News - Friday, January 11, 2013

Pamela O’Dwyer, an attorney, recalls a moment from her past. She’s with her sister, Kem, in the Florida Keys, the two of them dressed to swim in the shallow blue waters. Although born eight years apart, they have lived like twins, so they’re in one accord as they pick a point and begin to make their way across the shimmering expanse. They entertain no thoughts of how long it will take them to reach their destination, but simply enjoy moving in that direction until they arrive.

Miller & Martin has promoted five attorneys from its Chattanooga office to Member status.

Zachary H. Greene, a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, represents and counsels individuals and companies in matters, including complex litigation, involving contracts, business torts, statutory claims, intellectual property, and other issues. Greene also represents clients in white-collar criminal matters, including conducting internal investigations.

It’s no surprise that losing weight or getting in shape tops most lists when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. However, despite the numerous studies citing the importance of exercise, many Chattanoogans don’t exercise.

How important is customer service to the decisions you make when buying products and services? Will you go to a business you don’t like in order to save money or because it’s convenient to do so? Will you go farther than you have to or pay more money for something just because you want to support the business or the owner of the business? When buying something, what’s more important – saving money or having a better “experience” while making the purchase?

Last week’s column concluded with Susan and me in a hotel room in a neighboring city, to which we’d journeyed in a roundabout way to escape a cold, dark house on my birthday. We and 200,000 others were without electricity.

We started the story with the loss of power a minute after midnight on December 26. Arguably, the story started 90 minutes earlier. I now know the answer to an age-old question. If a tree falls in your yard and you’re there to hear it fall, it makes a loud, scary noise. Especially if it’s a 90-foot- pine and it hits your house.

Chattanooga is going green, or haven’t you heard? From buildings, to dining, to transportation, there’s nothing in Chattanooga that can’t be made better for our bodies and the environment with a kiss of green. Joining this movement toward better stewardship of ourselves and our resources is Banana Tree Organic Salon, which has developed its own organic hair coloring product.

Have you had a relative or friend that has had to have coronary stents? I have. And due to that experience, I’ve learned quite a few things about the procedure.

Most of the time, we hear of a friend or relative having this procedure done, and we wish them well and a speedy recovery, and go about our way. We know it’s dangerous because we hear the word “heart” attached to it. But I never knew the total process of stents being inserted, and since so many people have it done on a daily basis, I never considered the full implications of the procedure. I now have a new perception of it.

Dear EarthTalk:

How is it that climate change is negatively affecting the health of rivers and, by

extension, the quality and availability of fresh water? 

~ Robert Elman, St. Louis, Mo.

Global warming is no doubt going to cause many kinds of problems, and rivers may well be some of the hardest hit geographical features, given the likelihood of increased droughts, floods and the associated spread of waterborne diseases.

Social media is all the buzz. It refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share and exchange comments and content among themselves in virtual communities and networks. If you’re Internet or smart phone savvy, you’re more than likely connected by some sort of social media. As of 2012, social media have become some of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms such as Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, MySpace and Wikipedia.

t was the night after Christmas, I think. When all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except me because I was waiting to hear from Alexis, my daughter, who had had enough cabin fever and ventured out to see a movie with her friend, Tad.

What better time to “mentally” wipe the slate clean of the old junk that fills our brain and scribble on some new! The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to learn and apply new ideas and habits. Out with the old and in with the new!

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has voted in favor of Carol Galante to be an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development and commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration. Prior to announcing his support for Galante, who was subsequently confirmed by the Senate, Corker secured a commitment from her to make substantial changes to FHA underwriting requirements in order to begin restoring financial stability at FHA after substantial losses, primarily from a flawed reverse mortgage program.

Ralph Perrey has left his position on the Tennessee Housing Development Agency’s Board of Directors to begin his term as its next executive director.

Board Chairman Brian Bills formed an executive director search committee at the board’s May meeting, and the six-person team worked through the summer to review applications from 37 housing professionals.

"Jack Reacher” is old school filmmaking at its best. By “old school,” I mean the people who made it started with a good script and then built from there. Born out of the pages of a novel titled “One Shot,” the story is complex, but never convoluted. As layer after layer peels back, and as revelations are made and traps are sprung, I was in awe of how well assembled the script was. More than that, the dialogue grabs you and makes you listen, as though the guy who wrote it is holding a gun to your head and daring you to look away from the barrel while he talks.

Saturday, January 12

The Red Food Store will build a $300,000 neighborhood shopping center in the triangle formed by the intersection of Shallowford and Wilcox Boulevard, announced Grady Parham, company president.

Chattanooga led the state during 1962 in the number of new factories obtained and in the expansion of existing industrial facilities, the state’s Department of Conservation and Commerce reported Saturday. Chattanooga obtained 30 new factories, and 36 existing factories were expanded, during the year.

Saturday, January 11

At a meeting of the University of Tennessee trustees, the merger of Memphis Hospital Medical College and the University of Tennessee was completed. Dr. Ayers of UT said the college would have an enrollment of 400.

Miss Rowena Sauls is very ill at her home on Vine Street.

Saturday, January 12 through Thursday, February 28

We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary

of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-ins

We Shall Not Be Moved, a traveling exhibition developed by the Tennessee State Museum and on display at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in January and February, provides an intimate look at the role Tennessee students played in shaping the modern Civil Rights Movement. This exhibit lifts these important “foot soldiers” into their rightful place in history, telling their story through relevant artifacts, powerful photographic images and exciting audio-visual media. Visitors will leave with an understanding of African-American life during Jim Crow that provided the background for the sit-ins, how students were recruited and organized for the purpose of non-violent protest, and how their efforts facilitated permanent social change.