News - Friday, May 4, 2018

The Tennessee Legislature took steps toward combating opioid abuse and reforming juvenile justice in the 2018 session but fell short of what many lawmakers hoped to achieve, setting the stage for renewed action in 2019 when a new General Assembly will convene.

It wasn’t quite a constitutional crisis, but when Reps. Micah Van Huss and Joe Towns start teaming up, something is amiss.

Van Huss, a Republican from East Tennessee near Johnson City, and Towns, a Democrat from Memphis, are typically like water and oil. But on the final day of the 110th General Assembly, when they felt the Senate slow-walked and spiked their constitutional amendments, they suddenly became bosom buddies, forgetting they were on opposite sides of the argument over Memphis and removal of Confederate monuments.

Baker Donelson has elected 11 new shareholders, including Melanie Walker of the firm’s Chattanooga office.

Walker is a member of the firm’s Global Immigration Group. She dedicates a large portion of her practice to business immigration, which includes counseling international and domestic employers on immigration compliance, strategies for hiring and transferring and retaining foreign national employees.

Attorney Chris Newton of The Newton Firm has been trained as a Tennessee Rule 31 civil mediator. Newton represents local and regional businesses as well as individuals seeking disability and other insurance benefits.

Prior to forming The Newton Firm, Newton worked as an assistant vice president and senior counsel for a Fortune 500 disability insurance company. In that capacity, he was involved in all aspects of disability and other insurance disputes, including hundreds of mediations, settlement conferences and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Graham has secured funding through the Georgia Department of Human Services to create the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit’s first Parental Accountability Court.

The PAC is designed to provide chronic nonpayers of child support access to community resources as an alternative to incarceration. Community resources include volunteer work opportunities, literacy training, job assistance and placement, mental health services, clinical assessments, substance abuse treatment, coaching and mentoring, as well as additional services specific to each community.

Collier Construction is placing $40 million worth of new residential dwellings in the hands of Realtor Gary Crowe and his real estate boutique, Uptown Firm.

Chattanooga’s No. 4 builder develops primarily in the city’s urban areas. Collier’s design approach considers both the physical setting and the lifestyle of potential buyers.

River City Company will offer those who are looking for a new home or interested in urban living a unique way to spend a Sunday afternoon when it hosts Explore Downtown Living Tour, a showcase of living options in 14 downtown apartment and condo developments, on Sunday, June 3, 1-4 p.m.

It’s finally beginning to feel like spring, so it might be time for some spring cleaning – especially if you’re planning to move to a new home. Decluttering makes staging, selling and moving easier and less costly. The Chattanooga region has many resources locals can use.

A proposed rate structure change from the Tennessee Valley Authority is causing uncertainty in Tennessee’s solar business, an industry hit by import duties in 2017 and now facing steel and aluminum tariffs.

Chris Koczaja, president of LightWave Solar in Nashville, says TVA’s proposed rate change will further disrupt the industry and discourage people from making investments in renewable energy.

Here we are at the beginning of the end. After 10 years, we’ve come to the final act of a narrative that has already spanned 17 films. “Avengers: Infinity Wars,” and the “Avengers” sequel that will follow in 2019, have always existed in the distant future, so it’s a little unreal that the first one has arrived.

The producers of the “COPS” television show are coming to Hamilton County to film several episodes for the 2018 season.

Cue Bob Marley’s “Bad Boys.”

“COPS” camera crews will be riding with Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies for several weeks in May and June to capture stories and incident footage for their television series. Potential episodes could air this fall.

Hunter Museum has commissioned a large-scale installation to be completed in early 2019. New York-based sculptor Alyson Shotz was selected through a three-year process helmed by Hunter Museum curators and approved by the museum’s board of trustees. A significant undertaking for the museum, the first major Hunter commission in years will hang in the grand foyer of the museum’s west wing, which overlooks the Tennessee River.

First Tennessee has appointed businessman Matt Hullander and Erlanger President and CEO Kevin Spiegel to its advisory board.

Hullander is the owner of home improvement company Hullco. He also owns Chestnut Holdings and B&M Development, both real estate development companies. In addition, Hullander is a board advisor for Scenic Land Company.

A few generations ago, it was not uncommon for workers to stick with a single job for their whole careers. But for many of us today, frequent job changes are a fact of life: The average employee tenure is just over four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Chattanooga Ballet will present the third act of “The Sleeping Beauty” along with several contemporary works on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6 at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre Mainstage Theatre.

In this new staging created for The Chattanooga Ballet, company artistic director Andrew Parker also included excerpts from other sections of the fairy tale ballet, including the “Garland Waltz” and several of the “Prologue Variations.”

Townsend Atelier will host “Figuring it Out,” an exhibition and sale of figurative works, on Friday, May 4 from 5:30-9 p.m. at The Arts Building, located at 301 E. 11th St. The event is open to the public free of charge. The exhibit features works created by over 25 local artists who have attended Townsend Atelier’s open figure drawing studios. Works available for purchase include paintings, pastels, drawings and sculptures. The exhibit will be on view through May 31.