News

Great Smoky Mountains National Park welcomed a record 12,547,743 visitors in 2019, which is 1,126,540 more visitors than in 2018. The park’s three primary entrances near Gatlinburg, Townsend, and Cherokee all had increased use, accounting for about two-thirds of the total park visitation. Secondary park entrances experienced tremendous growth, due primarily to the new section of the Foothills Parkway between ...

Sevier County residents who wish to vote in the next Sevier County Election must register to vote online, in person or by mail before the deadline. The State of Tennessee Presidential Preference Primaries, Sevier County Democrat & Republican Primaries, and Nonpartisan School Board Election will be held March 3, 2020. Voter registration closes 30 days prior to the scheduled election, ...

Sevier County Animal Control is seeking the public’s help for information on a potential animal cruelty case in which a dog was so malnourished it died. According to Sevier Animal Care Center, the intake shelter for Sevier County Sheriff’s Animal Control, the roaming dog was discovered a few weeks ago when it approached people on Alton Drive in Kodak. The ...

Police records show that two suspects involved in a police standoff at a Kodak Days Inn earlier this week had active arrest warrants out of Knox County and were suspects in several other thefts and burglaries. An incident report from the Sevierville Police Department sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding a standoff on January 14, 2020 at the Days ...

The family of the young woman murdered by a coworker outside the Sunliner Diner in Pigeon Forge has set up a fundraiser to help pay funeral expenses. According to the Sevierville Police Department, 19-year-old Savannah Elizabeth Burford, of Newport, worked at the Sunliner Diner and was stabbed by a coworker in the parking lot as she left work about 8:40 ...

Tennessee wildlife officials will gather in Gatlinburg this week for their final meeting of the year, which will include an update on chronic wasting disease affecting the state’s deer population. The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission, the governing body of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, will meet Dec. 12-13 at the Edgewater Hotel and Conference Center in Gatlinburg. The committee ...

A Tellico Plains woman was seriously injured Monday afternoon in an attack by a humanized white-tailed buck deer outside a business in Maryville.  On Nov. 4, 2019 at about 12:40 p.m., a woman was seriously injured by a humanized, male white-tailed deer outside of U.S. Tanx, located at 110 North Springview Drive in Maryville. The injured woman was getting the ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is experiencing high winds and announced road closures ahead of a cold front that is expected to move through the area later today. Newfound Gap Road (Hwy 441 from Gatlinburg, Tenn. to Cherokee, N.C.), Little River Road from the Townsend Wye to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Wears Gap and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail ...

The Incredible Christmas Place will kick off the holiday season with a special lighting celebration of the 24-foot-tall Salvation Army Angel Tree, one of the tallest Angel Trees in America. This year, the Angel Tree aims to deliver Christmas to over 300 children in Sevier County. On Saturday, November 2, 2019 between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., visitors to the ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park experienced high winds Saturday morning with sustained winds of approximately 30 mph and gusts up to 50 mph across the Tennessee side of the mountains, prompting road and campground closures. Newfound Gap Road (HWY 441), Laurel Creek Road, Little River Road, Cades Cove Loop Road and Gatlinburg Bypass are all currently closed due to downed trees. ...