News - Friday, February 19, 2016

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel honored the 2015-2016 John C. Stophel Distinguished Students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga during the firm’s annual Stophel Scholars reception on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The reception at the Chambliss Conference Center in Liberty Tower offered the 10 award recipients, including one graduate and nine undergraduate students, the opportunity to meet and engage with members of Chattanooga’s business community.

In light of the potential dangers real estate agents face on a daily basis and the growing number of attacks on Realtors, self-defense has become both a hot topic and a crucial concern. With this in mind, the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) is preparing local agents with a series of interactive self-defense courses tailored to the safety risks specific to the realty community. The first class of the 2016 series was held Friday, Feb. 5.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. – William Arthur Ward

In 1999, past president Lee Akers wanted to initiate the Mentor Program to pair a new attorney who might need help in a particular area of law with an established, experienced attorney. The purpose of the Mentor Program is to help newer lawyers gain insights about the more practical aspects of the practice of law, which they might not have learned in law school. Today, more than ever, we are seeing the need for our Mentor Program. More and more new lawyers have passed the bar and are practicing on their own. The need for mentors is critical because there is so much that is not taught in law school. We have a great group of Mentors ready to assist anyone in need – and most of them are our past presidents of the Association.

The Chattanooga Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge honored Hamilton County Judge Clarence Shattuck with its Distinguished Citizen and Lifetime Achievement Award during its 2015 Awards Ceremony, held Feb. 6 at the Harrison Ruritan Club.

Baker Donelson has been recognized by Southern Business and Development magazine as one of the Best Economic Development Law Firms in Mississippi and Tennessee.

The publication polled the members of tåçpment Roundtable, a group of economic developers, educators, economists, site consultants, and CEOs in the South, to vote on 30 categories in each Southern state. The top three vote recipients in each category were recognized by Southern Business and Development, which featured the results across four issues in an insert entitled “The Best of Economic Development in the American South.”

Scenic City Estate Planning, a division of the Law Offices of David Coates, partnered with Habitat for Humanity and Legal Aid of East Tennessee to offer free estate planning services to every Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area homeowner.

Typically, attorneys receive recognition and are in the spotlight for their hard work and success. But on Monday, Feb. 15, the focus was on Pat Childress, who was honored during a retirement celebration recognizing her nearly 50 years of committed service with the firm.

Gina Brewer has joined RE/MAX Properties as the newest member of its sales team. Brewer brings 11 years of experience in real estate to the office.

Brewer moved to Chattanooga four years ago from Colorado Springs, Colo., to be closer to her family and enjoy the warmer weather. “Moving to Chattanooga allows us to spend more time with our family, plus enjoy the benefits of boating on the lake. We were glad to trade the snow for the water!”

According to the latest data from the Chattanooga Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the number of available homes for sale has gone down over the past three months alone by 662 homes. That’s a decrease of 15.32 percent.

The inventory of homes for sale is the lowest it’s been since the middle of 2005. There’s a 4.8 month supply of inventory of homes for sale, which is down 30.4 percent from January of 2015. People are getting an average of 96 percent of the sales price for their Chattanooga homes. The median sale price of Chattanooga homes is up 5.9 percent from last year, and homes are also selling 36.1 percent faster than one year ago.

Thousands of Tennessee borrowers are eligible for cash payments or loan modifications following a $470 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer HSBC that addresses mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses after Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced the deal last week.

In a few short months, when the Chattanooga winter gives way to a warmer spring, the homebuying market will be heating up, too.

Savvy buyers are already preparing to find that perfect home, locking in low interest rates and doing their homework in advance. If you’re planning to buy in 2016 and don’t know where to begin, these tips will help jumpstart your search.

As an investor, you may be gaining familiarity with the term “market correction.” But what does it mean? And, more importantly, what does it mean to you?

A correction occurs when a key index, such as the S&P 500, declines at least 10 percent from its previous high. A correction, by definition, is short-term in nature and has historically happened fairly regularly – about once a year. However, over the past several years, we’ve experienced fewer corrections, so when we have one now, it seems particularly jarring to investors.

Just when Marvel’s movies were in danger of becoming boring, along comes “Deadpool,” an R-rated film based on one of the company’s many comic book characters. The film might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I can’t imagine anyone calling it dull.

In large families, the size of the table at which you eat your meals is directly proportionate to your level of maturity. When you’re a baby, you’re confined to a high chair because you don’t have the capacity to be tidy. Before long, though, you move on to the small table, an eating surface reserved for kids who are still likely to make a mess, but really are too young to take part in an adult conversation.

Chattanooga has been selected a top retirement destination by Where to Retire, a magazine geared toward helping people with retirement relocation decisions. Chattanooga is profiled in a feature titled “Bicycling Bliss: 8 Pedal-Powered Cities” in the March-April 2016 issue, available now.

When last week’s column ended, I was serving on a jury in a 1985 Pulaski County, Ark., Circuit Court case. At issue was a $400 invoice for a brake job on a used car. In the rarest of rare actions, the judge gave this case to us, the jury, with no instructions. Except to say that the dispute was a contract case. 

Creative Discovery Museum will celebrate the Chinese New Year on Saturday, Feb. 20. The event will feature the Chien Hong Lion Dance Troupe as they present two Lion Dance performances in the Museum Atrium at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The Chien Hong School’s martial arts performing group will also present a martial arts demonstration at 2 p.m. Additional activities will include constructing paper lanterns, learning how to use chopsticks, and a Chinese dumpling tasting.

On Sunday, Feb. 28 from 3-5 p.m., Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church will host a free skin health seminar featuring a certified family nurse practitioner and a registered histotechnologist.

Ooltewah SDA Church is located at 9209 Amos Road. For more information, email ooltewahhealthministries@gmail.com or call (423) 531-6181.

This column was originally published in the Hamilton County Herald on Feb. 20, 2015. 

Fajitas and nachos. These are two of my favorite Mexican dishes, so why not combine them? The recipe below is great at doing just that, and it’s a wonderful dish I’m sure you’ll love. Not only that, it’s a great party dish. Set up a nacho bar, and let guests personalize their nachos. Have fun with this one!

If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself. – Mickey Mantle

I thought it might be time again to see what age I’ll live to by playing the Longevity Game on the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance website. Last time I checked with them I was age 48, which was ten years ago.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the 2016-2017 class of Leadership Chattanooga.

Go to www.chattanoogachamber.com/chamber-information/programs/leadership-chattanooga/leadership-chattanooga-nomination to submit a nomination. Nominations are open until March 4.

Saturday, Feb. 19

The promotion of Gordon P. Street, Jr., to vice president in charge of the oil and gas division of Gordon Street, Inc., was announced Thursday by the company’s board of directors.

Saturday, Feb. 19

Death claimed Mrs. Almara Jane Hale, one of Hamilton County’s oldest native citizens, yesterday at her home near Falling Water. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She married William C. Hale on March 5, 1842.

As I previously mentioned we are preparing to put our home on the market, and I could not be more excited! However, to prepare for the market we are trying to make minimum cost upgrades to tidy up the loose ends around the house.

One way to make a statement in the kitchen that is not only inexpensive but also quite functional is to add a backsplash. I am not quite sure how for the last eleven years, this project has continually slipped thru our fingers, but it has.

Pick up a copy of this week's Hamilton County Herald for a special section of the 2012 Delinquent Tax List for Hamilton County and City of Chattanooga.