News - Friday, February 13, 2026

For the first time since the chaos of the COVID-era housing market, homebuilders in Hamilton County say they can finally predict what it will cost to build a house.

That might sound like good news. In many ways, it is.

But stability has not brought relief to buyers – and that, builders say, is now the industry’s most urgent challenge.

Construction is underway on a 278-unit riverfront apartment development at 702 Manufacturers Road, a project city officials and developers describe as a test case for Chattanooga’s newly revamped affordable housing tax abatement program and a model for future mixed-income development in high-demand areas.

By David Laprad

A quick scroll, a couple of taps and a cardboard box on your porch two days later are a great way to buy a phone charger or paper towels. But when the stakes are higher – what kind of window will keep your house comfortable in July, or how a new deck might change the way you use your backyard – the internet can start to feel flat.

By David Laprad

Rising premiums, stricter underwriting and weather-driven losses have left the homeowners insurance market “in shambles,” particularly in Tennessee and Georgia, where wind, hail, flooding and legal pressures are reshaping how and whether coverage is written.

The soft clack of needles and the whirl of spindles will return to downtown Chattanooga later this month as the Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival makes its second appearance.

Set for Feb. 27-March 1, the Scenic Stitches Fiber Festival will transform the Chattanooga Convention Center into a hub for fiber artists, makers and curious newcomers from across the country. Now spanning three days instead of two, the festival adds an entire extra day of programming and learning.

February brings thoughts of flowers, candy hearts, greeting cards and love letters. For real estate professionals, however, the phrase “love letters” often triggers a very different association: buyer love letters. These are the personal notes some buyers attach to their offers in hopes of standing out in a competitive market.

Hamilton County recorded more than $270 million in property sales and nearly $391 million in mortgage activity in January 2026, according to the latest sales and mortgages report from the Register of Deeds Office.

The county collected about $1 million in conveyance tax from property sales and roughly $446,000 in mortgage tax during the month. A total of 973 deeds and 987 deeds of trust were recorded, along with just over 4,000 documents overall.

Girls Inc. of Chattanooga has announced the 2026 Sole Award recipients, honoring organizations and leaders whose work creates pathways for families to thrive across the region.

The honorees will be recognized at the Sapphire Sneaker Gala Saturday, May 16, 7 p.m., at The Signal.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing is partnering with ENCORE Ministry Foundation to launch a new Age-Friendly Congregation Certificate program designed to help faith communities and individuals better support older adults through intentional, practical action.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, the most meaningful expressions of love often cost little to nothing. 

The key is understanding your partner’s love language and tailoring your approach accordingly. When you know what makes your partner feel truly valued, you can create memorable experiences without the financial pressure that often accompanies this holiday.

The Chattanooga Chapter of the American Inns of Court raised $21,640 in December through a charity auction benefiting the Children’s Advocacy Center: The Emmy Haney House, marking the fourth consecutive year the organization has named the CAC as the auction’s beneficiary.

The 21st annual Pink! gala hosted by the CommonSpirit Memorial Foundation raised $1.3 million to support breast cancer care in the region, organizers announced.

Chaired by Marc and Dr. Rachel Labovitz and Danny and Jennifer Waxenberg, the sold-out event drew 1,150 guests. All proceeds will remain in the local community, directly benefiting the MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at CommonSpirit – Memorial Hospital.

The Collegedale Police Department reports declines in several major crime categories in 2025, along with higher-than-average case clearance rates and continued emphasis on community engagement, according to its newly released annual report.

Broad decreases in crime

The report shows a 27.6% decrease in DUI offenses and a 37.3% reduction in drug- and drug-equipment-related offenses compared with the previous year. Theft and fraud incidents declined 1.8%, while burglaries dropped 11.36% overall. Assaults decreased by 10.7%, and domestic assaults fell 25%.

High-end facilities and state-of-the-art accommodations can seem like a birthright to this generation of athletes at major NCAA Division I college programs. That wasn’t always the case, however, especially for female athletes.

University of Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly took advantage of a construction project to share some history with her players last month as they prepared for the 2026 season. UT’s clubhouse is being completely renovated, requiring the team to use a portable locker room and offices for nearly a year.

Just before the NHL commenced its three-week break to enable the league’s players to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, a trade freeze began that will run through the duration of the first time NHL players have participated in the Olympics since the 2014 Sochi, Russia games. 

In a somewhat surprising Feb. 2 news conference, Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced his intent to retire from his position, citing a desire to spend more time with his family – not team performance, a desire to return to coaching or, most important, health concerns – as his reason for stepping down as just the second general manager in franchise history. 

There is a lot of talk about affordability in 2026, and it can certainly apply to new vehicles as many of the latest SUVs and electric vehicles are simply too expensive. Buying used is an option, but that means you’ll lose out on getting a full warranty and, of course, that new-car smell. 

DETROIT (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced an end Thursday to credits to automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles, a device intended to reduce emissions that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said "everyone hates."

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday as the market punished companies seen as potential losers from artificial-intelligence technology.

The S&P 500 sank 1.6% for its second-worst day since Thanksgiving, though it's still near its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 669 points, or 1.3%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2%.

NEW YORK (AP) — The top antitrust official in the Trump administration is leaving her post amid tension about greenlighting big mergers in recent months.

Gail Slater, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for antitrust, posted on X Thursday that it was with "great sadness" that she was leaving after just a year in the role. The move comes after a back-and-forth decisions about whether to allow Hewlett Packard Enterprises to buy a rival in the telecommunications networking gear business last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The press gallery overlooking the U.S. House chamber has been renamed after the abolitionist, writer and presidential adviser Frederick Douglass in a bipartisan move brokered by Black lawmakers.

NASHVILLE (AP) — NCAA scoring leader Mikayla Blakes had 34 points, Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and eight rebounds and No. 5 Vanderbilt beat No. 4 Texas 86-70 on Thursday night.

Blakes raised her scoring average to 26.2 points. She reached 30 or more for the fourth straight game and ninth time this season.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Janiah Barker scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Talaysia Cooper added 17 points and four steals, and No. 22 Tennessee rolled past Missouri 98-53 on Thursday night.

Barker shot 9 of 16 from the field and 2 for 5 from beyond the arc for the Lady Vols (16-6, 8-2 Southeastern Conference), who had lost three of their last four games.

NASHVILLE (AP) — New Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh's staff includes general manager Mike Borgonzi's brother as linebackers coach.

The Titans released a finalized coaching staff Thursday. Dave Borgonzi coached the Dallas Cowboys' linebackers this season and has 15 years of NFL coaching experience, which includes stints with Tampa Bay, Indianapolis and Chicago.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon is set to be arraigned in federal court in Minnesota on Friday along with four other defendants who were indicted for their alleged roles in disrupting a service at church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was a pastor.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As outrage spreads over energy-hungry data centers, politicians from President Donald Trump to local lawmakers have found rare bipartisan agreement over insisting that tech companies — and not regular people — must foot the bill for the exorbitant amount of electricity required for artificial intelligence.

In one testimonial after another, teachers detailed all the ways President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has shaped their work and the lives of their students.

In a court filing Thursday, educators around the country described rumors of immigration raids that scared away students, immigrant parents who stopped sending their children to school altogether, and stories of parents and students — including one middle schooler — being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at school bus stops.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis have moved to drop felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men, including one shot in the leg by an immigration officer, after new evidence emerged undercutting the government's version of events.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration spent at least $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to countries other than their own as immigration officials expanded the practice over the last year to carry out President Donald Trump's goals of quickly removing immigrants from the U.S., according to a report compiled by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There were Nobel laureates and acclaimed authors. Pioneers of science and medicine. At least one was a college president. High-profile academics spun in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit for years, even after he was convicted of sex crimes. Now, facing backlash, many say they were driven by a single factor: Epstein's wealth.

Financial groups in Canada and the United Kingdom said they've paused future ventures with the company DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between the company's CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Jeffrey Epstein.

The emails — some referencing porn, sexual massages and escorts — surfaced in the cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice. DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans grappling with the sharp cost increases of the past five years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina suggested Thursday he could support a compromise that would allow the Senate Banking Committee to start hearings on Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration reached a trade deal with Taiwan on Thursday, with Taiwan agreeing to remove or reduce 99% of its tariff barriers, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

The agreement comes as the U.S. remains reliant on Taiwan for its production of computer chips, the exporting of which contributed to a trade imbalance of nearly $127 billion during the first 11 months of 2025, according to the Census Bureau.

PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) — Nevada is the only state where people can legally purchase sex, and now sex workers at one of the state's oldest brothels are fighting to become the nation's first to be unionized.

"We want the same things that any other worker wants. We want a safe and respectful workplace," said a worker at Sheri's Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, who goes by the stage name Jupiter Jetson and asked that her legal name not be used for fear of harassment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans may be willing to stick with President Donald Trump through almost anything, but his recent push to seize control of Greenland has turned off many in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. That's higher than the share who dislike how he's handling foreign policy generally, suggesting that Trump's Greenland approach has created a weak spot for the administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has bragged about building a political war chest exceeding $1.5 billion — a staggering sum that he can wield at his whim to shape November's midterms and the 2028 race to succeed him.

Trump's stockpile — which dwarfs any amounts raised by his predecessors in their second terms — is not easy to precisely calculate given that much of it is being collected by groups that aren't required to file regular financial disclosures.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.

The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson. Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon were granted the clemency.