News - Friday, April 28, 2017

Steve Smith found religion while rolling across a stretch of open Idaho highway on a Ducati Multistrada, his 12-year-old daughter clinging to his back. It was the kind of faith for which every criminal lawyer searches – a belief that the world is a good place in which people sometimes do bad things.

In case anyone’s keeping stats, Senate leadership soundly defeated House leadership this session in the gas tax/tax cut battle.

Whether this is a forerunner to a Republican gubernatorial primary remains to be seen as Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris and House Speaker Beth Harwell weigh decisions. It’s not as if they’d be facing off against each other, though, since businessman Bill Lee and former Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd are definitely in the race and not hurting for money.

It’s the worst part about adopting an animal.

Looking for stall No. 32, in order to meet the young dog who might be joining our family, I had to go past stalls 1 through 31, ignoring the baleful stares of the indignant cats, the plaintive barks of the eager young dogs and, worst, the steady gaze from those animals who had long since lost any expectations of leaving.

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors has hired attorney Christy Gibson as director of commercial services and governmental affairs.

Gibson will serve as staff support to GCAR’s commercial council, keeping its members up-to-date on industry issues – including commercial listing data, MLS rules, advocacy efforts and legislative issues impacting commercial real estate.

Tennessee football coach Butch Jones isn’t big on naming starters and divulging depth charts. Not until he has to.

So it comes as no surprise the Vols enter summer workouts and fall camp with junior Quinten Dormady and redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano still competing for the starting quarterback’s job.

 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” opens with Indiana Jones running away from jungle natives after stealing their idol. Imagine if the scene went like this:

Instead of darting out of the foliage at full speed, Dr. Jones and the natives emerge at a relaxed pace. After bidding his new friends goodbye, the famous archeologist then leaves to return to civilization.

Each industry has its own set of acronyms and abbreviations, and real estate is no exception. This week, let’s take a moment to explore the term “Months’ Supply of Inventory.”

The simplest way to explain the meaning of this term is that at our current rate of home sales, if no new properties came to market, we would be out of inventory in X number of months. This is a constantly moving gauge of the health of a real estate market and one all consumers need to understand.

National New Homes Month, observed every April by area home builders, highlights the far-reaching positive impact of new residential construction on families, businesses and services throughout our Chattanooga-area community.

The one-year estimated local impacts of building 100 single-family homes in a typical metro area include $28.7 million in local income, $3.6 million in taxes and other local government revenue, and 394 local jobs, according to economists at the National Association of Home Builders.

Tax Freedom Day generally falls around this time each year. This is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay off its total tax bill for the year, according to the calculations made by the Tax Foundation.

So you may want to use Tax Freedom Day to think about ways you can liberate yourself from some of the investment-related taxes you may incur.

Tickets are on sale for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area’s annual gala, Raise the Roof. The benefit will be held on Friday, April 28 at the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center. The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception and silent auction followed by dinner, a formal program and a live auction at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets or tables, call (423) 756-0507 or visit www.habichatt.org.