A Knoxville man is convicted of sexually assaulting his roommate’s daughter.
Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen says Cody Bales was living with a 13-year-old girl and her mother at an apartment in early 2018 when he sexually assaulted the child and left the home without his belongings.
The victim did not disclose the rape until years later when she told a friend what happened, and Bales was arrested following an investigation by the Knoxville Police Department.
Investigators say Bales had also committed and been convicted of a separate statutory rape that involved a different minor and is currently serving a six-year sentence in that case.
Bales was convicted of four counts of rape and two counts of statutory rape, and he was sentenced to 22 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Additionally, he will be placed on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry.
Opponents of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk rallied in East Tennessee and across the U.S. to protest the administration’s actions on government downsizing, the economy, human rights and other issues.
More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. Among the protest sites included downtown Knoxville and in Blount County.
Demonstrators in Knoxville came together to protest the Trump administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut federal funding for health programs.
Musk, a Trump adviser who owns Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, has played a key role in government downsizing as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. He says he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
The White House said in a statement that “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries”.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal accident in North Knoxville.
Police were called to the accident involving a motorcycle and a car Friday night in the 7300 block of Green Estates Way off of East Beaver Creek and remained on the scene for several hours.
No word if any charges will be filed.
Our thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this death.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1/1 Tennessee dropped both games of a doubleheader against Texas A&M on Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
It was a day to forget for the Volunteers (28-4, 9-3 SEC), as the Aggies (16-15, 3-9 SEC) launched an offensive barrage, combining for 26 runs while hitting 11 homers over the two games, just one day after being no-hit in a 10-0 loss to open the series.
For Tennessee, Saturday’s losses snapped a program-record streak of 12 consecutive SEC series wins. The Vols’ last series loss prior to this weekend came on the road at Alabama in the first conference series of last season.
Game 1: Texas A&M 9, Tennessee 3
Texas A&M pulled ahead in the middle innings and continued to add to its lead with a three-run eighth inning to essentially put the game away and win the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, 9-3.
Starting with a run in the fourth to tie the game at two, the Aggies scored in five consecutive innings and finished with four home runs for the game.
Marcus Phillips was stuck with his first loss of the year after giving up four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings.
Chris Newstrom got the start in left field and was the lone Vol to have multiple hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Leadoff man Terrence Kiel II and catcher Bear Harrison both had three-hit performances for Texas A&M while Jace LaViolette and Caden Sorrell had two RBIs apiece.
Game 2: Texas A&M 17, Tennessee 6 (8 Inn.)
Texas A&M carried its momentum over from game one with a three-run top of the first in game two of Saturday’s twin bill. Bear Harrison hit the first of seven Aggies’ home runs for the game as they clinched the series with a 17-6 victory in eight innings.
After falling behind 4-0, Tennessee looked to gain some momentum with two runs in the bottom of the third to cut its deficit in half, however, Texas A&M squashed that immediately with a six-run top of the fourth, followed by four more runs in the fifth to build a commanding 14-2 lead.
Wyatt Henseler led the way for the Aggies with three hits and five RBIs, including a pair of long balls. Second baseman Ben Royo also homered twice for A&M.
Four Vols finished with multiple hits in the game in Dean Curley, Dalton Bargo, Chris Newstrom and Cannon Peebles. Newstrom was a bright spot for the Big Orange throughout the doubleheader, finishing with a pair of multi-hit games and four total hits for the day.
Hunter Ensley also drove in three runs with a home run into the porches in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Tegan Kuhns suffered his first loss of the year after allowing four runs on four hits and three walks in just 2.2 innings. Fellow freshman Brayden Krenzel also had a rough outing, surrendering five runs in just one inning of relief.
Junior lefthander Myles Patton earned the win for the Aggies after striking out seven batters over six innings of work.
Up Next
Tennessee will look to regroup against Alabama State on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium before heading to Oxford for a big series at Ole Miss next weekend.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7 Tennessee split its Saturday doubleheader but secured a series victory over No. 17 Mississippi State, dominating in Game 3 at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Mississippi State (31-10, 7-5 SEC) took Game 1 of the twin bill with a strong 12-4 performance, forcing a rubber match in the series finale. Tennessee (32-8, 7-5 SEC) bounced back in the second game, delivering an impressive all-around effort to claim their 18th run-rule victory of the season in an 8-0 win over the Bulldogs.
McKenna Gibson, Taylor Pannell, and Saviya Morgan all posted three hits across the two games. Gibson added a walk, four RBIs, and hit two home runs, bringing her season total to nine. Morgan contributed with two runs scored, while Pannell hit her 13th home run of the season and crossed the plate three times. Gabby Leach also shined in the second game, going 2-for-2 with two runs, two RBIs, and a walk-off home run.
Karlyn Pickens continued to prove why she is one of the most valuable players in the country as she fired a one-hit five-inning complete-game shutout in the series finale. The right-hander walked one and notched four strikeouts en route to her 15th victory of the season.
For the weekend, Pickens tossed two complete-game shutouts, allowing just five hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts across 10 innings of work.
Game 1: #7 Tennessee 4, #17 Mississippi State 12 (6 innings) Mississippi State took control early, scoring eight runs in the first inning, fueled by back-to-back home runs. The Bulldogs added to their lead with a bloop RBI single followed by a two-run single. A groundout and a bases-loaded walk scored two more before a sac fly drove in MSU’s final run of the opening frame.
Tennessee got a run back off an RBI single from Sophia Nugent, cutting Mississippi State’s lead to 8-1.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the third with a two-run double, pushing the score to 10-1. McKenna Gibson’s two-run homer in the bottom of the third pulled Tennessee closer at 10-4, but Mississippi State answered with back-to-back solo homers in the sixth, extending their lead to 12-4.
Erin Nuwer (5-2) started for Tennessee, giving up four runs on three hits and a walk in just four batters faced. Sage Mardjetko followed out of the bullpen, surrendering four runs in 0.1 innings. Peyton Tanner pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Game 2: #7 Tennessee 8, #17 Mississippi State 0 (5 innings) Tennessee came out swinging in Game 2, scoring early in the second inning. After Gabby Leach was hit by a pitch, Saviya Morgan singled up the middle of the infield, followed by a center-field single from Kinsey Fiedler, which brought Leach home for the game’s first run.
Taylor Pannell then launched a three-run homer to left, extending the Lady Vols’ advantage to 4-0. McKenna Gibson added to the lead with her third home run in as many games, making it 5-0.
The Lady Vols kept the pressure on in the third. Laura Mealer led off with a double, and after a walk and a stolen base by Ella Dodge put two runners in scoring position, Leach laid down a bunt single to drive in Mealer. A fielding error on the play allowed Dodge to come around and score for a 7-0 lead.
Leach sealed the game in the fifth inning with a walk-off solo home run, earning Tennessee its 18th run-rule victory of the season.
DUE UP Tennessee will travel to Austin, Texas, for a three-game series against the No. 1 Longhorns. The series begins Friday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU, followed by Game 2 on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. on SECN+.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the second time this season, top-ranked Tennessee tossed a combined no-hitter as Liam Doyle and Dylan Loy mowed through the Texas A&M lineup in a 10-0, seven-inning run-rule win in front of a record-setting crowd of 6,544 on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Doyle was dominant throughout, striking out eight batters while allowing two walks over six shutout innings to earn the win and improve to 5-1 on the year. The junior lefty did not pitch the final inning after developing a blister on his throwing hand.
Fellow southpaw Dylan Loy closed out the no-no by retiring the Aggies in order in the top of the seventh inning.
Playing Long Ball
The Vols (28-2, 9-1 SEC) scored eight of their 10 runs via the long ball, hitting four home runs on the night.
Andrew Fischer blasted two over the right-field wall to increase his team-leading total to 13, including a solo homer to open the scoring in the second inning, followed by a three-run shot off the videoboard to make it 4-0 in the third inning.
Dean Curley extended the Tennessee lead to five runs with a solo home run in the fifth inning before the Vols exploded for five more runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped by a Hunter Ensley three-run opposite field blast to send the run-rule into effect.
Eight of UT’s nine starters finished with a hit while the first four batters in the order – Curley, Dalton Bargo, Ensley and Fischer – all had two hits and at least one RBI.
No-Hitter No. 2
Friday night’s no-hitter was the first by an SEC team in league play since Vanderbilt threw a combined no-hitter in a win over Kentucky on April 22, 2022.
This marks the second season in which Tennessee has recorded multiple no-hitters in a single season with the other occurrence coming in 1976 when it happened three times.
The Vols have now tossed five combined no-hitters and 10 total no-hitters in program history.
Up Next
With inclement weather in the forecast on Sunday, the Vols and Aggies will wrap up this weekend’s series with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 3 p.m. Game two of the doubleheader will begin at approximately 7 p.m. or 45 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
Both games are slated to be full, nine-inning contests and will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7 Tennessee opened its three-game series against No. 17 Mississippi State with an 8-0 run-rule victory Friday night at Sherri Lee Parker Stadium.
The Lady Vols (31-7, 6-4 SEC) wasted no time, striking first in the bottom of the first inning. Kinsey Fiedler crushed a two-run homer, her second of the season, to give Tennessee a 2-0 lead.
The offense kept rolling in the frame as Taylor Pannell worked a walk following two illegal pitches by Mississippi State (30-9, 6-4 SEC) before McKenna Gibson got hit to put two runners on. Sophia Nugent followed with an RBI single to left field, extending the lead to 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Tennessee’s bats exploded once again. McKenna Gibson led off with a solo homer, her seventh of the season, to make it 4-0. Nugent and Laura Mealer kept the pressure on with back-to-back singles, and Gabby Leach walked to load the bases.
With two outs, Emma Clarke came through with a clutch pinch-hit two-run double, pushing the advantage to 6-0. Fiedler then capped the game with a walk-off single to right, enforcing the run rule and securing Tennessee’s 17th run-rule win of the season.
IN THE CIRCLE Karlyn Pickens (14-4) delivered a dominant performance, striking out six and allowing just four hits in a five-inning shutout. She worked her way out of an early jam in the first inning when Mississippi State put runners in scoring position with no outs. Pickens responded by retiring the next three batters, preventing the Bulldogs from scoring. The right-hander lowered her ERA to 0.98 in the outing.
NOTABLE PERFORMERS Fiedler led the offense, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including her two-run homer.
Gibson finished 1-for-1 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and launched her 40th career home run, tying her for sixth on Tennessee’s all-time list with Zaida Puni.
Mealer went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Nugent also posted a 2-for-3 line with an RBI.
DUE UP Tennessee is set to play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game starting at 4 p.m. ET on SEC Network. The series finale will follow at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed on SEC Network+.
McMinn County, TN (WOKI) Authorities in McMinn County are warning of a new scam involving individuals posing as agents with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
The McMinn County Sheriff’s Office says the scam cost an elderly man tens of thousands of dollars.
MCSO says the victim was called in March by someone claiming to be a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. The “agent” told the man that the victim was connected to drugs and money seized at the southern border, and he needed to pay.
The man complied, withdrawing large sums of cash from several banks and placing the money in a shoe box for pickup at his house by one of the scammers.
MCSO says that federal and local law enforcement will never call asking for money.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim was called in March by someone claiming to be a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. (Frankly Media)
Maryville, TN (WOKI) A Maryville Police Department officer is recovering at home after being injured Thursday evening in a crash.
MPD officials say the officer, a man, was on his motorcycle responding to another motor vehicle accident when the crash in which he was involved occurred.
MPD says the officer was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash and was reported in stable condition Thursday.
The officer was released from the hospital Friday afternoon to continue recovering at home.
No additional details on the crash have been released.
MPD officials have not released additional details regarding the crash. (Courtesy: Maryville Police Department)
(Sevier County, TN – WVLT/ WOKI) Firefighters with the Pigeon Forge Fire Department battle a cabin fire this (Friday) morning.
Sevier County EMA Director Joe Ayers says that crews were called to the cabin on Eagle Crest Way and found an unoccupied cabin was fully involved with multiple crews assisting in the fire.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
The City of Sevierville Fire Department assisted with covering calls in Pigeon Forge while crews were battling the fire.
