News - Friday, April 25, 2014

The statewide courtroom interpreter program was ranked sixth in the country by a national agency for work in offering language assistance to those unable to speak and understand English.

The National Center for Access to Justice at the Cordoza School of Law published its “Justice Index,” and found Tennessee to be tied for sixth best in the nation in providing quality language aid to limited English proficient individuals in courts.

When one purchases a company with a legacy of service spanning more than half a century, how does one continue the tradition? By putting together a team up to the task.

Formed in 1953, Walldorf Property Management arose out of the need to provide property management services to customers of the sister brokerage company, Herman Walldorf & Company, established in 1926. For nearly 30 years, the company’s portfolio consisted mainly of Chattanooga houses, duplexes, and other small properties. When George Kangles assumed management of the company in 1982, he streamlined and computerized its operations to allow it to take on larger and more diverse properties.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s office on Monday, introduced one of its K-9s, “Quanto,” in a bulletproof vest.

Robin Scott of inVestinK-9 raised funding for the purchase of bulletproof vests for the K-9 partners of officers with the Chattanooga Police Department.

Work on Chattanooga’s only drive-through gallery, McCallie Walls Mural Project, continues, with artists embellishing the outside of several buildings along the street with eye-catching work.

Here, local artist Ali Kay paints a mural on the side of an EPB building located on McCallie Avenue.

Gwen Tidwell, Hamilton County’s criminal court clerk, was telling a group of first graders about her job when hands started popping up. “Do you know my daddy? He was in your court,” some of the kids asked. Tidwell was heartbroken.

Chattanooga mom Meghan Hughes Petty is helping turn the heartache of losing her baby boy into a global movement to save babies. As quick as taking a photo and posting it to Instagram, and as easy as surfing Facebook for status updates, the new “Count the Kicks!” app encourages pregnant moms to track their baby’s movement in the third trimester.

A home school high school sophomore from Chattanooga, Blake Kosicek, was awarded a full ride scholarship to New York last month to learn first hand about prescription and street drugs abuse, the ramifications for the users, their families, and their communities, and how drug testing is performed from one of the top drug testing facilities in the United States.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has tapped retiring Mohawk Industries executive Bill Kilbride as president-elect to succeed Ron Harr as president and CEO on a schedule to be announced.

According to Howard Levine, chair of the Chamber Board, Harr will continue as CEO for several more months. “We were disappointed that health concerns have made it necessary for Ron to retire early,” Levine said. “He has set a high standard of organizational performance, and I believe Bill is the best person to continue and build on the Chamber’s outstanding track record.”

Amazon’s Chattanooga fulfillment center employees and their families pose with Mayor Andy Berke during “National Drop Everything and Read Day” on April 12 at Washington Hills Youth and Family Development Center. Amazon donated $1,000, providing more than 300 books, to the mayor’s Book Drive. 

It’s often been said that March “comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb”. While some might be able to make a case for the truth of that statement when it comes to our recent meteorological events, the Chattanooga area housing market was a mixed bag, at best.

The world has changed a great deal in the last 20 years in terms of how we stay connected and communicate.It used to be by phone, fax machine, or snail mail!

Now we have to figure out the best method to reach someone. If I pick the wrong method, like sending emails to the Generation I or Y, I probably won’t get a response. This generation prefers text messages or Twitter.

Retirement can be an exciting, active time of your life. But if you’re going to get the full benefits from your retirement years — which could last two, or even three, decades — you’ll need to have a vision for what you want to do.

^“Transcendence” wants to be thoughtful popcorn entertainment about the nature of the relationship between man and technology, but it boils down to one non-techie concept: it’s hard to keep a good man down. Too bad the same was true of the movie’s gawd-awful script.

The Easter Bunny has come and gone for another year. I hope all of you had as wonderful an Easter as my family and I did. There were a lot of us that got together and enjoyed each other’s laughter and orneriness. There were some that live too far away, but they were missed. I suppose we’ll be making a trip soon to visit with them and try to make up for lost time.

I’m sitting here watching one of my favorite game shows, “Wheel Of Fortune,” and wondering how long Pat Sajak has been doing this show. I didn’t know until I looked it up. So, do you know? How much do you know some of the other game shows? Take this quiz and see…

Last summer, one night after we had taken our family walk, my husband let me in on a secret he had been harboring for awhile.

He called me into the bathroom to let me know he had been having chest pain for two, yes two, weeks! I was flabbergasted!

Five Jewish-themed films produced in Poland, France, Israel, and the U.S. will be shown on five consecutive Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. beginning April 30 at the Jewish Cultural Center, located at 5461 North Terrace Road.

These films are suitable for those 16 and older. Individual tickets are $7 per person and includes complimentary popcorn and a soft drink. For additional information, contact Ann Treadwell (423) 493-0270.

^“Dear Judge Vic, Do you believe in hiding messages in a crossword puzzle — like for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and such? Curious.”

“Dear Curious, Believe in it? Heckfire, I’ve seen it happen!” I’ve even done it myself. And will do it again. The question is when. And for whom.

I think I’ve stumbled upon something big. I realize I stumble upon many things both big and small, as I’m terribly clumsy, but this time I mean the term figuratively. I think Keebler may be running a sweat shop.

It’s not important how I came to this revelation. After all, can’t a girl eat an entire sleeve of fudge-striped cookies while watching reality TV? She should be able to, so please withhold judgment.

^“You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there’s no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine.

In case you haven’t noticed, the first quarter of 2014 has come and gone. In fact, we’re almost one-third of the way through the second quarter. Based on that, you should be closing in on the halfway point of accomplishing your goals for the year. If you’re short of that mark, what will you do about getting caught up?

Once again, down at the store, the talk is centered on what kind of winter we are in the grips of, and the vote was tied between Dogwood and Redbud, since both are now in full bloom.

The fact is it’s another cold snap coming down from Canada and a time for building teepees over your early flowering plants as we always do this time of the year.

Construction workers are adding the finishing touches to River Otter Falls, which will officially open on May 2 inside the Tennessee Aquarium’s Cove Forest. This dramatically transformed habitat is the most extensive redesign in the 22-year history of Chattanooga’s top attraction.