News - Friday, February 27, 2015

Snow might have shut down much of Chattanooga Wednesday, Feb. 18, but not Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty. Its owners and agents had planned a celebration, and they weren’t going to let Old Man Winter have the last word.

Each year, Pryor Realty’s owners, Bill and Peggy Pryor, honor their agents during an awards lunch. This year’s event took place at the Choo Choo Hotel. The company has two offices, one in Chattanooga and one in Dayton, but only agents from Chattanooga were able to attend, as the inclement weather kept the Dayton agents at home.

By any measure, attorney Justin Faith has hit the sweet spot early in life. This can be illustrated with a simple inventory of the things going well for him.

The 29-year-old’s career is a good place to start. Faith is a third year associate employed at Gearhiser, Peters, Elliot & Cannon, a small and highly respected law firm in Chattanooga. The firm is a good fit for Faith, who’s in the embryonic stages of developing a general civil litigation practice. Rather than being shoehorned into one area of the law and given a narrow set of functions to perform, Faith has already handled every aspect of litigation through several types of cases, including commercial litigation, construction disputes, business matters, employment law, insurance claims, property matters, and appeals. This is more than he imagined doing this early in his career.

A public service of the Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA), the Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) was created in the 1980’s to provide consumers with guidance on selecting and hiring a qualified lawyer who’s conveniently located and handles the consumer’s particular legal matter. Lawyer referral services have been around for more than 50 years, and were created to help middle income people find appropriate legal counsel.

The law firm of Baker Donelson has launched an enhanced parental leave policy that allows for 16 weeks of paid leave as well as intermittent leave for male and female attorneys.

The policy expanded from 12 weeks to 16 weeks the amount of paid leave both male and female full-time and regular part-time attorneys are eligible to take as primary caregivers surrounding the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child under the age of six. The new policy also adds intermittent leave, allowing both primary and non-primary caregiver attorneys to continue to work on an intermittent basis during leave and transition back to full-time practice at their own pace.

The Delta Queen Steamboat Company Tuesday completed the purchase of the Delta Queen from TAC Cruise.

The Delta Queen began service as an overnight passenger vessel in 1927, carrying passengers, cargo, and automobiles between Sacramento, Calif., and San Francisco, Calif. After a brief period of service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, the vessel was sold as war surplus to Captain Tom Greene, owner of the Greene Line Steamers of Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1946 to 2008, the Delta Queen operated as an overnight cruise vessel along many of the prominent river and waterways running through America’s heartland, including the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Arkansas Rivers. Later on, the vessel operated as a dockside hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. from 2009 until 2014.

Leadership Chattanooga will accept nominations for the 2015-16 class through March 6. Submit nominations at www.chattanoogachamber.com.

Leadership Chattanooga prepares promising local professionals for prominent business, cultural, and political roles through a 10-month comprehensive leadership training program including monthly meetings, experiential learning opportunities, and community service projects.

If the Federal Reserve (Fed) raises short-term interest rates this year, as many financial professionals predict, what will it mean to you? As a consumer, you might experience the “ripple” effects if long-term interest rates eventually follow suit, affecting mortgages and other loans. But as an investor, you might quickly feel the impact of a move by the Fed — especially if you own bonds.

Spray-Lock, Inc. recently received the Best of 2015 Technology Award for its newest product, RugLock. RugLock is a permanent spray-on, non-slip rug backing that secures rugs to surfaces including hardwood, hard tiles, and more.

Spray-Lock’s R&D chemist Brent Bergherm conducted more than 50 tests over a six-month period to develop RugLock. The technology was then launched in August 2014.

February comes in like a disease. Often literally, with cold and flu season, but never with good tidings. My writing partner Lisa Henderson last week called it the year’s armpit. I agree with her that it’s an unpleasant body part, but I disagree with her anatomical placement.

Two long-time Girls Inc. of Chattanooga girls, Jasmine Pulliam and Alexis Eaton, are scholarship winners in the 2015 Girls Inc. National Scholars Program. Girls Inc. National Scholars exemplify the Girls Inc. mission of inspiring other girls to achieve academically and serve their communities. This year, Girls Inc. National awarded 31 high school girls across the nation from a record number of applications.

Legislation by Sen. Lee Harris requiring local governments to hold a referendum before they take on “extraordinary” debt could run into opposition from his own City Council and municipal leaders across Tennessee.

In an effort to keep cities and counties from ratcheting up their debt, Harris, a first-term Democrat from Memphis, is sponsoring a bill that would make city councils and county commissions obtain voter approval if they plan to borrow more than 10 percent of their operating revenue for a construction building project. 

Skyfall developer Rick Harris of Big Whiskey Land & Cattle hosted a public meeting Monday to allow members of the Ooltewah community to learn more about the Skyfall neighborhood proposed for the 2600 block Ooltewah Ringgold Road. The event took place at West View Elementary.

It’s already evident that 2015 will be marked by talk of changing mortgage rates and regulations. Rates should stay low, but consumers and finance experts alike believe we’re at or near rate bottoms. Early indications point to more sales, more listings, more new construction, and more excitement.

Shower and vanity components of the residential bathroom are beginning to demand more attention to how they’re installed. Decades earlier little thought was given other than to enclose the bathtub with a curtain, or in some cases sliding glass doors mounted on the tub rim. The vanity was a simple cabinet attached to the wall near the door. Today’s aging population that wishes to remain in their home require a new approach with new ideas. 

If there’s anything weirder than the kinky sex play that goes on in “50 Shades of Grey,” it’s an adult male going to see “50 Shades of Grey” by himself. I could only imagine the assumptions of the young women who were there.

Rick Johnston was celebrating his 68th birthday. His son was afraid it would be his last.

“Happy birthday, dad,” the younger Johnston, Kyle, said.

“Thank you.”

“I’d like to say that to you again next year.”

This past week and weekend have me thinking that the renown, not-so-accurate Punxsutawney Phil of Gobbler’s Knob, Pa., was right – we do have six more weeks of winter. At least it’s looking that way outside today.

As I sit here writing this column, I’m occasionally glancing outside and watching the snow flurrying about. I really don’t mind the snow. What I mind is the ice that’s already covering the ground. There’s about an inch of it covering my patio, making it look like a skating rink. If I were younger, I’d be having all kinds of fun! But I’m not, so I say, “That darn Phil!”

Confidence is always overconfidence. – Robert Byrne

I’m a confident person, for the most part. That includes nearly all aspects of day to day living, not the least of which is my ability to drive on snow and ice – although the snow part is irrelevant to this story.

I am blessed to have as a regular reader one Kathy Young. Kathy keeps the books at Palmer Brothers, a commercial real estate firm in Memphis that turns 103 years old this year. Evidently, she gets a break for a few minutes each week, picks up the Memphis News, and finds herself reading “I Swear.” And it seems that a recent bit of my prose struck a chord with her:

Bessie Smith Heritage Festival

The Bessie Smith Heritage Festival will be held Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. The event will begin Friday at 7 p.m. with an artist talk and reception with Charlotte Riley-Webb, whose exhibit, “Blood Rhythms, Strange Fruit: is on display in the museum. On Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., the Youth Art Experience at the Bessie will allow youth to participate in hands-on art projects as well as learn about various genres of music. The artist talk and youth event are free to the public. Ogya World Music Band will perform Saturday night beginning at 7:30 p.m. Headlining the show will be Toia Jones and her band, LyriQ. Toia, who most recently was on “The Voice 2014,” has done shows with Fantasia, Peggy Scott-Adams, and Bigg Robb, and will soon open for Chaka Khan. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, or by calling (423) 266-8658.

Last week, I wrote about the lone snow storm of the year, and sort of bragged about how well I had prepared and accepted the time that my law office was forced to be closed on Monday. When I wrote it, I truly believed I meant what I was saying. Unfortunately, the feeling was short lived, and about 5 a.m. the next say, I was throwing a bit of a baby fit over the fact that the roads were completely iced over, and there would be no work done again at the James Law Firm. The feeling was made even more intense by the fact I was supposed to be leaving town at noon on Wednesday. That left me only one half day of work before I was scheduled to attend the Mid Winter Meeting of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

There are 78 whale species in the world, but among them all, Humpback Whales are the only ones that sing.

Specifically, the males do the crooning, which occurs primarily during mating season. Researchers are still trying to understand these vocalizations.

The recent winter weather, along with a state of emergency being issued in Tennessee, has sent many of us into a fit of cabin fever that hasn’t been seen around these parts since people used to have cabins as their main abode. I found myself panicking during the ice storm, not over losing power for heat and survival, but losing my only source of visual contact with other people – the television.

My dad still lives in the same house he purchased when I was twelve years old. Although this home is not technically my childhood home, I do consider it that. I love that house; it holds all of my middle school and high school memories and life lessons in the walls (thank goodness walls can’t talk). One of my favorite things about this home is the huge fireplace that sits in the middle of the living room. 

1. Several countries allow men many wives, but in what country is it the other way around? Nepal; Bangladesh; Burma; none of the above, women are not allowed more than one husband anywhere.

2. Which company makes Louisville Slugger Baseball bats? Hillerich and Bradsby; Hawthorn and Barrett; Rawlings; Remington.

Fill in the blanks in the quote using the following words:

goal, those, see, eyes

frightful, take, things, off, obstacles

Saturday, February 27, 1915

A famous Civil War drama is being shown at the Alcazar – “The Warrens of Virginia.” Blanche Sweet plays the leading role of a romantic Southern girl who falls in love with a Northern soldier played by House Peters.

Saturday, February 27, 1965

The little dark blue 1965 auto license renewal tabs for passenger cars, which will go on sale at the County Clerk’s office Monday morning, will cost motorists $14 a set – whether they’re driving Volkswagens, or Cadillacs, or anything in between. Gov. Frank Clement Friday signed into law the bill equalizing auto registration for all passenger cars.