Alcoa's Board will preview a roughly $200 million FY27 budget next Tuesday that would fund major infrastructure projects while holding the line on property taxes.

Plaintiffs filed an April 28, 2026 appeal after a judge dismissed consolidated lawsuits over the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires. The ruling said park officials’ warning choices were protected by federal immunity.

A viral clip of Keith Ervin telling a student "God, you're hot" prompted a school board censure and a symbolic no‑confidence vote by county commissioners. The measures stop short of removal, and Ervin is up for re‑election in August.

Knox County Republicans asked prosecutors to review Commissioner Courtney Durrett’s claim she voted in the GOP primary, raising legal questions as the May 5 primary nears.

Knoxville City Council could vote May 12 on an ordinance to ban smoking in all bars, a move supporters call a public‑health and workers' rights win.

Lawmakers added $7M to the FY27 budget to unlock federal Summer EBT benefits, but the $120-per-child grocery payment won’t arrive until summer 2027.

The General Assembly passed the HOPE Treatment Act to let Tennessee institutions join FDA‑authorized ibogaine trials, pairing research access with safety and oversight requirements.

A Tennessee bill would tax some international transfers and channel part of the money into a Promising Futures child‑care pilot, drawing industry pushback.

A narrow Senate vote on April 22, 2026 blocked a late expansion to Tennessee's Education Savings Account program, leaving Knox County and higher income thresholds off the table.

The Tennessee House voted April 21 to add "honorifics" to the state’s ban on forced use of preferred names or pronouns, barring schools and state agencies from requiring titles such as Mr., Mrs., Dr. or Mx.

A newly signed Tennessee law hands campus leaders more power to discipline and remove professors, narrowing tenure safeguards at UT Knoxville.

DOE official Timothy Walsh visited Oak Ridge and pitched reusing cleaned-up federal land for reactors, AI supercomputers and medical‑isotope work. The plan ties cleanup to new private investment.

Commissioners unanimously asked the budget committee to use the certified tax rate or lower, a move that could shrink Blount County's levy as reappraisals land.