Updated Story: The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office says Highway 70 West is back open at Highway 321 following a large gas leak in Lenior City earlier today.
Lenoir City Utilities Board officials say electric crews hit a six-inch gas line.
The leak in the area of Highway 321 and Old America Road.
Officials were monitoring fumes near North Middle School but no action was necessary.
Original Story: A large gas leak in Lenior City will have Highway 70 at Highway 321 while crews repair the busted gas line.
Lenoir City Utilities Board officials say electric crews hit a six-inch gas line and gas crews are working to repair it.
The leak is in the area of Highway 321 and Old America Road. The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office says Highway 70 West at 321 is shut down and they expect it to remained closed for several hours.
Officials are also monitoring fumes near North Middle School but there’s no word on a lockdown or similar action at this time.
The Airplane Filling Station on Clinton Highway is for sale.
The owner, Knox Heritage, hopes someone will operate the building in a way it can be utilized by the public.
The airplane was built in 1931 by brothers Henry and Elmer Nickle. The design was meant to mimic Charles Lindberg’s Spirit of St. Louis.
The gas station closed in 1970. After that, the airplane became a fruit stand, a bait shop, a used car lot, a liquor store and eventually a barbershop.
It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Airplane Filling Station does come with extra baggage. The buyer must sign a preservation easement, which protects the property from demolition or any dramatic changes to its exterior.
Buyers have until tonight (Wednesday) to submit an offer.
The women’s basketball team at Fulton High School came out on top in their playoff game against Lenoir City, but it wasn’t without a chaotic scene in the final moments.
With 2:30 left, sophomore player for Lenoir City Taylor Hafner made an and-one layup, and immediately after, a fight broke out between her and a player for Fulton.
According to a TSSAA report Taylor Hafner, along with three Fulton players were ejected from the game and all of the fans were asked to leave the gym while both teams finished the game.
“I think it’s any parent’s worst nightmare to see their child getting involved in any fight,” said Taylor’s mom Sarah Hafner.
The TSSAA hasn’t released their findings on what exactly led up to punches being thrown and officers having to restrain parents and players.
“She sort of came back around and let out a big ‘argh’ and then came head to head with the girl that was guarding her,” said Sarah Hafner as she described what happened from her perspective before the fight began.
WVLT News reached out to the Fulton Athletic Director as well as multiple parents in attendance from Fulton High School for comment, but they have not responded.
The game was held at Austin-East High School as a neutral site for the playoff game.
TSSAA has not released its decision on any suspensions or punishments from the fight at this time.
A Knoxville man is arrested after he hit a Knoxville Police Officer with his car and leading police on a high speed car chase.
Ryan White was arrested following Sunday mornings incident involving a stolen blue Kia Optima in a gas station parking lot on Chapman Highway. Police saw the vehicle and an officer pulled his cruiser in front of it before trying to get White to get out of the vehicle.
White instead left the parking lot, hitting the officer in his right leg.
A chase ensued causing a crash and White ran but was caught by police, a woman remained inside his vehicle. White was charged with aggravated assault on a first responder, aggravated kidnapping, evading arrest, evading arrest at risk of death or injury and theft among other charges.
A Knoxville man is facing murder, rape and kidnapping charges after police conducted a welfare check at a home on Bellevue Street.
57 year-old Joe Whitaker is accused of killing 76 year-old Julius Parker and keeping a woman hostage in the home for five days.
According to an incident report, Whitaker left his job at Café 4 in Market Square on February 12 with a large kitchen knife, telling his boss he was going to the home “to hurt someone.” The manager then called 911 and requested a check, the report said.
An officer responded to the home but reportedly was not able to find anyone.
Five days later, Parker’s nephew went to the home to investigate after not hearing from his uncle for several days, the report said. There, according to the report, he saw Whitaker and a trail of blood leading to a body in the basement covered by a blanket. The nephew then left the home, the report said.
After another 911 call, this time from the nephew, an officer reportedly once again responded to the home. When he arrived, the officer was invited in by the second victim, the report said. That officer also found the trail of blood and the body, according to the report, and took Whitaker into custody.
While in custody, Whitaker allegedly confessed to killing Parker over a monetary dispute and “Parker’s alleged sexual advances” toward the second victim. That second victim told officers that she had seen Whitaker come into the home through a basement window and stab Parker before taking the body to the basement.
She also told officers that she had been kept in the house at gunpoint and raped several times.
Additionally, the report said that Whitaker had stolen Parker’s car and driven it to Broadway, leaving the gun and the keys in the ignition “in hopes it would be stolen by homeless in the area.”
Whitaker, who was booked into the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility, was charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, rape and other charges, according to Knoxville Police Department Communications Manager Scott Erland.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the circumstances leading to a fatal officer-involved shooting in Greene County.
Deputies with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on someone at a home on Bolton Road in Greeneville yesterday (Sunday). Reports say shots were fired at deputies from inside the home. Deputies encountered a man, identified as 37 year-old Joshua Baker, and a woman in the back of the home. Baker reportedly pointed a gun at the woman and shot her. Deputies returned fire, hitting Baker. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. No deputies were injured.
Reports and videos of a parent boarding a Knox County School bus demanding the students get off are making the rounds and police say they received no reports about the incident.
Story courtesy of WVLT: On February 10, a parent boarded a school bus full of Carter Middle and High School students and demanded all of the kids get off, according to a student on the bus who recorded the interaction.
The student told WVLT News that the man’s daughter was making fun of another girl when that girl defended herself and a physical fight started.
The bus driver had to stop the bus twice to stop the fighting and separate the girls, according to the student.
The man’s daughter then got off the bus at a different stop than her normal one. The bus driver continued his route and while at one of the scheduled stops, a parent boarded the bus, according to the student.
“Why are they hurting her,” the dad yelled at the bus driver. “Why are you allowing that?”
The video showed the father and bus driver continued back and forth with each other until the dad told the kids to get off the bus.
The student told WVLT News that when they got off, a KCS teacher who lived nearby was there and saw the whole thing. The teacher showed the students her KCS badge and waited with them while they called their parents to come pick them up.
WVLT News reached out to the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, but neither of the agencies had any record of the incident being reported.
A representative for the school system confirmed that students on bus No. 163 were let off and a parent did approach the bus. She said they were conducting an internal review of what happened.
Family members of the student who took the video told WVLT News that no one from the school called to let parents know about the incident. The students had to call their own parents to find rides home.
Zoo Knoxville is in the running for a Readers’ Choice Award for Best Zoo Exhibit.
The Boyd Family Asian Trek at the zoo is up for the award. Malayan tigers, white-naped cranes, silvered leaf langurs and white-handed gibbons are all featured in the exhibit. The area also features a multi-level tree house and a swinging suspension bridge. Zoo officials asking everyone to vote, you can go to https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-zoo-exhibit/boyd-family-asian-trek-at-zoo-knoxville-knoxville-tennessee/ to cast your vote until March 4th. You can vote once a day.
