In today's report: After a nationwide search, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon will appoint a law enforcement reformer from the New Orleans Police Department as the city's next chief. NOPD Deputy Superintendent Paul Noel helped establish a nationally recognized training program that focuses on ethical policing and officers holding one another accountable. The Kincannon administration hasn't commented on the appointment, which was first reported by a New Orleans TV station, and Noel couldn't be reached for comment, but we look into his background as a leader in his department and on the national scene ahead of the mayor's official announcement.
Meanwhile, the Knox County school board last night voted to approve a $591.5 million proposed budget for next year. It represents a 9 percent increase over the current year, driven largely by surging sales tax revenues. The new funding will pay for a 4 percent raise for teachers and staff, and an 8 percent raise for the district's lowest-paid workers. The spending plan next goes to County Mayor Glenn Jacobs for incorporation into the total county budget. We look at the highlights.
And our Knox Found mystery photo finds windows of many colors.
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Knox County school board candidate Steve Triplett has touted his past experience as an educator in his campaign to represent the North Knox County 7th District. However, it appears there are some aspects of that experience he has not disclosed.
Now the general manager of the Chick Fil-A store in Fountain City, Triplett was previously principal of Heritage Christian School in Cleveland, Ohio, which is affiliated with Cleveland Baptist Church. In an interview with Compass last month, Triplett characterized his decision to leave the school and return to Knoxville — where he had graduated from the Baptist-affiliated Crown College — as a voluntary career change.
However, Compass has confirmed with officials at Cleveland Baptist Church that Triplett's departure was not on good terms. Specifically, he was obliged to resign and make restitution to the church for missing funds.
"It was a very difficult time and we have moved beyond it," said Pastor Peter Folger, who leads the church. "But there was a reason why he left, and it was not a good thing."
No criminal charges were filed and Folger did not want to go into details of the issues surrounding Triplett. But he confirmed that they involved fiscal mismanagement and violations of trust.
Triplett also said he did not want to go into details, but he said he had left the school "without owing a dime" and with his "head held high."
Folger said, "It is true that everything was returned that was taken of a financial nature. But there was a lot of heartache that you can’t put a monetary value on."
Folger said Triplett resigned in the fall of 2013 after about seven years as an administrator at the school. He added that he had known Triplett since they were both children — both of them grew up attending Cleveland Baptist. Folger is also a Crown College graduate.
Allegations about Triplett's time at Heritage Christian School have circulated on local social media in recent days, promoted by supporters of Sherri Garrett, Triplett's opponent in the May 3 Republican primary. Folger was at pains to say that nobody affiliated with the church had been involved in fueling those disclosures.
"I want Steve to be able to move on with his life, I really do," he said. "I don’t wish him any ill will at all."
Triplett called the online reports political attacks. "I think someone's just digging and trying to come up with something," he said.
Kevin Hill, a supporter of Garrett, told Compass that he had investigated the allegations, speaking with Folger and with former Heritage students who have been posting about Triplett on social media. Hill and Garrett have both been leaders in the local anti-mandate movement that protested COVID-19 public health orders and called for the abolition of the county Board of Health.
Hill said he has also reached out to local Republican Party leaders and Triplett supporters. Triplett has raised significantly more money than Garrett, including from prominent GOP donors like Raja Jubran and Wes Stowers.
“There’s something inappropriate about running for school board when you stole from your school,” Hill said.
District 7 includes Halls and Powell. It is currently represented by Patti Bounds, who is not seeking reelection. There is also an independent candidate, Dominique Oakley, on the ballot.
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Before the news broke that Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon had picked Paul Noel of New Orleans to be the city’s next police chief, speculation had been growing that former Knoxville Police Department Deputy Chief Nate Allen would get the nod to replace retiring Chief Eve Thomas.
Allen left KPD to become the police chief in Decatur, Ala. His name immediately began circulating locally last year after Thomas announced she would retire, but Allen wasn’t interested in coming back to Knoxville.
Allen abruptly retired from the Decatur Police Department in January, however, about the time Knoxville’s search geared up following public input sessions where his name cropped up repeatedly as a preferred candidate for the job.
The timing and Allen’s ties to Knoxville suggested his hiring was possible, but Allen nipped that notion in the bud when reached by phone on Wednesday morning.
“No, no, heck no,” he said when asked if he’d been offered the KPD job.
The timing of Knoxville’s search and his retirement was just a coincidence that wound up fueling rumors. “I couldn’t have picked a worse time to retire,” he observed.
Allen told Compass what he’d told the Decatur Daily — that he stepped away from the job because he was weary and no longer wanted to deal with the stress of managing a law enforcement agency. He has since hung out his shingle as a consultant specializing in building bridges between police departments and the people they serve, especially African-American communities.
Knoxville, of course, has had a spate of racially-charged incidents of late, including allegations of racial bias within the ranks and the death of 17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. during an encounter with KPD officers in a school bathroom.
Allen said he’s humbled by the support he has in Knoxville and would be happy to work with the department where he spent the bulk of his career, but only in his new capacity as a consultant.
“I would be interested to consult with KPD in an advisory role,” he said.
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Today is the last day of the early voting period for this year’s county primary. Polls will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m., with the exception of Karns Senior Center, which will be open 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
As of the end of the day on Tuesday (there is a one-day lag in reporting), the Election Commission reported that a total of 15,799 people had cast ballots in Knox County — 1,236 by absentee ballots and 14,563 in person.
The in-person voting breakdown by location was:
- Carter Senior Center: 502
- City County Building (Small Assembly Room): 790
- Downtown West: 3,127
- Eternal Life Harvest Center at Five Points: 331
- Farragut Town Hall: 2,447
- Halls Recreation Center: 1,998
- Karns Senior Center: 1,250
- Knoxville Expo Center: 1,304
- Meridian Baptist Church: 945
- New Harvest Park: 1,869
Polling place addresses and other information can be found here. Primary Election Day is May 3.
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COVID-19 cases are back on the rise in Knox County, although still at a relatively low level. Last week, the average number of new cases jumped to 20 per day, up from 11 per day the prior week and 7 per day two weeks ago.
There were 292 active cases countywide on Saturday, up from 208 the previous Saturday and 163 on April 9. Regional hospitalizations, however, held steady through the week at an average of about 20 inpatients per day. The county's pandemic totals as of Saturday were 1,370 deaths and 128,199 cases.
Statewide, the Tennessee Department of Health reported an average of 405 new cases and 5 deaths per day last week. The pandemic totals for Tennessee were 2.028 million cases and 26,147 deaths.
On the national level, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser and the public face of the country's COVID-19 response, said the United States is “out of the full-blown explosive pandemic phase” that has led to nearly 1 million deaths over the past two years.
“We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity,” Fauci told The Washington Post.
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Speaking of KPD: The Knoxville Police Advisory and Review Committee will hold its quarterly meeting at 6 p.m. today at the Emerald Lonsdale Sports Complex, 1740 Texas Ave. PARC is made up of seven city residents and provides civilian oversight of the Knoxville Police Department.
The agenda calls for PARC members to review completed KPD internal affairs investigations and complaints about the department from the public. PARC Executive Director Tiffany Davidson and three subcommittees will present reports on the first quarter’s activities.
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Fox News contributor and conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren raised some local eyebrows over the weekend with a provocative tweet. She wrote, "I spoke at University of Tennessee a few days ago and experienced a new leftist 'tactic.' These liberal freaks on campuses are now gorging themselves on watermelon and refried beans in an attempt to barf on conservative speakers. Yes. You read that correctly. Good lord!"
You may have read that correctly, but with respect to Lahren, it's not quite true. For the real story, you'll need to read a long and entertaining account in The Daily Beacon, UT's independent student newspaper. Lahren spoke at UT on April 21 at the invitation of the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, the conservative activist group for college and high school students.
According to Beacon reporter Abby Ann Ramsey, left-wing students on campus had discussed various ways to either protest or disrupt the talk by Lahren, who now lives in Nashville and is known for comparing the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan and cheering on Border Patrol agents for firing teargas at migrants attempting to cross the U.S. border from Mexico.
When no organized effort coalesced, freshman student Kurt Schelzig took it on himself to attend the event, intending to stage what he described as a kind of performance art. He brought a watermelon and a can of beans with him, planning to eat the watermelon throughout Lahren's talk as a distraction. He said he had no intention to vomit on anyone. In any case, his food items were confiscated at the door.
Instead, Schelzig confronted Lahren during the event's Q&A session, during which he did mention regurgitation. "How do you manage to consume so many lead paint chips?" Schelzig asked Lahren, suggesting she suffered from brain damage. "Because I usually barf on like the third or fourth bag.”
Lahren kept her composure, according to the Beacon, telling Schelzig she appreciated his "zest for performance."
As an aside, Schelzig — a self-described anarchist studying electrical engineering and philosophy — is the son of another Nashville media figure: Erik Schelzig, editor of the invaluable state political newsletter and website The Tennessee Journal.
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