Latest news with #TennesseeSafeBabyCourt
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Evictions on the rise in Knoxville with median rental listing price up 56% since 2020
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Knox County along with other communities in Tennessee are witnessing a housing crisis. With that, eviction numbers are continuing to rise in Knox County. A group of researchers and organizations teamed up to dive into this problem. A 66-page report shows the results of the study done by the Appalachian Justice Research Center, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment and Legal Aid of East Tennessee from September to December of last year. In Knox County, the median listing price for a home has risen 83% and rental prices have risen 56% since 2020. In that same amount of time, income has only increased roughly three percent. College counselors urge students to complete FAFSA despite Dept. of Education uncertainty 'What was interesting about Knoxville in particular is, there really wasn't a housing crisis up until 2020,' Dr. Solange Munoz with University of Tennessee Department of Geography and Sustainability said. Munoz told 6 News that prior to her work with the Appalachian Research Justice Center, she was working on the housing crisis at an international level. She said up until the pandemic, Knoxville was affordable. 'I've been talking about this for over 10 years. Knoxville was safe. I arrived in 2015 and housing was cheap. During COVID, all of a sudden you had all of these people now that could work remotely. They didn't have to live in these big cities,' Munoz said. 'They wanted to live in ither places and East Tennessee was so much cheaper. People started to arrive here and rent started to go up.' With the higher average rent prices and mostly stagnant household income, eviction court dockets are starting to pile up. Knox County's eviction court saw 361 cases in one day last month. Legal Aid of East Tennessee Managing Attorney Michael Davis said walking into court every week and seeing the sheer amount of people is hard. 'To be honest, it gets overwhelming even as an attorney that gets used to it and the process,' Davis said. 'Seeing the weekly churn of it. Seeing it from our end, dealing with our clients, getting to meet with them, getting to hear the desperation in their voice, the terror. Having to leave where the place that's been home in 10 days, it's crushing.' Blount County launches Tennessee Safe Baby Court program Legal Aid has been able to get 90 percent of its clients eviction judgments not placed on their record, allowing them to find new housing if needed. The study, conducted by the research center shows that the City and County could save roughly $507,000 a year if they keep Legal Aid funded. However, Yolanda Grant with Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment told 6 News that the impacts go beyond Knox County. 'It's starting to do that spreading and more and more people are becoming involved in this eviction process. Not just on the end of trying to help but actually being the person evicted,' Grant said. 'It can be from a teacher to an engineer. It can be those. I've had accountants as clients. It's not just an economic problem or issue that's going on.' The report outlines the data compiled and visually shows the disparities between rent and pay as well as how the eviction numbers have increased. At the end of the report, the group also acknowledged some of the issues they came across, the biggest, lack of data availability. During the presentation, they noted it is hard to tell how many evictions there have been in the past year, let alone since 2020, because the courts here do it all on paper. ▶ See more top stories on We are told the funding that gives Legal Aid of East Tennessee the ability to help those going through eviction court is about to run out. The stop date for funding is May 31 of this year, meaning Legal Aid will not be getting the $600,000 of funding it has been getting. You can find a link to the full report here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Augusta Quarry expected to reopen in early summer as renovations nearly complete
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Renovations to a popular Knoxville swimming spot are finishing up just in time to open for the summer. Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park is getting some major upgrades. South Knoxville neighbors are looking forward to its reopening, as its been closed for over a year due to construction. Pigeon Forge police warn visitors ahead of 2025 Spring Rod Run 'I grew up in South Knoxville and it's always been an awesome park that the neighborhood loves, and it's like the best little hidden swimming spot that's right next to downtown,' Rachel Jernigan said. Wes Soward, Urban Wilderness Coordinator for the City of Knoxville, said the upgrades aim to improve accessibility and safety at the quarry. 'We have five new building structures, which will incorporate some bathrooms, changing rooms, and front of house park staff space as well. One of the biggest things you'll see that has changed at the quarry is the addition of new floating docks and swim platforms in the quarry lake itself,' he said. Landowners near Knoxville 'rail-to-trail' project file lawsuits seeking compensation The project cost $5.4 million and began in 2019. It's been completed in phases, the first phase made improvements on the perimeter of the park. 'There was a gateway that was installed on Chapman Highway, it's the main entrance to the upper part of Fort Dickerson Park. A driveway and parking lot which is where we're standing now was completed previous to this phase, and we also installed the utilities to support the buildings we're building now,' Soward said. The city is also looking to improve safety at the quarry. New railings and a more accessible trail down to the water will be installed. The docks also aim to deter people from cliff jumping, which has claimed several lives there over the years. Blount County launches Tennessee Safe Baby Court program 'It's something they've needed for a long time because there were a few accidents that happened kind of in close succession back to back,' Jernigan said. 'It's something they've needed down there for a while so I'm glad its going a lot safer than it used to be.' There is not a set date yet for the reopening, but it is expected to be early summer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
