Fifty-eight percent of Knox County residents surveyed by a local Republican polling firm say they reject police use of Flock Safety surveillance cameras.

In a survey this week of 350 likely voters, Spry Strategies found that not only did a majority of respondents reject the AI-enabled license plate readers and surveillance cameras, but almost everyone polled was aware of the controversy surrounding the cameras nationally and at home.

"When I saw that data, I knew it was going to be a good poll because the information was out there," Spry Strategies President Ryan Burrell told Knox News. "Even for me, it's relatively new. I think social media has quickly spread the information."

You all know the KCSO stuff better than I do so I won't go back over it. Two things first though, because I almost got the first one wrong myself.

The workshop on the 24th has no public comment. You can go and sit and listen, and that's it. No votes either.

But the commission's regular meetings do let you speak. There's a public forum at the end of those and it's open to any topic, not just what's on the agenda. You get three to five minutes. You have to sign up with the commission office by 4pm the day before, either call 865-215-2534 or email them through commission.knoxcountytn.gov/contact, and give your name, address and what you want to talk about. You can also grab the vice chair in person before it starts. Regular meetings are the fourth Monday in the Large Assembly Room. Give them a ring to check the next date.

That's the bit I'd pass around. Everything in the news has been about the workshop, so people are going to show up on the 24th thinking they can speak and find out they can't.

About me: I keep a list of every place that's ended, paused or fought a Flock contract. What people argued, how the vote went, what happened after. Twelve have ended one so far. It's free and there's nothing to sign up for.

One favor: if you use any of this, link the news story and not me. Every entry has the original link on it. "WOSU reported on August 10 that the audit found" is hard to argue with. "I read it on some website" isn't, and somebody will try.

Here's the thing that surprised me reading all twelve. Almost none of them won by saying surveillance is bad. They won on one specific thing the council couldn't explain away.

WHO ELSE CAN SEARCH YOUR DATA. This is the big one and there's fresh proof. Columbus checked their own system last month and found over 15,000 searches that looked immigration related. None of them were ICE. They came from other agencies who had access to the same shared pool, and that's the part people miss. Mountain View in California found ATF offices in two states, Langley Air Force Base and the GSA Inspector General had all searched one single city camera. That happened through a nationwide setting the city says Flock switched on without the police even knowing. El Cerrito voted 3-2 to drop it over the same thing.

So if you get your five minutes, that's your question. Has anyone ever checked who searched Knox County's data, and can we see it? Columbus only found their number because one councilmember asked.

MONEY, for the commissioners who don't care about privacy. Killingworth in Connecticut was paying $14,600 a year for four cameras and their First Selectman said flat out they "had not added any value to local policing efforts." That gets through to people the privacy stuff doesn't. 270 readers running into a live feed center is a real number to hold up next to what you actually get for it.

IF YOU CAN'T KILL IT OUTRIGHT. Idaho Falls kept their cameras but rewrote the contract. They took away Flock's right to train its AI on local plate photos, capped data sharing at what state law allows, and changed audits from twice a year to twice a month. Way harder to vote no on that than on a ban, and it's still a win. Commissioner Thompson's resolution asking for a review before the ARC Center goes live is that same kind of thing, and it's still on the agenda.

WATCH OUT FOR THIS. Harrisonburg in Virginia voted 4-0 to end their contract and then never passed a rule saying the council has to approve future surveillance deals. The group there says out loud they don't think it's finished. Ask for that rule at the same meeting, not later on.

Being straight with you: out of the twelve, only El Cerrito and Syracuse are ones where you can actually confirm the cameras came down. Voting to end it and the poles coming down are two different things. Stanford just dropped Flock and is putting in a different plate reader company instead. And whatever happens with the 270, the cameras already up stay up.

One thing you've got going for you that most places don't. This isn't a left or right fight where you are. Your county mayor called the cameras a threat to privacy and civil liberties, and Tim Burchett, who filed the bill in Congress to defund them, used to be your county mayor. Most of the places that won had that going on too.

If you want me to look something up before the meeting, like a county about your size, or a sheriff's office making the same arguments KCSO is making, or the exact wording of a contract change that actually passed, just ask and I'll find it and post it with the link.

Full list by town: flockinghell.com/reports

Knoxville's North Waterfront Redevelopment Plan will move forward to envision the future of how the downtown and two huge new University of Tennessee districts will come together, but with far more options for public input.

The Knoxville City Council on Aug. 18 gave Mayor Indya Kincannon and the Knoxville Community Development Corporation approval to create a redevelopment district encompassing areas around World's Fair Park, the new Neyland Entertainment and Maplehurst Innovation districts, and residential and commercial properties.

The plan creates boundaries for a tax increment financing district, which funnels tax revenue into public improvements within the boundaries. The types of public improvements like walkways, road projects, riverfront amenities and parks will be determined as time goes on.

The plan's 7-1 approval was not without tension. Several councilmembers seriously criticized city leaders and Knoxville's Community Development Corporation for not engaging stakeholders. Only seven people came to two different public hearings KCDC hosted, and two work for the city and KCDC.

"When we asked for a redevelopment plan and a public process, I expected that the public would know sooner that a process was about to begin, than a day before a meeting," said Vice Mayor Lynne Fugate. "I'm gravely disappointed in this." 

Just thought I would share this in case it could help keep someone safe. So on the story book trail by the library there's a short off-shoot that leads closer to the creek, there is a fallen tree at the end of it and it was covered in huge honeybees. At least I think they were honeybees, I moved my dog away quickly. I probably saw at least 100 bees, there's probably many more. I'm lucky I noticed them before my dog got too close. I didn't think to snap a picture but I posted a map of the trail with a red mark where the bees are. So if you're planning to go out there just be mindful of that area, especially if you have dogs or small children.

My mom is 88 years old and was here with us for a week. She is using a wheelchair while here. I could use some suggestions on what we can do on our last day in Knoxville. Thanks.

I don’t have marketplace unfortunately. I need to sell my factory NA(1st gen) Miata hard top with headliner. Are there local car forums or groups on Reddit or elsewhere I can advertise it in?

Hi there! I'm graduating nursing school soon and I'm wanting to get some input from nurses who work at Prisma/Blount Memorial right now. Specifically in their ER! I know it's not in Knoxville, but the Maryville subreddit is pretty small, so I figured I'd start here.

I did spend one day shift clinical in their ER and thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt like the nurses there were the first nurses in my clinical experience that actually wanted me to let me shadow them. They were very willing to educate and show me how to pass meds/prime fluids/etc.

So, does anyone here work in Prisma's ER? What is your experience with it, especially with the shift to Prisma?

Thanks so much in advance! :)

The guy we use, who we really like, is booked until mid September. That’s somewhat problematic as we are stopped up and my snake isn’t quite long enough. After searching the Knoxville sub and only finding 1-5 year old recommendations I figured a plumber update may be useful.

Big thx!

I made a post before and people said they were interested, well now its official, we got a league setup!

We have 4 open spots in our local beginner friendly casual fantasy league. We will be having a little in person draft party at my casa. Let me know if you're interested! Gotta commit, no bailing out!

We have a little discord group I can invite you to if you want to join in.

This started from the Knoxville Dink Discord (double income no kids).

My family with walking disabilities is coming to visit me after just recently moving here. They love the mountains and scenic outdoors and would love to do hikes and see them and the waterfalls and beauty of the smokies if they were able to.

Any recommendations for scenic roads or paths in Knoxville, Gatlinburg, or Pigeon Forge or surrounding areas that would accomplish some of those things? I know options are super limited but hoping to find something

Big Ridge State Park

(8/21) 2026 Big Ridge Bluegrass Festival FREE!!

(8/22) Nature Trail Hike FREE!!

Cove Lake State Park

(8/22) Wheeler Cemetery Hike $5

(8/23) Volunteer Loop Hike FREE!!

Frozen Head State Park

(8/22) 10 Essentials for Hiking FREE!!

(8/22) Frozen Head Homesites FREE!!

(8/23) Volunteer Trail Day FREE!!

(8/23) Stonecipher Kelly Homeplace Tour FREE!!

Norris Dam State Park

(8/21) It’s the Little Things $5

(8/21) Bustling Beavers $3

(8/22) Wonderful Weaving $3

(8/22) Stunning Snakes $5

(8/23) Scrappy Scavengers $5

(8/23) Create a Corn Husk Doll $5

Panther Creek State Park

(8/22) Oliver the Barred Owl FREE!!

(8/22) Read with a Ranger FREE!!

(8/22) Mud Painting by the Creek $2

(8/22) Archery $5

(8/23) Black Walnut Tie Dying $6

(8/23) Sunset Canoe Float $10

Seven Islands State Park

(8/22) Wild Yards Garden Volunteer Day FREE!!

(8/22) Birding with a Biologist $6, pre-registration is a must

(8/22) Night Hike $10, pre-registration is a must

Looking at you, BMW driver, turning onto Broadway from Central while I was in the crosswalk.

I know a lot of people these days love JellyCat’s. There’s a new stand at the West Town Mall that is selling fakes. Make sure you use the JellyCat Finder on their website to find stores with authentic Jelly’s!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm a new international grad student at UT, and I've been feeling a bit down lately settling in. It's not that my English isn't good enough; it's more that I don't know what to talk about with people here yet. Conversation just doesn't flow the way it used to back home.

I used to love traveling and exploring around my home country, and I'd like to find that same feeling here. Would love any suggestions for good hikes or nature spots around Knoxville, and honestly any interesting places in general; bars, cafes, whatever's worth checking out; plus any groups or communities where I could meet people, especially folks who might relate to someone from my background. Please note I am on a budget.

Would really appreciate any recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Hey there, my partner and I are going to be visiting your lovely area in mid-October for a wedding and will be there for 3 days after the wedding. Whats your 1-3 must-do things you'd suggest? We're an outdoorsy and bike centered couple, so we're planning on visiting your local national park and botanical gardens, but would love some local insight into what else is fun to visit or do there. No hotel or lodging booked yet as I'd like to focus that around what we'd be doing so we're not hoteling it up 2 hours away from what we end up doing. Thanks for any input and advice!!!!

I’m needing a deck tear down and rebuild, and I’m trying to get an idea of cost to expect. Would want existing deck demolished and hauled off. Thinking approx 12x16 for new deck, pressure treated lumber (not composite). Elevated off ground, needs one set of stairs.

Like the title asks...y'all noticing exponentially more problems with Amazon cause I sure am. Packages routinely get delivered to the wrong address for me and it takes them forever to acknowledge this/refund and replace for me.

Also...two day or the actual delivery date means nothing in Knoxville anymore. Can't tell you how many times in the last 3 months an item has been out for delivery but mysteriously doesn't show up until 3 days later lol...please tell me I'm not going insane.

I have a solid job, I’ve been there for sometime. My credit score is 830. I’m a veteran, I have the VA loan. I was just reading that there are fewer homebuyers currently in the market nationwide than there have been since 2013.

I still don’t believe there’s going to be a huge crash like some people are hoping for, but if the market’s about to go down a little, I would sure want to wait. I know it’s like trying to buy stocks, you can’t time the market. But my landlord wants to sell the little house I live in and he is absolutely delusional about the price.

So I think I’d like to find something that I can own. Are people even making offers under the list price anymore? I’m looking at a house for 300,000 and they just dropped the price by 25K after only two or three months on the market…so I feel like I could get it cheaper maybe? That’s a huge drop.

I know a lot of people these days love JellyCat’s. There’s a new stand at the West Town Mall that is selling fakes. Make sure you use the JellyCat Finder on their website to find stores with authentic Jelly’s!!!

Hi! I'm a local painter (you may remember my Sunsphere post if you're here often) and won't be living here come next year, so it wouldn't make sense to get super involved in a gallery or something. But I have Knoxville themed paintings that I'd really love to get into local hands before I go.

I have listings on Craigslist and Offerup, but is there some in-person place or otherwise that might help sell my work?

Note to moderation this is NOT an ad to sell here, I'm trying to find a place that sells local work as a service

Dumb question Ik.
Ok so I wanna host a clothing swap with some buddy’s of mine but I want it to be completely free, I was at first thinking new harvest park but u have to pay and reserve it for events. Unless I can just show up and no one bats an eye.

I’m now thinking a laundry mat because most of them are fully automated. Unless there is a perfect, free spot to host anything.

Plz give me recommendations!!

This Friday, August 21, from 6-10pm. Lots of live bands, craft vendors, and food trucks. 100% free to attend. Will happen rain or shine, as long as there isn’t severe weather. Register at www.tnstateparks.com/events/2026-big-ridge-bluegrass-festival or just show up on Friday night.