News - Friday, December 12, 2025

The Novonix Chattanooga facility rises over the Tennessee River like a monument to industrial reinvention. Once a manufacturing center for nuclear steam turbines, the 400,000-square-foot complex is being retooled to produce one of the most sought-after materials in the modern energy economy: synthetic graphite, the critical mineral that forms the anode of every lithium-ion battery.

Most days, Nathan Griffin and his wife, Elspeth Haire, clip leashes onto their two retrievers and step out their backdoor toward the woods. Enterprise South Nature Park – a network of trails and forest that runs along the western edge of their Flagstone subdivision in Ooltewah – begins just beyond their property line.

When you hire a Realtor in the Chattanooga area, you gain more than one professional; you tap into a coordinated network at the local, state and national levels that’s designed to protect consumers, raise standards and keep transactions on track. This week, I want to focus on how you, as a consumer, benefit from the local and state partnership.

The Robinson Team of Keller Williams Realty has set two records in the Chattanooga residential real estate market, surpassing $200 million in closed volume in 2025 and exceeding $2 billion in lifetime sales, according to a release issued Dec. 8. Both totals represent the highest documented sales figures ever recorded in the history of the region’s MLS.

Chattanooga’s residential construction market continued to expand through the first three quarters of 2025 while commercial building activity eased, according to new data from The Market Edge.

The reports, which track building permits for the year through Sept. 30, show Chattanooga’s residential sector posting solid year-over-year gains. Residential permits across the market rose to 2,856 through September, up 16% from 2,459 during the same period in 2024. The annual residential total reached 3,348 last year, continuing a steady climb that began in 2022.

The city of Chattanooga’s Department of Community Development has announced the upcoming retirement of longtime community center manager Evelyn Snorton, who will retire Dec. 31, closing a 33-year.

Originally from Ohio and raised in Clarksville, Snorton moved to Chattanooga in 1990 and joined the city’s community centers after teaching part-time. What began as a practical job choice quickly became a lifelong commitment to service.

Hamilton County recorded more than $741 million in combined property sales and mortgages in November, according to monthly data released by Register of Deeds Marc Gravitt. The report shows $337.1 million in total property sales and $403.9 million in mortgage loan values for the month.

As an investor, you will always need to deal with risk of some kind. How can you manage the risk that accompanies the volatility of the financial markets? The answer depends somewhat on where you are in life.

When you’re starting out

If you’re early in your career, with perhaps four or five decades until you retire, you can likely afford to invest primarily for growth, which also means you’ll be taking on a higher level of risk – because risk and reward are positively correlated. But, given your age, you’ll have time to overcome the market downturns that are both inevitable and a normal part of investing. Still, even at this stage, being over-aggressive can be costly.

Coming off a deflating loss to Vanderbilt to end the regular season, the Tennessee football program was in need of some positive news. The Vols received a boost last week during the start of the early signing period.

Tennessee was able to shift some momentum in its favor by flipping some high-profile recruits from other programs, including four-star athlete Legend Bey (Ohio State) and four-star defensive linemen JJ Finch (Alabama) and Carter Gooden (UCLA).

A small SUV is a great choice if you want a vehicle that is practical, comfortable and versatile enough to handle anything from daily driving to multiday road trips. Available all-wheel drive, good mpg and starting prices in the low $30,000s are other big draws.

Americans are under financial stress as the holidays approach, with 38% saying this is the first year they’re worried about how they’re going to afford gifts this season. What’s more, two-thirds say the holidays have become more financially stressful than joyful.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has hired Jim Knowles as the Volunteers' new defensive coordinator.

Heupel moved quickly after firing coordinator Tim Banks on Monday, and the Volunteers coach said Thursday that hiring Knowles was a priority from the start.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee executed Harold Wayne Nichols by lethal injection Thursday in Nashville for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University.

Nichols, 64, had confessed to killing Pulley as well as raping several other women in the Chattanooga area. Although he expressed remorse at trial, he admitted he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1990.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A grand jury declined for a second time to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, refusing to resurrect a mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk made his first in-person court appearance Thursday as his attorneys push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan and NASCAR chairman Jim France stood side-by-side on the steps of a federal courthouse as if they were old friends following a stunning settlement Thursday of a bruising antitrust case in which the Basketball Hall of Famer was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the top racing series in the United States of being a monopolistic bully.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Hollywood director was convicted Thursday on charges that he scammed Netflix out of $11 million for a show that never materialized, while he instead used the cash for lavish purchases that included several Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari and about $1 million in mattresses and luxury bedding.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon weaponized investors' trust, convincing them that his company's artificially propped up crypto ecosystem was safe before a $40 billion crash wiped out nest eggs and money for charities, college tuition, rent and other bills, victims said at his sentencing hearing Thursday.

RANDOLPH, Minn. (AP) — When Donald Trump promised new tariffs while running for president, Gene Stehly worried that trade disputes would jeopardize his international sales of corn, soybeans and wheat.

A little more than a year later, Stehly said his fears have become a reality, and Trump's latest promise of federal assistance is insufficient to cover American farmers' losses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defiantly defended the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies on Thursday during a House committee hearing, portraying migrants as a major threat faced by the nation that justifies a crackdown that has seen widespread arrests, deportations and a dizzying pace of restrictions on foreigners.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress clashed Thursday over President Donald Trump's use of the National Guard in American cities, with Republicans saying the deployments were needed to fight lawlessness while Democrats called them an extraordinary abuse of military power that violated states' rights.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Steven Stamkos rediscovered his scoring touch with a four-goal outing on Thursday night, and it's no coincidence that the Nashville Predators' trajectory is suddenly pointing up.

After a slow start to the season, Stamkos now has eight goals in his past eight outings, which coincides with the Predators going 6-2 over that stretch following a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge blocked U.S. immigration authorities on Friday from re-detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying she feared they might take him into custody again just hours after she had ordered his release from a detention center.

WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn't quite so merry for American shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Donald Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

NEW YORK (AP) — The holiday season means time with family and new memories, but it can also mean lots of spending — sometimes too much.

From gifts to travel plans to grocery shopping, costs can pile up and become overwhelming, especially in a difficult economic environment. Holiday shopping can bring joy, but it's important to stick to a budget and avoid going into debt, said shopping expert Trae Bodge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the Education Department to add nursing to a list of college programs that are considered "professional," adding to public outcry after nurses were omitted from a new agency definition.

The Trump administration's list of professional programs includes medicine, law and theology but leaves out nursing and some other fields that industry groups had asked to be included. The "professional" label would allow students to borrow larger amounts of federal loans to pursue graduate degrees in those fields.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has stepped up technology in its popular F-150 pickup to combat the ever-evolving techniques car thieves have at their disposal.

It is the latest cat-and-mouse move that the automaker hopes will help customers avoid the costly and frustrating process that occurs when vehicles are swiped and includes a feature that won't allow an engine to start even if a key fob is in the pickup.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a court challenge to Australia's world-first law that bans Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world's most popular social media platforms.

California-based Reddit Inc.'s suit filed in the High Court follows a case filed last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Conservation groups and an Iñupiat-aligned group sued Thursday to overturn the recent approval of an exploratory drilling program in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, saying it was improperly analyzed by the federal government and could harm caribou and important habitat areas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's governing board unanimously approved the reappointment of nearly all of the Fed's 12 regional bank presidents, a group that has come under scrutiny by the Trump administration.

The Fed's board approved the reappointment of 11 of the presidents, with the only exception being the Atlanta Fed, where current president Raphael Bostic is stepping down at the end of the February and a new president hasn't been named.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lululemon Athletica Inc, said Thursday that its CEO Calvin McDonald is stepping down effective Jan. 31 as the athletic wear maker wrestles with a year of disappointing sales.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House — and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany summoned Russia's ambassador Friday following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and election interference, an official said.

The German government has also accused Moscow of perpetrating disinformation campaigns.

"The goal of these Russian cyber and disinformation attacks is clear: It is to divide society, stir up mistrust, provoke rejection, and weaken confidence in democratic institutions," German foreign ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said.

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — Retired Chinese official Li Chuanliang was recuperating from cancer on a Korean resort island when he got an urgent call: Don't return to China, a friend warned. You're now a fugitive.

Days later, a stranger snapped a photo of Li in a cafe. Terrified South Korea would send him back, Li fled, flew to the U.S. on a tourist visa and applied for asylum. But even there — in New York, in California, deep in the Texas desert — the Chinese government continued to hunt him down with the help of surveillance technology.

MIAMI (AP) — The oil tanker was navigating near the coast of Guyana recently when its location transponder showed it starting to zigzag. It was a seemingly improbable maneuver and the latest digital clue that the ship, the Skipper, was trying to obscure its whereabouts and the valuable cargo stored inside its hull: tens of millions of dollars' worth of illicit crude oil.