News

A woman who posted a video online of herself feeding a bear while on vacation in Gatlinburg could face charges. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency confirmed that officers are investigating and have identified the woman seen hand feeding a bear in a viral video posted to the popular social media platform TikTok on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The video had ...

East Tennessee homeowners and renters may qualify for the HomeSource Covid-19 Housing Assistance Program to pay mortgage, rent and utility bills through a new grant made possible by the Cares Act. Through a grant from the State of Tennessee utilizing federal money allocated to the state from the Cares Act, HomeSource east tennessee is offering assistance to homeowners and renters ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeking information to help identify the party responsible for vandalizing the Foothills Parkway West Entrance Sign near the Highway 321 intersection in Walland, Tennessee between September 18, 2020 and September 19, 2020 with a black bear skin. On Saturday September 19, 2020 at 7:45 a.m., visitors reported seeing a black bear skin with head ...

Search teams are looking for a man last seen on Monday when he fell into the water at Midnight Hole along the Big Creek Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials and multiple emergency response agencies from Haywood County, N.C. are currently searching for 25-year-old male, Yogesh Patel, of Oak Forest, IL. Patel was ...

Rangers euthanized a bear Saturday after it was found scavenging the body of a hiker near a backcountry campsite in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. According to park spokesperson Jamie Sanders, hikers found an unoccupied tent at campsite 82 during the afternoon of September 11, 2020. The hikers subsequently discovered what appeared to be human remains across the creek ...

A man wanted in connection with the death of his mother and assault of his grandmother in Sevierville has been arrested in Michigan after a two-day manhunt. According to Chief Deputy Michael R. Hodges, Jr. of the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Josh Matthew Carr was located and arrested in Michigan by the Michigan State Police at about 7 p.m. ...

Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will soon be able to camp again at their favorite Smokies campgrounds. Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is increasing access to additional campgrounds and picnic areas. The National Park Service (NPS) is ...

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters extended the mask order for a second time on Friday, citing a reduction in cases and hospitalizations. Waters signed Executive Order 34 on August 29, 2020, with support from city leaders, requiring face coverings be worn by residents, employees and visitors to Sevier County through September 30. Executive Order 34 extends Executive Order 23, which ...

North Carolina Man Dies in Cades Cove Bicycle Accident Park officials say a man died as a result of a single-bicycle accident on Sunday in Cades Cove. Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers responded to a report of a bicycle accident in Cades Cove at 10:58 a.m. on Sunday, August 16, 2020. The cyclist, 60-year-old Harold D. Pardue from Elkin, N.C., suffered ...

The husband of a woman shot earlier this month has been charged in connection with her death. Officers responded to a 911 call about 8 a.m. on August 2, 2010, from a residence on River Divide Road, reporting that a woman had been shot. Upon arrival they found 73-year-old Sue Ella Gibson suffering from a gunshot would. An ambulance transported ...