For the fifth year in a row, Reader’s Digest
named the Nicest Place in America, where people are kind, resilient, and work to make their communities better.

After America faced a global pandemic and fought together for racial equality in 2020, this year is one of healing and building, of bouncing back stronger, together.

In 2021, the Nicest Place in America is the Quality Inn in Kodak, Tennessee.
Taking in the Community During a Christmas Blizzard, the Quality Inn in Kodak, Tennessee Is the Nicest Place in America

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From WBIR:

The University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center in Knoxville announced Friday it is temporarily cutting back its emergency service hours for the small animal hospital due to staffing shortages and high overnight caseloads.

The veterinary center said its emergency services in the Small Animal Hospital will now only be open between the hours of 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily.

A couple of years ago the emergency veterinary hospital in Blount County closed. We tried two different emergency veterinary hospitals in Knoxville. We preferred the UT Vet Hospital. There is a third 24 hour veterinary hospital in West Knoxville, which we haven't tried.

Hopefully we won't need the services of an emergency veterinary hospital during this "temporary" cutback at UT Vet Hospital.

Interesting article. Who is behind the Scruffy City PAC?

Knoxville City Council elections 2021

Knox County Election Financial Disclosures

A top administrator with the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake advised teachers last week that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also offer students access to a book from an “opposing” perspective, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News.

“How do you oppose the Holocaust?” one teacher said in response.

Shrug...

"An investigation is underway after several Great Smoky Mountains Railroad cars derailed while filled with passengers over the weekend in Swain County." The train travels from the "Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) to the main depot in Bryson City."

A passenger "writes, “Multiple cars derailed, our car being one of them. It was unsettling given that our car was leaning slightly, and we were over Lake Fontana.”

Yikes!

A new report released called "Trouble in the Air" said Sevierville had the most Bad Ozone Days in Tennessee in 2020. The report defined bad Ozone days as days when the amount of Ozone in the air was higher than the EPA's recommendation.

Sevierville traffic could be hurting your lungs

To be this lucid, well-spoken, and funny at 90.

Greenlee is the second-oldest bike shop in the United States, dating back to 1899.

One of Knoxville's oldest family-owned businesses is closing its doors after pandemic hardships

Developing Story: FBI raids Sevier County Courthouse

The $4 trillion economic cost of not vaccinating the entire world

Vaccine Refusal Will Come at a Cost—For All of Us

Unvaccinated COVID-19 hospitalizations cost billions of dollars

The Costs Of Rejecting Vaccinations

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to require patrons at indoor spaces such restaurants, gyms and movie theaters to show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination -- starting November 4.

The ordinance will also apply to personal care establishments such as spas and hair salons, as well as city buildings.
.

Los Angeles to require proof of vaccination for indoor restaurants, gyms and theaters

In rural communities, he said, it's not cost effective to run a whole hospital. A freestanding emergency room can provide critical care without losing too much money. Proving that it can work in Fentress County could allow other communities long distances from major hospitals to petition for similar care sites.

New freestanding emergency room in Fentress Co. may be model for rest of nation

‘Exhausted and underpaid’: teachers across the US are leaving their jobs in record numbers
Michael Sainato in The Guardian

“I needed a change for my physical and mental health and that of my family, some of whom have conditions that make them vulnerable to Covid. There was a lack of transparency in the reported numbers and the push to do business as normal. It was all far too much,” said Tower. “I did not want to be a martyr. I loved my job. I’ll miss my kids, but I can’t pour from an empty vessel.”

At least 378 active teachers have died from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, along with hundreds of other school workers. Several surveys have shown teachers are more likely to leave the profession because of worsening stress and burnout during the pandemic, coupled with pre-existing issues such as a lack of resources and low pay.

On Oct. 3, 1791, James White's Fort became the birthplace of the city of Knoxville, named after William Blount's superior Henry Knox.

Happy birthday, Knoxville! The Scruffy City turns 230

Why is gerrymandering legal?

Democrats see Nashville in crosshairs as GOP plans new congressional maps

From WATE:

The National Park Service is asking the public to comment on the proposed construction of the next section of the Foothills Parkway and access improvements between Wears Valley and the Metcalf Bottoms area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Documents: Deal reached to re-open South Knoxville riverfront walkway

Smith & Wesson's new headquarters will be located in Partnership Park North in Maryville. The state said the company plans to break ground by the end of the year.

Gun maker Smith & Wesson to move its headquarters to Maryville

Our constitutional crisis is already here
Robert Kagan in Washington Post

Most Americans — and all but a handful of politicians — have refused to take this possibility seriously enough to try to prevent it. As has so often been the case in other countries where fascist leaders arise, their would-be opponents are paralyzed in confusion and amazement at this charismatic authoritarian. They have followed the standard model of appeasement, which always begins with underestimation. The political and intellectual establishments in both parties have been underestimating Trump since he emerged on the scene in 2015.

The events of Jan. 6, on the other hand, proved that Trump and his most die-hard supporters are prepared to defy constitutional and democratic norms, just as revolutionary movements have in the past. While it might be shocking to learn that normal, decent Americans can support a violent assault on the Capitol, it shows that Americans as a people are not as exceptional as their founding principles and institutions. Europeans who joined fascist movements in the 1920s and 1930s were also from the middle classes. No doubt many of them were good parents and neighbors, too. People do things as part of a mass movement that they would not do as individuals, especially if they are convinced that others are out to destroy their way of life. It would be foolish to imagine that the violence of Jan. 6 was an aberration that will not be repeated.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers that the federal government will likely run out of cash and extraordinary measures by October 18 unless Congress raises the debt ceiling.

US government will run out of money by October 18, Treasury secretary says

Yellen said that all the investments would be fully paid for through higher taxes on large, profitable corporations, improved enforcement of the existing tax system and savings from reforms to government health care programs.

Yellen says infrastructure overhaul will US boost economy