Tennessee
New Yorkers trade city life for chores on Thompson’s Station farm
When New Orleans-native Sami Khan co-founded a mobile game seven years ago, he could’ve never imagined it would land him and three New Yorkers on a farm in Thompson’s Station.
Atlas: Earth is a mobile metaverse game that allows players to buy virtual real estate, which mimics the real world, to earn and cash out rewards.
“ We started thinking about building entertaining content that can help mobilize our community and include them in more ways to earn/win money,” Khan said. “So our next task was how can we get our community to earn even more money and tie it into something entertaining that the rest of the community will wanna watch?”
The result, a YouTube game show called “Cashtronaut.” With the success of “Squid Game” and creators like Mr. Beast, game shows where you complete a variety of tasks for money are all the rage on social media.
When they originally began to plan for this “fish out of water” concept of having people from large cities live in rural or semi-rural areas, they chose to have people from Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Khan and his group landed on only New Yorkers solely by chance.
“ The original idea was to find somebody in Miami and Los Angeles and New York but around that time we actually got the opportunity to have an ad in Times Square,” he said. “It was at that moment that we were like, wait a second. If we’re gonna have an ad in Times Square, why don’t we use three New Yorkers?”
From then, they completely shifted their original plan, and several months later they ended up on the Whispering Willows Farm in Thompson’s Station.
“ We were very excited and thought it would be a lot of fun,” said Jen Wilson, the co-owner of Whispering Willows Farm and Dairy. “ This is not the first time that we’ve done videotaping but we just really enjoy it.”
Besides a background in agriculture, Wilson also is a research scientist with degrees in biology and physics. She and her husband are also foster parents, and the space of the farm allows their children to gain new skills while relying on the animals as a sort of therapy.
“We’ve been foster parents for over 20 years, and as we grew older, we realized that having animals was really helpful for the foster kids,” she said. “So we ended up with a garage full of rabbits and then decided we needed to move. We got a farm and then just kind of grew from there.”
Upon arrival, the contestants were dropped straight into Thompson’s Station and forced to adapt quickly as they took on a series of hands-on challenges far removed from their city comfort zones.
The three Manhattan-based contestants from different walks of life included a DoorDash driver, fashion designer and lifestyle content creator.
They took part in challenges such as milking a cow in below-freezing temperatures, searching a potato field to locate potatoes marked with each contestant’s initials, and navigating a tractor through a timed obstacle course.
The episode also culminated in a high-energy farm race featuring an egg relay, crawling through mud, lassoing, and leading a sheep up a hill to the finish line. After a tightly contested final push, Courtney Moore, the content creator, emerged victorious, taking home the $10,000 grand prize.
“I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, and that’s what made it so fun,” she said. “Going from Manhattan life straight into farm challenges was wild, exhausting, and honestly empowering. Winning the $10,000 was incredible, but the experience itself was unforgettable.”
In addition to awarding the cash prize, Cashtranaut donated $5,000 directly to the Thompson’s Station farm as a thank you for hosting and supporting the production.
“ Our dream is to build a learning barn where kids and adults could come learn about agriculture as well as some other things,” Wilson added. “I’ve homeschooled my biological children but it’s hard to teach biology without a lab. We would love to create a space where we could host homeschool lab classes for other students where we could do dissections and learn various skills.”
As with any challenge, Khan explained although earning money is a big part of it, they aim to educate the players and viewers.
“ If you watch the New Orleans episode where, you know, teaching people about the Napoleon House and a little bit about the history of the French Quarter,” he said. “These houses in the French Quarter were also slave quarters, and we’re trying to educate in a way where it’s not like preachy or aggressive. We’re just showing people what happened here.”
Their next challenge will take place at a public school in Seattle.
“ We’re making a video where we allow the school to earn up to $20,000 of fundraising,” he said. “We’re realizing that we can actually use these videos to educate a bit more about things like the lack of public school funding. So it’s a full loop because although we are creating content and making money, we are also giving it back.”
You can follow and learn more about Cashtronaut’s challenges on their YouTube page, www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXRY4jVYEmXaPfWskicV8A. Additional information about Whispering Willows Farm can be found at wwfarmanddairy.com/.
How Knox County Schools ban books in school libraries
Knox County Schools abide by Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act to determine whether a book challenge should result in a ban.
A majority of Knox County school board came together to ask state legislators to reform the Age-Appropriate Materials Act that led to the ban of “Roots” last month.
The board voted June 4 to move forward on a resolution brought by Anne Templeton that urges legislators to:
- Allow books to be considered as a whole instead of a single passage. Right now, if a section of a book has depictions of sexual conduct or excessive violence, it must be banned.
- Extend the materials review period to 90 days before a statewide commission acts.
- Distinguish between grade levels so a book can be removed from elementary schools and allowed in high schools, for example.
Board members Katherine Bike, the Rev. John Butler, Chair Kristi Kristy, Patricia Fontenot-Ridley and Anne Templeton voted in favor. Members Betsy Henderson, Lauren Morgan, Stephen Triplett and Vice Chair Travis Wright voted against the resolution.
Triplett and Henderson said they agreed with parts of the resolution, but were fearful this action could disarm the Age-Appropriate Materials Act.
“I don’t want to send a message to the General Assembly that I want the Age-Appropriate Materials Act watered down at all. That is my only fear in sending anything to them, is that they get the idea from our board that we want it watered down,” Triplett explained. “I would be content with these changes, but I’d also be content if nothing changed.”
Henderson urged the board to instead take the issue up in the fall ahead of the General Assembly’s 2027 session. Templeton said she preferred to act now because book banning is a relevant topic in Knox County.
“My request is not for us to sit down and rewrite the law. It’s to ask the General Assembly to have a conversation, to say, ‘Maybe we didn’t get it perfect the first time because we’re human and maybe in our humanity we didn’t look at all the ifs, ands and buts,’” Templeton explained. “Now we have a case study here in Knoxville that could possibly apply to make this law better. To make it different.”
Morgan said the bulk of the work needs to happen at the local level, not with the state legislature.
“We need to do some work on (policy) and figure out ways to work within the framework that the law provides,” Morgan said. “I think before we’re asking the General Assembly to begin or substantially alter a law that was only enacted a couple years ago, I do believe we need to do our work as a local board to figure out a better way to enact it here.”
Next steps
A resolution is just the first step for the board in a long legislative process that will start again in the fall.
Tennessee lawmakers will reconvene in Nashville in January, but work happens year-round. A Tennessee School Board Association advocacy guide encourages local school boards to submit potential resolutions June through September for consideration at the organization’s convention in November.
This resolution will likely be discussed further late in the year when the board creates its annual priorities to send with the Knoxville delegation in 2027. This is an annual process and can include asks to fully fund preschools or protect public education for undocumented immigrants, for example.
How we got here
The decision to ban “Roots” was made public in mid-May, and was immediately met with backlash from the community and country.
The novel’s author, Alex Haley, called East Tennessee home during the later years of his life. He built a home in Norris and later bought a home in Sequoyah Hills. A sculpture of Haley was erected in Morningside Park in 1998, and that part of the park is now dubbed Alex Haley Heritage Square. He donated his personal papers − including drafts of “Roots” − to the University of Tennessee. There’s a permanent exhibit in the Museum of Appalachia dedicated to Haley.
“Roots” was one of 124 titles KCS has banned in the past two years after Tennessee law directed schools to review the contents of their libraries. Superintendent Jon Rysewyk reinstated the historical novel May 26.
KCS evaluates books to ban on a regular basis, and the district committee − comprising three administrators − reviews only specific passages, not the totality of the work when banning a book, to follow the law. The committee previously reviewed an excerpt from “Roots” and did not recommend banning it.
District spokesperson Carly Harrington told Knox News the district does not “track or document the original source” of complaints.
Rysewyk told board members in a memo the ban “weighed heavily” on him. He said he consulted with legal experts who came to different conclusions in applying the state law to “Roots.”
Caitlyn Meisner is the K-12 education reporter for Knox News. Email tips and story ideas to caitlyn.meisner@knoxnews.com.
Redshirt freshman kicker Grady Dangerfield enters his second season at Tennessee in 2026.
The 6-foot, 215-pound kicker appeared in two games for the Vols in 2025. He recorded 257 yards and three touchbacks on four kickoff attempts against UAB and New Mexico State.
Against the Blazers on Sept. 20, 2025, Dangerfield had three kickoff attempts for 195 yards. He also totaled 62 kickoff yards on one attempt versus New Mexico State on Nov. 15, 2025.
Dangerfield committed to Tennessee in Oct. 2024 over Navy and Virginia Tech. He was a Kohl’s Kicking five-star prospect and the No. 41 ranked kicker in the nation.
Dangerfield went to the Vols from James Island Charter High School in Charleston, South Carolina.
Tennessee will kick off its 2026 football season Sept. 5 versus Furman at Neyland Stadium. The season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+).
The Vols will also host Kennesaw State, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU, while playing at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt during the 2026 campaign.
Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
Tennessee
Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video
A viral Tennessee movie theater worker, 85, was surprised with $146K as strangers rallied together to help her “enjoy retirement.”
Mary Ellen Eron was seen hauling a heavy black garbage bag and pushing a cleaning cart during her shift at the theater in Maryville, Tenn., which has since been viewed more than 13 million times.
“Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman. No one deserves to work at this age,” movie customer Brooklyn Green, who filmed the video, captioned the post.
Green launched a fundraiser last weekend after watching Mary, who has been a movie theater staffer for 45 years, hard at work – even though she’s a stranger.
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Green told WATE reported. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day.
“Her physical appearance didn’t look too comfortable, especially since the way she was working so hard.”
Green set a target of $200,000 – and she raised $146,317 before pausing donations. More than 7,500 people donated to the charitable cause.
On Wednesday, Green posted the moment that she presented Eron, who helps the homeless and her local church, with the total figures from the crowdfunding page.
“Oh my goodness. That’s a lot of money,” Eron said as she realized the number on the piece of paper.
“That’s a lot of money and you deserve every bit of it,” Green said.
The clip also featured a message from Eron, who addressed the people who had contributed.
“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the GoFundMe,” she said.
“I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”
The theater’s manager revealed it will be Eron’s decision when she retires.
-
Louisiana5 minutes agoLouisiana babysitter arrested after toddler drowned in pool and wasn’t found for 20 minutes
-
Maine8 minutes agoMost Mainers oppose AI data centers in their communities, poll finds
-
Maryland13 minutes agoPolice seek Maryland woman and girlfriend charged in Silver Spring mom’s murder – WTOP News
-
Michigan20 minutes agoMotorist struck, injured by gunfire on I-94 in Detroit, state police say
-
Massachusetts23 minutes agoHow many people in Massachusetts are using AI right now? What data shows
-
Minnesota28 minutes agoRural Minnesota towns fight for grocery stores, and they’re winning
-
Mississippi35 minutes agoMississippi legislators go all-in on AI for government efficiency
-
Missouri38 minutes ago
Missouri Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 winning numbers for June 4, 2026
