Local

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers are recruiting volunteers to adopt a tree monitoring plot in areas throughout the park to collect information as part of an important research project tracking seasonal biological change called phenology. Volunteers will record when trees leaf out and when leaves start to change colors. They may also track the presence of target migratory birds. ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Appalachian Piedmont Zone fire management staff plan to burn approximately 800 acres of fields near Hyatt Lane and the western end of Cades Cove. Weather permitting, burn operations will occur Thursday, February 16 through Sunday, February 19, 2017. Over the last 20 years, park managers have conducted these burns during the spring and fall ...

Following the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s lifting of water contact advisories for rivers and streams in Sevier County, the state wildlife agency is resuming its trout stocking program in the Little Pigeon River. TDEC reports that for over two decades, there was a public advisory against water contact due to elevated fecal coliform bacteria in the lower Middle ...

State insurance regulators are hosting a forum to address the concerns and complaints from consumers filing insurance claims due to the Sevier County wildfires. A community insurance assistance forum for home and property owners affected by the wildfires in Sevier County will be held 5–7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 at Rocky Top Sports World, 1870 Sports World Blvd. ...

Authorities say a woman fled from a traffic stop late Sunday night, leading police on a chase from Gatlinburg to Cosby that ended when an officer shot her. According to a release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a woman was shot after allegedly hitting an officer with her vehicle following a chase involving a National Park Service Ranger, officers ...

A team of fire experts is assembling at Great Smoky Mountains National Park to conduct a review of the Chimney Tops 2 fire that started in the park on Nov. 23, 2016. The purpose of the review team is to identify the facts leading up to and during the Chimney Tops 2 fire within the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains ...

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are investigating the shooting of two bald eagles in the Tennessee River Valley. The first injured eagle was reported on January 30 around 2 p.m. in Meigs County. TWRA Wildlife Sergeant Chris Combs responded to the call and found the bald eagle alive, but injured off of State ...

Two wildfire survivors support groups led by trained facilitators are organizing in Gatlinburg and will begin meeting next week. Anyone affected by the fires is encouraged to attend one or both of the groups and support one another in the days ahead. Monday, Feb. 6, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. Our Savior Lutheran Church 423 Historic Nature Trail (light #8) in ...

Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries once again has coordinated a countywide survey of homelessness. The Point in Time survey is scheduled throughout the country during January each year. It was done in East Tennessee on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The idea is to get as accurate a number as possible of homeless people in the United States. Federal officials choose January ...

Tennessee Department Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd and Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett announced today that the departments’ annual Governor’s Conferences will be held in Gatlinburg in October 2017. “Team Tennessee means nothing if we aren’t there to help one another in times of need. Because of the tremendous loss experienced by the Gatlinburg community late ...