News
February 18, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Deliberations on a resolution for a social media policy led to a lengthy discussion of the State Open Meetings law, also known as Sunshine Law, during Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s meeting Thursday, Feb. 12.
“I’ve been using social media to communicate with the Town for nine years, since I’ve been here,” Town Communications manager Wendy Smith said. “A good portion of that time, it’s
been recommended by my professional organizations that we have a social
media policy in place to address possible problems that can come up with social
media.”
Smith said the social media policy would allow “Town of Farragut staff to remove content that is deemed harmful and is not protected by the First Amendment.
“We don’t have problems with social media happening in such a way that I would feel like posts need to be removed with the exception of some fraudulent posts that get posted on Visit site, trying to get people to buy tickets for free events, and that kind of thing,” she said. “But, I would like to have this policy in place just in case we change our minds.”
The policy reads: “Town’s social media pages do not reflect the opinions of the Town, and the Town does not promote or endorse comments posted on our pages."
Also, it states, “While we encourage individuals to share thoughts and opinions on the Town of Farragut’s social media platforms, we expect this to be done respectfully, truthfully and in a constructive manner. Comments may be removed by the Town if they contain:
• Defamation (false and injurious language)
• Threats (serious expressions of intent to commit an unlawful act of violence)
• Spam (content that is not related to the subject matter of the post) or content that is so unrelated, in the sole opinion of staff, that it causes confusion concerning the actual subject matter of the original post
• Encouragement of illegal activity
• Malware links
• Promotion of illegal discrimination, such as offensive and disparaging comments that target ethical, racial, cultural, religious or other groups protected by law
• Content that purports to claim ownership of intellectual property rights contrary to the true ownership interest established by another party
• Personally identifiable information about an individual, such as financial or health care data.
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FMS cancer survivor gets UT dream weekend
February 18, 2026 by Jake Nichols
On Friday, Feb. 13, Taylor Lunn walked through the main hallway at Farragut Middle School.
Little did the 13-year-old know what awaited her.
Dressed in gray Tennessee-themed sweats, Lunn rounded a corner with her parents and broke into a wide smile.
Some classmates waved orange pom-pons, and others held up signs while “Rocky Top” blared from a nearby speaker.
It was a fitting scene on a fully-packed weekend, which began with the Lunn family walking out of the school and into the bright sunshine. There, a black SUV whisked them off to a whirlwind 72-hour experience, all organized by the nonprofit organization, “Dream on 3.”
Based out of Charlotte, the organization exists to “enrich the lives of kids with life-altering conditions by making their sports dreams come true,” according to the website.
Undergraduate students from the organization’s Tennessee chapter compiled the Lunn family’s festivities, which ranged from a camp with UT cheerleaders to multiple Tennessee basketball games to an Alumni Hall shopping spree. They even had breakfast at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday morning before taking in the Lady Vols’ game against Texas that afternoon.
“It’s pretty cool,” Barb Urch, a senior programmer for “Dream on 3,” said during the visit to FMS on Friday. “There are many different levels to it, and I love the collegiate aspect with students working so hard at building this dream.
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February 18, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Knox County Democrats rallied for their candidates running for county and state seats at their KnoxDems Local Primary Campaign Kickoff in Bridgewater Place Event Center in Knoxville, Monday, Feb. 16.
Among the 20 Democratic candidates seeking election, Beau Hawk is running for county mayor, with current Mayor Glenn Jacobs being term limited.
“I see too many opportunities disappearing for too many people,” he said about his running for office. “I also see the Republicans have been in power in this county for too long and not do anything about it.”
As Democrats, “we’re going to take on the status quo; we’re going to shock the system; and were going to turn Knox County blue,” he said.
Hawk, president of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council, is the only Democrat seeking the county mayoral office.
Candidates running for County Commissioner are Brandon Huckaby, District 3; William Cooper, District 7, Katina Sharp, Seat 10 at-large; Vivian Shipe, Seat 11 at large; John Butler, OT Harris and Breyauna Holloway, District 1; Kat Bike, District 4; Cadence Collins, District 6; Amy Fenner, District 7; Brandy Jenkins, District 9.
Meanwhile, Stephen Hood is running for county trustee; Joey Tate for county clerk; and Ben H. Houston II for Division IV general sessions judge.
“I am running because I have four children … I want my college-age children to be able to afford a house when they get out of college,” Sharp said. “I want my driver teenage son to have safe roads and intersections that work for him.”
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February 18, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Construction for the new Farragut Area Elementary School is on schedule, according to Lauren Morgan, District 5 Knox County School Board representative who spoke to Rotary Club of Farragut members during the club’s meeting in Fox Den Country Club Wednesday, Feb. 11.
“I got to tour the school on Monday (Feb. 9], with Merit Construction, whose doing the work, and it’s fantastic,” said Morgan, whose district covers Farragut. “It’s unbelievable to me that last May we were standing there, breaking ground, and now it is up and looking great.
“They’ve even got drywall … systems in place there,” she said.”It’s going to be the largest elementary school Knox County has ever built, and its slated to hold up to 1,400 students, so we will take a lot of pressure off of our primary and intermediate schools by having three K-5 schools.
“It will be a huge transformation point for our community when we do that switch in fall 2027,” Morgan said.
She recalled the land was purchased before she came on the school board.
“I got to come on board before the groundbreaking,” Morgan said. “The Town of Farragut, I know, worked very hard with Susan Horn (Morgan’s predecessor on the school board] and Knox County Schools, making sure we did a good set-up for our elementary school.
About her district, “I think that our Farragut schools are amazing,” she said. “I don’t think they’re perfect. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be doing this role."
Still, Morgan said Farragut schools are overcrowded. While Farragut High School is not at the overcrowded stage yet, she anticipates the high school will experience overcrowding before too long as well.
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February 18, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
As the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen prepares to begin work on its 2026-27 budget, starting with a workshop Thursday, Feb. 12, the board gathered Friday, Jan. 23, for its annual retreat.
“My goal is for us to have this budget adopted by the end of May,” Town Administrator David Smoak said. “The departments have already turned in their base budgets.”
Smoak presented information for the board to consider related to growth trends and potential revenue.
“I want to give you a good sense of where we’re at and what’s going on in our community,” he said. “Obviously, our population is continuing to increase because people continue to move into the Town of Farragut.”
Smoak said the town’s population is currently about 25,579, with an estimated 1,000 additional residents expected.
“The University of Tennessee is going to be giving us census counts going forward,” he said. “The state legislature changed the law last year, allowing us not to have to do a special census.”
He also reported the town’s median household income has increased over the past several years.
“The median household incomes also are a factor for our community housing occupancy,” Smoak said. He noted the town’s median age has increased by eight years.
“That could have an impact on apartment residency rates,” he said. “We have almost 9,000 residential units in the town, and only 1 percent is vacant. That’s great.”
Smoak said maintaining a community where residents of all ages can live has been a long-standing goal.
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from the Town
February 18, 2026 by Wendy Smith
Questions about property taxes and local services come up regularly at Town Hall, as well as in the farragutpress, so this column offers a brief refresher on these topics.
First, all property taxes paid by Farragut residents go directly to Knox County – the Town of Farragut does not receive any portion of property tax revenue. Instead, we rely heavily on sales tax revenue. About 60 percent of the Town’s revenue comes from the Local Option Sales Tax generated by businesses right here in Farragut. That’s one reason we work hard to attract visitors and encourage residents to shop locally.
Even without a property tax, Farragut boasts some of the finest amenities in the county. Our parks, greenways and the Farragut Community Center all scored higher than the national benchmark in the National Community Survey (see all survey results at townoffarragut.org/survey). While Campbell Station Inn renovations were not completed until after the survey, visitors have been overwhelmingly positive about the restoration of the historic home and the amenities available there.
Because we rely heavily on sales tax revenue, the Town takes a fiscally conservative approach to budgeting. Sales tax collections have grown steadily, but they are expected to level off once available commercial space is fully developed. At the same time, infrastructure costs continue to rise, and staffing needs increase as our community grows. The Town currently carries no debt, and maintaining healthy savings is essential if we want to continue avoiding a property tax in the future.
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February 18, 2026 by
• A Farragut woman told deputies Feb. 5 that a check mailed from the Farragut Post Office, 11409 Municipal Center Drive, was intercepted and
altered between Dec. 19 and Dec. 23.
According to the report, the complainant received a letter notifying her that the property taxes had not been paid. When she reviewed her bank account, she then saw where the check, originally written for $5,658.32 to pay Knox County property taxes, was forged and the payee changed. The funds were deposited into a bank account not belonging to the victim. The case is being investigated as felony theft, forgery and fraud.
• A Farragut man reported Feb. 5 that a check left in a
post box at the Farragut Post Office, 11409 Municipal Center Drive, was altered from $1,359.65 to $6,700 and made payable to a male suspect. The complainant told deputies the suspect attempted to cash the check, but the bank flagged the transaction as fraudulent. The incident is being investigated as attempted forgery and fraud.
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