News
April 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
A crowd eagerly waited before daybreak as Farragut Mayor Ron Williams cut the ribbon for Publix at Westerly Commons in west Farragut Thursday morning, March 26, at 13123 Kingston Pike, near the intersection with S. Watt Road.
“We’d like to welcome you to your new Publix, the store’s community relations manager Kimberly Reynolds said.
“We have a lot of people standing here to get in,” the mayor said before introducing Town officials who were present. “I’m really excited to have Publix on this corner and our second one in our Town. I think, for everybody who lives out this way and myself, this will be a real convenience.
“And, for the people who live in Lenoir City and Loudon area, we really appreciate your sales tax,” he added, generating laughter. “As you probably know, we live on sales tax here.
“Anyway, this is going to be a busy corner, so hopefully everybody can have a good time today … it’s a beautiful store,” Williams said.
“Thank you for your leadership and partnership in getting us here today,” Reynolds added.
“I just couldn’t be more excited to open up this store for your community and our neighbors and really looking forward to serving you — serving you the way you expect from Publix,” store manager David Kuehl said. “I couldn’t be more happy to be leading this team. We are very excited to show you what we’ve got going on in [the store].”
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April 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
As Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen continues its budget process, it reviewed its budgets for the Town’s equipment replacement, state street aid, Americans with Disabilities Act capital projects and insurance funds during a workshop Thursday, March 26.
“Our equipment replacement fund is a 10-year funding mechanism that we do to look at all of our major equipment throughout Town — vehicles, our big equipment like dump trucks, bulldozers, backhoes, mowers and the units that go with those,” Town administrator David Smoak said.
“We try to look ahead at replacements of those units in the future, make sure we have enough money in the fund balance to pay for those,” he said.
Focusing on fiscal year 2027, Smoak said the main revenues coming from or into the equipment fund are from interest earnings based on the fund balance the Town has, proceeds from sales of equipment and transfers from the general fund.
“We have a lot of proceeds [from sales],” he said. “We have a lot of equipment that we recently surplused that will go to gov.deals.”
“In the general fund, we’re just putting money aside and [then] put it into the equipment fund, so we can make sure we have enough for future expenditures,” Smoak said. “This year, we are going to transfer $235,000 from the general fund into the equipment replacement fund,” he said. “We’ve got major expenditures of $265,000, and so when you add up all those things, we have right at $16,000 in revenue over expenditures planned with an ending fund balance right around $1.3 million.
Smoak said the Town will need to replace a John Deere utility tractor, which is used daily and will be a $50,000 replacement unit; a 1575 mower with an additional cab, which is heated and cooled, estimated to cost $50,000 to replace; and a dump truck, estimated to replace at $160,000.
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April 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
For Sana Boghani, Monday, March 16, appeared the same as any other.
She settled into an evening health policy and management class, part of her pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Public Health. The room buzzed with low chatter as students shared stories from Spring Break.
Suddenly, the mood shifted. Dr. Joe Mazer, the Dean of the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee, walked in with several of Boghani’s professors and mentors following closely.
They informed the 2022 Farragut High School graduate she had been named a 2026 Torchbearer, the university’s highest undergraduate student honor.
Awarded annually to a select few seniors and recent graduates, the Torchbearer designation recognizes academic excellence and an extraordinary commitment to service and leadership.
Boghani — a December 2025 UTK graduate — accepted a hug and broke into a wide smile, donning the same color of navy she had worn at her FHS graduation four years prior.
“I had no words, but my face gave it away,” she said. “I feel very humbled, blessed and grateful that I was considered for that honor. While I applied and was nominated, I had zero expectation that I would actually receive the award. It was a moment I will never forget.”
The moment served as a fitting accolade in Boghani’s UT journey, which started with doubt as she saw friends venturing out-of-state for college.
Instead, she attended a school that is exactly 17 miles from her high school alma mater and earned a plethora of honors in the process.
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April 1, 2026 by
As Knox County prepares to elect its next mayor, voters are weighing not only the candidates themselves but also their ideas for the county’s future. To help inform that decision, farragutpress invited all four candidates to respond to a series of questions addressing leadership, priorities and long-term planning.
Below are the questions posed, followed by the answers submitted by each candidate.
1. Leadership and vision
Based on your political philosophy and your approach to solving problems, why should voters elect you as the next Knox County mayor?
2. Top challenge
What do you believe will be the most serious challenge facing the next Knox County mayor, and what specific policy or initiative would you pursue to address it?
3. Education
What role does education play in Knox County’s long-term success, and how would you support the county’s schools and workforce development efforts as mayor?
4. Infrastructure
As mayor, what would be your plan to improve and maintain infrastructure, including road repairs, traffic management and planning for future development?
5. Growth and planning
What specific policies or planning strategies would you support to ensure growth occurs in appropriate areas while reflecting the priorities and quality of life concerns of current residents?
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April 1, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Knox County businesses will have a chance to show what they offer during Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo 2026.
Going into its fourth year, the event will take place from noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 22, in The Venue at Lenoir City, 7690 Creekwood Park Blvd., Lenoir City.
“Join us for an afternoon of networking, connection and discovery as you meet new
service providers, connect with businesses new to the area and learn more about the many unique brands and services in our region,” Chamber president/CEO Julie Blaylock said.
This event, presented by Slamdot and open to the public, is a business-to-business expo, she said.
“So, there will be a lot of business networking going on,” Blaylock added. “Business members of the Chamber attend at no cost as long as they pre-register.
“Anybody else whose not a member of the Chamber, whether they are a business or just a resident who just
wants to shop for new services, they can pre-register and get two tickets for $5,” she said. “On the day of the expo, at the door, anybody who hasn’t pre-registered is $5 each. That includes members, non-members, everybody."
Pre-registration can be done by visiting farragutchamber.org.
“We definitely encourage residents and non-members to attend,” Blaylock said. “That’s why we’ve kept the pre-registration entry fee so low. We want to make it easy for people to attend.”
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April 1, 2026 by
During a Thursday, March 19, Farragut Municipal Planning Commission meeting, Jeffrey Marzolf asked the Commission for a change to the Future Land Use Map and rezoning for 1.1 acre property at 11830 Kingston Pike. The amount of the acreage was listed incorrectly in an article on the front page of the Wednesday, March 25, issue of the farragutpress. We regret the error.
In the U.S. Representatives District 2 race, Michaela Barnett, a Democrat, is running against current Rep. Tim Burchett. Her name was misspelled in a front-page article that ran in the Wednesday, Feb. 18, issue. We regret the error.
