UTK's Vaulting Ambition
Chancellor Donde Plowman wants the university to become a top-10 public research institution, but more faculty, facilities and funding are needed.
New at Compass
March 11, 2026Using modern genetic technology and genealogy, authorities have identified the remains of a North Knoxville homicide victim from 1988.
March 10, 2026The Trump administration has ordered the National Park Service to remove interpretive signs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
March 9, 2026A weekly mystery photo to test your knowledge of the local landscape.
March 6, 2026School board member Katherine Bike cast the deciding vote on KCS’s plan to address overcrowding at Powell Elementary School.
March 5, 2026A curated roundup of exhibits enlivening Knoxville’s museums and galleries this month.
March 4, 2026The resolution asks the City, the County and the Office of Housing Stability to look at expanding the times that warming centers are open to unhoused individuals.
March 3, 2026Amid parental opposition, school board members are conflicted over administrators’ refined school-rezoning proposal for the Powell community.
March 2, 2026Every Monday we run down the week’s public meetings and civic events.- March 2, 2026A weekly mystery photo to test your knowledge of the local landscape.
February 27, 2026The lieutenant governor and Senate speaker, whose district includes a slice of Knox County, will step down after nearly 50 years in the state Legislature.
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Recent Highlights
All free to read and share.- County commissioners are taking up immigration issues as outrage grows over federal agents’ killing of a man in Minnesota.
- Every month we run down notable news items from the area’s businesses.
- Lou Gauci, chair of the KMA board, has curated a career of disciplined design and designed a life of contemplative creativity.
- All of our city election coverage, now out from behind the paywall.
- Single-issue advocacy committees have formed on both sides of the city’s referendum question on raising the local-option sales tax.