Knoxville, TN (WOKI) UPDATE 2:00 P.M.: Multiple agencies are on the scene and a stretch of Kingston Pike is closed to traffic as cleanup is underway following a tractor-trailer spill Monday morning on North Peters Road.
Knoxville Fire Department officials say crews responded at approximately 11:45 Monday morning, confirming that the truck spilled hydrochloric acid in the roadway.
Kingston Pike is closed between Cedar Bluff and Ebenezer, and traffic is being diverted. Fire officials say North Peters Road could be closed for several hours into overnight depending on how much material is in the truck.
Police and fire officials are asking that you avoid the area and seek alternate routes if possible.
ORIGINAL STORY: A tractor-trailer leaking acid is prompting road closures currently in Knoxville.
Knoxville Fire Department officials say crews responded to a HAZMAT situation on North Peters Road at approximately 11:45 Monday morning.
KFD has confirmed that the tractor-trailer started leaking hydrochloric acid.
Road closures are in place in the area of Kingston Pike and North Peters Road. Police and fire officials are asking that you avoid the area and seek alternate routes if possible.
Tennessee’s two United States Senators are calling for President Joe Biden to resign after making the announcement he will no longer seek to run for re-election.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty each say Biden should resign immediately if he isn’t capable of running for re-election.
Biden says he is intent on completing his term.
President Joe Biden announcing he would no longer be running in the 2024 presidential election.
The move comes after several Democratic leaders, including Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama, reportedly pushed for it.
Several of East Tennessee’s lawmakers releasing statements shortly after the president’s announcement yesterday (Sunday).
Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon saying it’s takes courage to pass the baton to the next generation of leaders. Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs saying if Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He needs to RESIGN NOW!
Republican Representatives Tim Burchett, Diana Harshbarger along with Democratic Representatives Gloria Johnson and Steve Cohen all expressing their thoughts for and against the President’s decision.
An investigation is underway and Knoxville Police arrest a man in connection to a shooting a Shell Convenience store near downtown Knoxville.
Officers called to the parking lot of the station on Summit Hill Drive Saturday night for a shooting. Police believe that two men were fighting which led to shots being fired.
One man was hit in the leg and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect, 23-year-old Dereke Upton was arrested after being found in a home on Laurans Avenue Saturday night. He is charged with aggravated assault.
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office is searching for an inmate who escaped the Hancock County jail.
Five inmates escaped Wednesday, all but Jason Holden Collins have been captured. Anyone with information is asked to call HCSO at 423-733-2249.
According to HCSO, the inmates escaped around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. HCSO has identified the escapees as Casey Denim, Todd Carroll, Jason Holden Collins, John Benton III, and Adam Bailey.
Two of the five inmates, Adam Bailey and John Benton III, have been captured and returned to the jail. HCSO said on Friday evening, it was confirmed that Casey Denim and Todd Carroll were also captured.
This afternoon (Sunday), at 4:19 PM, the Knox County Emergency Communications District received a call from a male who stated that his home was on fire. The caller advised that he believed the fire was in his basement.
On the arrival of KFD Engine 6, the officer reported smoke coming from the front door. After a brief investigation, a fire was discovered in a bedroom in the basement of the home. Crews immediately went to work and extinguished the fire within 10 minutes of the initial call to 911.
The home has suffered moderate fire damage in the basement and smoke damage throughout.
The home was occupied by three adults: two males and one female. No one was at home at the time of the fire. One of the adult males had just returned home and discovered the fire.
The American Red Cross is assisting the occupants.
No injuries were reported.
The Knoxville Fire Department Investigations Unit is on the scene, working to determine a cause.
Sunday, President Joe Biden announced he would no longer be running in the 2024 presidential election.
The move comes after several Democratic leaders, including Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama, reportedly pushed for it.
Several of East Tennessee’s lawmakers released statements shortly after the president’s announcement. WVLT News is collecting those statements here in real-time as they are released.
Knoxville-area Mayors
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs (R)
For months, Democrats denied Biden suffered from cognitive decline. Now that they can no longer hide it, they’re kicking him to the curb. But the problems go deeper than one man. It’s doesn’t matter who they run, this country needs
It takes courage and humility to step aside and pass the baton to the next generation of leaders. Putting his country first will be Joe Biden’s legacy.
I want to thank President Biden. Since he took office, Knoxville has secured more than $100 M in federal grants for affordable housing, reducing gun violence, safer streets, & planting trees.
From our $42.6 M Reconnecting Communities grant, to capping the price of insulin at $35 per month for seniors, President Biden has made a huge positive difference in the lives of everyday people.Mayor Indya Kincannon on X (formerly Twitter)
State Representatives
Tennessee House Minority Leader Karen Camper
Today, we acknowledge a significant moment in our nation’s history as President Joe Biden has announced his decision not to seek re-election. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to President Biden for his unwavering service to our country. Throughout his tenure, he has kept his commitment to the American people, delivering on numerous campaign promises that have led to substantial progress in our society.
President Biden’s leadership during these challenging times has been commendable, and his dedication to the principles of democracy and justice has been inspiring. We thank him for his steadfast resolve and the positive changes he has championed.
In his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for President, we see a continuation of this legacy of leadership and progress. Vice President Harris has demonstrated exceptional service and dedication in her role, and her experience and vision make her an outstanding candidate to lead our nation forward.
I fully support Vice President Harris in her bid to become the next President of the United States. Her commitment to equality, justice, and the well-being of all Americans reflects the values we hold dear. Together, we will work to ensure a brighter future for our country.
Thank you, President Biden, for your service and commitment. And thank you, Vice President Harris, for your unwavering dedication. We stand with you as we embark on this new chapter for America.Tennessee House Minority Leader Karen Camper
Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Hendrell Remus
In 2020, while everyone around me was choosing sides and lining up behind their preferred Democratic candidates for President, I patiently awaited the entry of Vice President Joe Biden into the race. Once Vice President Biden entered the race, I was locked in and vowed that I was Ridin’ with Biden come hell or high water.
Today, as President Joseph R. Biden announces his intention not to seek re-election, I am saddened but I am forever proud of having supported the man who defeated Donald Trump and restored hope in America. President Biden delivered for the American people on election night in 2020 and every day during his term in office. Our nation is better today because President Biden served.
The next Democratic President will inherit a historic record of accomplishments to build on. Our party must do everything in its power to ensure that we protect President Biden’s legacy while fighting to make the lives of ordinary people better.
At this critical moment with so much on the line, we must unite as a party and deliver for the American people. The path ahead is clear. We have one objective and that is to make sure that Donald Trump does not return to the White House.
Mr. President, we will carry out the mission and finish the job of building back better.Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Hendrell Remus
Rep Marsha Blackburn (R)
Finally, Joe Biden has realized what the rest of the American people and even his own party already knew—he is not only the wrong leader for America, but is wholly incapable of doing the job of President of the United States. But he didn’t go far enough. https://x.com/VoteMarsha/status/1815083933001781323
Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection confirms what I and many of my colleagues have known for years: Joe Biden is unfit to lead.
Though Democrats and the media have ignored the President’s rapid decline in mental and physical health for months, his decision to drop out of the race is an overt admission of his poor condition and his inability to serve out the rest of his term as President of the United States.
I could not agree more with President Trump and Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance who have repeatedly said that if Joe Biden is not fit to run for reelection, he is not fit to be commander-in-chief.Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R)
It is no secret President Biden’s health has been in decline for quite some time. I am glad to see that he has made the best choice for himself, his family, and for the country.Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R)
One of the suspects in the shooting of a Tennessee State Trooper during a traffic stop on I-40 in Putnam County is arrested in Kentucky.
Kentucky State Police took Braze Rucker, one of the suspects in Trooper Adam Cothron’s shooting, into custody. THP says they used Trooper Cothron’s handcuffs to take Rucker into custody.
Authorities are still searching for the other suspect in that shooting and have doubled the reward to $20,000. If you have any information, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The shooting happened Friday night and Cothron was taken to the hospital. His family says he is doing much better.
The family of the Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Adam Cothran who was shot during a traffic stop on I-40 in Putnam County asking you to keep those prayers coming.
Trooper Cothran was shot Friday night and his family says he’s getting some muscle response movements in his legs now and his arms are improving as well.
The bullet will remain where it’s at unless his body starts to try getting rid it of on its own but doctors say it should not cause any problems to leave it.
The good news: the bullet is not lodged in his spinal column like originally thought. It’s actually in his right scapula area and almost exited.
His family says it gives them hope that recovery of mobility in his legs will be better.
PUTNAM CO., Tenn. (WVLT) – Kentucky State Police took Braze Rucker, one of the suspects in the Tennessee Highway Patrol shooting, into custody early Sunday morning. THP said the trooper, Adam Cothron, was shot during a traffic stop in Putnam County.
Rucker was found in Princeton, Kentucky. THP said they used Trooper Cothron’s handcuffs to take Rucker into custody.
Eastbound lanes of I-40 were closed Friday night after a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper was shot.
THP officials said the shooting happened around mile marker 285 at 7:47 p.m.
Trooper Adam Cothron pulled over a white Kia Forte, with two black males inside, for a traffic violation. One of the men was identified as 29-year-old Braze Rucker.
During the stop, Cothron was shot and the men drove off, according to officials.
Cothron was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and was in stable condition.
Before joining THP in 2015, Cothron was a deputy sheriff for the Trousdale County Sheriff’s Office.
“He is a certified K-9 handler and is an outstanding trooper and comes from a respected law enforcement family, but what he is best known for is being a father and a husband to his wonderful family,” THP officials said. “We ask that you please keep him and his family in your prayers.”
The car was found later in Gallatin, according to THP officials.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued a Blue Alert for the two suspects.
THP has also added a $10,000 reward for information leading to Rucker’s arrest.
Both agencies obtained warrants for Rucker’s arrest for criminal responsibility of facilitation of a felony.
President Biden announced Sunday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for the president to end his 2024 bid after a disastrous debate performance last month.
The unprecedented announcement came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers had begun to publicly call for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former President Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.
And Biden quickly offered his “full support and endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over as the party’s presidential nominee.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a public letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
Biden said he will formally address the nation later this week about his decision.
“For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected,” Biden wrote. “I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.”
Biden added: “I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden wrote.
The president’s endorsement is likely to dissuade any serious completion from other Democrats who may have mulled a bid for the presidential nomination and could clear a path for the vice president to succeed Biden as the party’s nominee.
Harris, in a statement about two hours after Biden’s announcement, said she is “honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”
And the vice president praised her boss, thanking Biden “for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office.”
Biden’s endorsement of Harris was quickly followed by two top party elders, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and former Sen. Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
“We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”
And LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, one of the Biden campaign’s biggest donors, also quickly endorsed Harris.
“The Biden-Harris administration has put this country on the right track. It’s time for us to unite. I wholeheartedly support Kamala Harris and her candidacy for President of the United States in our fight for democracy in November,” Hoffman wrote in a social media post.
At least half a dozen Democratic senators also quickly backed Harris, with the number likely to grow. So did some top House Democrats, as the move to rally around the vice president picked up momentum.
But former President Obama didn’t endorse Harris, at least not yet.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” the former president wrote in a letter.
But Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama were among the scores of top Democrats praising Biden for putting the nation and the party over personal ambitions.
“Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order.” the Obamas wrote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, “Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader, but he is a truly amazing human being. His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.”
Biden endorses Kamala Harris to be Democratic nomineeVideo California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a top Biden surrogate, wrote in a social media post that Biden “will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.”
It was a very different reaction from former President Trump, the GOP presidential nominee.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!” Trump charged in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump argued that “we will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.”
And in an interview with Fox News Digital, Trump reiterated his claims that Biden was “not fit to serve” and asked “who is going to be running the country for the next five months?”
The Trump campaign quickly started fundraising off the blockbuster news. Within 440 minutes of the preisdent’s announcement, the Trump campaign put out a fundraising post on X with the subject line, “Biden just suspended his campaign.”
MAGA Inc, the leading super PAC supporting Trump’s 2024 White House bid, quickly launched an ad charging that “Kamala was in on it. She covered up Joe’s obvious mental decline.”
The super PAC tells Fox News the new commercial will go up in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona as soon as possible, as part of MAGA Inc’s $5 million per week ad blitz.
Meanwhile, some top Republican in Congress called on Biden to resign from office immediately.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., charged in a statement, “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday, a revelation that came on the heels of several TV interviews and campaign appearances in which the president insisted he was remaining in the race. But the interviews failed to reassure supporters and provided critics – including those on the left – with further evidence that Biden was no longer up to the job.
Biden had delivered a strong welcome address to world leaders at last week’s NATO summit in Washington D.C. The showcase served as an opportunity to prove he was fit to continue his current term and eager and able to lead the nation for another four years.
For a time, it seemed Biden could survive the surge of calls for him to quit the race after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that they backed Biden’s bid.
But Biden, who has long been known for a propensity to commit gaffes, continued to stumble. His missteps included a glaring error on the world stage at the NATO summit. While speaking on live television, Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “Putin,” name-checking Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Zelenskyy’s Ukraine has precipitated more than two years of hellish war.
Questions over whether Biden would end his campaign remained the top political story heading into last weekend.
But two blockbuster developments in rapid succession – the attempted assassination of Trump at the former president’s rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday and Trump’s naming Monday at the Republican National Convention of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate – briefly halted the fervor over Biden for a couple of days.
But the call on Wednesday by Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic Senate nominee in California, for Biden to end his campaign, as well as reporting that top Democrats such as Schumer, Jeffries, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had frank conversations with Biden, quickly reignited the political crisis for the president.
Biden’s stunning announcement occurred during the roughest stretch of what was a more than year-long campaign for a second term. Doubts about his viability at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket began seeping out into the mainstream after his halting delivery and awkward answers were placed on full display for a national audience during June’s presidential debate with Trump in Atlanta.
The performance sparked widespread panic within the president’s party and almost immediately spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers and some party donors for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.
As Biden struggled to regain his footing, an increasing number of House Democrats publicly urged the president to end his re-election bid.
Biden huddled with worried Democrats, including governors and congressional leaders, in the wake of the debate debacle and also was engaged in “working the phones,” according to campaign officials.
He started last week in a defiant posture, sending a letter to congressional Democrats in which he vowed that he was committed to campaigning against and beating Trump in November. Biden also urged lawmakers to stop focusing on the debate and end the calls for his withdrawal – pleas that he said only helped Trump.
Biden followed that up with a call with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and also gained the support of members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
But concerns mounted and intensified. Democrat lawmakers met behind closed doors hoping to come to a consensus and support the president, but some were hesitant.
The Biden campaign met with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill and, for days, the White House and the Biden campaign – and the president himself – said Biden had no intention of dropping out of the race.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had told reporters that the president was “absolutely not” considering dropping out.
And Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy Biden campaign manager, emphasized that “the president is in this race to win it. He is the Democratic nominee.”
On the day after the presidential debate, Biden acknowledged at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, “I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious.”
“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden added. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
And the president, pointing to his 2024 rematch with Trump, emphasized, “I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I can do this job.”
But Biden soon was staring down a slew of polls showing his standing against Trump was slipping while concerns over his age were surging.
The president’s shocking announcement brings to an end his 2024 presidential campaign, which he launched in April of last year.
And it also seemingly brings to an end a half-century-long career in national politics.
Biden was first elected to the Senate representing his home state of Delaware in 1972. During his nearly four decades in the Senate, he notably drafted and steered to passage the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act, chaired the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees and oversaw six Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
He also ran unsuccessfully for the 1988 and 2008 Democratic presidential nominations.
After dropping out of the 2008 race, then-Democratic presidential nominee and Sen. Barack Obama named Biden as his running mate. Biden served eight years as the nation’s vice president as he and Obama won the 2008 election and re-election in 2012.
Biden considered, but ultimately decided against, a run for the White House in the 2016 election cycle, as he mourned the loss of his elder son, Beau, to brain cancer. With Biden on the sidelines, the party coalesced around the candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But four years later, Biden launched a bid for the 2020 nomination. After dismal early finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Biden turned his campaign around and a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary propelled him to the Democratic nomination. Biden went on to defeat Trump and win the White House.
Knoxville, Tn (WOKI) Drugs and guns are confiscated and a felon with multiple prior convictions is off the streets following a traffic stop Wednesday, July 17 in Knoxville.
Knoxville Police Department officials say CERT officers stopped a car in the area of Summit Hill Drive and Hill Avenue.
KPD says the stop resulted in officers recovering two handguns and narcotics, including suspected fentanyl.
The suspect was arrested and is facing drug and weapons possession charges.
Two handguns were recovered after the stop, according to police. (Courtesy: KPD)
Knoxville, Tn (WOKI) Knox County Schools says applications are now open for students to receive free and reduced-price meals for the 2024-2025 school year.
KCS says the application is open for families unable to pay for breakfast and lunch meals at school or whose students do not attend a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school.
All children in households receiving benefits from SNAP or Families First can get free meals regardless of their income. Children whose household’s gross income is within the free limits per the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines can also get free meals.
Officials stress that the application for free and reduced-price meals must be filled out annually.
You may click Please go to knox schools dot org forward slash meals to apply.
to apply. Anyone needing additional information is asked to call the Knox County Schools Nutrition Department at 865-594-9563.
