News - Friday, August 31, 2012

American architect Louis Kahn said, “A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.”

Kahn could have been talking about the Hamilton County Courthouse, which will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2013. In the century since court was first held within its Tennessee gray marble walls, countless people have passed through its doors seeking justice while innumerable judges and other servants of the law have spent their lives addressing their pleas.

Funeral services were held last week for Roulos Davis, a captain with the Chattanooga Fire Department who died suddenly after reporting to work on August 20. The funeral service was held at the New Covenant Fellowship Church on North Moore Road. A graveside military service was held at the National Cemetery on Holtzclaw Avenue.

Saturday, Sept. 1

Plans for a $1,500,000 luxury apartment development in Brainerd were announced Friday by Emanuel Schatten, president of Schatten-Cypress of Nashville. Site of the 160-unit apartment complex is a 10-acre tract at Audubon, Germantown and Vista Roads south of the shopping center.

Shelby Grubbs has become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators is a not-for-profit, UK registered charity working in the public interest through an international network of branches. It has a global membership of around 12,500 individuals in over 110 countries who have professional training in private dispute resolution.

On Sept. 13, qualifying Tennesseans will have the opportunity to receive free legal advice from volunteer lawyers at the downtown Chattanooga offices of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee has partnered with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and the law firm Miller & Martin to offer a free legal advice clinic on September 13 at 2 p.m. at the downtown office of BlueCross, located at 1 Cameron Hill Circle. Individuals interested in meeting with a lawyer for free legal advice at this clinic should call Legal Aid of East Tennessee at 423-756-4013 and ask for more information and to make an appointment for the BlueCross Clinic.

Aug. 31

Woody Guthrie tribute

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 175 will hold an open house from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Noted actor Randy Noojin will present his one-hour solo show, “Hard Travelin’ With Woody,” at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, although donations to the Community Kitchen will be accepted. Reservations are requested by August 28. Refreshments will be provided. The IBEW Local 175 is located at 3922 Volunteer Drive.

As readers of this space might recall, a firm recently launched a negative campaign against my re-election to the Board of Governors of my state’s Bar that included flyers and an electronic billboard.  The state’s largest advertiser sponsored the campaign.  The outcome did not go well for that firm, as its originally anonymous campaign eventually led to it putting its name on the billboard, which perhaps contributed to my win.  The hundreds of e-mails, comments and calls of support were gratifying.  Past employees of the firm contacted me, one calling his former office, “[T]he local fast food firm of the law.”  Many plaintiff’s lawyers complained to me about their discomfort in having to deal with negative comments from prospective jurors who had been offended by that firm’s advertising.  Sadly, one of my clients told me he was asked, “Who is this guy, Levison, and what is he running for, because if the attorneys are not going to vote for him, I want to make sure I do?!”

State of Tennessee v. Krystal Bowman.

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Hamilton County

Case Number: E2011-01906-CCA-R3-CD

Authoring Judge: Judge James Curwood Witt, Jr.

Originating Judge: Judge Don W. Poole

Date Filed: Monday, August 13, 2012

The Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program has granted accreditation status to the Chattanooga Police Department. To achieve accreditation with TLEA, an agency voluntarily submits to a possibly three-year process of enhancing the agency’s professionalism and effectiveness utilizing 152 law enforcement standards and participating in a thorough on-site assessment. The standards address a variety of areas including organizational, operational and budget management practices.

You can’t hide the thunderbolt. When it hits you, everybody can see it. Christ, man, don’t be ashamed of it. Some men pray for the thunderbolt. You’re a very lucky fellow.”

– Mario Puzo, The Godfather

We were joking in the office recently about our old school desks. It was a one-piece thing with a desk no larger than a TV tray, complete with a little carved out groove where you placed your No. 2 pencil. The seat, which forced you to be a contortionist just to get into, doubled as a locker for your books, snacks, love notes, coat, gloves and ear muffs. It was a dangerous place, too, as thieves often visited your seat at night – or during recess – and stole items, usually that book report you had ready to give to the teacher. Or was it just me?

Who would have ever thought that the year 2012 would have seen not only a Congress deadlocked over passing farm legislation due to electoral politics but also our nation’s farmers caught between that debacle and a drought that could push many producers right out of business. With current farm programs expiring in September, America’s farmers, who face drastic losses due to the drought, are wondering where to turn next.

See last week’s column and the one before it for other illustrations of quotable matter, straight from “the record.” That is, stuff filed and/or said in courts around the world.

In a certain case in a certain court, after receiving a motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff amended his complaint to add a party defendant. Defense counsel then filed a pleading that included this: “Apparently, plaintiff did finally decide to make allegations against the only party possibly at fault, however reluctantly.”

Some ideas pop up at the right time and place. When those ideas become reality, the results are magical. Take Olive Chattanooga, for example.

“Olive Chattanooga? What’s that?”

That’s the same thing I said when I found the business while searching online for new restaurants in town. But as I soon found out, Olive Chattanooga is not a restaurant; rather, it’s a fine oil and balsamic tasting room.

It seems hubby and I are spending a lot of time in the air lately, such as today. That gave me the idea behind this puzzle – how much do you know about airlines and airports? Flying anywhere in the near future? You might want to check this out!

We are in the heat of the summer – one of the hottest on record for our little town – so other than ice cream and watermelon, here are a few recipes to keep you and the kitchen from heating up.

While perusing Taste of Home magazine this week, I saw a nifty, quick little salad recipe that would be great served alongside some grilled chops and corn-on-the-cob. Why it captured my attention is because it happens to be one of my favorite types of salad – one made “caprese-style”. No, that’s not a word, and more than likely, it could not even qualify for being a real descriptive term; however, it serves the purpose – you understand the general taste.

Architect Edmund Garbee has the ability to take an empty space and fill it with a building. When he takes on a project, he carefully considers the land on which the structure will sit and the needs of the client, and then envisions the edifice in its early form. Next, he sketches what he sees in his mind on paper, roughly at first in jagged ink lines and estimated dimensions, and then more cleanly. As he gives his vision shape on a computer screen, he snaps together the bones that will hold the building in place, stitches together the sinews that will form the rooms and sets in place the vital organs that will allow the structure to function. This is his skill, and like other architects, he’s been paid handsomely to use it.

Led by local architects, contractors, Realtors and homeowners working together to build value for homes in Chattanooga, Better Built is Chattanooga’s homegrown green home ratings index.  By providing building standards and a blueprint for high performance homes that lower costs for occupants, appreciate in value because of better design and construction, and reduce the environmental impact of houses, Better Built is serving not just Chattanooga but also the planet.

Sunday, Sept. 1

Miss Margaret McKinney is visiting her grandmother, Mrs. Williams, in Sweetwater. Mrs. Nat Williams and daughters, Gertrude and Bernadine of Annis, Texas, will accompany Margaret home to be the guests of Mr. and Mrs. R.J. McKinney in Highland Park.

"Premium Rush” is probably the best movie anyone is going to make about Manhattan bike messengers. It has energetic chase scenes, a story that unfolds nicely and characters worth pulling for. I would have liked it to be grittier, but this is 2012, not 1972.

For most of us, our dreams do not match reality. When we start our business, we almost always work longer hours and make less money than we dreamed we would when we decided to go into business. Our lives become consumed with work and the responsibility of owning a business, and as a result, we end up with less time available to enjoy a well balanced and fulfilling life.

A new Web site geared toward providing the best information on local trails, crags and put-ins launched this month. Roots Rated was founded in 2012 by Dawson Wheeler, Mark McKnight and Fynn Glover of Chattanooga. While on a nationwide road trip, an inability to find good information for the best things to do locally frustrated the three travelers.

Recently, a family member of mine was in Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif., for about three days. One afternoon while I was there, a lady knocked on the door and asked if she could talk with us a minute, so we invited her in.

Her name was Janice Freeman-Bell, and she is part of a music ministry that this particular hospital offers to its patients. Janice, a harpist, is a clinical music practitioner at Mercy General, where she started the program under the supervision of Spiritual Care Services.