News - Friday, June 2, 2017

Surveying the massive, 40,000-square-foot Chattanooga Area Food Bank warehouse on Amnicola Highway, Gina Crumbliss motions toward a broad stack of silver “shiners” – unlabeled cans of vegetables to be marked by hand – before saying hello to three of her 3,000-plus volunteers as they scoop loose cornflake crumbs from a bin into small plastic bags.

When Laura Kilpatrick started working at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank seven years ago, the recession was still gripping the nation and many of the agency’s clients had just lost their jobs.

Sometimes they drove up in luxury cars, dazed and embarrassed about their newfound poverty.

It was billed as the start of the 2018 governor’s race, but the GOP’s Reagan Day Dinner in Murfreesboro last week often sounded more like a tent revival.

Vote for one of these candidates and you’re guaranteed a place in heaven, ran the subtext of the evening, because, after all, everyone knows only Republicans know the road to salvation.

Chambers and Partners has recognized Miller & Martin in the 2017 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business report as a leading law firm in the practice areas of labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, and general commercial litigation.

I’m facing my opponent, my gloves raised to just below my chin, my left foot a half step in front of my right foot. Like Muhammad Ali, I’m ready to float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

“We’re going to do a jab, a cross, a left hook and a right hook,” says Alexandra Thieme, the instructor during my first workout at I Love Kickboxing. She’s walking among several rows of Wavemaster standing heavy bags, passing people of all shapes, sizes and ages. Like me, everyone is poised to unleash fury.

It has become abundantly clear that hockey fever, of all things, has firmly taken hold of the land of Peyton in its claw-like grip.

The Predators, who have had fair to middling fan support since arriving on the National Hockey League scene in 1998 (has it been that long?!?) are finally at the pinnacle of their sport, playing the dynastic Pittsburgh Penguins for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Along the way, a funny thing happened to the city which was previously known as the Home of Country Music – it is now the home of the loudest fans in the league.

War movies tend to render the horrors of global conflict on a grand scale. As nation rises against nation, thousands of troops, planes, tanks and boats clash in battle, leaving a blood-smeared landscape in their wake.

But the idea that war is a brutal, savage thing that defies human reason can be rendered just as effectively on a small scale, as it is in “The Wall,” a tense, tightly built battleground thriller from director Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”).

Hamilton County Tennessee Register of Deeds Pam Hurst and programmer Bobby Deberry have developed and released new title search software titled “Quick Search.” Hurst designed the software while Deberry handled the coding.

Quick Search integrates sales from the Hamilton County assessor with data from the register’s remote access system, accelerating the real property title search process to create a chain of title.

Veterans in Chattanooga have a new place to call home.

Patriot Place at Veterans Way offers four-bedroom, two-bath homes for income-qualified veterans, disabled veterans and low-income veteran families.

The units were built by Buffalo Valley, a Middle Tennessee nonprofit organization, and funded by a $335,000 grant from the City of Chattanooga HOME funds, a $150,000 grant from THDA’s Housing Trust Fund and a $200,000 grant from Federal Home Loan Bank.

The big summer home buying months of June, July and August have arrived. But before you get serious and start searching in earnest, take time to do your financing homework.

While the internet is a wonderful tool for research, my years of experience and thousands of transactions have shown internet lenders are not the best place to get your home loan. Work with an experienced local loan originator who’s just across town, not around the world, and can help face to face when you run into a problem or have a serious question.

Whether looking for a new home or revamping a current residence, homeowners in the Chattanooga area continue to be drawn to the feelings of spaciousness, easy flow and welcoming togetherness evoked by an open floor plan.

Pioneered in the early 20th century, open floor plans are still popular today, according to a recent survey from the National Association of Home Builders. The survey found that 70 percent of buyers want a kitchen-family room area that is either completely or partially open, with 32 percent wanting it completely open.

It’s Graduation Season again. If your child is graduating from high school or college, you have reason to celebrate. But what should you give to your newly minted diploma holder?

You might want to consider offering a combination of financial gifts and tips, which, taken together, could set your graduate on a path toward a successful, independent life.

OK, this is going to sound strange, but bear with me.

After coaching hundreds of folks on their job searches, I’ve noticed a pattern. And it’s not one I would have expected.

What’s one of our No. 1 fears when it comes to searching for a job? It’s actually that we will get the job. That’s right. We are afraid of being offered a job.