News - Friday, April 27, 2012

Attorney Barret Albritton makes a good first impression. His smile is the kind that breaks down barriers and sets people at ease, and his firm handshake says, “I can take care of your problems.” But his second impression is the one that sticks.

Livability.com has named Chattanooga one of the top 10 U.S. cities for affordable vacations. The national Web site highlights America’s best places to live. Livability.com editors narrowed down a list of 500 cities to destinations offering both value and a variety of attractions and entertainment options that appeal to families and single vacationers. Cities were ranked by the quality and quantity of free activities – both indoors and out – and by the availability of discounts on otherwise pricey attractions. Chattanooga is home to a plethora of nationally ranked tourist attractions, restaurants and shopping. (Photo by David Laprad)

As a member of Tennesseans for Fair and Impartial Courts, attorney Max Bahner believes the current system of appointing appellate court judges preserves the integrity of this state’s judiciary. Conversely, he says handing the positions over to popular elections would create an unsavory partisan environment and open the door to big money manipulation of the courts. Mr. Bahner explains more in this interview with the Hamilton County Herald.

Two proposed constitutional rewrites changing how Tennessee selects Supreme Court and appellate judges have been approved in the state Senate.

Both measures have a long way to go before becoming law, but the competing proposals hint at divisions within the Republican Party, the Legislature and the public at large as to how the state should choose its most powerful judges.

Saturday, April 28

Mrs. Garrison Elder announced Saturday she is planning to retire as president of the Tennessee Federation of Women’s Republican clubs, which she has headed since 1953. Mrs. Elder is known nationally for her work as a Republican leader.

Scenic Bear Trace will serve as the venue of competition in Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place’s annual Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament. The charitable organization has scheduled the event for May 16. Local restaurant Texas Roadhouse will kick off the day with lunch at 11:30 a.m.; the tournament proper will begin at 1 p.m.

The Tennessee Supreme Court this week ruled that a prosecutor’s handwritten note that was not turned over to the defendant before the trial of his case was not admissible as evidence and, therefore, was insufficient to support the defendant’s petition for a new trial.

May 1

Yappy Meower at Blue Plate

The Blue Plate will open for an evening of food and local beverages to support the animals at McKamey Animal Center. The event will include Chattanooga brewed beers and beverages, locally grown food prepared by Blue Plate and a chance to win a door prize. Contributions to McKamey will help change the lives of the hundreds of animals in their care. Time: 5-7 p.m.

As a lawyer, I get approximately one million emails a day. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. I get approximately one half of a million emails a day. I like to think it’s because I’m super important, but that’s not entirely true. Half of them are order confirmations of my online purchases of orthotics and dog treats. (I can only imagine what my home delivery man thinks of me.)

There is one surefire way to get me to try out your new restaurant: put the word “taco” somewhere in the name. So, when Taco Sherpa made its long-awaited debut at Fresh Friday last week, I was there.

Taco Sherpa is the latest in a spate of new mobile restaurants in Chattanooga. Instead of burgers, gourmet sandwiches, or Argentine sausages, Taco Sherpa is serving what it calls “mighty fine Korean eats.”

First choice, I’m guessing, was John Gruden, who likely said, “No thanks, I’ll stay in the studio.” And I suppose when we couldn’t get Saban or Meyer or Belichick; and the Rockne séance failed, we looked west to that well-known Mecca of the gridiron – Utah?????

A teacher’s husband found their pet dog dead and skinned like a deer hanging from their gate. A shop teacher pulled out a nail gun to “eliminate” a trapped raccoon in front of some students, a couple of which apparently were apparently traumatized by the act. The owner of the local hotel located just a couple of blocks from the high school decided to raise the Confederate flag in protest of Barrack Obama upon his election at U.S. President.

Local patients and major sponsors signed well wishes to the winner of the St. Jude Dream Home Tuesday at the St. Jude Dream Home Floor Signing Party. Shaw Floors, the sponsor of this event and new national sponsor for the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, was on hand for the event.

After 16 years of helping homebuyers and sellers with their real estate needs, Chattanooga Realtor Gayla Choate decided it was time to move to Crye-Leike. “After having a career in real estate sales for the last 16 years, I have built a reputation as an agent who focuses on my customer’s needs and have many satisfied clients,” says Choate. “I have grown my business steadily, and am looking forward to growing it even more as I join Crye-Leike.”

The list of housing markets showing measurable improvement expanded slightly to include 101 metropolitan areas in April, including Chattanooga at No. 81, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ First American Improving Markets Index, released this month. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia are now represented by at least one market on the list.

Saturday, April 27

The bodies of two outstanding New Yorkers, Col. Jacob Astor and Isador Strauss, have been found after the Titanic disaster and are on the way to Halifax, where Capt. Richard Roberts of the Astor yacht will pick them up and take them to New York for burial.

"Cabin in the Woods” pays loving homage to every horror film you’ve likely seen, and is unlike any horror film you’ve seen. If you enjoy modern horror classics such as “Hellraiser,” “Evil Dead” and “Friday the 13th,” then you should beat a path to the theater and see it in all of its big screen glory. If you find horror distasteful, reprehensible, or simply too gory, then you should avoid it because things get very, very messy.

I grew up on a family farm that relied heavily on our extended family’s involvement to get the crops in, as well as the usual chores accomplished. My total work ethic was developed by the guidance of my family elders on that acreage. The trait of responsibility taught from those jobs, that in most cases required a lot of perspiration, was an honored trait that might not be accomplished to the same degree in schools of higher learning these days or even back then. During the last few months, I have gone through numerous emotions and feelings pertaining to my experiences on the farm, comparing them to the Department of Labor’s efforts to regulate teenage work in agricultural settings. Just like my family, back in my early days, today’s farm family has high concern for the safety of young people who work in agriculture. But the federal Department of Labor recently has had some broad reaching regulations that are impractical in the real world.

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I should write about from week to week. That is, sometimes I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I should write about. I would place this past week somewhere in the middle. I gave it some thought, but I did not obsess about it.

Have you ever noticed that in comic strips the punch line is often “Check please!”? Someone is at a restaurant, hoping to maintain control over a situation. It spins out of control … “Check please!”

In “Pearls Before Swine,” by Stephan Pastis, it’s uttered so often by the character called Goat that one might argue it’s his tag line. The phrase is common enough to have its own page at tvtropes.org, where it’s called the “usual punch line uttered at the end of any sustained mayhem in a bar or restaurant … by whatever major character either instigated or was caught up in the melee.” It’s sometimes said by a background character who survives the disaster unscathed.”

How much do you know about the world’s oceans? Try this quiz and see how well you do.

1. The Atlantic Ocean covers roughly how much of the Earth’s surface? One quarter; One third; One fifth; One seventh.

2. What does the name Atlantic mean? Sea of Atlas; Sea of Angels; Sea of Atlantis; Sea of salt water.

Spring and summer. My favorite two seasons. I love the many different greens of all the trees and grass, and the many different colors of flowers, whether they are growing wild along a path in the woods, or laid out in a perfect pattern in a garden.

Spring just made a homerun and summer is running up to the plate right at its heels. This has landed us in the throes of the most active season of the year for fun, families and v-a-c-a-tion – we’re gonna have ball!

Unfortunately, along with all the sporting events and family outings during this season come the pesky little critters like mosquitoes, fleas, flies, chiggers, spiders and ticks. However, we don’t have to play victim. There are tons of products that can help, and along with some research and planning before we head for the woods, we can run home bite free!