News - Friday, July 20, 2012

James Madison, “the father of the Constitution,” was one of the most important figures of the revolutionary period and was a crucial player in the drafting and adoption of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His impact on constitutional law is unsurpassed and his writings are among the most important sources for understanding the meaning of the Constitution to this day.  Furthermore, he is arguably the most important political philosopher produced by our country.

The Crawford County courthouse in Van Buren, Ark., was a bleak place for James Ray Palmer. Over a little more than a decade, he’d been in court for divorce, custody and bankruptcy proceedings. On September 13, 2011, he entered the small-town courthouse armed with two handguns and an assault rifle looking for Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell. The receptionist said the judge was not in his office. Palmer pulled out a gun anyway and started shooting.

Saturday, July 21

The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau has “heartily and enthusiastically” endorsed the report proposing improvement of the Memorial Auditorium and leasing of the Tivoli, R.C. Borden bureau president said Thursday. Alex Guerry, Jr. and John Stophel as a special committee for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce prepared the report which said that the city should lease the Tivoli and improve the auditorium for greater use.

July 20

Fresh on Fridays

Fresh On Fridays offers fresh made fare from local restaurants, food trucks, artisans and farmers. Participants include Southern Burger Company, Famous Nater’s World Famous, Link 41 Sausage, Pure Soda Works, Monkey Town Donut Company, Ello Ello, Legends Cookies, Taste of Argentina, Taco Sherpa, Herr Flowers and Flat Top Mountain Produce. At Miller Plaza, located downtown across the street from The Volunteer Building, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A prank text and email in which the sender tells the recipient he or she has missed jury duty and will be subject to a stiff fine and jail time is making the rounds in Hamilton County.  Scams about missed jury duty are nothing new, but this one is particularly troublesome because the perpetrator is claiming Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk Paula Thompson as the source.

Lately I’ve been burned out at work. Yes, I realize that being a lawyer is the most fulfilling profession known to man, blah blah blah. But lately I’ve been feeling like I’m missing something and maybe there’s another profession out there that’s better suited for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love arguing and getting paid for it, but part of me wonders if I wasn’t meant to do something else. Surely there’s a job where I can work as a professional food taster, right?

State of Tennessee v. Robert Fann, Jr.

Case Number: M2011-00241-CCA-R3-CD

Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams

Originating Judge: Judge Thomas W. Graham

Date Filed: Thursday, July 12, 2012

After a trial by jury, the defendant was found guilty of rape, a Class B felony, and incest, a Class C felony. He was sentenced to a total effective sentence of ten years. On appeal, the defendant raises numerous challenges to his convictions and sentences. The defendant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. However, his argument is based on alleged inconsistencies in the evidence, and conflicts in the evidence provide no basis for reversing a defendant’s convictions. The defendant claims that the trial court erred by admitting the testimony of a police officer concerning statements that the defendant made to his wife in the officer’s presence because these statements were protected by the martial privilege. However, we conclude that the statements were not privileged because the defendant had no reasonable expectation that they would remain confidential. The defendant claims thatthese same statements should also have been excluded because the officer did not give the defendant his Miranda warnings. However, this claim must fail because the defendant was neither in custody nor being interrogated by the police at the time the statements were made. The defendant claims that the trial court erred by admitting an exhibit containing a nurse’s handwritten notes repeating certain statements made by the victim concerning the cause of herinjuries,becausethesestatements wereinadmissible under the hearsay rule.

Part two of the water heater wars.

It was time to make a call to the warranty company employed by GE, or maybe it was Home Depot. I was now driving back towards downtown and my office. I had chosen the route of I430, past Maumelle, to I-40 East.

Without hesitation, I describe my hometown as “above” Mobile and “below” Birmingham. If I’m visiting a friend in California and someone ask me where I’m from, I shift into my non-Southern dialect and use the terms “north” and “south” when pinpointing a town.

The late Erma Bombeck wrote a book entitled "The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank" and in years past that may have been true, but not this year in our state. At my house that was the first place in the yard that went brown and even the field lines have not yielded enough moisture for grass tall enough to keep mowed. It has been hot and dry, but as rains have made a return to our Tennessee fields, hopes have once again materialized for maybe some pastures saved, as well as some late crops.

College is a time of exploration and a time to experience new things. You will come in contact with people and ideas that you never knew existed. You will be given the opportunity to expand your mind and to see the world from many different viewpoints. The only thing you have to do is keep your mind open and be willing to consider and accept things that may initially seem foreign to you.

Governor Bill Haslam has appointed three new members to Tennessee Housing Development Agency’s board of directors in time for its July meeting and two members were reappointed.

 Tennessee Housing Development Agency, THDA, has a 19-member board representing

Years ago V Jeffers of Portland, Ark., became fascinated with the Monarch Butterfly, the most recognizable of non-detested insects. With their orange-brown wings and black veins and borders, Monarchs are found in New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Madeira and North America. In the Southeast Arkansas hamlet that V and husband Carl call home, V raises caterpillars in her spare time.

Chocolate covered bacon!

In college, my journalism teachers all stressed the importance of writing a good lead. To grab a reader’s attention, you have to start your articles with a bang. Hence, the opening salvo of this piece.  If “chocolate covered bacon” doesn’t grab your attention, then nothing will.

... is a rose, is a rose,” but when is a rose not a rose? When it is a peach. If you don’t already know, peaches are from the Rose family (Prunus) and are classified as a “stone fruit” or “drupe.”

From that classification, comes two more – they are either a Clingstone or Freestone, (referring to how easily the flesh of the peach separates from the stone) and from there, several varieties within those two classifications. Looks like peaches are indeed, a class act!

Everyday there are people who make a difference in everyone’s life. Someone who cares not just for the country, but also for all the people in it. All of our military personnel are such people; however, we don’t know all of them in a personal-sort of way. Walter Cronkite was such a person – and what he said affected all of us. We all trusted him.

Broker Byron Kelly says half of his childhood memories revolve around real estate – including those surrounding family vacations. The son of two brokers, he recalls sitting in the back seat of the family vehicle, clutching his suitcase and demanding his parents leave town. For them, the final hours before starting a break were a whirlwind of phone calls, trips to the office and feverish minutes at a copy machine.

More than $3 million donated by Volkswagen Chattanooga to education in Tennessee

Interns from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) visited Volkswagen Chattanooga as part of the Volkswagen Distinguished Scholars Program, a student research initiative sponsored by the manufacturer.

Saturday, July 20

In response to a letter from local ministers about the influence of the latest dances “Grizzly Bear,” “Turkey Trot” and “Bunny Hug” on young people, Commissioner Betterton declared they had watched the late balls and the Chief of Police was instructed to place his police to watch these places where modern dancing was going on. He said they are not dances, but just unattractive “abominable postures” which will wreck and ruin young people, and parents should be more interested. (Editor’s note: You can see these dances on You Tube).

The Oliver Stone of “Natural Born Killers” and “U-Turn” is back with “Savages,” a brutal R-rated movie that involves more sex, drugs, violence and profanity than I recall seeing in a while. If that’s not your cup of tea, then you can skip the rest of this review. If you have no aversion to watching movies containing “mature” subject matter, then you might want to continue reading, as those things do not necessarily add up to a good movie, no matter how much of them you throw at the screen.

Think of your marketplace as your playing field, not unlike an athlete views a football field, basketball court or hockey rink. The better you know every inch of that playing field, the more you can exploit it to your advantage.

Before I became a Realtor, in my early twenties, I was a racquetball professional. I played hundreds of tournaments over my sports career, and my best games were always at my home club. There, we had a court with floor-to-ceiling glass on the right side and back wall, making it particularly difficult to see in the back right-hand corner where the two walls of glass converged.

After a diagnosis of scoliosis a few months ago and learning she would need to wear a back brace, Chattanooga-resident Kaitlyn McAfee felt as if she were the only girl dealing with being scared and embarrassed by a scoliosis diagnosis. When she discovered an online peer-driven support group called Curvy Girls Scoliosis and realized they did not have a Tennessee chapter, she decided to start the first group in her home state.

A rumor is circulating across the U.S. claiming President Obama has approved a new stimulus package that will pay for a person’s utilities. Variations have stated it would also pay for student loans. The local Better Business Bureau says this is a scam.

I am sitting in the airport, writing this article. My husband just returned with a plate of fruit and cheese for us to nibble on while we wait for our next flight. I haven’t eaten all day and I have to say, I’m pretty hungry. As I scan the plate, I notice that it has wheat crackers on the side. At first, I consider this ironic because of the topic I am writing on which is wheat, but then wheat is such a huge part of the American diet.

Twenty-three state and 177 local Realtor Associations, representing over 560,000 Realtor across the United States have added the Real Estate Agent Directory on Facebook to their Facebook business pages, making it easy for the millions of potential buyers and sellers on Facebook to find, learn about and connect with their members.

The Chattanooga Salvation Army 614 Corps is expanding its ReCreate Café Arts Program by producing the musical “Godspell” with a cast of performers from both the homeless and housed parts of the local community. The leadership of ReCreate Café has joined with theatre professors from Covenant College and UTC to create a production that opens July 20 and runs through July 24.

A new learning adventure began at the Tennessee Aquarium last September when celebrity chef Alton Brown stepped onto a stage at the IMAX Theater. The Food Network star helped launch the Aquarium’s Serve & Protect program with a measured amount of marine science and a dash of culinary humor. He reminded everyone that bringing the sustainable seafood conversation to inland residents is at the heart of the Aquarium’s mission.