News - Friday, July 15, 2011

Museums have a reputation for being wooden affairs. Look, but don’t touch, is the motto of most. But not the Hixson Museum of Flight. Its curators encourage visitors to climb into the pilot’s seat of a North American T-28 Trojan, peer into the cockpit of a 1946 Taylorcraft, and enjoy a scenic trip over Chattanooga in a 1958 Piper Apache.

One in 12 American adults have gingivitis, a usually painless inflammation of the gums often caused by plaque that can lead to periodontitis, resulting in bone decay and tooth loss.Gingivitis and poor oral health can be linked to many factors, but Dr. Charles Randall Quinn II, D.D.S., says that simply doing a better job of brushing and flossing could prevent a lot of cases.

Saturday, July 15

Chattanooga Concerns received $25,426,000 in contracts in a nine-month period in the federal government’s nation-wide program, designed to assists areas with substantial labor surpluses.

Sunday, July 16

The Chattanooga Education Association has issued a call for all school teachers to meet at City Hall Monday morning to express to Mayor Olgiati and other members of the City Commission their support of Supt. Bennie Carmichael in his stand on the 1961-62 school budget.

Although several attorneys claim to write it and several publishing companies claim to sell it, there really is no such thing as a true “lawyers’ trial handbook.” Rather, the rules of the road and the hints, tactics, and strategies that the successful litigator follows are learned from a strange combination of law school education, mentoring from other attorneys, osmosis from experience, conversations with judges, continuing education courses, books, tapes, the trials conducted by others, and the occasional late night rerun of a lawyer-based television show.

After a great July 4 holiday break, I was driving to work one morning, when I passed a school that had a notice on its message board reminding kids school would start in just four weeks. It gave the dates for registration, orientation and the first full day of school.

With each passing year, all of us have dates that we mark in our minds or hearts as important. As I approach August each year, my thoughts reflect on the last days of my late father, Floyd, who passed on Aug. 30, 1987. In his last days, dad faced a fierce but short battle with lung cancer. Years of smoking had led him into a skirmish I know he did not want to face at the young age of 54.

There was a familiar story from Rogers last week about a Shih Tzu named Mimi (she must be a grandmother) who was separated seven years ago from her owner, Andrew Navarette, after escaping from her back yard. Navarette was unsuccessful in finding Mimi, even though she had a microchip implanted in her neck containing his contact information.

After a month of sharing space, Ellen’s not buying into this threesome thing at the Little Rock Zoo. This according to a June 30 article by L. Lamor Williams in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In fact, the paper that morning greeted me with a hat trick of rare fauna stories. That’s fauna, of flora and fauna, the two main units of our biota. OK, it’s a fancy word for animals.

Seeing a movie in a theater is a fairly standard affair. There’s the shelling out of $5 to $9 for a single ticket (more if you opt for the 3D craze). There’s popcorn, sodas and candy that will probably cost you at least $10. Then there’s finding a seat, sitting through 15 minutes of previews, and then maybe the movie you are seeing has a few redeeming qualities.

During the recent Fourth of July weekend, I learned the following things: kids eat a lot of ice cream, firecrackers belong in the air, not on your foot, and I’m not a camper. Family started arriving the Saturday before the Fourth, and the fun started the moment they downed a couple of bottled waters and applied sunscreen.

I’m feeling quite American-ish today, so decided to refresh my knowledge of Presidential history. Below are some facts that can be kind of tricky. See how well you can do!

1. Which President was NOT born or did not die on the 4th of July? John Adams; Calvin Coolidge; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamine Harrison.

Exercise. Eat right. Quit smoking. See your doctor. Your stay-well regiment is pretty easy. You’ve made those four steps into habits, you pay attention to your body, and you’ve managed to stay (mostly) well. You want to live a long, healthy life. But what if you get sick – really sick – and need serious medical care? Will your insurance cover you? Do you have insurance?

With money tighter for everyone these days, Victoria York says she truly believes that people are shopping differently. People want to know the money they spend matters, she says, and this is why she believes people are going to start shopping the Victoria Design Studio way.

Mineral mining may not be what it once was in Chattanooga, but that doesn’t mean local geologists don’t have essential roles to play in our community which don’t have anything to do with mining. The work of a geologist is quite varied, says Dr. Habte Giorgis Churnet, head of the department of physics, geology and astronomy at UTC. 

Dunlap, Tenn. real estate agent Tim Dean has a saying that fits nearly every situation: “It ain’t always going to be like this.”This saying has helped him to endure when present circumstances have been less than desirable, to stay focused on the future through rough patches in life, and to understand that things change, even when he’d like them to stay the same.

Dan Mayfield, owner of the HouseMaster Chattanooga franchise and certified home inspector since 1995, says it’s very simple to open a crawl space door, look around, and say it looks OK. It’s much more difficult to put on your coveralls, crawl around underneath the home to the shower at the back of the house, and see it is disconnected and water is draining into the crawl space. Identifying these potential maintenance issues, and educating customers and Realtors on where their property stands is what Mayfield and his team does.

You know what? Size does matter! You want buyers to soak up every square foot of your home, visualizing how their belongings will fit in. Follow these recommendations to maximize the space they perceive, particularly if you are selling a smaller home.

This past week my family and I took a much needed vacation to Orange Beach, Ala. If anyone tried to tell me that area is still suffering from the oil spill and the hurricanes over the last few years, I would have a hard time believing them. They are booming, at least it seemed that way to me.

Having seen “Larry Crowne,” I believe I understand what inspired Tom Hanks to write, direct and star in the new romantic comedy. Crowne is an optimist whose upbeat attitude has survived a barrage of disappointments. A lot of people in the real world have experienced setbacks, and feel bitter, hopeless and lost as a result.