News - Friday, May 24, 2019

Against all odds, legal online sports betting will soon be available in Tennessee, possibly in time for the SEC Championship football game, the college football national championship game, the Super Bowl and most of the Predators’ and college basketball seasons.

A little bet on a game? What’s the harm? For most people, the worst that will happen is losing a few bucks. For others, the little bet starts them down a slippery slope to problem gambling.

Gambling can tap into the fight-or-flight mechanism that helps people survive a crisis, says Mary-Linden Salter, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug and other Addiction Services. The Nashville nonprofit works to educate people about addiction and advocate for prevention, treatment and recovery services.

People who have placed a bet on traditional sports at a casino, online or with a bookie in the past 12 months:

• 14% of the U.S. population 21 years of age and older, some 32.8 million people in all

• 45% are between the ages of 23 and 34

By David Laprad

ayne Peters has crossed the half-century mark in the practice of law. His colleagues at Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon celebrated the milestone with him during a brisket luncheon Friday, May 17.

Later, he shared some of the strange twists his life has taken.

Registration is open for the third annual Embrace Aging Forum hosted by Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. Award-winning social entrepreneur Marc Freedman is this year’s keynote speaker.

Freedman recently released his latest book, “How to Live Forever,” which examines how people are living longer and the meaning of the years after age 50.

As Diane Burke gazed across the cluster of cubicles at Real Estate Partners Chattanooga East, she realized she had work to do.

The newly appointed managing broker of the Shallowford Road office wanted her agents to be able to collaborate and support each other, but with everyone sequestered in tiny, isolating spaces, the place was as quiet as a church on Monday morning.

Last week members of the Greater Chattanooga Realtors joined more than 10,000 Realtors from across the nation in Washington D.C., to further our work with Congress to advance policy initiatives that strengthen the ability of Americans to buy, invest, own and sell commercial and residential real estate.

Continued economic expansion, rising home sales and an increase in wage growth that’s on par with home price growth are some of the expectations for the second half of 2019, says the National Association of Realtors.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, predicts changing future migration patterns as buyers search for more affordable markets. Inventory in the U.S. has grown for eight straight months on a year-over-year basis, and Yun expects that to continue.

I recently ran into a fellow film buff and his father at a screening of “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.”

“We’ve seen each of these films together,” the dad said to me before the movie began. “It’s a tradition.”

If you want to help pay for your children’s college educations, you might want to consider contributing to a 529 plan. With this plan, your earnings grow federally tax-free, as long as the withdrawals are used for qualified higher education expenses such as tuition and room and board.

Thunder Enterprises has finalized the purchase of Riverton, a 200-acre property along the Tennessee River in north Chattanooga. The owners plan to create home sites with dense lots that will offer residents views of the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain.

Senior U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier on May 15 sentenced James Silas to 30 years followed by five years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute heroin.

Beginning in 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a series of court-authorized wiretaps on a number of telephones belonging to gang members as a component of an investigation into heroin distribution in and around Chattanooga.

The Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association has presented its 2019 Julie Baumgardner Leadership Award to Scottie Goodman Summerlin for her service in education and support of Leadership Chattanooga.

A broadcaster and consultant, Summerlin has sat on the boards of several local Parent teacher Associations and served as communications vice president for the Hamilton County PTA and communications council chair for the Tennessee PTA. She volunteers as a communications consultant for Signal Mountain Middle/High School and the Mountain Education Foundation.

Hamilton County will hold a tax sale auction at www.CivicSource.com beginning Monday, June 3, 8 a.m., and ending Thursday, June 6, 2 p.m.

More than 150 residential, commercial and vacant properties in Hamilton County will be included in the June auction on CivicSource.com.

A popular selling point for electric vehicles is the notion that you never have to stop for gas. Your “gas station” is in your garage – simply plug in your vehicle to charge it overnight.

But what if you live in an apartment? Or park somewhere without a plug? How practical is it to own an electric vehicle if you can’t charge it at home?