspect our card readers each day.
Thanks to the great work of our Security Department which utilized our highly sophisticated video surveillance system, we identified the suspects who installed the devices. When they returned to the store to attempt to retrieve data from the device (which had already been removed), the suspects were intercepted and detained by our Security Department personnel before entering the store. The suspects were taken into custody by local law enforcement and as of the date of this notice are being held on multiple charges. Information gained in the apprehension of these suspects indicated they targeted several other retail companies in the greater Knoxville area.
Our investigation indicates the skimmers were in place for a short period of time and potentially affected 146 transactions. It appears that the devices were only capable of collecting card number and pin number (if used) from magnetic swiped card transactions. No names appear to have been collected. Card transactions involving tap or chip reader technology (inserting your card) were not impacted, nor were any of our self-checkout areas or transactions. None of our other systems were impacted as a result of this incident.
We have notified individuals who may have been affected and for which we had contact information. However, customers who shopped the Food City location in Gatlinburg, TN or the Mechanicsville store on Western Avenue in Knoxville, TN between April 9th and April 14th; or who shopped the Food City in Kodak, TN between April 9th and April 17th and swiped a magnetic striped card through the card reader are encouraged to remain vigilant by reviewing bank and credit card account statements and monitoring credit reports. Card transactions utilizing the tap or chip reader technology (inserting your card) were not impacted, nor were any self-checkout transactions. – K-VA-T Food Stores
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for help to identify a body found earlier this month at Norris Lake.
TBI officials say the body of a man was found in the Grainger County section of Norris Lake on Saturday, May 4.
The man is believed to be between 40 and 50 years old and around 5′8″ tall. TBI says he was wearing blue and black plaid pajama pants, white socks, two Figaro chain necklaces and a black and grey Timex watch when he was found by investigators.
Officials do not know how long the body had been at the lake.
If you have any information, please call 1-800-TBI FIND.
Sevierville, TN (WOKI) The suspect at the center of a police chase Thursday in Sevier County is identified.
Officials with the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office say Jonathan Sims was wanted by the Gatlinburg Police Department for aggravated assault and was in a stolen car when he fled from police who attempted to perform a traffic stop.
Sims crashed into a Sevierville Police Department Patrol car before being apprehended in a field.
No officers were injured, and Sims faces 27 charges in the incident.
Officials in Monroe County have issued a boil water notice this morning after a suspected large line break.
Water pressure is down across the county with bacteria contamination possible.
Until further notice, water customers are advised to boil water prior to using it for drinking or food preparation.
Also, Monroe County Schools say that Tellico Plains High School, elementary school and junior high school will be including bottled water on their lunch menus.
For the first time since, 2005, NOAA has issued a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch over the northern half of the U.S.
The storm could even bring aurora borealis, or northern lights, to East Tennessee skies.
G4 storms are the second-strongest type of geomagnetic storm. According to NOAA they can ““trip out key assets from the grid,” meaning possible widespread voltage problems.
National Weather Service are hoping we’ll get to see this and say the possibility of lights comes Saturday night.
As for Saturday’s weather, the skies in East Tennessee look clear.
Leading Tennessee to a 40-9 record and its second straight SEC regular season crown, Weekly garnered 2024 SEC Coach of the Year honors. It is the second year in a row that Weekly has been named coach of the year and is her fourth time being tabbed as the award winner.
After a dominating season in the circle, sophomore Karlyn Pickens was voted as SEC Pitcher of the Year – joining Monica Abbott as the only Lady Vols to win the award.
With only conference stats considered, Pickens finished SEC play with a 9-3 record, six complete games, four shutouts and a save. The flamethrower notched 94 strikeouts over 86.2 innings of work and held opposing hitters to a .181 batting average.
The Weaverville, North Carolina, native closed league play with a 1.70 ERA.
Since 1997, UT has collected 85 total All-SEC accolades from 47 student-athletes.
Voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches, the All-SEC Teams consist of 21 student-athletes on the First Team, 21 student-athletes on the Second Team and a nine-member All-Defensive Team. No ties were broken in the selection process.
McKenna Gibson • 3B • Jr. • Santa Clarita, Calif. Named All-SEC First Team in consecutive seasons, Gibson has been a steady performer for Tennessee. Hitting .291 with a .506 and .345 slugging and on-base percentage, the third baseman has five doubles, four home runs and 19 RBIs in SEC play this season.
Payton Gottshall • P • Gr. • Massillon, Ohio One of the best pitchers in the nation, Gottshall holds a 1.41 ERA in conference play with a 9-2 record. The right-hander tossed four complete games and two shutouts with 68 strikeouts over 69.1 innings pitched. She held opposing hitters to a .147 batting average. Gottshall is a first-time All-SEC team member.
Taylor Pannell • OF • R-Fr. • Milan, Ill. The redshirt freshman led Tennessee in conference play this season with a .342 batting average, six home runs and finished second on the squad with 18 runs batted in. Pannell slugged .589 with a .360 on-base percentage. This marks Pannell’s first appearance on the All-SEC team.
Karlyn Pickens • P • So. • Weaverville, N.C. The other half of Tennessee’s one-two punch in the circle, Pickens was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year after a stellar sophomore season. Pickens earned All-SEC First Team honors for the first time in 2024 after earning second-team accolades in 2023.
Rylie West • OF • Sr. • Eastvale, Calif. A senior outfielder, West slashed .308/.538/.356 in league play as she garnered All-SEC First Team accolades for the first time in her career. Playing in 21 games, West scored 13 runs, clubbed four home runs and drove in 11 runs in her final season on Rocky Top.
Kiki Milloy • OF • Gr. • Woodinville, Wash. For the fourth time in her career, Milloy has earned All-SEC honors. A second-team member, the graduate hit .284, scored a team-high 20 runs with four doubles and three home runs. Milloy also stole a team-best seven bases during conference play.
Sophia Nugent • C • Jr. • Seal Beach, Calif. A first-year Lady Vol, Nugent was tabbed All-SEC Second Team after hitting .277 with 10 runs, four doubles, five home runs and 14 RBIs. The junior was solid behind the plate with 118 putouts and three assists.
Zaida Puni • DP • Sr. • Carson, Calif. The senior split time at first base and being the designated player in 2024 – earning All-SEC honors for the third time. Puni knocked five home runs during the conference season with 17 RBIs – slugging .507 with a .425 on-base percentage.
AUBURN, Ala. – It was another pitcher’s duel between No. 2 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Softball Tournament, with the Tigers emerging with a 2-1 win.
Tennessee (40-10) managed five hits – all singles – off LSU starter Kelley Lynch.
LSU (40-14) pushed across one run in the first off the bat of Ali Newland – knocking an RBI single through the middle of the diamond. Newland finished the night 2-for-3.
In the fifth, the Tigers scratched across their second run of the game on a Taylor Pleasants RBI single to center.
Lynch pitched 4.2 innings for LSU, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander was lifted in the fifth for Sydney Berzon. Lynch earned the win – her eighth of the season.
Berzon closed out the quarterfinal, pitching 2.1 frames with one hit and three strikeouts and picking up her fourth save.
Karlyn Pickens started in the circle for Tennessee, tossing 3.1 before being lifted for Payton Gottshall with one away in the fourth. She returned to the circle in the sixth inning, finishing the night.
Her final line was five innings pitched with one run allowed on four hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Pickens suffered the loss – her sixth in 2024.
Gottshall threw two innings in relief, giving up one run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
UP NEXT Tennessee will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday, May 12 when the 64-team bracket is revealed at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
