Photos by Paul Efird

  • In an Aug. 27, 2004 photograph, Dollywood Express fireman Nick Hankins waves to visitors at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
  • Paul Efird/News Sentinel
Chad Volkers plays a Gibson L-4 guitar Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 at the Crown and Goose, 123 S. Central Street. Volkers will release his new album in a CD release party at the Knoxville Museum of Art on Jan. 27.
  • Nancy Campbell checks out a display of miniature home interiors at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The eight period holiday vignettes were designed by Annelle Ferguson and Jolie Gaston and will be on display until early January 2012.
  • Students from Briceville Elementary School sing 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken' during the 100th anniversary memorial for victims of the Cross Mountain Mine disaster Friday at the Cross Mountain Miners' Circle cemetery. Thirty-one of the 84 men and boys who died in the disaster are buried at the circle. (Paul Efird/News Sentinel)
  • Brendon James Wright and the Wrongs return to the Knoxville stage after a summer hiatus.
  • Knox County Stormwater Education and Outreach Coordinator Parci Gibson checks out a rain barrel entry in the fourth annual Rainy Day Brush-Off campaign Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at the Knox County Stormwater Management office. The 55-gallon barrel, decorated by artist Jill Sanders, is one of 28 that was auctioned to benefit the Water Quality Forum, dedicated to raising awareness about water conservation and water pollution.
  • Assistant Professor John Antun teaches a 'Knife Skills, Drills and Kitchen Safety'  course offered by UT Professional & Personal Development Monday, April 2, 2007 at the University of Tennessee.  Antun died in July 2011.
  • Andrew Cobb shows off the rain barrel he painted for the fourth annual Rainy Day Brush-Off campaign. The 55-gallon barrel is one of 28 that was auctioned to benefit the Water Quality Forum, dedicated to raising awareness about water conservation and water pollution. Cobb's barrel won the popular vote for best barrel.
  • East Sevier County Utility District President Steve Tackett is seen at the district’s headquarters, June 8, near Cosby, Tenn. The district, which provides water service to approximately 250 customers, reported that it could not account for 67 percent of its water for the year that ended June 30, 2010.
  • Soil-nesting miner bees congregate at their burrows at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Miner bees are welcome news to park biologists; the native insects are able to resist the disorder called colony collapse, which has plagued imported honeybees.
  • Ranger Mike Maslona and visitor Seth Carnell, 6, from Whitewater, Missouri, listen to the buzz made by a colony of soil-nesting miner bees Thursday, June 29, 2011 at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The adult bees are active for about a month in the summer building burrows and stocking them with pollen as food for larvae.
  • Stakeholders in the Downtown North community, shown in March, gathered last week to hear about the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Center, which aims to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood business districts through a preservation-based approach.
  • Artifacts from the Mabry-Hazen House are pictured Friday, May 20, 2011 in East Knoxville. Among the items is a 1852 wedding portrait of Joseph Mabry and Laura Churchwell, a Confederate loan document, Confederate money and Civil War artifacts found on the property.
  • Crescent Bend on Kingston Pike lost six century-old trees.
  • Pianist Keith Brown was a little intimidated when it came time to record his debut album.
  • A hillside on Remagen Lane in the Wildwood subdivision is pictured Wednesday, March 9, 2011 in South Knox County. According to the Hillside and Ridgetop Protection Plan during phase III of development at the subdivision 'forested slopes ranging from 15 percent to greater than 50 percent were almost entirely cleared and graded with minimal erosion and sediment controls installed.'
  • Todd Steed performs with the Suns of Phere on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre.
  • Quartjar drummer Tory Flenniken performs on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre.
  • Quartjar frontman Randall Brown performs on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre.
  • Guitarist Kevin Abernathy performs on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre.
  • Scott Miller, left, joins his old V-Roy bandmate Mic Harrison for the chorus of 'Amy 88' on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre, 1208 N. Central Avenue. The three-day festival celebrates the life of the late Andrew Bledsoe, the son of News Sentinel writer Wayne Bledsoe.
  • Scott Miller, left, hugs his old V-Roy bandmate Mic Harrison after he made a surprise appearance on the second day of the Waynestock benefit event Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre, 1208 N. Central Avenue. The three-day festival celebrates the life of the late Andrew Bledsoe, the son of News Sentinel writer Wayne Bledsoe.
  • The Bearded bassist Chris Zuhr performs on the first day of the Waynestock benefit event Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre, 1208 N. Central Avenue.
  • Reflected in a backstage mirror, the Bearded's banjo player Matt Morelock is encouraged by Knoxivi's Brent Thompson on the first day of the Waynestock benefit event Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011 at the Relix Variety Theatre, 1208 N. Central Avenue.
  • Jake Winstrom performs a song titled “Breaking up the Band” on the first day of the WayneStock benefit event Thursday at the Relix Variety Theatre. The three-day festival celebrates the life of the late Andrew Bledsoe, son of News Sentinel writer Wayne Bledsoe.
  • Lyn Sterchi, president of the South Haven Neighborhood Association.
  • The east side of Market Square during the 2003 construction.
  • Notsville chimney
  • Chimney close-up
  • Volunteers prepare a Caprese salad to be served to Pesto Festo guests.
  • Oscar Odum, 92, who was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935-1939, visits a new 
museum dedicated to the CCC at Pickett State Park, 12 miles northeast of Jamestown, Tenn., on Aug.
27. Odum was 18 when he signed on with the CCC to help build Pickett’s sandstone structures. He
will be a guest of honor when the museum opens to the public on Labor Day.
  • Daniel Robertson, left, and Steve Carl suit up to apply foam insulation in the attic of a Knox Heritage Vintage Homes project house Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 1011 Victorian Way in Fort Sanders. The workers from Maryville-based Triangle Building Products do their job in 130 degree heat. The Vintage Homes project renovates homes in keeping with the architectural heritage of neighborhoods.
  • Dan Alcorn, left, Wendell Lester, and Paul Davidson work on the siding of a Knox Heritage Vintage Homes project house Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 1011 Victorian Way in Fort Sanders. The Vintage Homes project renovates homes in keeping with the architectural heritage of neighborhoods. Alcorn is owner of Crossville-based Alcorn & Sons Construction Co., a sub-contractor.
  • A patron enters Manhattan's June 25, 2010 in the Old City. The venerable watering hole is closing Saturday.
  • University of Tennessee ornithologists Than Boves, left, and Dave Buehler set up a mist net to capture cerulean warblers Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. Boves is working on a PhD thesis about how forest management affects the neotropical songbird.
  • A cerulean warbler is banded by researcher Than Boves Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. Boves is a University of Tennessee student who is working on a PhD thesis about how forest management affects the neotropical songbird.
  • University of Tennessee Professor Dave Buehler holds a decoy used to attract cerulean warblers Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area.
  • Than Boves, a University of Tennessee PhD student studying how forest management practices affect cerulean warblers.
  • The breast band of a cerulean warbler is photographed by researcher Than Boves Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. Boves, a University of Tennessee student who is working on a PhD thesis, says that about 20 percent of the global population of the neotropical songbirds come to the Cumberland Mountains to nest.
  • A cerulean warbler is freed from a mist net by ornithologist Than Boves Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. The cerulean is one of about 25 species of warbers that come to the Cumberland Mountains to breed. For the past six years the University of Tennessee has participated in a regional study to determine how these neoptropical migrants respond to disturbance of their habitat.
  • The owner of a catering company located in Knoxville’s landmark Sunsphere, seen here, is seeking financial assistance from the city to continue his business. The company, Southern Graces LLC, is facing eviction unless it can come up with additional funds to pay rent.
  • Oak Ridge team members, from left, Richie Wright, Chuck Rushefski and Brad Carter run past an official during the 38th annual Security Protection Officer Team Competition on Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Central Training Facility.
  • Bean Station Police Chief Andy Dossett pauses while talking about an unsolved slaying that happened March 7, 2007, in Bean Station.
  • John Faris, owns Faris Properties with his wife Sondra in Clinton, Tenn. They operate many area McDonald's restaurants.
  • University of Tennessee graduate research assistant Lee Mauney  works with measure water quality instruments in Noland Creek Thursday, May, 6, 2010 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mauney is gathering data as part of an 18-year study of the effect of acid rain on streams in the Smokies.
  • From left, Moll Anderson, Ronnie Dunn, Kix Brooks and Charlie Anderson pause for a photograph during a dedication ceremony for a new Habitat for Humanity home Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Lonsdale. Brooks & Dunn performed a benefit concert in 2008 to help fund the house through the Charlie and Moll Anderson Foundation.
  • Stephanie Davis, left, and her children, Zerconia, 17, and KeyAsia Davis, 9, were all smiles during a dedication ceremony for their new Habitat for Humanity home for Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Lonsdale. Brooks & Dunn performed a benefit concert in 2008 to help fund the house through the Charlie and Moll Anderson Foundation.
  • Homeowner Stephanie Davis and country music stars Kix Brooks, left, and Ronnie Dunn check out the antics of Davis' dog, Goony, during a dedication ceremony for a Habitat for Humanity home Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Lonsdale. Brooks & Dunn performed a benefit concert in 2008 to help fund the house through the Charlie and Moll Anderson Foundation.
  • Moll Anderson escorts country music stars Kix Brooks, center, and Ronnie Dunn during a dedication ceremony for a new Habitat for Humanity house Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Lonsdale. The Charlie and Moll Anderson Foundation are underwriting a group of Habitat homes called Music Row, funded in part by benefit concerts by country artists such as Brooks & Dunn.
  • Moll Anderson hugs country music star Kix Brooks after a dedication ceremony for a new Habitat for Humanity house Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Lonsdale. The Charlie and Moll Anderson Foundation are underwriting a group of Habitat homes called Music Row, funded in part by benefit concerts by country artists such as Brooks & Dunn.