News - Friday, April 15, 2016

Chattanooga attorney Bo Hixson is getting in the spirit of this election year by running for an out-of-state position on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia. Five candidates are vying for the spot; Hixson is the only candidate from Tennessee.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel last week announced two recent additions to the firm’s estate planning and tax group.

Johnson is a certified public accountant who comes to Chambliss from the public accounting firm Elliott Davis Decosimo. Johnson works in the Chambliss estate planning and tax department, assisting clients with tax planning and compliance. She prepares tax filings for individuals, trusts, small businesses, and foundations. Additionally, Johnson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, and Chattanooga Tax Practitioners.

Russell Fowler has been named director of litigation and advocacy of Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET). LAET serves 26 counties and the cities of Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Johnson City.

Fowler also teaches constitutional law as an adjunct in the political science department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). In 2005, fellow UTC faculty named him UTC’s Outstanding Adjunct.

William G. Colvin has been elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Individuals are invited to become members of the Fellows, which is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars, because of the outstanding achievements and high character they have demonstrated in their legal careers.

On April 22, we observe Earth Day. Like many people, you might participate in some activities to help the health of our planet. But you can also do some things to improve your personal investment environment.

In fact, you might want to follow a key environmental theme: reduce, reuse, recycle. How can these elements be applied to investing? Here are some ideas:

This column is about Rudolph, the reindeer with the red nose. Or, rather, the literature via which he was created. I heard that it all started in a department store. Could this be true?

After investigation, I can report that Rudolph indeed was the 1939 brain child of a 34 year-old Montgomery Ward copywriter. 

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) is kicking off the popular spring homebuying season with its annual Open House Weekend April 23 and 24.

Nearly 250 homes will be available for the general public to view. Officially registered homes will be marked with blue and white balloons featuring the GCAR logo.

Only the mortgage world would make an acronym out of an acronym. But that’s been the least confusing thing for Realtors since the new TILA (Truth in Lending Act) / RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) Integrated Disclosure Rule took effect last October. To help agents wade through the rising swell of questions, the Women’s Council of Realtors asked several local professionals in the lending and title industries to speak during its monthly networking luncheon, held April 6 at the Choo Choo Hotel.

While national news and trends tell the broader picture, keep in mind that real estate is local. The Greater Chattanooga market doesn’t always follow the same movements as the national market.

For March, New Listings in the Chattanooga region decreased 1.6 percent to 1,332. Pending Sales were up 22.5 percent to 991. Closed sales were up 7.8 percent to 798. Inventory levels shrank 19.1 percent to 3,599 units.

Rain might have cut the golf tournament portion of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors’ Tee up and Wine Down event at Black Creek Golf Club on Monday short, but it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits for the wine tasting and auctions that followed.

Now that Chattanoogans are finally shaking off the cold, it’s a great time to enjoy the milder spring weather in the comfort and style of a custom outdoor living space. The lines have blurred between indoor and outdoor living areas, and a new deck or patio can provide the perfect gathering place, party spot, or personal retreat.

Imagine this: You wake up on a table in what appears to be a lab. Your left arm and leg are missing, but you don’t know why because you can’t remember who or where you are or what’s happened.

There’s the pretty blonde in a lab coat who keeps calling you Henry, but who’s she? She replaces your missing limbs with prosthetics and then says she’s your wife. You search your memory for some scrap of recognition, but there’s nothing there.

The Humane Educational Society (HES) invites guests to join the organization for the ninth annual Rescues on the Runway, to be held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in the Imperial Ballroom on Saturday, May 7 beginning at 6 p.m. The event boasts a gourmet meal, spirits, a live and silent auction, and a one-of-a-kind runway show.

Saturday, April 16, 1966

Miss Adele Geraghty of Signal Mountain became Queen of Washington’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival Friday night. Miss Geraghty, a sophomore at Univ. of Chattanooga, is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Geraghty. Dr. Geraghty is professor of economics at UC.

Saturday, April 15, 1916

Chattanooga’s celebration of “Baby Week” will open this afternoon at 2:30. There will be 600 babies in automobiles and go-carts accompanied by “Littleton’s Rookies” parading from Fourth St. to 11^th Street on Market. The “Rookies” will be commanded by Col. Cowen Webb, Capt. W.J. Willingham, 1^st Lt. Will Allen Wilkerson, and 2^nd Lt. Ed Herron, Jr., Color Sergeant John Carroll, Buglers Douglas Thatcher, Porter Warner, Floyd Walton, George Beckett, Frank Krug and James Hassell., and Drummer Boys, George Millican and Louie Lane.

Oh, Kellogg’s Fruity Pebbles are the best thing about morning,

Those colorful, enchanting, little specks…

They make my taste buds spring to life without the slightest warning,

“ — down in the Amen Corner where Rae’s Creek intersects the 13th fairway near the tee, then parallels the front edge of the green on the short 12th and finally swirls alongside the 11th green.” – Herbert Warren Wind (Sports Illustrated, 1958)