Mother’s Day Feast at Shoney’s Restaurants Shoney’s of Knoxville, Inc., with 18 locally owned restaurants located in 10 East Tennessee counties, is offering many special items along with delicious favorites on the Mother’s Day  Feast on Sunday, May 12th. The Mother’s Day Feast including a FREE slice of Shoney’s famous Strawberry Pie with an Adult Fresh Food Bar purchase will be available to all guests who eat at Shoney’s on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at all locally owned Shoney’s of Knoxville, Inc. locations. The Breakfast Bar is open from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the Mother’s Day Fresh Foo ..read more

Tennessee Justice Center Honors Paige Dailey as “Mother of the Year” ~ from Tennessee Justice Center For 24 years, Mother’s Day has been a grand celebration at the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC). Every year, TJC honors courageous moms, foster moms, grandmothers, and caregivers who persistently advocate not only for the well-being of their own loved ones but for all Tennesseans from Memphis to Mountain City. With help from volunteer photographers across the state, TJC provides our honorees with framed family portraits and more as a token of our gratitude for their efforts to make our state bett ..read more

WHAT:  HONOR FOUNTAIN CITY DAY IN THE PARK 2024, a traditional Memorial Day community celebration honoring our veterans and our essential workers WHERE:  FOUNTAIN CITY PARK,  5345 NORTH BROADWAY WHEN:   MEMORIAL DAY, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2024,  10 AM TO 5 PM EVERYONE IS INVITED TO ATTEND!  ADMISSION IS FREE! IN CASE OF RAIN, THE PROGRAM WILL BE HELD IN THE LIONS CLUB BUILDING Fountain City Town Hall, Inc., is pleased to once again sponsor “Honor Fountain City Day in the Park”.  This Memorial Day celebration began in 1975, but was paused for four years due to ..read more

Et Tu, Kamala? By Dr. Harold A. Black blackh@knoxfocus.com haroldblackphd.com It is not inconceivable that the “winner” of the presidential election in November might not become president. The Founding Fathers were fearful of the tyranny of the majority and established the Electoral College. One of the purposes of the College was, along with the Senate, to keep smaller states relevant in the political process. Each state would have two senators regardless of population and the president would be elected by the Electoral College and not by popular vote. The number of electors would be determine ..read more

I Oppose Both Killing Of Children And Lawbreaking By Students By John J. Duncan Jr. duncanj@knoxfocus.com Regular readers of my column know that I have been extremely saddened by the killing of thousands of little Palestinian children with Israeli bombs. Possibly even worse is the slow death of so many little children by Israel’s very severe, very cruel limitations to food, water and medicines allowed into Gaza. Also inhumane is forcing several thousand Palestinian women to have their babies under the worst possible conditions and the destruction of most Palestinian homes with many people of a ..read more

Dangerous Detour By Joe Rector Work continues on the new road that will relieve congestion on Ball Camp Pike. Those of us at this end of the county have waited plenty long enough to have completion of the project in sight. The road work began about 15 years ago, but the economy sank like a rock, and the work stopped for years. I talked with one worker who thought this new road might be open for business in about another year. All of us are a bit tired of the inconveniences that have arisen. Just recently, Ball Camp Pike was closed at Frostland Lane. Drivers have had to detour onto Frostland, t ..read more

The Apology Never confuse education with intelligence; you can have a PhD and still be an idiot. Richard Feynman (theoretical physicist)  By Dr. Jim Ferguson I may owe my readers an apology if this week’s column is not perfect. I use that superlative whimsically because my stories are never perfect. They are homemade – written at home. I’m not a professional writer because my writing is an avocation rather than a vocation. Arguably, a profession is a driving force in someone’s life and often defines them. An example might be a doctor, lawyer, professor, athlete, etc. So, perhaps my late-i ..read more

Three Vols picked in 2024 NFL Draft By Mark Nagi The NFL Draft is once again a showcase for Tennessee Volunteer alums. Last month three former Vols were picked. This might not have been as impressive as 2023 when five former Vols were taken in the first three rounds, but running back Jaylen Wright, quarterback Joe Milton and defensive back Kamal Hadden could each continue their football careers at the next level. Let’s start with Wright. The running back position has been devalued in recent years, but the Miami Dolphins thought so highly of Wright that they selected him in Round 4. Miami alrea ..read more

Visionaries who dream great dreams By Tom Mattingly Over the years, Vol fans across the expanse of Big Orange Country have anxiously awaited game stories and columns in the state’s newspapers by Bob Wilson, Walter Stewart, Early Maxwell, Edgar Allen, Tom Anderson, F.M. Williams, John Bibb, Ed and Harold Harris, Tom Siler, Marvin West, Frank “Red” Bailes, Ben Byrd, Russ Bebb, David Climer, Ward Gossett, Chris Low, Jimmy Hyams, John Adams, Mike Strange, Gary Lundy, Randy Moore, Wes Rucker, and many others. You may not recognize these names, however, but H.I. Leyshon and Jimmy Smith were scribes ..read more

Mayor Jacobs, Community Leaders Kick-off Third Year of One Book Read City   KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – More than 30,000 local elementary students gathered at schools across Knox County last week to learn the title of this year’s One Book Read City novel.   Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and KCS Superintendent Jon Rysewyk, during a special presentation at Lonsdale Elementary, unveiled the graphic novel, “Shelby and Watts, Tide Pool Troubles,” by Ashlyn Anstee.   “We’re excited to see this program grow,” said Mayor Jacobs. “In its third year, the whole community is behind this effort. It ..read more