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April 15: A Date That Forever Changed My Life
To most people, April 15 is Tax Day, but to me, it’s a day that changed my life forever. Let me explain. I was a candidate to be Kingsport’s next city manager. After 3 ½ months of deliberation, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen was scheduled to make a public announcement that I had been…
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Established Neighborhoods Are Carrying Kingsport’s Out-of-Region Growth
MOVE TO KINGSPORT MONTHLY REPORT – MARCH 2026 The past month shows that Kingsport’s out-of-region draw remains impressively wide. March’s moves came from 25 states, which is a broad footprint for a single month. The biggest monthly sources were Tennessee, Florida, and Texas, with additional moves from states such as New York and Virginia (outside…
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A Thank-You Note and a Good Friday Reminder
There is something meaningful about speaking with young people who are still discovering who they are and who they are becoming. One of the best parts of our local high school leadership class is that the teacher asks each student to send a thank-you note to every guest speaker, reflecting on what they heard. Often,…
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Tennessee’s Emerging and Mature Places Tell Two Very Different Housing Stories
Third-party rankings are constantly scanning and ranking communities based on “best of” or “worst of”. Frankly, it can be exhausting to keep up with. Some use a city name when they really mean a metropolitan or combined statistical area, leaving neighboring towns to wonder what they missed and the named city to take a bow…
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Sevier, Xavier, Javier
Recently, I was talking with a historian from Jonesborough/Washington County about Tennessee’s first governor, John Sevier. I told him that my daughter-in-law is from Sevierville, and her roots go back to the origins of Sevier County. Say what you will, but the word does not exactly flow off the English tongue. Locals pronounce it “Suh-veer-vul.”…
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Kingsport’s Ambassadors: 100 Years Strong
In 2026, the Dobyns-Bennett Band marks its centennial, a full century of music, discipline, and public pride. That milestone is more than just a birthday for a school organization. It marks a tradition of excellence first shaped in the band’s early years by Director S. T. “Fess” Witt and carried forward through generations of students…
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Centennial of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band
Kingsport is celebrating a milestone this year: the Centennial of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band—100 years of music, discipline, school spirit, and community pride. For generations, the band has helped define the Dobyns-Bennett experience: representing Kingsport on a national stage, elevating parades and civic events, and setting the tone on Friday nights at J. Fred—but…
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Sullivan 250 | July 1776 at Island Flats: When Independence Reached the Holston
Third in a 12-part monthly series to commemorate Sullivan County’s role in the 250th birthday of the United States of America March 2026 | 3 of 12 In July 1776, independence was declared in Philadelphia. Along the Holston River near Island Flats, it arrived as a crisis. The Battle of Island Flats, also called the Battle…
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Zinc Mines in Fall Branch?
A while back, I was asked if I’d ever heard of zinc mines in Fall Branch. I replied that I had seen some mining symbols on a map near Fall Branch, but that’s the extent of what I knew. When researching the Hicks Block Building in Downtown Kingsport, I came across a 1916 article in…
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Hicks Block, Reborn
CONDENSED VERSION Perhaps you, like me, have been following the renovation of the Hicks Block Building at Broad and Market in downtown Kingsport. If not, search “Hicks Block – Kingsport” on Facebook and look through the photos. Architect Kattie Stanton-Casebolt and her husband Eric bought the building just in time to save it from demolition…
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Kingsport Spirit 