News - Friday, March 6, 2015

Attorney Adam Izell’s office on the 15th floor of the SunTrust Building on Market Street looks like a space in transition.

Indeed, Izell and his partner in law, Jerry Tidwell, have just hired an associate and welcomed retired Judge Jackie Bolton as an “of counsel” attorney, so there are stacks of things where there normally won’t be, and items on desks that will soon be gracing a wall.

When you ask WRCB anchor Jed Mescon to host your awards event, you set yourself up for more than a few laughs. And that’s just what Mescon gave the over 100 agents, brokers, and staff members of Keller Williams Downtown (KWDT) during its raucous 2014 awards lunch, held Wednesday, Feb. 25 at The Mill.

The Chattanooga Bar Association’s annual high school mock trial competition is under way after experiencing delays due to inclement weather, and the Bar needs volunteers for the remaining days. On Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10, the Bar needs 18 volunteers. For the finals on Wednesday, March 11, the Bar needs six volunteers. Each round will start at 6 p.m. and end by 8 p.m. Volunteers need to be in court by 5:30 p.m. If you can volunteer to be a judge or juror, contact CBA Executive Director Lynda Hood at 756-3222 or lhood@chattanoogabar.org. (Photo by David Laprad)

Back in the day, the hemp plant would only confuse you if you chewed it or smoked it. These days however, the confusing nature of marijuana has spread to the political and legal spectrums. In the United States, its popularity, and disputes over its health benefits or detriments, has caused havoc with the governmental structure of our nation.

Last week, when I was stuck at home due to the weather, I spent a lot of time watching random television shows to pass the time. One show I was watching had a segment relating to the Diamond Mine, which is located in the southern part of Arkansas. It is reputed to be the only place diamonds can be found in the continental United States. My children have all been there, but I have no recollection of them ever finding anything of value. I, myself, have never been there, and have little desire to ever go.

The world of today is vastly different from the one that existed in, say, 1974. Innovations such as the Internet, smartphones, tablets, Facebook, Twitter and so on have made our lives more enjoyable, efficient and productive in many ways, and have vastly improved our access to the world’s knowledge. Yet when it comes to one important area of our lives – investing for the future – many of us may actually face more challenges today than we might have in the past.

I was at a urinal in a men’s room at the Chattanooga Convention Center when I saw something strange.

Sticking out from under a stall behind me was a tail. It was thick, gray, and had purple spikes along its length. I could only imagine what was attached to the other end of it. A dragon? An alien? A demon from Hell?

This column was originally published in the Hamilton County Herald on Feb. 28, 2014.

I have been neglecting my email spam folder, so this week, finding myself with a few rare spare moments, I decided to skim through and see if anything important had slipped through, like that gazillionaire Nigerian who has no family or friends.

All the rage these days, when it comes to sweets, is cupcake stores. They are popping up everywhere.

These are cute stores with eye-catching little names that lure you inside to take a look at what’s creating that heavenly aroma. Once inside, that wonderful smell overtakes your senses, and you just have to have one. Or maybe two.

The March lunch meeting of the Chattanooga Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors (WCR) took place Wednesday at the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chattanooga. Participating in the well-attended affair were [L-R]: Kathy Dunn, governor, Tennessee Chapter of the WCR; Sarah Stiner, loan originator, Independent Bank Mortgage, and WCR Super Sponsor (her husband’s business, Couch’s BBQ, donated lunch); Valerie Epstein, majority owner, Milligan Reynolds Guaranty Title Agency, and WCR Super Sponsor; Ed Ellis, U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, guest speaker; and Susan Barnette, Chattanooga WCR president-elect. (Photo by David Laprad)

John 11 offers the apostle’s account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. While it no doubt took divine power to accomplish the miracle, I doubt even the Son of God could bring “The Lazarus Effect” back to life. The new horror film was D.O.A. when it arrived in theaters, and there will be no getting it off the gurney at this point.

As the final cold winds of February made their way across the cedar tree- and ice-covered Tennessee farmland of my Versailles homestead, I made my way to the kitchen table with a cup of coffee to gaze upon some papers once belonging to my mother. The winds outside were knife sharp, but the glow from my fireplace and a scrapbook she once cherished laying before me seemed to make the day much more bearable.

One of the first projects my husband and I tackled together was a pallet bookshelf. We purchased the home before we had even one child, and space was beginning to get cramped with each child.

With every child that came into our lives, we found we also added more furniture. Eventually, the Pier One Kids bookshelf I had purchased on clearance no longer had a home, as other furniture took over its spot. I tried to make it work in our hallway between the kids rooms for a couple of years until I had to face the obvious – it no longer fit.

On the golf course, a 20-foot putt rolls on a green, slows down, collides with the right half of the hole, spins 360 degrees along the rim, and winds up hanging on the front edge of its destination. “Call nine-one-one!” a player says. “You were robbed!”