Tennessee ranked 42nd in voter registration and last, 51st, in voter turnout in the 2022 midterm election, according to a new report from ThinkTenessee.
Tennessee is scheduled to have its primary for both federal and state posts Thursday.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said Vice President Kamala Harris must answer questions surrounding her role in covering up President Joe Biden’s abilities to perform the duties as commander-in-chief amid Biden’s decision this week to exit the 2024 race and endorse her as the Democratic nominee.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs (R) joined Sky News Monday where he blasted the media for referring to Republicans as “conspiracy theorists” for questioning President Joe Biden’s mental acuity.
“What did Kamala Harris know [and] when did she know it, and who is actually president of the United States and who is making those decisions,” Jacobs said on “News Hour with Mark Austin.” “The thing about the vice president’s job, one of their primary duties is if something happens to the president, the vice president has to step in, yet Mrs. Harris said she didn’t know there was anything wrong with the president. However, a month ago, right after the debate with President Trump, she said on TV that everything was fine, that he was thinking clearly, [and] that he was giving good advice to leaders around the world. So, she either knew and is basically covering that up, or she is willingly ignorant of the situation. Either way, that’s a bad place to be.”
Read the full story
Metro Nashville Police Department handed out kits for Narcan, medicine that can treat drug overdoses in emergency situations, to about 40 homeless people on Monday in response to a spike in overdoses on Sunday and Monday.
Detectives are investigating the overdose spike, according to an MNPD press release. In only one incident downtown, eight individuals overdosed together, causing two fatalities while the other six were revived with Narcan.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said the accomplishment he’s most proud of since assuming office in 2018 is his and his team’s work to avoid raising taxes for county residents.
Jacobs said that while it is becoming “more difficult” to construct a budget amid economic challenges resulting from decisions made at the federal level, his administration is “doing everything that we can to be creative and think outside the box” to avoid raising taxes.
Read the full story
Democrat State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) intends to file for reelection to the Tennessee House of Representatives despite being five months into her longshot U.S. Senate bid to unseat incumbent Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), according to a report by Knox News.
Johnson is one of the “Tennessee Three” lawmakers who commandeered the House floor to demand gun control in the wake of the Covenant School last year.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs traveled over the weekend to join former President Donald Trump for a rally in Indianola, Iowa one day before the state caucus.
Read the full story
A former Knox County Governmental Library employee was paid more than $100,000 for work time she did not complete while more than $40,000 worth of additional compensation is being questioned over a 10-year span.
Ashley Satterfield was indicted on a charge of official misconduct and theft of over $60,000 before resigning her position on Jan. 27.
Read the full story
A Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) deputy who was shot in the line of duty Sunday night has died, according to the office.
“Officer Blakely is a hero. He lived as a hero, he died as a hero,” Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler said late Monday night. “Keep Tucker’s family in your thoughts.”
Read the full story
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is investigating after a fatal officer-involved shooting in Knox County Sunday night that left a deputy “seriously wounded.”
“TBI special agents are investigating the circumstances surrounding a Sunday night fatal officer-involved shooting in Knox County, which also left a deputy seriously wounded,” TBI said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Read the full story
Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon released a statement on Thursday in support of Governor Bill Lee’s call for a special session in the General Assembly, set to convene on Monday.
“As Mayor of Knoxville, public safety is my top priority. I support the Governor’s call for a Special Session to consider legislative measures to make our communities safer,” Kincannon’s statement said. “While there are many perspectives on how to accomplish these goals, the conversation must continue to include all parts of our state and all communities.”
Read the full story
Knoxville’s utility company, Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), announced this week that its fiber internet has expanded to more than 4,100 South Knoxville homes and businesses.
KUB Fiber, a municipally-run broadband network, is the largest municipal fiber network in the nation, approved unanimously by the Knoxville City Council in 2021. The project, worth over $700 million, is expected to expand over the next seven years and install approximately 5,000 miles of fiber.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs released a statement Tuesday announcing a $2 million payout from Monsanto, a former agricultural chemical and seed company that Bayer acquired several years ago. The payout is part of a class action lawsuit in which several municipalities participating in the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program experienced contamination in their creek and/or lake sediment.
The lawsuit against Monsanto resulted in a settlement of $500 million in total. Knox County’s portion of the settlement represents compensation for the contamination of the Fort Loudon Reservoir and Lower Clinch Reservoir with PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls).
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs released his proposal for a record-high budget to the Knox County Commission Monday. Though the budget reached a record $1 billion, an increase of $90 million over last year’s plan, the mayor did not propose any tax increases. The proposal represents a 9.46 percent increase in spending.
Read the full story
The Knoxville-Knox County Office of Housing Stability (OHS) was created to “prevent and respond to housing instability and homelessness,” according to a press release by the City of Knoxville.
Read the full story
Knoxville city leaders recently announced the new multi-use stadium that will host Tennessee Smokies games and other events in the city is now estimated to cost $114 million – up from the project’s original estimate of $65 million.
According to the city, the inflated final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the stadium is due in part to “inflation and record-high construction costs.”
Read the full story
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed Tennessee’s favorite mayor, Glenn Jacobs of Knox County to the newsmaker line to discuss his governing style.
Read the full story
A 50-year-old man who currently resides in Crossville has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for robbing three banks in West Knoxville over a timespan of three days.
Read the full story
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced two new economic investment projects are underway in the Volunteer State that are expected to create 175 new jobs in total.
Read the full story
On Friday, Hardcoat Technologies LLC officials announced that the company will invest $6.6 million to expand manufacturing operations at its Papermill Drive location in Knoxville.
Read the full story
Mark Ezell, the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, went to Sevier County to congratulate the Tennessee tourism team for a record-breaking year.
“Tennessee is crushing it with the largest visitor spending national market share for Tennesseans in our history,” Ezell said in a recent statement.
Read the full story
First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona are traveling to Knoxville this week to kick off the Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
Read the full story
The U.S. Navy Band Country Current is coming to Knoxville this month to perform a free concert as part of the band’s national 26-city tour.
Read the full story
A new report by the Beacon Center of Tennessee says that $4 billion worth of federal COVID-19 relief funding allocated to Tennessee’s school systems was largely spent on items unrelated to COVID-19.
“The data suggests that Tennessee public schools have budgeted or spent millions of dollars on areas that had little to nothing to do with COVID or student performance,” said Beacon Research Associate and report author Jason Edmonds. “School districts across the state budgeted tens of millions of dollars for ‘indirect costs’ without any further explanation and also funded pet projects such as walk-in coolers and retractable bleachers.”
Read the full story
On Monday, Knoxville Chief of Police Paul Noel announced that the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) will no longer respond to certain non-injury crashes beginning September 1st.
Read the full story
In 2021, law enforcement in Tennessee seized $16 million worth of cash and $15.8 million was forfeited in court. But according to annual reports from Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security, departments used just $195,000 of those funds.
Each year since Tennessee law began requiring those disclosures in 2018, similar numbers have appeared.
In 2020, $15 million was seized, $8.4 million was forfeited in the courts but just $1,980 was recorded as being used. In 2019, $12 million was seized, $12 million was forfeited and just more than $300,000 of the proceeds were used.
Read the full story
In an interview with The Tennessee Star, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs explained why red flag laws are bad, how the Biden administration is hypocritical on the gun issue, and how the real topic of conversation should be securing the safety of schools.
“I think the most important thing to remember is we already have laws on the books to give the government the ability to get weapons out of the hands of people suffer from mental health issues, but the key thing is those existing laws give them due process,” Jacobs’ said, referencing the fact that Baker laws exist in all 50 states already.
Read the full story
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmaker line to discuss the Bill of Rights, 2nd Amendment, and the security of public schools.
Read the full story
On Wednesday, Governor Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Bob Rolfe, and ATC Drivetrain officials announced the company has selected Knoxville as the location for its newest manufacturing facility.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs pushed back on accusations that he was “pro-Putin” after a portion of a series of Sunday tweets were amplified, leading some to believe that he supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Unfortunately what has happened on the Left with the Russiagate investigation – which was a hoax – is that when Republicans say something that involves Putin they get tied to him by the Left,” Jacobs told The Tennessee Star. “Putin and brutal dictators like him look for weakness. In order to deal with people like him you need to project strength.”
“I do not support Putin,” the Knox County mayor said. “I’m for liberty and freedom. Putin is the antithesis of that.”
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Mayor Glenn Jacobs of Knox County to the newsmakers line to talk about this continued fight against mandatory mask mandates in schools and the new state budget.
Read the full story
Knox County Health Department officials announced 39 additional COVID-19 deaths among county residents on Wednesday for the current reporting period of January 16 through January 22. But Knox County Health Department officials also said 10 of those deaths occurred not this month but in previous months. They said they will add those deaths to their charts according to their dates of death.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newmakers line to discuss the OSHA employer vaccine mandates, football, and mental health in Tennessee.
Read the full story
The Knox County Mayor announced in a press release that he was close to beginning the Skilled Trades Academy and Regional Training Center (START). The academy was explained as “a training school designed to attract, train, and retain a quality workforce in the construction industry.”
Mayor Glenn Jacobs said in the press release that the Knox County community is committed to opportunities for everyone to thrive. “This academy does that by advancing alternative pathways for students and residents while ensuring that our growing workforce will be ready and able to meet the needs of our trade businesses.”
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to discuss coronavirus economic recovery and his priorities moving into the 2022 election year.
Read the full story
A local sheriff has responded to President Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. Sheriff Tom Spangler, of Knoxville, Tennessee sent Biden a letter telling the President that he would not be enforcing the mandate on his staff.
Spangler said in his letter that enforcing the mandate was unconstitutional and was putting the lives of the people of Knoxville at risk.
Read the full story
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to highlight October 26th Fall Festival in Corrington, Tennessee, and liberal infiltration in the local government.
Read the full story
Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to discuss his recently penned letter to President Biden.
Read the full story
The firing of Matthew Hawn, a high school teacher in Sullivan County, Tennessee, recently made national news and seemed to confirm fears that newly-enacted state bans on critical race theory (CRT) would have a chilling effect on teacher speech. Hawn, a 16-year veteran tenured teacher and baseball coach, had assigned students in his contemporary issues class Ta-Nehisi Coates’s essay, “The First White President,” and a spoken word poem from Kyla Jenée Lacey called “White Privilege.” One headline declared, “A Tennessee teacher taught a Ta-Nehisi Coates essay and a poem about white privilege. He was fired for it.” A Georgetown professor tweeted, “This really seems extreme and a harbinger of what is to come.”
But contrary to news coverage and social media chatter, Hawn wasn’t fired for violating the state’s newly passed CRT ban. Really, he was dismissed for failing to adhere to the Tennessee “Teacher Code of Ethics,” a seldom-invoked but sensible state requirement for teachers to provide students access to varying points of view on controversial topics. Not only did Hawn fail to follow this code when he assigned the contentious poem and Coates’ essay from The Atlantic, which contains claims such as, “With one immediate exception, Trump’s predecessors made their way to high office through the passive power of whiteness,” he also later asserted that “there is no credible source for a differing point of view.” (Hawn recently denied making such a claim, though he declined to explain why the district attributed this statement to him.)
Read the full story
When a local school district decided not to require masks for students and staff, a small north central Ohio village decided to take matters into its own hands.
Gambier, a town of about 2,500 people about 60 miles northeast of Columbus, enacted a mask mandate during an emergency village council meeting Monday, encompassing nearly all public buildings, including an elementary school.
Read the full story
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to discuss his position on mask mandates and the power of county health boards.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs won’t impose any new restrictions or mask mandates, even with the rise of the Delta variant and regular cases. The mayor made this declaration in response to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAIH) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper. Fauci revealed that he and other public health officials were considering renewed guidance recommending masks for fully-vaccinated individuals.
“As we once again hear talk about lockdowns and mandates across the country, I feel it is important I make it clear that under no circumstances will I issue any new COVID restrictions,” stated Jacobs. “Vaccines are now readily available across the country for those who want them, and our economy cannot sustain another devastating lockdown. I have faith in the people of this county to make the decisions that benefit their families best.”
Read the full story
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor of Knox County Glenn Jacobs on the newsmakers line to reminisce about his shot at the NFL before politics.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to explain his motivation for US term limits and his background.
Read the full story
The Knox County Schools (KCS) Board of Education is considering whether to hire an outside consultant for reinstating law enforcement in their schools. In a letter submitted to the Knox County Board of Education (KCBOE) last week, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said that the proposed facilitator would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.
“Please let this letter serve as official notification that I strongly oppose using taxpayer dollars to pay an outside consulting firm to tell the district what every parent in Knox County already knows: armed law enforcement officers are a necessity in schools,” wrote Jacobs. “[I] simply cannot ignore that physical security is absolutely critical in keeping our students safe at school. I am deeply disturbed that any governmental body would even consider removing law enforcement from any of our schools.”
Read the full story
Randy Boyd’s company, Boyd Sports LLC owner of the Tennessee Smokies, will profit on events booked at the proposed taxpayer-funded baseball stadium to be located in Knoxville.
The arrangement was revealed during a livestreamed Stadium Proposal Public Meeting held on March 25.
Read the full story
Five of the eight sponsors of the bill that will enable a taxpayer-funded stadium for Randy Boyd’s minor league baseball stadium in Knoxville received a total of more than $90,000 in campaign contributions from several individuals who are involved with the proposed project.
All but one of the legislators are from the Knoxville area and all but one are Republicans while three are freshmen.
Read the full story
A former employee of the Knox County General Sessions Court Clerk’s office has pled guilty to theft of more than $1,000 after an investigation by the Tennessee comptroller’s office.
The comptroller investigation revealed former deputy clerk Steve Harmon stole at least $6,577 from the office between January and October 2019. Harmon was placed on administrative leave in October 2019 and was fired in November 2020.
Read the full story
A group promoting individual liberty rallied Saturday afternoon to strip the Knox County Board of Health of its mandate powers.
“No elected politician, or in this case an appointed board, should have the right to decide whether your business is valuable,” Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles told The Tennessee Star.
Read the full story
The establishment of a sports authority that is the first step to a taxpayer-funded stadium for the Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team owned by multi-millionaire Randy Boyd will be considered by the Knox County Commission at the regularly scheduled work session scheduled for Monday, December 14.
The application for the establishment of The Sports Authority of the County of Knox and the City of Knoxville was signed by Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, City of Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, County Commission Chair Larsen Jay, City Councilmember Gwen McKenzie, well-known local teacher and coach Tommy Schumpert and Dan Brown.