News - Friday, August 3, 2012

Attorney Andy Lewis has a clever strategy for drumming up business: He beats his opponents in court. Throughout his 37 years of representing people who have suffered injuries or property loss due to negligence, many of these defendants have at a later date asked him to represent them in a similar manner.

On Aug. 16, Fancy Rhino will premiere a feature-length documentary film, “Build Me a World: The Story of the Howard School.” The film documents a year at the historic Howard School.

“The Howard School was founded in 1865, and is not only a historic institution in Chattanooga, it has also become known as a place where students, teachers and administrators fight against environmental and cyclical failure within our public education system,” said Drew Belz, one of the film’s producers. “However, we believe Howard stands for our city – and the aim of this film is to inspire our city to stand up for Howard and other schools like it.”

Saturday, Aug. 4

Mrs. Cecil Camp Yates, widow of Thomas A. Yates of Flintstone, Ga., died Friday night in a local hospital after several weeks’ illness. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Charles Schoen of Atlanta and Miss Tommye Camp Yates. She and her daughters were widely known throughout the South for the fine Tennessee Walking Horses raised at their Pine Acres Stables.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam last week appointed a special Supreme Court to hear a case from which all five Tennessee Supreme Court justices have recused themselves. The five special appointees include William M. Barker, who is of counsel at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel in Chattanooga. Barker retired from the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2008 after a decade of service, three as chief justice. He began his service as a judge in 1983, when he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial District. He received his bachelor of science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and his law degree from the University of Cincinnati. The special Supreme Court will decide any appeal of Hooker et al. vs. Haslam et al., a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Court of Criminal Appeals appointment by the governor.

The Tennessee Disability Coalition on July 26 joined more than a million Tennesseans with disabilities in celebrating the anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The passing of the law, which made discrimination on the basis of disability illegal, is a victory those with disabilities celebrate each time they use a ramp to access a post office, read closed captioning at the bottom of a TV screen and ride a public bus.

Aug. 4

Prayer Vigil for Keoshia Ford

Join The Future Is Ours, Olivet Baptist Church and others for a community-wide prayer vigil for shooting victim Keoshia Ford. The 13-year-old girl has been comatose since being shot in the head March 17 in a gang shooting. The vigil will take place from noon to 12:45 p.m. at 2012 Bennett Avenue, between South Beech and South Willow Streets. The outpouring of support for Ford since the public was first asked to donate items to improve her quality of life has been amazing, said a The Future is Ours representative. By July 26, Olivet Baptist Church had received three vanloads of donations, and people are still bringing more to the church. The prayer vigil will take place where Keoshia was unintentionally shot.

State of Tennessee v. Gabriel Demon Williams

Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Hamilton County

Case Number: E2011-02092-CCA-R3-CD

Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer

Originating Judge: Judge Rebecca J. Stern

Across the country, lawyers are confronted with balancing the right to commercial speech and lawyer advertising with professionalism and ethics rules. In my role as a Governor of my State’s Bar I have not seen eye to eye with the state’s largest advertiser, Brown & Crouppen. Internal lawyer elections don’t usually get much attention, and certainly not much money is spent on campaigns. Recently that changed.

Mary Wilke: Isn’t it beautiful out?

Isaac Davis: Yeah, it’s really so pretty when the light starts to come up.

Mary Wilke: Yeah, I know. I love it.

Isaac Davis: Boy, this is really a great city, I don’t care what anybody says - it’s really a knockout, you know? – Manhattan (1979)

If someone uses different words to avoid the use of profanity, is it still improper? As a child, I often wondered who this Sam Hill character was and why my father was so concerned about what he was up to.

Growing up in the south, I heard such sayings on a daily basis, and quite frankly, didn’t realize that to much of the world, they seemed unusual. I’ve worked in five states – Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia and Alabama – and have picked up some local saying at each stop, but it has taken me a half a century to realize that someone in Atlanta may not have a clue what someone in Oklahoma City is talking about, and vice versa.

Let’s review our pre-college lessons so far:

No. 1 Do your best.

No. 2 Start now.

No. 3 Choose friends wisely.

No. 4 Keep an open mind.

No. 5 Get up!

Going to college, by definition, puts you in a different world. You are surrounded by new things and new people. Your world expands as fast as you will let it. As we previously discussed, you will have more than ample opportunity to make new friends and create new relationships. New contacts and adventures are always a good thing, as long as you remember what is important.

In the rural country sides of this state, everyday traditions and simpler lifestyles seem to be the norm among the families I have known in my lifetime. I began life during a time when the majority of my neighbors farmed and Sundays were spent going to church, followed by a fried chicken dinner at home instead of in town at a franchised restaurant.

Dear Judge Vic, “So, in last week’s column, you’re saying that those vintage ’50s & ’90s xword answers are no longer tolerated? Geesh! What will I do now to make fun of you? Vocab Larry”

Dear Vocab, Thanks for your interest. If you would like a more comprehensive perspective on the shift from old-school to modern crosswords, see preshortzianpuzzleproject.com, where my young friend David Steinberg holds forth. Speaking of Steinberg, I also have a note from him:

Have you noticed the bike stations popping up around town? Have you been looking forward to the day when you could ride one of the bikes across town to your favorite lunch spot or take a quick a.m. spin through the Riverpark? If so, then I have good news: The day has arrived! The Bike Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System is open to the public, making it the first large scale bicycle transit system in the Southeast.

I’m feeling quite American-ish today, so I decided to refresh my knowledge of Presidential history. Below are some facts that can be kind of tricky. See how well you can do!

1. Which President was NOT born or did not die on the 4th of July? John Adams; Calvin Coolidge; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamine Harrison.

It is Vacation Bible School time at our church, and as always, I am helping teach. This year, I am teaching the fifth graders (who are going to sixth grade), and it is somewhat intimidating to me because they are smart. Real smart! I have learned all the things we are teaching, but it was quite a few years ago, and I have forgotten the little details surrounding the stories. Well, guess what – they want to know the little details.

Francie Ryder will not be setting her alarm the evening of January 1, 2013. Instead, she’ll sleep in the following morning, and when she awakens, she’ll likely make a cup of coffee and then drink it on her screened-in  porch while reading a newspaper. From there, she has no plans.

Saturday, Aug. 3

At a tea given by Mrs. C.W.K. Meacham at her home in St. Elmo, the announcement was made of the engagement and approaching marriage of her sister, Miss Annie Dean Ellis, to Charles G. Fowler. The wedding will take place in September. Two recent brides, Mrs. Sim Perry Long and Mrs. Carl Dennis, shared honors with Miss Ellis.

A delicious buffet lunch in the elegant Orleans Room of the Delta Queen provided the setting for the Women’s Council of Realtors monthly meeting, held August 1.  In addition to attending to the normal array of business, the Council presented a panel of four local experts in a variety of real estate industries, including Steve Champion, Laura Covington of Covington Consulting and Appraising, Jill McLean of BB&T and Patty Martin of Warranty Title Insurance.  Each spoke for a short time about recent changes in the real estate business that affect the Chattanooga market, such as the new Georgia law that requires a Georgia attorney to be involved with the closing process, and then took questions from the 30 or so people in the room.  The panel sparked several good questions and a lot of discussion.  The WCR will meet again September 5.  More at www.wcrchattanooga.com. (Photo by David Laprad)

Tiny terrapins are taking over the Tennessee Aquarium, triggering a tidal wave of tasks for turtle keepers. This month to date, herpetologists have tallied two dozen new turtles. While many might think tracking turtles would take a tortoise-like tempo, the Aquarium’s collection of more than 500 turtles from 75 different species makes herpetology truly a trade that’s tackled in track shoes.

"The Watch” is so bad, I was embarrassed to be in the theater when the lights came on at the end. I could have left while the theater was dark, like the man sitting in front of me did about halfway through. But I have a job to do, and sometimes that means being humiliated to spare you from the same fate.

Bluewater Grille recently became the first restaurant in Chattanooga to receive Green Certification from the Tennessee Hospitality Association. The restaurant, known for its made-from-scratch cuisine, has made drastic changes in its operations to promote sustainability and shrink its environmental footprint. Changes include recycling all glass, aluminum, paper and cardboard; donating all of the grain used in the neighboring brewery to a local farmer to be used as livestock feed; utilizing only Energy Star appliances; ensuring menu items are sustainable; donating overstocked food to the Chattanooga Kitchen; utilizing a high efficiency heating and air conditioning system; minimizing the use of disposables; recycling cooking grease into bio-fuel; and more. Bluewater Grillie is located downtown on Broad Street. (Photo by David Laprad)

My daughter alerted me to a report she saw not long ago about infant car seats. Apparently, there is concern of them causing SIDS, and since she didn’t see all of the report she asked if I could find something out. Here’s what I found.