News - Friday, January 21, 2022

Realtor Kim Coulter has a passion for mentoring young girls. A former model, she’d often gather a group of 9- to 16-year-olds at The Lookout Mountain Club to school them in posture, skincare and making their smile their best accessory.

She also taught them to be self-confident instead of envious of others.

Attorney Courtney Keehan didn’t grow up wanting to become an attorney. Passionate about building design, she spent her youth planning a future as an architect.

Then, in the midst of pursuing her passion in college, Keehan discovered a different path that led her to the law.

The Chattanooga chapter of the American Inns of Court raised $23,850 in December through a charity auction that benefited the local Ronald McDonald House.

The fundraising effort includes amounts raised through auction items purchased at the Dec. 9 event as well as individual donations made by Inn members.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has added four attorneys who will support various service areas for the firm.

Louis Metcalfe, Colter Parker, Justin Powers and Kiki Rogers, who have all supported Chambliss in recent years as summer clerks, will focus on business, health care, labor and employment and estate and tax.

Greater Chattanooga Realtors 2022 President Derek English with his wife, Realtor Becky Cope English, at the installation ceremony Jan. 13 at The Corker Museum. Derek was sworn in by his father, Rick English, and joins the rest of the board in beginning a year of service for the local Realtor association.

The 2021 housing market was one for the history books. After three consecutive months of increases, existing home sales are on pace to hit their highest level in 15 years, with an estimated 6 million homes sold in 2021, the National Association of Realtors reports.

Hamilton County Register of Deeds Marc Gravitt says his office set records in tax collections and document recordings for a single month in December and shattered its yearly record in 2021.

Conveyance tax and mortgage tax collections in December totaled $3,465,491.65, breaking the previous monthly high of $2,889,555.12, set last June.

After an unseasonably warm holiday season, the Chattanooga area is now experiencing winter full force. With these colder temperatures and more time spent indoors, many consumers are noticing higher energy bills.

If you’re looking for ways to keep your utility bills down and reduce energy usage, here are a few easy steps to take.

Chattanooga City Council recently confirmed Mayor Tim Kelly’s appointment of Dan Reuter as administrator for the Department of City Planning and Scott Martin as incoming administrator for the Department of Parks and Outdoors. Reuter joined City Planning Jan. 18, while Martin will start Feb. 1.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is widely credited with saying, “Don’t try to do everything. Do one thing well.”

The Peach Cobbler Factory seems to have taken Jobs’ advice to heart, if not followed it to the letter. Instead of serving appetizers, entrees, salads, sides and sweets (like The Cheesecake Factory, for example), PCF does what I wish I could do when I sit down to a catered meal and a server has already placed a slice of cake nearby – skip right to dessert.

As Rae Burrell limped off the court in the Tennessee women’s basketball season opener, many expected the team’s chances of a strong start to also be sidelined. But not only did the Lady Vols still win games, they reclaimed an identity and vaulted back into the national consciousness while climbing the rankings.

The gift came in the mail at just the right time.

Emery Hiser was born with a congenital amputation and is missing the lower half of her right arm. The 4-year-old was just beginning to understand she was different from others when a package arrived at her doorstep in Knoxville last spring.

FutureTech Holding Company, Beau Wells and MLJB Holdings have acquired Vincent Printing from longtime owners Doug and Charlie Casey.

The acquisition was finalized Dec. 29. The parties did not disclose the terms of the sale.

As part of the acquisition, the ownership group has named a management team to lead Vincent Printing. Wells is president and CEO, Glen Brooks is chief financial officer and Alison Henry is vice president of customer engagement.

The Tennessee Titans are a different breed – an outlier, if you will.

Of the four AFC playoff teams still standing, most of them are built around a quarterback whose success – or lack thereof – is the key to whether they advance in the postseason.

The Titans are in the playoffs with the No. 1 seed, meaning they won’t have to leave Nissan Stadium until the Super Bowl if they take care of business.

But being the No. 1 seed has not been kind to the franchise in the past. Both previous occurrences led to losses to the Baltimore Ravens.

The NFL is done with Wild Card Weekend and on to the final eight teams vying for spots in this year's Super Bowl:

Cincinnati Bengals (11-7) at Tennessee Titans (12-5)

The Bengals are fresh off their first playoff win in 31 years, knocking off the Las Vegas Raiders in the first round.

2021 was an unusual year for the automotive industry. While customer demand for new cars rebounded from the economic uncertainty of 2020, automakers found themselves unable to meet that demand because of semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain problems.

Fact: What goes around, comes around.

Shortly after his first inauguration in 2009, while meeting with Republican congressional leaders, President Barack Obama suggested their proposals for changing his economic proposals wouldn’t carry much weight.