Tennessee authorities on Friday were investigating a box containing large amounts of dynamite at a metal recycling business that prompted evacuations of people living near the site. 

An explosive ordnance robot was deployed to get a sample of the explosives found inside a box Thursday at CMC Recycling, the Knoxville Police Department said. 

The sample tested positive for ammonium nitrate, which is consistent with dynamite. Bomb squad technicians were working to remove the explosives from the box for disposal. 

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It was initially reported that the box contained around 200 sticks of dynamite, but technicians haven’t verified how many pieces were in the box, authorities said.

They will “methodically” remove the explosives from the box, douse the dynamite in diesel fuel, and burn it, police said. There was no evidence the box was placed at the site with malicious or criminal intent, police said. 

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The Knoxville Police Department says an explosive ordnance robot was deployed after explosives were found at a metal recycling center. (Knoxville Police Department)

It was left at the site for several days. The dynamite inside was discovered when employees at the metal recycling plant were using a torch to salvage the box and unintentionally set it on fire, authorities said. 

Knoxville’s police department has consulted with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which recommended the immediate area be evacuated.

Technicians haven’t verified how many pieces of dynamite were in the box, authorities said. (Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Evacuations remained in place for those living within 3,000 feet of the box, police said. 

ATLANTA – Atlanta locals expressed “frustration” to Fox News Digital over the economy, pointing to high grocery and gas prices.

“[Atlanta] went upscale, and now they’re raising their prices. Like living is so hard,” Chelsea told Fox News Digital during a series of interviews in the critical swing state.

“Everywhere you look, you know, you can’t even get a, you know, a gallon of milk for the regular price anymore. Everything’s so inflated,” Atlanta resident Marcellus said.

“Inflation has been terrible. And the person that was in the office there, he wasn’t really doing too much for us,” Marcellus said, adding that prices were lower when former President Trump was in office.

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“For one, things going up in price in the food, in the stores. It’s not that good for you,” Tim said.

Marcus, a Detroit native who moved to Atlanta for better work opportunities, said he feels like “the economy is definitely headed towards financial impact in terms of recession.”

“I do feel that the prices are in an influx right now,” Marcus, the hospitality professional, said. 

Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a slight edge over Trump in a new poll released Tuesday that looked into which candidate voters view as the one representing change. 

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Trump, however, maintained his lead among male voters and has kept the trust of most voters on economic issues.

College students in Atlanta also weighed in on the economy.

“I’m broke, so I don’t like it and I can’t really do anything about it. But, you know, I just can’t really control it. It’s just a thing I have to deal with,” Georgia State student Audrey told Fox News Digital.

Over at Georgia Tech, one student named Brandon said the “economy was better with Trump.”

Georgia Tech student Brandon reacts to the current economic conditions.

Brandon, a native of Savannah, Georgia, added that getting the economy back on track is his top issue.

“I think the blue collar is especially better with Trump,” he said.

Fulton County, Georgia, sued the Georgia State Elections Board this week in what was the latest development in an unfolding battle between the two entities over how to monitor and ensure election integrity in November.

The county board filed the lawsuit on Monday, The Associated Press reported, asking a judge to declare that the state board lacks the authority to force it “to accept, and Fulton County to pay for, additional monitors for the 2024 election that have been hand-picked by certain State Election Board members.”

“The State Election Board has no statutory authority to force the Fulton County BRE [Board of Registration and Elections] to accept, and Fulton County to pay for, election monitors hand-picked by the State Election Board,” the lawsuit says.

On Tuesday, the Georgia State Elections board responded by voting 3-2 to subpoena a trove of 2020 election documents from the Fulton County clerk of court, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

‘TOUGH CALL’: ATLANTA VOTERS SPLIT ON WHO WILL WIN GEORGIA

The State Election Board in May found that the county violated some parts of the state election code. It voted to issue a letter of reprimand, which included instructions for an agreement on a mutually acceptable monitor to be entered into by the board’s August meeting.

However, the county and state election boards have been unable to reach an agreement. The county favors a team it has already approved that was proposed by Ryan Germany, a former chief lawyer for the secretary of state’s office, and the Atlanta-based Carter Center. The Trump-endorsed majority on the State Election Board has proposed an alternative slate that includes people who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

An Aug. 19 legal opinion, written by state Attorney General Chris Carr and obtained by The Associated Press, says final decisions of the State Election Board are “preclusive” and that “re-litigation of all claims which have already been adjudicated, or which could have been adjudicated, is therefore prohibited.” Fulton County attorneys assert that the approval of the motion at the May meeting and resulting reprimand meant the case is closed and cannot be reopened, and that “argument is likely correct,” Carr wrote.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is seen here at the National Association of Secretaries of State winter meeting on Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

When asked about the attorney general’s guidance, Johnston said, “That was opinion. That’s not a legal finding. That was their advice or opinion. We have different opinions about that.”

The Republican majority on the State Election Board repeatedly said during meetings in August that they did not approve of the county’s team. However, the county board reaffirmed its selection, and county commissioners voted to approve the contract days later.

Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. (Getty Images)

A Republican official told Fox News Digital that what the Georgia State Election Board is doing is “delegitimizing Republican governance in the state.”

“They don’t know what they’re doing. Today hit the high water mark when they investigated a county over voter challenge rejections that didn’t have any voter challenges, period.”

‘The recent development comes a week after the Georgia State Election Board sparked controversy by voting 3-2 to approve a rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand after voting is completed in a decision that was opposed by the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office and an association of county election officials but supported by many conservatives.

The new rule, according to the Associated Press, requires that the number of paper ballots — not the number of votes — be counted at each polling place by three separate poll workers until all three counts are the same. If a scanner has more than 750 ballots inside at the end of voting, the poll manager can decide to begin the count the following day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.