News - Friday, January 27, 2023

Faberge eggs, they’re not. But those Grade A Large oval-shaped jewels you buy at the grocery store – if you can find them on area shelves – are pretty darn expensive.

It’s not just Tennessee consumers who are grappling with the soaring price of eggs. The entire nation is feeling the pinch of rising prices, what internet memes are calling “eggflation.” But it’s no laughing matter.

The 2020-present COVID-19 pandemic has hit the restaurant industry pretty hard, forcing many businesses to shut down temporarily and others to go bust due to supply chain issues and labor shortages. But customers have returned and seem hungrier than ever.

The nation’s egg shortage could continue for another year, even though prices have slightly declined from record highs in recent weeks.

That’s the word from Dale Barnett, executive director of the Shelbyville-based Tennessee Poultry Association, an organization that supports, educates and promotes the sustainability of the state’s integrated broiler/breeder industry.

A local Fraternal Order of Police lodge this month honored two attorneys for their efforts to protect the employment rights of its members, many of who work for the Chattanooga Police Department.

Rock City Lodge No. 22 made Janie Parks Varnell an honorary member Jan. 16 for her efforts since 2013 to represent police officers in proceedings concerning officer-involved shootings, other internal investigations, civil lawsuits and more.

Attorney April Holland has joined the Erlanger Health System Foundation board.

Holland is a corporate transactional attorney and member of Miller & Martin, where she works with businesses through all stages of mergers and acquisitions matters on both the buy and sell sides.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has elected litigation attorney Nate Kinard as a shareholder of the firm.

Kinard has served as a member of Chambliss’ litigation and risk management group since 2016. His clients, which range from startups to publicly traded companies across the U.S., seek his counsel in disputes involving sales of goods, large construction projects, manufacturing and distribution contracts, intellectual property and product liability.

New year promotions at Miller & Martin include the election of Chattanooga attorney Scott Simmons to membership in the firm.

“Scott is a talented lawyer who adds value and depth to our membership,” says firm chairman Scott Parrish. “We welcome this enthusiastic and proven leader as we continue to grow and serve clients across our practice areas.”

Whenever opportunity has knocked on Garrett Cox’s door, he’s answered.

He answered when Northwestern Mutual in Chattanooga offered him a chance to begin developing his own financial planning practice before he’d even completed his college internship at the firm.

The holidays always take a chunk out of our bank accounts. The last thing any homeowner wants to experience after the holidays is the pain of having to dig even deeper to pay for a home repair.

Some projects pop up unexpectedly, though, and must be addressed, but taking a little time to prevent a large – and expensive – maintenance-related repair can help in the long run.

America’s homebuilders closely follow the preferences of today’s homebuyers to ensure they enjoy their new homes. For example, builders responded at the height of the pandemic by adding square footage in new houses for those since people were spending more time at home.

“Give me two seconds to put these in the oven.”

Sierra Stollenwerk is slipping a pan of flourless brownies into the oven at Reignbow Baking Company, her nearly-open French and Latin bakery located in the Eastgate Town Center food court.

Meghan Greene is the new executive director of the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute. A member of CWLI since 2018, Greene served on the membership committee in 2021 and 2022 and chaired the committee last year.

In her new role, Greene will work with CWLI’s board of directors, staff and volunteer leadership to develop and implement strategies for growing the organization’s reach and impact through leadership training, mentoring programs, networking and corporate partnerships.

An altruistic effort by EPB, the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition and the city of Chattanooga has raised $67,295 to fund the coalition’s Flexible Housing Fund, which helps those experiencing homelessness secure permanent housing.

EPB began planning Connect For Good last summer to rally community support for the needs identified in Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s One Chattanooga plan, which aims to address housing security in the city, among other gaps.

The excitement ratchets up the moment Laura Moreland carries two gift bags into the lab in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing.

Several students rush over as Moreland starts pulling out resealable plastic bags with what seem to be small pieces of cloth inside.

“I don’t feel like I’m done with soccer yet.”

Maggie Shaw, Chattanooga’s two-time Southern Conference Defender of the Year, is overseas for an opportunity to continue to play the sport she loves on a professional level while she puts her dreams of nursing on hold.

The scooters immediately grabbed Brennan Webb’s attention. The University of Tennessee men’s golf coach noticed caddies at Grove XXIII, the private course in West Palm Beach, Florida, owned by legendary basketball star Michael Jordan, riding them around and became curious.

The City of Chattanooga began soliciting proposals this week to identify contractors to transform the dilapidated Airport Inn property located at 7725 Lee Highway into a new permanent supportive housing complex for more than 70 Chattanoogans in need.

It’s that time of year when we do our taxes, which means it also is the time that tax scammers go to work. What scams should you watch for – and how can you avoid being victimized?

Sadly, the list of scams is pretty long, including demands for payment or requests for “additional information” pertaining to your tax refund, in which the sender asks for your Social Security number and other personal information. These scam emails can look quite official, often incorporating the IRS logo.

In investing terms, a “glide path” describes how a mix of investments changes over time. Typically, the mix gets more conservative – with fewer stocks and more bonds, for example – as the investor approaches a goal such as retirement.

GreenTech Homes has launched The Farmstead, a neo-traditional community with resort-style amenities located minutes from downtown Chattanooga.

GreenTech is a master-planned community builder based in Hamilton County; The Farmstead is the developer’s newest neighborhood to hit the market.

Save more, spend less and pay off debt are popular New Year’s resolutions – and perhaps the ones most likely to fall by the wayside a few weeks into the year when reality sets in and expenses derail plans.

But an early year setback, like paying your health insurance deductible or the credit card bills after a costly December, doesn’t have to knock you off course.

One of the narratives that might have been a bit overlooked in the hiring of Ran Carthon as the new Tennessee Titans general manager is the power that head coach Mike Vrabel will hold in the Titans hierarchy.

The word “collaborate,” in some form or fashion, was mentioned no less than 13 times in Carthon’s introductory press conference Jan. 20, as he, controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk and Vrabel all spoke about being on the same page and the coaching staff and personnel being in lock step going forward in terms of the players they want and the system those players will run.

Besides his pledge to be a collaborator with Mike Vrabel in building the Tennessee Titans roster, one of the main things that apparently appealed to Amy Adams Strunk and the ownership group in the hiring of Ran Carthon was his and the San Francisco 49ers’ ability to find late-round gems for their roster that go beyond just someone who can cover a punt.

The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs certainly brought some interesting results, most notably in the AFC where who knew that the Jacksonville Jaguars would put up a better fight in Kansas City than the Buffalo Bills did at home in losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. Either way, it serves for an exciting matchup and avoids the possibility of a neutral site conference title game.

Every year Edmunds’ experts put their heads together to determine the best new vehicles on sale. Spread across six categories, the annual Edmunds Top Rated Awards are given to the cars, trucks and SUVs that rank at the top of their class according to Edmunds’ vehicle testing program.