Four new members on PSCC board

Pellissippi State Foundation has four new members on its Board of Trustees. The announcement comes from Aneisa Rolen, executive director.

“This talented group has officially completed their orientation and is ready to serve, support and advocate for Pellissippi State students and programs. We are thrilled to have their leadership and expertise on board,” Rolen said. New board members are:

Leslie Beale, PCC, JD – Founder & CEO of Profusion Strategies, leadership coach and 2023 BoldHaus Enterprise Award winner.

David Youngblood – CFO at Strategic Acquisitions Group and 2024 Leadership Knoxville participant.

Bill Pope – Recently retired VP of Operations at Ameritraining, with a background in major gift fundraising at Duke University Medical Center.

Jonathan Smith – CEO of Prisma Health, Blount Memorial Hospital and 2017 Leadership Blount graduate.

Lesli Bales-Sherrod buys a newspaper

Dale and Teresa Gentry, owners since 1957, have sold the Jefferson Standard Banner to Leslie and Jimmy Sherrod. Photo July 30, 2025.

Lesli Bales-Sherrod has come full circle. This week she announced that she has become owner, publisher and editor of her hometown newspaper, The Standard Banner in Jefferson City. She worked for the paper 30 years ago while in high school and college at The University of Tennessee. She left to attend graduate school in Washington, D.C.

Lesli was a staff writer in marketing for Pellissippi State for seven years and as such had a byline with KnoxTNToday.com/.

“It’s a big, crazy opportunity I never expected to have, but I am excited,” she posted about the purchase. The paper will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.

Her husband, Jimmy Sherrod, is pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Knoxville where he’s been since 2014. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2000 and Wesley Theological Seminary in 2010.

Comedian Leanne Morgan at The Bijou. (Photo from The Bijou)

Leanne Morgan’s Netflix sitcom has dropped

Leanne Morgan of Knoxville stars in the Netflix sitcom Leanne, which premiered on July 31, 2025, with all 16 episodes dropping at once. The series follows a Southern grandmother rebuilding her life after her husband (Ryan Stiles) leaves her. Kristen Johnston, Celia Weston, and Graham Rogers join the cast.

The Bijou Theatre downtown is excited about Leanne stopping by for a photo shoot.

Shown are Stephen Hood, Knox County Democratic Party District 4 chair; Margaux Cowan-Banker, chair of District 4 Adopt-a-Road; Eric Wright and Matt Rolchigo. (Picture taken by Janice Spoone)

A possum and Democrats at Adopt-a-Road

This is not the first time Adopt-a-Road chair Margaux Cowan-Banker has taken care of a dead possum and her unborn babies.

Margaux and her husband decided to remove a possum hit by a car on the road at Downtown West where the Knox County Democrats of District 4’s Adopt-a-Road cleanup is located.

As they were moving the possum to a grassy area so it would not be run over again, they noticed she was pregnant. Eric Wright then took the possum to the University of Tennessee Vet School to see if the babies could be saved. We do not know the outcome at this time.

The group met early in the morning because of the high July temperatures. In addition to the sides of the road, the clean-up includes a grassy median and curbs where trash gathers. Trees and grass did provide some relief from the heat.

Odd items collected included a long black wig, food, clothes and hangers. People have been spending time under the bushes for shelter leaving many objects behind. Seven bags of trash were collected.

District 4 includes Bearden, Sequoyah, Bluegrass and Rocky Hill areas of West Knoxville.

Janice Spoon, countywide coordinator for the Democratic Party’s Adopt-a-Road project, provided information for this report.

Notes & Quotes

Clear Springs Baptist Church will host Gerald Wolfe and his Gospel Music Hymn Sing on Sunday, August 10, 2025. The singing starts at 6 p.m. and doors will open at 5. No admission ticket needed. Singers include Greater Vision, Mark Trammell Quartet, The Whisnants, Mylon Hayes Family, Jim & Melissa Brady and the Hymn Sing Band. The group is on a multi-state tour through 2025 with stops in London and Belfast.

A.L. Lotts School Open House: today (8/5/25) 4-6 p.m. Meet your teacher, see your classroom, drop off school supplies and enjoy some Kona Ice. Sponsored by the PTO.

Mark Twain said: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”