News

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Disease Awareness Month. While you are likely quite aware of Alzheimer's, you may not know how it works, what sets its effects apart from other neurological issues, or even its departure from normal aging processes.

In this edition of HealthConnections, we set out to separate fact and fiction regarding Alzheimer's. Dr. Carole Myers speaks with Joel Anderson, a University of Tennessee researcher whose work focuses on Alzheimer's and related illnesses and their effect on caregivers.

Something new is coming to your evening commute. After more than seven years, WUOT's local All Things Considerd host, Brandon Hollingsworth, anchors his last daily broadcast on Friday, June 15.

Beginning Monday, Hannah Martin will assume the role of news anchor, traffic reporter, weather forecaster and general convivial companion for your weekday evenings. A Virginia native, Martin comes to WUOT from her previous role as talk show producer at public radio station WHRV.

Tennessee schools will reconvene for many in early August. As with any year, they will welcome a new class of kindergartners and with them the hopes and fears of parents sending them away on their own for the first time. But, during the summer weeks remaining there are ways parents can help prepare their kids for those first experiences of attending school. I spoke to Dani Thibus of the University of Tennessee’s Early Learning Center for tips to prepare children for their first year.

The Knoxville Choral Society will have a new director for the 2018/2019 season. Dr. John Orr, who has served as conductor of the Knoxville Chamber Chorale and Assistant Director of the Choral Society for the past five years has recently been appointed Artistic Director, following Dr. Eric Thorson, who served as director for over twenty years.

Dr. Orr has extensive experience in leading community and church choirs, in addition to writing curriculum for children's choirs. He wrote his doctoral thesis about the effects of aging on the voice, particularly for amateur singers.

Knoxville has many greenways and parks and hiking trails, but its first water trail opened last year. The project took years to come to fruition, and is a model of what can be done not just as a recreational feature, but as an example of stormwater management and land reclamation. It’s part of a larger initiative to bring awareness to storm water concerns in Knox County. I spoke to Carol Evans with the Legacy Parks Foundation about the importance of water quality and outdoor recreation in Knoxville.