A number of East Tennessee bridges are listed in poor condition.
With all eyes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, the status and safety of bridges across the country is now under the microscope.
WVLT counted 51 bridges across East Tennessee that are listed in poor condition, with a number of them being along Interstates 40, 75, 275, and 81. The Baxter and Heiskell Avenue bridges on I 275 built in 1959 are on that poor bridge report from 2020.
The federal government used to use “structurally deficient” in its ratings, but TDOT uses good, fair and poor and officials say the bridge is still safe even in that condition. It just means that one part of the bridge may need attention. TDOT says they will not allow any bridge or road to be open if it presents a danger to the motoring public.
Maryville, TN (WOKI) The Blount County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help finding a missing woman.
BCSO officials say 56-year-old Barbara Ann Clarke, of Walland, was reported missing on Saturday, March 23 after her family and neighbors had not seen or spoken to her since early that morning.
Clarke is described as 5′11″ tall and 235 pounds with blue eyes and blonde hair. BCSO says she may be driving a 2020 silver Toyota Tacoma with a Tennessee specialty plate with registration 152SD.
BCSO adds that Clarke lives with a medical disorder that may impair her ability to return safely without assistance and that her service dog was left behind at her residence.
Anyone who has spoken to Clarke or knows her location is asked to call Blount County Criminal Investigations at 865-273-5001 during normal business hours, provide an anonymous message on the Crime Hotline at 865-273-5200 or leave a tip on the Text-a-Tip link, which can be found here by clicking on “Public Information.”
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Charges are pending against the driver and an investigation is launched following a deadly-single car crash Sunday near Chapman Highway.
Knox County Sheriff’s Office officials say the crash happened at 231 Tipton Station Road. They say the driver was heading eastbound when they lost control of the vehicle, crashing into a utility pole and striking a tree before coming to rest in the westbound lane.
The driver was pinned underneath the car and was extricated by first responders. A rear passenger, 23-year-old Skyler E. Myers of Mascot, was found lying behind the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials say of the four people in the car, none were wearing seatbelts.
Charges are pending against the driver- who was transported to UTMC with unknown injuries. The crash is under investigation by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit.
Gatlinburg, TN (WOKI) Most roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are closed Tuesday following an overnight high wind event.
Park officials say wind gusts peaked at 85 mph in the park during the early morning hours Tuesday causing downed trees across roads and trails. They add that crews are working to clear them and will open roads when it is safe to do so.
Cades Cove campground following a high wind event overnight Monday. (Courtesy: GSMNP)
As of noon Tuesday, the following roads were closed:
Gatlinburg Bypass
Newfound Gap Road (US 441) between Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC
Little River Road
Laurel Creek Road
Cherokee Orchard Road at the park boundary
Greenbrier Road at the ranger station
Tremont Road
Foothills Parkway new section
Foothills Parkway between Look Rock and US 129
Wears Gap Road
Sugarlands and Oconaluftee visitor centers are open. Visitors coming to the park Tuesday are encouraged to stop in a visitor center for updates on current conditions. Updates will be posted on the park’s website and social media.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) An investigation is underway following a house fire in north Knoxville Tuesday morning.
Knoxville Fire Department crews were called to the fire on Crest Park Road after the home owner called and said she returned home to find black smoke coming from the front door.
Two adults and a dog lived in the home, and a woman was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
The home has suffered heavy fire, smoke, and water damage.
(Courtesy: KFD)
The American Red Cross is assisting the occupants.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Dalton Knecht of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is a finalist for the prestigious Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Award, as announced Tuesday afternoon by the Atlanta Tipoff Club/Naismith Awards.
Joining Knecht on the elite list are North Carolina’s R.J. Davis, Purdue’s Zach Edey and Houston’s Jamal Shead. They were the only four players in the country to earn First Team All-America status from all four major outlets used to determine consensus status.
“These players’ remarkable talent and unwavering commitment to college basketball shine throughout their achievements,” said Eric Oberman, President of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “Their invaluable contributions have significantly contributed to their teams’ triumphs this season. It would be an honor to crown any of these exceptional student-athletes as winners of the prestigious Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy.”
A fifth-year guard, Knecht is also among 15 players on the Wooden Award Naismith Ballot and one of 30 finalists for the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award. In addition, he was among 40 individuals on the most recent watch list for the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy, released Feb. 27.
Knecht, who helped Tennessee win its 11th SEC regular season title, is averaging 21.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in his lone campaign as a Volunteer, while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent beyond the arc.
Named the SEC Player of the Year by both the league’s head coaches and the Associated Press, the latter in unanimous fashion, Knecht scored 25.5 points per game in SEC play, the second-best mark of anyone in the last 22 years (2022-24). That figure also led Division I conference scoring in 2023-24, regardless of league.
The fourth consensus First Team All-American in Tennessee history, Knecht leads the nation in 39-point (three) and 35-point (five) showings this year, with each tally tying for the best single-season mark ever by a Volunteer. His 717 points in 2023-24 put him co-third on the program’s single-season scoring list, just seven shy of second place.
A 6-foot-6, 213-pounder from Thornton, Colo., Knecht is the second Naismith Trophy finalist from Tennessee in the last six seasons. Grant Williams also made the cut in 2018-19 after his second straight SEC Player of the Year campaign.
The 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year announcement will occur April 7 at the Naismith Awards Brunch during the Final Four in Phoenix. The event will be held at the Phoenix Art Museum. SiriusXM will simulcast the live announcement on SiriusXM College Sports Radio (Channel 84).
Fans will once again be able to support their favorite finalist through the Naismith Awards Fan Vote presented by Jersey Mike’s, which runs Tuesday, March 26, through Tuesday, April 2, at naismithfanvote.com. The fan vote will account for five percent of the overall final vote. Fans may also vote by visiting @naismithtrophy, @MarchMadness and @MarchMadnessWBB Twitter pages.
The four finalists were chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners, all of whom base their selections on outstanding coaching performances during the 2023-24 college basketball season. The vote was tabulated and verified by the Atlanta team of J.S. Held, a global consulting firm.
Knecht and sixth-ranked, second-seeded Tennessee (26-8, 14-4 SEC) take the court Friday at 9:59 p.m. against No. 11-ranked, third-seeded Creighton for a Sweet 16 clash, live on TBS and truTV from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
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.
2023-24 JERSEY MIKE’S NAISMITH TROPHY PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS R.J. Davis, North Carolina Zach Edey, Purdue Dalton Knecht, Tennessee Jamal Shead, Houston
The Federal Aviation Administration is leading the investigation into the plane that crashed into the Tennessee River near downtown Knoxville.
Knoxville Police and the Knoxville Fire Department responded to the small, single-engine plane crash last night (Monday) near Island Home Park. The male pilot was able to escape without injury.
Officials with KFD say the pilot was practicing water landings and accidentally activated the regular landing gear meant for land.
A Kansas man filed a defamation lawsuit against Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett over social media posts about a shooting in Kansas City following the Chief’s Super Bowl parade.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in Kansas on Monday by Denton Loudermill, Jr., alleges Burchett shared photos of Loudermill on X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming he was one of the shooters and an “illegal alien.”
The lawsuit alleges Loudermill attended the parade and was told by police in the moments after the shooting he was moving “too slow” when he tried to go under police tape to leave the area.
He was then handcuffed and sat on a curb for about 10 minutes before being unhandcuffed and told by police he was “free to go,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit further alleges Burchett removed the post referring to Loudermill as an “illegal alien,” but he made another post with the image that misidentified him as “one of the shooters.”
The lawsuit also says Loudermill has received death threats and suffered mental distress from being falsely identified as an “illegal alien” and “shooter.”
Loudermill is asking for $75,000 in damages for acts considered “willful, wanton, reckless and malicious,” according to the lawsuit. spokesperson for Burchett’s office said, “Our office is not able to comment on pending or active litigation.” Story courtesy of WVLT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — “I know what I came here to do, and it’s my job to go get that done.”
Those were the closing remarks for Tennessee redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava as the signal caller met with local media members on Monday inside the Anderson Training Center. One week into his second spring training camp on Rocky Top and 12 weeks after his first career start in the Vols’ 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, Iamaleava has approached this offseason with intentionality – aiming to develop his skillset and become a more vocal leader for the Vols on the gridiron.
“I have been trying to work on being more vocal for the guys, speaking up when I need to,” Iamaleava said. “I think just being myself out there, hanging out with the guys and making sure we are getting our business done. I’ve grown more in the vocal aspect of it, just being louder for the guys is what I’ve really been trying to work on.”
Topics of discussion for Monday’s media session with the Long Beach, California, native included bulking up his 6-6 frame to 215 pounds, developing chemistry with the new Tennessee receivers and comparing his former backup role to entering the 2024 season as the starting signal caller.
“Last year, I approached every day like I was the starter,” Iamaleava explained. “I think (Joe Milton III) did a great job of just helping me visualize what that looks like, and I have carried it over to this year.”
Protecting QB1 will be paramount for the Tennessee offensive line that was also well represented in Monday’s post-practice press conferences. Assistant coach Glen Elarbee took the podium, followed by a pair of seasoned, redshirt-senior offensive linemen in John Campbell Jr. and Dayne Davis.
Sophomore tackle Lance Heard also spoke to Knoxville media for the first time and has made his presence felt early in his first offseason with the Vols. The Monroe, Louisiana, native stands a towering 6-6, weighs 335 pounds and has already drawn comparisons to former Vol and 2022 first-round draft pick Darnell Wright.
“The guy (Lance Heard) has unbelievable length and natural ability,” Elarbee said. “Protecting the passer is going to be a big improvement, and he’s just a big human. The ability to go move 4i’s in the run game, I felt like (Darnell Wright), that’s where he changed our run game a lot … I feel like Lance is going to have that ability too.”
“He’s really just going through his first offseason. So, some of the intricacies of just learning the game inside and out, he knows it, but experience and reps just build that bank of what’s going on and how to adjust to certain situations. I think that’s just part of his growth and development.”
Davis enters his sixth year with the Vols and has served the offensive line room with the versatility of a Swiss Army knife under Elarbee’s tutelage. The Bluff City, Tennessee, native has seen more reps at guard this spring, and credits his team-first mindset and knowledge of the Josh Heupel system as two traits that help him serve the line at many different positions.
“My last three years here under Coach Heupel and Coach Elarbee, it’s just been as a guy who knows the offense so well that you can flip to any position when you need a person here or there,” Davis said. “Left guard, left tackle, center last year for five or six games, just being that guy where, if we need a spot on the o-line, can step up and be that player … Just really helping where I can, being a teammate to everybody and just being there for the o-line.”
Tennessee will hold a closed scrimmage Wednesday morning at Neyland Stadium before hosting several former Volunteer standouts and NFL personnel for Pro Day inside the Anderson Training Center. Spring practice will continue Monday, April 1, after the Easter holiday break.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Zakai Zeigler of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award, as announced Monday afternoon.
This is the second season in a row Zeigler is among the finalists for the elite honor. He was also one of 10 semifinalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Zeigler already collected SEC Defensive Player of the Year accolades earlier this month. He is the second Volunteer to win the award and the third individual, regardless of school, under 6-foot to do so.
The Long Island, N.Y., native ranks fourth in the SEC with 1.82 steals per game. In conference play, he placed second in the league with 2.11 per outing.
Zeigler has logged multiple steals in 16 contests this season, logging three-plus 10 times and four-plus seven times. The latter mark is good for a top-15 spot nationally, co-seventh among Power Six players and second in the SEC.
With 62 steals this year, Zeigler ranks ninth on Tennessee’s single-season leaderboard. His 180 steals in three years as a Volunteer put him fifth all-time in the program record books, as well as fifth among active SEC players. Zeigler is averaging 1.83 steals per game in his career, fourth-best all-time at Tennessee and second-best among active SEC players.
Zeigler’s career steal percentage of 3.93 is sixth-best among SEC players over the last 14 seasons (2010-24), per College Basketball Reference, which also puts him ninth in career defensive box plus/minus during that time with a 4.94 mark.
The Jim Phelan Award, named after the legendary coach who won 786 games in 41 seasons, is presented by CollegeInsider.com. The recipient of the award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which includes current and former head coaches, as well as CollegeInsider.com staff members.
Zeigler is among 25 finalists for the award, including one of 15 in a Power Six league and one of three from the SEC. The other players in the latter category are Auburn’s Johni Broome and Texas A&M’s Andersson Garcia.
Zeigler and sixth-ranked, second-seeded Tennessee (26-8, 14-4 SEC) resume play Friday at 9:59 p.m. against No. 11-ranked, third-seeded Creighton in the Sweet 16, live on TBS and truTV from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
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.
2023-24 LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS Justin Abson, Appalachian State Adrian “Ace” Baldwin Jr., Penn State Reece Beekman, Virginia Adem Bona, UCLA Boo Buie, Northwestern Johni Broome, Auburn Devin Carter, Providence Isaiah Cozart, Eastern Kentucky Isaiah Crawford, Louisiana Tech Ryan Dunn, Virginia Zach Edey, Purdue KiAndre Gaddy, Tarleton State Andersson Garcia, Texas A&M Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas DaRon Holmes II, Dayton Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton Malevy Leons, Bradley Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State Bez Mbeng, Yale Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers Jamal Shead, Houston Charles Thompson, Towson Kellen Tynes Jr., Maine Amari Williams, Drexel Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
