East Knoxville resident Sylvia McLaurin received the Diana Conn Good Neighbor of the Year Award at the 2026 Neighborhood Awards Dinner, held March 5 at The Brookside in Happy Holler. It was organized by the Knoxville Office of Neighborhoods.

Mayor Indya Kincannon presented the awards and thanked all nominees for their contributions. After accepting the night’s big award, McLaurin expressed her appreciation for everyone in the room, indicating our collective role in creating and sustaining community. She received a standing ovation.

In McLaurin’s nomination, Krista Rines wrote: “Her projects consistently require significant time, physical labor and the thoughtful gathering of resources, yet she approaches every effort simply because she wants to make her neighborhood a better place for everyone. Because of her, East Knoxville is not only cleaner and more beautiful, but also more connected, more compassionate and more engaged.”

A member of the Town Hall East board of directors, McLaurin planned the Holston Hills Cleanup during which volunteers, supported by Keep Knoxville Beautiful, collected 18 bags of trash. She has drawn on her 25 years as a master gardener and her doctorate in landscape architecture to revamp neighborhood pollinator gardens, lead significant tree plantings and redesign teacher breakrooms at nearby schools. Previous story here.

All finalists received proclamations honoring their contributions of time, energy and personal expense to making their neighborhoods safer, cleaner and more beautiful. Those finalists are:

  • Geoffrey Cavalier, Maplehurst Park
  • Gail Frank, Northwest Hills
  • Lindsey Lee, Edgewood Park
  • Rita McKinnon, Mechanicsville
  • Nicholas Poker, Parkridge
  • Janice Tocher, South Knoxville
  • Sally Wilcox, North Hills Garden Club

All nominees demonstrated qualities exemplified by the late Diana Conn, for whom the award was named and given posthumously. Members of her Old Sevier Community described Conn as a generous, caring and devoted neighbor.

Additional individuals and groups received recognition:

  • Knoxville Police Department Officer Travis Schuler received the Carol Scott Officer of the Year Award, with Officers John Williams and Myriah Hamilton recognized as finalists.
  • Healthy Knoxville awards went to the Westwood Homeowners Association, Timbercrest Neighborhood Association, Edgewood Park Neighborhood Association and West Hills Community Association.
  • Timbercrest, Edgewood Park, West Hills, Fountain City Town Hall and Mechanicsville Community Association received Neighborhood Achievement Awards.
Blaine resident wins Free Groceries for a Year

Katie Penny, Food City executive vice president of store operations, Knoxville Division; Amber Wilson, grand-prize winner; Charles Weaver, store manager; Barry Brogan, district manager.

Food City congratulates Amber Wilson of Blaine, Tennessee, who was the grand-prize winner in the Private Label Month – Free Groceries for a Year Sweepstakes. Wilson’s prize equated to $7,800 in Food City Gift Cards.

The sweepstakes ran from January 1-31, 2026, in participating Food City locations. Shoppers gained an automatic entry into the contest each time they used their Food City ValuCard to purchase $20 in participating items in the same transaction. Mail-in entries were also accepted.

In Memoriam

Knox County has lost two people who made significant contributions to the community.

Jim Whidby

Jim Whidby led efforts to save and enhance Cherokee Caverns for 37 years. It began with a Halloween event in which volunteers dressed up to scare folks walking through the dark cave. There was a “snake pit” full of cut up rubber hoses. And little Pokemon-like sprites that attached themselves and followed you around the loop. Others sold hot chocolate, and funds raised supported the cave.

Over time, the guys got lights into the cave and cleared out the central portion to rent for sleepovers, movie nights and more. Jim knew the history of the cave and talked about Civil War soldiers camping/ hiding there. He talked about the native Americans who used the cave for storage. Learn more at the website here.

Jim got his sons, Michael and Robert, and their families involved with cave preservation. The Cherokee Caverns social media posted:

“It is with great sadness that we are sharing that Jim Whidby has passed away at the age of 85. Jim has been instrumental in the preservation of Historic Cherokee Caverns since the 1980s.

“… There are not enough words to describe what an amazing man Jim was and how many people he influenced with his friendship and his knowledge.”

Jim Whidby died on February 26, 2026, and he will be honored at a private service with family and friends on March 21 at Cherokee Caverns. His full obituary is here.

Karen Robinson

Karen Markoff Robinson had a career in tourism and hospitality before she met her husband-to-be, Pace Robinson, at the 1982 World’s Fair. They married in 1985 and when their sons, Eli and Asher, came along Karen was able to stay home with them. She was “an energetic and active volunteer, generous philanthropist and dedicated KJA board member for over a decade,” noted the Menachem notice from the Knoxville Jewish Alliance.

Karen Markoff Robinson, 65, passed away unexpectedly on March 5, 2026, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her funeral was Monday, March 9, at Heska Amuna Synagogue. The full obituary is here.

West Hills sounds alarm on townhouses

West Hills Community Association (WHCA) has alerted neighbors to a vote scheduled for the Knoxville Knox County Planning Commission on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. in the main assembly room of the City County Building.

Will 32 townhomes be built at 932 N. Gallaher View Road, the old Walker family farmhouse and four acres?

Lee Hume

Without the developer-requested Special Use exemption, this property could have only eight townhouses, said Lee Hume, WHCA president. Hume urged residents to contact the planning commission prior to Thursday’s meeting. He sees these problems with the request:

  • BZA and Knoxville City Council ignored local ordinances and state laws by granting a variance that reduced the minimum lot width for RN-4 properties (now 20 feet) when approving a variance reducing the minimum lot width to only 9.5-feet on this specific property.
  • Loss of privacy of two neighbors whose homes abut the site on the north and east. Planning staff recommends landscaping along the property lines with tall evergreen trees and an 8-foot Opaque privacy fence.
  • Plans call for accessing the site via a 25-foot-wide driveway off Gallaher View
  • Steep slopes in the planned retention pond in the middle of the site
  • Destruction of mature trees within the site, and
  • Compatibility with the existing neighborhood including homes on Kempton Road.

You can send your comments using this link. https://knoxplanning.org/cases/9-A-25-SU#notes Click on the pink “Comments” button and follow the simple instructions. Thanks for your time and service to our neighborhood.

Voting precincts change

Voter alert: Knox County’s largest precincts have been divided to speed up election-day voting, effective with the May 5, 2026, primaries.

Precincts include Cedar Bluff, Farragut, Halls and Karns. Roughly half of voters will remain at the current polling place while the other half will be moved to a nearby site. Please check your address against the state database to see where you will vote.

Consolidation in East Knox County: Precinct 77 (has voted at Asbury United Methodist Church) is no longer a precinct. It has merged with Precinct 78 and its voters will vote at Marbledale Baptist Church, 5935 Thorn Grove Pike. Asbury UMC is no longer a polling place. Info here.

Notes & Quotes

Church of the Good Shepherd in Fountain City is hosting its spring First Creek clean-up on Sunday, March 22, from 2-4 p.m. The community is invited to join. Meet behind First Horizon Bank on Broadway at Cedar Lane. Supplies will be provided. Rescheduled if heavy rain. Info on church’s Facebook page.

Halls Quilt Show at the Halls Museum extended until the end of March 2026. Hours are 2-5 p.m. Sundays and 10-4 on Wednesdays; 7119 Afton Dr., Knoxville.

Rob Heller, UT professor of journalism, will speak on the “Living On Project” at noon Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center, Orwitz Room. RSVPs for lunch are due at 5 p.m. on March 13. Info here.

Quote: “People say to me, ‘Oh, you’re so prolific.’ God, it doesn’t feel like it – nothing like it. But, you know, you put an ounce in a bucket each day, you get a quart.” – John McPhee, writer who submitted articles to The New Yorker for 14 years before getting one accepted. Although he wrote 25 novels, he rarely wrote more than 500 words a day, per Garrison Keillor, March 8, 2015.

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