An employee at a Dollar General in Sweetwater is charged after he tells authorities he set a fire inside the store. Sweetwater Police Officers went to the Dollar General store in the 800 block of North Main Street on Saturday after a fire alarm was activated. SPD says there was smoke coming from the building,…… MORE
Knoxville, TN (WOKI / WVLT) An East Tennessee icon could be getting a bit more help growing its population: the Eastern Hellbender Salamander. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed increased protections for the salamanders under the Endangered Species Act. Tennessee is among 15 states in which, under the proposal, the giant salamander species…… MORE
Newport, TN (WOKI) The victim in an ongoing homicide investigation out of Cocke County has been identified. Officials with the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office say 52-year-old Lisa Goode was found stabbed to death around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 7 in a bedroom inside a home located in the 1400 block of Arlis Road in…… MORE
Maryville, TN (WOKI) Kenneth DeHart Jr., the man accused of shooting two Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies in February, injuring one and killing the other, could face the death penalty. He appeared in a Blount County courtroom Friday for a formal arraignment. The state has filed two notices, one seeking the death penalty. DeHart entered…… MORE
A Knox County School is placed on lockdown this morning (Friday). Officials say that L&N Stem Academy was placed on lockdown due to a law-enforcement investigation near the campus. The school was locked down just after 9:30 a.m. and Scott Erland with the Knoxville Police Department says officers are investigating a possible threat that was…… MORE
For the first time since July, American Medical Response is facing fines for not responding to Knox County emergencies on time. The fines came in October, and AMR is citing large events, like the dynamite found at CMC Steel – a recycling facility, for the late response times. AMR says they were on the scene…… MORE
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Meals on Wheels is asking for help this holiday season brightening up seniors’ mornings with gift bags. The organization has a program that allows people in East Tennessee to put together gift bags for seniors who will be spending the holidays at home, away from family. Those interested are asked to put…… MORE
Clairfield, TN (WOKI) Officials say there are multiple suspects in a double murder in Claiborne County. More than six months after two men, Nathan Hamblin and Robert Hatfield, were found murdered at the abandoned Kopper Glo Coal Mine, investigators believe the suspects knew the men, but they’re having a hard time finding them and believe…… MORE
Nashville, TN (WOKI) Update 12/12: Country music star Morgan Wallen appeared in a Nashville courtroom Thursday pleading guilty in his now infamous chair-throwing case. Wallen pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges, reduced Wednesday from felony reckless endangerment. A Nashville judge approved a plea deal wherein the award-winning singer will serve seven days of…… MORE
Gatlinburg, TN (WOKI) A South Carolina man is convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend at a Gatlinburg rental cabin in May, 2022. According to Sevier County court records, a jury found Julian Popoca, of Wellford, South Carolina, guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday; he was sentenced to life in prison…… MORE
