Reports of fires involving Whirlpool microwaves prompted the company to recall certain models this week. 15,200 Whirlpool microwaves are being recalled after they were linked to fires, including one home fire and two fires involving the surrounding cabinets, along with one report of smoke and another of a burning odor. The company has determined internal arcing during use can ignite ...

A Georgia woman was struck and killed Friday by an oncoming vehicle after getting out of her car to view a snake on the Foothills Parkway West. According to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 64-year-old Shirley Jean Alexander Clifton, of Woodstock, Ga., was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle after she exited the vehicle in which she had been ...

Friends of the Smokies raised $205,562 Wednesday at its 22nd annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon thanks to hundreds of callers, online donations and support from sponsors Dollywood, Mast General Store, Pilot Flying J, Tennessee State Bank, and The Lodge at Buckberry Creek. Since 1995, Friends of the Smokies’ telethons have raised more than $3.5 million in support of America’s ...

An early morning home invasion in Sevier County on Tuesday has resulted in the arrest of one man after the homeowner confronted and detained the armed suspect. 23-year-old Darrick C. Whaley, of Dandridge, is facing numerous charges after he allegedly broke into an occupied residence and threatened the homeowner with a handgun. The Sevier County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 ...

The Sevier County Courthouse was evacuated today after someone called in a bomb threat. A 911 call transferred to Sevier County Sheriff’s Dispatch on Monday morning, Aug. 22, 2016, sent officers, including the Bomb Squad, along with Sevier County EMA, and the Office of Homeland Security into action. According to Perrin Anderson, communications coordinator for Sevier County, “The caller stated ...

Tourists from Ohio captured a black bear bandit on video as it rifled through belongings in the back of their vehicle at a Gatlinburg rental cabin. According to a video posted to YouTube on Aug. 16, 2016, a group of visitors had just arrived at their rental cabin in Gatlinburg and were unpacking their luggage from the back of the ...

A South Carolina man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a man last year inside the historic Smokemont Baptist Church in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison. During a hearing on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ordered 23-year-old Forrest Dakota Hill, of Easley, S.C., to serve 200 months ...

A truckload of supplies bound for Smoky Mountain Children’s Home in Sevierville has been delayed indefinitely after a tractor-trailer from the organization God’s Pit Crew was involved in a horrific accident. According to Virginia State Police, the God’s Pit Crew tractor-trailer was traveling on Interstate 77 in Carroll County when it hydroplaned during a heavy rain, causing the truck to ...

A Seymour man that served as a music leader at a local church faces charges of sexual contact with a minor from the congregation. 35-year-old John L. Steger, of Seymour, was arrested after an investigation revealed he allegedly had unlawful sexual contact and solicited a minor, says the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office. The parents of a 15-year-old juvenile contacted the ...

Police say a tourist visiting Sevierville was soliciting for sex and now faces prostitution charges. Officers from the Sevier County Street Crimes Unit arrested 38-year-old Jamie L. Boyle, of Orange Park, Fla., and charged her with Prostitution and Promoting Prostitution as a result of an undercover sting on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. According to Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals, Boyle ...