News - Friday, June 21, 2013

When attorney William Colvin was young, his parents put him on a swim team. He wanted no part of it. He didn’t want to go to practice, he didn’t want to practice once he was there, and he was regularly thrown out of practice for misbehaving.

Unum employees in Chattanooga this week donated 40 teddy bears to the Chattanooga Fire Department. This was a leadership project for Unum employee Bettye Stein, who heard firefighters give teddy bears to children on fire and wreck scenes. Chattanooga firefighters regularly provide the teddy bears and other stuffed animals to children – and occasionally adults – who are often shaken up when they are involved in a home fire or car wreck. From left to right are Gezzetta Campbell, Stein and Trecia Smith, all with Unum, and Deputy Chief Chris Adams and Captain Anthony Williams with the CFD’s training division. (Photo provided)

Mayor Jim Coppinger presented a no tax increase $664 million budget to the Hamilton County Commission Thursday, June 13.

The budget includes 393 million dollars dedicated to education.

Coppinger called his budget, “a fiscally conservative budget.”

This column was originally published in the Hamilton County Herald on June 15, 2012.

I have snored all of my life. When I was young, it was reported that I snored when I was very tired. When I was in college, my roommates complained that I often snored loudly after a long night out on the town “studying.” About a year ago, I was snoring so badly that I was not able to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. I was so tired during the day that I had to turn off  the lights in my office and take a nap after lunch.

I have mentioned in some of my columns that I’m a “pinner” on Pintrest. For those of you who have not experienced that particular social network, there’s a lot of stuff about a lot of things. It’s chock-full of ideas, information on just about anything, photos, arts and crafts – you name it, and you can probably find something about it on Pintrest.

Did you ever wonder if in golf you get a lift from the loo? Or if there’s a penalty for breaking and entering while on the course? Tourneys in May spoke to these issues. Kinda.

The 2013 Volvo World Match Play Championship in Kavarna, Bulgaria, was won by Graeme McDowell, who bested Thongchai Jaidee in the final match. Ho hum. For present purposes, let’s go to McDowell’s May 19 quarterfinal match with Nicolas Colsaerts. On hole 10, a short par-4, Colasaerts sprayed his tee shot right of the fairway, near the green, into a thicket marked as a hazard.

Surely you have experienced one of these scenarios:

It’s morning crunch time. You’re racing to get out the door, and the last thing on your mind is breakfast. You know you’ll be hungry by mid-morning if you don’t eat, but the press to get on the road is so great, if you put on the brakes, you’ll leave tire marks on your kitchen tile. What can you do?

Leaving New Orleans also frightened me considerably. Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland, begins. 

~ John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

The gray sky continued to spit a light rain as Kathy and I walked down Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Named Rue Royale by the French, Royal Street was an international shopping district by the end of the 19th century, and if you love upscale antique stores, you’ll find them there in abundance.

For the last few weeks, my mom has been talking about the blackberries she’s growing in her backyard. It makes me so envious – enough that next year, I just might start a few bushes, too! Either blackberries or blueberries. Both of them are some of my favorite fruits.

Smart. Passionate. Vibrant.

These three words describe the younger generation in Chattanooga. A fourth can be added when referring to Realtor Matt Henley: humble.

The last name might ring a bell. His father, Thomas Henley, owns Henley Medical, a supplier of custom wheelchairs for disabled children. His uncles own Henley Brothers Construction. And his late grandmother was Helen Henley, a legendary Chattanooga Realtor who helped countless families buy their first home during a real estate career than spanned 50 years.

At 82 square feet of swimming area, the new community pool at The Canyons at Falling Water has become an attractive selling point for the Hixson, Tenn., development. But don’t tell that to the moms, dads and kids who will be enjoying the new amenity; all they care about is cooling off from the summer heat or lounging poolside while the wee ones wade in the shallow end. The pool, which opened this week, is open to all residents of The Canyons, a five-year-old community of 54 homes and counting. To learn more, call Paula McDaniel at Prudential RealtyCenter.com at (423) 899-5943. (David Laprad)

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

1. What triggered the legendary feud between the hillbilly families, the Hatfields and the McCoys, in 1873? The love between Hatfields’ daughter and McCoys’ son; the alleged theft of a pig; the raid of the McCoys’ watermelon patch; the McCoys’ trespassing on the Hatfields’ land.

Sometimes, when I come out of a movie, I don’t want to analyze or critique it, I just want to gather with like-minded friends and geek out about what we liked. So if you haven’t seen Man of Steel, and you’re inclined to do so, save this column for after the movie, and then picture us outside the theater afterward talking like the film nerds we are:

Saturday, June 22

The appointment of John E. Fitzpatrick as promotion and publicity chairman for Area Industrial Development Week, Oct. 20-26, was announced Saturday by Seth W. Sizer, industry appreciation activities chairman. An industrial exposition in Warner Park Field House and industrial development seminar will be included in the week’s program.

Saturday, June 21

General Alfred Beers, head of the Grand Army of the Republic, is the guest of the city today. He spoke to the Sons of the G.A.R., urging them to teach patriotism and to honor the veterans. He also said the “whole North” is coming to Chattanooga in September for the G.A.R. reunion encampment.

Crafted by Southern Hands at Warehouse Row

Beginning Tuesday, June 25

Warehouse Row’s Civil War era buildings will fittingly serve as the host of the returning event series dubbed “Crafted by Southern Hands.” The event will showcase fashion, art, décor and food created below the Mason-Dixon Line.