News - Friday, June 7, 2013

Incorporated in 1989, the Chattanooga Bar Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Chattanooga Bar Association. Through the Foundation, the Bar supports various charities and participates in community service, outreach programs and educational projects. Each year, the Foundation selects new Fellows, members which provide the funding for these efforts.

Mayor Berke and City Council Chairman Yusuf Hakeem last week announced Wade Hinton will serve in the jointly-appointed position of City Attorney for the City of Chattanooga. 

“Wade will be an incredible resource for the City of Chattanooga,” said Mayor Berke. “He is intelligent, hardworking, and has proven himself to be an outstanding attorney and leader. The city has made the right choice, and we are lucky to have him.”

Forty-three years ago, Rosa Gibson arrived for work at Bishop, Thomas, Leitner, Mann & Milburn for the first time. She knew nothing of legal work, and the office manager who hired her didn’t even know how quickly she could type. When Gibson retired Tuesday after serving as a legal secretary for one-third of the firm’s 131-year existence, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan changed with her leaving.

There is one simple thing I should do more often: write more notes. I don’t mean emails or instant messages; I mean good old fashion hand written notes. Notes that say, “Thank you.” Notes that say, “Congratulations.” Notes that simply say, “I was thinking about you.” Notes that say, “I care enough to write a note.”

We are as happy now as we have been at any time during the past 30 years, according to the General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Here are the latest findings:

• Women are happier than men are, although the gap is getting smaller.

Finishing what I started last week. More “humorous” quotes. Which I came up with for use in a “new” puzzle-game. And which the editors rejected. That I ultimately came up with 30 deemed acceptable now seems miraculous.

“Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?” Robert Orben. 

“This looks delicious,” the young man holding the clear to-go box said as he looked at his smothered green chili burrito. His lunch companion likely didn’t hear him, as he was busy ordering one of his own at the window of the food truck parked in the empty lot on Market Street.

Driving through the desert on a two-lane road in what is the Navaho Indian Reservation, we pulled off where the sign read, “Scenic View.” The Navaho woman who greeted us from the small window in her white booth said, “There’s no charge, but we accept donations.” I gave her a twenty, and she told us to enjoy ourselves.

Pinterest has been around for a few years, and although it’s going full speed ahead, it’s not as popular as Facebook. A lot of people still don’t know what Pinterest is, and others have decided they don’t have time for another social media outlet.

Only a single word is needed to describe some people. If that were the case with Realtor Lori Montieth, the word would be “driven.”

She is, for example, driven to succeed in real estate. “I get up every morning and come to the office. This is how I support my family, so I need to make this work,” she says.

Strong communities and vibrant neighborhoods are built through collaboration and hard work. To celebrate the city’s urban neighborhood revitalization, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise is hosting NeighborGood Week from Sunday, June 2, to Saturday, June 8. The weeklong awareness event will feature an assortment of neighborhood engagement activities across the city. Pictured: CNE volunteers participate during their “Do Good in the Neighborhood” Service Day by planting new greenery at the Chattanooga Zoo. (David Laprad)

Oil pipelines, their spills, and the affects on humans and our ecosystem have been in the news a lot in the past years. This has been especially true in Mayflower, Ark., where the Exxon Mobil Pegasus Pipeline ruptured in a subdivision in March 2013. Below is a bit of trivia about crude oil, production of oil, and the hazards it can bring to the planet. See how well you score.

In After Earth, we learn that humans eventually leave their home planet after finally stripping it of resources and then destroying what was left in the fight for the scraps. We then settle on a distant planet called Nova Prime, which is capable of supporting human life but is in the crosshairs of aliens that develop an effective means of eradicating the unwelcome pests from Earth: murderous creatures that can literally smell fear.

Saturday, June 8

A special Indiana delegation, headed by Gov. Matthew E. Welsh, rededicated the Wilder Monument in memorial services at Chickamauga National Park Saturday afternoon. “Indiana Day” is the first feature of a summer-long centennial commemoration of the battle, sponsored by the Chickamauga – Chattanooga National Military Park and the Georgia War Centennial Commission. Stuart Wilder, grandson of Gen. John T. Wilder, presented a memorial wreath.

Saturday, June 7

Mrs. J.L. Chivington and children returned Friday from a visit to Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Henderson at Henderson Place at the foot of Missionary Ridge.

The teachers of the Bailey Avenue School in Highland Park entertained with a breakfast at the home of Miss Pearl Haley as a courtesy to Miss Mamie Bright and Prof. Couts, who have severed their connection with public schools to teach in private schools. Guests were Misses Ella Rankin, Ethel Kilgore, Ethel Wright, Mary Belle Wallace, Roberta Williams, Natalie O’Brien, Jean Sheridan, Edith Lockard, Maude Bowser, and Lucy Haley Dotson, Mrs. Lauderdale, Mrs. Harrison and Prof. Couts.

Saturday, June 8

Criminal justice seminar

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County NAACP will host the 6th Annual Criminal Justice Seminar at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. This year’s event, titled Let the Dreams Live, will shed light on how legal issues, social challenges, and the law effect the social welfare, upward mobility, and life sustaining options of average citizens. Trust in the law, faith in the legal process, and hope for a better tomorrow are all key elements of allowing the dreams to live throughout our community. This year’s event will be headlined by Vincent Southerland, senior counsel for the National NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. He will bring the keynote address. Other seminar highlights will include the presenting of the 3rd Annual Thurgood Marshall Freedom and Justice Advocate of the Year Award to Rev. Paul A. McDaniel, and a Stop the Funerals, Stop the Violence pledge led by Rev. Kenneth Love of St. Paul AME Church. This event is free and open to the public. RSVP at chattanooganaacp@comcast.net, or by calling 423-267-5637.