News - Friday, June 22, 2018

Tennessee Democrats are hoping a “blue wave” will wash across the Volunteer State this fall and help them regain a number of seats lost over the last decade. Republicans are banking on red voters to crush any wave by capitalizing on the popularity of President Donald Trump when November arrives.

Democrat David Jones decided to run for the state House District 26 seat in Chattanooga last summer, long before a hint of any “blue wave” started making its way across the country.

And while he’s hoping to ride the political momentum, he notes, “I would just as soon Tennessee be purple as red or blue.”

Tennessee’s legislative Democrats are eternally optimistic. They don’t have much choice but to look on the bright side with 75-24 and 28-5 deficits in the House and Senate.

So when they put a nearly full slate of candidates on the ticket for November’s general election – about 110 districts – and say they’ve got a good chance of picking up seats, they almost have to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

Despite having some of the best health care companies in world, the people who live and work in Tennessee are not healthy.

Bad habits

Too many of us are too fat. Tennessee has the worst childhood obesity rate in the USA, and the fifth-worst adult obesity rate.

According to Think Tennessee’s State of Our State dashboard, the state ranks near the bottom in the number of adults with heart disease, obesity and diabetes. It also ranks near the bottom of all states for the health of senior citizens, infant mortality and number of adults who smoke, and at the absolute bottom in childhood obesity. Tennesseans are, on the whole, not healthy. What can and should our next political leaders do about it?

Miller & Martin attorney Douglas Johnson, of counsel in the firm’s intellectual property group, has been elected president of the U.S. section of the Fedération Internationalé des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle.

Special thanks to Bill Colvin for his work for the CBA Legislative Committee. Bill has been spearheading the analysis of proposed rule changes and is working with this fine group so our association is more responsive to calls for comment and to making proposed changes. We recently responded to the Rule 31 proposal.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel recently added Mae Shelley to the firm’s estate and tax planning group.

Shelley joins Chambliss as a paralegal with more than 10 years of experience in corporate law, administration and partnerships. Her work focuses primarily on trust administration. She also assists with the planning and navigation of trust requirements.

Leigh Brown, CEO of RE/MAX Executive, is spearheading a nationwide fundraiser and training event on June 27.

Brown will teach the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics class to participating associations across the U.S. Greater Chattanooga Realtors is sponsoring this event, which is a nationwide fundraiser for the Realtors Relief Foundation.

Great Chattanooga Realtors (GCR) President Geoff Ramsey spoke on behalf of the association at the City of Chattanooga Council meeting June 19 regarding concerns stemming from the stormwater fee increases the city has proposed.

“Last year, when changes to the stormwater ordinance were proposed, we discussed with you the importance of cooperation between local stakeholders and the City of Chattanooga,” Ramsey began. “Our goal was to ensure that Chattanooga’s rapid growth results in a positive impact on the city.

A local celebrity in the tiny home craze will be on display for everyone to see Sunday, June 24 when Realtor Tia Johnson of The Group opens the doors of 3202 Pinewood Avenue for an open house.

The 656-square foot domicile was featured in the premiere episode of “Tiny Home Mansions,” a one-hour reality series that premiered on cable channel FYI in June 2017.

Just like last year at this time, prospective home buyers should expect a competitive housing market for the next several months. With payrolls trending upward and unemployment trending downward month after month in an extensive string of positive economic news, demand remains strong.

As the Chattanooga-area home building industry celebrates National Homeownership Month in June, new research confirms that homeownership is a key goal of millennials. This demographic is poised to dramatically affect the housing market in the coming years.

Think for a moment about your childhood friends and the games you played.

Several of my friends and I played baseball in our driveways and the road outside our houses in a close-quarters neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio. During summer break, if we weren’t taking a break to eat, we were pros, playing to win the World Series.

Popular wisdom suggests father-and-son bonding moments typically happen during activities like playing catch or learning how to shave. For Dave Collins and his son Evan, however, it was while catching wood turtles and learning about their life history on the banks of a pristine creek in upstate New York.

Summer is here – and so is vacation season. Americans spend a lot on their summer getaways – more than $100 billion in 2017 alone, as reported in Travel and Leisure magazine.

When you hit the road, you will enjoy getting away from your regular tasks, but there’s one part of your life that should never take a break – your investments.