Beep, beep, beep. That’s the sound of our digital forklift delivering some changes for 865today. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be putting on a fresh coat of paint — and as with all projects, we anticipate a few bumps along the way. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience.
Editor’s Pick
Anyone else want to roll down a hill?
Some of my favorite childhood memories are of exploring the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge — from scaling a stone wall, learning about the tagged trees (more than 2,500 species), hiking the 7 miles of paths (which connect to the Appalachian Trail), and just lying in the grass searching for ladybugs.
Eric Cain says Joey Aguilar and Chris Brazzell have “reshaped Tennessee football offense.” Listen to the full progress report in the Locked On Vols daily podcast.
Plan Ahead
Boo at the Zoo is coming for three weekends in October — starting this Friday, Oct. 9. General admission is $15. This annual event provides an opportunity to trick-or-treat through the Knoxville Zoo + wander the haunted cemetery. (KnoxTNToday)
Edu
$6.75 million. That’s how much of the Knox County Schools budget will be spent on computers for students and staff — see the full distribution of surplus funds broken down by Knox News.
Outdoors
Local state and government groups are working to reopen parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the government shutdown — including top visitor sites like Cade’s Cove and the Chimneys. Several roads and trails remain open with limited services. (Knox News)
Feel Good
Four — er, fore! Local four-year-old Hayden Echols made a hole-in-one at the Beverly Park Junior Golf Course in Fountain City, making him the youngest player ever to make that shot. How’s that for under par? (ABC 10)
Gallery
We love those Friday Night Lights. The past weekend’s high school games included Hardin Valley at Farragut + Bearden at Oak Ridge. Want to see the highlights from the first seven weeks of games? Click here for all — and we mean all — the photos. (Knox News)
Read
Come in and cozy up. According to new data from Google Trends, search interest in “cozy romance” and “cozy books” are at an all-time high, and searches for “fall romance books” have increased by more than 400%. Find your next cozy, fall-themed read at one of Knoxville’s local bookstores.
Trending
96,350. That’s how many votes 32 Chunk received to win the title of Fat Bear Week 2025 champion. The huge bear won the crown for his salmon-eating dominance in Katmai National Park despite breaking his jaw earlier in the year. Hopefully he doesn’t show up along a local trail. (The Guardian)
Number
$0. That’s how much 94% of patients pay to see a licensed dietician with Nourish. Find a dietician covered by insurance and build a personalized nutrition plan.*
Biz
Need to get your business’s message out ASAP? We created our advertiser dashboard just for you. It takes less than five minutes to browse our promo offerings, pick one that fits your goals, and checkout — no long-term contract required. It’s that easy. Try it now.
Start speaking a new language in just weeks with Babbel’s expert-made lessons. For a limited time, get lifetime access for only $239 — their best deal of the year. Hurry — these savings end tonight.
The fun doesn’t have to end here. After reading the newsletter, head over to our games page. Games refresh with new challenges every day at 6 a.m. from crossword puzzle to Sudoku to themed word search.
Hi Knoxville — it’s been awhile. I live out of state now, but I’m an alum of West Hills Elementary, West Valley Middle School, and Farragut High.
It’s good to see you. I’ll be helping out our Editorial team over the next few weeks — as always, we invite you to say hello by responding to this email + welcome your feedback on what you’d like to see more coverage of.
