News

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will begin a phased reopening and says it has implemented new safety measures in facility operations and services to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as areas reopen to the public. Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Great Smoky Mountains National ...

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development moves to a staggered schedule for unemployment claimants completing their weekly certifications. This change will spread out the number of people certifying over three days, creating a more responsive experience for claimants using Jobs4TN.gov. More than 324,000 Tennesseans have applied for unemployment benefits over the last four weeks, creating an unprecedented demand ...

The Tennessee Army National Guard used a hoist to rescue the pilot of a small plane that crashed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Friday morning. Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers responded to a report of a small plane crash approximately 6 miles west of Clingmans Dome at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 10, 2020. The single ...

Tennessee’s governor issued a Stay at Home order Thursday in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 cases as the state races to increase hospital bed capacity for an anticipated surge of cases later this month. On April 2, Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order requiring all people in Tennessee to stay at home except for when engaging ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that all park areas, except the Foothills Parkway and Spur, will remain closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All access to the park, including trails and roads, were originally closed on March 24 through April 6, in alignment with efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 across the region. The ...

City and county officials released a statement today asking businesses in the tourism sector to stop marketing vacations to the area in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. A Message From the Mayors of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Pittman Center, Sevier County and Sevierville read: “We are requesting that businesses in the leisure travel/tourism sector please stop soliciting ...

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee warns members that scammers are taking advantage of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to be alert of potential scam activity. Reported scams include unsolicited phone calls that could be an attempt to fraudulently gain personal information. BlueCross is urging members and customers not to give personal information to these callers. “We want to advise all ...

In a statement on Friday, Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters asked tourists to put their vacations to the area on hold and stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic closures, including most businesses, attractions and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “Normally at this time of year, we are enjoying the beautiful weather and all the visitors in Sevier County,” ...

The state of Tennessee experienced an unprecedented spike in new initial unemployment claims according to data released this morning by the United States Department of Labor. For the week ending March 21, 2020, Tennesseans filed 39,096 initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits. The week prior, the state received 2,702 new unemployment claims. The latest figure represents a nearly 20-fold increase ...

The mayors of Sevier County and Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Pittman Center, and Sevierville on Thursday declared a State of Local Emergency for Sevier County, Tennessee. This declaration is executed by political subdivisions of government, both City and County, to comply with Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s request to open the Sevier County Emergency Operations Center, to allow cities and the county ...