Oak Ridge Plans a Downtown
I don’t often write about other towns or cities, though I have occasionally. This one is interesting, both because it is just outside Knoxville, but also because the circumstance is unique. Where is the heart and...
Making Movies, Making Murals
I recently had the opportunity (thanks to Scott West) to chat with Matt Shapira, film director, writer, and producer, as well as worldwide elephant muralist. Matt, best known as director of the 2020 movie The Swing...
Kopita and Kopita Meat Consolidate and Plan Cool Outdoor Space
If you read carefully last week when I wrote about Fai Thai, you realized that their new address is currently home to Kopita Meat. Owner Avi Zenatti took the space during the pandemic and offered meat...
Downtown Knoxville Ten Day Planner (8/1-8/10/2021)
As events are opening up, we’re listing a combination of virtual and live events. The rules are the same – if you want your event included, please make a Facebook event, invite me (Alan Sims –...
City Council Candidates Answer to the Public
Maybe to be more accurate, I should say that most of them did. It’s been an interesting political season in Knoxville. City Council races are traditionally non-partisan, meaning that the Democratic and Republican parties have not...
Board of Health Calls Emergency Meeting
It seemed destined to be a strange affair from the beginning. The audience was comprised of about twenty anti-masker/anti-vaxxer folks who brought their signs and about three or four other people, plus press and the newly...
Fai Thai Plans Opening at 522 South Gay Street
Owners of local favorite Fai Thai Food Truck (which will continue to operate) have announced they will soon open at 522 South Gay Street, as Kopita Meat will consolidate with its sister restaurant, Kopita, next door...
Increasing Concerns Regarding Downtown Homeless Population
At the quarterly meeting of the Mayor’s Roundtable on homelessness, a number of downtown residents and business owners expressed concerns that have been increasing in recent months regarding issues related to homelessness in the downtown core....
Ribbon Cutting Celebrates Urban Wilderness Gateway Park
While I wrote about the Urban Wilderness Gateway Park last January, it had not been officially christened until last Friday. Due to the pandemic, many ribbon cuttings and other in-person ceremonial gatherings were nixed or simply...
Downtown Knoxville Ten Day Planner (7/25-8/3/2021)
As events are opening up, we’re listing a combination of virtual and live events. The rules are the same – if you want your event included, please make a Facebook event, invite me (Alan Sims –...