Local

A Tennessee law went into effect on July 1, 2015 that allows citizens to break into a locked car to rescue a pet in distress without being held liable for damages. Every summer, stories of pets left in a hot car populate news feeds and social media. A new law in Tennessee, the first of its kind in the nation, ...

Trails, campsites and a shelter in the Hazel Creek area reopened today, after being closed since the bear attack nearly a month ago. Officials with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced Thursday, July 2, 2015, that Hazel Creek Trail, Jenkins Ridge Trail, Bone Valley Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail, Derrick Knob Shelter, and backcountry campsites 82, 83, 84, 85, ...

Pigeon Forge officials announced today that construction of the Ripken Experience Pigeon Forge reached its midway point and is on schedule to be completed on December 31, 2015, in time for the planned opening in Spring 2016. Ripken Experience Pigeon Forge is a $22.5 million, city-owned youth baseball complex that will feature six lighted synthetic turf fields, each based on ...

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating the shooting of a bald eagle in Jefferson County in the area of Elliots Shoals on Douglas Lake near Dandridge, Tenn. A reward of up to $12,500 is being offered for information leading to a conviction of the person or persons responsible for shooting the eagle. The wounded eagle was ...

The Sevier County Clerk’s office will now issue marriage licenses to all couples, both opposite-sex and same-sex couples who apply to marry. In Sevier County and across Tennessee, government offices are preparing to make marriage licenses available to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, June 26, 2015 that states cannot ban same-sex couples from marrying and must ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials received DNA results from the bear attack occurring at backcountry campsite 84 where a 16-year old male from Ohio was seriously injured by a bear on June 6, 2015. Immediately following the report of the attack, rangers and wildlife biologists implemented an action plan that included clearing the Hazel Creek backcountry area of hikers ...

Officers and detectives from the Sevierville Police Department are requesting assistance from the public to identify two persons of interest in a recent report of fraud at the Sevierville AT&T store. According to Sevierville Police Department Officer Graham Ownby, the Sevierville AT&T store at 620 Parkway contacted police to report that two men used false identification to fraudulently obtain two ...

The busy intersection of Ernest McMahan Road and SR 416 in Sevierville will soon have a new traffic signal. According to the Sevierville Public Works Department, the traffic signal at the intersection of Ernest McMahan Road and SR 416 (Old Newport Hwy. / Pittman Center Road) will be operational soon. Weather and other conditions permitting, the traffic signal will begin ...

Motorists using I-40 Exit 407 for destinations such as Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains and other local areas should be aware of changes to the traffic pattern as the new Diverging Diamond Interchange opens. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will open the new I-40 Exit 407 Diverging Diamond interchange to traffic on the morning of Tuesday, June 30, ...

A man drowned at a Douglas Lake campground swimming area on Monday afternoon. The Sevier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a possible drowning call at the Douglas Dam Headwater Campground swimming area about 4:40 p.m. on June 15, 2015. A witness at the scene told Sheriff’s Officers that the victim was swimming in the campground’s designated swimming area, swam to ...