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As the year comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to look back at the stories that mattered most close to home.

These are the moments, milestones and everyday scenes that defined Blount County in 2025, as seen through the eyes of reporter Shanon Adame.

”Stay away from them”

The Blount County Animal Center met its capacity on January 8 after taking in over 30 animals from an animal cruelty case.

After responding to a possible suicide attempt at a home off Patterson Road, Blount County Sheriff’s deputies discovered multiple animals living in poor conditions.

All in all, the center took in 13 dogs, 12 cats, three rats, two ferrets, two ducks, a sugar glider and a bearded dragon. Two horses also taken from the property went into the state’s care.

Julia Youngen, 23 Madison Huskey, 20 William Youngen, 54 and Lynn Youngen, 56 were arrested Thursday, Jan. 9, and charged with several counts of cruelty toward animals.

Over the course of the year, the co-defendants would find themselves in and out of court and jail, after violating the terms of their probation, which included a lifetime ban on possession animals and paying a $5,000 restitution to the BCAC.

“Stay away from them,” Judge Michael Gallegos told Huskey in a March 14 hearing.

New directors for Blount and Alcoa schools

2025 was a time of big change for Blount County Schools and Alcoa City Schools — both were choosing new directors to lead the districts.

Blount County Schools had been through three directors by the time the board chose current Director of Schools Justin Ridge for the position on April 21.

Former director David Murrell resigned from the position Jan. 6, leaving then Assistant Director Jake Jones to fill the interim position. When Jones left the district to become Alcoa’s newest director on Jan. 23, CTE & Federal Programs Supervisor Alisa Teffeteller filled the position and was in the small group of finalists interviewing for the role, which would end up going to Ridge.

Over at Alcoa, former director Becky Stone announced her retirement and the board interviewed three current Alcoa employees for the role, as well as BCS interim director, Jake Jones. After hours of interviews on Jan. 18, the board voted Jones through.

Joseph Dalton sentenced, temporarily loses license

The saga of the former Blount County Schools teacher who pleaded guilty on Sept. 4, 2024 to five counts of offensively touching students drew to a close in 2025.

Joseph Dalton, 51, was sentenced to six months of probation with the possibility of a judicial diversion on April 30 in Blount County Circuit Court Judge David R. Duggan’s court.

Before beginning, Duggan addressed the people in the court, explaining that the agreement between the State and defense was that Dalton would receive six months of probation and Duggan’s decision that morning was only to determine if Dalton would be granted judicial diversion, meaning his record could be expunged if he complies with the terms of his probation.

After hearing two hours’ worth of arguments from the defense and State, Duggan granted the diversion.

The sentencing sparked public outcry, with residents protesting outside the Blount County Courthouse on May 2 to express their concern.

On Aug. 15, the Tennessee State Board of Education met and decided to suspend Dalton’s teaching license for three years and only reinstate it after he completed 50 hours of training, a clinical review, and appeared before the board, who would then vote on whether or not the license would be reactivated.

Battle of the books

Even though they weren’t on the agenda, books were the center of conversation in the public comment portion of Blount County Schools board of education meetings.

Sparks flew at a Feb. 6 board meeting.

The tension was surrounding a resolution, sponsored by board member John Lowe, to create an ad hoc committee of school and community stakeholders and board members to “carefully consider” the procedure put in place to review library materials.

Board member Erica Moore countered with a different proposal. She said a big problem when looking at library materials is bias.

School principal Derek Crabtree and Instructional Supervisor Jon Young worked to put together a program using ChatGPT that would allow school librarians to screen thousands of books at a time.

After back and forth, the board voted to put together a Library Policy Committee, with Lowe and board chair Chris Pass choosing the members.

The committee was comprised of members: Young, Ridge, librarians Jennifer Walker, Kathy Dobson and Julie Brown, parent Brittany Bryant, community member Susan Wright and board members Phil Porter and Lowe.

They met three times, working out verbiage for the district’s library policy, which included providing definitions of terms listed in the policy, such as “excessive violence” or “contains nudity.”

Acadia pulls out of Friendsville

Emotions flared as Friendsville residents and representatives of Acadia Health clashed at a town hall meeting that lasted almost three hours on June 23 at Friendsville First Baptist Church.

The meeting centered around a piece of land, already purchased by Acadia, where they intend to build a new behavioral health treatment center for adolescents, Village Behavioral Health.

Residents packed into a small room at the church, which quickly became standing-room only, expressing concerns with the facility.

Things quickly became heated, with Acadia and Village representatives being hit with questions yelled from the audience as well as from a line of attendees at the room’s one microphone.

Several residents voiced concerns over fire safety, telling the Acadia and Village representatives that the city didn’t have a fire department or suitable water infrastructure to handle fire response.

In the end, in a letter presented at a July 3 Friendsville commission meeting, Acadia pulled out of Friendsville, citing a lack of sufficient access to domestic water and fire suppression resources, as well as a concern over staffing and resources to provide emergency services as the primary drivers in their decision.

Honorable mentions: Salmon showdown

In a showdown that could rival any Gordon Ramsay episode, a Blount County restaurant employee was escorted off the property after allegedly threatening to kill a co-worker during an argument over the proper way to prepare salmon.

According to a police report, the general manager said the two employees had been arguing over the preparation of the fish when the situation escalated. When she stepped between them, she told officers she heard the employee say, “I’m going to kill that crackhead.”

The manager said she immediately fired the employee. As she was walking him out, she said he called out to owners “Y’all better get your house in order.”

The owners told police they were concerned the employee might return, prompting Maryville police to place extra patrols near the downtown restaurant. Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies issued the former employee a formal trespass notice and placed him on the trespass list.

Mystery explosion baffles Blount County

Around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15, residents from across the county reported hearing and feeling a loud explosion, with some reporting that their homes shook.

Multiple agencies responded to the reported areas, looking for things like blown transformers.

At the time, The Daily Times reached out to multiple county and city officials, but no one was able to confirm the cause.

A representative from NASA told The Daily Times the next day that the explosion could possibly have been a meteor.