2024

Time is running out to experience the fire towers of the Smokies  There used to be 17 fire towers in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park that were utilized prior to the 1930s by the Forest Service. I know little of their…
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Susan Verekar combines abstract elements with joyous landscapes When COVID-19 shut down the world, some of us retreated into Netflix movies and glasses of chilled chardonnay. Susan Verekar, however, taught herself a new skill and…
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He's coming home! He rose to stardom just a few years ago, but the momentum hasn't stopped! Hometown country music star, Morgan Wallen, will return to East Tennessee this September during his One Night at a Time tour, a surprise that…
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Bistro by the Tracks Bearden brings updated sophistication to the old Orangery building Everyone comes in with fond memories of The Orangery,” says Bistro by the Tracks Bearden General Manager Will Oakes. “We think we’ve taken this…
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Julie DuPree designs homes with showstopping detail, proving that every space matters I’m here to see a house, but it’s the roofline that grabs my attention. Before I can even stop the car, my eyes follow the brick detailing of tall,…
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“Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?”“No, but I served in a company of heroes.” —Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers In 1998, television anchorman and journalist Tom Brokaw authored The Greatest Generation, a book profiling many of those…
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Regrets, I’ve had a fewBut then again, too few to mentionI did what I had to doAnd saw it through without exemption.—Frank Sinatra, 1969 I read where the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame recently inducted another class without including…
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Owl Ridge Raptor Center nurtures injured, displaced birds and returns them to the wild Beak was a tiny owlet, homeless and on the ground when a dog sniffed him out. A great horned owl, he was passed along to wildlife rehabilitator Lynne…
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Vietnam veteran Randall Leyshon found healing after a half-century of mournful memories "Did you hear about John?” the young man asked warily, as he and several other 9th Infantry Division Army soldiers chatted with then-1st Lt. Randall…
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There’s a lot more to Italian cuisine than pasta—but there’s also the pasta. Growing up, a night out at a nice restaurant with the family almost always meant Italian. Perhaps it’s just that my parents found that spaghetti was a safe…
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