Michael Fraize and Courtney Thomas (Courtesy: BCSO)
Maryville, TN (WOKI) Two people are in custody, facing numerous drug charges, following an investigation and search of a home in Blount County.
BCSO officials say Michael Chase Fraize and Courtney Ann Thomas, both 32 and of Maryville, were arrested Wednesday after a search of a home on Colonial Circle turned up meth, cocaine, marijuana and a gun.
Officials say the arrests were the culmination of an investigation between the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force and other law enforcement agencies into illegal drug activity at the residence.
Fraize and Thomas face multiple drug charges. Fraize is also charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Their bond amounts and court dates have not been set yet, according to the BCSO.
The arrest happened just before midnight on Wednesday, according to KCSO officials. (Frankly Media)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Knox County Sheriff’s Office announcing Thursday they have arrested a South Doyle High School freshman for threats of violence made on social media.
KCSO officials say the arrest happened just before midnight on Wednesday, January 31. The freshman student is alleged to have made the threats over Snapchat.
The arrest comes a day after KCSO deputies found a loaded pistol magazine inside one of the school’s bathrooms.
Officials say this latest incident is unrelated to Tuesday’s finding.
An investigation is underway and Knoxville Police have identified the victim from a fatal motorcycle crash.
34 year-old Tyler Beck died in the crash on McKamey Road yesterday (Wednesday) morning. KPD says Beck was going east on McKamey Road when he hit the side of a large Chevy truck that was attempting to turn left onto Saint Lucia Lane from McKamey. The truck remained on the scene.
The Knoxville Fire department is investigating after a commercial trailer catches fire at Fort Loudon Recycling in North Knoxville.
The call came in just before 5 this morning. (Thursday) this morning and found the trailer on fire in the lot the recycling facility on Hancock Street.
The fire spread to another trailer that was parked nearby and the trailer was loaded with a variety of paper and cardboard products, making putting it out difficult because the paper products had to be dug out by hand.
KFD says extensive overhaul of the fire will be necessary.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Crimes Unit is seeking public assistance for a missing Eleven-year-old.
Name: Aubriauna Niesa Mays “Bree“ is a white female who is eleven years old. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and is approximately 4’4” and 8 lbs. She does have braces- On 1/31/2024, the Knox County Sheriff’s Juvenile Crimes Unit is searching for a missing juvenile from the Crippen Road and Maynardville Pike area.
The juvenile left the residence without permission between 10:30 pm on 01/30/2024 and6:15 am on 01/31/2024. The Juvenile could possibly be in the Halls community. If you have seen Aubriauna “Bree” or have information on her whereabouts please notify the Juvenile Crimes Unit or Detective Trott. 865-215-2243.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman meets with media outlets Wednesday, speaking on the NCAA’s recent investigation into the university’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) practices. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) UT’s Chancellor took some time in front of the cameras Wednesday, publicly standing behind her heated letter to the NCAA’s president over its investigation into the university’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) practices, calling the decision an attack on student athletes.
“When you’re leading a university and someone attacks you and makes an allegation that isn’t true, I will always respond,” said UT Chancellor Donde Plowman referencing a letter she sent to NCAA President Charlie Baker. “The most significant thing about that is, I will always stand up for our student athletes, and that’s where the attack was really on if you want to be honest about it.”
Plowman’s statements come after Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced the State of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Virginia had filed a joint lawsuit against the NCAA, accusing it of breaking anti-trust laws. Plowman said she didn’t know much about the suit, but appreciated the support.
“The people who responded, it’s moving, and I appreciate it,” said Plowman. “But we have great people who are in public office in the state, in Washington, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their support.”
The NCAA has indicated they plan to bring allegations forward; however, those allegations still have not been formally issued, and details on them remain scarce.
Knoxville Police are investigating a deadly motorcycle crash Wednesday in West Knoxville
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Knoxville Police Department is investigating a deadly motorcycle crash that happened Wednesday morning in West Knoxville.
KPD says officers were dispatched to the scene on McKamey Road at Saint Lucia Lane around 8:15. While there, officers deduced that the motorcycle was traveling east on McKamey Road when it struck the side of a large Chevy truck that was trying to turn left onto Saint Lucia Lane from McKamey.
The motorcycle driver, an adult man, was pronounced dead at the scene; police are still working to positively identify the man.
The department added that the truck that was involved in the crash remained at the scene.
University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman wrote a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker Monday following an investigation from the NCAA into Tennessee’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) practices. WVLT News got ahold of that letter through a Freedom of Information Act request to UT Tuesday; here’s a breakdown.
In the letter, Plowman says the NCAA’s plans to bring allegations forward, allegations she says are untrue and could hurt student athletes.
“Earlier today, a team from the University of Tennessee met with members of your enforcement staff to discuss allegations the NCAA intends to bring against Tennessee related to NIL,” Plowman says. “The NCAA’s allegations are factually untrue and procedurally flawed.”
The letter comes as the NCAA has began looking into the University of Tennessee less than a year after the university was fined $8 million for recruiting violations made while Jeremey Pruitt was head football coach.
Those violations were voluntarily reported by the Tennessee system itself, and the school’s honestly played a large part in the NCAA’s final decision when it came to punishment. In the letter, Plowman reminds Baker about Tennessee’s commitment to self-reporting, further stating that the university has not done anything wrong with its NIL practices.WVLT Sports Director Rick Russo and Volquest’s Austin Price discuss possible NCAA investigation into Tennessee Athletics
“As you have seen in our previous dealings with the NCAA, when we are wrong at the University of Tennessee, we admit it,” Plowman said. “In fact, just last year, the Division I Committee on Infractions as well as the NCAA enforcement staff cited exemplary cooperation by the University of Tennessee and said we set the standard other schools should follow.”
She goes on to take issue that Tennessee’s leadership should see praise in the summer of 2023, only to be questioned in such a way the next academic year.
“It is inconceivable that our institution’s leadership would be cited as an example of exemplary leadership in July 2023, then as a cautionary example of a lack of institutional control only six months later,” Plowman says.
However, Plowman’s biggest gripe with the NCAA is, according to her letter, the lack of clarity in the NCAA’s NIL rules and regulations. She references Baker’s appearance in front of Congress directly, further stating that the NCAA’s rules are too vague to enforce any punishment on Tennessee.
“As you acknowledged in the recent congressional hearing, the NIL guidance from the NCAA to student-athletes and institutions has been ‘inconsistent and unclear, and the ambiguity has filled schools, student-athletes, and collectives with uncertainty about how to follow the rules,’” Plowman says.
Plowman claims the NCAA is trying to retroactively enforce regulations and punish institutions to make an example of them, despite the fact that Tennessee complied completely with the latest NCAA guidance on NIL partnerships. She furthers the argument by referencing a recently-passed bylaw from the NCAA that would mean institutions who come under fire in NIL cases don’t have the benefit of presumed-innocence.
“A “guilty until proven innocent” standard is not partnership, is not problem-solving and violates the core principle in our country’s justice system of ‘innocent until proven guilty,’” Plowman says.
When WVLT News reached out to the NCAA about the investigation, Associate Director of CommunicationsMeghan Durham Wright provided the following statement:
With rare exceptions, the NCAA does not comment on current, pending or potential investigations due to confidentiality rules put in place by member schools.NCAA
All in all, Plowman says the university has complied with the NCAA’s regulations, but those regulations have constantly been in flux. The letter marks the start of what is almost certainly going to be a long, drawn out process that could set the stage for NIL deals across college football in the future.
