News - Friday, February 2, 2024

Greater Chattanooga Realtors named past presidents Mark Hite and Steven Sharpe as 2023 Realtors of the Year during its Installment & Awards Reception Jan. 25 at Chattanooga Whiskey Event Hall. Hite and Sharpe both died last year.

The association presents its Realtor of the Year Award in recognition of an agent’s contributions to the real estate industry, the local community, and the local and state associations.

Greater Chattanooga Realtors installed its 2024 board of directors during a festive soiree at Chattanooga Whiskey Event Hall Jan. 25.

Twelve Realtors took the oath of office, including President Kadi Brown, President-elect Ellis Gardner, Secretary-Treasurer Mike Purcell and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Chair Jeff Nixon.

The local Queen of Wreaths, Darlene Brown, is the recipient of Greater Chattanooga Realtors’ Good Neighbor Award. The association established the award to honor a Realtor for their exceptional contributions to their community through volunteer work within the year preceding the presentation of the award.

A few years before becoming an attorney, Haley Moody demonstrated her willingness to take on grueling challenges when she competed as a NCAA Division I cross country athlete. While conquering long distances on foot appealed to her, she says, she was more drawn to the test of her personal mettle and her complete reliance on her own skills and fortitude.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has welcomed two new hires – Erin Donahue and Susan Jones – and announced the promotion of Jennifer Ball.

Donahue will serve as the firm’s talent development coordinator, while Jones will support the labor and employment section as a paralegal. In addition, Ball was promoted to a paralegal in the litigation section.

Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell has promoted Matthew Wayne to partner in the Chattanooga office.

Wayne is a native of South Pittsburg and a 2016 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law.

He focuses on various aspects of construction and commercial enterprises, including mechanic’s liens, contractor licensing and payment issues, contracts, and counseling on federal and state compliance in employment and jobsite requirements.

Chief Justice John Roberts recently issued his “2023 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary.” In his report, he discusses ways the federal judiciary has adapted to ever-changing technology and is using modern technology.

Roberts begins his report by stating, “The arrival of new technology can dramatically change work and life for the better.” He then discusses how the rural electrification program dramatically improved lives. He goes on to examine how the legal profession and the judiciary moved from the quill pen to typewriters and then to personal computers.

Girls Preparatory School Head of School Megan Cover arrived in New York City last week to begin a two-week program for independent and international school heads at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Cover joins leaders from South Carolina, New Jersey, Norway, Virginia, Korea, St. Louis, Michigan, India, Egypt, Connecticut, Oregon and South Africa in this prestigious program.

Mayor Tim Kelly, Hamilton County Commissioner Jeff Eversole and City Council member Raquetta Dotley have secured a new deal for the mixed-use stadium in the South Broad District. The revamped agreement for the $120 million project calls for the Chattanooga Lookouts to cover all costs above $112 million.

For some people, Valentine’s Day inspires visions of red roses, boxes of chocolates and romantic dinners. Marked clearly on every calendar, it’s a day for two people to celebrate and express the love they have for each other.

Others will wake up the morning of Feb. 14 and realize with horror, “Today is Valentine’s – and I did nothing to prepare!”

For some people, being single is awesome; for others, it’s not. Feelings of being inadequate or unlovable can creep in and undermine your otherwise confident self.

Whether you’re newly single or have been single for years, there are ways to quiet the negative self-talk and feel empowered by being a party of one.

Hamilton County residents might have been able to enjoy a year without elections in 2023, but Administrator of Elections Scott Allen and his 15-member crew at the county’s Election Commission had anything but a slow 12 months.

After nine years with the controversy-embroiled Dominion voting machines, Hamilton County spent a nearly $2 million grant from the secretary of state on new voting machines from Election Systems & Software.

In this fast-paced world of real estate, technology has become an indispensable ally for Realtors. According to the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor Technology Survey, technology tools are not just a convenience but a vital asset, with Realtors finding them useful in streamlining their business processes and enhancing their services.

In a challenging economic landscape marked by record-high inflation rates, rising interest rates and increasing housing costs, young adults are defying the odds and stepping into the realm of homeownership.

The National Association of Home Builders reports the share of young adults aged 25-34 living with their parents has decreased to 19.1%, reaching a decade low. This shift indicates a positive post-pandemic trend of young adults embracing independent living despite economic challenges.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee of Chattanooga are driving faster into the future of mobility with the recent arrival of the university’s first autonomous vehicle.

The UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress purchased the vehicle from Hexagon | AutonomouStuff and will soon deploy it along the MLK Smart Corridor and other parts of downtown Chattanooga.

If you’re a business owner, you always have a lot to do and a lot to think about. But have you put much thought into how you’ll eventually leave it all behind?

Even if you’re a few years away from that day, it’s a good idea to create an exit strategy. If you’re like most other owners, most of your net worth may well be tied up in your business – so how you exit that business can have a big impact on your finances and your retirement.

Valentine’s Day might put you in the mood to look for love online. Unfortunately, criminals are also on the hunt, but for victims, not romance.

“Meeting people online has opened the door to romance fraud,” says Kim Casci-Palangio, program director of the peer support program at the nonprofit Cybercrime Support Network in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “You feel you can trust them,” she says, adding that cybercriminals often cultivate relationships for months before asking for money.

You were a bit pressed for time last night and you missed the city council meeting.

You figured you were covered, though. You’d read about it in the newspaper – or not. The local paper isn’t as staffed as it once was, nor as thick, maybe not even entirely local. And with these two books, you’ll learn why this is so and how the newspaper industry is adapting.