Henley Bridge to be lit in honor of Trump presidential inauguration

Get ready for a patriotic showing on the Henley Bridge.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero announced Thursday the city will light the busy downtown bridge in red, white and blue in honor of the presidential inauguration.

Plans call for the bridge decking to be lit Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Donald Trump will become the nation's 45th president at a swearing-in ceremony that begins 11:30 a.m. Friday outside the Capitol. You can watch the event on 10News and live on wbir.com.

City leaders in recent years have begun using the bridge across Fort Loudoun Lake more frequently to recognize local and national events.

For example, the decks were lit in orange at the beginning of the month in a nod to the University of Tennessee's appearance in the Music City Bowl. Last week it featured royal blue hues in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Next month, plans call for lighting Henley Bridge red for National Wear Red Day; green, gold and blue in honor of the Bassmaster Elite Series; and red and white for Valentine's Day.

Henley Bridge also has been lit for sad occasions. Knoxville was among several American cities that received national attention in April after it displayed purple lights on the bridge upon the death of Prince, who loved the color purple.

Hundreds of East Tennesseans heading to Trump presidential inauguration

Thousands of people from across the country will travel this week to Washington D.C. for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, and several notable East Tennesseans will be among them.

Gov. Bill Haslam is planning a trip to mark the occasion, as well as former Knox County Sheriff – and current Knox County Trump chair – Tim Hutchison.

Former state GOP chair Susan Williams will also leave Thursday for the nation’s capitol.
“I really do look forward to the swearing in,” she said. “It may be raining, cold, muddy, but again, it’s a historic event.”

Former TN GOP chair Susan Williams

This will be Williams’ third inauguration. She said politics aside, it’s important to witness the peaceful transition of power.

But she’s also a conservative at heart – and while she didn’t support Trump early in the campaign, now, she preaches party loyalty.

“So it’s fun, time for the Republicans to come back, so I’ll go and party with my friends,” she said.
But not everyone is hitting the road to show support for the new president. Terry Walker Smith, of Knoxville, will be attending the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday. She says her bus trip was sponsored by local organizers to help her tell her story.

Walker Smith lost two sons to violence. In 2007, her son Djuansay was stabbed to death. In 2009, his brother Christopher was gunned down.

Now, she advocates for justice for victims’ rights.

Terry Walker Smith will attend the Women's March

 

“I’m going on behalf of all mothers that have lost their children to violent crimes,” she said. “For mothers and on behalf of women to be their voice to represent them.”

Kimberly Peterson heads the local chapter of the Women’s March. She said they believe about 1,000 women will be attending from across East Tennessee.

Both Peterson and Walker Smith are quick to note – not all attendees are there to protest Trump. Many hope to raise awareness for women's issues and stand in solidarity.

“We are just very proud so many local women are getting out of their comfort zone and sending the message that women's right are human rights,” said Peterson.

She also noted the local chapter has covered the trip cost for 14 women with a scholarship program.
But whatever the reason for the trip, Williams said she hopes after this week, the U.S. can begin to heal after a contentious election season.

"Hopefully we'll get him sworn in and everyone will go, ‘OK, he's our president now,’ and try to work with him,” said Williams.

Trump wins presidential election after winning Tennessee, Knox Co.

Republican Donald Trump has  been elected the 45th President of the United States after taking the red state of Tennessee, and has scored more than half the vote over Democrat challenger Hillary Clinton in Knox County after almost all precincts have reported.

With early voting results tallied, the Manhattan billionaire has secured about 59 percent of the vote among Knox County residents with the former Secretary of State receiving about roughly 35.5 percent.

So far that amounts to 98,463 early votes for Trump from Knox County voters and 58,581 for Clinton.

Tennessee has voted for the Republican presidential candidate since 2000.

"It's impossible for him to lose in Tennessee and Knox County," said Dennis Francis, a Democrat, former member of the Knox County Election Commission and a local political commentator. "The only person who could beat him is Peyton Manning. I'm just trying to be realistic about it."

TRADITIONAL GOP SUCCESS IN STATE, COUNTY

In 2012, Republican challenger Mitt Romney easily defeated President Barack Obama in Knox County with 63.60 percent of the vote to Obama’s 34.4 percent. That amounted to 109,707 votes to 59,399.

Statewide, Romney defeated Obama with 59 percent of the vote.

Four years prior – in 2008 – Sen. John McCain beat then-Sen. Obama 60.73 percent to 37.73 percent. The vote count amounted to 112,999 for McCain and 70,203 for Obama in Knox County.

Statewide, McCain won with 57 percent of the vote.

Even Tennessee school students this year picked Trump over Clinton.

In the first-ever statewide student mock election, Trump received 53.1 percent of the votes compared to Clinton’s 34.3 percent, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State.

Roughly 166,000 students from 479 Tennessee schools participated. That included students in preschool through high school took part from public and private schools, along with home school associations across the state.

Donald Trump campaign bus, but not Trump, to hit Knox County on Monday

The Donald Trump campaign tour bus will make its way to Knox County on Monday, although the Republican presidential candidate is not expected to be here.

However, U.S. Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr. and possibly Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett plan to give brief speeches.

The bus should arrive around noon at the Knoxville Expo Center at 5441 Clinton Highway and stay for about an hour.

“I don’t want people to think that Donald Trump or some big name will be on the bus, but it’s a GOP Trump rally and they’re bringing the bus through,” said Knox County Republican Party Chairman Buddy Burkhardt. “But, I’m hoping there will be a surrogate, maybe one of his kids.”

Burkhardt added: “Voter turnout has been very good for early voting, so we’re looking forward to having the bus here, which we hope will keep the motivation going for more people to get out and vote.”

The Trump bus is part of a five-state tour of the South, which kicks off in Tennessee, Burkhardt said.

Trump, a real estate mogul, faces former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 general election.

The local GOP plans to release more information about the event later Friday.

Trump in town tonight, but not asking for help from state or local GOP

Republican presidential candidate and real estate billionaire Donald Trump is running in a traditional party with what many would describe as a nontraditional campaign.

Trump is scheduled to speak in Knoxville at 7tonight at the Knoxville Convention Center, but he is reportedly not using help from the county and state GOP.

Ryan Haynes, the Tennessee GOP chairman, and Buddy Burkhardt, the Knox County GOP chairman, said they both found out about the event through the Internet.

"I found out through Facebook, which obviously is a very non-traditional way of finding these things out," Haynes said. "A lot of the campaigns have contacted us directly when they're coming to town."

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