News - Friday, August 18, 2017

Tennessee’s aging workforce is creating a shortage of welders, heavy-equipment operators, formwork carpenters, iron workers, concrete finishers and construction supervisors – all while the state is ramping up to spend an additional $350 million a year on road projects.

Two years ago, the Tennessee General Assembly set up funding for Go Build Tennessee Inc., a nonprofit that would spread the word to high-school and postsecondary students about careers in construction.

The $3.5 million publicity effort and a nonprofit made up of representatives from commercial, industrial, residential, and road building contractors and subcontractors has a goal of encouraging and promoting career opportunities in the construction industry in Tennessee’s secondary schools, postsecondary schools, colleges of applied technology and community colleges.

Who designs and builds roads and bridges? Civil engineers do the design work. They prepare drawings, specify materials and address safety issues for construction workers and the traveling public while the work is being done. The civil engineers may be employed by the state to design the project, or the state may turn to private companies. Most states use both methods.

Trains fascinated Rob Carden as a boy. With a grandfather who worked for Southern Railway in Chattanooga, he grew up around the steel beasts and developed a deep and abiding affection for them.

At 31, Carden still loves trains. But unlike the awestruck adolescent who liked to clamber onto the giant machines on which his grandfather worked, he has the responsibilities that come with being an adult, including earning a living.

Rep. Bryan Terry deals with patients from every demographic caught up in the web of opiates.

Patients have an array of tolerance to opioids, as well, from those currently addicted to those who are recovering addicts. As a result, each patient requires an “individualized” anesthetic based on their background and the procedure or surgery they’re to have, says Terry, a Murfreesboro anesthesiologist.

One of the first signs that new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head football coach Tom Arth had a firm grasp of his new program’s needs was the Mocs’ last-minute recruitment and signing of huge Chattanooga Central offensive lineman McClendon Curtis.

It’s championship or bust for Tennessee senior tight end Ethan Wolf.

Bowl victories are nice. So are nine-win seasons. But Wolf wants a lot more in his final season with the Vols.

“Our goal here at Tennessee every single year is to win a championship, and that’s going to remain the goal,” Wolf says. “Yeah, there may have been a little bit of excitement the first year, maybe the second year winning the bowl game. It’s always exciting, but that’s the bare minimum right now.”

Quick poll: You’re staying in a house in which someone is brutally killed by a supernatural entity. What do you do next?

If you’re the caretaker of a small group of orphan girls in “Annabelle: Creation,” a new film set in the “Conjuring” cinematic universe, you tuck the children in for the night and have them say their prayers.

The law firm of Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams has moved to the Regions Bank Building on Market Street after two decades in the Pioneer Building. The firm’s address is now 601 Market Street Ste. 401, Chattanooga, 37401.

Pictured are five of the firm’s nearly 30 attorneys: Randy Chennault, left, Dan Stefanuik, Leslie Foster, Lane Avery. Seated, Joseph White.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally has tapped Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel attorney Harold L. North Jr. to serve on the Trial Court Vacancy Commission.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission fills vacancies in Tennessee’s trial courts. The commission conducts an interview process for applicants and submits nominees to the governor when there’s a vacancy in the office of chancellor, circuit court judge, criminal court judge or judge of any other state trial court of record.

Milligan-Reynolds has added Keri Crowden to its closing department. Crowden has 17 years of experience in the title industry and extensive knowledge as an escrow agent. As the latter, she has worked with local builders, Realtors and lenders.

Robert Backer of Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty is one of America’s most productive sales associates, according to Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Agents, the annual ranking report produced by Real Trends and sponsored by Zillow Group.

Close to 100 local real estate agents were training at the Keller Williams Greater Downtown office during the time of the 2016 Woodmore bus tragedy. After deciding to donate money to the school, the agents raised $11,000.

During the training event, a group of agents auctioned a teddy bear with the intent of donating the proceeds to Woodmore Elementary. The bear sold for $500. Soon, every other participant contributed his or her previous bid, raising nearly $8,000 in minutes.

Home sales declined for July in comparison to the same period in 2016, leaving the market at a .8 percent increase for the year.

The key point to keep in perspective when looking at home sales is that while the market is running flat to last year, 2016 was a record setting year in the Greater Chattanooga region.

Whether you’re closing on your first house or your fifth, buying a home can be both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. But don’t let your long to-do list deter you from completing one of the most important items: scheduling a home inspection.

Unless you live near an amusement park that does a lot of advertising, you probably didn’t know that Aug. 16 is National Roller Coaster Day.

Actual roller coasters provide people with thrills. But as an investor, how can you stay calm on the “roller coaster” of the financial markets?

Belinda Phillips, 58, has been sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison for embezzlement from the Alhambra Shrine in Chattanooga. Upon her release from prison, U.S. Probation will supervise her for three years.

Phillips was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution.

The Chattanooga Department of Transportation and the Songbirds Foundation have teamed up to offer the Block & Roll Neighborhood Block Party Grant Program, which will give neighborhoods the resources necessary to activate public spaces in communities throughout Chattanooga. The grant program is accepting applications from all Chattanooga neighborhoods.

Grand opera is returning to Chattanooga with Bizet’s “Carmen.” Slated for the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s 2018-19 season, the opera was last performed by the CSO in 1994.

“We had financial and programmatic success with “Madame Butterfly’’ last season, and we’re excited about bringing another fully staged grand opera to Chattanooga,” says Samantha Teter, CSO executive director.

Author Jim Minick will read and discuss his new book, “Fire Is Your Water,” on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Arts Building (301 E. 11th St.). Light refreshments will be served. Purchase tickets at www.southernlitalliance.org/minnick.