By Steve Williams Trey Foster was a versatile performer at Austin-East High and is probably best known for combining for 4,149 yards and 45 touchdowns passing and rushing during the 2019 football season. The All-State quarterback also played basketball and was on the...
By Ray Hill Thomas Clarke Rye was twice governor of Tennessee. From rural West Tennessee, Tom C. Rye had little formal education, a fact he readily admitted. “Subscription schools were the only ones we had then, so I didn’t go very regularly and stopped altogether...
By Steve Williams Student-Athletes of the Year Ashton Blair and Tyler Bost were a big part of unprecedented accomplishments for Central High before the COVID-19 coronavirus impact during the second semester resulted in an unprecedented school year. Blair, a 6-3...
By Ken Lay Joe Maddon is normally busy managing Major League Baseball this time of year and his schedule would probably be a bit more demanding in 2020, considering that he has a new job. But he hasn’t managed the Los Angeles Angels since March and has yet to skipper...
Dogwood Arts announce winners of annual contest By Ken Lay The COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with the 2020 Dogwood Arts Festival, causing many of its signature events to be canceled or postponed. But the festival still went on virtually and the organizers still...
By Steve Hunley The only really bad thing about being a weekly newspaper is preparing an editorial on one topic. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear from people wondering why I didn’t write about this or that. There’s so much that happens nationally and locally...
By Mike Steely Senior Writer steelym@knoxfocus.com He has been honored by national, state and local organizations and recognized by Reader’s Digest and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Despite all the attention and accolades, this restaurateur doesn’t seem to let fame go...
By Ray Hill Malcolm Patterson, twice elected governor of Tennessee, had attempted to make a political comeback by entering the first U. S. Senate race where the people nominated candidates for the general election in 1915. Patterson faced stiff opposition in the...
By Steve Williams Gus Manning, the legendary UT athletic administrator, was once the quarterback at Rule High and an older teammate of DM Miller on the Golden Bears’ football team. Miller passed away at 94 on April 15, but made his mark on Rule High and was well known...
By Steve Williams Won-loss records don’t always tell the whole story when it comes to the impact a high school football coach has on his players, program and community. Bill Young was a good example of that at Bearden. Young had compiled an overall record of 98-94 in...
Since 1982, Smoky Mountain...
By Steve Williams Karns is...
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More than 20 volunteers...
By Adam Sullivan It’s not...
Rosie Moore celebrated her...