News - Friday, July 21, 2017

At the Habitat International factory on Amnicola Highway, a trio of employees with cognitive disabilities are rolling up rectangular artificial-grass golf putting greens and placing them in boxes for shipping.

Up ahead, more employees with intellectual and physical challenges are making curved “floating island” greens for swimming pools. Outside, a parade of horses, deer and other thin, oversized steel sculptures guards the entrance to the plant, while a whimsical character in a wheelchair rolls toward the road.

Martin Arney’s doctor predicted the 10-year-old would never do “normal” things and that he’d spend his life in a wheelchair.

Arney’s precocious response: “Watch me.”

Despite the effects of his cerebral palsy and severe arthritis, Arney has worked at Habitat International, a golf putting green manufacturer that employees mostly staff members have disabilities, for more than two decades.

Being a Fellow of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation is an honor. To be invited by one’s peers to become a Fellow, an attorney must have an outstanding record of service to both the Chattanooga Bar Association and the broader community. Therefore, it is recognition of one’s commitment to both.

Of all the reasons to be a member of the Chattanooga Bar Association, perhaps the greatest is the ability to connect with colleagues and friends from throughout the legal community.

After all, the very definition of “association” is the coming together of persons having common interests and purposes.

When asked about the faculty at the University of Tennessee’s College of Law, Dean Melanie Wilson could have remarked on its many outstanding senior members, stars of the profession.

But the dean, who has been in the job since 2015, took another approach, focusing on the school’s long-term future, financial health and goals.

If you think the state Legislature is full of gun nuts, Rep. Micah Van Huss begs to differ. “No, not at all,” Van Huss says when asked if the General Assembly is too pro-gun. “I don’t think they’re pro-gun enough. In fact, … I think our laws in Tennessee infringe on our constitutional rights. There are now 16 states – we’ve added two or three this year – that allow constitutional carry. So, we’re falling behind.”

No one told Tom Arth that the biggest obstacle he’d face in building a new coaching staff at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga would be the NFL.

The pros claimed two of his hires (Brandon Staley to the Bears and Demarcus Covington to the Patriots) before they could even move to town, but the Mocs’ first-year head coach has a full complement of assistants on hand as they eagerly await the start of the 2017 season.

The promotional poster for “War for the Planet of the Apes” shows a massive ape army advancing toward a small squad of well-armed human soldiers. It suggests that the simians outnumber the humans by a thousand to one but that the odds are evened out by the weaponry.

Arianna “Katie” Shea is the recipient of the first Kayoko Dan Conducting Scholarship. The scholarship will offer Shea an opportunity to work with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s music director, Kayoko Dan, during the 2017-18 season.

WTCI is collaborating with the Chattanooga Film Festival to present a free monthly film screening series. Beginning Sept. 14, WTCI will host these screenings on the second Thursday of each month.

Sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and Brody Jewelers, PBS at the Palace will premiere at the Palace Picture House in the Tomorrow Building at 818 Georgia Ave. in downtown Chattanooga.

Locally-owned Lass & Lions has launched a line of small batch, handmade vodka to the greater Chattanooga area.

The company makes an 80 proof, six times distilled and six times filtered vodka from Appalachian Mountain spring water. The company is also the first spirit producer to create a line of flavored vodka through infusing functional herbs.

Nathan Torgerson of The Torgerson Team at Keller Williams Realty is named one of America’s most productive sales associates in “REAL Trends America’s Best Real Estate Agents,” the newly issued ranking report produced by REAL Trends and sponsored by Zillow Group.

A new Employer Assistance Housing program is now available in our market thanks to a partnership recently formed by the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) and Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprises (CNE).

There are numerous statistics that support the relationship between workforce stability and home ownership, and that is the driving force behind this program.

Wet rooms are among the hottest trends in new-home showcases across the country, and Chattanooga area home owners and builders are taking notes.

These open-concept or barrier-free bathrooms are tiled continuously from floor to ceiling and across the floor surface, giving a sleek, unified appearance.

It was no surprise last week when Tennessee’s football team was picked to finish third by the media in the East Division at 2017 SEC Media Days.

Almost every national publication is picking the Vols third in the East behind Georgia and Florida, although not necessarily in that order.

Chattanooga-based Unum, a workplace insurance company, has formed a variety of partnerships with non-profit organizations in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

The company issued its annual corporate responsibility report highlighting its commitment to diversity and inclusion, communities, the environment and public service.