DA: Drunk Driver Sentenced in 2023 Crash Near Kirkwood Street That Kills One, Injures Child
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A drunk driver who killed one passenger and injured another, including a child, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison.
Officials with the Knox County District Attorney’s Office say 25-year-old Santiago Domingo was convicted of vehicular homicide, child abuse and two counts of reckless endangerment.
The DA’s Office says Domingo sideswiped a car on Magnolia Avenue in July 2023 and left the scene, later losing control of his vehicle in a grass median near Kirkwood Street.
One person in Domingo’s car was killed and an 8-year-old child, who was not in a child restraint, was injured.
According to the DA’s Office, Domingo had a blood alcohol content of 0.104 which is above the legal limit.
Bearden High School Booster Club Wrongfully Paid Football Coaches $60K in Bonuses, State Says
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office finds the Bearden High School Football Booster Club wrongfully paid coaches thousands of dollars in bonuses.
A report released by the Comptroller’s office says coaches were paid at least $60,000 without Knox County Schools’ (KCS) approval and
that the booster club was classifying the payments as “salary supplements.”
It’s Knox County Schools’ policy that all coaches are paid through the school district. This, to avoid problems with benefits and tax reporting.
The investigation also found that the booster club had wrongly charged players hundreds of dollars in fees then placed the funds in the club’s account instead of the school’s account.
“SSOs must not charge fees to students to participate in school sponsored activities or events” the Comptroller’s report said.
The report also said the club bought things like food, gift cards and supplies, then did not document the purchases correctly.
“Investigators could not determine whether these purchases were used exclusively for the benefit of the football team,” the report said. “The club should only make authorized disbursements for the benefit of the football team and maintain adequate supporting documentation for all disbursements.”
For its part, club members say they intend to correct the issues moving forward, according to the report.
Courtesy / UT Athletics
Tennessee Athletics Announces Upcoming Renovations to Food City Center
Tennessee Athletics is dedicated to enhancing the fan experience, and Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White has announced several new upgrades coming to Food City Center for the 2025-26 basketball season.
“We are incredibly proud to have the best fan base in all of sports, and we will always put their experience first. We are fully committed to making continuous improvements,” stated White. “The new additions to Food City Center will modernize the arena and significantly enhance the experience for everyone attending our events.”
These future renovations were a key part of the multi-year naming-rights agreement with longtime Tennessee Athletics corporate champion Food City in 2023 that rebranded UT’s on-campus arena as Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
The upcoming renovations at Food City Center will include new video boards, an upgraded sound system, and the addition of a Riverside Club space on the arena’s lower level in preparation for the 2025-26 basketball season. Approximately 1,500 seats in this area will now have access to a newly updated space offering various food and beverage options and a club area for socializing before the game or during halftime.
In the summer of 2025, a new center-hung video board, corner boards, and 360 LED ribbon will be installed. The new center-hung video board will feature larger screens on all four sides and an improved bottom ring. Additionally, interior boards will be included for those sitting courtside and in the lower section of the arena to enhance the visibility of live video updates.
All four corner boards within the seating area will now display live video, score and statistical information.
The new sound system will feature high-performance speaker arrays to provide an even distribution of sound levels. The new system will also expand the sound coverage in premium suite areas and include new concourse and restroom speakers throughout the venue.
TEMA Extends Helene Debris Removal for Counties in East Tennessee
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) TEMA has extended the deadline for storm debris removal following Hurricane Helene for several counties in East Tennessee.
The impacted counties include Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington.
The original deadline for residents of these counties to place their debris on the curb for pickup was set for Friday, January 31; the deadline has now been extended to March 2.
TEMA’s director, Patrick C. Sheehan, said “we recognize that recovering from the devastating impacts of Helene can take time.”
TEMA believes this extension will guarantee that everyone in the areas affected by Helene will have the proper time and support to clean up any storm-related debris at their homes.
TEMA said crews are working to help communities get back to a sense of normalcy.
After March 2, it will be up to the property owner to get rid of any leftover debris.
For more information about this deadline or any debris removal you can visit TEMA’s website.
Photo credit: Eric Ryan Anderson
Lainey Wilson Confirms Extensive Whirlwind World Tour
January 31, 2025—Grammy, CMA and ACM Award-winning artist Lainey Wilson confirms her Whirlwind World Tour to kick off in March. Produced by Live Nation and sponsored by Coors Light and Wrangler, the tour will include stops at Zurich’s X-TRA, Paris’ Elysée Montmartre, New York’s Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Austin’s Moody Center, Baton Rouge’s Raising Cane’s River Center Arena and Denver’s Ball Arena among many others. Special guests on the tour include ERNEST, Muscadine Bloodline, Kaitlin Butts, Maddox Batson, Drake Milligan, Lauren Watkins and Zach Meadows. See below for the complete tour itinerary.
Wilson’s Wild Horses fan club will get exclusive early access to tickets starting Tuesday, February 4 at 8:00am local time. Citi is the official card of the Whirlwind World Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to pre-sale tickets beginning Tuesday, February 4 at 10:00am local time until Thursday, February 6 at 10:00PM local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
Verizon will offer an exclusive pre-sale for the Whirlwind World Tour in the U.S. through Verizon Access, just for being a customer. Verizon Access Pre-sale tickets for select shows will begin Tuesday, February 4 at 10:00am local time through Thursday, February 6 at 10:00PM local time. For more details, visit Verizon.com/Access or the My Verizon App. The general on-sale will begin Friday, February 7 at 10:00am local time. Full details can be found at www.laineywilson.com/tour.
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The Three Bills in Governor Bill Lee’s Special Legislative Session Pass the Senate and House, now Head to Lee’s Desk to be Signed
UPDATE: The three bills in the Special Legislative Special are heading to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.
The special session is officially over as of about 3:30 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. The House and Senate passed all three of the focal points of the Governor’s proposed school choice program, a disaster relief package for those affected by Hurricane Helene and an immigration bill is headed to his desk for a final signature.
The Governor’s $500 million School Choice Program plan will give 20,000 students about $7,000 each in public dollars to help them pay for private school.
Original Story: Governor Bill Lee’s special session is moving along as the Senate has now passed two of the three bills that the session was called to discuss.
This session started Monday evening and as of yesterday (Wednesday), the Senate has passed an immigration bill and a disaster relief bill that would help victims of Hurricane Helene in Tennessee. The school voucher or Education Freedom Act is expected to pass but is still being discussed.
These bills will still have to be passed by the House in order to head to Lee’s desk to be signed
The disaster relief bill will invest more than $450 million in direct relief for Tennesseans who are still dealing with the estimated $1.2 billion in damage-related costs from Helene.
The immigration bill will provide incentives for promoting the enforcement of federal immigration and criminal penalties for officials who adopt sanctuary policies and create a centralized immigration enforcement division within the Department of Safety which will require them to issue non-citizens a temporary driver’s license instead of a standard license, to help determine voter eligibility.
The House is expected to vote on these bills before the end of the week.
WVLT
TBI says a Man is Facing Attempted Murder Charges after Shooting at THP Troopers
TBI release: An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in an indictment in connection to an officer-involved shooting that occurred earlier this month.
At the request of 6th Judicial District Attorney General Charme Allen, TBI special agents began investigating an officer-involved shooting incident that occurred on January 12th in Knox County. The incident began when a trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop in Loudon County. As the trooper was issuing a citation, Eugenio Abraham Solis-Klarks (DOB: 10/22/93) drove away. The trooper pursued the driver into Knox County, which ended just off the Watt Road exit of Interstate 40 East. Solis-Klarks exited the vehicle and fired shots at the trooper, which resulted in the trooper returning fire, injuring the subject.
On Wednesday, the Knox County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Eugenio Abraham Solis-Klarks with Attempted First Degree Murder and Employing a Firearm During a Dangerous Felony. Today, he was served in the Knox County Detention Center, where he was already being held on charges placed by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The charges and allegations referenced in this release are merely accusations of criminal conduct, not evidence. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted through due process of law.
Suspect in Custody after Firing Shots Near Madisonville School, Police Say
Madisonville, TN (WOKI) A suspect is in custody following shots fired near an elementary school Thursday morning in Monroe County.
Officials with the Madisonville Police Department say the incident occurred around 8:30 a.m near Madisonville Primary School.
MPD says a suspect fired shots on Ingram Street, prompting the school to go on lockdown and the special response team to respond.
According to police, officers took the suspect into custody and found the gun on McConkey Street.
The suspect now faces several felony charges in relation to the incident.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Monroe County EMS also responded.
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