Free Republic

KNOXVILLE, Iowa -- A solider kneeling at a cross at a park in Knoxville has been the topic of debate for weeks now. Earlier this month, a resident asked the city to remove the cross, but on Sunday, the majority of the community rallied together to convince the city to keep it.Close to 2,000 people protested around the display in Young’s Park. They made their stance known before the city makes its decision on whether to remove the cross.Several veterans, state politicians and residents spoke Sunday saying the cross should stay.“That’s their constitutional right to be offended, but it's also...

KNOXVILLE — Two Sunnyview Primary School students and a Sunnyview teacher's aide died Tuesday afternoon when two school buses serving Sunnyview and Chilhowee Intermediate School crashed with "a big bang" in East Knoxville, authorities said. ~snip~ Police gave no names or ages of the students but said most ranged from kindergarten to second grade. Relatives of at least one victim learned of the death at the scene from the police chief and burst into screams and tears.

[snip] ACT for America, is – according to their website, “the nation’s largest non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization devoted to promoting national security and defeating terrorism. ACT for America has 280,000 members organized in more than 890 chapters nationwide and 11 countries worldwide.” One of their chapters is located in Knoxville, Tennessee. As an informational service to the community, the local president, John Peach, organized an evening presentation on the menace of Sharia law and attempts by local governments across America to institute provisions for incorporating it. [snip] Mr. Peach and his associate, Bill French applied for use of an auditorium...

KNOXVILLE — A Florida man sought in a triple killing was in custody Tuesday afternoon and being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound after holing up in a West Knoxville motel room, Knox County authorities said. David Eugene Smith, 27, who likes to refer to himself as “Prince David,” called E-911 about 9:25 a.m. Tuesday and declared that he was wanted in connection with the killings of two women and a man near Lakeland, Fla., according to the Polk County, Fla., County Sheriff’s Office.

Full Headline: Tennessee sheriff's deputy is FIRED after he was caught on camera choking an unresisting college student until he passed out A sheriff's deputy in Knox County, Tennessee has been fired after he was caught on camera allegedly choking a university student Saturday night. Frank Phillips, 47, was been found 'unsuitable for continued employment,' according to a termination notice posted Sunday night on the Knox County Sheriff's Office's website. 'In my 34 years of law enforcement experience, excessive force has never been tolerated. After an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, I believe excessive force was used in...

Gov't Spending $4.8M to Tell Students to 'Get Fruved' March 17, 2014 - 9:13 AM By Eric Scheiner (CNSNews.com) - If a college student dressed up as a giant bunch of grapes jumped out of the shadows and told you to "get fruved," what could you possibly say? The University of Tennessee-Knoxville is getting more than $4.8 million taxpayer dollars to develop a healthy-eating campaign that has students -- dressed up as fruits and vegetables -- cavorting in the hallways of higher education. Getting "fruved" means you're eating your FRUits and VEgetables. Get it? The USDA’s National Institute of Food...

KNOXVILLE — A clerk at a Sunoco convenience store pulled a gun on a would-be robber Sunday evening, apparently thwarting the crime, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

The winning bidder will also receive historic photos and documentation of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's last stand, when the partners in life and crime were ambushed by law enforcement officers in Louisiana.

Questions raised about attacks that already are happening Al [Sharpton] and Jesse [Jackson] may worry that the acquittal of George Zimmerman will usher in a new era of white-on-black violence in America. After all, the local CBS affiliate is reporting that police officers already are training for violence. “There has been some talk among the officers that we believe that this training has to do with the fact that there might be some type of civil unrest, but we are hoping that that doesn’t happen,” said Javier Ortiz with the Fraternal Order of Police. The affiliate also said in Broward...

The George Zimmerman trial is a TV ratings bonanza. We are told that this is an important trial because… Well, because the liberal ruling class and the race hustlers who work in concert to Balkanize this nation—race, gender, religion, whatever works—tell us that this is a narrative about race relations in America. George Zimmerman is being cast as a post-modern Bull Connor. Forget that Zimmerman is dark-skinned and Hispanic. Ignore the inconvenient fact that Zimmerman mentored young black kids. Forget that it’s Trayvon Martin who was the racist, referring to Zimmerman as a “creepy-ass cracker.” Barack Hussein Obama most helpfully...

The gun glinted in the dark as the man turned toward Anthony Smith and fired. “I saw the gun,” Smith said. “I heard the shot. I didn’t hit the ground. I fired.” The gunman missed, but Smith hit his mark. Knoxville Police Department officers found the body of Justin Pierre Jackson, 30, in a nearby alley less than half an hour later.

WATE: Authorities are investigating after a security guard was fired upon at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant. It happened around 2 a.m. today on the TVA property near the Tennessee River about a quarter mile from the plant's protected area. Officials say the security officer was patrolling the area when he was shot at, he returned fire and was uninjured. The shooting lead the Watts Bar plant staff to declare an unusual event, which is the lowest of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's four emergency classifications. The FBI will also be sending a team. A suspect has not been found.

KNOXVILLE — The FBI has Pilot Flying headquarters on lockdown Monday afternoon.

Three people found asleep in a tent with the corpse of a slain man in a homeless camp are suspects in three killings that occurred in the span of a few hours Tuesday, Knoxville police said Friday...

When Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch announced in late January that the department would no longer use the .40-caliber Glock pistol that officers have carried since 2002, he didn’t mention any problems with the gun. Rausch said the replacement gun, a .45-caliber Sig Sauer, had more stopping power than the .40-calibers. Testing among officers also revealed they were more accurate using the Sig Sauer, he said.

Knoxville, Tenn., known for being the home of Dolly Parton and the Tennessee Valley Authority, was named number one on the American Bible Society's "Most Bible-Minded Cities" list. With research conducted by the Barna Group, the ABS' recently released findings were based off of seven years' worth of telephone and online interviews with a random sample space of 42,855 adults. After Knoxville, the other nine cities on the top ten list in descending order are: Shreveport, La.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; Springfield, Mo.; Charlotte, N.C.; Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va. sharing the number 8 spot; Huntsville, Ala.; and Charleston,...

Four more years! Four more years! Reuters: ******** Retailers moving into old downtown buildings, an abundance of freshly planted greenspaces, and a stream of new jobs in Knoxville, Tennessee, are all signs to Mayor Madeline Rogero that for the last year prosperity has been blooming in her city. "We feel very good about how we're coming out of this recession," Rogero said. "We see new interest. We see new development that's occurring. We're optimistic that this recovery is going to continue." Knoxville is a member of a very small club. Three and a half years since the 2007-09 economic recession...

Longtime Knoxville abortion clinic closes doors A new Tennessee law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals is being blamed for the closure of a longtime Knoxville abortion provider. An executive director of the Abortion Care Network confirmed to The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/S1m8aL ) that the Volunteer Women's Medical Center closed Friday. The clinic had been operating for 38 years.

State Sen. Doug Overbey, a Maryville lawyer, has pocketed a passel of endorsements in the 2nd District Republican primary. Newspapers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Education Association endorsed Overbey, along with Republican heavyweights Gov. Bill Haslam and, a bit surprisingly, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a tea party favorite. Given his opponent, Overbey needs all the help he can get. Scott Hughes, chief financial officer for a Knoxville church and former pro-life executive, is challenging Overbey at every turn, in every way. Though Overbey maintains an enormous financial advantage, Hughes has loquaciously roughed up Overbey in debates.

KNOXVILLE — A special judge has decided to — again — grant new trials in one of Knoxville’s most high-profile cases, and state prosecutors are responding by asking him to step down from the case. A motion filed late Friday afternoon in Knox County Criminal Court reveals that Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood is planning to enter an order granting new trials in the January 2007 torture slayings of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, without holding a hearing and despite a recent state Supreme Court ruling faulting his legal reasoning. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price, in turn,...