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A shooting at Central High School ended the day before it even began as one student was fatally shot Thursday morning. Students were in the cafeteria of the school when witnesses said they saw two male students shoving and would end with the death of Ryan McDonald, age 15. The school went into lockdown immediately as students run into rooms and teachers locked doors. Other area schools were also put into lockdown mode. The shooting occurred at 8:11 a.m. and the school resource officer was at the school at the time. By 8:13 a.m. Knoxville officers had arrived at the...

National, and even international, coverage of the shootings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church turned late this week into a discussion into whether it's safe in America to be a liberal.

Interesting the National media is putting out this crap that this guy divorced 5 times, wasn't a Christian himself, turns out his last ex-wife was a member of the church in the past. I bet you didn't know that. http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=8752217 Ex-wife of church shooting suspect is former member Posted: July 29, 2008 08:47 AM CDT Video Gallery <1> Ex-wife of church shooting suspect was past member of church 2:25 Discuss & Share Sound Off Join the discussion >> WATE Blogs Leave a comment >> Photo Gallery Share your photos >> By KRISTYN HENTSCHEL 6 News Reporter KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- An...

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- The suspect in a fatal shooting at a Knoxville church Sunday was motivated by frustration over being unable to obtain a job and hatred for the liberal movement, police said Monday. Authorities recovered a four-page letter in which the suspect, Jim Adkisson, described his feelings and motives, police said. Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tennessee, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in the shootings at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. The gunman killed two adults and wounded seven others before being overpowered by congregants, authorities said. The case is being investigated as a hate...

A man who shot and killed two parishioners during a children's play at a Tennessee church yesterday attacked the congregation because of its outspoken socially liberal and gay-friendly beliefs, police said. The 58-year-old unemployed engineer accused in the Sunday morning attack at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, was driven to bloodshed in part by his "stated hatred for the liberal movement" as well as his hatred for gays, said Knoxville, Tennessee, police chief Sterling Owen. "We're certainly investigating it as a hate crime."

<p>Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show.</p>

The man accused of a mass church shooting this morning was described by his Powell neighbors as a helpful and kind man, but one who had issues with Christianity. Jim D. Adkisson, 58, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which killed one and injured eight others. He is being held on $1 million bond. More details as they develop online and in Monday's News Sentinel. "He had his own sense of belief about religion, that's the impression I got of him," said neighbor Karen Massey. "We were talking one day...

11:29 am Steve Drevik says the suspect isn't believed to have any connection to the church. 11:19 am Steve Drevik, a member of the TVUU Church spoke to media outside the church building, where media are assembled. He says the suspect is now in custody. Drevik says the shooting happened during a regular service, as children of the church were performing music from Annie for parishioners. A man with long blond hair, who appeared to be in his 40s, walked into the sanctuary and opened fiire with a shotgun, shooting indiscriminately. At least six or seven people were hit by...

(NECN/ABC) - A second person has died as a result of the church shooting in Tennessee, 61-year-old Linda Kraeger, who passed away several hours later in a hospital. At the time of the shooting, church members were watching a children's production of "Annie." Eyewitnesses say one of those killed -- 60-year-old Greg McKendry -- jumped in front of the gunman's bullet to protect other parishioners. Churchgoers quickly tackled the gunman and held him until police arrived. There were about 200 people in the church at the time of the shooting. The shooter, Jim D. Adkisson, is being charged with first...

Multiple people have suffered gunshot wounds in what witnesses describe as a mass shooting inside a church in West Knoxville Sunday morning. The shootings happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Kingston Pike. A witness who spoke to 10 News said police had arrived and one person was being detained at the scene. A children's production of "Annie" was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting, the witness, who is a member of the church, said. The gunman walked into a packed sanctuary and opened fire. The number of people...

Horror in Knoxville update: Trial stalled for one year By Michelle Malkin • July 14, 2008 02:56 PM It must be maddening for the families of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. I know you haven’t forgotten the young couple brutally murdered in a racially-charged case in Knoxville, TN. I haven’t, either. The latest? Justice delayed in the trial of suspect George Thomas:

The defense in the case of an accused accessory to a fatal carjacking rested its case in U.S. District Court just before noon. Defense attorney Phil Lomonaco sent only two witnesses to the stand, one of whom was a government witness from Monday. The first witness was a carpenter whose sole job was to measure the distance from the Chipman Street house where a Knoxville couple was slain to the parking lot of a nearby business where an employee earlier testified he saw a car linked to Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd soon after the January 2007 fatal carjacking. The second...

A 21-year-old University of Tennessee student was gang-raped, choked and bound in January 2007 before being stuffed inside a trash can while still alive, a federal prosecutor told jurors in opening court statements today. "The evidence will be when she went into that trash can, she was alive," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jennings said this afternoon in U.S. District Court. "Probably, mercifully, Channon Christian died (later that evening)." Jennings revealed details about the killings of Christian and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, as a jury was seated in the trial of Eric Dewayne "E" Boyd. Boyd is charged with helping...

Trevor Putnam knew the gun laws. The officer who stopped him didn’t. “When I told him that I hadn’t done anything, he said he’d find a reason to put me in jail,” said Putnam, 24, who works with guns every day as vice president of Coal Creek Armory in West Knoxville. “It’s not that I have a problem with police officers. I deal with police officers nationwide from Arizona to Maine every day. But I lost my confidence in a legal right that I knew I had.” Knoxville police officers will get a refresher course on the state’s gun permit...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Bloggers and media critics are complaining that the national media has ignored the rape and murder of a young Knoxville couple because of the racial implications of the story. Channon Christian, a 21-year-old University of Tennessee student, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, were raped, tortured and killed in January. Separate trial dates were set Thursday for four people charged in the slayings. Online critics have angrily insisted that reporters are ignoring the story because the victims are white and the defendants are black. "I am not going to call it reverse racism," said country singer...

The sudden force that the liberal press brought to bear on the falsely accused Duke lacrosse team has been curiously absent on a much more grisly crime committed against a white couple by a group of black youths.Personally, I don't think that local crime issues should ever be covered in the national press but if the media are going to cover them, they need to be consistent. My friend La Shawn Barber has a must-read post on the matter: Early this year, a white couple was carjacked, tortured, raped, and murdered by a group of black thugs. Christopher Newsom (23)...

Origins: On 6 January 2007, Knoxville, Tennessee, residents Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23, and Channon Christian, 21, went out for a dinner date at a local restaurant, then headed to a friend's house to watch a movie. They never came back. When the couple had failed to return by the following morning, their parents notified police. Christopher Newsom's body was found near some railroad tracks in East Knoxville that afternoon, but Channon Christian remained missing. A trace run on Channon's cell phone helped authorities locate her abandoned vehicle the next day, and fingerprints raised from an envelope inside the automobile led...

February 1, 2007KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Four suspects, including a woman arrested in Kentucky Wednesday night, are now facing murder, rape and kidnapping charges in the double slaying of a young Knoxville couple.But the location of the carjacking that began the series of charges in the investigation and why it happened is still being kept quiet.The suspects were indicted Thursday in Knox County, separate from the federal charges some of the men already face relating to the carjacking. The rape charges involve both murder victims, Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.Lemaricus Davidson faces 46 counts including felony murder, premeditated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape and theft.Letalvis Cobbins faces 46 counts including...

The major media has ignored this. Why did the Duke case get major coverage and this not? Channon Christian and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom were out for a date in January 2007 when the couple were carjacked, brutally tortured, and raped before being murdered and dumped. Christopher was bound, stripped, and raped. While he was still alive his penis was cut off, then he was shot, and finally set on fire all while his girlfriend was made to watch. His body was dumped by a set of railroad tracks. Channon was kept alive and gang-raped repeatedly over the next four...

Officials from the Tennessee Department of Transportation are now evaluating a sinkhole that opened up Monday evening on Pellissippi Parkway. Its in the southbound lanes of Pellissippi, just south of where the Parkway merges with Oak Ridge Highway. The hole looks to be about four feet wide on the surface, but a TDOT geologist says its at least 25 feet across, and goes under both southbound lanes. He says it was caused by water eroding the limestone. Crews will work all night to get that sinkhole filled, but they likely won't be finished by the morning commute, and it may...

“Equal and exact justice to all men...” —Thomas Jefferson PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE Murder in Black and White Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were described by family and friends as a “clean-cut and faithful couple—good kids.” Channon was a senior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she met Christopher. She and Chris went out on a Saturday dinner date, after which Channon called her mom and told her that they were on the way to visit friends. But Channon and Christopher never arrived at their friends’ house—or returned home. The next day, the mutilated and burned remains of Chris Newsom...

KNOXVILLE: Jake Butcher helped bring the World’s Fair to the city in 1982, but the collapse of his banking empire soon after "took a lot of wind out of the sails for Knoxville," he said in a recent interview. WBIR-TV in Knoxville interviewed Butcher for the station’s coverage of the 25th anniversary of the World’s Fair that began May 1, 1982. The interview, a first for Butcher in many years, was aired Tuesday evening. Butcher, 70, former chairman of United American Bank, also was chairman of the Knoxville International Energy Exposition board of directors and used his political ties and...

Apparently prompted by the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, a group is planning a rally in Knoxville to protest crimes against white people by black people. According to special events and parade permit applications filed with the city, the rally would be held June 16 in front of the old Knox County Courthouse. The applications were filed by Ken Gregg on behalf of the "ABC Group." The applications - neither of which may be required, according to city and Public Building Authority officials - describes the planned event as a "peaceful protest against black crime on whites."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In a tragic twist to a familiar story, a teenager who had sex with his married 30-year-old teacher was fatally shot outside the woman's home, and authorities have charged the woman's husband. "You see all this stuff with teachers involved with their students. It just comes up time after time on the national news," said Norman McLean, father of suspect Eric McLean. "Well, this is the first time where one has actually died over it."

This past week, I have been asked many times why I voted for a new lieutenant governor. How could I vote for someone who is not a member of my own political party? The answer is very straightforward: I voted my conscience. The most basic tenet of democracy is that the majority rules. In the Tennessee Senate, Republicans have held the numerical majority for three years. Yet, we were in a peculiar situation where the minority continued to keep the majority in the form of the lieutenant governor. That is not our democracy. It was time for a change in...

Judge Grants Injunction Allowing Child's Recess Bible Reading and Sharing By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker March 24, 2006 (AgapePress) - A federal judge has ordered an elementary school in Knoxville, Tennessee, to stop prohibiting a fifth-grade student from reading his Bible with a friend during recess. Luke Whitson and his parents had filed a motion for preliminary injunction against Knox County School District officials for threatening to punish the fifth grader for reading his Bible during recess at Karns Elementary School. According to press reports, Knox County Schools officials had argued that Bible reading jeopardizes student safety. They also...

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. (AP) - Democratic state Senator Don McLeary of Humboldt switched parties this afternoon to the Republicans. The change will give Republicans an edge of 18-to-15 in the Senate. McLeary said it was a hard decision, but his heart tells him it's the right one. McLeary is the only person to file for candidacy in the his district, which covers Madison, Gibson and Carroll counties. He said it's not titles that are important, but actions.

Mother sentenced to jail for killing man she believed molested daughter Kimberly Cunningham took the stand in her own defense Wednesday. A Blount County judge on Monday sentenced Kimberly Cunningham to four years in jail on her conviction of voluntary manslaughter. Cunningham was convicted last month on charges that she killed a man she believed raped her then-ten year old daughter. She was originally charged with first degree murder, but was acquitted on that more serious charge. During the emotional trial, Cunningham took the stand, describing the day her daughter told her Coy Hundley, the man she knew as an...

This comedy is about two guys who decide to rig the Special Olympics to pay off a debt by having one of them, Steve (Knoxville), pose as a contestant in the games, hoping to dethrone reigning champion, Jimmy. Mentally-challenged high jinks and hilarity surely follow.

FOR IMMEDIATE USE October 26, 2005 VP Cheney to Attend Baker Center Groundbreaking KNOXVILLE -- Vice President Dick Cheney will be among Senator Howard Baker's special guests at the groundbreaking for the University of Tennessee's Howard Baker Center for Public Policy building, set for 11 a.m. November 15 at Thompson Boling Assembly Center and Arena. Vice President Dick Cheney The occasion also will mark the 80th birthday for Baker, an East Tennessee native and longtime public servant. UT President John Petersen will emcee the event, which will conclude with a ceremonial shoveling to mark the beginning of construction of the...

Some actors who used to be in "The Dukes of Hazzard" think it was a family TV show. John "Bo Duke" Schneider once called it "a great way to be able to help raise your kids." My Southern grandma would have told him he's out of his cotton-pickin' mind. Bo and his cousin Luke ran moonshine in their hot rod car for their Uncle Jesse so Jesse could pay the mortgage on his Georgia farm. They fought the law, because the corrupt sheriff and the local boss entered schemes with criminals who would shoot at the Dukes. And their barmaid...

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thedukesofhazzardqt1.html

By J.J. STAMBAUGH, stambaugh@knews.com December 13, 2004 A marble statue of the infant Jesus and his mother that stands in front of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville was vandalized early Sunday, authorities said. Someone cut off the baby's head and arms and doused the stumps in red paint. The vandal or vandals also threw the baby's head through a glass door, scrawled an upside-down cross on Mary's robe and covered her face with paint. "In this season - when we're getting ready for the birth of Christ - to have these two images defaced and destroyed like this is...

A "major" antiwar, anti-Bush protest was held here on the University of Tennessee campus yesterday. Approximately 70 people showed up to voice their disapproval of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and President Bush in general. Among the groups present were the UT College Democrats, the Progressive Student Alliance (sadly, the Living Wage Chicken was not attendance), and plenty of Naderites. The event featured speakers, a march across campus, large heads of unidentified individuals made from paper machete, and typical, peacenik signs. The antiwar people were not alone, however. They were joined by about 30 supporters of President Bush and the...

A "major" antiwar, anti-Bush protest was held here on the University of Tennessee campus yesterday. Approximately 70 people showed up to voice their disapproval of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and President Bush in general. Among the groups present were the UT College Democrats, the Progressive Student Alliance (sadly, the Living Wage Chicken was not attendance), and plenty of Naderites. The event featured speakers, a march across campus, large heads of unidentified individuals made from paper machete, and typical, peacenik signs. The antiwar people were not alone, however. They were joined by about 30 supporters of President Bush and the...

<p>An unknown suspect fired several shots into the Bearden office of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign Tuesday morning.</p> <p>The headquarters are located at 4618 Kingston Pike, next to Noveau Classics and in the same shopping plaza as Long's Drugstore.</p> <p>According to Knoxville Police Department officers on the scene Tuesday, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 am and 7:15 am. One shot shattered the glass in the front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors.</p>

An unknown suspect fired several shots into the Bearden office of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign Tuesday morning. The headquarters are located at 4618 Kingston Pike, next to Noveau Classics and in the same shopping plaza as Long's Drugstore. According to Knoxville Police Department (KPD) officers on the scene Tuesday, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 am and 7:15 am. One shot shattered the glass in the front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors. There were no witnesses to the shooting. A customer at...

Homecoming Saturday seemed a perfect opportunity for the UT College Republicans to get their message out.   But the University of Tennessee's Trademarks Department stepped in, halting the group from passing out "Vols for Bush" stickers.   Volunteer TV's Eric Waddell joins us with more on this controversy.   According to members of the UT College Republicans,  university staff and undercover police informed them they were in violation of university rules as well as product trademarks, and confiscated their stickers.   The Vols crossed 6 times into UT's trademark checkerboard end zone Saturday night.     Meanwhile the UT College Republicans were thrown for...

Big Orange fans making a push for President Bush handed out 24,000 "Vols for Bush" stickers at recent UT home games. The Bush campaign in East Tennessee had them printed, but supporters can forget about scoring one now. "They're a hot collector's item now, but unfortunately, we'll hold on to them and not give anymore out," says Gary Drinnen, a Bush Campaign Coordinator for this region. UT's trademark licensing office has two problems with the "Vols for Bush" stickers. The word "Vols" and the orange and white checkerboard... two distinctive UT symbols. Michael Young, coordinator of the UT trademark licensing...

Prior to the Louisiana Tech game Saturday, UT students and community members were passing out stickers that read "Vols for Bush." Among the groups involved in this were the UT College Republicans, UT Vols for Bush, UT Students for Bush, and the Knox County Republican Party. Apparently, these stickers posed a problem for the UT administration, who claim the stickers were produced illegally. Mike Young, from the Office of Trademark Licensing, approached CRs Jerod Hollyfield, Nathan Fortner, and myself, and confiscated our stickers. They then met with Knox GOP officials at the tailgate party near Neyland Stadium, and informed them...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) today made the following statement congratulating former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe on his confirmation as the U.S. ambassador to Poland: “As a Tennessean, I’m proud of today’s confirmation of Victor Ashe as the next U.S. ambassador to Poland. He has been a leading public servant in East Tennessee for decades. "I’m confident that he’ll meet this new challenge in Eastern Europe with the same commitment he put forth during his 16 years as the mayor of Knoxville. I wish Victor and his family the best of luck.”

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Rod Paige said Tuesday that President Bush's visit to a Knoxville school with special challenges that still meets federal achievement goals will show other parts of the country what is possible. "We like to go to schools that make the point that ... with a large number at low socio-economic levels ... and a very diverse community, they still are able to achieve and meet adequate yearly progress as required by the law," Paige said in an interview with the News Sentinel. Paige will accompany Bush this week to East Tennessee. "We found such a school...

Only the best for UT's Shumaker Pay package was nation's second-highest By Richard Locker locker@gomemphis.com August 17, 2003 NASHVILLE - After his selection as UT president last year, Dr. John W. Shumaker said his goal was "to give the people of Tennessee the very best university they can afford while urging them constantly to afford the very best." It appears that Shumaker convinced state officials to afford the very best when it came to his own pay: His compensation package was worth $733,000 to $800,000 a year in direct and deferred salary and bonuses, plus posh housing, an automobile and...

Edwards attacks Bush, stomps for support in Knoxville By HAYES HICKMAN, hickman@knews.com July 11, 2003 North Carolina senator and presidential contender John Edwards turned on the Southern charm at a Friday appearance before Knoxville Democrats, emphasizing his humble roots and attacking President Bush as a man out of touch with Americans. Making his second campaign trip to Tennessee in as many months, the freshman senator called for a return to accountability, responsibility and fairness in the White House. Edwards compared the president's privileged upbringing to his own background, highlighting his father's career as a textile mill worker and his grandmother's...

There are hundreds, perhaps a thousand, pro-U.S. war effort supporters in downtown Knoxville right now with flags, cars honking support, etc. It's a beautiful sight.

According to WIVK radio approximately 2,000 people braved the rain and came out to a "Support Our Troops" rally. The Knoxville News Sentinel said that by 9:00 there were approximately 1,500. 1,500 Defy the rain to attend "Support Our Troops Rally"Only 200 attend the Anti-War rally in Oak Ridge. Guess which one makes the front page? No Bias Here (/Sarcasm)

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND PRESIDENT RALLY ON SATURDAY, MARCH 29TH 12 NOON - 1:30 PM WHERE: ON THE SIDEWALK ALONG KINGSTON PIKE IN FRONT OF BAKER PETERS JAZZ CLUB/CEDAR SPRINGS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND DOWN TO PEP BOYS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET! BRING YOUR SIGNS AND AMERICAN FLAGS! PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS THE MORE PEOPLE TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT THE BETTER. QUESTIONS? EMAIL VOLSFORTROOPS@AOL.COM

Since we didn't know about the pro-American demonstration on N. Broadway in Knoxville over the weekend, we had our own at West Town Mall. At first, anti-war protesters were in front, but once we outnumbered them, the police made them move to the corner, a less desireable spot. From what we understand, their top numbers were about 10, and at our peak, we had about 25. You have to remember though, ours was spontanious, not a planned protest. By 2:30, we had outyelled them, and had so much more support from traffic, they left! :) The weekend of 03/29/03 will...

Pictures from today's rally from 10 am - 12 pm. We were on Broadway at Northgate Plaza. There was also a petition signing effort held in the parking lot to show support for our troops and to withdraw support from the UN.

Here's a new poll for the Ditsie Chicks: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/music/article/0,1406,KNS_349_1821883,00.html Complete with a space for commentary. As of this posting, there's only a total of 25 votes, and it's 84% against them. How high can we get these numbers??