News - Friday, March 26, 2021

Keller Williams Greater Downtown Realty celebrated another record year during its annual agent awards with $1.3 billion worth of real estate sold.

The hefty number made KW Downtown the most productive brokerage in Keller Williams’ Southeast region, which includes Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama (excluding Memphis and the Gulf Coast).

Stephany Pedigo was looking through old papers recently when she came across an essay she penned in sixth grade. While scanning the youthful prose, she noticed she’d expressed a desire to someday be a lawyer.

“I thought it would be an avenue for righting wrongs and helping people receive justice,” Pedigo, an insurance defense attorney with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell, says.

Over the past months, we have discussed the federal judiciary’s fundamental functions in our American democracy. One of those functions is to articulate and interpret the law.

As stated by Chief Justice John Marshall in the famous Marbury v. Madison decision, “It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret the rule.”

Rise Partners recently added third-party commercial brokerage advisory services to its array of offerings, serving investors, tenants and institutions over a variety of property types in the Southeast U.S.

Wilson McGinness and John Tugman joined the firm to lead the new division.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how homebuyer “love letters” are becoming more common in this low-inventory market. I discouraged using them because they often include the buyer’s demographic information, which the seller could use – knowingly or through unconscious bias – when deciding whether or not to accept or reject an offer. This could lead to an alleged violation of the Fair Housing Act.

With spring’s warmer weather and more daylight, you might be itching to get outdoors. Wondering what you should be doing now in your yard, flowerbeds and outdoor areas? Here’s a handy list to help.

Yard and landscaping

“Do not plant annuals until after April 15, as we always get one more cold snap before then,” warns HBAGC board member and Home and Lawn Care Services owner Marty Hilliard.

Drive or stroll down East Main Street in downtown Chattanooga every few months and you’ll probably spot something new and exciting to eat.

At least that’s my experience. It’s not that restaurants on East Main are always closing and making room for someone else to try their luck, it’s simply a fertile strip of South Chattanooga real estate that consistently attracts new culinary ventures.

You typically don’t get a lot of recognition if you own a small business. So you might be pleased to learn March 29 is National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. You might not necessarily think of your business as a “Mom and Pop” operation, but it certainly contributes to the well-being of your family now, and possibly to that of future generations, too – if you make the right moves.

Many U.S. households retire without enough money to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. Once retired, though, people often reduce their spending enough to make their money last, finds a recent study by David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Morningstar, and Warren Cormier, executive director of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association’s Retirement Research Center.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Delali Gadzekpo has been selected as a 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellow, an honor awarding her a full scholarship to represent UT in a summer study abroad program focused on leadership, intercultural communication and social justice.

The American Cancer Society forecasts 104,270 new cases of colon cancer and 45,230 new cases of rectal cancer in 2021, making it the second most common cause of cancer death in the U.S.

But despite the high mortality rate of the disease, increased screening and greater awareness of preventive changes are driving down the number of annual colorectal cancer diagnoses, says Dr. Samuel Abbas, internal medicine physician with Parkridge Medical Group East Ridge.

Erlanger Health System recently earned four state awards for its work to improve the safety and health of infants:

• The Tennessee Department of Health BEST award for its efforts to decrease infant mortality

• A Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care Milestone Award for its progress in a safe sleep project

The new 2021 GV80 SUV is the latest vehicle from Genesis, a spinoff luxury brand from Hyundai. Packed with premium features and innovative technology, the GV80 is an intriguing rival to established midsize luxury SUVs.

You might have also heard about it because that’s what Tiger Woods was driving when he crashed in Los Angeles last month.