News - Friday, December 9, 2022

Christmas gift list circa 2012: Sweater for dad, scarf for mom, socks for junior and a book for little sister. Ho-hum. Christmas gift list circa 2022: Drive an exotic car on a racetrack, learn to fly and become a barbecue pitmaster.

Now you’re talking.

Giving experiences doesn’t just mean a fast car ride or a barbecue class. Some experiences have a more global impact and help others who just need a hand up.

At its most elemental, these experiences involve real-life crises like having enough to eat, clean water to drink and medical care. If you want to donate a charitable experience this holiday season, here are some options.

As you build your holiday gift list this month, you might find yourself pondering a few thorny questions:

“What can I buy a child that won’t involve staring at a video screen?”

“Where can I find a good present for my oh-so-picky spouse?”

The halls might be decked with boughs of holly, the stockings might be hung from the chimney with care and chestnuts might be roasting on an open fire, but holiday prep is not complete until Legal Aid of East Tennessee decorates its annual Pro Bono Christmas Tree.

When Juliet rhetorically asks Romeo, “What’s in a name?” in Shakespeare’s celebrated play, she’s suggesting a name in and of itself has no special meaning.

Realtor Ty Swafford, 39, says he knows better than the Bard. Imbued with his late father’s entrepreneurial spirit, he believes a good name can make a difference in the business world. So when he became an agent, he dropped “Swafford” and called himself “Ty the Real Estate Guy.”

It’s hard to believe but the holidays are officially upon us – whether or not we’re ready for them. As the 2022 president of Greater Chattanooga Realtors, I’m proud of the many ways our Realtors and association have given back to our area.

The Home Builders Association of Greater Chattanooga is a nonprofit trade organization composed of professional builders, developers and others engaged in home building and remodeling.

Also included are representatives for financial institutions, Realtors, suppliers of building materials and specialized tradespersons.

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office has named Collegedale Police Department officer Naaman Mowery the Cumberland Region’s DUI Officer of the Year. Mowery started with the Collegedale police in September 2021 and has made 22 DUI arrests.

“Hamilton County was in the top 10 for DUI arrests in Tennessee last year,” says Collegedale Police Chief Jack Sapp. “I’m proud of Officer Mowery and his commitment to keep intoxicated drivers off our roadways.”

John Stuermer, executive director of the Hamilton County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications District since 2004, will retire Dec. 13.

Current operations director Jeff Carney is serving as acting executive director while the district’s board of directors searches for a permanent replacement.

Tennessee First Lady Maria Lee is featuring the Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga in this year’s 12-days of giving. The club is using the opportunity to highlight its literacy and academic enrichment programs. Pictured from left: Jim Morgan, Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga CEO, Lee, Liz Daum and Milessa Pitmon.

Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence is relocating its high school program to Alton Park ahead of the 2023-24 school year.

The school will host an open house Wednesday, Jan. 11 from 4-6 p.m. The building will also be open for tours Jan. 8, Jan. 25 and Feb. 8, 1-3 p.m.

To achieve your financial security, and that of your family, you will need to create a comprehensive strategy. But for this strategy to succeed, you’ll need to guard it from various challenges – and that means you’ll need to build in different layers of protection.

Most people no longer get a tax deduction when they donate to charity. That shouldn’t keep you from making donations, but you may want to change your approach.

Typically, only taxpayers who itemize deductions can write off charitable contributions. The vast majority of taxpayers instead take the standard deduction, which was nearly doubled by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. (Temporary provisions in pandemic relief legislation allowed taxpayers to deduct $300 of their donations in 2020 and 2021 without itemizing, but those provisions have expired.)

The good news for the Tennessee Titans is they are going to win the AFC South for the third consecutive season.

The bad news – or maybe the more realistic news – for the Titans is that they probably shouldn’t expect much beyond that for this season.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, but this measure is one the Tennessee Titans probably should have made weeks ago. Now, they might not have another choice.

Rookie tight end Chig Okonkwo must be on the field. The numbers speak for themselves.

The Titans – battered and beaten by upper-echelon teams the past two weeks – should get a reprieve of sorts when the Jacksonville Jaguars come calling at Nissan Stadium.

At times, the Jaguars have looked better than their usual also-ran selves. At other times, like Sunday vs. the Lions, they were terrible. Nonetheless, the Titans can’t afford to take any team for granted right now.

There will be a lot of orange at the Orange Bowl this season.

In a color scheme showdown that fits the designation, Tennessee (10-2) will play Clemson (11-2) Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. EST (ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Tennessee is making its first-ever New Year’s Six appearance in the College Football Playoff era and fifth Orange Bowl appearance all-time.

Since its debut for the 2021 model year, the Toyota RAV4 Prime has served as a benchmark for what a small SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain can be. It’s efficient, fast and nearly as practical as a regular RAV4.

But now SUV shoppers have another choice to consider: the Hyundai Tucson PHEV. It too offers improved performance and efficiency over the standard gas-only Tucson.

Order’s up. And there it is, brought to your table and presented with a magnificent flourish. You dig in, only to find that the Entrecôte is overcooked, the coq au vin is too spicy and the magret de canard is too oily. What do you do?

If you’ve read “Your Table is Ready” by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina, you know the answer is complicated.

At first glance, a “buy-now, pay-later” plan’s promise of no interest or upfront fees can seem more appealing than a credit card’s terms. Dividing a transaction into, say, a pay-in-four-installment plan sounds straightforward and manageable.

HOAR Construction donates $5,000 to the First in the Family Scholarship during Chattanooga State’s 29 Days of Thanks & Giving in November. From left: Lane Kintner, HOAR project engineer; Paul Burkholder, project manager; Taylor Johnson, project superintendent; and Will Gaither, project executive. HOAR is building Chattanooga State’s $21.7 million Advanced Manufacturing Building, a 50,000 square foot, two-story workforce training facility scheduled to open in 2024.