News - Friday, August 16, 2019

Parents of incoming college freshmen: It’s never too late to start talking about sex and consent with your sons and daughters and explain what’s behind ‘No means no.’

Examples of the dangers abound, from the high-profile prosecutions of college athletes to cases involving too much alcohol and sex to reports of wrongly accused sexual assault suspects suing their colleges for defamation.

When it was time for Nadine Pierre-Louis to have The Talk about sex with her two sons, she realized there weren’t a lot of specifics to guide mothers of boys.

These days, her sons are adults and her mission as a marriage and family therapist in Florida is to help parents, especially those with sons, have those tough but necessary talks that will equip kids to live responsibly. She and others say it’s not too late for parents to talk with their young adult children about sex and consent in the countdown to sending them off to college.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel is expanding with the addition of four new team members to support the firm’s marketing and business development department, business practice, and litigation and risk management practice.

The new team members are Paige Bureau, Jim Exum, Katelyn Jackson and McKeehanon Rue.

It may be the one thing Tennessee legislators enjoy more than designating official state dogs, rocks and such: authorizing new specialty license plates.

Before the recent General Assembly session, the state was already offering more than 100 plate options for private vehicles.

When Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Realty Center’s Sherri Pratt noticed sellers were placing more and more luxury homes on the market in the Greater Chattanooga area, she saw an opportunity.

“You’d be surprised by the number of homes in our area that sell for over $1 million,” she says. “The number has steadily grown and tripled in the last decade.”

It’s hard to believe the mid-budget street racing pic “The Fast and Furious” has brought us nearly 20 years later to the preposterous “Hobbs & Shaw.”

Not that “The Fast and Furious” was a masterpiece, but it was an entertaining film that introduced several compelling characters, including Los Angeles police officer Brian O’Conner (the late Paul Walker) and car thief Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). It also launched a franchise that has produced seven sequels and now the “Hobbs & Shaw” spinoff.

As a business owner, you can’t afford to ignore your competition. You can’t afford to miss out on the trends affecting your industry. You can’t afford to alienate customers. And here’s one more item to add to the list: You can’t afford not to create a retirement plan for yourself.

Comcast is expanding eligibility for Internet Essentials, its broadband adoption program, to include all qualified low-income households in its service areas.

The company estimates more than three million additional low-income households, including households with people with disabilities, are now eligible to apply.

Chattanooga State Community College recently honored two partners for Excellence in Philanthropy.

“We are recognizing both organizations for their generosity, leadership and commitment to our students,” said Chattanooga State President Dr. Rebecca Ashford in her opening address.

The Chattanooga women’s soccer team will have a new home this fall. The Mocs will play all home games at the newly opened UTC Soccer Complex in cooperation with Campus Recreation and Student Development.

The $7.7 million sports complex had its grand opening this spring and sits on 17 acres located next to Engel Stadium on O’Neal Street.

In July, the U.S. economic expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in the nation’s history. That run marked 121 straight months of gross domestic product growth and surpassed the 120-month expansion from 1991 to 2001.

The average rate of growth during this expansion has been a milder 2.3 % per year compared to 3.6 % during the 1990s. Although the economy should continue to perform well for the rest of 2019, some economists see a mild recession on the horizon.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department’s Step ONE program has opened its community teaching garden grant application period. Those interested are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $1,000.

The teaching garden initiative is meant to demonstrate to children and families the importance of food choices for overall health and provide opportunities for people to learn communication, responsibility, teamwork and leadership skills, the Health Department says in a new release.

As part of national 811 Day (recognized on Aug. 11), Chattanooga Gas planted miniature green shovels near community parks to raise awareness about safe digging practices.

The shovels are located near Miller, Renaissance, Ross’s Landing, Coolidge and Walnut St. Bridge parks. Participants that locate a shovel can present it to select Clumpies locations and redeem a free ice cream.

By Dan Edmunds | Edmunds

Ford’s F-Series has dominated the full-size pickup sales race for as long as anyone can remember. For much of that time, Ram trucks have languished in third place behind the Chevrolet Silverado. But Ram has been steadily winning converts over the past few years, and it just recently leapfrogged Chevy into the No. 2 sales position.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers presented Ruby Falls with the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award at a ceremony in Franklin on Aug. 1.

Ruby Falls was honored for the impact its ecologically-sensitive 2018 expansion, sustainability efforts and conservation initiatives have on the state’s natural resources and communities. Ruby Falls President Hugh Morrow accepted the award.

Elected officials and community members recently gathered at Volkswagen Chattanooga to recognize eight new graduates who have completed the Volkswagen Academy apprenticeship program.

Each graduate received conditional job offers from Volkswagen Chattanooga, as well as a Volkswagen Academy diploma recognized worldwide by the Volkswagen Group.

Dan Ashe, the president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, visited the Tennessee Aquarium this month in recognition of more than a quarter-century of meeting the AZA’s expectations for excellence.

“By achieving accreditation continuously for more than 25 years, the Tennessee Aquarium demonstrates a commitment to protecting animals around the world and inspiring their guests to do the same,” Ashe said.

Members of the public will soon have an opportunity to post bail for elected officials.

Established in 1984, Chattanooga Crime Stoppers assists the Chattanooga Police Department and law enforcement agencies in all contiguous counties to fight against crime. Community members receive rewards for anonymously providing tips that lead to the arrests of criminals across the region.

Students at Hixson High School and The Howard School have been awarded a Mozilla Open Science Grant to develop biomedical science projects.

The international grant was also awarded to researchers in Ghana, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and other U.S. cities, but Hixson and Howard were the only K-12 institutions to receive a grant.

The East Ridge Police Department is seeking participants for its inaugural Citizen’s Police Academy. Class 19-01 will begin Sept. 16 from 6-9 p.m. and last 10 weeks.

The academy will be aimed at familiarizing East Ridge citizens with the various aspects of the law enforcement profession. During the training sessions, representatives from various divisions within the police department will conduct presentations and demonstrations on a variety of topics, including uniform patrol, criminal investigations, traffic enforcement, the K-9 unit and more.

The ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering) Mentor Program of Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia kicks off the week of Aug. 26.

ACE is an after-school mentoring program through which high school students meet with architects, engineers and builders to learn about careers in the design and construction industry. Students gain experience in working on a real-world project and have the opportunity to compete for scholarships.

Dove and Grammy Award-winning recording artist David Phelps will perform at Calvary Chapel (3415 S. Broad St.) Friday, Aug. 16 beginning at 7 p.m. The event will feature songs from Phelps’ hymnal recordings. Purchase tickets at www.itickets.com or www.davidphelps.com. Call 800 965-9324 or 423 503-6335 for more information.

The Mad Priest has earned its green|light certification from green|spaces. The green|light program focuses on small to large organizations throughout Chattanooga and the surrounding area that are interested in improving their social and environmental impacts.

Friday, August 15

The county school board has appointed Humphreys and Wilhoite, architects to design improvements costing $650,000 for Red Bank High School. The firm of Bianculli and Tyler received the job of designing an addition to Lookout Valley Junior High School which will house a senior high school for Tiftonia.