News - Friday, June 19, 2015

When Judge Nicholas Whittenburg was a practicing lawyer, he’d spend time after a case was over contemplating what he should have done differently. He’s doing the same thing now, at the end of his first week as the newest bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Signature Brokers has announced the addition of affiliate broker Bridget Johnston to the Ooltewah-based real estate firm. Johnston is the latest of several new hires for the company. She has worked in the industry for 12 years, and holds an e-Pro Certification for marketing homes online.

Just what the doctor ordered

The Chattanooga History Center will present “Just What the Doctor Ordered: A History of Medicine in Chattanooga” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23 in the History Center’s meeting room. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. The deadline is Monday, June 22. Call (423) 265-3247, extension 1, or visit chattanoogahistory.org to register. Topics will include what a surgeon’s kit from the Civil War illustrates about battlefield medical care, how Wine of Cardui promised to cure women’s ailments, the effect of Chattanooga’s environmental past on people’s health, and more.

In an effort to continually support local businesses, Chambliss law firm last week hosted a networking and fundraising event for local women at its offices downtown.

The invitation-only event featured a silent auction with luxury goods and services provided by women-owned and operated businesses.

The purpose of this column is to discuss problems common to Chattanooga attorneys. To the extent a personal opinion occasionally slips out, such opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Board of Governors of the Chattanooga Bar Association or of the Hamilton County Herald.

The law firm of Baker Donelson has been named among the 50 Best Places to Work for New Dads in a report compiled by Fatherly, a digital lifestyle guide for men entering parenthood. With a growing demographic of active and engaged millennial fathers, this first-of-its-kind report highlights the best paternity benefits offered by companies in the U.S.

The guys at Diamond Billiard Club know how to set the mood.

The midday sun is bathing two nine-foot Diamond pool tables placed near the windows along the front of the building in bright light.  Farther in, seven eight-foot tables take up considerably more space.  Set in the darker recesses of the club, each table looks like an island of ocean blue felt under the light placed above it.  Empty because the club just opened, they are a beautiful sight.

The concept of “retirement” has changed dramatically in recent decades. Today’s retirees are traveling, volunteering, pursuing their hobbies – and even working for money. In fact, as a retiree, you can essentially do anything you want, as long as your health and finances permit it. Through exercise, proper diet and avoidance of bad habits, you can do a lot to stay physically healthy. And by clearly identifying your retirement goals and estimating their financial impact, you’ll know how to stay “financially healthy” throughout your retirement years. 

The U.S. economy has been pretty even so far this year. Usually when new figures are released, they paint a pretty picture worthy of putting above the fireplace in that purchased new home. Recently, some numbers for the first quarter were adjusted to show a slight contraction in the economy.

With single-family housing starts and pending sales of existing homes approaching a 10-year high, Gov. Bill Haslam has declared June to be Homeownership Month in Tennessee.

“Homeownership strengthens families, encourages residents to take an active role in their neighborhoods and communities, and serves as one of the most important drivers of economic growth in our state,” said THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey.

Harvest Grocery opened its doors to the public last Friday. The 32,000 square foot store, located at 5414 Hixson Pike, will offer natural and organic items as well as locally sourced products and dining options.

Highlights include: a full service meat department featuring all natural and organic beef, chicken, pork, specialty meats, and select butcher cuts; fresh seafood with sustainable selections available seven days a week; organic produce sourced from local and regional farms; local and regional organic grocery products along with national favorites; a 1,000 square foot wellness department featuring natural health and beauty items, vitamins, supplements, and an in-house physician; a specialty department featuring hundreds of cheeses from around the world along with local favorites; a bulk foods department; and a beer section featuring craft options, familiar favorites, and single selections for creating custom six-packs.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed a trial court’s ruling that an arbitration agreement between a purchaser and a manufactured homebuilder was unfair and unenforceable, so it permitted the purchaser to sue the manufactured homebuilder in court.

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. That’s a common wording for the epigram that we call “Murphy’s Law.” Granted, others have said it somewhat differently.

Properties located along Rossville Blvd.; Selling together

The Humane Educational Society (HES) is preparing to open Second Chance Thrift Store on Ringgold Road to raise funds for updates and repairs to its facility at 212 N. Highland Park Ave.

HES hopes to open the store by August. Second Chance Thrift Store is accepting tax deductible donations of clothing and shoes, housewares, furniture, books, and other items.

Covenant College has kicked off an extensive exterior renovation of Carter Hall.

The two-year project will return the exterior of Carter Hall to its original design. The building’s original stucco exterior will be uncovered, patched, and re-coated, and the stonework repaired. In addition to reclaiming the original design of the historic tower, a new roof will be installed, and all windows will be replaced with double windows. Plans include bringing back the porches on the north and south ends of the building and conducting limited renovations on the interior of the building, including the installation of a fire sprinkler system. Planning is also underway for a separate project that will include a renovation of the dining hall during the summer of 2016.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) last week issued a revised policy under its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program giving FHA-approved lenders expanded options to allow eligible non-borrowing spouses to remain in their home following the death of the last surviving borrower.

I tried to turn off my brain and simply enjoy “Jurassic World.” But the film exists in a universe that bent my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. And that made it hard to just sit back and have fun.

East Ridge officials learned last week that the city was awarded the 2014 Multimodal Access Grant in the amount of $949,833. The city applied for the funds last fall in order to finance infrastructure improvements along Ringgold Road, including new sidewalks on both sides of Ringgold Road.

At first, I didn’t know what to write about, and then I thought about the blackberries my mom is growing in her backyard. Since blackberries are ripening as I write, I decided to use them as my topic.

In the U.S., blackberries typically peak during June in the south, and in July in the North. Crops are ready at various times of the month depending on the part of the state.

With a shortage of affordable rental housing in Tennessee, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) is issuing a new study on the state’s largest scale solution.

The report takes an in-depth look at the 28-year history of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) in Tennessee, as well as areas of greatest opportunity in the near future.

It was a fairly warm June day, and the humidity must have been around 125 percent as my dog, Ranger, and I rode around the back of the farm on my redneck golf cart checking out thorny blackberry bushes. This year’s rain has inflicted some pretty good growth, and the wild blackberries on my farm are a testament to the fact that this spring was a wet one.

Saturday, June 19, 1965

Mrs. Scott L. (Betty) Probasco, Jr. finally routed Cleveland’s young Connie Day six to five Friday in the finals of the Tennessee Women’s Amateur Golf Tournament at the Lookout Mountain Golf Club course. It was Mrs. Probasco’s fourth state tournament victory and the second year in a row.

Saturday, June 19, 1915

It required heroic efforts to save the village of Shepherd, east of Missionary Ridge, when fire was discovered about 10:30 a.m. in a barn of John Reed’s spreading to the Baptist Church and many of the nearby homes, reducing them to ashes. Men from the Chickamauga Stone Quarry formed a bucket brigade under the direction of Will Holmes, general manager. The Baptist church, the community meeting place, had been built and given to the community by Judge Lewis Shepherd.

For quite some time now, I knew we had a major problem lurking in our master bathroom shower. Our home was a new build when we moved in about 10 years ago, so I could not fathom how serious our problem was. However, this past weekend, we got up front and personal with the issue, which was much more serious than we could have ever imagined.

I’m feeling quite American today, so I decided to refresh my knowledge of presidential history. Below are some facts that can be kind of tricky. See how well you can do!

1. Which president was NOT born or did not die on the 4th of July? John Adams; Calvin Coolidge; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Harrison.

So we decided to go look for a new place to live, in another town, but close enough to be able to return to our jobs each morning, five days a week. Indentured servitude has a schedule.

There are four central Arkansas cities that would work, and we visited one of them on Saturday. As KM puts it, “I have warm feelings for this town.” She is referring to the little house on Hunter Street, just north of the Hendrix College campus, where my grandparents moved to after leaving the college president’s home. Today, when you drive down the street, not much has changed. One thing has, though, and that’s the large silver beer keg that sits in the carport of my grandparent’s old house. Dr. Matt would not have approved.