News - Friday, November 1, 2013

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, SETLAW (Southeast Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women) on Thursday, October 24 during an evening reception at Lindsay Hall recognized community leaders for their contributions to the cause.

County Mayor Jim Coppinger and Judge Christie Sell recognized 19 local leaders in domestic violence awareness.

The numbers feel like a punch in the gut: Three women a day in the U.S. die as a result of domestic violence, and in 2013, half of the aggravated assault calls the Chattanooga Police Department has received have been related to domestic violence.

And those were just the incidents victims reported.

In an attempt to come up with something to write about this week, I asked one of the lawyers in my firm what made him mad.  He immediately told me he didn’t like when he was returning a call from someone and, instead of the normal ring, he had to listen to a song he’d never heard.  I told him I agreed, but then I followed up with a few questions.

Stuart Tomas stopped by the Levison Towers this week while he was in the area promoting his book “Getting To No, The Art Of Passive Aggression.” At least he said he was in the area promoting his book. I think he was just here trying to scam some World Series tickets.

 First place: Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison: Scott McDearman., Mark Litchford, Harry Cash, and Steve Dobson, 

 Second place: Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel:  Jeffrey Maddux, Jeff Granillo, Bart Quinn, Hal North.

He’s got a real long beard that’s white as snow

He’s got icicle fingers and popsicle toes…

Winter is slowly making its way south. Most of us Southerners like a bit of cold and a few inches of snow. Especially our kids – a “few” inches of snow means a day home from school.

The Pronoun Showdown continues. I started it some weeks back, asking which of two football coaches was correct, the one who said “between me and him” or the one who said: “between he and I?” 

Lee, from the English Language Center at Vanderbilt University, writes that “Between, being a preposition, requires the objective form of pronoun. Thus, ‘between him and me’ is correct.”

There are times when I think Chattanooga has enough restaurants. And then I find myself staring at a Steinbeck, and I realize a city can never have too many great places to eat.

I’m getting ahead of myself. I hope you’ll forgive me. Since taking my first bite of the Steinbeck, one of the many delicious burgers served at Universal Joint, I’ve thought of little else.

In trying to remember, as a tribute to All Hallows Eve, the first horror flick I remember really scaring the bejesus out of me, it’s difficult. The old Park Theater used to be where Crye-Leike now sits, on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Park Hill. It was there that I saw “Count Yorga, Vampire. I remember there was an attractive undead lady eating a cat. Images like that tend to stay with you awhile.

This past week, some of us from work traveled to New Orleans for a conference. New Orleans, even though it has gone through a major overhaul due to Katrina, is still New Orleans! It’s full of unexpected excitement, frivolity, color, and tons of little shops, both in and out-of-doors, in which to stroll.

Many Realtors will say they’re a “people person.” But what does that mean? That an agent likes working with clients? That a Realtor enjoys the company of other human beings? Or that an agent goes a step farther and becomes involved in the lives of his or her clients?

Wile E. Coyote better watch out, as there are some new animals at the Chattanooga Zoo ready to give him a run for his money. Recently, the Deserts portion of the new Deserts and Forests exhibit at the Chattanooga Zoo acquired two new tenants: a pair of brother and sister Roadrunners.

I have just returned from a business trip in New Orleans, La. I have been there on only one other occasion, which was also a business trip. However, since I was there with some of my family, I did more sightseeing and picture-taking. These two things allowed me to learn and see much more of New Orleans – other than Café Dumont and their beignets!

On this day that I write this column, I finally have reached the age of Medicare signup. I have too much invested already in health insurance at the private level to not take advantage of getting on the list for some rocking chair care after all these years of paying Uncle Sam to look after a chunk of money he took out of my paychecks to reach this special time in my life. Plus, the thought of cashing in on my life insurance is not just what I have in mind at this time. My body has been overhauled by removing my gall bladder a few years back, I’ve had my sinuses reamed out by surgery that I would not wish on my worst enemy, and this year, I lost a kidney, as well as a foot and a half of colon. I guess after all the bodywork I’ve had, the government is getting the better part of the deal.

As a fan of the movie “Blade Runner,” I’ve read extensively about the making of the classic sci-fi film. In one of the most intriguing stories about its creation, director Ridley Scott says after watching the final cut of the original theatrical release, “That was fantastic. I wonder what it all means.”

Bank and get in for free. A delicious local dinner will be offered starting at 5:30 p.m. Cornbread from 212 Market Restaurant, chili, burgers with local meat from Link 41, barbeque sandwiches on Niedlov’s buns, mashed sweet potatoes, collards and coleslaw with Crabtree Farms’ veggies will please vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

What was going on in Chattanooga in 1963?

Saturday, November 2

The 1963 United Fund Campaign reported $1,309,383 total pledges at the Victory Luncheon at the Read House Friday. All five group chairmen were over quota, reaching 101.2 percent of the goal of $1,280,716 set for the campaign.