News - Friday, October 25, 2019

Chattanooga Realtor Matthew Ballard and his wife were driving to Nashville when a friend called. The news was not good.

“Your house is on fire,” the woman said.

They thought she was referring to their home in the city’s Southside community. But that was not the case. Instead, she had passed an old South Willow Street house the Ballards had purchased as an investment and saw it was in flames.

The Tennessee General Sessions Court Judges’ Conference recently presented the Hon. Clarence Shattuck with a lifetime achievement award.

The organization honored the retired Hamilton County judge during its annual conference, held this year in Chattanooga. The plaque reads, “In appreciation and recognition as an outstanding leader and for your exceptional contributions and long-term commitment to the judiciary and the Tennessee General Sessions Court Judges’ Conference.”

Chattanooga attorney Anna Protano-Biggs has joined the second class of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Public Service Academy. Protano-Biggs is the director of the Mental Health Court in Hamilton County.

The TBA’s Public Service Academy is a nonpartisan training fellowship that provides attorneys with the tools to run for local public offices, such as school board, city council and county commission. It takes place over the course of two weekends in the fall, during which fellows hear speakers discuss topics like strategy, campaign finance, work-life balance and more.

Mike Newton is listed in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Newton has practiced law in Chattanooga for 27 years. He is licensed to practice in both Tennessee and Georgia and is board certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Newton has extensive experience in the areas of insurance and personal injury law.

Danny Sample has played keys in the courts of musical royalty. In the 1970s, he shared the stage with Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick on “The Man and Woman Tour.” Later, he opened for saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., and blues legend B.B. King.

How Tennessee’s rural hospitals would fare if the state gets the green light on block-granting some $7.9 billion in federal TennCare matching funds might depend less on the block grant and more on larger trends affecting hospitals – including growth in outpatient surgery and telemedicine.

Tennessee’s 2019-20 budget includes $1.5 million to establish the Center for Rural Health Research at East Tennessee State University. The center will receive $750,000 per year from the state on a recurring basis. Ballad Health, a health care company serving upper East Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, also will provide $15 million to the center over the next 10 years.

The Women’s Council of Realtors Tennessee has honored Chattanooga Realtor Connie Powell-Brewer with its 2019 Presidential Award.

The organization’s president, Memphis Realtor Louis Marshall, chose Powell-Brewer for her “outstanding service and dedication” to the organization.

Homeowners who complete a home improvement project, whether it’s an interior or exterior modification, often find the task was worth the investment and time, a new report from the National Association of Realtors shows.

The 2019 Remodeling Impact Report, an examination of 20 projects, surveyed Realtors, consumers who have taken on home renovation projects and members of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Chilly weather has finally arrived in the Chattanooga area, so you might not be thinking about springtime just yet. But now is the perfect time to make plans for a home purchase in the spring.

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, finding a home can be an exciting, yet daunting experience. Before deciding on a location, finding a Realtor or making an offer, you must line up your finances and become familiar with the various loan options. To help you understand the home buying process, here are a few initial steps to take.

If you’re a Millennial – born between 1981 and 1996 – you’re either in the very early or relatively early stages of your career and, as the old song goes, you’ve got a lot of living to do. Still, it’s not too soon to think about a financial issue you may have overlooked: the need for life insurance.

There once was a lunch spot in Chattanooga that served incredible pork tacos. Housed in a silver Airstream trailer, Petunia’s Silver Jalapeno would close in the winter, making those long, cold months seem like eternity as I waited for it to reopen.

They all gathered in the basement of Copper Cellar in Knoxville to share a good meal and reminisce about old times.

The former Tennessee football players were invited there by Barry Rice, the senior director of broadcasting for Tennessee Athletics.

Tennessee native Andrea Richey is the new director of sales at Read House.

Richey has worked at big brand and independent hotels across the country. She most recently served as the area director of sales and marketing at The Westin Stonebriar Hotel & Golf Club in Frisco, Texas. Before that, she spent two years as the director of sales and marketing at Revival at Mt. Vernon Place in Baltimore.

The American Heart Association will host its annual Heart Walk Saturday, Oct. 26, at AT&T Field. In addition to the walk, activities will include yoga, stretching exercises, hands-only CPR training, children’s activities and the annual T-shirt contest. Register at ChattanoogaHeartWalk.org.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond and Piedmont International University President Dr. Charles Petitt this month signed a memorandum of understanding that creates a partnership between the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the university that will allow HCSO employees to earn a college degree.

Three projects completed in the Chattanooga area are among those being considered in the 2019 Engineering Excellence Awards competition, presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Tennessee. These include:

• Reimagining the Heart of Downtown Cleveland

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera will continue the 2019-20 Chamber Series with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 on Sunday, Nov. 3, 3 p.m., at the Chattanooga State Humanities Theatre.

The concert will also feature Respighi’s “Trittico Botticelliano” and Michael Ippolito’s “Smoke Rings.” The CSO Chorus and director Darrin Hassevoort will join the musicians for Ola Gjeilo’s musical interpretation of Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of the Universal.”