News - Friday, October 24, 2014

Recently, attorney David Noblit of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan took part in four personal injury mediations in four days. As a Rule 31 mediator who’s participated in over 800 mediations since 1985, he was a portrait of poise at the negotiating table. His clients, however, were not.

Realtor Robert Backer doesn’t believe in resting on his laurels. As one of the most successful Coldwell Banker agents in the country, he’s earned at least an extended vacation. But as someone who spent several years in the restaurant business, he’s used to putting his nose to the grindstone and leaving it there.

The “Movie Memphis Belle” will take to the skies over Chattanooga Sunday as part of the Liberty Foundation’s 2014 Salute to Veterans tour.

The World War II plane, which starred in the movie, “Memphis Belle,” arrived at Collegedale Municipal Airport Monday.

Miller & Martin last week announced the formation of a crisis management practice at the firm to serve the needs of businesses and organizations throughout all of its markets, according to Jim Haley, Chairman.

The new practice will involve 13 Miller & Martin attorneys, including Don Aho, Roger Dickson, Crews Townsend and Haley in Chattanooga. They will focus on crisis management from preventative planning to management of actual crises. Miller & Martin member Zac Greene in Chattanooga is the practice group leader.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Poole received the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys Exceptional Service Award for his work with the Chattanooga Violence Reduction Act. U.S. Attorney William C. Killian presented the award plaque, on behalf of the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys (NAFUSA), to Poole at an office ceremony on Oct. 15, 2014.

’Twas many and many a year ago when I acquired a genuine witch’s hat. That Halloween I covered my face with clown-white and donned an old choir robe. I was trying to be the funniest witch imaginable.

Folks will look at me, I thought, and immediately get the joke. From house to house, everyone will admire the creativity and artistry of my costume. Before I could get out the door, though, there came a knock.

Most of the boys of summer have laid down their gloves and surrendered the game to those few still standing as we head toward the colder days of the World Series. Leaves are changing in most American communities, as another year shows its age. Lawyers still walk their dogs, but some of them are wearing jackets. Mums have replaced lilies, grocery stores are selling gourds, not berries, and jack-o-lanterns are on our door steps. Legal counselors are enjoying the last crisp days in their convertibles, and I’m riding my motorcycle as much as I can. Meanwhile, law firms are ramping up collection efforts, during the dwindling days of 2014, and have started assessing what went right and wrong this year.

Whether you have young children or not, you’re probably well aware that Halloween is almost here. However, despite the plethora of skeletons and ghosts you might see floating around this week, you probably don’t have much to fear (except, possibly, running out of candy). But in real life, some things genuinely are frightening — such as “scary” investment moves.

This week, Chattanooga was featured in the launch of Next Century Cities, a bipartisan, city-to-city initiative dedicated to ensuring the availability of next-generation broadband Internet for all communities.

“Right now, there is an excitement over what cities can accomplish, and Next Century Cities can help take that excitement to the next level,” said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke. “From building Innovation Districts and the resurgence of entrepreneurship to supporting growth through infrastructure, the environment, and economic development, cities are developing and implementing innovative solutions that make life better for communities across the country.”

Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger Monday said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the passing of Luther Masingill.

“Luther is a Hamilton County icon, not only for his decades of broadcasting service, but for his community efforts throughout his memorable life. Luther impacted generations of people, not only in Hamilton County, but throughout the region with the announcements of school closings due to snow, returning lost pets to their owners or just bringing joy to us with his various radio and television programs.

A “creed” can be loosely described as a single guiding principal. Do you have a creed? If you think you have one, you should take a piece of paper out, write it down, and then start living by it. You might find that this simple exercise isn’t as easy as you’d think. Having a creed is one thing; living by a creed is quite another.

Every house has a history, but what if the house you’re trying to sell has a history that is a bit more ... ghoulish than most? If you or your community believes a house is haunted, it can make selling a bit more difficult. However, there a several options for someone with a spooky property to sell. Just follow a few simple steps to get the haunted house off your hands.

Steps 2 Hope, a non-profit group based in Chattanooga, has selected Sgt. Jason Smith as the recipient of the home it plans to build in 2015.

Sgt. Smith, a Ringgold High School graduate, was injured while on patrol in Afghanistan on July 25, 2012. Sgt. Smith lost both of his legs in the blast that also caused severe damage to his right arm and hand, moderate damage to his left arm and hand, and severe hearing loss.

When “Fury” was over, I went outside, took a deep breath, and stood motionless in the quiet of the night. I was glad to be out of the theater – away from the bombardment of anti-tank shells, automatic weapons, and inhumanity. I needed the breeze to wash off the stench of what men to do each other in wartime; I needed to remind myself I’d been a passive viewer of the carnage, not an active participant; and I needed to rekindle my faith in mankind.

On a beautiful Tennessee fall afternoon, I pulled into the long gravel driveway of Uncle Sid and Aunt Sadie’s farm. Their white frame house, located among the landscape of the multi-colored hillsides, showed perfectly what autumn on a Tennessee farm is all about. But among the fall foliage next to the drive, I noticed a red, white, and blue yard sign stuck in the ground for everyone to see.

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.

We ended up really enjoying ourselves. The weather was perfect – the fresh morning air was invigorating – and children were running, laughing, and having all kinds of fun. Lunch at one of their favorite restaurants afterward added to the enjoyment!

I was looking for a theme for this week’s column when my daughter Alexis sent me a link to “50 of the Scariest Short Stories of All Time.” Perfect! Just in time for next Friday’s annual friendly fright night.

Alexis, along with her big brother Matt and I, enjoy the macabre; KM, not so much. One time, when we lived up on that Hill known as Fayetteville, Alexis wanted some of her friends to spend the night. It was Kelly, Grace, and Sarah, known better at Root Elementary as “The Kinkerdoos.”

The music department at Covenant College will present Sarah Shafer, soprano, in recital on Thursday, Oct. 30. The concert begins at 7 p.m. in Covenant’s chapel and is free and open to the public.

Shafer recently graduated with degrees in voice and opera from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she performed in more than 20 productions, including “Die Zauberflöte,” “Elegy for Young Lovers,” “Rinaldo,” and “I Capuleti e I Montecchi.”

With the cooler weather setting in and the daylight becoming increasingly shorter, this is a great time to focus on projects inside of the home. Most homes include lovely mirrors that lack flair, to say the least.

Mirrors are one of the easiest ways to upgrade your bathroom. When the budget does not cover a full makeover, this is a great way to spruce up the space without putting a dent in the wallet. 

Mark Twain expert to speak

Friday, Oct. 24

Southern Adventist University’s McKee Library will host a presentation by author Ben Tarnoff on Friday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. The lecture, “Mark Twain and the Bohemians of the Far Western Frontier,” is free and open to the public. Attendees will be entered into a drawing to win signed copies of the speaker’s books. Turnoff has also written for The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle. The lecture is part of the annual celebration by Southern’s Center for the Study of 19th Century America. For more information about the Twain presentation, call (423) 236-2789 or email dbravo@southern.edu. For details about the speaker, visit bentarnoff.com.

Saturday, October 24, 1964

President Johnson stopped in Chattanooga at Lovell Field for a one-hour and seven-minute visit. He spoke for 20 minutes to a crowd estimated at more than 25,000. Senator Albert Gore, Congressman Ross Bass, and Robert Summitt were aboard the President’s Boeing 707 jet, Air Force 1, when it arrived from Memphis.

Saturday, October 24, 1914

Mr. and Mrs. John A. Patten announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their daughter, Charlotte, to Mr. Alexander Guerry. Miss Patten is one of Chattanooga’s most popular young ladies. Mr. Guerry from Charleston, S.C., is the associate principal of Baylor School.

The article, “Everything old is new again,” on page 1 of the Hamilton County Herald, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014, stated that Ms. Valerie Epstein, new owner of Milligan Reynolds, “joins three other attorneys, including … Vicky [sic] Berghel….” 

Pumpkin time is here. Almost every grocery market and garden center have them loaded and stacked and ready to sell. There are also farmer’s with parked trucks full of them, pumpkin patches, and churches and schools selling them. What is your P.I.Q. (Pumpkin Intelligence Quotient)?

Fill in the blanks in the quote using the following words: 

don’t, anything, like, trumpet, put,

 you, if, out, life, something, anything, don’t

“______ is ______ ______ a ______. ______ you ______ ______ ______ in ______ ______ get ______ ______.”