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Authorities began rounding up suspected drug dealers this morning in the culmination of a 9-month undercover drug investigation dubbed March Madness. A Sevier County Grand Jury indicted 79 people last week as a result of the March Madness undercover investigation by the Sevier County Street Crimes Unit and agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Officers from Sevier County Sheriff’s ...

A former Gatlinburg police officer is facing misconduct and drug charges after investigators say he distributed drugs while on duty with the department and alerted other drug traffickers to law enforcement activities. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, its special agents partnered with the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force, Gatlinburg Police Department and Sevier County Sheriff’s Office in ...

Appalachia Service Project and the Holston Conference of The United Methodist Church jointly announce a partnership to assist in the long-term recovery of low-income families devastated by the wildfires in Sevier County. This partnership will work in concert with the Mountain Tough Recovery Team and other agencies engaged in the recovery effort. On November 28, 2016, a fire that started ...

Workers unemployed either due to the wildfire or through no fault of their own may apply for jobs funded through a federal grant to aid in wildfire recovery. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) and Walters State Community College have started to distribute a $5.8 million National Dislocated Worker Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that ...

Authorities say they captured three suspects in a Sevier County home burglary on Saturday, also finding a cache of stolen items from other area burglaries. The Sevier County Sheriff’s Office says it received a 911 call on Feb. 25, 2017 reporting a burglary in progress at a residence on Wye Drive. A relative of the homeowner saw an unknown Ford ...

Legal Aid of East Tennessee and the Sevier County Bar Association will offer a free legal clinic for wildfire survivors. Clinic hours are 1–5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 in the Conference Center at Greystone Lodge on the River, 559 Parkway in Gatlinburg. The Conference Center is at the rear of the hotel complex. Free parking is available behind ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced event plans for the Great American Eclipse occurring on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. The park is offering an opportunity to experience the total eclipse through a special, ticketed event at Clingmans Dome as well as informal eclipse viewing sites at Cades Cove and Oconaluftee. The park is partnering with NASA, Southwestern Community College, ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that work is underway in the Elkmont Historic District to preserve four structures and to remove 29 others as specified in the 2009 Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) among the National Park Service, Tennessee State Historic Office, and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. In 2017, park crews will preserve the Levi Trentham Cabin, Mayo ...

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency surveys managers recently explored a cave in East Tennessee that contains a large number of hibernating Gray Bats, a state and federally endangered species. Wildlife Surveys Managers Chris Ogle and Daniel Istvanko descended into a cave known as Rattlin’ Pit in Cocke County, which is owned by Newport Utilities. Joining them was a representative of the ...

Great Smoky Mountain National Park is recruiting volunteers to staff the Information Center at Clingmans Dome, from April 1 through Nov. 30, 2017. Volunteers will work at the seasonal information center that includes a bookstore/sales area managed by Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA). Volunteers will assist in educating visitors about the park and provide recreational and trip planning information and ...