News - Friday, June 17, 2011

Members of the Chattanooga Bar Association convened on May 31 to celebrate the rule of law, and the most important meal of the day, in a breakfast edition of the bar’s annual Law Day event. About 300 lawyers, judges and other legal professionals enjoyed a traditional Southern buffet at the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center as well as a keynote speech by U.S. Senator Bob Corker, who spoke on the importance of making lasting changes to how the nation spends money.

Richard Buhrman had taken the law boards on a whim with a friend. He didn’t even know what an attorney did. Yet there he was, answering questions in an office at Duke University in the hopes of being admitted to its school of law. The first person in his family to attend college, Buhrman had graduated from the University of Chattanooga with a double major in Math and English.

Saturday, June 17

The Lookout Mountain Hotel, “Castel in the Clouds,” will be offered to the highest bidder for cash at the Dade County courthouse at Trenton, Ga., on July 4. Foreclosure proceedings were started by the American National Insurance Company of Gal-veston, Texas to satisfy a $325,000 debt incurred by the Lookout Mountain Hotel, Inc.

The Chattanooga Bar Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Chattanooga Bar Association. Through the CBF’s Foundation Fellows, the CBA supports worthwhile charities and participates in public outreach, as well as community service and educational programs. The Fellows Program is patterned after similar programs within the American and Tennessee Bar Foundations.

Over the years¸ various people have misheard various sayings, causing the original phrasing to be changed when the statement was later reused.

Often the modification has occurred because an original speaker used hurtful, racist or stereotypical references which the listener assumed could not have been intended. As a result, the more fair-minded listener subconsciously altered what he or she had heard to something they assumed “must have been said.”

In a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture news release, reporting the information from it’s annual report, it states that a middle-income family with a child born in 2010 can expect to spend about $226,920 ($286,860 if projected inflation costs are factored in) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years.

Reaching lifetime goals often means it is time to reformulate your life and create new goals. I reached a career goal in 1993 that I had pursued since I was a little child.

Since the first time I watched Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs sing “Little Girl of Mine In Tennessee” to “Granny” and “Uncle Jed” on “The Beverly Hillbillies;” since the first time I saw Wayne Newton play a down home country boy who could really saw the fiddle; or since the first time I watched Doug Dillard and all the Dillards entertain “Sheriff Andy Taylor” as “The Darlings” on the “Andy Griffith Show” with his up tempo banjo tunes; I dreamed of walking on network television to pick and grin.

Don’t give up LeBron. Dallas didn’t. Nor did Harrison Frazar, who won his first PGA tournament last weekend, just 15 years and 355 starts after turning professional in 1996.

Frazar is a Texan, born in Big D, so last Sunday had to be doubly sweet for him after the Mavericks pushed the “Big 3” out of their own playground. But don’t give up LeBron, you came within two games of a world championship. And you get Wade and Bosh back next year as teammates so it doesn’t really matter who Riley picks to support you guys does it? (Although I was thinking maybe Allen Iverson would be a fun addition).

Philip Martin, columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, began his Sunday piece awhile back with a quote from “The Winner’s Manual: For the Game of Life” by Jim Tressel:

“We live in a skeptical world. News reporters are always looking for ‘change,’ and most of the time things change for the worse rather than for the better. But the constant negative drumbeat we hear about things not going well and people not doing the right things can wear us down as individuals and as a society.”

Breakfast is the most interesting meal of the day. The options range from a plain piece of toast to the full spread of bacon, pancakes, eggs and other breakfast food fare. I think if you invest an early rise into your day, a good breakfast is the least you deserve.

Last week I entered uncharted territory – my last year as a 20-something. That means this time next year; I will be halfway to 60. Oh dear. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I guess I need to just take one year at a time – that is more practical and less stressful (for the most part).

Our Vacation Bible School theme this year is about New York, aka The Big Apple. Since I have been preparing for it, I found quite a few things I didn’t know about New York, so I decided to see how much you readers know …

1. What is the statue’s full official title? The Statue of Eternal Liberty; World of Liberal Enlightenment; Liberty and Freedom for All; Liberty Enlightening the World.

The diamond is firmly on your finger, third from the thumb, left hand, snuggled next to your pinky. It’s a beautiful ring, sparkly and just as meaningful as the ceremony at which you got it.

Oh, you’ll never forget that ceremony! There you stood, promising to cherish your beloved always. Flowers were everywhere. The best man cracked jokes. Your mother cried. And you ended that day with a celebration that friends and family are still talking about.

Martin Pierce went to law school in his home town of Memphis. Out of law school, he came to a job in Chattanooga with the largest firm in the area at the time, Stophel, Caldwell and Heggie. Pierce practiced with them for about three years and then practiced with Chambliss Bahner for 18 years and Husch Blackwell for a few years. After a total of 24 years with big downtown firms, he went out on his own in 2005.

After incarceration, the process of rebuilding one’s life can be difficult and overwhelming. Returning to life unprepared for its realities can lead to the swinging door effect, where individuals become inmates again and again and families fall victim to the generational effect of incarceration.

Transitions. Everyone has them in their lives, some more than others. Marcia Kling, in-volved in television since 1962, has had her fair share of transitions in life and career.

Kling grew up in Westchest-er County outside of New York City. She came to Tennessee to attend Maryville College, and prior to graduation, a member of the sociology department spoke to her about a position open at a church in Chattanooga for a director of Christian education.

“This morning I woke up with a plan for my day, and it didn’t happen like it was supposed to,” Realtor Rolanda Pullen says. Most of the properties she sells are foreclosures, which are a lot of work, therefore, she never knows what her day is going to be like.

Did you realize that six out of 10 U.S. households have pets? That means that those without critter companions are in the minority, but if you’re a pet owner selling your home, you shouldn’t ignore the perceptions of those families that don’t include cats or dogs.

Well, if you have read my column much you know how I love to grill outside. It always does and I guess always will, remind me of the times that my family would go camping and cook everything over a grill. I treasure those memories.

I used to have a smoker, but as I have gotten older (just a bit), and want things to get done faster, I gave it to a friend of mine. However, smoking food is a lot of fun and you get one delicious meal! With some planning, you can prepare the whole meal in the smoker.

The number of movie sequels that are superior the original film can probably be counted on two hands. I can think of only “The Godfather Part II,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Terminator 2,” “The Dark Knight,” “Aliens,” “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” and “Spider-Man 2.” All of these films proved a “Part II” could be more than a cash-in on a successful movie, but could take established stories and characters in compelling new directions.

A Champion Agent must show that, in terms of net dollars, the client will make more money. Being able to sell to the client’s inherent greed factor creates an advantage. The discount agents are selling to the greed factor through fee structure reduction. We have to engage in this game as well but by using truth in net dollars. The successful businessperson raises their value and enlarges the whole pie, so the piece they are requiring for their services is small.