Testing for Noise-Monitoring Camera Begins
As I mentioned in November, the city has acknowledged increased noise complaints in the downtown area. While cities are noisy places out the gate, there seems to be a more recent increase in cars with no...
Life
COVID-19: 2/10/2022 Update
Welcome to the weekly update. Reporting on COVID-19 and understanding current risk levels continues to be dicey. While we’re beginning to see improvement in new cases — particularly nationally — and some indications of improvements on...
The Knox County Health Department Announces “Safe Bar” Initiative
Working in a bar is no easy job. While most patrons come, have a good time, and safely make it home, other patrons offer challenges. Beyond the obvious concern regarding over-imbibing and potentially driving, there is...
Good People Moving About and Getting Recognized
Probably the best thing about this job, for me, is getting to know so many great, creative, energetic, smart people. Many of them are young. I feel honored to get to get to know them on...
COVID-19: 2/3/2022 Update
This is a tricky time to write about or to process information regarding COVID-19. On the one hand, case rates are dropping globally and, in the U.S., Many people in the U.S. and locally have determined...
Mayor Seeks Downtown Input on Police Chief Hiring (And More!)
Last week Mayor Kincannon joined the Downtown Knoxville Alliance (AKA CBID) via Zoom to discuss the current efforts to hire a new head for the KPD. Erin Gill, Chief Policy Officer for the city also joined...
COVID-19:1/27/2022 Update
I called last week’s numbers a “peak moment,” with the caveat that it could get worse. It did. By every measure, our local and state situation is worse than last week. Even as global and national...
COVID-19: 1/20/2022 Update
This report comes to you at the peak, to this point, of the COVID-19 pandemic as experienced in Knoxville and Knox County. Unfortunately, most of the information we have is already nearly a week old. Orwell...
COVID-19: 1/13/2022 Update
At this point, the only update that makes sense is one each week and that on Thursday. Both the state of Tennessee and the Knox County Health Department have determined that COVID-19 updates will only come...
COVID-19: 1/7/2022 Update
And so, we meet again. What seemed unimaginable in March 2020 when I wrote my first articles about COVID-19, seemed inevitable when I wrote my most recent article at the end of October: The virus continues...