Mold Remediation in Knoxville, TN

KFD posted the warning to social media at 8:38 p.m. Monday. The fire department said it was reported at the college's former administrative building.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Update 11/5 at 9:38 a.m.

The Knoxville Fire Department says that fire crews are continuing to wet down hot spots. The impacted building, identified as the L. Nathan building, was too dangerous to leave standing and has been torn down due to safety issues, KFD says.

KFD says that the building is over 100 years old and has not been used by Knoxville College in several years. There was no power to the building at the time of the fire. The building will likely be turned back over to the school sometime later today.

Investigators are actively following up on leads and ask that anyone with information on the cause of the fire anonymously call 865-637-1386 or 1-800-762-3017.

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The Knoxville Fire Department said a former administrative Knoxville College building burned down Monday evening.

The fire first broke out around 8:30 p.m. Monday. KFD said a heavy fire was showing when crews arrived, and they began "defensive operations" with master streams to contain the blaze.

As of Tuesday morning, crews are still working to put out hotspots.

Credit: WBIR

KFD spokesperson Mark Wilbanks said although the building was a total loss, he did not expect the fire to spread beyond the building.

He said the building was over 100 years old and no injuries were reported. He said its cause was under investigation. There is no indication that anyone was in the building when the fire began. He also said crews were working through issues with poor water availability near the Knoxville College campus.

"It's a sad day for Knoxville," said Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon. "Knoxville College has a long history of education in our community."

A member of the college's board of trustees said the building had been secured and people could not get in. He also said he believed the fire was set by a person, although KFD said its cause was under investigation. He also said the board would continue working towards re-accreditation.

Kincannon said the former administrative building had not been used in "a long time." She and Wilbanks also expected crews to continue responding overnight to safely put out the fire.

Knoxville College is East Tennessee's only Historically Black College or University.

In February 2023, crews also responded to calls about a fire on the Knoxville College campus. However, that blaze was extinguished within 10 minutes of crews responding to the call. The fire reported on Monday was significantly larger.

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— Knoxville Fire (@KnoxvilleFire) November 5, 2024

More information, such as the cause of the fire, was not immediately available. This story will be updated when more information is available.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Thousands of people in East Tennessee will be headed to the polls on Tuesday to cast their vote.

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office has some important information for voters before they head to the polls.

All the polling places in Tennessee open between 7 and 9 a.m. on Tuesday, but all will close at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT).

Below is a breakdown of when polls open across Tennessee:

TN Polls Opening by County by WVLT News on Scribd

Click here to a find your polling location and to look at a sample ballot and elected officials.

Tennesseans must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls. In addition to a driver’s license, voters may bring a photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Tennessee state government or by the federal government, even if they are expired.

If the ID is expired, voters must bring a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or any other government document that shows the voter’s name and address.

Click here to learn more about what types of ID are acceptable in order to vote.

The Secretary of State‘s Office has an interactive map with information on each county’s election commission.

Click here for more information on your county’s election commission, including address, phone number and hours.

More than 2.2 million votes were cast during early voting in Tennessee, an estimated statewide turnout of 45.88%.

Previous Coverage: Early voting ends across East Tennessee

That number is down slightly from early voting in 2020 but up more than 30% compared to early voting in 2016.

Click here for the full list of how early voter turnout in 2024 compares to 2020 and 2016.

Copyright 2024 WVLT. All rights reserved.

While Tennessee schools are closed for Election Day, it's not a federal holiday. That means most businesses are still open and a lot of voters will have to get to the polls before or after the work day.

But if you do need to take some time off work to vote, you can. Tennessee law gives voters up to three hours of paid time off to vote on election day, but employees need to notify their employer by noon Nov. 4.

Here's what else to know about Election Day in Knoxville.

Are banks open on Election Day?

Branches of Bank of America, Truist, PNC, Capital One, Wells Fargo and other banks will be open their regular hours on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Other banking services, such as ATMs and online banking, are available as usual on Election Day.

Are schools open on Election Day?

No. Tennessee law requires public and charter schools to close if they're used as polling places.

Is the post office open on Election Day? Will mail be delivered?

Yes, there will be regular mail service.

Knox County voters with absentee ballots can bring them to the downtown and Weisgarber USPS offices, at 501 W. Main St. and 1237 Weisgarber Road, by 4 p.m. on Election Day.

Are UPS and FedEx open on Election Day?

Yes, UPS and FedEx pickup and delivery services will be available on Election Day, and their stores will be open as well.

Can I vote anywhere?

No. Election Day voting must be done at a voter's assigned precinct location. You can find your polling place on the Knoxville/Knox County GIS website.

Get results, news and analysis on your terms!

It's easy to download the Knox News app and turn on news alerts, or sign up for news alert emails and our Daily Briefing.

Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg

Prosecutors accused Tiffany Haney and Anne Warren of altering and forging prescriptions to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and health insurance plans.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The owners of a Knoxville pharmacy that was raided by the FBI in April now face accusations that over around six years, they racked up more than $8.7 million in health care fraud.

An indictment said from August 2018 to July 2024, Tiffany Haney and Anne Warren with Rocky Hill Pharmacy defrauded health care insurance programs. It accused them of submitting forged prescriptions to Medicare and Medicaid programs for reimbursement. It also accused them of submitting fake prescriptions to private health insurance companies.

The indictment also said "other persons and entities known and unknown to the grand jury" could have worked with them on the scheme.

It said Haney and Warren would forge prescriptions using the names of medical providers and listed themselves and their family members as patients.

Haney is accused of falsely filling a muscle relaxer prescription for her husband on Jan. 23, 2019, and then filing insurance claims from the bogus prescription. The indictment said the pharmacy billed insurance $1,802 per claim and received around $1,232 for each claim.

A similar scheme began in February 2020 when Haney allegedly filed a prescription for Warren's husband.

It also said they created a drug formulary that included steroids and creams like lidocaine and fluocinonide. Prosecutors said they chose those drugs because of their high reimbursement rates from health care benefit programs. Two people would then market the formulary to pain clinics and health care providers.

The indictment said Haney and Warren would then alter legitimately signed formularies by checking boxes next to unprescribed medications and writing refills that hadn't been prescribed. They're also accused of handwriting a patient's name at the top of formularies, marking boxes for medications and falsely signing providers' names.

"In some cases, Tiffany Haney and Anne Warren included a notation falsely implying that a forged prescription was phoned in to the pharmacy and/or verbally authorized by a provider's representative," the indictment said.

Warren and Haney are facing charges of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, making false statements relating to healthcare matters and aggravated identity theft. Both are expected to appear in court on Nov. 12 for a hearing.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Firefighters were working hot spots Tuesday morning after a major fire that broke out on the Knoxville College campus on Monday.

According to Knoxville Fire spokesperson, Mark Wilbanks, the L. Nathan building that caught fire has since been torn down for safety reasons and an investigation is underway.

“The L. Nathan building is over 100 years old and has not been occupied by Knoxville College in a number of years. There was no power to the building,” Wilbanks stated in an email update Tuesday morning. “The building was torn down due to safety issues. It was too dangerous to leave standing. This has not hampered the investigation.”

Wilbanks also said that Investigators are actively following up on leads, and if anyone has any information, they can anonymously call 865-637-1386 or 1-800-762-3017.

Knoxville Assistant Fire Chief Mark Wilbanks said that the blaze was first reported in a 911 call around 8:30 p.m. Crews reported heavy fire coming from the top of the administrative building known as L. Nathan Hall and quickly made the decision that no firefighters would enter the building.

Fire personnel remained at the scene overnight. Wilbanks told reporters around 11 p.m. Monday that they believe nobody was inside the building when crews arrived.

“The building is extremely unsafe because it is unstable with those walls that are still left,” Wilbanks said. “This is a 100-plus-year-old building probably had a lot of wooden floors and things like that. It is a complete and total loss for the college.”

This is a developing story. Download the WATE 6 News app or sign up for our email alerts for updates.

Knoxville College is a Historically Black College or University that was founded by the Presbyterian Church of North America in 1875. It lost its accreditation in 1997 and stopped offering classes after 2015. Officials in recent years have sought to begin the reaccreditation process in order to reopen the school.

Wilbanks said that crews have responded to eight fires at the campus in 2024. He asked anyone who was a witness to the fire to come forward to assist their investigation.

“Well obviously the impact is you’re shocked, but at the same time not shocked,” said Frank Shanklin, Jr., an alumni representative for the college’s board of trustees. “This is an issue that we’ve had on campus for quite sometime with folks breaking into the buildings and setting little fires here and there. This fire here behind me is definitely the most major fire that we’ve had on campus.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated.