News - Friday, October 23, 2015

The Hon. Nicholas W. Whittenburg marked the start of his first 14-year term as a U.S. bankruptcy judge with his installation ceremony, held Friday, Oct. 16 at the Historical U.S. Courthouse on East 11th Street, the home of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee. The courtroom on the third story of the stately building was filled with family members, friends, and colleagues of Judge Whittenburg, who had gathered there to honor him and wish him well.

While speaking with the members of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors last month, Nobu Hata, the National Association of Realtors’ director of digital engagement, lamented the lack of innovative marketing among real estate agents. Everyone is marketing themselves the same way, Hata said, and it’s not working. He could have pointed to Keller Williams Commercial Realtor Heather Edmondson as an example of someone utilizing a unique and effective marketing strategy.

Re-grow the Pumpkin Patch Playground

After 18 years of use, the Pumpkin Patch Playground on Signal Mountain is in need of repair and updating to meet new safety standards. To raise the necessary funds, the playground’s Board will host a Harvest Supper Friday, Oct. 23 from 6-9 p.m. The event will include farm-inspired cuisine, cocktails and wines, live bluegrass, and a silent auction.  It will be held at McCoy Farm, located at 1715 Anderson Pike on Signal Mountain. Tickets are $100 per guest, and can be purchased at www.pumpkinpatchplayground.org. The Pumpkin Patch has been a destination playground since it opened in 1997, thanks to its 40-foot slide, 50-foot zip-lines, Walnut Street Bridge and Chattanooga Choo Choo replicas, the W Road foot path, and the forts, swing sets and balance structures, all housed in the three-acre wooded setting. For more information, email thepumpkinpatchplayground@gmail.com, or visit the Pumpkin Patch Playground Facebook page.

The Chattanooga office of Miller & Martin recently welcomed the addition of Megan Welton and Matthew Bryson.

Welton has joined the firm as an associate in the Labor & Employment department, focusing on matters involving civil rights claims, including those alleging harassment and discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour violation, breach of contract, and actions brought under other employment related state statutes. Prior to joining Miller & Martin, she held several legal internships and externships throughout the state of Tennessee.

Attorney Mike St. Charles, managing shareholder at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, has been appointed to the Chattanooga Chamber Foundation Board. St. Charles said he hopes to provide the foundation with insight into its strategic plans from a business and community perspective.

The only judge from East Tennessee to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Edward T. Sanford of Knoxville, will be honored at a symposium at the East Tennessee History Center on Thursday, Oct. 29.

The U.S. District Court Historical Society and the East Tennessee Historical Society are sponsoring the event.

In just a few days, witches, zombies and vampires will be converging on your house, asking for candy. As is the case every Halloween, you’ll likely be merely amused over the sight of these costumed characters. But in other areas of life, such as the investment world, you may need to watch out for some seemingly scary entities. Here are a few of them:

The Supreme Court has set aside the decision of a Hamilton County trial court that had ruled a state law putting a cap on certain personal injury damages to be unconstitutional.

The case is a negligence lawsuit by Donald and Beverly Clark against several divisions of AT&T and one of its employees. The couple is suing for more than $25 million in damages as a result of an automobile accident that injured Mr. Clark. In the suit, the couple also sought a ruling on the constitutionality of the state law that caps non-economic damages at $750,000 for certain personal injury cases. Non-economic damages apply in situations where there is pain and suffering, physical impairment, disfigurement, or other similar circumstances.

The law firm of Baker Donelson has been named one of Fortune’s 100 Best Workplaces for Women.

Baker Donelson is ranked 66th and is one of only two law firms to be included in the list, which was determined by employee surveys and the representation of women within their organizations.

Two Realtors are the latest of several new hires for Ooltewah-based Signature Brokers: Ali Winslett and Chris Limbaugh.

Winslett will be working with her mother, Belinda Winslett, on The Winslett Team. She will focus on a variety of clients, including first-time homebuyers and buyers relocating to the area. She will specifically be working with clients in North Chattanooga, Downtown Chattanooga, Hixson, and Soddy Daisy.

Millennials, those aged 18 to 34, are looking for a career that allows them to be independent, flexible, and entrepreneurial, according to a recent study from Bentley University. A career in real estate meets all of these specifications, and also offers a laundry list of advantages and benefits that make it the perfect occupation for young professionals.

You might be wondering how to save money on your energy bills this year. Conducting a do-it-yourself home energy audit is a fast, relatively simple way to assess how much energy your home consumes and determine what you can do to make your home more energy efficient.

The Chattanooga Police Department is looking for applicants for its Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) System program. The R.A.D. System is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques for women. It is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction, and avoidance, and then progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training.

The Granfalloon is the Southside’s newest mixed use and multipurpose space. Located at 400 E. Main St., the space is available for public and private events, and will reopen for breakfast and lunch in December.

The approximately 3,000 square foot space is also available for seminars, meetings, and personal training in the smaller Chenille Room. Onsite parking and catering are also on hand.

When I learned Guillermo del Toro was making a large scale, R-rated haunted house movie that would pay homage to the grand dames of the genre (films like “The Shining” and “The Haunting”), the needle on my internal scary movie geek meter jumped. Del Toro is not only an intelligent and skilled storyteller with a talent for subtext and theme (a viewing of “Pan’s Labyrinth” would end all debate to the contrary), he also has a knack for crafting unforgettable imagery. From the moment I learned about “Crimson Peak,” I knew I would love it.

^“Boy that feels good!” I exclaimed this morning.

“What does?”

“My shoulder.” 

I was reaching into the fridge—as I do every morning—to pull out the bottle of milk on the top shelf. The bottle which, about one seventh of the time, is full, an entire gallon’s worth. 

Stepping into The Coin-Op Arcade is like being transported back to the early ‘80s.

The first thing I saw were the old arcade games along the left wall, the screens luring me further in with crude animations of alien invaders, ripped heroes, and ultra-fast cars. A pair of pinball machines drew my gaze to the back wall, where they share a small corner with a change machine.

I still remember the first time I slipped a quarter into the slot of an arcade game. It was 1982, and the game was “Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator.” My mother and I were at a mall to see a rerelease of “Bambi,” and the sing-song electronic sounds of the arcade and the vibrant animations on the array of screens had lured me in like a moth to a flame. The coin made a clunking sound as it slid into the guts of the machine, and then the game played a computerized version of the show’s theme song as a crude voice urged me to “Be the captain of the Starship Enterprise!”

This column was originally published in the Hamilton County Herald on Oct. 28, 2014.

This past weekend, on a sunny Saturday morning, hubby and one of my sons went with me to a pumpkin patch. I wanted to get a few pumpkins to bake with, so I dragged them along.

KM and I were on the Gulf Coast last week for our annual trip with her side of the family to Blue Mountain Beach. While there, I asked all what their pick for scariest movie was.

KM’s brother Bill, from Dallas, began with “Alien” because he said the alien looked like his older brother Dennis.

Saturday, Oct. 23, 1965

Five VietNam dolls sent here by soldiers are undergoing tests by city police to determine whether they contain explosives. Police Sgt. Ed Norman said preliminary investigations revealed no trace of dangerous tampering was found.

Saturday, Oct. 23, 1915

Mr. and Mrs. Elmo Howell will go to Duluth, Minn., to make their home. Mrs. Howell, at present, is the guest of her sister, Mrs. Stephen Doughton.

Miss Virginia Hill, who has been the guest of Mrs. J.S. McLearen, has returned to Hillsdale, Ga.

Here we go again! I had four different projects I needed to complete for people, therefore, I had to con my husband into bringing pallets home and dismantling them with the sawzall. He loves all of my projects and me!

Out of all the projects I was completing this weekend, there was one for my home, and I was very excited about it. I recently came across a picture of wooden pumpkins to use for harvest front porch décor and knew I could easily recreate them.