News - Friday, December 25, 2020

New Year’s Eve is not a major holiday for everyone, at least in normal times. It will be this year.

It’s a concrete dividing line between a year of unimaginable suffering and sacrifice and a new year of promise. We have every reason to look ahead to 2021 with hope. Health care workers already are getting vaccinated against COVID-19, and indications are they should be available to all by the summer.

After nearly 20 years of practicing law, Sheri Fox finally has a corner office.

She took up residence in the space when Legal Aid of East Tennessee – where she serves as executive director – moved into its new home on the fourth floor of the Krystal Building in downtown Chattanooga in November.

BTI Consulting Group has named Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel attorneys William Aiken and William Pickering 2020 Client Service All-Stars. This annual ranking honors lawyers nominated by corporate counsel of Fortune 1000 companies and other major industry businesses.

As a former counselor, Ronda Ossmann knows the importance of listening to people. The only way she could help her clients, she says, was to pay close attention as they voiced their problems or aspirations.

Ossmann is now employing this same skill as a Realtor. As her buyers discuss what they want in a house, for example, she listens carefully in order to be able to find them a suitable listing.

The 2020 Annual Housing Market Report, set for release in a few weeks, is sure to hold surprising data.

But the numbers won’t be all that shocking for my fellow Realtors and me. We’ve had to deal all year with multiple-offer situations that have certainly kept us – and our clients – up until the wee hours of the morning.

CHI Memorial Foundation is asking the Chattanooga community to support the hospital’s staff by giving to the Healthcare Heroes Care Fund.

The fund will provide financial support for medical staff struggling to provide for their families and equipment to ensure staff safety. It also will subsidize a “recharge room” for health care workers.

BASF Chattanooga recently donated more than $14,000 to several area organizations as part of Giving Tuesday.

The recipients included the Chattanooga Fire Department, the Chattanooga Police Department, the Chattanooga Zoo, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Service, the Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department, Brainerd High School’s STEM program, the Humane Educational Society, McKamey Animal Center, the NAACP, Northside Neighborhood House, the Salvation Army’s Chattanooga area command and the United Way.

Professional dog walking and pet sitting service Fetch! Pet Care has launched franchises in Chattanooga and Cleveland.

Owner Kaitlin Wendel says she’s looking forward to providing a wide range of services for clients’ four-legged family members, including puppy care, private dog walking, pet sitting, overnight care and pet taxi services.

It would be just a temporary precaution.

When the viral pandemic erupted in March, employees of the small insurance firm Thimble fled their Manhattan offices. CEO Jay Bregman planned to call them back soon – as soon as New York was safe again.

Hamilton County Schools superintendent Bryan Johnson is a finalist for 2021 National Superintendent of the Year. The School Superintendents Association named Johnson and three other superintendents across the U.S. as finalists.

The SSA is a professional organization that serves more than 13,000 educational leaders and recognizes the talent as well as vision of public school leaders annually through its National Superintendent of the Year program.

SquareUp Foundation, the charitable arm of SquareOne Holding Company, raised more than $10,000 for Chattanooga Community Kitchen during a monthlong fundraising event at STIR and State of Confusion.

Throughout November, the restaurants allocated a portion of their proceeds to SquareUp Foundation. SquareOne Holding Company recently presented the donation to Chattanooga Community Kitchen.

McKamey Animal Center will modify its operations Jan. 1 in order to continue providing emergency animal services. These changes will primarily affect the center’s animal admissions and veterinary services departments.

Beginning Jan. 1, all shelter-related activities – including intake, adoptions and veterinary appointments – will be by appointment only. McKamey will not be accepting walk-ins or drop-offs.

Many of us probably felt that 2020 lasted a very long time. But now that 2021 is upon us, we can make a fresh start – and one way to do that is to make some new year’s resolutions. Of course, you can make these resolutions for all parts of your life – physical, emotional, intellectual – but have you ever considered some financial resolutions?

We know this much about the Tennessee Titans after 14 games:

The offense is prolific – the best we have ever seen from the club since it moved to Tennessee in 1997. The Titans have scored 30 points or more nine times this season, and scored 40-plus points for the fourth time this season in Sunday’s 46-25 romp against the Detroit Lions.

The Titans head to the proverbial Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field for a rare Sunday Night prime-time game, one circled as a highlight of the season since the 2020 schedule was announced.

In years past, any Titans game that wound up Sunday night was due to flex scheduling by the league. But this appearance is by design, and it will be a big order for the Titans to try and fill against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

Every year Edmunds’ experts put their heads together to determine the very best new vehicles on sale. Spread across eight categories, the Edmunds Top Rated Awards are given to the cars, trucks and SUVs that rank at the top of their class according to Edmunds’ vehicle testing program.