News - Friday, May 2, 2014

Sam Quattrochi simply wanted to work 8 to 5, get his hands dirty, and then go home and read philosophy. He became an attorney instead. However, as a solo practitioner, he still manages to stick fairly close to the hours he was hoping to work.

“I don’t make nearly as much money as I would at a firm, but my schedule is more flexible,” he says.

Eda Walldorf of Green & Lofty in Chattanooga is now a REGREEN Trained Professional. Walldorf is a sustainable designer who has been implementing restorative and new construction practices in Chattanooga since 2012, with an emphasis on energy efficiency.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond (left) and City of Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher (right) say they’re looking forward to working together to combat crime in the city and county.

“We’ll be spending some personal time together to figure out which issues are important to both of us,” Hammond said during a meet-and-greet Tuesday.

To juice or not to juice? There’s really no question, as the benefits of juicing are many. Packed with nutrients, juice can leave a body feeling vibrant and promotes good health.

But for Kelsey Vasileff, juicing is more than a delicious way to ingest her vitamins, it’s her livelihood. As the owner of Southern Sqweeze, a new cold pressed juice and raw food cafe in North Chattanooga, she hopes the people of Scenic City are ready for a juice revolution.

The Partnership for Families, Children and Adults and Bryan College are hosting Jana Orviska of the Duha Crisis Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The visit is part of an eight-year consultation and exchange project with Bryan. Partnership staff has had the opportunity to visit Slovakia and Romania to provide consultation, training, and education to shelters and universities.

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission has released its annual report showing that attorneys in Tennessee have increased dramatically the number of hours of free and reduced-rate legal services to those in need.

The report shows that the number of hours of pro bono service volunteered by attorneys in Tennessee has more than doubled in recent years. Pro bono is a Latin term meaning “for the public good.”

More than 250 local Comcast employees and their families, friends, and community partners volunteered to improve facilities at Orange Grove Center and The Boys and Girls Club of Chattanooga April 16 as part of Comcast’s 13th Comcast Cares Day.

Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company has finalized plans to build a new distribution and sales facility in Hamilton County. As previously reported, the company plans to invest $62 million and create 43 new jobs.

According to Darren Hodges, division vice president for Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the company has purchased the former Olan Mills site located on West Shepherd Road near Highway 153.

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, along with several hundred elected officials, civic leaders, airport tenants, and guests celebrated the completion of the $7.2 million renovation project of the airport terminal.

The renovation included substantial improvements to its main terminal building and further design enhancements to the building’s environmental sustainability.

On April 15, Crabtree Farms broke ground on the Evelyn Davenport Navarre Educational Building, an onsite facility which will house educational programs, events, community meetings, and more.

The project, which is scheduled for completion by this fall, was funded by the Lyndhurst Foundation, the Chrysalis Foundation, the Community Foundation, and private donations.

A “Pick Tennessee” mobile app is now available which can find and then map the way to locally grown farm products, farms and farmers markets.

The free app, downloadable from both iTunes for Apple products and from Google Play for Android devices, is the latest advancement of Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Pick Tennessee Products promotion.

You didn’t see it on your calendar, but Tax Freedom Day fell on April 21 this year. So, why not mark the occasion by beginning to look for ways to become a “tax-smart” investor?

Tax Freedom Day, calculated annually by the Tax Foundation, is the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay this year’s federal, state and local taxes. Of course, Tax Freedom Day is something of a fiction, because most people pay their taxes throughout the year, via their paychecks.

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and believed. - John 20:29

The words of Jesus in the Book of John in the Bible leave no doubt: faith pleases God. But faith is difficult for many people. “I’d believe in God if I could see him,” my dad once told me. And yet to all but a select few, He remains hidden from sight.

Often I am asked, “Where do I start?” in reference to networking.

It’s such a subjective question, and could be answered a hundred different ways depending on who you ask and what their experience has been.

May 5th is Cinco de Mayo, a Spanish holiday celebrating the freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War, and today the date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

So this also makes it a great time to eat guacamole and tamales! And don’t forget the enchiladas.

Recently, my best friend Ashlee and I were out and about and we came across an organic juice bar. Being spontaneous, we decided to go in and see what it was all about. 

Now, I am not going to lie, I am not one of those people that considers themselves a health nut but I do eat plenty of healthy items. Well, this place caters to the health conscious people that I envy.

More and more people are writing their memoirs these days. There are certain “rules to writing” you must know if you plan on doing the same. Take this quiz and see how effectively you can write.

1. Good writers know that all writing can be improved upon after the first draft. What’s the most important aspect of revision? Re-examining your ideas; reviewing capitalization; looking for subject-verb agreement; checking grammar usage.

KM and I watched a couple of movies last weekend. Before that, I saw one without her, with our daughter, AA.

It was playing at Rave, which my brother-in-law Bob calls, “Wild.” It was less than wild, however, when we went on Wednesday night to see “Oculus” (Rotten Tomatoes: 72 percent from critics; 54 percent from audiences).

^“You have trigger finger.” 

The words were uttered by my primary care physician. Matter-of-factly, I might add, to use a twice-hyphenated adverb. I was reminded of a crossword clue, something like  “A gunslinger›s may be itchy.” Henceforth I’ll be reminded of “stenosing tenosynovitis” — a disorder marked by locking and/or snapping of a finger’s flexor tendon. And by pain!

Once in college, I sent one of my roommates over the proverbial edge because I didn’t wipe the peanut butter off the knife after I made a sandwich.

At the time, I didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, what’s the big deal about making a sandwich and then throwing the knife into the sink?

A long time ago, on the only day I didn’t feel good enough to go into the office, I watched Oprah Winfrey’s show for the first and last time.

She was interviewing Deepak Chopra, who had just written his first book, “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old.”

The 108th Tennessee General Assembly has adjourned for the year, and I am excited to tell you that in the final days of the session, legislators overwhelmingly approved the “Tennessee Promise.”

Earlier this year, I proposed the Tennessee Promise to encourage more Tennesseans to further their education beyond high school.  The plan promises beginning in 2015, high school graduates can attend a community college or college of applied technology absolutely free of tuition and fees.

As today’s economy becomes a major factor in how all of us plan for tomorrow, I just wonder if any of you have started looking at things you use on a daily basis that you just can’t live without.

Most of us have cut back on some things we consider a luxury, but I don’t know if I’ve really considered cutting out something I consider a necessity.