News - Friday, July 11, 2014

Chancellors Jeffrey M. Atherton and W. Frank Brown, III, and Chancellor-elect Pam McNutt Fleenor, have selected Robin L. Miller to be the next Clerk & Master for the 11th Judicial District.

Miller, an attorney with Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, said she’s honored to have been chosen Clerk & Master: “Having always admired and respected the work performed in that office, I’m hopeful I can bring the same level of excellence the Honorable Lee Akers and his entire staff established, and I am looking forward to assisting Chancellors Atherton and Fleenor. I learned a great deal from trying cases before Chancellors Brown, Atherton, and Peoples, and I’m grateful for their guidance and wisdom.”

Many children follow in their parents’ footsteps. Inspired by their mother or father’s accomplishments, they walk the same path in the hopes of having a similar impact on the world.

In a way, attorney Tracy Cox, daughter of Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox, could be said to be retracing her father’s considerable legacy. However, a more accurate assessment of her pursuits would show her to have followed him for a time, and then to have deviated from his passage to forge her own path.

Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon, PLLC has announced that Eleanor G. LaPorte became a member of the firm on January 1 of this year. 

LaPorte practices in the areas of business transactions, commercial leases, private foundations, taxation, and estate planning and administration.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the members of the 2014-2015 Leadership Chattanooga class.

Three attorneys will participate in this year’s program (L-R): Janie Varnell; Jeremy Cothern of Berke, Berke & Berke; and Jeffrey Maddux of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel.

Developer Bassam Issa of The ANT Group on Monday, July 7 hosted at Westview Elementary School a second community meeting with East Brainerd residents about his plans for a community off Ooltewah-Ringgold Road.

Issa, a resident of Frost Creek neighborhood, has a vision for the vacant 53.9-acre property located at 9700 East Brainerd Road that includes apartment living for families and a small town center.

Selling your home can be no easy feat, especially during the hot summer months.  However, there are a number of reasons that this summer could be the best time to put your house on the market.

According to the National Association of Realtors, fifty percent of homes are sold during the summer months. In summer, the frenzy of the spring buying season has ended, so you might have fewer houses to compete with for buyers. Also, potential buyers will have received their tax refund checks by summer, and that might be just what they need to pull together a down payment. Selling in the summer also gives families time to settle in before school starts. All of these reasons make summer a perfect time to market your home for sale.

Belinda Winslett, a real estate agent with Signature Brokers, won Fan Favorite at Dancing with the Chattanooga Stars last month.

Chattanooga’s local celebrity dance-off took place June 21 at the Tivoli Theatre. The event featured eight local celebrities in a dance-off competition to win their own trophy and raise money for their chosen Partnership program.

Jeremy Ames and Liza Fix Heath are the new owners of First Title Insurance Company, a full service title company in business since 1983.

A licensed attorney in the state of Tennessee, Ames joined First Title in 2005. In addition to his JD from Tulane University School of Law, Ames attended Austin Peay State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science. When not in a closing, Ames performs title searches and file updates. He is a member of the Chattanooga and the Tennessee Bar Associations.

Baseball’s best players gathered in Minneapolis this week to participate in the All-Star Game. If you’re a fan or even a “weekend athlete,” you can admire these players for their abilities, even if you — like the vast majority of humanity — can’t hope to duplicate them. But if you’re an investor, you may be able to learn some practical lessons from the All-Stars.

Jessica Cummins, rising senior at Howard High School, reads an inspirational text about the impact of the Nashville sit-ins, at the celebratory banquet Tuesday, July 8 at Second Missionary Baptist Church. 

For more photos, pick up a copy of the Hamilton County Herald.

The trailer for “Deliver Us From Evil” says the paranormal thriller is based on the “undisclosed” case files of real life New York City cop Ralph Sarchie. I’m not sure how producer Jerry Bruckheimer was able to make a major motion picture out of “undisclosed” files, but never mind. What matters is whether or not the movie provides an engaging two hours in a darkened movie theater.

The last part of June and the first part of July has already been so busy for us. We have had a few birthday celebrations, a vacation, and a conference. When we scheduled the vacation, it looked like our calendar was fairly easy, but in the end, we had to juggle quite a few things around it, and now we’re pooped! Isn’t that the way it goes?

It seemed like a good day for nature, so I went looking for some. I didn’t have to go far, as Pinnacle Mountain is fairly close to where I live. It was after the 4th, but the mountain was jammed with others looking for an escape from electronics. I still had my phone, though, which takes pretty good photos I can post somewhere, so people will like me.

Recent studies show that approximately two-thirds of Americans vitamin D levels are low. Despite the name, vitamin D is not a regular vitamin; it is a steroid hormone. The body makes its own vitamin D with skin exposure to sunlight, but the results widely vary and sunscreen eliminates the effects of vitamin D between 95 to 98 percent.  

Birthdays have been on my mind lately, and not just because our nation’s birthday gave us a couple extra sleep-in days last week. My own birthday came and went as well. My somberness this week doesn’t come from that, but from another life event.

Several years ago, a Mr. B. testified as an expert witness in a plane crash case. The lawyer cross-examining him worked awfully hard. And provided some entertainment along the way. The issue was whether the pilot should have been warned of bad weather seen earlier by six FAA employees.

Madison Hayes, 12, of Ooltewah, Tenn., will be competing in Major League Baseball’s Pitch, Hit and Run National Competition in Minneapolis, Minn., on Monday, July 14. On June 15 at Turner Field in Atlanta, Hayes won first place in the Girls 11- and 12 year-old division PHR Team Championship. The competition will take place at Target Field prior to the Gatorade All-Star Workout Day.

I used to go to the lake a lot. I’d gone a few years without a boat, and missed the experience. A couple of years ago, I decided to buy a ski boat to reconnect. I bought the boat in the middle of summer, and used it five or six times that year. I might have gotten out on the lake a half dozen times the next year, and didn’t even see the lake last year. I love going to the lake but, even with the new boat, my time out there had dwindled to nothing.

As summer’s soaring temperatures bring out water-lovers to cool themselves by splashing about in local swimming holes, concern also increases about water safety. I enjoy just watching others and avoid the depths of water, but my grandkids love the summer treat of a trip to the swimming hole.

I’ve been studying agriculture lately, and have learned quite a bit! Test your knowledge on a few of these questions. Maybe you, too, can learn something new!

1. True or false: An acre of forest is more beneficial to the environment than an acre of corn.

Fill in the blanks in the quote using the following words:

dealt, difficulties, somehow, moment, permanent,

difficulties, difficulties, moment

”Our ______ of the ______must always be______ with ______, but our ______ ______ are______ of every______.”

Brendan Gaughan’s recent NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) victory in the Gardner Denver 200 road race was listed as one of NASCAR’s Top 5 highlights for the week of June 21. This was Gaughan’s first NNS victory, an especially challenging win captured in wet conditions.