Retired letter carrier Ronnie Hensley gives directions only by businesses that have closed, and his neighbors have started doing it back to him.
Ranger credits traffic for Cades Cove peace
The park service is crediting stopped traffic for the scenic loop’s ranking as Tennessee’s top place for peace and reflection. Ranger Wade Hutchins says the congestion is the reason the road won and the park intends to keep it.
Neighborhood group bans word walkable at meetings
The Fourth and Gill Neighborhood Association has added a rule barring developers from saying “walkable” or “vibrant” in presentations. It was tested Thursday by a man with an apartment proposal and a question about “strollable.”
Animal control seeks raccoon for fundraising
Knox County Animal Control is looking for a raccoon to help pay for a van. Field supervisor Lonnie Beck read about a Virginia department’s T-shirt fundraiser and thinks the county’s budget requests have been going about it the wrong way.
Coffee urn receives its own standing committee
A Baptist church in Halls gave its Sunday coffee urn a standing committee and named the man who makes the coffee as chairman. He kept the key.
Hitching rail approved under existing cycling policy
A Western saloon moving into the former Mirage space on Gay Street has been approved for a hitching rail. The city sent the request to the bicycle-parking office, which asked for the wheel diameter.
Loyston remains open for sightseeing
NORRIS LAKE — Retired marina hand Wendell Tackett takes pontoon passengers over drowned Loyston and describes the town in the present tense, store, delivery truck and church-supper lot included.
Chattanooga paper now smells of Knoxville
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN — Retired subscriber Harold Blevins says the Chattanooga Times Free Press now smells like Knoxville, since its printing moved to the News Sentinel’s press. He reads it on the porch.
Sunsphere upkeep continues at home
KNOXVILLE — The Sunsphere elevator’s “out of service” sign was made by a maintenance hand who has since retired, and the tower still brings it to his house when the laminate clouds. His wife bought a replacement. He says the lettering is too skinny.
Law firm calls office kangaroo business development
KNOXVILLE — A downtown law firm keeps a partner’s kangaroo in its lobby, and people from nearby offices have been signing in to see her. The receptionist is out an apple a day. A partner calls the foot traffic business development.
Mug club member asks brewery to leave No. 14 on its hook, is told the half mug will be No. 212
KNOXVILLE — Ron Pettigrew, 63, has kept a 20-ounce mug on the wall of a Central Avenue brewery since 2015 and would like it left there when the ten-ounce mugs come in. The brewery sent a coupon good only in the new mug.
Vestal woman’s 1994 pickle jar rode through two house moves unopened
Ruth Ann Whitaker, 81, bought a jar of bread-and-butter pickles in 1994 and has moved it through two house moves without opening it. A fresh jar goes on the counter before every family gathering.
Tuesday foursome asks Sports Authority to count it as an existing tenant
Leonard Mercer, 77, has held the 7:40 Tuesday tee time at Knoxville Municipal Golf Course since 1974 and has written the Sports Authority asking to be counted as an existing tenant. The renderings label the seventh green “open space.”
Farragut subdivision’s newsletter has run the same trash-bin notice since 1994, residents say they would miss it
FARRAGUT — A homeowners association newsletter has run the same trash-container notice since 1994. A board motion to review it died without a second, and the original author in Ohio has not been asked.
Lenoir City man asks TVA to strike one word from his time capsule message, is sent a tour coupon
LENOIR CITY — Ray Dockery, 71, has written TVA a third time asking that his last word be struck from the Norris Dam time capsule. TVA has sealed it and sent another tour coupon.