News - Friday, October 30, 2015

With the United Way’s annual fundraising campaign underway, the United Way of Greater Chattanooga (UWGC) has recruited local volunteers to lead giving among specific groups of professionals. For example, Chattanooga Bar Association Executive Director Lynda Hood and attorney Mike St. Charles of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel are soliciting donations from attorneys in the region. 

Rock Spring’s newest family home neighborhood, Station Pointe, is now under construction.

“Station Pointe is located in scenic Rock Spring, Ga., just a short drive from downtown Chattanooga and all the city has to offer,” says Realtor Nathan Torgerson. “The neighborhood features 41 lots, with six homes currently being built. The homes all offer spacious yards, a front porch and deck, and some have ponds.”

Beautiful skies and perfect autumn weather lured local attorneys to Brown Acres Golf Club on Friday, Oct. 23 for the annual Chattanooga Bar Association Golf Championship. Placing first was the Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel team of Jeff Granillo, Justin Furrow, Hal North, and Mike St. Charles (pictured). Coming in a close second was the team of Fred Clelland, Matt Brown, and Andrew Childress. Third place went to the team of Andrew Hodgson, Chris Collins, and Caleb Holzaepfel. 

The purpose of this column is to discuss problems common to Chattanooga attorneys. To the extent a personal opinion occasionally slips out, such opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Board of Governors of the Chattanooga Bar Association or of the Hamilton County Herald.

Lauren Sherrell, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, has joined the law firm of O’Shaughnessy & Carter in Chattanooga. She will focus her practice on wills, trusts, and estate administration, along with real estate and general business transactions. O’Shaughnessy & Carter is a team of dedicated trial attorneys and advocates representing clients in general civil litigation and criminal defense throughout Tennessee. Sherrell previously assisted attorney Vance Fry with his estate practice.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed judges, attorneys, and others with ties to the criminal justice system in the state to the Indigent Representation Task Force. The group will review practices regarding how attorneys are compensated for work with defendants who are unable to afford legal counsel. Judge Barry A. Steelman, criminal court judge, 11th Judicial District, is among those the court appointed.

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. If you’re considering adoption, you know that it will change your life in many ways. And you’ll need to prepare for many of these changes – including the financial ones, because adoption can be expensive.

A baby boy isn’t sure what to make of the help at the First Choice Title booth at the annual GCAR Fall Festival. The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors’ Affiliate Council held its yearly shindig Tuesday, Oct. 20. Dozens of costumed and plain clothed festival goers showed up to enjoy free games, rides, and activities, as well as complimentary hamburgers and hotdogs. 

The temperatures are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. In Fall and Winter, Mother Nature has a way of doing a number on our well-being, often triggering the blahs and sparking the sniffles. The National Association of Realtors pulled together these ideas to turn your home into a comfy haven.

Let’s talk about downspouts for a moment. They’re a necessity if your house has gutters. The water needs to be directed to the ground and away from the perimeter of the structure.

Too often, they are an afterthought in the design of a home, and as such can become an ugly feature that sticks out like a sore thumb. My approach is to incorporate them as a feature that adorns a home. Make them integral with the style of architecture and they disappear into the building-scape.

Your home might be the biggest investment you’ll ever make. Taking good care of it with regular maintenance is necessary to maintain its value and ensure it will provide a comfortable, safe shelter for you and your family for a long time. Here’s a brief home maintenance quiz that will test your maintenance knowledge. While this quiz doesn’t address every home maintenance project, it does provide helpful tips and reminders for chores you may have overlooked:

The concept known as rule of law helps people sleep at night. Yet if the storyline of “Sicario” is even a shadow of the truth, the world at large doesn’t operate under rule of law. Rather, it’s evil, and at times, good must not only allow iniquity to do its work but crawl into bed with it – so those of us who live under the illusion of rule of law can sleep at night.

It was dark, as night tends to be, but it wasn’t stormy as I stood beside the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sign on McCallie Avenue. In fact, there was barely a cloud in the sky, and a half moon hung in the blackness like a decayed apple. There wasn’t even a chill in the air, or a breeze stirring dry leaves. Nonetheless, I was hoping something – anything – would happen over the next 90 minutes that would make goose bumps crawl up my arms.

Chattanooga Presents is partnering with Volkswagen Chattanooga for the second time to offer Chattanooga’s outdoor holiday ice skating rink, Ice on the Landing. The ice rink will be located under the open sky near Ross’s Landing on the Chattanooga Green. People of all ages will be able to enjoy this winter activity from Friday, Nov. 20 through Monday, Jan. 18.

United Way of Greater Chattanooga unites people and resources to build a stronger and healthier community. We do that by focusing on three areas we feel both address the core root of problems and advance the common good in this community: education, stability, and supporting the most vulnerable. By focusing on these three areas, we help people create the building blocks they need for better lives here in our neighborhoods.

Collegedale-based McKee Foods expands with an investment of $102 million creating about 50 new jobs over the next five years.

“We’re thrilled to be increasing our production capacity and supporting the community we love through new jobs and investment in the local economy,” said Mike McKee, president and CEO of McKee Foods.

For a couple more months the I Swear Crossword and this column will have something in common. Starting Jan. 1, 2016, the connection between the two will be lost.

The good news is that both will still be around, thanks to the dozens, maybe one dozen, of you who expressed your sentiments on that topic. I’m much appreciative for the votes of confidence.

Hamilton Place will kick off the holiday season Saturday, Nov. 7 with a 5K race and the 17th Annual Santa Arrival Parade.

The Reindeer Dash will begin at 8 a.m. at Academy Sports + Outdoors and wind through the 200-acre shopping complex. The event will precede the annual Santa Arrival parade, slated to begin at 11 a.m. along the perimeter of the mall.

On Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Hunter Museum will host a local makers showcase featuring handcrafted items by 423 Soaps, Bear Paw Jewelry, Dreamweaver Creations, EE Iron­works, and Jewelry by Christina.

The UTC Music Department will open the 2015-16 season of its Faculty Concert series with clarinet faculty Nikolasa Tejero in recital with pianist Tim Hinck.

They will perform Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Roland Hayes Concert Hall, located in the UTC Fine Arts Center (752 Vine Street).

Spectrum, Hunter Museum’s annual art auction and gala, is just around the corner. The festivities will begin with a silent auction on Thursday, Nov. 12 that will feature over 50 works by artists from across the southeast.

Guests will have the opportunity to bid on works while enjoying cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres. Then the gala and live art auction will be held Saturday, Nov. 14.

I love using my slow cooker. I love the ease of putting a few things in it, turning it on, and forgetting about it. At least, forgotten until a mouth-watering aroma starts drifting through the house.

I purchased my first All Clad, seven-quart, programmable slow cooker several years ago. Seven quarts can hold just about anything I want to cook. I guess one of the things I like the most about it is that I can place the insert directly on the stovetop and sear or partially cook whatever I’m preparing, and then just pop it into the cooker to finish cooking. This is great for searing roasts.

We drove to Destin last month in an unfamiliar car. A Nissan Altima. I had picked it up at Enterprise, not far from the Memphis Airport, on a gloomy Friday evening. But the mood was good, as it always is the day before we begin a week at the beach.

Saturday, Oct. 30, 1965

The Tennessee Mental Health Department is preparing for construction of the 48-bed in-patient facility for mentally ill children and the present schedule calls for awarding contract for construction next Spring. The unit is to be added to the Moccasin Bend Psychiatric Hospital here.

Saturday, Oct. 30, 1915

Chattanooga society motored to Fort Oglethorpe to attend the Fall Horseshow presented by the Eleventh Cavalry. There will be a keen contest for the many Cups offered. The famous 11^th Cavalry Band will be on hand for the event. Lieut. Blunt is chairman for the Show.

With Oct. 31 quickly approaching, most kids are anxiously waiting to carve pumpkins, go trick-or-treating, attend fall festivals, and show off their costumes at Halloween parties.

I remember being a kid and being so excited to get home and go through all of my candy to see what loot I had brought home, just to be disappointed by my parents yelling for us to not touch it until they could look thru all of it. It would be so aggravating to have to wait on them, and I am sure they took their time intentionally. Now, I do the same thing to my children.