News - Friday, March 2, 2012

A verdict on behalf of the plaintiff or the defendant depended on the arguments of some of Chattanooga’s brightest and most promising young minds on February 22 in the finals of the Hamilton County division of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Mock Trial Tournament. In this year’s case, an insurance company asks a jury to relieve it of the obligation to pay the claim of a blue jeans manufacturer whose plant burned down under dubious circumstances. Suspicious behavior, illicit relationships and expert testimony all figure in to the trial. CSTHEA-Green (Homeschool) successfully argued its position against Signal Mountain High School-A, while McCallie-1 secured the verdict in its contest against Ooltewah High School-Red. Eighteen Hamilton County teams competed to reach the finals, which took place at the Hamilton County General Sessions Court building; the winners will move on to the state competition in Nashville in March. Pictured: Abigail Till of CSTEHA addresses the jury as Criminal Court Judge Don W. Poole looks on.(Photograph by Sue Hughbanks)

Eric Burnette’s biography on the Burnette, Dobson & Pinchak Web site is notable for two things: One, for how much slimmer Burnette looks now than he does in his photo, and two, for the length of the list under “Areas of Practice.” From “Employment Law” at the top to “Pharmaceutical Products” at the bottom, his bio lists 27 areas of practice.

What was going on in Chattanooga way back in 1962?

Saturday, March 3

T.A. Lupton, Jr., and Geddes Douglas Saturday announced they have purchased from Woods White the Office Equipment Company, located in the James Building.

Organization of a new Chattanooga building supply concern known as A-OK Supply was announced Saturday by Robert L. Wilbanks, president of the wholesale concern.  The company has opened for business at 1086 Duncan Avenue. Other officers of the firm are E.R. Elam, Harry E. Gamble and James J. Williams.

March 2 and 3

First Neighborhood Cup

Chattanooga Sports Ministries will host the Neighborhood Cup, an inter-community youth soccer tournament to be held at the new Highland Park Commons.  The Neighborhood Cup is open to teams of boys and girls between 10 and 13 years of age, with boys and girls playing in separate divisions. Community members can support the Neighborhood Cup by volunteering or becoming a sponsor. For more information, contact CSM at neighborhoodcup@gmail.com or 423-799-0276.  All Neighborhood Cup games are free and open to the public. Games will take place on March 2 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on March 3 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Grocery chain Save-A-Lot opened three new stores in Tennessee in February, including one in Chattanooga, bringing the total number of Save-A-Lot stores in the state to 108. The Chattanooga store, located at 6901 Lee Highway, opened February 28. One day before opening, the workers still had a few “minor” finish touches to put on the facade. Since January 2011 and including these new stores, Save-A-Lot has added six stores in Tennessee, creating 132 new jobs.Each Save-A-Lot store carries an assortment of 1,200 to 1,500 of everyday grocery essentials, including fruits and vegetables, USDA-inspected meats, dairy products, bakery goods, shelf-ready and frozen foods, household goods, pet food, baby, and health and beauty care products. Save-A-Lot stores, which average about 15,000 square feet, feature a wide range of brands, including Save-A-Lot Today, Coburn Farms and Tipton Grove, produced exclusively for Save-A-Lot. (David Laprad)

Chattanooga-based law firm Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel honored the 2011-2012 John C. Stophel Distinguished Students at a reception on February 21 at the Walden Club. The reception offered the seven award recipients, six undergraduates and one graduate student the opportunity to meet members of Chattanooga’s business community.

I don’t like taking depositions, but as a lawyer, they are a necessary evil; like vegetables…and politicians. Unfortunately, with the type of law I practice, depositions are frequent. I’m not sure if it’s because of the types of cases that I handle, because I’m a good lawyer, or because I’m a bad lawyer that I have to take so many depositions. I tell myself (and my family) that it’s because I’m good at what I do. Please don’t burst my bubble – or theirs. They think I’m really important.

I heard an old adage a week or so ago and have been thinking about it ever since. It is the idea that the price of discipline is far lower than the cost of regret. I guess another way to put it might be “handle your business today so you don’t have to clean up the mess tomorrow.” As such sayings go, the lesson is simple and arguably universally true.

The Oscars were Sunday night. It was a weak year for film, in my opinion. And my favorite, 50-50, wasn’t even nominated. From what I saw, there wasn’t one classic line in the bunch. Whatever happened to great dialogue like the following?

During the drive over to Hot Springs the conversation somehow turned into Ronnie Hawkins, the Arkansas-born rockabilly star that was considered bigger than Elvis during his hay day in Canada. Hawkins set up shop on Toronto’s Yonge Street and has been in Canada, for the most part, ever since.

I can’t stop reading “Lio.” Even though it’s the unfunniest funny ever. Today, Lio sees the newspaper boy’s satchel abandoned on the sidewalk. In panel two Lio is visibly shocked, looking at something we can’t see. Panel three shows Lio in the vet’s waiting room with a dragon, whose bloated shape suggests that he’s eaten the newspaper boy.

The difference between a restaurant you visit once in a while and an establishment that draws you back time and again can be as subtle as the difference between the phrases “Good” and “So good.” Let me use the hot dog as an example. Get a dog at a ballpark, movie theater, or a general restaurant, and when you take your first bite, you might nod and say, “That’s good.” But bite into a really good hot dog – one that’s a cut above the rest – and you’ll probably say, “Mmm! That’s SO good!”

Last week began badly for students at a suburban Cleveland, Ohio school when a lone teen gunman walked into a crowded cafeteria before 8 a.m., pulled out a pistol and began firing. Three boys died and two others were injured. The shooter was taken into custody.

A good way to start a new year of doing business is to look back on the previous 12 months, assess the achievements as well as the things one wished had gone better, and then turn around and begin moving forward without looking back again. Realtors who are a part of Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty in Chattanooga and Dayton, Tenn., did just that on February 21 as its owners, Bill and Peggy Pryor, hosted the company’s annual Awards & Recognition program at Niko’s Southside Grill.

Darth Vader and a member of the rebel alliance set aside their differences to watch “Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi” at the 2012 Tri-State Home Show, which took place at the Chattanooga Convention Center February 24-26. The show featured over 450 vendors covering every possible aspect of building, renovating, repairing and tending to a home and lawn, including the “man cave” pictured here.  In addition to a high-performance home theater set-up and plush seating, the testosterone-laden lair featured a pool table from Ankar’s Billiards and Barstools, a vintage “Star Trek” pinball machine, and a sit-down arcade cabinet with 60 classic games. And, yes, the lightsaber under the TV screen does light up.  (David Laprad)

Erika Halter, president and CEO of BankCard Solutions, has an eye for opportunity. In the late ‘90s, her frustration with the electronic transaction processing industry led her to establish BankCard Solutions. More recently, her shock at the amount of money the major players in the daily deal wars are making - and taking out of Chattanooga - prompted her to create a local money-saving enterprise. Like Groupon and Living Social, CLASSeCASH offers subscribers everything from pizza to horseback riding lessons at significantly reduced prices.

This week presents a mishmash of stuff you really don’t need to know – but it is fun finding it out! See how many you can guess correctly. Or maybe you even know some of this?

1. According to Aristotle, what determined whether a baby would be born a boy or a girl? The heads or tails of a coin when tossed; the belief that if it was sunny the day of conception, it will be a girl, if it was raining, it will be a boy; which way the wind was blowing at the time of conception; the belief that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, you’ll have a girl, if he doesn’t gain any, then you’ll have a boy.

Every Sunday evening before our small group Bible study, we eat. Of course we do; we’re Baptists! That’s one of the things we are known to do – eat. We are smart though. We know that God would not want our stomachs growling and our minds wandering on about food when we are supposed to be concentrating on Him, so we take care of the problem before we even start.

While trying to leave the office late one evening, my phone rang at that magical hour where if you answer it the results could mean another hour of problem solving along with a late supper. Hesitating to answer it, but feeling guilty not to, I picked up the receiver and started hearing a story I could not believe was happening in my home state of Tennessee.

I would like to re-do the last two hours of my life. Doing so would not only strike “Wanderlust” from my memory, but also erase my recollection of two terrific actors starring in a production that barely qualifies as a movie. Paul Rudd has a lifetime pass in my book for his performance in “I Love You, Man.” His loveable, sincere, socially awkward shtick produced the biggest laughs in that production. He brings some of that act to “Wanderlust,” only it doesn’t work as well. Actually, there are moments when it’s downright embarrassing, such as when he’s trying to talk dirty to a girl who wants to sleep with him. Rudd obviously improvised those scenes, and they’re painful to watch.

One of the major challenges facing a real estate salesperson is managing leads. Selecting the right lead becomes critical to your success.

The first key step is defining what a lead is to you. I have found from coaching and training real estate agents worldwide that, for even the best of them, the definition is rather broad. Most real estate agents define a lead as a human being who will create condensation on a piece of glass held up to his mouth. In other words, it is anyone breathing.