News - Friday, January 27, 2017

Long before The JumpFund officially invested in Courtney Jones’ Knoxville company, the MomSource Network, the Chattanooga-based angel investor group started by Kristina Montague was already advocating for her business and helping her broaden her network of contacts.

While teaching a senior seminar course, helping students find internships, and coaching them on their careers as assistant dean of external affairs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga a few years ago, Kristina Montague noticed a disturbing pattern.

An interesting thing happened just a couple of hours before Gov. Bill Haslam unveiled his fuel-tax increase plan amid great fanfare at the State Capitol.

As the governor started explaining the proposed IMPROVE Act to reporters during a short media briefing, he apparently realized more people are poring over a handout than paying attention. They were trying to get a jump on writing stories while digesting the numbers combined with an array of tax breaks designed to make tax increases more palatable.

As Christi Doll stood alone, surrounded by predators and other creatures typically found in the wild, a man came to her rescue.

Later in life, Doll was approaching a crossroads when a friend grabbed her arm and said, “Let’s go this way.”

Turning 18, for a person, is normally a time for maturing, for coming of age. But for the Chattanooga Lookouts’ home stadium, AT&T Field, turning 18 has been a time of telltale signs of premature aging.

Built for a remarkably low economic amount in 1999 by then-owner Frank Burke and his late father, former CBS President Daniel Burke, the stadium was never designed to last forever. And as the sale of the franchise became unavoidable after the death of principal stockholder Daniel Burke, his son became less and less willing to invest in what it took to keep it current – much less modern. Perhaps, he was feeling a little deja vu.

Tennessee has its search firm and its search committee is in place to find the replacement for Dave Hart as the university’s athletic director.

Hart announced last August he would retire June 30, and with Tennessee undergoing a transition in its chancellor’s position, the search for Hart’s replacement was put on the back burner.

One of my favorite memories of watching a film with an audience came during the previews before a packed midnight showing of “Inception” in 2010. This was before there were sneak peek screenings on Thursday nights – when you knew you were sharing the theater with hardcore movie geeks.

The latest electric car-sharing site in the greater Chattanooga area is open on the Southern Adventist University campus. Two Nissan Leafs are available for the community to rent. The charging station is also open to the public and can be used for free.

Following the success of the Cine-Rama art house theater incubator, the Chattanooga Film Festival (CFF) will build a permanent theater called The Palace Picture House.

CFF opened the doors to Cine-Rama last May at 100 W. Main St. in the hopes of proving that Chattanooga could sustain indie, classic and genre films and documentaries year-round.

Cornerstones has established a professor-in-residence at UTC. Andrew Smith, a local educator, architect and preservationist, is the organization’s first professor to take the role.

“This is a huge step forward for Cornerstones,” says Ann Gray, executive director of Cornerstones. “We are now teaching the where’s and what for’s of preservation and the philosophical reasoning behind saving our past.”

Chattanoogans are known for always being ready and willing to extend a helping hand to someone in need.

Building on the philanthropic spirit of Chattanooga, The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and The Maclellan Foundation are joining forces to launch a portal to connect people in Chattanooga who have specific needs with other people in the community who can help meet the needs.

One of the statistics often cited in real estate sales reports is “Months Supply of Inventory” or “Months of Supply” (MOS). This week, we’ll take a moment to explore and explain this term.

Months of Supply is one of the easiest real estate statistics to understand. Simply put, it quantifies when we would run out of homes to sell at our current rate of sales if no new properties came to market. While this might seem overly simplistic, it’s the heart of the number.

Greater Chattanooga has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years, and many families are deciding to sell their homes in search of something newer, bigger, smaller or just different. If you’re ready to put your current house on the market and want to increase your chances of selling it quickly, here are a few steps to take before putting the “For Sale” sign in your front yard:

Are you a “do-it-yourselfer”? If you can take care of home repairs, lawn work and other types of maintenance by yourself, you’ll save money and probably gain satisfaction. But you will almost certainly need some help in other areas of your life – one of which may be investing.

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors’ new manufacturing facility in Chattanooga is up and running. The facility represents an investment of $55 million and 325 new jobs. Yanfeng’s Chattanooga facility manufactures interior components, including instrument panels and trunk trim for the Volkswagen Atlas, which entered series production in December.

Carl Henderson named to Chattanooga Housing Authority board

Mayor Andy Berke has named civic leader and CPA Carl Henderson to the Chattanooga Housing Authority’s board of commissioners. Henderson replaces the unexpired term of outgoing board member Jim Steffes. He will serve until 2020.

For years, Chattanooga law enforcement departments have benefited from specialized crisis intervention team training. This intense instruction teaches police the best methods, strategies and techniques for interacting with marginalized populations, including people with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The largest tree planting event in Tennessee’s history will take place Saturday, Feb. 25, and everyone in the state is invited to take part.

The Tennessee Environmental Council (TEC), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry (TDA) and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) are distributing 100,000 native Tennessee trees across the state. Homeowners, businesses and groups of any kind can receive free trees for their property or community when they agree to plant them on Feb. 25.