Knoxville News Sentinel
‘Say Yes to the Dress’ crew brings expertise
JoRissah Wright walked into the ballroom convinced she’d leave in hot pink. Addie Jones had a specific color in mind, too. But in the end, both Knoxville high school seniors chose something completely different for their prom dress. That’s what it’s...
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Oil prices surge as markets react to war
Oil prices rose sharply on March 2 after they opened for the first time since the United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran. Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for oil prices, jumped by as much as 10% to hit $82 a barrel...
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UT triples sales at football games
University of Tennessee football alcohol sales have almost tripled at Neyland Stadium in the seven years since beer and wine were first sold there, university records obtained by Knox News show. More beer was sold in the first half of the Georgia game...
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WOMEN’S WORK
Even before the era of Rosie the Riveter or Oak Ridge’s “Calutron Girls,” women were an integral part of Knoxville’s workforce in the textile and garment industries, and helped to shape the future of workers’ rights. With manufacturing now the third...
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Finishing touches for Dollywood’s Season 41
A fresh coat of paint here. A repaired speaker there. Everywhere you look, Dollywood is completing the final updates and upgrades before kicking off its 41st season, packed with new events and, of course, the opening of NightFlight Expedition. In...
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McKay’s closing
A major Knoxville hotel developer paid the owners of McKay’s $4.25 million for the store and adjoining parking lot on Papermill Road. It means the end of the popular used bookstore’s 40-year run in Knoxville. Nick Patel, of Turkey Creek Hospitality,...
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Family’s fight for equality changed life for another
One weekday afternoon, my father, Stephen Davis, excitedly asked if I wanted to go with him to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to attend the Michigan vs. Ohio State game. I didn’t ask why. I just said “yes.” Any chance to spend time with him, especially watching...
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Trees sprout up in unlikely Knoxville areas: Gravel pits
Trees are a lot like Knoxville neighborhoods. They’re always changing and distinct in their characteristics, including how they grow. At Holston River Park just south of East Knoxville, trees are sprouting in the unlikeliest of places: from manmade...
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Architectural jewel soon will shine again
After decades hidden behind brick walls, the Eugenia Williams House will begin to share its secrets with Knoxville when it opens this spring. Tucked away on Lyons View Pike, the grand home once occupied by Coca-Cola heiress Eugenia Williams sat...
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Lakeshore Park leader retires after 7 years
Lakeshore Park, Knoxville’s centerpiece park with unparalleled views of the Great Smoky Mountains, is nearing the end of a massive transformation. h Julieanne Foy, the Lakeshore Park Conservancy executive director, has been at the heart of a project...
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THE PRICE OF PAIN
Tennessee has secured more than $1.3 billion in opioid settlement money to be doled out over the next several years in payments to the state, nonprofits and local governments. But the process of getting the funds to those that need it the most has...
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Helping out ‘top of the list’ for Johnny Knoxville
Johnny Knoxville writes everything down. The lifestyle he chose as a human “cannonball” − the name of, perhaps, his most emblematic stunt − has come with its fair share of concussions, the Knoxville native admits. He has a lot to keep up with, and he...
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Iranian loves U.S. but can’t get mother here
The flashbacks to the day Rojia Afshar’s life changed forever are easily summoned. It was May 2012 in Tehran, Iran. Afshar, 24 at the time, had been granted a student visa to study in America two days earlier. Now she was huddled in the back of a taxi...
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‘I’m blessed, I’m honored’
For a fleeting second, Elston Turner traveled back to 1977. h The former Austin-East basketball star strolled into the gym where he forged his legacy. He looked up and saw a wall of his former classmates packed into the bleachers, reprising their seats...
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Why is Tennessee’s state theater in Knoxville?
Know Your Knox answers your burning questions about life in Knoxville. Want your question answered? Email know [email protected]. Look up at its marquee, and the Tennessee Theatre could be hosting a major Broadway tour, a must-see concert, a...
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Designsensory, Ackermann unite
It feels like these two businesses were always meant to be one. h Designsensory and Ackermann Marketing & PR have operated in different industry streams but the same city for decades. Designsensory is an expert in advertising and branding, and has...
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‘free people of America’
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Sept. 2, 1940, “to the free people of America” − but it was a freedom, he warned, that was under threat. h Roosevelt‘s Tennessee travels that September included a...
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FAR MORE THAN FINE
Owned by Knoxville’s only James Beard Award winner, J.C. Holdway, pictured above, has earned a new national honor, ranking among USA TODAY’s top restaurants in the country. The downtown spot serves memorable meals inspired by Appalachia and made with...
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Florists won’t let tariffs wilt your Valentine’s love
International tariffs levied by the U.S. have pushed up the price of flowers ahead of Valentine’s Day, but florists and farmers in East Tennessee have taken steps to ensure their stock is ready for you and your special someone. Maryville flower farm...
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Trump lambastes TVA, salary of CEO
President Donald Trump slammed the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power provider, as having “gone in a very stupid, very bad direction” during a Feb. 11 event at the White House to promote coal. “Trump is on the scene now,”...
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Facelift turns UT’s home into ‘big league ballpark’
Tennessee baseball coach Josh Elander said the eye-catching renovations to an expanded Lindsey Nelson Stadium remind his players every day about the program’s lofty expectations. h UT fans will see the results of the $105 million facelift when the 2026...
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Clayton Foundation touches many lives
The Clayton Foundation’s legacy of giving back touches lives in ways big and small. h Grand donations from Jim Clayton, the Knoxville founder of Clayton Homes, have created gathering spaces that enhance the community, such as the Clayton Arts Center at...
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A WOMAN OF MANY HATS
Diane Jordan, the first Black woman to serve on the Knox County Commission, has died. She was 78 years old. Jordan, who suffered a stroke, is survived by her husband of 41 years, the Rev. John Jordan, eight children and more than 20...
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Governor hopeful cites wealth of experience
U.S. Rep. John Rose, a Republican candidate for governor, has spent the last year or so getting to know voters, listening to their concerns and attempting to prove to them he’s the best person to work on their behalf. Rose, an eighth-generation...
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PATRIOTS vs. SEAHAWKS
The latest coverage at usatoday.com. Also find more coverage in Sports Extra, a subscriber-only feature in your eNewspaper. Register and vote for your favorite Super Bowl ad at
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One Knox SC goes ‘extra’ with 2026 jersey, sponsor
One Knoxville SC − gearing up for its second Old City season beginning in March − announced players will be sporting new gear with a new sponsor upon taking the field at Covenant Health Park in 2026. Branding for Regions Bank, one of the nation’s...
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Seeking love?
Singles tend to follow two trains of thought when it comes to dating: the old-school way or the online way. h But in Knoxville, a new kind of dating that’s somewhere in the middle has emerged. All you need is a pal, personality and some PowerPoint...
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UT students offered chance of a lifetime
While America watches the year’s biggest sporting event on TV, 10 University of Tennessee at Knoxville students will be working behind the scenes of Super Bowl 60 to learn up close what makes everything tick. It’s a massive opportunity for the students...
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Aguilar turns to home court in NCAA lawsuit
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Knox County Chancery Court, seeking to extend his eligibility and play for the Vols in the 2026 season. On Feb. 2, Knox News obtained the complaint filed in Knox County...
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Do the Smokies affect snowfall in Knoxville?
Know Your Knox answers your burning questions about life in Knoxville. Want your question answered? Email [email protected]. Out west, the Rocky Mountains play a major role in winter weather across North America. They block Pacific moisture,...
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The lost Black newspapers
Many of the local Black newspapers that covered life in East Tennessee in the 19th and 20th centuries have been lost, and with them, records of the people and events they documented. Though some are beyond preservation, archivists locally and...
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‘TRAIN WRECK’
Oportalne of the state government officials who sued the NCAA and won unlimited annual transfers for college athletes now calls the unrestricted transfer a “train wreck” and says it is “sucking the life out of college sports.” • “I think the portal...
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Former Lady Vol wore another iconic uniform
The University of Tennessee at Knoxville wasn’t always so secretive about Smokey. UT made a big deal out of revealing the student behind the mascot in 2025, but the identity of the costumed bluetick coonhound used to be more of an open secret. After...
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Lee learns history of Bush’s Beans
Country music. Davy Crockett. And beans, of course. Gov. Bill Lee believes all three are iconic symbols of the Volunteer State as Tennessee celebrates its contributions to U.S. culture for the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026. Lee stopped by the...
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Big Ears mastermind a driving force in music
Entertainment legend Ashley Capps, co-founder of Bonnaroo and the mind behind Big Ears, has been honored by SPIN magazine as one of the 26 most influential people in music of the year. h Capps said he was surprised by the publication’s recognition. h...
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Cold weather is here to stay for a while
Cold temperatures have settled into East Tennessee. A cold weather advisory from the National Weather Service is in place through noon Jan. 27, and the thermometer won’t rise much above freezing in the coming days, according to the National Weather...
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New semester, new student record?
Students returned to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus on a chilly Jan. 20 morning, perhaps, not knowing they were in the running to break a record. h If estimates hold, UT would have surpassed its spring enrollment record by more than...
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Big Orange appetite
Eating is an essential part of recruiting for University of Tennessee sports programs, which spend big on dining experiences when prospective players are in town — everything from grocery store snack runs to catered spreads to dishes from some of...
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Storm track has shifted
The forecast continues to shift for Knoxville. While the storm was originally supposed to dump half a foot of snow on East Tennessee, things have changed as the storm tracks farther northward. The storm, named Winter Storm Fern by the Weather Channel,...
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Downtown businesses aim to shrug off snow
Multiple bars and restaurants in downtown Knoxville are prepping for the strong possibility of a weekend snowstorm the same way they did in January 2024 − by staying open. It was two years ago to the day Knox News reported downtown business owners...
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Local chefs dream of James Beard victory
Two of Knoxville’s most prominent chefs are in the running for yet another major national recognition. h Potchke co-owner and chef Laurence Faber, along with J.C. Holdway owner and chef Joseph Lenn, are semifinalists in the James Beard Awards,...
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Morgan Wallen hits the right note for West
More music will ring through the halls of West High School as instruments arrive for its new orchestra program, courtesy of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and the Morgan Wallen Foundation. h Wallen, the country superstar who went to high school in...
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KCS wasn’t warned of armed raid near school
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement left Knox County Schools in the dark when it conducted a highintensity armed raid across the street from Hardin Valley Academy on Jan. 13, Knox News has learned. The raid at a construction site was chaotic,...
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A King legacy worthy of honor
“He was The One, The Hero, the one fearless person for whom we had waited. I hadn’t even realized before that we had been waiting for Martin Luther King Jr., but we had. And I knew it for sure when my mother added his name to the list of people she...
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Heart and soul
During the past 80 years, Dolly Parton has given the world so much: hit songs, uplifting movies, a wildly popular East Tennessee theme park, funds to help the victims of fire and flood, even a COVID vaccine. On the occasion of her birthday, we look at...
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UT athletics exceeds $300M in revenues
University of Tennessee athletics reached an eye-opening $304 million in revenue in the 2024-25 fiscal year and posted its largest surplus in recent memory, records show. It’s a win-win on the ledger for the Vols amid a skyrocketing period of...
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Family settles lawsuit with Knoxville officers
A settlement has been reached between three Knoxville police officers and the family of Anthony Thompson Jr., the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by a KPD officer inside an AustinEast Magnet High School bathroom in 2021. The settlement has not...
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West High student given scholarship
In the midst of a heated basketball rivalry game, Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission members took to the basketball court to present Anaiah Murphy, a West High School student, with a scholarship and an award as part of the first MLK...
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$3M endowment could shape our nuclear future
The Tennessee Valley Authority is giving $3 million to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s nuclear engineering department, as the nation’s largest public power provider aims to ramp up nuclear development in alignment with President Donald...
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New ‘Butcher Building’ owner starts with leg up
Riverview Tower − known widely as the Truist Building and to longtime locals as the “C.H. Butcher Building” − is an iconic part of Knoxville’s skyline and home to dozens of companies that enjoy views of downtown and the Tennessee River across 23...
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Love your job? Here’s how to join our Top Workplaces
As Knox News marks 10 years of Top Workplaces with our research partner Energage, we’re inviting companies of all sizes to participate for a chance to be recognized as one of Knoxville’s standout employers. Energage conducts these surveys in 65...
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A supersized year in Knoxville fast food
Two unconventional Taco Bells opened in Knoxville this past year − one dine-in only, the other with only a drive-thru − while another fast-food brand that “bleeds orange” announced it was coming to Vol country. Unfortunately for McDonald’s, the McRib’s...
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INFLATION HITS HOME
The U.S. housing market is hot, but Knoxville’s is superheated. Home prices have risen by more than 150%, outpacing almost every major American city — including Nashville. This is how homebuyers and renters
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What Knoxville Habitat hopes for its neighborhood
Right now, yellow excavators and other heavy pieces of machinery are preparing land just off Asheville Highway in Strawberry Plains. Eventually, The Plains will be home to 74 families. Knoxville Habitat for Humanity has broken ground on its newest...
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New UT theater combines technology, campus history
The new theater on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus is a versatile and intimate venue that brings students into the modern era of stage production while paying homage to the theater that came before. The Jenny Boyd Theatre began...
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New brew for coffee lovers in Knoxville
There’s nothing like a good cup of coffee to start a new day – or a new year. Knoxville is a coffeeloving town, and thanks to an influx of new coffee spots popping up during 2025, Knoxville has even more options for where to find the perfect classic...
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IT’S FOOTBALL TIME!
Tennessee football had four losses this season, and EA Sports College Football 26 predicted all but one. Now, we’re back to see whether the video game can correctly guess the outcome of the Vols’ visit to Nashville for the Music City Bowl against...
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Trump pardoned 15 people this year for TN crimes
Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has granted clemency to 15 Tennesseans or those who committed crimes in Tennessee. That’s more than almost every other state in the country. The crimes committed range from conspiracy to defraud...
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We laughed, we cried, we connected
Over the course of a year, our Knox News visual journalists have seen - and photographed - it all: the inaugural season of a new baseball stadium and a landmark season of East Tennessee landmark Dollywood, high school proms and political protests, huge...
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TYS plots future course to going international
McGhee Tyson Airport is growing, and it’s not ruling out a shift that would take it from a domestic airport to an international hub. McGhee Tyson grew the fastest of all major U.S. airports in 2024. And 2025 could be another record year, according to...
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2026 looks filled with arrivals
The year is rolling to a close, and we have looked at the restaurants we lost in 2025 − places like Babalu and Landing House. But for each closing, a new restaurant makes its way to town. Long-awaited chains opened in 2025, like Raising Cane’s, Swig...
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Man makes memories working on Christmas
Normally, Trevor Townsend walks into the warm, wooden dining room of the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant and finds a sweet, elderly couple sitting at their favorite table on Christmas Day. “You literally have to make sure you had time because they...
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Siblings provide food, blankets – a warm gesture in mom’s memory
Alex Witherspoon’s mom was the kind of person who looked out for everyone. She volunteered at a women’s shelter, at churches and with older adults. As a single mother, she took in young family members and foster children who needed a place to...
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Businesses span hot mustard to farm stays
University of Tennessee at Knoxville students might have just the gift you are looking for this holiday season. h In between lectures and studying, some UT students run their own businesses with support from the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and...
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Pretty in pink
become a holiday sensation — landing on Oprah’s Favorite Things list and decorating America’s most famous home multiple times. We explore how this local company turned sparkle into a global business and why its roots remain firmly planted in East...
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‘Use your hands and use your heart to help’
A federal judge has denied professor Tamar Shirinian’s request to return to the classroom as her lawsuit plays out against the University of Tennessee at Knoxville over her suspension for a crass comment she made about the assassination of Charlie...
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Amid return of Gay Street Bridge, some wonder if JFG sign is next
With the Gay Street bridge now open to pedestrians and cyclists, next up on Knoxville’s wish list is for three letters that once sparkled nearby − JFG − to return to the city’s skyline. The iconic JFG Coffee sign on the hill near the south end of the...
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Zaevion Dobson’s legacy stays strong
Zenobia Dobson will spend Dec. 17 the way she’s spent that day for the past decade: Doing the things her late son, Zaevion, would want her to do, quietly remembering him while spending time with Lonsdale kids to promote education and fun. h And she’s...
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Completion nears for new Gay Street condos
Six years of planning, designing and building at the corner of Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive has nearly wrapped up to bring 53 condos and a mix of businesses to what has long been considered a missing link in downtown Knoxville. The $30 million...
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After ’25 budget cuts, park leaders are wary
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is hiring for 2026. But after 2025 changes led to staffing and budget cuts to national parks across the country and the longest federal government shutdown in history, what’s ahead for the country’s most-visited...
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Reporting on nuclear in East Tennessee
Eight decades removed from the Manhattan Project, the city of Oak Ridge in East Tennessee remains a hub for advancing the capabilities and production of advanced types of energy, especially amid President Donald Trump’s push for American nuclear...
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ICE arrests worker lawfully in U.S.
Attorneys for a Maryville man arrested at his job site by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his incarceration, which they say is unlawful. Diego Hernandez Garcia was arrested Dec. 11...
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Judge to decide on return soon
Suspended University of Tennessee at Knoxville professor Tamar Shirinian won’t have to wait much longer before she learns whether she can return to the classroom. Shirinian asked a U.S. District Court last month to allow her to resume her duties after...
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March opening date comes with surprise
The Tennessee Theatre’s $24 million expansion into a building two doors down will open to the public in March after years of behind-the-scenes work. The March 20 opening date was announced Dec. 9, along with details about the top floor of the...
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