News
July 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
As a tribute to America, the Town of Farragut is recognizing 15 veterans as grand marshals in its Independence Day Parade.
They include Fred Adomat, Jim Bolon, Nancy Bolon, Marilyn Childress, Bill Craddick, Dave Fahidy, Gerry Godolphin, Stewart Greenfield, Jessica Hodge, Dennis Laneman, Kristi Luttrell, Jim O’Brien, Scott Rastovic, Noell Simmons and Jason Simon.
All will ride in Corvettes donated by the Farragut Lions Club.
Jim Bolon
Inspired by his parents’ service, Bolon worked in the U.S. Navy from 1976 through 1996 as a surface warfare officer and an engineering duty officer and retired as a commander.
Nancy Bolon
Bolon served in the U.S. Navy from 1979 to 2006, rising from seaman recruit to commander before working as a Blue Angels executive officer.
Marilyn Childress
Childress served in the U.S. Navy from 1972 to 1975 as a hospital corpsman and operating room technician, rising to petty officer second class.
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July 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Farragut Mayor Ron Williams faced criticism during the citizens comments portion of the Thursday, June 25, Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.
The criticism from six residents centered on the mayor's dispute with the Knox County Sheriff's Office and his Wednesday, June 24, Facebook post about a recent newspaper report involving Alderman Alex Cain.
Additionally, Cain announced he had received a death threat.
"You may not be aware..." Cain said. "I want to thank Mr. David Smoak, Town administrator, and Mr. Tom Hale, Town attorney, and the staff here at the Town of Farragut. I received a threat against my life in an email yesterday (Wednesday, June 24), and they addressed it immediately.
"They responded and got everything to the sheriff's office immediately, and that is being addressed," he said.
"Threats on our lives as elected officials happen, unfortunately," Williams said. "I hate that it happened to you. We have people who think that's funny. It's not funny. It's a serious deal."
While Andover subdivision resident Adam Atherton praised Williams and the Board for accomplishing much and said Williams has been "generally responsive despite being very busy," he criticized the mayor's recent public actions.
"Your argument with the Knox County sheriff was an embarrassment and ended in being called a liar," Atherton said.
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July 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Andover residents accused the Town of Farragut of failing to protect their property from flooding caused by neighboring construction during Thursday night's Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, prompting Mayor Ron Williams to promise the Town would revisit the issue.
Herbert and Gillian Lindsey said changes to the grading and drainage of a neighboring property have increased runoff onto their land, leaving them facing thousands of dollars in engineering costs and concerns their home is more vulnerable to flooding.
Speaking during the citizen comments portion of the June 25 meeting, Herbert Lindsey said Town representatives, the neighboring property owner and the Lindseys met Jan. 6 to discuss drainage concerns. He said several commitments made during that meeting were never fulfilled.
According to Lindsey, the builder agreed roof gutter runoff would be directed away from the Lindseys' property and toward a nearby creek, but instead it discharged water into a driveway that slopes toward their property.
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July 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Tucked into a hallway within Knoxville’s City County building, there are signs of Glenn Jacobs’ alter ego.
A Lego portrait shows Jacobs with long hair, a scowl and a mask. A replica of that mask casts a shadow nearby, and gold championship belts showcase the grandeur within a world he once dominated. But the most fitting item is a smaller piece, a blue Tennessee license plate with two words in all caps: “MAYOR KANE.”
The nickname showcases the two lives Jacobs has lived as a professional wrestler and as the mayor of Knox County.
For more than two decades, Jacobs was one of the most beloved figures in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Having been inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2021, he moved from the wrestling ring to the political arena, becoming the Knox County mayor in 2018 before being reelected in 2022.
Nearing his final two months in office, Jacobs shared how these roles have shaped his view of America — and why he feels privileged to have lived on very different ends of a public-facing spectrum.
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July 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
A quick look at the history of Farragut appears to begin in 1980, when the Town was founded by a group of frustrated area residents, but its roots run much deeper.
Anyone driving along Concord Road will see Pleasant Forest Cemetery, which was established in 1796, and has interred there three American Revolutionary War soldiers: Thomas Boyd; David Campbell, who started the first settlement in what now is known as Farragut; and Archibald Roane, the state’s second governor. Malcolm Shell, a Farragut historian and Farragut Museum supporter, has shared some of the Town’s past, its other prominent people, such as Adm. David Glasgow Farragut, and sites.
One of the earliest people known was David Campbell, who arrived around
noon, March 7, 1787, according to Shell.
“He was from Augusta, County, Virginia,” Shell said of Campbell. “He first went to Strawberry Plains and a later date moved to Knoxville and from Knoxville to here.
In the Revolutionary War, “[Campbell] served with George Washington at the Battle of Long Island Flats,” the historian said. “He held the rank of captain.
“He arrived here with a man named Archibald McCaleb, just their two families,” Shell recounted. “When they got here, the first thing they did was build lean-tos [makeshift shelters] for their families.
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July 1, 2026 by Carol Sue Humphrey
Editor’s note: This article was first published on The First Amendment Encyclopedia website, a project of the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies at Middle Tennessee University, as part of the U.S. Semiquincentennial. It is republished here with permission of the author.
The American Revolution had a major impact on newspapers. Newspapers had been around for a long time in the colonies, but the Revolution gave them new functions to fulfill.
As the 13 colonies slowly dissolved their ties with Great Britain, newspapers played an increasingly important role in the growing dispute. Both Patriot and Loyalist writers used the weekly newspapers to attempt to convince their neutral countrymen to support their side. The Patriots were more successful, so much so that by the time the Revolution had begun, pro-British newspapers had disappeared from most colonies.
It was in the conflict over the Stamp Act that newspapers discovered a new role to play. The Stamp Act, to become effective November 1, 1765, was aimed at raising revenue to help Britain pay off its war debts. The act required that all legal documents, official papers, books, and newspapers be printed on stamped paper that carried a special tax. It placed an additional tax on advertisements.
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July 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Before Michael Jordan took basketball by storm, Donald Dodgen saw what the rest of the world would soon learn.
In the summer of 1981, Dodgen arrived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to serve as a coach at the legendary Dean Smith’s summer basketball camp.
Since the “Dean Dome” had not yet been built, Dodgen and other coaches ambled out of the Carolina heat into Carmichael Arena.
There, during pickup games at the end of each camp, Dodgen saw in an 18-year-old Jordan the traits that would form the most famous basketball player to ever live.
The easygoing grin he cracked during jokes. The high-arcing jumper swishing through the net. The tongue sticking out as he levitated from the free-throw line to the basket. The competitive spark that lit once he stepped on the floor.
Before six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, 14 NBA All-Star appearances and even before his game-winning shot against Georgetown in the 1982 national title game, Jordan was an incoming freshman out of Laney High School in Wilmington.
“He was just a normal college freshman,” Dodgen recalled in his office at Farragut High School. “Fun to be around, treating you like his best friend. But boy, when he played, it was a work of art.”
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July 1, 2026 by Staff Reports
The Town of Farragut is gearing up for its Independence Day Parade this Saturday, July 4, along Kingston Pike, starting at 9:30 a.m.
“We’ve got a huge Fourth
of July parade coming up,” Town administrator David Smoak announced at the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Thursday, June 25.
The parade will begin at Farragut High School at Lendon Welch Way to Boring Road next to Ingle’s Market.
As such, Kingston Pike will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to about noon from Lendon Welch Way to Federal Boulevard.
“The portion of Kingston Pike from Concord Road/West End Avenue to Campbell Station Road will be reopened approximately 15 minutes after the final parade participant has passed through the Campbell Station Road/Kingston Pike intersection,” the Town’s website stated. “Kingston Pike will be fully reopened once
all participants are safely off the road.”
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July 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
The Samuel Frazier Chapter of the National Daughters of the American Revolution Samuel Frazier Chapter, with members in Farragut and Knoxville, has partnered
with the American Battlefield Trust and DAR to host a free traveling exhibit at the East Tennessee History Center in Knox County.
The exhibit, American Revolution Experience, is open to the public and will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., from Tuesday, June 30, to Tuesday, July 7, in the center, 601 S. Gay St., Knoxville. The center is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
“It’s on loan from the American Battlefield Trust,” DAR chapter member Eve Thomas said. “It is a nine-panel display of the battles of the Revolutionary War. It will show all the relevant battles.
The chapter is named after the American Revolutionary War patriot Samuel Frazier.
“This is all in celebration of the America 250,” she said. “It’s also important to us chapters in Tennessee because were it not for Tennessee sending the most volunteers in the War of 1812, there would be no America 250.
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July 1, 2026 by
• Patricia Gilbert Goodman celebrated her 100th birthday at NHC Farragut June 17 with her family and NHC staff. A photo caption in the Community section of the Wednesday, June 24, farragutpress issue listed her name incorrectly. We regret the error.
• In the Places of Worship section inserted in the June 17 issue, the entry for Shoreline Church was incorrect. The pastor is Jason Hayes and it should be under the Baptist denomination. We regret the error.
July 1, 2026 by
farragutpress is now accepting political profile submissions for the 2026 election cycle.
As the 2026 election season approaches, farragutpress is providing political candidates with an opportunity to share their message directly with readers through candidate profiles published in the newspaper.
• Each candidate may submit one profile, and the written content should be 400 words or fewer.
• One photograph may accompany the profile.
• While the newspaper will not alter the substance or message of submitted profiles, it reserves the right to make spelling and grammar corrections as needed / AP style.
• All submissions will be reviewed by the Publisher prior to print deadlines to ensure they meet established standards.
• Candidates need to provide contact information with their submission in case clarification or follow-up is necessary.
Candidates may email their political profiles to editor@farragutpress.com
The deadline for political profiles prior to the August 6th election is 12 p.m. on Friday, July 10th.
Deadline for profiles is Friday by 12 p.m. prior to the following week’s publication.
