News - Friday, January 30, 2015

The Silver Ballroom at the Read House looked full on Wednesday, Jan. 21 during the 117th Annual Meeting of the Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA). But the association’s newly installed president, Paul Hatcher, didn’t just see the hundreds of lawyers and judges gathered together to hand out awards, install new officers and board members, and enjoy a catered lunch; he also saw the empty seats he wants the Bar to fill.

Realtor Jeff Davidson says he shuns the spotlight. Then he must have felt uneasy about being named Rookie of the Year at the recent Crye-Leike 2015 kickoff.

“No, it was all about my son,” the 36-year-old real estate agent says. He accepted the award with his wife, Suzanne, at his side and his two-year-old son, Miles, in his arms. There was a fourth Davidson at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club that day, but unlike his dad, he was able to avoid the limelight. (The Davidsons are expecting again, and it’s a boy.)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “It’s all about who you know?” With tightening budgets and stagnant job availabilities, key relationships are becoming more and more important to professional success. Bar Associations are usually the first place people turn to when seeking a lawyer.

The Board of Governors of the Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) unanimously passed the following resolution at Wednesday’s annual meeting. The decree changes the name of the CBA’s online lawyer referral service, presently known as “CLIPS,” to “Lawyer Referral Service” (LRS).

Charlie Poss, attorney with Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, has joined the Executive Board of Directors of Mark Making. Mark Making is a Chattanooga non-profit with a mission to enhance the town with public art and to engage the public in the creation and production of art.

Attorney Tom Greenholtz of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has been named a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). The Foundation is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, and law professors who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession.

The Board of Directors of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison, a Chattanooga law firm, this month elected Mark Windle Litchford as a Director of the firm.

Litchford grew up in Crossville, Tenn., and joined the firm in 2008. He graduated from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., in 2001 and received his J.D. degree, cum laude, in 2008 from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

Valentine’s Day is almost here. And while it’s certainly fun to give and receive chocolates and roses, why not go a little deeper this year? Specifically, if you are married, consider using this commemoration of love as a starting point for taking care of your spouse in the future — even if you’re not part of it.

Have you ever noticed when people talk about wanting their kids to be successful and they give examples, the first two are usually a doctor or a lawyer? Of course, there are a million other professions that would also mean success for someone. For instance, the guy who invented the electric can opener is set for life, even though it’s the dumbest idea ever. (If you don’t have the strength to open a can with a regular can opener, then you probably don’t need another can of SpaghettiOs.)

The Tennessee Supreme Court this week ruled that a trial court must consider both the legal basis and the injuries for which damages are sought when determining the applicable statute of limitations for each claim in a lawsuit.

Statutes of limitations exist in both criminal and civil law and limit the time for filing legal actions. Civil lawsuits may involve multiple claims and differing legal theories. Different statutes of limitations may apply to the claims.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week held that the Tennessee statute governing termination of parental rights does not require the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to prove as an essential element of its case that it made reasonable efforts to reunite the child with the parent (or parents) before the parent’s rights can be terminated.

Realtor Susan Rearden of Real Estate Partners stands in disbelief at having just won a 40-inch HDTV in a drawing at the Women’s Council of Realtor’s membership mixer last week at the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chattanooga.

The WCR held the event in an effort to attract new members. Several Realtors joined the ranks of the association during the event.

The last few years, I have served as a member of the Tennessee Association of Realtors (TAR) Residential Forms Committee. Currently, I serve as vice-chairman of the Committee, which is comprised of Realtors and attorneys from across the state. We meet several times a year to review and recommend changes in the verbiage in standardized forms and contracts used by Tennessee Realtors.

No one sets out to make a bad movie, but bad movies get made. That’s why God created January. January is the month into which the movie studios dump all of the crap they can’t afford to have taking up screens during the prime movie going months.

Most homeowners know it is important to keep a home clean, bright and free from clutter while it is on the market for sale. But sometimes, Realtors say, taking the extra step to stage a home can make a difference in how a buyer values it and the price a seller might get for it, according to the National Association of Realtors 2015 Profile of Home Staging.

The home-buying market remained active throughout Tennessee in 2014 and picked up steam as the year came to a close, and several signs point to continued vitality as 2015 unfolds, according to year-to-year data compiled by the Tennessee Association of Realtors (TAR).

On Friday, Jan. 23, Mayor Andy Berke and his staff kicked off day five of their Week of Service by visiting Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Greater Chattanooga. The mayor’s office provided a Jamaican lunch from Mrs. B’s Reggae Café. The mayor’s Week of Service started on Martin Luther King Day and continued throughout the week to encourage Chattanooga residents to serve in their community.

Blue Blazes Trail Hike

Saturday, Jan. 31 

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host a free ranger-guided hike of the Blue Blazes Trail on Moccasin Bend Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9:30 a.m. starting at the Blue Blazes parking area off of Moccasin Bend Road. The two-mile hike will take approximately two hours. “Special Event” signs will be posted along the road to help guide visitors.

If you’re not living on the edge, you’re probably taking up too much room.” This lyric, from a 1998 folk song bearing David Roth’s byline, appears earlier in H. Jackson Brown, Jr.’s 1993 book, “Live and Learn and Pass It On.”

If you read my column last week, then you know we’re finally in our new home! Hopefully, this is the last move we’ll ever have to make. I have to say, this house fits us better than any other one we’ve owned, and there for a while, I’m sure the USPS had a hard time keeping our address changes straight. It seems that way, anyway.

More from May 17, 1973. I had found a newspaper my mom saved from that day, because it was my 16th birthday ... only 42 years ago.

One of the most obvious differences between that issue and one from today is the number and size of advertisements, how many of those ads were for grocery stores, and how few of those grocery stores are no longer around. Like Safeway, which had two full-page ads side-by-side. They were selling six quarts of Cragmont Cola for a dollar and three pounds of tomatoes for a dollar - and that’s back when tomatoes were good.

Saturday, January 30, 1965

“The Civitan Club is the fastest growing civic club in the United States,” Harry Burrell, district governor-elect, told the Appalachian District Council meeting of Civitan International at the opening session at the Hotel Patten. Delegates from 41 clubs were in attendance. International President J. Hall LeBlanc of Alexandria, La., was the principal speaker at the banquet.

Saturday, January 30, 1915

Miss Inez Hyder gave her dancing pupils a Masked Ball last night at Hotel Patten. Their costumes were colorful and interesting. The Grand March was led by Susan Loder and Dorothy Patten. Several new steps in exhibition were given, including the “Tattoo,” the “Castle Waltz,” and the “Triple One-Step.”

Words are the ultimate lubricant. An idea stated in a way that people can understand can greatly improve the chances that those that hear the idea will agree with its premise. Ironically, words also have the ability to mess up even the best situations. We have all been at parties where a misplaced word changed the whole mood of the event. To make things worse, the intended meaning behind your words matters only to the extent that the person you are talking to hears them the same way you intended. 

Still standing near the four-way stop in the community where I live is Versailles Grocery. It’s vacant, with rusting RC signs and a reminder of a day when the news came from a stop at the store rather than a click on a channel. The old store building was in need of repair, and a cousin of mine along with his family members recently gave it a new look for the community’s sake. I stopped by the other Saturday as they were putting on a new back door, walked through the old friend’s interior, and could almost hear the area farmers gathered to feed hungry hay hauling crews and discuss the latest weather conditions.

In the past couple of years, juicing has become all the rage; however, I never really jumped on the bandwagon. Now, since quite a few friends have come through with their juicing efforts and have seen marvelous results, I am ready to bite the bullet.  

Are you “love” smart? You’d better be because Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, and your honey is going to be watching and waiting! Be sure you know all there is to know about this “lovely” day by testing your knowledge – and surprise and maybe even impress your true love!