Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Knox County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon that Sheriff Tom Spangler has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
In an open letter from Spangler, he said he learned late last week that he had the disease. He said he is “grateful the cancer was caught early, and the prognosis is excellent.”
Letter from Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler
Spangler added that the day-to-day operation of the sheriff’s office will not be disrupted as he fights this battle but that treatments could cause him to miss events he would have otherwise attended.
Spangler has been sheriff of Knox County since 2018 after having served in the department in various roles before then. As a father and a grandfather, the sheriff is asking for your prayers but also for his family’s privacy.
“I covet your prayers, and as always, I am honored to serve as your Sheriff!” Spangler said.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said, “It’s an honor to serve alongside Tom Spangler. Tom is a friend and he’s a great sheriff. I ask everyone to join Crystal and me in keeping Tom, his family, and everyone at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in our prayers.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7/8 Tennessee remained perfect at home and extended its winning streak to seven games with a 7-4 victory over High Point on Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols (8-1) started fast by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning and added another in the third to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.
Robin Villeneuve got the scoring started by roping a single to left field with the bases loaded to plate a pair of runs. The junior added another big RBI hit in the sixth inning and finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs to continue his impressive hitting early on this year.
Kavares Tears also had another big day offensively, tying a career high with three hits and setting a new career best with three runs scored to go along with his fourth home run of the year, a low screamer over the right-field wall that pierced through a stiff wind.
Billy Amick and Cannon Peebles also added two hits apiece and combined to drive in three runs. After High Point cut its deficit to two runs in the seventh, Amick hammered a 1-1 pitch down the left-field line over the porches for his fourth homer to bump the lead back up to three. Later in the inning, after a Tears single, Peebles made it 7-3 with an RBI double to score Tears and give UT some more breathing room.
Lefthander Chris Stamos notched his second win of the year after striking out a pair in a scoreless inning of relief. Fellow veteran lefty Kirby Connell was also effective out of the bullpen in his most extended outing of the season, holding the Panthers to one run while recording two strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
Flame thrower Nate Snead pitched the final 2.1 innings to slam the door and earn his first save of the year. The sophomore righthander racked up five strikeouts and allowed just two hits while topping 100 mph on the radar gun multiple times.
Shortstop Adam Stuart led the offensive charge for the Panthers (2-7) with three hits and two RBIs. Starting pitcher Dalton Olsovsky fell to 0-2 on the year after giving up two runs on two hits and two walks in two innings of work.
UP NEXT: Tennessee hosts Bowling Green for a three-game set this weekend in Knoxville, starting on Friday. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
STAT OF THE DAY: With a pair of long balls on Tuesday, UT continued its home run streak to start the season, having hit at least one in all nine games so far. Tears took the team lead with four homers after his solo shot in the third inning before Amick joined him with his fourth of the year, a 409-foot blast in the eighth inning.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issues a Silver Alert Tuesday afternoon for a missing 86-year-old man out of Claiborne County.
TBI officials say Curtis Mason was last seen on Monday in Harrogate near the Parks Circle area. They say Mason may be driving a silver Pontiac Montana van with license number 40870PD, and he could be in the Cumberland Gap area near the Kentucky border.
Curtis Mason, 86 (Courtesy: TBI)
TBI adds that Mason also has a medical condition.
Those with information are being asked to call the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office at 423-626-3000 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Sevier County, TN (WOKI / WVLT) More than just a water gauge, Sevier County’s Flood Warning System has expanded to further ensure the safety of the entire region.
Housed in nine locations across the county, the Flood Warning System is made up of field sensors and a web-based software called Contrail. The system monitors streams, rivers and precipitation levels throughout Sevier County.
”It’s very important for us to be utilizing every resource that’s available,” said Joe Ayers, the director of the Sevier County Emergency Management Agency.
The nine locations range from high in the national park to some of the lowest-lying parts of the county.
The idea of the monitoring stations is to be placed along a river or stream and be set to a predetermined level to alert first responders and EMA officials if that level is reached.
“With this flood monitoring system it’ll allow us to receive notifications preemptively when it starts to reach those thresholds so we can go ahead and notify individuals in preparation in the event that we need to respond,” said Ayers.
While labeled a flood warning system, the software also keeps track of another potentially deadly threat; the sites also serve to inform Sevier County officials about the fire danger in the area.
“We’re able to tie into weather sensors that measure the fuel moisture or soil moisture of those fuels that would burn,” said Ayers.
In the summer of 2022, a flash flood descended upon the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and flooded a campground down stream, sending folks packing for higher ground in the middle of the night.
At the time, there was not a gauge in the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River.
”We now have two monitors that are now in the national park on the Middle Prong of the Pigeon River that will provide us some early warning,” said Ayers.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team received its highest national ranking of the season by placing fourth in each major national poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
Tennessee (21-6, 11-3) moved up one position in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The team’s No. 4 ranking is its best since taking the No. 2 spot on Jan. 30, 2023.
The 2023-24 season marks the sixth in program history in which Tennessee has ascended to fourth or better in the AP Poll, joining 2022-23 (second), 2018-19 (first), 2007-08 (first), 2000-01 (fourth) and 1967-68 (fourth). Half of those six campaigns are in the last six years, under the direction of head coach Rick Barnes.
This is the 55th straight week Tennessee is in the AP top 25, good for the third-longest streak in the country behind only Houston (81) and Kansas (60), while the only other team at 40-plus is Arizona (53). That number is 18 weeks longer than the previous program high of 37. In addition, Tennessee has garnered a top-10 spot in over half of those weeks, 28 of 55.
This is the 11th week in a row the Volunteers are in the AP top 10, matching a stretch in 2022-23 for the fourth-longest mark in program history. Of those five instances, three are in the last six years under the guidance of Barnes, who has steered the program to 53 AP top-10 positions during the last seven seasons of his nine-year tenure, 36.1 percent of its all-time total.
This is also the sixth time Tennessee has earned an AP top-five ranking in 2023-24, one shy of its second-most in program history, as it did so 14 times in 2018-19 and on seven occasions in 2007-08. In total, 24 of the Volunteers’ 41 all-time AP top-five rankings have come in the past six seasons with Barnes at the helm.
Furthermore, this is the 70th time in Barnes’ illustrious 37-year head coaching tenure he has led his team to an AP top-five ranking, all in the last 28 seasons (1996-2024).
Tennessee notched a pair of victories last week to up its winning streak to four in a row. First, it rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit to knock off Missouri, 72-67, on its home floor Tuesday in Columbia, Mo., behind an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double from sophomore forward Tobe Awaka. It then beat Texas A&M, 86-51, Saturday night at Food City Center to give Barnes’ his 800th victory, making him the 15th Division I coach to reach that number in NCAA history.
Tennessee picked up 1,338 points in AP Poll voting, a 108-point jump from last week’s mark. It accumulated 698 points in the Coaches Poll, an increase of 57 from last week, and sits closer to third-place Purdue than fifth-place Marquette.
The Volunteers are once again the top-ranked team in the SEC, which has five teams in the top 25 of both polls. They are joined by No. 11 Auburn, No. 14/13 Alabama, No. 16/15 Kentucky, No. 18 South Carolina and No. 24 Florida. Additionally, Mississippi Stare received votes in the AP Poll.
Tennessee continues play with its first of four straight games against a top-20 foe Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts No. 11 Auburn at Food City Center, live on ESPN2.
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.
Hawkins County, TN (WOKI) A Hawkins County school bus driver is dead after a wrong-way crash Monday morning.
The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. on Highway 70 North at Willow Road.
Tennessee Highway Patrol says 18-year-old Tylor Short, an Eidson, TN native, was driving southbound in a 2005 Chevy Silverado when he hit a school bus.
The bus driver, 55-year-old Aleita Gladson from Rogersville, died in the crash.
THP says two other kids were on the bus; they are not hurt.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Despite public outcry, the Knox County Commission voted Monday night to rezone more than 40 acres of farmland off Northshore and Harvey Road for residential use.
The tract of land hasn’t been in use for the last few years.
A group of protestors from the area gathered at the meeting to voice their concerns over safety and overcrowding.
Some argued that bringing more homes to the area would add to what they believe to be an already dangerous stretch of road in the county.
Despite those voicing opposition to the change, the county commission approved the plans to rezone the land after nearly an hour of discussion.
While the move now paves the way for housing to be built, there are no specific plans in place to build as of now.
The agreement upon which the county commission voted allows up to three housing units per acre of this land.
A Lenior City man stands accused of murder after police say he allegedly stabbed a woman several times. The Lenoir City Police Department says officers responded to an apartment complex in the 700 block of Pearl Drive in Lenoir City Friday evening.
Police said first responders confirmed a woman was found dead in a common area of the apartment complex, just outside of the door to the unit where she lived.
Investigators say 35-year-old Ciara Long had been stabbed multiple times by 34-year-old Daniel Stinnett, who is now facing first degree murder charges.
A Roane County women is facing charges of abuse of a corpse in connection to the death of her newborn. Officers say they received reports that 34 year old Amanda Cooper had given birth to a baby Saturday, but the baby died.
When officers arrived to her Rosedale Avenue home, they found the baby wrapped in a sheet on a bed behind the couch where Cooper was sitting.
The investigation is ongoing, the newborn’s cause of death has not been released.
