News - Friday, March 28, 2014

The Chattanooga/Hamilton County Family Justice Center this month held its first public meeting at Stuart Heights Baptist Church. This the first in a series of public meetings to discuss the Family Justice Center’s role in addressing family violence in our community. Following a presentation by Dr. Paul Smith, a panel discussion was held with Judge Gary Starnes, Judge Christie Sell, ADA Ben Boyer, Shawn Johnson of the County Mayor’s office, Sandra Hollett, CEO of the Partnership FCA, and survivors Deana Lane and Kate Murry. Pictured are (L-R) Mary Sneed, Criminal Court Clerk’s Domestic Violence Court Training & Improvements Program, and Juanita “Dr. J” Loundmonclay, Family Justice Center Coordinator.

The Chattanooga Fire Department on Tuesday, March 25, participated in a full-scale exercise with several other emergency response agencies at the Chattanooga Airport. The exercise, which began at 2:30 a.m. to avoid disrupting normal operations at the airport, involved a real plane, which was loaned to the fire department for the training. The department used its recruits in Fire Academy 2014 as mock victims. Emergency personnel triaged the “patients” and transported them by ambulance to another part of the airport. 

Richard D. Faulkner, Jr., shareholder in the Chattanooga office of Baker Donelson, served as a panelist at the 2014 American Health Lawyers Association Long Term Care and the Law Program, which was held Feb. 19-21 in Las Vegas. Faulkner participated in the panel discussion, “Transfers of Distressed Long Term Care Facilities.”

The law firm of Baker Donelson has received a score of 85 in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).  The HRC’s CEI report, released each fall, is a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workplace equality administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Tennessee American Water has concluded its investigation into the gas line eruption which occurred on March 12, 2014, at Browns Ferry Road and Chapel Patten Road, where three Tennessee American Water employees were repairing a damaged fire hydrant. The findings from the investigation show that the gas locates were marked incorrectly.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce last week announced the 2014 Small Business Award recipients during the 2014 Small Business Awards Luncheon at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Office Furniture Warehouse won the award for companies with one to 20 employees, while Southtree was honored in the 21-50 employees category and Chattanooga Allergy Clinic was recognized in the 51-200 employees category. The award for Nonprofit of the Year went to The Trust for Public Land.

Chattanooga State Community College will welcome award-winning author Jill McCorkle as its guest speaker during the annual Writers@Work conference, scheduled for April 14-18. McCorkle is a noted and acclaimed southern writer. With numerous books to her credit, she has the distinction of having published her first two novels on the same day in 1984 at the age of 26. A North Carolina native and resident, McCorkle is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

The Tennessee Appellate Court in FirstBank v. Horizon Capital Partners, LLC, et al., No. E2013-00686-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 3, 2014), confirmed that a borrower, in attempting to avoid liability for a post-foreclosure deficiency owed under the  foreclosed deed of trust, has a high evidentiary threshold to overcome the rebuttable prima facie presumption that the sale price obtained through foreclosure is equal to the fair market value of the property at the time of the sale.

Hamilton County Parks and Recreation will present its seventh annual Family Magic Night on Saturday, April 12 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Chester Frost Park Pavilion. Members of the Chattanooga Magic Club will be there to amuse and astound with tricks, illusions, and sleight of hand. Up close magic along with snacks will begin at 6:30 p.m.; the show will begin at 7:00 p.m. Pre-register by calling 842-6748. Limited to 300. 

If you’re like many travelers, you get a little nervous when your airplane goes through some turbulence. And if you’re like a lot of investors, you may get somewhat jumpy when the financial markets are volatile. Yet flight turbulence probably isn’t as scary as it seems, and the same may be true for market volatility — if you know how to respond. 

Most debates touch a segment or two of society, but the dispute about the existence of God reaches everyone. Whether you’re a devout Christian, a staunch atheist, or land somewhere between the two ends of the faith spectrum, you have an opinion. The movie theater seems like a strange place to make a case for faith, since most of the ticket buyers will be church-goers, but more and more Christian-themed movies are being made.

This week’s cooking column is written by my daughter April Sherrill.

A French Dip is a beef sandwich on a long white French roll that’s dipped in pan juices. American menus often describe the pan juice as “au jus.” Au jus is a French expression that means “with broth,” or “with juice.”

de·code (dikod) v. Convert (a coded message) into intelligible language.

Decoding the food label to actually make sense of what you’re reading could easily be one of the most frustrating parts of eating right.

About a year ago, my blood sugar started to run in the mid 200s. For someone who considers herself to be a healthy person, this did not sit well with me. Although, month after month, my numbers were coming back high, I did nothing about it to change it.

1. People who have elurophobia would not be able to visit my house. Why? They have a fear of golf; a fear of stairs; a fear of cats; a fear of cooking.

2. True or false: The blue whale’s heart is the size of a small car.

3. Hoplophobia is the fear of: Rabies; glass; mercurial medicines; firearms.

KM was reading the paper to me the other day. She does that so I don’t miss anything. She read me that it would cost 40 bucks to get into Riverfest this year. 

“To keep out the Little Hawks?” I asked. 

“I guess,” she replied.

It seems not a week goes by that I don’t hear about a real estate transaction that’s stalled or cancelled over flood insurance woes. Across the country, excessive and uncertain flood insurance rates have left buyers and sellers in a lurch. This state of limbo over flood insurance has slowed the real estate market and affected our country’s economic recovery.

Robin and Darren Morrissey, wife and husband, finished one and one at the 2014 Clinton School Puzzle Festival. That would be first place in crosswords and first place in Sudoku. You might say they ruled on Arkansas Puzzle Day, March 16. Robin is a manager at the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Darren is an engineer. Congratulations to them both!

Last week, I went to Tunica, Miss. I like to think of it as the “Vegas of the South.” I went there to attend a board meeting of the Arkansas Criminal Defense Attorneys and to have a good dinner. I figured I would gamble a little bit while I was there. In the end, I only planned on being there for about 25 hours. I figured I couldn’t get in too much trouble in that short of time.

I rarely tell people I’m a lawyer. It’s not because I’m ashamed of my profession. On the contrary, I’m proud of it, as my law degree proves I’m capable of a three-year commitment, despite what past boyfriends say.

I just don’t like talking about my job. Depending on the situation, there are times I will admit my career choice, but it’s mostly when I want to point out the absurdity of court proceedings in television programs and movies. (Newsflash: The cross examining lawyer actually has to ask questions and not just hurl accusations.)

The only marketing concern a Tennessee farmer had in past years when selling his crop or livestock was the price he’d receive down at the local sale barn or grain elevator. He didn’t concern himself with what was being exported overseas, the need for soybeans in Asia, or even what was being bought on the west and east coasts. His primary concern was what was being paid for his product in his own hometown and at his farm’s gate.