News - Friday, May 9, 2014

U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier isn’t ready to hang up his judicial robe yet, but he does want to spend less time wearing it. To that end, he sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday, May 1 requesting he be granted senior status when he turns 65 in October.

Different things can make a new town feel like home. Depending on the person, it might be the kindness of a friendly neighbor, getting to know the streets and stores, or becoming involved in the community.

For Eddie Floyd, that moment came as she stepped through the doors of what is now Ringgold United Methodist Church.

I’m going to begin with a confession. I’ve heard it’s good for the soul.

I’m sitting at a table at TACO•nooga, a new Tex-Mex restaurant on Frazier Avenue. I’ve just placed my order with the server, who will soon be returning with fried cactus and grilled steak nachos.

Republic Parking System and First Things First celebrated the ribbon-cutting and official dedication of the new “Family Lot to benefit First Things First” on Monday, May 5.

The parking lot is located at the old EPB Building Site on Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets. The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce coordinated the event.

Our local bar is extremely fortunate to have been blessed with a rich history of highly effective advocates who never abandoned the fundamental rules of good citizenship and mannerly living so often instilled in each of us at an early age.

By historical accounts both written and oral, one particular local lawyer, John K. Morgan (1930-1986), stood preeminent among those who were able to bring a keen legal acumen to bear along with an endearing courtroom finesse that resulted in Morgan being recognized as one of the greatest lawyers of his time. 

The University of Memphis School of Law’s academic journal, the University of Memphis Law Review, has honored the school’s top three law review scholars with a prestigious “Best Note” award for their scholarly articles published in the school’s law review.

With more than 40 years of experience trying high-profile criminal defense and civil cases, Jerry Summers has paved a remarkable career path.

In his recent publication, “The Turtle and The Lawyer,” Summers narrates the many paths his life has presented, including the path he chose to follow.

Across the country, spring is finally making an appearance, and for many Americans, this means one thing: vacation time.

More and more people could be taking that vacation in their second home. The wonderful thing about a vacation home is that it’s a great getaway and a good long-term investment. Vacation homes often become retirement homes, so your purchase is an investment in your future.

Nearly half of all buyers use open houses to find their next home.

The Greater Chattanooga Association of REALTORS Open House Weekend will be a great opportunity to preview what’s available locally.

Taking place Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18, more than 100 homes across the Chattanooga and Northwest Georgia area will be open for viewing.

See “The Amazing Spider-Man 2!” Watch the world-famous web slinger battle Electro, the Green Goblin, and Rhino! Stare in wonder as he juggles his romance with Gwen Stacy, reconnects with his best friend, and probes the disappearance of his parents! Will he defeat his enemies? Salvage his social life? Learn the truth about the past? Never before has this much movie been crammed into 142 minutes!

“I know there are friendly people everywhere, but southern friendliness is different.” – Mark W. Nichols

I think Jonathon Daniels would have liked “Azaleas to Zydeco,” the engaging travel memoir by Little Rock Attorney Mark Nichols. I think he would have liked it even if he were kept in the dark that he himself was the inspiration for Nichols’ “4,600 – Mile Journey Through the South.”

Every time hubby and I go to an unknown vacation destination, we run into unusual foods from that particular culture.

When we traveled to North Carolina, we noshed on low-country cooking. In Hawaii, we ate a lot of pineapple. When in San Francisco, there was an abundance of seafood, wines, and breads.

A few days ago, we observed May Day, a celebration of spring.

And, after a long and hard winter in many parts of the country, most of us are ready for sunshine, warmer temperatures and the hopefulness that spring always symbolizes.

But as winter gives way to spring, we are also reminded that our lives have “seasons,” too — and it pays to be prepared for all of them. So, as you move into the “retirement season,” you’ll need to prepare for several possible challenges, including the following:

I was walking Maggie the Cheagle in the neighborhood, as I often do. This was in November 2012, so the old girl was pushing ten years old at the time. She was happy enough to stop and greet the young man who was getting out of his car.

He had a guitar case in his hand, an accessory that’s pretty hard to miss. This was nine houses east of where Maggie and I live. In front of a house owned by a Mr. and Ms. Landfair, whom I had met a few months earlier, not long after they had moved to Little Rock from California. I’d forgotten they had a college-age son.

Over the past two weeks, there has been more devastation in our area than I would care to think about. The tornadoes have literally ripped people’s lives apart single handedly. 

My brother, who is in the military, mom and grandmother, recently went to the areas devastated by the tornadoes to help with cleanup and came back very humbled. It is easy to realize how blessed you are when you are looking around at people who have lost their homes, belongings and worst of all, the people they love dearly. 

“Your silent tents of green

We deck with fragrant flowers;

Yours has the suffering been,

The memory shall be ours.”

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you live in D.C. and are thinking of applying for a job at Walmart you might want to reconsider and instead fill out an application for admission to Harvard or Yale.

This advice comes on the news that one of the giant retailer’s stores in the nation’s capital hired 676 people since opening in 2013, out of the 23,000, or just 2.6 percent, of those who applied for the right to don the blue vest.

Eight hours, confined in a small cabin, propaganda playing on a screen situated three feet from your face, a tight leather band belting you into your chair, men and women in uniform frequently questioning you in broken English, checking on you.

Twenty years ago, all lawyers used WordPerfect for data processing, and everyone had a Rolodex in which they kept the names and phone numbers of the important people in their lives.

A Rolodex was the key to information. The collecting and documenting of phone numbers was almost as important to your practice as the law books that lined the book shelves in your office.

Not long ago, I wrote about the selling of my family home and many of the memories that were stirred from that experience.

Of course, the house and attic held many memories, but who would have ever believed an old shed filled with a pile of my father’s tobacco sticks, which he used several years ago to raise tobacco, would cause even more memories for this not-so-young farm boy.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) Airman Stephen Scott, from Chattanooga, Tenn., conducts quality assurance on aircraft fuel in the V-4 division office aboard multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan.

Bataan is the flagship for the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

Hull Maintenance Technician Fireman Jesse McClure, from Ringgold, Ga., drills a hole in a valve position indicator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan is currently moored and homeported at Naval Base Coronado.