Mary Johnson Rockers laughing before the show When writing about Mary Johnson Rockers it’s hard not to go for the play off the last name. It’s just a little too precious but, as it turns out,...

In Krutch Park on Christmas day I met Edna, originally from the Bronx. She says she is “retired” and “I pick up my checks at the Social Security office and cash them at the grocery store.”...

Balcony on Market Square, Knoxville, Christmas 2011 If you don’t enjoy close proximity to other people and the hustle and bustle of downtown streets, the city probably isn’t your best place to spend time. We’ve certainly...

  Romanian Church, Central Street, Knoxville, December 2011  Churches in Knoxville are an interesting lot. When I first moved to the area in 1982 I was told there were more churches per capita here than...

Tile is placed at 36 Market Square, Knoxville, December 2011 The other day as I walked past 36 Market Square I noticed a man and a woman placing tile in the entryway of that building. It’s...

11 Cafe, 122 A South Gay Street, Knoxville Just when I thought the news was pretty much finished for 2011, I got a pleasant surprise. I’d already started mentally composing my end-of-the-year stories about businesses coming and going...

I recently wrote a post about the possibility for a development corridor along Depot Avenue which would effectively extend the footprint of what we consider the downtown area. An alert reader (Katie, I think) noted the unfortunate...

Coffee and Chocolate: The Granddaddy Union Avenue Business It would have been a very different experience a couple of years ago. The Daylight Building was a construction zone. Reruns was on Market Square. Coffee and Chocolate was...

Tour de Lights, Knoxville, December 2011 What could make this year’s Tour de Lights better than last years? An extra thirty degrees and less rain. It was a warm night with a threat of rain, but it...

Jake Bohstedt Morrill at Union Avenue Books I’ll admit upfront I’ve got a connection – or several of them – with Jake Morrill, the author of the new novella Randy Bradley published by Solid Objects Press....