Kingsport Parks and Recreation is now accepting registrations for the 2025 Fall Youth Baseball and Softball Leagues.

The following is the list of leagues offered and when their respective season begins:

• T-Ball (5-6) – August 11
• Coach Pitch Baseball (7-8) – August 18
• Coach Pitch Softball (7-9) – August 18
• Machine Pitch Baseball (9-10) – August 18
• Junior Softball (10-12) – August 25
• Junior Baseball (11-12) – August 25

Note – All games will be played at Domtar Park.

Children must be of age as of August 15, 2025. The registration fee is $30 per player (excluding the price of a jersey and hat). After the deadline, a late fee of $15 will be assessed.

To register, please visit https://bit.ly/44udaLP. You can also register by clicking on the CivicRec link in the Connect Kingsport app or go to www.kingsporttn.gov and click on “CivicRec,” then search for “fall youth” in the search bar.

Participants must live inside the Kingsport city limits, attend Kingsport City Schools and/or own Kingsport city property to be eligible to participate.

One of the quickest and easiest ways to report a pothole to the City of Kingsport is through the ConnectKingsport app. Just download the free app on the App Store or Google Play Store and click the “Report a Concern” link to let us know about any issues in the city.

The ConnectKingsport app allows residents to have a direct line of communication to the city to report a variety of non-emergency concerns in more than three dozen categories, including drainage issues, dead animal removal, graffiti, potholes, water leaks, renter complaints, high grass and sewer backups.

To date, nearly 35,000 issues have been resolved.

The app also provides links to the city’s website, animal services, CivicRec, KATS, an events calendar and the building and planning department.

ConnectKingsport uses GPS to recognize your location and gives you a menu of common quality-of-life conditions to select from when submitting a request. The app allows you to upload pictures or videos to accompany your request. Residents can then track the status of reports they or other members of the community have submitted until the issue is resolved.

Back at the office, city staff will leverage powerful dashboards and reporting tools to identify hot spots, increase productivity, prioritize projects and spend tax dollars smarter.

This application not only allows citizens to report problems, but also to view and vote to fix problems submitted by their neighbors. Citizens can even create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about the issues reported in their community, enabling them to follow the progress of all service requests—not just the ones they report.

“ConnectKingsport is the best way to report issues you see in the city,” said Administrative and Communications Coordinator, Sara Nowell. “Plus, it gives you a direct link to This Is Kingsport, the website that answers the question ‘What is there to do in Kingsport?’ by providing a comprehensive calendar full of events throughout the city.”

To download the free app, go to the App Store or Google Play and search “ConnectKingsport” to find the app. You can also access the tool via kingsporttn.gov/city-services/public-works/connectkingsport/ or seeclickfix.com. Download the free app today to be a part of making Kingsport a great place to live, work and play.

The City of Kingsport has started its street resurfacing program for the summer, with repaving work taking place first in the Cooks Valley area, from roughly Harbor Chapel Road to Fort Patrick Henry Lake.

City crews are paving approximately 8 miles of roadway in the Cooks Valley area with the $2.5 million project expected to be completed later this fall.

In addition, contractors are currently making concrete repairs to Crescent Drive and will pave a small portion of Airport Parkway near Jericho Drive by the first of November.

Finally, the Tennessee Department of Transportation will be paving on Interstate 81 from Interstate 26 south to near Fall Branch and on the Hawkins County portion of State Route 1 (US 11W) from the bridges over the North Fork of the Holston River west to Church Hill.

In total, the Model City will experience approximately $5 million in street resurfacing work in 2025 – more than 16 miles of city and state roads.

Since 2017, Kingsport has allocated and/or spent $20.7 million on street resurfacing work, repaving more than 115 miles of roads.

General areas paved in these years include Fairacres, Cooks Valley, Colonial Heights, Lynn Garden, Upper Sevier Terrace, areas near the Tri-Cities airport, Eastern Star and the Tri-Cities Crossing and Fort Henry Drive between the John B. Dennis Highway and Fort Patrick Henry Dam.

During those same years, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has spent $13.6 million on street resurfacing work in Kingsport, repaving 24 miles of roads.

For the past nine years, Kingsport has used a data-driven approach to street resurfacing. First, by ranking all city streets from 0 to 100 based on condition and then creating an annual paving plan where the lowest ranked streets are given priority.

By following this program, Kingsport has repaved on average 17 miles of streets every year since 2017.

The City of Kingsport is responsible for maintaining approximately 500 miles of streets within the city limits. The Tennessee Department of Transportation oversees the repair and paving of state highways and federal interstates within Kingsport’s borders, including Stone Drive, Fort Henry Drive, Center Street, Lynn Garden Drive and the John B. Dennis Highway.

For more information on Kingsport’s paving schedule, updated road condition maps, or to view the latest presentations, visit www.pavekingsport.com.

The Kingsport Public Library is hosting a Behind the Book festival next month, featuring more than 50 local and regional authors.

The festival will take place on the first floor of the Fort Henry Mall on July 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tables will stretch from the library’s mall location down the hall towards the movie theater.

More than 50 authors have signed up to participate in the festival and will be on hand selling and signing their books. The authors will also be participating in discussion panels throughout the day outside the library storefront and several children’s authors will be reading their books to visiting children outside of Belk’s.

“We’ve hosted Behind the Book events over the past several years, but those have only highlighted one author or illustrator at a time,” said Interim Library Manager Stephanie Griffin. “With this festival, we’ll be able to highlight dozens of local and region authors and showcase their amazing works.”

The festival is sponsored by the Friends of the Kingsport Public Library. For more information about the event, visit https://www.facebook.com/share/1BxzwhqryM/

Allandale Mansion is transforming into a whimsical world of faeries next month with an evening of fairy games, costumes, photos and more.

The event is called “Fairy Tingo” and is being hosted by Faeriefoots and the Cozy Cottage. Fairy Tingo will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 11 at Allandale Mansion. The event is for children ages 5 and up and the cost to register is $40 per person.

Fairy Tingo will feature an inside and outside scavenger hunt for faeries and photos in the fairy realm. Costumes and wings are highly encouraged and grants participants entry to a fairy parade for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes.

Afterwards, folks can wind down the visit with the Cozy Cottage’s handcrafted snacks and a variety of teas while playing Bingo with a fairy.

The hosts for Fairy Tingo are Laura Webb and Lindsey Nivens.

Webb, owner and creator of Faeriefoots’ Fauxtoes and Gifts in Johnson City, is an eco-artist with a fairy/cottage core aesthetic. Most of her art has been recycled in some form with purpose to offer endearing and creative solutions to mass disposal.

Nivens, owner of the Cozy Cottage in Elizabethton, offers homemade trinkets and flavorful baked goods from scratch allotting for natural ingredients and dietary customization.

To register, please visit https://bit.ly/405spJL. You can also register by clicking on the CivicRec link in the Connect Kingsport app or go to www.kingsporttn.gov and click on “CivicRec,” then search for “fairy tingo” in the search bar.

For information about other programs, activities and classes offered by the Kingsport Parks and Recreation Department, visit www.kingsportparksandrecreation.org or call 423-229-9460.