News - Friday, August 26, 2011

Michael McMahan’s job sounds easy. As the city attorney in Chattanooga, he’s responsible for handling the town’s legal work. That seems simple, especially for a municipality the size of Chattanooga. Write a few contracts, settle a couple of lawsuits, and call it a day at 5 p.m. But McMahan’s job is anything but easy.

Hamilton County School Superintendent Rick Smith has worked as an educator for 38 years at Soddy Daisy High School, East Ridge Middle School, Loftis Middle School, schools in Hixson and the central office of Hamilton County education. He has been on both ends of the county, met a lot of people in between, and says he is now proud to be the superintendent.

Saturday, August 26

Company B of the 844th Engineers Construction Battalion will be called to active duty October 1 for an indefinite period, it was reported from Washington Saturday. The company of about 100 men commanded by Capt. Robert C. Lahiere, deputy Hamilton County coroner, will report to Fort Rucker, Ala.

When first we joined the legal world

So many years ago

We learned pretty quickly

About the ebb and flow

How sometimes life is busy

With deadlines every day

While other days drag slowly

As is the norm, I spent most of the last week thinking about what I was going to write about this week. The process is usually the same. I look for something that is happening in the world or in my life and try to distill some deep meaning out of the event or, alternatively, I try to pose questions which I leave to the reader to answer. This was one of those weeks where I had a lot of ideas but no clear winners.

When I first heard that legislation was being considered to require a government-issued photo ID to vote in Tennessee elections, a strange cold chill went up my back along with a memory of the spring of 1997. That memory had nothing to do with voting, but instead it brought back the memory of myself acquiring a passport for a trip, which also required me having a birth certificate to prove who I am.

God is so good to Christians. All we have to do is just ask and there it is. I’m not talkin’ about things we want. I am talkin’ about things we need – like pontoon boats and big screen TVs. I prayed and I prayed for God to give me those and sure ’nuff he did. Of course, I have to keep them at my neighbor’s house.

I found an old newspaper at Moms with a picture of a cute little 4-year-old boy who was pointing his toy-gun six shooter at the photographer. Behind him was his mother, dressed in black with her face hidden by a veil. She sat with other faceless women, mothers also I suppose.

The word “Mondegreen” made it into the dictionary in 2000, 46 years after it was coined. I guess I haven’t written about it since before that time. The word was come up with by American writer Sylvia Wright, in a 1954 essay in Harper’s. As a youth, Wright heard her mother read from “The Bonny Earl o’ Moray”: “They hae slain the Earl o’ Moray/ And laid him on the green.”

Chattanooga recently acquired a new tourist attraction from across the pond. The Chattanooga Double Decker company features and open-top 1960s authentic double decker bus brought over from West London, England. The bus allows patrons to travel the streets of Chattanooga in a tour that includes a commentary of the history of landmarks around the city.

My commute to work has become interesting in the last week. Large, rectangular orange boxes keep getting in my way. I don’t know how they drive in other parts of the world, but Arkansas school bus drivers drive like the kids inside are on fire and they need medical assistance. It’s wild and, in my opinion, dangerous!

1. During a 17th century buying trip, a French gem dealer, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, acquired a 112 3/16-carat “beau violet” diamond that would eventually yield the Hope Diamond. What country was the only known source of diamonds at this point in time? China; India; Russia; South Africa.

Throughout your life, there are many mile markers: the first time you saw The Beatles on TV, the birth of your first child, the day Kennedy was killed, your grandmother’s funeral, a big move to a new house. Without a doubt, there was life before all these … but things were definitely different afterward. So where were you when the Challenger fell?  When Katrina roared ashore? 

Austin Hatcher Osborne lived for just over two months in 2006, yet he did more with his brief time on Earth than some people accomplish over decades. The impact the little bundle had was so powerful that five years after he drew his last breath, the ripple effect of his life is still growing strong. In September, people in Chattanooga will have an opportunity to give hope to children who are facing the same fate.

Picture cupcakes, champagne, and jewelry all together for one night of fellowship and enjoyment. No, it isn’t a fantasy. All three items have come together for the cause of supporting the Medical Foundation of Chattanooga in the first ever Bubbles, Bites & Bling event.

Michelle Holder says she thanks God every day that she gets to do what she loves. By day, she’s a Realtor with Crye-Leike in Hixson, helping her clients from A to Z on all their needs. By night, she is a singing server at The Station House restaurant inside the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, and has been for 28 years.The beauty of these two careers is that together they allow Holder multiple opportunities to touch lives.

Encouraging women to become leaders in business, community and politics is the main goal of the plethora of programs that the Women’s Leadership Institute offers, says managing director, Lesley Berryhill, who joined the Institute in May of this year.

You’re ready to make an offer! You’ve done your homework by reviewing a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis), local DOM (Days On Market), and even the LP:SP (List Price to Sales Price) ratio to formulate your offer based on the numbers, and you have confidence in the mathematics.

While skimming through emails this morning and trying to find something to inspire me for writing this article, I came across one that sounded interesting, titled “Best Snack for Staying Slim.” Sounded like an all right article, and looking further into it, it sounded good - you know, eat more fiber and fewer sugars. I’m sure this strategy works, but my problem comes a bit before that – called “Getting Slim.”

Imagine staring at an impressionist painting for 139 minutes, all the while trying to make sense of its seemingly random shapes, lines, and textures. Your eyes trace a thread of blue across two-thirds of the canvas, only to see it stop without provocation; you momentarily spot what you believe is a cluster of triangles, only to watch it disappear into disarray.