News - Friday, September 1, 2017

Legal assistant Sheila Ortiz has a reputation for making people cry. Her ability is reportedly so profound it takes only moments for her to draw tears.

The lawyer for which Ortiz works at Grant Konvalinka & Harrison, immigration attorney Brittany Thomas, has witnessed her powers firsthand.

The woman’s story began in Guatemala, where she suffered difficulties that drove her to the U.S. to make a better life.

It continued in Chattanooga, where she felt like a stranger in a strange land. Her desire to build a foundation under her feet brought her to La Paz, a nonprofit that serves the local Latino community.

The honorees for the 2017 Latino Leadership Awards will be recognized during a Sept. 18 ceremony at the Chattanooga Convention Center. They include:

• Chuy Esquivel, owner of Mexiville
• Martha Flores, branch banker at BB&T
• Carlos Garcia, president and CEO of LicorUSA
• Neysa Gorgas-Ríos, officer with the Chattanooga Police Department
• Daniel Ledo, director of advertising at Lynch Sales Company and Board Chair of Chattanooga Cares
• Pablo Mazariegos, director of the Family Resource Center at the Hamilton County Department of Education
• Dr. Enrique Ordoñez, obstetrics & gynecology physician at Cherokee Health System
• Sheila Ortiz, legal administrative assistant at Grant, Konvalinka and Harrison
• Daniela Peterson, community engagement specialist at Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise
• Kristina Sanchez-Mills, owner of Artistic Kreations

In addition to recognizing the Latino Leaders listed above, La Paz will also honor five individuals with the following special awards:

Outsourcing is starting to become a four-letter word in state government. Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration told lawmakers during a summer study session it’s giving up on privatization of state parks, including a plan to hire a company to raze the inn at Fall Creek Falls and build a new one, at a cost of more than $22 million, then take over the keys and the profits.

Things were going well for Lori Montieth. She was married to a fireman, expecting her first child and her career gave her a sense of purpose.

Her job in social services took her across a broad swath of northern Georgia doing foster care assessments, planning parent-child reunions and counseling families. She loathed the idea of being stuck behind a desk, so the road suited her well.

For the better part of a decade, Cortney Braswell was simply a coaching nomad.

Now two games into his second season as head coach of the Central Purple Pounders, he has already stayed longer at his current job than any of his previous seven stops. And he plans on staying much longer.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a boy and a girl meet and fall for each other faster than you can say “Nicholas Sparks!” But their relationship is forbidden because she’s white, he’s Muslim and his parents insist he marry the woman of their choosing. Then, out of the blue, the girl becomes deathly ill and the boy must choose between family and love.

Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger is calling on the Hamilton County Commission to maintain the current millage rate.

Coppinger says retention of the rate taxpayers currently pay on their property assessment would provide needed funding for economic development, education, public safety and infrastructure.

Victor Fleming of Little Rock, Arkansas will speak to the Chattanooga Breakfast Rotary Club on Friday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 a.m. His topic will be “Life’s a Puzzle – Let’s Fill in the Blanks.” The club meets at Rivermont Presbyterian Church (3319 Hixson Pike).

Marissa Wilson, BSN, RN, CPhT, and patient assistance coordinator for pharmacy at CHI Memorial, recently received the Social Stewardship Award during the 2017 HealthTrust University Conference.

“Marissa’s personal mission is to continually learn and apply knowledge and experience to meet the needs of the underserved, being the best steward of all available resources,” says Sandy Vredeveld, director of pharmacy at CHI Memorial, and Wilson’s nominator.

When Bill Godsey fell in love with SCUBA diving in 1956, the sport was still in its infancy. And as best friends tend to do, they’ve grown older together.

Godsey became hooked on diving after dipping beneath the surface of a quarry in Hixson using equipment brought back by a friend who had served in the Navy. That experience sparked a passion for the sport that has defined Godsey’s life and helped him experience aquatic wonders at sites from Hawaii to the Red Sea.

Summer has ended, and you might be wondering if you’ve waited too long to sell your house this year. Here are some facts to help you decide.

While the peak selling months for residential home sales fall in the May-August period, the simple fact is home sales occur in every month of the year at varying levels. Of the 9,717 homes which closed in the last 12 months, 32 percent of those fell in the September-December time frame.

When stores start selling Halloween candy – a full two months before the haunted day –it’s a good reminder to start thinking about how to prepare your home for the upcoming change of seasons.

For those in Chattanooga or the surrounding area who have recently experienced 90 degree-plus temperatures, it might seem too early to focus on fall maintenance projects, but preparing for the chilly weather now will enhance and protect one of your biggest investments: your home. The best part is that many of these projects can be done at little or no cost, and they can help you save money on your energy bills.

This week, we observe Labor Day, a celebration of the American worker. You work hard your whole life with the hope that your efforts will ultimately allow you to achieve your financial goals, such as a comfortable retirement. But for that to happen, you may need to apply some of the lessons of the workplace to your efforts as an investor.

LAUNCH will host a fundraising dinner on Thursday, Sept. 7 featuring guest speaker Phillip Fulmer, University of Tennessee-Knoxville football coach from 1992 to 2008. Launched in 2011, LAUNCH helps women and minorities pursue business ownership.

The opening reception will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Drinks will be served along with appetizers prepared by five LAUNCH entrepreneurs with culinary based businesses: Angie Adams with Calamansi Cafe, Abdulwahhab Alabid with Jinan’s Kitchen, Shavonne Flowers with Butter Cre’me, Lesli Washington with Hummbea’s Poundcakes and Katie Mitchell with Cup & Quill Specialty Scones. Dinner, catered by BBQ Rowe from LAUNCH entrepreneur Pat Rowe, will begin at 6:30 p.m. A presentation will follow the meal.