Will Puckett

Aug 19, 2024 | wvlt.tv | Will Puckett |Camruinn Morgan-Rumsey

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Nearly half of the 60,000 students in Knox County take a bus to their school each day, but for some, transportation has been hard to come by. This, because the district is short 30 bus drivers. It’s a problem seen all over the country, including here in East Tennessee. One driver who’s stuck it through in Knoxville said the job is rewarding, though. Joshua Shumate drives a bus for Olympus Car and Coach.

Aug 16, 2024 | wvlt.tv | Will Puckett

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - One of dirt track racings most polarizing figures was Scott Bloomquist, but despite how polarizing he was, he brought fans to the track. “When Scott Bloomquist came, I mean he was definitely the talk of the show, be it good, bad or ugly, Scott was always involved with it,” said Roger Sellers, owner of Smoky Mountain Speedway. Police and friends said Bloomquist died Friday, after crashing a plane he was piloting, on his family farm in Hawkins County.

Aug 15, 2024 | wvlt.tv | Kelly Ann Kruger |Will Puckett

BLOUNT CO., Tenn. (WVLT) - Thousands of children returned to school in East Tennessee last week. A topic on everyone’s mind is school safety. Blount County Sheriff’s Office was one of the first in the state to have a dedicated School Resource Officer program. A school resource officer is a trained law enforcement agent who is assigned to a school. Lieutenant Joe Seaton has been a school resource officer for more than 20 years. He said you can’t replicate the impact of a trained deputy in a school.

Aug 14, 2024 | wvlt.tv | Will Puckett

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - In 2019 Olympus Car and Coach purchased Knox County’s longest running schools bus contractor in Gentry Bus Lines. Tuesday the company held a ribbon cutting on the company’s new property in North Knoxville. That expansion gave the company a stronger foothold in the city, and turned them into a major player in the landscape of East Tennessee transportation services.

Aug 9, 2024 | wvlt.tv | Will Puckett

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A Knox County student was hit while waiting for her school bus in a west Knox County neighborhood, according to police. The Tuesday before, WVLT News sat down with Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler to discuss school safety ahead of the 2024-’25 school year. At the end of the interview, Knox County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn asked Sheriff Spangler to discuss school zone and school bus safety, two days later the student was hit.