Event Archive (267)
Hike and learn at Trails and Trilliums Festival in South Cumberland State Park
MONTEAGLE — Naturalists and nature lovers are invited to South Cumberland State Park April 8-10 for the Trails and Trilliums Festival sponsored by Friends of South Cumberland State Park. The Dubose Conference Center will be the base of operations for activities throughout the park.
Registration opens at noon April 8 with activities for those who arrive early, followed at 5 p.m. by Wine and Wildflowers, a kickoff event featuring author David Haskell. In 2012, “The Forest Unseen” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. Haskell is expected to speak about his latest book “Sounds Wild and Broken” released by Penguin Random House on March 1.
The rest of this weekend-long celebration of nature and education will feature activities throughout the park and the community. From Foster Falls to Savage Gulf and Sherwood Forest, participants will enjoy bird walks, wildflower walks, nature journaling and sketching, and a university herbarium and greenhouse tour. The Saturday evening star party is sure to be a hit, weather permitting.
Find a full schedule and registration information at Trails and Trilliums.
TVA reopens public meetings to .... the public
Written by Bri Knisley
A public demonstration in September 2021 in Market Square in Knoxville demanding TVA resume public meetings with reasonable pandemic safeguards. Courtesy Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
After pandemic starts and stutters, TVA finally allows personal public input at meetings
KNOXVILLE
For the first time in nearly two years, the publicly owned Tennessee Valley Authority will host a public listening session on the day prior to its next board of directors meeting.
Since shifting to virtual board meetings in 2020, TVA diverged from other utilities across the country by not holding a single virtual public listening session. In addition, written comments submitted by ratepayers prior to board meetings have not been shared with the media or the public.
Imagine a
Sign up for cleaner electricity in the Tennessee Valley!
There’s a huge opportunity to fight for clean energy jobs in the Cumberland Fossil plant area! The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning to retire the Cumberland Fossil Plant in the coming years, but if local residents don’t take action, TVA will replace the coal fire with expensive, dangerous, and polluting natural gas –– a fossil fuel that harms the environment and would require a massive gas pipeline that would run through several nearby counties.
Stand with local residents and tell the TVA you want cleaner and safer electricity! Sign on to this public comment for the TVA Board Meeting on February 10!
Get involved: Protestors lock arms to demand TVA swear off fossil fuels for good
Written by Thomas FraserProtestors chant and wave signs urging TVA to commit to a fossil fuel-free future during a protest in downtown Knoxville this summer. Courtesy Amy Rawe/Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Activists will demand TVA allow public comments during a protest planned for Wednesday morning outside TVA HQ in downtown Knoxville
Knoxville clean-air activists plan another protest Wednesday outside of Tennessee Valley Authority headquarters to demand a return to public-comment periods and a commitment the huge utility won’t rely on fossil-fuel energy sources in the future.
“Public input is critical right now, while TVA is considering building new, large fossil gas power plants and pipelines, even though they would be contrary to our need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030,” said protest organizer Brady Watson of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment is also coordinating the protest.
Get involved: Share your vision for the Tennessee River this evening
Open house for ideas at Mill and Mine is part of the Tennessee RiverLine project
You can share your cultural and environmental visions for the Tennessee River and Knoxville waterfront during an open house this afternoon hosted by members of the RiverTowns Program leadership team.
They will be taking down your thoughts as part of the overall Tennessee RiverLine project, which is a blueprint for economic development and ecotourism along the 652-mile length of the river, from Knoxville to Paducah, Kentucky.
The drop-in event is set for 4 to 7 p.m. today (Nov. 8) at the Mill and Mine, 227 W. Depot Ave. in downtown Knoxville.
Hellbender Press covered the dedication of the Tennessee RiverLine in May.
“Residents are invited to drop in and share their ideas about how Knoxville’s riverfront can be improved in the future to increase equitable public access to river spaces and experiences; improve river health and resource stewardship; and promote entrepreneurship and economic development for the city and region,” according to a news release.
A previous open house was canceled because of inclement weather. Similar events are planned for other locales along the line.
If you can’t make the event, you can share your thoughts about Knoxville’s riverfront on the Tennessee RiverLine’s online survey.
University of Tennessee climate panel: Scientists say don’t despair. Yet.
Written by Thomas Fraser
Scientists discuss climate challenges and solutions during 2021 One Health Day
As climate experts and scientists huddled in Glasgow in an international effort to stem potentially disastrous global environmental changes, a panel of doctors representing multiple disciplines at the University of Tennessee and beyond offered their assessments of climate challenges and solutions.
Their take on climate change? We have problems, but we also have solutions. Hopelessness will drive you crazy. Stay healthy, stay informed and do your part to mitigate the long-term environmental consequences of a changing Earth.
Above all: Don’t despair and don’t lose hope.
The panel, held Nov. 3 at the UT Student Union and presented by the UT One Health Initiative, consisted of the following experts:
— Dr. Gus Engman, Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
— Dr. Kate Evans, Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
— Dr. Joshua Fu, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennesse
— Dr. Sindhu Jagadamma, Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
— Dr. Kristina Kintziger, Department of Public Health, University of Tennessee
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity and don’t include the full response. Questions were submitted ahead of time or during the panel discussion.
What do you see as the largest threats of climate change, especially related to your individual research interests?
Engman: Changing precipitation patterns are something I think about a lot.
Pretty much all the rivers in the world are expected to have changes to their flow regime.
These changes in droughts and floods are a really large issue.
I think a lot about aquatic communities. If we are scarce on drinking water, we are always going to prioritize people having that water, over the fish or the bugs in the streams.
There are all kinds of impacts to life histories and interactions with communities in streams.
When animals are stressed because of these changes in precipitation patterns and changes in flow patterns, they might become more susceptible to other stressors, like disease.
Changes in algal community composition can impact the entire water quality of a stream, and that might happen because of these changes in precipitation patterns.
These places that are experiencing these extreme droughts really worry me. The Colorado River already doesn’t even flow all the way to the ocean anymore. That’s a huge change. Because we take up so much water for agriculture.
If a stream runs out of water, it’s not a stream anymore.
Evans: From a meteorological perspective, the biggest event that hurts people's health is actually heat waves. A lot of press goes to tornadoes and hurricanes and storms but in fact these large domes of hot air (are deadly), which happen because of changes in the large-scale weather patterns.
The greenhouse effect insulates the earth, it makes it more uniform in temperature and so that changes the flow patterns that go around the earth. That changes those big weather systems that come in and how long they stick around.
When you talk about these long droughts, we know that’s what's we have to understand: Will they last longer, be more humid, less humid, and that has huge impacts for human health as well as the food they eat and the plants that grow.
Kintziger: Heat also has a bigger impact on a more indirect pathway to human health. Not just heat-related illness but also cardiovascular impacts, renal impacts and even mental health impacts.
Heat is the one that keeps me up at night. We are seeing increasing temperatures globally and we also have this urban heat island affect.
Our vulnerable populations in the cities — inner cities with lower-income housing, homeless populations — they are going to experience heat very differently than people who live in newer buildings with better cooling and infrastructure and have better capabilities for adapting to heat.
From climate change to water quality, UT One Health Day examines the challenges of our time
Charles Henry Turner
The University of Tennessee One Health Initiative will host an impressive array of climate-related discussions, presentations and museum tours Wednesday, Nov. 3, at the UT Student Union on Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville. A virtual option is also available for the day-long event, which is affiliated with the 6th Annual World One Health Day.
The day will feature a “One Health and Climate Change” expert panel discussion, which is set for noon and includes perspectives ranging from the UT Institute of Agriculture to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A kayak outing and trash cleanup along the Tennessee River and its tributaries are also planned, as is a tour of UT Gardens, and the herbarium. McClung Museum at Circle Park will offer up its freshwater mussel collection for closer inspection and host a tour examining archaeology findings related to the indigenous inhabitants of Tennessee.
Check out University of Tennessee One Health Day for a full schedule and more information.
You are invited to Friday’s Great Smokies African American Experience Project Townhall meeting
Catch a beer and documentary on the importance of freshwater fish and their current swim into oblivion
Albright Grove Brewing Company will host a viewing Wednesday, Sept. 29 of “Hidden Rivers,” a documentary detailing the smaller, gilled denizens of Southern Appalachian creeks, rivers and streams and the threats they face.
The screening of “Hidden Rivers” by Freshwaters Illustrated is planned for 6 p.m. at Albright Grove Brewing, 2924 Sutherland Ave. in Knoxville.
“This film aims to show off the stunning freshwater biodiversity of the Southern Appalachian region, and to highlight conservation efforts, beauty, and vulnerability of these ecosystems,” according to Conservation Fisheries, a Knoxville-based nonprofit geared toward the preservation of native Appalachian fishes and their ecosystems.
Conservation Fisheries is in its 35th year of breeding, sharing and releasing broods of threatened fishes collected from points ranging from the Conasauga River to Little River and beyond.
Pellissippi Parkway punches: Vocal opposition slams highway extension plans at public meeting
Written by Thomas Fraser
UPDATED: Opponents of Pellissippi Parkway Extension hammer bureaucrats, unelected economic development officials at public meeting
(This story has been updated with this link to the Tennessee Department of Transportation recording of the Sept. 21 public hearing on the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension project).
Raw emotions spilled over at a Tennessee Department of Transportation public meeting to collect citizen input on a nearly 5-mile, four-lane highway that would carve through creeks, forests, farms and homes in rural Blount County in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
The meeting was held Tuesday evening at Heritage High School, not far from where the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension (which would originate at the terminus of the current parkway near Rockford) would abruptly bisect East Lamar Alexander Parkway, just to the west of Walland Gap and the Little River Gorge.
As Hellbender Press has reported on the Pellissippi extension, many people aren’t happy with the proposition of spending at least $100 million on a 4.5-mile stretch of highway, and people are uncomfortable with both the use of eminent domain to force them from their homes or seize portions of their property and the unavoidable and long-lasting environmental and cultural impact such a project would have on the rural areas of Blount County. The projected cost of the project has vacillated by millions of dollars.
East Lamar Alexander Parkway (U.S. 321) terminates in Townsend; along the way are turnoffs to many valuable pieces of real estate and immensely successful high-end hospitality venues, such as Blackberry Farm. Hellbender Press reached out to Blackberry Farm through its Nashville-based public relations team about the nearby highway project and was simply told “we have no comment.”
- pellissippi extension right of way
- pellissippi parkway extension
- pellissippi public hearing
- little river
- threats to little river
- little river endangered fish
- rockford
- east lamar alexander parkway
- opposed to pellissippi parkway extension
- citizens against the pellissippi parkway extension
- cappe
- townsend
- rural blount county
- tdot public hearing on pellissippi parkway extension
- walland
- little river gorge
- great smoky mountains national park
- great smoky mountains national park visitation
- us 321 to townsend
- video of pellissippi parkway extension hearing
Share your ride and learn about other electric whips during Drive Electric Week
One of the biggest electric vehicle loads in state history is set for Saturday at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville.
The Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association; Pellissippi State Community College; and Drive Electric Tennessee are all plugging to make the 2021 Knoxville Drive Electric Week Event the largest ever in the state, according to organizers.
Vendors, test drives and educational activities will be held on the PSCC Hardin Valley campus just off Pellissippi Parkway from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25.
The only criteria for displaying your electric scooter, ATV, car or motorcycle: They must be plugged in to recharge. Everyone who drives an electric vehicle, or is interested in alternative fuel sources, is welcome to attend.
After pushback, TDOT to host public hearing Tuesday for Pellissippi Parkway extension through rural Blount County at foot of Smokies
Written by Lesli Bales-Sherrod
TDOT says right-of-way funds already secured despite protest; questions remain about cost that could exceed $100 million for 4.5 miles of new roadway
Those who want to weigh in on the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension in Blount County have another opportunity this week to voice their opinions on the controversial $60 million, 4.4-mile highway extension.
An earlier, virtual public hearing on the matter was deemed insufficient by members of the public and, notably, Blount County commissioners.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation will hold an in-person public meeting 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at Heritage High School, 3741 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville.
The state transportation department is holding the meeting at the request of Blount County Commission and in conjunction with the virtual design meeting that was open April 15-29.
As previously reported by Hellbender Press, the proposed 4.4-mile stretch of four-lane highway would lengthen State Route 162, known as Pellissippi Parkway, from where it ends at Knoxville Highway (State Route 33) to East Lamar Alexander Highway (State Route 73/U.S. 321) in Maryville.
Transportation projects are developed in four phases: planning and environmental; design; right of way; and construction. The Pellissippi Parkway Extension is in the design phase.
“The public meeting is one of the first things we do as we kick off and get a lot of input with the initial design,” says TDOT Region 1 Director Steve Borden in a video uploaded to YouTube on Sept. 15. “After we complete this phase, we will be heading into the right of way phase, which is funded, so once this process is complete we will start the right-of-way phase of the project.”
The purpose of Tuesday’s meeting is to allow affected property owners and the general public to comment on the proposed design elements for the Pellissippi Parkway Extension.
A formal presentation will begin at about 5:30 p.m., followed by a short Q&A, according to TDOT.
“Beyond this initial presentation and group Q&A, most of the evening will be reserved for one-on-one conversations between TDOT representatives and individual attendees,” according to TDOT’s Pellissippi Parkway webpage. “TDOT asks that questions and comments raised during the group Q&A be limited to the general design of the project and that questions or comments regarding a single property be reserved for the one-on-one conversations while reviewing project displays.”
A Design Meeting Display, a Design Meeting Handout and a Design Meeting Video Flythrough that were available for April’s virtual design meeting are still online for those who want to review the design before Tuesday’s meeting.
Borden noted the virtual design meeting was held because of COVID-19 and that TDOT will record Tuesday’s meeting for those who are uncomfortable attending in person due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
“We are going to videotape the meeting so they will be able to hear all the questions and all the answers, see all of the presentations online, and they will also be able to comment on our website as well so that we can extend that period of comments,” he said.
The Pellissippi Parkway Extension has been part of the Knoxville regional transportation planning vision since 1977, according to a 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. A Record of Decision issued in August 2017 selected a preferred route for the new stretch of road, which would cross Old Knoxville Highway, Wildwood Road, Brown School Road, Sevierville Road and Davis Ford Road before terminating near Morning Star Baptist Church in Maryville.
TDOT estimates the project would impact 56 properties and result in 11 single-family relocations, according to the Record of Decision. Cost estimates have ranged between $60 million and $65 million, an estimate prepared by TDOT in June 2017, and $194 million in “Horizon Year 2026” dollars, according to the TPO’s Mobility Plan 2040 finalized in 2016.
Nagi told Hellbender Press earlier this year that the discrepancy in the figures was due to a change in methodology. No new figures are available for the project on the TDOT website.
J.J. takes a bus down Electric Avenue
Hard Knox Wire: City takes media and politicos on a spin aboard KAT’s newest electric bus
The city demonstrated and offered rides aboard the Knoxville Area Transit’s new electric buses at Caswell Park on Thursday. The city and Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) plan to acquire a total of 18 electric buses as part of a plan to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 80 percent over the next thirty years. Five of the buses, built by Canada-based manufacturer New Flyer, have arrived.
“In the United States, transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and consequently climate change. Transit has the power to change that,” city transit director Isaac Thorne told Hard Knox Wire.
“By drawing new people to consider transit, reducing reliance on cars, opening up opportunities, and providing sustainable mobility choices, transit can make cities more livable, make the air cleaner, and help meet our challenging but achievable climate goals,” he said.
The city plans to have 18 electric buses representing 26 percent of KAT’s fleet in regular operation by the end of next year. Another 41 percent of the existing fleet are hybrids, according to KAT.
The Knoxville Utilities Board is installing multiple chargers to service the electricity needs of the new fleet.
The new buses will undergo multiple trial runs before they hit the road with public passengers in January, probably along the Sutherland and Magnolia routes.
“KAT’s fleet of 71 buses carry around 3 million passengers each year on its 23 bus routes and three downtown trolley routes. There are 1,150 bus stops scattered throughout the city, and bus routes come within a half-mile of 80 percent of the population,” Hard Knox Wire reported.
“Today marks a dramatic milestone for Knoxville — this is a major step on our path toward a more clean and resilient future for our children and grandchildren,” Mayor Indya Kincannon said in a news release from KAT.
“These high-efficiency electric buses are an investment in clean air, in healthy neighborhoods, and mobility for our residents.”
Park service seeks public input on regulation of Smokies helicopter flights
A public input session has begun as part of a joint effort between the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Park Service to establish limited helicopter tour routes over Great Smoky Mountains National Park along with protocols geared to reduce the environmental and visitor impact of the flights.
The flights are already occurring, and have been for years; park service officials said in a news release that 946 flights per year would be allowed under the Air Tour Management Plan, in line with current levels of helicopter tours conducted each year by two operators outside the park.
The park service and FAA plan a virtual public meeting on the proposed tour routes at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 16. Public comment is accepted through Oct. 3, and can be entered into the record at the Smokies Air Tour Management Plan website.
“Great Smoky Mountains National Park is among 24 parks of the National Park System developing air tour management plans in cooperation with the FAA,” park officials said in a press release.
“The agencies hope to complete all air tour management plans by the end of August 2022. The schedule is part of a plan approved by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for the agencies to comply with the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 within two years.”
Ijams gets down to Earth with our winged friends
Written by Thomas Fraser
Certified master bander Mark Armstrong tends gently to a tufted titmouse shortly before turning his attention to a hummingbird. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Ijams Nature Center offers a celebration of winged creatures that can bring us all to new heights
The hummingbird buzzed to freedom from a loving human hand into the early midsummer morning.
It was the latest bird to be tagged after collection from a harmless mist net as volunteer naturalists introduced the uninitiated and curious to the simple wonder of birds and the more complicated collections of data needed to ensure their wellbeing.
The hummingbird, along with at least one tufted titmouse, was just one of many feathered friends captured in the pleasantly cool air at Ijams and described in detail by naturalists and friends Saturday morning (Aug. 28) during Ijams Nature Center’s biggest annual educational showcase: the Hummingbird Festival: Celebration of Wings, presented by Ergon Terminaling Inc. and Trust Company of Tennessee.
But it was also a celebration of connections between earth and air as attendees passed from conservation displays to food and natural products and crafts stands. Animals on display ranged from an owl and groundhog to an apple-chewing opossum.
(News alert: Katy did it!) Seventeen-year cicadas were just an opening act. Now the woods are rolling with the rhythm of our annual insects.
Written by Stephen Lyn Bales
A true katydid is shown here. It’s one of the main insects that provides a permanent soundtrack to your summer life in the Knoxville area. Stephen Lyn Bales/Hellbender Press
What’s that buzz? We thought Brood X was over.
In case you haven’t noticed: It’s hot!
The “dog days of summer,” are so called because the season coincides with the period of time when the brightest star Sirius, aka the Dog Star, rises and sets with the Sun: early July through August into September.
The ancients believed that when Sirius and the Sun were in the sky together, the days were hotter. I think they got it right.
August has never been that thrilling to me, more of a month to endure. The birds have finished raising their families and are going through their late-season molt. Some of the migratory birds have already started to move south. But that doesn’t mean that our backyards are totally silent because late summer is cacophonous with insects.
During the day, the trees are filled with large, green cicadas that generally spend three years underground in their larval stage, but they are not all in sync like Brood X was, so each summer we have plenty that mature to collect en masse in our neighborhoods.
To attract females, the male cicadas do the chainsaw buzzing, but the songs are not made with vocal chords but rather special organs on the sides of their abdomens called “tymbals.” In effect, their sides vibrate loudly.
Locally in the Knoxville region we have five species of these annual cicadas. Early in the morning and into the afternoon, swamp cicadas (Neotibicen tibicen) are calling. They are also known as morning cicadas because they usually crank up by 10 a.m. with a long uninterrupted rattle that builds in intensity.
Fly, flit, buzz, flutter or soar over to Ijams Nature Center this weekend for its Hummingbird Festival and Celebration of Wings
Bats, birds and all winged creatures are the guests of honor at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville this weekend.
The center plans a celebration of science and our flighty friends from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The educational event is open to all ages and will feature bird-banding demonstrations/projects; food trucks; guided walks; expert speakers; arts and crafts; and a chance to meet a number of raptors and animals native to East Tennessee. Citizen science demonstrations will show how anyone can contribute to the study and conservation of our natural world.
You can get tickets online for the Hummingbird Festival and Celebration of Wings.
The 2021 Ijams Hummingbird Festival: Celebration of Wings is sponsored by Ergon Terminaling Inc., The Trust Company of Tennessee, WBIR-TV Channel 10, HomeTrust Bank, Stanley's Greenhouse, and Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
Tennessee Theatre latest major venue to require vax proof or test result for entry
The Tennessee Theatre announced Monday it will require proof of inoculation against Covid-19 or a recent negative test for the virus before entry into the historic, storied theater on Gay Street in Knoxville. The theater will also require that all audience members be masked. The new rules are effective immediately.
The theater said in an email that increasing rates of infection in the Knoxville area and elsewhere in the country — predominantly in the Southeast — prompted the public-safety decision.
”Because of this, the Tennessee Theatre is enacting some new (Covid) protocols to allow us to continue presenting events while doing our best to keep our audiences safer and healthier.“ The rules will be in place at least through Halloween, according to the theater.
”While we take these necessary steps to remain open and serving the community while providing a safer environment for all, we ask for patience and understanding as we continue to navigate a challenging period in the Tennessee Theatre’s 93-year history.”
The negative test must have been administered within the preceding 72 hours.
Some upcoming shows and events at the Tennessee Theatre into October include this week’s screening of the Goonies; three Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Series performances; the Righteous Brothers; and an Alton Brown appearance.
Clean-energy advocates take demands to base of TVA towers and power
Written by Thomas Fraser
Alex Pulsipher holds a sign demanding that TVA transition to 100 percent renewable energy at a rally Wednesday in Market Square in Knoxville. Courtesy Amy Rawe/Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Varied environmental groups offer unified plea for clean energy, coal ash management and accountability from TVA
It was people power generating energy at Market Square in downtown Knoxville on Wednesday.
A coalition of civic and environmental groups and their representatives met at the bottom of the two Tennessee Valley Authority towers urging the public utility to reopen meetings to public comment; swear off all fossil fuels by 2030; and carefully tend to the needs of those affected by coal ash and devise a plan to contain it for the safety of current and future generations.
- tva clean energy
- coal ash
- kingston coal ash spill
- southern alliance for clean energy
- kingston coal ash worker
- tva coal ash
- sunrise movement
- appalachian voices
- sierra club
- tennessee valley authority
- accountability
- public comment
- tva board meeting
- carbon reduction
- climate action
- carbon free by 2030
- renewable energy
Raise your voice for clean energy today in downtown Knoxville
Looking for something to do after work? Want to be part of a rising movement urging TVA to move away from fossil fuels in the face of the global climate crisis? Support transparency from the largest public utility in the country?
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Appalachian Voices, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sunrise Movement, Sierra Club, and other local organizations are hosting a clean-energy rally from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today (Aug. 18) on Market Square near TVA’s headquarters in downtown Knoxville.
TVA hasn’t had a public listening session in over a year, according to rally organizers. Rally participants will demand that TVA:
— Restore public listening and input sessions;
— Commit to 100 percent clean energy by 2030;
— Not build new fossil gas plants;
— Protect coal ash workers, and;
— Dispose of coal ash properly with public health and safety as the utmost priority.
The rally will feature songs from local musicians, a reading of demands for TVA, speakers discussing pressing issues for TVA and our region, and a short march around Market Square.
Masks and social distancing are encouraged. For those unable to attend in person, a virtual option is available at Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement Facebook page.
From Appalachian Voices: Learn about the terminal sacrifices made for our carbon lifestyle
Coal miners who contracted black lung disease are at risk of losing their healthcare options as mining companies wind down operations.
Join Appalachian Voices for an online overview of the disease, testimony from the afflicted and potential cures for this blemish on public health.
From Appalachian Voices:
“Rates of black lung are at their highest level in decades, and a wave of bankruptcies have enabled some coal companies to quit paying for healthcare and disability benefits for miners with the disease.
“This means that more and more miners must rely on the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund to provide these critical resources. But the small tax coal companies pay to finance the trust fund is in jeopardy. Industry lobbyists and some in Congress want to give coal companies a tax break at the expense of miners, even though the trust fund is already billions of dollars in the red.
“This webinar, at 6 p.m. Aug. 11, will feature a panel of coal miners and other advocates discussing the impacts of black lung disease, the policies that are needed to address this public health crisis, and what you can do to support the miner-led grassroots movement for black lung benefits and healthcare.”
100 citizens attend ‘People’s Hearing’ on TVA and demand more accountability, transparency
Written by Rick HerronAttendees raise concerns about coal ash; call for more clean energy, transparency and public engagement from TVA
Nearly 100 people from Tennessee and other states served by the Tennessee Valley Authority joined a virtual People’s TVA Hearing. The hearing on Aug. 4 was organized by the Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement (TVEDM). It included a public comment session and multiple breakout sessions for attendees to discuss specific issues facing TVA and the Tennessee Valley.
TVA has not held any public listening sessions in a year and a half because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and attendees called on TVA to resume such sessions as soon as possible when the pandemic ebbs.
“TVA talks a good game about being public power but they are simply not walking the walk,” said Barbara Mott of Knoxville. “Hiding from the people is not the answer.”
As Rotty Top the corpse flower bloom ends its act on a malodorous note, it’s evident that a lot of people love nature – even its most indelicate stank
Written by JJ Stambaugh
Hundreds of humans attracted to stench of Rotty Top; Hard Knox Wire performs autopsy on UT corpse flower phenom
This story was originally published by Hard Knox Wire.
“What I feel the most is excited from all the exposure that folks are getting of biology and the greenhouses,” said UT biology greenhouse director Jeff Martin. “I didn’t realize this many people would be interested, and it’s great. Hopefully, this will get people a little more interested in other types of plants.”
She came, she reeked, she conquered.
That’s how the history books may recall Rotty Top’s brief tenure as the biggest star on the University of Tennessee campus in July 2021.
The corpse flower (or titan arum, to the biologists among us) finally bloomed early Thursday morning after two weeks of teasing its keepers — and the public — that it was about to drop its leaves and saturate its surroundings with the odor of decaying flesh.
Hundreds of visitors had already visited Rotty Top in the days preceding the rare event (the plant blooms at best once every decade), but on Thursday it seemed as though they were all returning at once. Shuttle buses carried curious fans from a nearby parking garage to the Hesler Biology Building on Circle Drive, and scores of people crowded around the titan arum’s enclosure to get a whiff of its infamous scent.
Tour de France champion will build bikes in Knoxville
WATE: Greg LeMond will manufacture and sell bicycles in Knoxville
Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond christened a new bike shop in Knoxville this week accompanied by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon.
LeMond has been researching and integrating carbon fibers into his bikes for a few years, but the Knoxville shop will sell electric bikes along with other bicycle styles.
“LeMond moved to Knoxville in 2016 and has a goal to build and sell bikes in the city and by the end of 2022, he plans to be making all of his bikes in East Tennessee,” WATE reported.
“The store is selling a range of bikes including road bikes, mountain bikes and electronic bikes. LeMond also stated that Tennessee has some of the best bike riding in the country.”
The store is on Deermont Lane in Knoxville.
Hai! It’s a summer baby cuteness boom at the Tennessee Aquarium
Written by Casey Phillips
The Tennessee Aquarium’s Gentoo penguin chick weighs more than 2 kilograms at 28 weeks old. Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium
Baby penguin, endangered turtles and puffer fish are the newest additions to the Tennessee Aquarium
(Casey Phillips is a communications specialist at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga)
As any parent knows, kids tend to do whatever you least expect. In the case of an endangered four-eyed turtle hatchling at the Tennessee Aquarium, however, merely existing was — in itself — a huge surprise.
On July 11, a volunteer was tending an enclosure in a backup area of the River Journey exhibit. This habitat was only supposed to house a female endangered four-eyed turtle (Sacalia quadriocellata, a largely montaine species native to parts of China and Vietnam), but the volunteer soon discovered that the adult turtle wasn’t alone. Perched atop a layer of vegetation was a tiny hatchling that, by all accounts, shouldn’t have been there.
“The adult female hadn’t been with a male in over a year, so we did not check to see if she had laid this year,” says Bill Hughes, the aquarium’s herpetology coordinator. “To say the least, finding an egg, let alone a hatchling, was unexpected.”
Tennessee Aquarium Herpetology Coordinator Bill Hughes holds a recently hatched endangered four-eyed turtle. Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium
Come get up close with a corpse (flower) at UTK
KnoxNews: Welcome to Rocky Top, Rotty Top!
A seldom-seen corpse flower is about to burst forth in bloom following a 20-year sleep — presumably not in a casket and not at the Body Farm — at the Hesler Biology Building at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
A previous faculty member got the plant two decades ago, but this is its first blooming cycle, according to the News Sentinel. It has been nursed along by current greenhouse director Jeff Martin — in someone else’s office, of course. The plant only blooms about every 10 years, if not more infrequently.
Members of the public are invited to come partake of the odor and revel in sheer stank in the next several days.
“A 2010 study by Japanese researchers attributed the plant’s smell to a combination of chemicals that smell like cheese, sweat, garlic, decaying meat, rotten eggs and more,” according to the News Sentinel.
But it’s not just about the smell: The plant produces the world’s largest flower and is endangered in the wild. Pollen from this corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum — you can suss out the literal definition yourself) may be used to pollinate other endangered corpse flowers, which are native to Southeast Asia.
The odor is an evolutionary pollination mechanism to attract flies and other insects that are attracted to the smell of rotting flesh.
Go on a hike and get a history lesson on Oak Ridge’s role in the Manhattan Project
Exercise your body and your mind during a ranger-guided hike starting at 10 a.m. July 17 along the Cedar Hill Greenway in Oak Ridge that will examine the local features of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
The “Secret City,” replete with housing, schools and shopping for a massive workforce, was carved out of largely rugged wilderness and farms during World War II to support the development of the first atomic bombs, known as the Manhattan Project.
The historical park, formed in November 2015, is actually a national collection of sites, including Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Hartford, that highlights features of the various communities, labs and reservations involved in the early development of atomic weapons and energy.
Rangers will share the story of the early days of 1940s-era Oak Ridge and Clinton Engineer Works, including the town’s nascent school system, which went on to become one of the best in the state and region. Its STEM programs are nationally recognized. Nuclear engineering work continues today at Y-12 National Security Complex. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a modern leader in scientific research and applications, ranging from high-speed computing to biology.
The 2.5-mile group hike begins, appropriately enough, at the site of the former Cedar Hill Elementary School (attended for a period by the editor of Hellbender Press) at the intersection of Outer Drive and Michigan Avenue.
The greenway hike may prove moderately difficult for some; so bring water and wear sunscreen and good shoes.
Call (865) 482-1942 for more information.
The sounds of silence: 17-year cicadas fade away as offspring prepare for 2038 performance
Written by Stephen Lyn Bales
Dead cicadas are seen on concrete in Knoxville at Holston River Park. Their brief sonic reign has come to an end. Photo courtesy of Lyn Bales
The cicada soundtrack of spring and early summer has come to a quiet end
“Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” sings country music outlaw Willie Nelson. “They say that all good things must end.”
Yes. Essentially Cicadapalooza 2021 is over. There may be a few late emerging males hanging on like the last few guys in the bar at closing time with hope against hope that somehow they will get lucky and Miss Wonderful will walk through the door. In this case, a female 17-year cicada clicks and clicks to let the male know she is interested or desperate to complete her mission.
As a rule of thumb, the entire periodical cicada phenomenon lasts four to six weeks but it is extremely weather dependent. Insects are ectothermic and need warm to hot temperatures to be active.
I saw my first evidence the cicada emergence had begun at Ijams Nature Center, where I worked for 20 years as a naturalist. Executive director Amber Parker told me where to look for emergence holes: under the sugar maple at the back of the Universal Trail. That was on April 20. I found the small exit tunnels but no cicadas or exuviae. I knew skunks, foxes, crows, jays, owls, dogs, cats, and anything else that will eat a bug quickly consume the first ones above ground.
Take Back TVA Rally
August 18, 2021
Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement
Saturday farmers market will return to Market Square in downtown Knoxville following pandemic shutdown
In a refreshing sign the worst of the Covid-19 crisis is behind us, the city of Knoxville on Monday announced the popular weekend Market Square farmers market will return July 10.
The Nourish Knoxville Market Square Farmers Market will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and feature local produce, organic foods, crafts, and other homespun products through November.
The Market Square farmers market resumed its Wednesday schedule in May with a smaller footprint and social-distancing measures. Markets on both days had been moved to another location in 2020 to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The city recommends, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, that people who have not been vaccinated continue to wear masks, according to a press release. Nourish Knoxville, which runs the farmers market, may require additional protocols for vendors and customers.
The Market Square splash fountains will be turned back on July 1. Fenced outdoor dining areas will also be removed.
Here's more information on the full return of the downtown Knoxville farmers market and other Market Square events.
CCL Climate Change Conference
Jun 12 1-5 p.m. – Jun 13 1-3:30 p.m. EDT
The Push for a Price on Carbon
Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) — June Virtual Conference
Online pre-conference reception Friday; main conference day Saturday; workshop choices Sunday. Free and open to the public - RSVP
An economy-wide carbon price is the single most powerful tool we have to reduce America’s carbon pollution to net zero by 2050. We’re asking Congress to enact that powerful tool this year.
Find the full agenda and FAQ’s on the CCL website
Tell TVA by THURSDAY: No new fossil gas plants!
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) recently announced plans to retire its five remaining coal-fired power plants by 2035.
However, it is seriously considering replacing them with large fossil gas power plants and new gas pipelines!
That’s like “two steps forward, one step back.”
TVA could take many more steps forward by prioritizing clean energy.
TVA’s new gas plan is not final, and the time to influence our public utility is now!
Click here to tell TVA, No new fossil gas plants!
Comment deadline is June 10
All forward: Tennessee RiverLine paddle trail offers world-class recreation and reconnects the valley with its river heritage
Written by Thomas Fraser
RiverLine dedicates itself to recreation and retrospect on the storied Tennessee River
In many respects, the United States and Native American nations before it were carved out by paddle blades.
Rivers provided transportation, communications, sustenance and avenues for exploration. They were the genesis of cities large and small.
Americans grew apart from the rivers that watered and nurtured a modern nation, their connections cut by outward growth and industrial development along riverbanks.
Only recently have the great continental rivers again become the centerpieces of redevelopment and modern recreation. One such effort officially launched in Knoxville on May 21 aims to further connect communities in four states with their river again.
A bale of turtles watched from logs embedded in the sediment of the Tennessee River (or more precisely, Fort Loudoun Lake) at Suttree Landing Park near downtown as officials from Knoxville to Paducah, Kentucky celebrated the creation of the Tennessee RiverLine, which will establish continuous paddling, hiking and biking trails along the 652-mile length of the reservoir-regulated river.
The initial effort, which will include enhanced launch and takeout sites, signage and navigational aids, 60 publicly available kayaks, campground enhancement, and publicity, is largely funded by a $400,000 investment shared between the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Valley Authority. The National Park Service is also a partner in the project.
Seventeen private and public groups of the RiverLine Partnership are committed to furthering the development of the trail, including the Nature Conservancy. Other supporters include Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.
“These partners have brought so much to the city of Knoxville,” said Mayor Indya Kincannon specifically of UT and TVA during her public remarks at the well-choreographed event in the well-groomed park with the downtown skyline visible under a clear, blue sky to the northwest.
“The Tennessee RiverLine is a continuation of our vision for what makes a healthy city: (which includes) parks and recreation,” she said, also touting the economic, therapeutic and spiritual benefits of ready access to outdoor recreation.
“During this past year, we’ve had a really hard time, dealing with the pandemic, and one thing that has helped me, and so many members of this community, is being able to be outside: being on the river, being in our parks,” Kincannon said.
“That has helped us get through some challenging times, and that’s going to help us into the future.”
Eva Millwood holds Brood X cicadas on her property in South Knoxville in this submitted photo.
We will see a groundswell of East Tennessee 17-year cicadas as the heat comes on.
We have been hearing about it for weeks, online and on TV and in print. After 17 years underground, millions of cicadas are going to climb out of their burrows, shed their juvenile skins, unfurl their wings and fly up into the trees for one last grand jester of panache and reproduction and death. You even read about Brood X cicadas in Hellbender Press.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency posted a recent Instagram photo of a wild turkey jake with a crop stuffed full of cicadas, and there are reports of cicadas emerging en masse in parts of Tennessee. But your local searching self may ask: Where are they?
Insects are largely ectothermic. That means their body temperature comes from the surrounding air, water or ground temperature. The periodical cicadas need a ground temperature of roughly 68 degrees, eight inches deep to become very active. And we really have not had that for a sustained length of time.
Last week seemed to be destined to be the first big week of the emergence of Brood X. Monday started strong but the weather turned unusually cool for early May with daytime highs in the low 60s. Some of the cicadas started to ease out but it was primarily dozens, not hundreds or thousands, and certainly not 1.5 million per occupied acre. And remember, they are not everywhere.
Technical Society of Knoxville Centennial Celebration
Jun 14 6:30 p.m. EST
The Turning Point: Things were never the same after 1921, when technology was changing the city in several surprising ways
Jack Neely, Executive Director of the Knoxville History Project
Technical Society of Knoxville (TSK)
Charity Banquet at Crowne Plaza for the Charles Edward Ferris Engineering Endowments at University of Tennessee, Knoxville - the public is invited - RSVP by June 8
Ferris was the first Dean of UTK’s College of Engineering.
More details on the event, sponsorships, and reservations
The Technical Society of Knoxville was founded in 1921. It has met over 4,000 times to discuss the application of technology from early Knoxville’s coal smoke and traffic problems to present Knoxville’s transportation air pollution and the impact of electric car technologies.
Nuclear energy update
Sep 13 Noon EST
Current Issues in the Nuclear Field
Richard H “Chip” Lagdon Jr.
Technical Society of Knoxville (TSK)
Zoom Webinar — Free and open to the public — advance registration required
Richard Lagdon is Professor of Practice in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. He also is Engineering Manager, Systems Integration and Chief Engineer, Nuclear Operations & Safety with Bechtel National Inc. Reston, VA.
He will review the status of current projects for Natrium and VTR fast reactors, the challenges of advanced reactor licensing and how the development of the Nuclear Licensing Course NE486/586 at UT reckons with these challenges.
He has forty years of progressive nuclear experience managing projects, developing technical policy, interfacing with stakeholders and developing long range plans. He is an accomplished nuclear professional, practiced in engineering, emergency operations, plant startups and conduct of operations while supporting operational goals.
From working as Shift Test Engineer for the reactors of the nuclear Navy to developing life cycle maintenance plans for aircraft carriers, Captain Lagdon’s broad range of assignments over 30 years in the Navy Reserves, earned him the Leo Bilger award for outstanding leadership. The civilian side of his career included a decade as Chief of Nuclear Safety in the U.S. Department of Energy, where he lead nuclear construction reviews for projects totaling more than $15 billion.
While some hope that nuclear energy will end the climate crisis others point out that it will be too expensive and take too long to scale up while climate disasters grow exponentially. What most can agree upon is that the reliable output of existing nuclear plants remains indispensable for the foreseeable future and that maintaining their safety is paramount.
The webinar organized by the Technical Society of Knoxville, which provides Professional Development Hour confirmation to attending professional engineers, is hosted by the Foundation for Global Sustainability (FGS).
FGS facilitates educational events to inform the public and foster better understanding of complex environmental, social and economic issues that impact the resilience of communities and the natural life support systems of planet Earth. Views and opinions expressed by event organizers and participants do not necessarily reflect the views of FGS. FGS neither endorses any product or service mentioned nor warrants for accuracy, completeness or usability of the information.
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ORNL scientists fan out to local schools and bring their research home during National Environmental Education Week
Written by Karen Dunlap
Students listen to a presentation from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher during National Environmental Education Week. Courtesy Oak Ridge National LaboratoryScientists link research to students’ lives and communities
(Editor’s note: Karen Dunlap is a public information officer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory).
Esther Parish is one of eight Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists talking to students in nine schools across East Tennessee as part of National Environmental Education Week.
On Monday, she spoke to Cathy Kimball’s fifth-grade class at Lenoir City Middle School.
The discussion covered renewable energy resources, science career paths and how climate change may affect East Tennessee.
Other ORNL scientists, including Debjani Singh, Liz Agee, Shelaine Curd, Spencer Washburn, Colleen Iversen, Keith Kline and Matthew Langholtz are participating in classroom events through April 30.
The national event is organized by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), which celebrates environmental education.
“I think it is important to reach out to young people about environmental science because the choices that our society makes regarding renewable energy resource development and climate-change mitigation will have long-term effects on their environment, health and future quality of life,” Parish said. She is a member of ORNL’s Environmental Science Division and specializes in geography and landscape ecology.
Volunteers remove 15 tons of trash from Tennessee River
Written by Thomas Fraser
This photo provided by Ijams Nature Center is an example of the plethora of weird things removed from the Tennessee River and its tributaries during the annual River Rescue held March 27.
Mattresses, rocking horse and plastic shed among the stranger items retrieved from area waterways
Volunteers removed 31,000 pounds from the Tennessee River and its watersheds on March 27 during the 32nd annual Ijams River Rescue despite a storm system that dropped several inches of heavy rain on the area.
The rain dissuaded some of the 717 volunteers signed up for the river rescue, but nearly 500 people still joined together to collect trash from 32 sites. Their nasty haul included 919 bags of garbage and 82 tires, according to a release from Ijams Nature Center.
The heavy rain actually worked out somewhat in organizers’ favor, as debris and flotsam were flushed from tributaries into the main stem of the river.
“Heavy rain always means more trash because the rising waters wash everything downstream and into the Tennessee River,” Ijams Volunteer Coordinator Madelyn Collins said in the news release. “We are so appreciative to everyone who braved the storms and did the work while they could. It was amazing how much volunteers accomplished in such a short time.”
One lucky participant found a $50 bill; other unusual items removed from the river included a toilet, a recliner, mattresses, a rocking horse, plastic shed and a baby stroller.
“The takeaway from this year’s event—and every other cleanup this community does—is that we need to be more careful about how we dispose of trash and recyclables. If you don’t put it where it belongs, it ends up in our water.”
Tennessee Valley Authority; city of Knoxville Stormwater Engineering; Bio Plumbing, LLC; First Horizon Foundation; Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; WestRock CP, LLC; Genera, Inc.; Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union; Waste Connections of Tennessee Inc.; CAC AmeriCorps; and the Water Quality Forum sponsored, supported or participated in the annual cleanup.
Show your mother some love this Earth Day
There are lots of ways to show your affection for our planet on Thursday, which marks the 51st annual observance of Earth Day.
You can stay at home and plant a tree; donate to your favorite environmental charity; join a virtual event; or clean up your block.
Or, unlike last year, you can join other like-minded individuals at socially-distanced observances and trash cleanups, and even drink some beer and get in a good jog with a purpose.
Here's a sampling of Earth Day celebrations in East Tennessee, some of which will occur Thursday and some of which will stretch into the weekend. If you'd like to include an event, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Hellbender Press editor and publisher Thomas Fraser will join several featured speakers during the Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center Earth Day 2021 Celebration. The virtual event runs from 6-8 p.m. Thursday and will include poetry, music and networking opportunities. You can register here. You can also view the Narrow Ridge Earth Day celebration on its Facebook page.
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Infinite Light Center will host an Earth Day ceremony at First Creek Park in Old North Knoxville at 11 a.m. Thursday, followed by lunch and music. Attendees are asked to bring a musical instrument, folding chair, and an individual lunch. Participants can also bring personal items to include in a mandala made with natural objects found in the park.
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Knoxville skaters and others are invited to come out and clean up the area around the Tyson Park skatepark at 6 p.m. Thursday. A skate session will follow.
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Keep Knoxville Beautiful will host a fun run along Sutherland Avenue to clean up litter along the roadway beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. Enjoy a brew from Albright Grove Brewing Company after the event.
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Seven Islands State Birding Park will offer a science program for home-school students from 1-3 p.m. Thursday. The program will include basic ecology lessons and crafts. Register here.
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The annual Running for the Bears 5k begins at at 10 p.m. Friday at Nantahala Outdoor Center in Gatlinburg. Proceeds from the race benefit Friends of the Smokies and black bear preservation efforts.
- Greensteps and WaterWays in Chattanooga will host a Citico Creek cleanup from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday.
- Green Steps and North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy organized a cleanup of North Chickamauga Creek from 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday. There are a range of other Earth Day events in the Chattanooga area.
TDOT opens virtual-only Pellissippi Parkway extension comment period for two weeks
Written by Thomas Fraser
$20 million per mile: TDOT opens virtual-only comment on highly controversial roadway
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has opened a virtual-only public comment period for the controversial Pellissippi Parkway extension, which would slice through the remaining rural areas of Blount County and move urban expansion and increased traffic flow ever closer to the Great Smoky Mountains, one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth.
The public comment period began April 15 and will last until April 25. The project has generated controversy and lawsuits for at least two decades, but TDOT decided the comment period should be held virtually for only two weeks because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project encompasses about four miles and will cost nearly $100 million. Opponents of the parkway say the extension is a waste of money and will destroy rural landscapes and wildlife habitat and pollute aquatic resources.
Here's a link to a story about the Pellissippi Parkway extension published in February by Hellbender Press.
According to The Daily Times, which reported the public hearings on April 19:
“'The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the department to look for alternate ways to engage and interact with the public,' TDOT spokesman Mark Nagi said in a video introducing the presentation, framed as a somewhat awkward-to-navigate virtual reality room.”
“It includes a history of the project, a right of way acquisition process overview, a project design summary and a comments and questions section. A digitally generated flyover video of the planned extension shows intricate details of how the road may look once completed.”
According to the TDOT website:
“The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will host a Virtual Design public meeting from April 15, 2021, to April 29, 2021, to gather public input on the proposed project in Blount County on SR-162 Ext. (Pellissippi Parkway), from SR-33 to SR-73 (US-321).”
“The virtual meeting was opened to the public at 8:00 am EST on April 15, 2021 and will close at 10:00 pm EST on April 29, 2021. The website link is:
https://gather.cdmsmith.com/v/v8jkyAVO149.”
The proposed highway would require the acquisition of private property and extend through the Wildwood and Sam Houston areas to an abrupt terminus with East Lamar Alexander Parkway to the west of Walland, which is host to an increasing number of high-dollar hospitality attractions such as Blackberry Farm.
Right-of-way acquisitions could start by the end of the year, according to The Daily Times.
To the east of the proposed parkway's end is Townsend, which bills itself as the “Peaceful Side of the Smokies.”