News - Friday, May 13, 2016

Thirty years ago, Joe Smith placed a loaded pistol beside him on the seat of his pickup truck and set out for the place where he intended to end his life. A product of a broken home, he was living to use, and using to live, and his addiction had turned him into a miserable man. Smith’s vehicle ran out of gas before he made it, though, and a Good Samaritan intervened and helped him enter a rehabilitation program.

Criminal defense attorney Lee Davis and District Attorney General Neal Pinkston have stood on opposite sides of a courtroom arguing cases ranging from serious felonies to crimes for which the death penalty was considered. Although the process of litigating a matter often pitted the two men against each other, their pursuit of justice gave them common ground. Today, Davis and Pinkston are still seeking the truth, although they find themselves working together for a change.

Husch Blackwell is one of 22 firms nationwide that excel in developing and delivering alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), according to a report from BTI Consulting.

Corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 and other large companies singled out Husch Blackwell – in an unprompted manner – for its successful use of AFAs, including fixed fees and capped fees, according to the report. AFAs are popular with clients because they save money, make budgeting more predictable, and streamline the legal process.

If you have a medical appointment this week, you might want to wish your nurse a happy National Nurses Week. This annual event is designed to celebrate the important role nurses play in health care. Of course, while nurses and doctors can help you in many ways, you can do a lot of good for yourself by adopting healthy living habits, such as eating right, exercising frequently, and so on. But you can also do much to help your financial health.

A wordier version of this column ran in 2008. That would have been shortly after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ran a certain editorial. In which it asserted that to say there are “no ifs, ands or buts” is wrong. The correct phrase, it averred, is “no ifs, ans or buts.” 

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) Affiliate Council held its second annual vendor fair Friday, May 5 at GCAR.

More than 30 affiliate members were on hand to display and talk about their services during the special Cinco de Mayo-themed celebration.

Like Michael Corleone in the “Godfather” films, just when Chris Davis thinks he’s out, the Northwest Georgia Council (NWGC) pulls him back in.

Davis is serving his fourth term as president of the group, which is the branch of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) that serves agents in Catoosa, Dade, and Walker Counties. He is, of course, glad to serve.

This past week, GCAR leadership convened in Washington, D.C., with thousands of Realtors from across the country. The purpose? To meet with your senators and representatives to discuss issues critical to our businesses, our communities, and the consumers we serve.

Architects like to throw out descriptive words when discussing design that might not be used in everyday discourse. Contextualism is one such word. This important concept in design has been pushed to the bottom of the owner’s list of priorities with the advent of plan books that provide a selection of homes from which to choose.

For a year, I looked forward to “Captain America: Civil War” like a drooling Marvel fan boy. Only I’m not a Marvel fan boy. Rather, I had simply loved “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” which used the superhero template as a foundation for a crack political thriller, and I was excited about the return of that film’s co-writers and directors, brothers Joe and Anthony Russo. Essentially, I was anticipating a great movie.

The Hamilton Place Rotary Club is proud to help deliver quality literature to area elementary schools.

Donna Horn, who leads the club’s literacy program, has worked with area school librarians to purchase books from their wish lists. This effort is only possible through the kind donations of the club’s members. 

Help the Chattanooga Football Club kick off its new season by participating in the 2nd Annual Family Fun Run.

The 5K event will take place Saturday, May 21 at 8 a.m. at Finley Stadium.

The proceeds will benefit the Chattanooga Football Club Foundation. The foundation is comprised of two local nonprofits, Chattanooga Sports Ministries and Highland Park Commons, as well as the recently launched health initiative, Operation Get Active.

Last week, a room full of community members joined Mayor Andy Berke as he announced the City of Chattanooga will be investing over $6 million into East Chattanooga through the building of a new Avondale Youth & Family Development (YFD) Center.

Volkswagen Chattanooga has reached an early production milestone with the completion of the first assembled metal test body for the upcoming Midsize SUV.

The production of the first assembled metal test body is an early step toward the full production of the Chattanooga-made Midsize SUV, scheduled to begin production late this year and hit the market in 2017.

The Association for Visual Arts (AVA) is in lockdown mode as it renovates its Frazier Avenue gallery.

Some of the renovations will include a renewed window facade, an expanded and rebuilt front stage area, new exhibit lighting, a ceiling mounted art installation system, and fresh paint.

The Chattery and Society of Work are teaming up for Cinematics, a yearlong movie experience that combines the education of The Chattery and the collaboration of Society of Work to teach and engage Chattanoogans in conversation through the art of film.

Hutton, a Chattanooga-based commercial real estate, development, and construction company, has committed to helping remodel a winning facility for a winning school – Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy.

“The girls will have a functional and attractive gymnasium, a place to hold school-wide events, and a home for their winning sports programs,” said CGLA Executive Director Dr. Elaine Swafford. “It will also provide space to hold health and physical education courses, which we need, as we are outgrowing our present space.”

Saturday, May 14, 1966

Two University of Chattanooga professors, Dr. Wilbur K. Butts, Guerry professor of biology, and Dr. Culver H. Smith, Guerry professor of history, who together have served the university for a total of 69 years, will retire from full-time teaching Sept. 1, President LeRoy A. Martin announced.

Saturday, May 13, 1916

Members of the 1916 graduating class of the Univ. of Chattanooga are William A. Burnett, Bertha Mae Burnett, Mary E. Dickson, Richard O. Farrell, Thomas H. Hunt, Esther Imogene Johnson, Thomas H. McMillan, Mary Thomas Peacock, Lemuel L. Reese, Angus McWhorter, and Edwin C. Woodworth of Chattanooga; Jewell L. Ellington , Texas, Maude E. Lee, Illinois, Raymond Orr, Texas, William H. Patton, N. Carolina, George B. Randall, N. Carolina, and George B. Randall, North Carolina. Commencement will be June 1.

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, laid out in a perfect pattern in a garden, or cut and in a vase, adding a beautiful touch to a room.

In the sixth grade, we were the Crestwood Crickets, a name that didn’t exactly instill fear into the hearts of our opponents. 

I emailed Fred a photo I found of both the sixth grade classes, back in 1969.