Tennessee

Traveling for spring break? Avoid high gas prices in these Tennessee cities, counties

Published

3 months ago

March 15, 2026

Traveling for spring break? Avoid high gas prices in these Tennessee cities, counties

Tennessee school districts are out for spring break, meaning families are shuttling kids to camp, booking it to that beloved vacation spot or maybe the kids are providing an extra set of hands around the office.

Whatever spring break looks like for your family, it likely involves a car — and filling it up at the gas pump.

However, gas prices are still on the rise across the U.S. and in Tennessee.

Back on March 5, The Tennessean reported that the state’s average fuel price was $2.84, according to the American Automobile Association.

Ten days later, the average now sits at $3.33 per gallon.

Here’s how much fuel costs have risen statewide amid spring break travel.

More: How much have Tennessee gas prices risen amid war in Iran?

National average continues to climb

On March 12, AAA reported the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped nearly 35 cents since the week prior.

Today, consumers are paying $3.70 per gallon, the national average as of March 15, according to AAA Fuel Prices.

Though springtime price hikes for fuel are common, AAA says this jump is bigger than normal.

Gasoline demand typically increases this time of year as warmer weather brings more drivers out on the road, but crude oil prices play a major role in what drivers pay at the pump, according to an AAA release.

While prices have exceeded $100 per barrel in recent days, the U.S. has announced it will release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves over a four-month period to help offset the rising costs, the release said.

“The move is part of a broader effort by the International Energy Agency to release a total of 400 million barrels of oil, the largest emergency release in its history,” AAA officials said in the release.

Tennessee gas prices creep toward national average

As of March 15, the average fuel price in Tennessee for a regular gallon of gas is $3.33, according to AAA.

That’s nearly $1 more than it was a month ago, when the state average fuel price was $2.52.

Clay County tops the leader board with the most expensive gas at $3.54 per gallon, narrowly beating out the price for a gallon of regular gas in Williamson County at $3.52.

The cheapest gas comes from Perry County pumps at $3.16 per gallon.

10 Middle Tennessee counties vary in fuel costs, ranging between $3.24 and $3.52 per gallon:

Cheatham County: $3.33
Davidson County: $3.31
Dickson County: $3.32
Maury County: $3.28
Montgomery County: $3.24
Robertson County: $3.36
Rutherford County: $3.32
Sumner County: $3.31
Williamson County: $3.52
Wilson County: $3.30

Ten cities recorded average fuel costs ranging between less than 20 cents across the state:

Chattanooga: $3.29
Clarksville-Hopkinsville: $3.24
Cleveland: $3.30
Jackson: $3.38
Johnson City: $3.30
Kingsport-Bristol: $3.27
Knoxville: $3.28
Memphis: $3.40
Morristown: $3.28
Nashville: $3.33

Katie Nixon can be reached at knixon@gannett.com.

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Tennessee

2026 Tennessee football preview: Grady Dangerfield

Published

6 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

2026 Tennessee football preview: Grady Dangerfield

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.

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Tennessee

Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video

Published

16 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Press Room

Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives 6K 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.

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Tennessee

Tennessee Baseball Breakout Star Announces He Won’t Enter the Transfer Portal

Published

1 day ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Tennessee Baseball Breakout Star Announces He Won’t Enter the Transfer Portal

The Tennessee Volunteers have had their fair share of bad news as of late when it comes to the college baseball transfer portal, but luckily, they have received some great news.

The great news that they have received is that they will be returning one of their breakout stars from this past college baseball season, as he has no intentions of entering the college baseball transfer portal.

Trent Grindlinger Will Return to Tennessee

Tennessee’s Trent Grindlinger (30) begins to celebrate what he thought was a home run but was eventually called foul during a college baseball game between Tennessee and LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee., on April 3, 2026. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The player who is set to return to Tennessee is Trent Grindlinger, who was electric this season and is expected to be a future top 10 MLB draft pick. This is expected for the first draft that he is eligible for, which is the 2027 MLB Draft rather than this upcoming draft that will feature multiple Vols, including Tennessee ACE, Tegan Kuhns.

Grindlinger finished last season with a batting average of .345, while hitting eight home runs and only striking out 28 times. This would be an electric season for the talented Volunteers’ batter, and he is set for a season that could and should be even better than that, which would be good enough to consider for some major college baseball end-of-the-season awards. He is just one of the few players who opted to stay and return rather than enter their name into the college baseball transfer portal, but if they were going to return anyone, he is the player they would want to return in the field.

Had he entered the transfer portal, there wouldn’t be a single college in the nation that wouldn’t want to add him, as every college would want to add the elite prospect. Not only that, but he would become the nation’s No. 1 player on the portal more than likely.

Luckily for the Vols, though, they don’t have to worry about that.

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