First trash compactors coming to downtown

Two items at the March 3, 2026, City Council meeting signaled how managing trash and recycling is changing for the better. As we previously reported, the city will partner with Keep Knoxville Beautiful to staff the city’s four recycling drop-off centers.

The $396,611 annual agreement will fund the hiring of recycling assistants to staff each of the centers 53 hours a week – keeping the sites clean and orderly while providing guidance to people with questions about how to most effectively recycle.

Downtown’s first trash compactors: Though still several months away from being installed, the city’s first two trash compactors will be located at 501 W. Church Ave. The property owner, RB Knoxville, is leasing space at no cost to the city, and the compactors will be available to residents, businesses and visitors.

The current trash-collection model is outdated and unable to keep up with the growing needs of a growing downtown. Moving to a network of trash and recycling compactors will result in cleaner and less cluttered sidewalks, with less noise and odors associated with garbage trucks that now dump 700 carts at 80 locations nine or more times a week.

Additional compactors will be installed in the coming months and years.

Also on March 3, City Council endorsed the South Waterfront Down River Master Plan that will serve as a framework for future investment. Council authorized Mayor Kincannon to enter into an agreement (estimated $150,000 from city) with the Community Action Committee and KCDC to fund the case management program focused on homelessness prevention in KCDC’s housing for elderly and disabled residents.

Eric Vreeland contributed information for this report.

In Memoriam

Most are not captains of industry, but East Tennessee women are strong – Wilma Dykeman Stokely called us “tall” – and have held together families and communities for years. Three stood out as I read through the obituaries this past week. Take a look:

Evelyn Martin

Evelyn Lamb Martin of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was 101 years old when she died at home on March 10, 2026. The family said she left “a legacy of strength, resilience, kindness and enduring love.” Evelyn was a bookkeeper during WWII while her husband, Emra, a Navy pilot, was deployed overseas. Returning to the area after the war, Evelyn & Emra settled in Oak Ridge in 1950 to raise their family – two sons and two daughters. Evelyn played the piano, accordion and organ, usually at her Kern Memorial United Methodist Church. She volunteered weekly as a “gray lady” at Methodist Medical Center for over 35 years. She exercised daily until the week before she passed. “Her longevity was not just measured in years, but in the countless lives she touched,” per the obituary. She was buried next to her husband on his birthday, March 14, at Oak Ridge Memorial Cemetery.

Dee Kress

Dolores “Dee” Kress and her husband, Tom, were from Kingsport, Tennessee, but made their way to Oak Ridge in 1959 and here they stayed. Tom Kress died on July 2, 2025, and Dee Kress joined him on March 14, 2026. They were married for 71 years, and had three children – two sons and a daughter. Dee was a devoted homemaker until her children left for college. Then she worked as executive assistant to the president and vice presidents at Methodist Medical Center until she retired in 1997. Volunteer? Yes. Boys & Girls Club, PTA, Fairest of the Fair, slow-pitch softball and basketball player and coach (1962-95), member of church choir, gifted storyteller. Her obituary stated, “Her life was a gift to all who knew her, and her love will continue to guide those she leaves behind.”

Ruth Coughlin

Ruth Cathcart Coughlin passed away on March 16, 2026, on her 103rd birthday. Her goal was to make it to that day, and she did – celebrating with a special Mass and family gathering at her home on the eve of her birthday. After high school, Ruth moved to Birmingham to care for her grandmother and attend nursing school. At age 30, she joined the U.S. Navy and met her husband, Dr. Dennis Coughlin of Knoxville, a Navy surgeon. They married in 1958 and moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where Dennis began his orthopedic residency at the Mayo Clinic. The couple had five children within six years. Her volunteer activity was with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee and the Knoxville Symphony League. Ruth also was involved from the earliest stages of the Sacred Heart Cathedral building project, completed in 2018. And that’s where her funeral mass and celebration of life service will be held on Thursday, March 26, at 10 a.m. with a reception to follow. Obituary here.

Notes & Quotes

Hardin Valley Community Health event on Friday, March 27, from 1-3 p.m. at The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence – open to the public and designed to bring families together while also connecting them with helpful health and senior care resources in the community. Activities for all ages, including raffle basket giveaways, a bounce house, walking tacos, cotton candy, popcorn. Info here.

South Knoxville Neighborhood & Business Coalition (SKNBC) will host Meet the Candidates on Tuesday, April 7, from 6-7:30 p.m. at South High Senior Living, 835 Tipton Ave., Knoxville. Candidates running for mayor, school board, financial offices, and judgeships will be present to meet residents, answer questions. Only South Knox district candidates are invited, but all residents may attend. Free parking. Free admission.

Quote: “She lived a life defined not by what she had, but by what she gave to others. Her values, her love, her care, her presence – these remain.” – Obituary of Dee Kress

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