News - Friday, September 17, 2021

At 50, Geoff Ramsey has amassed more than a few crazy stories about being a Realtor.

He thinks back to his infamous start in Oak Ridge when he sold a single house to a high school buddy before retiring his license in ignominious defeat.

“I was a 23-year-old punk kid driving a Corvette,” he laughs. “Who was going to trust me with the biggest financial decision of their life?”

In 1927, the New York Yankees assembled a batting lineup that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other heavy hitters who inflicted horrendous damage on the luckless pitchers tasked with stopping them.

In 1980, the Soviet Union put together what many sports pundits say is still the greatest hockey team to hit the ice. Ironically, many people remember the Red Machine only for its shocking loss to the U.S. in the Winter Olympics.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has added Jared Adams, an associate attorney who will serve the firm’s health care and nonprofit clients.

Adams works with organizations, including nonprofits, startups and established companies, on a range of business and regulatory matters.

The housing market showed few signs of cooling off in August. School has started and the majority of students are reporting for in-person schooling. But the hot real estate market isn’t just limited to single-family homes; the rental market is quite hot, as well.

Flat Top Mountain in Soddy Daisy is known for its scenic views of quiet creeks, shadowy hollers and far-off mountains. It’s also the home of farmers who coax crops out of fertile soil and tend the land for the next generation.

The Hughes family has farmed its 600-acre sprawl of Flat Top Mountain for eight generations, says its 67-year-old patriarch, Terry Hughes, a retired commercial tomato farmer who can trace his family’s homestead back to the grandson of a soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War.

When Workout Anytime East Ridge manager Siobhan Patterson talks with people about easing back into an exercise routine after recovering from COVID-19, she’s not just speaking as a fitness expert. She’s a voice of experience.

Patterson caught the virus in July 2020. As a lifelong sports and fitness enthusiast, her inability to exercise was just as distressing to her as her physical symptoms.

Once you’re retired and your children are grown, they are likely “off the books” as far as your financial responsibility for them is concerned. Yet, you’re probably still prepared to do anything to help them. But are they ready to take care of you if the need arises?

District 11 Sen. Bo Watson last week presented the inaugural Literacy Summit as part of his effort to promote literacy in early childhood education.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, State Collaborative on Reforming Education President and CEO David Mansouri, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education President and CEO Blair Taylor and Hamilton County Interim Superintendent Dr. Nakia Towns joined Watson for the panel discussion.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has awarded $25,000 to the East Lake Expression Engine as a part of Partners in Music Learning, a new regranting initiative of the philharmonic’s YOLA National program, which supports youth development and music programs across the U.S.

The Tennessee Titans and See Rock City have partnered to restore three historic barns in East Tennessee.

The barns, which feature Titans and See Rock City branding, celebrate both a historic Tennessee tradition and the start of the Titans’ 2021 season.

In late April, the city of Memphis abruptly changed course and shut down access to records that show how the city-owned animal shelter treats the dogs and cats in its care.

The map to reach this decision is familiar to those of us in the public records community and sobering to anyone who wants government to be open and accountable to its citizens.

Here, there and everywhere:

• Speaking strictly from a male perspective, I think it’s unfortunate that nothing rhymes with “happy husband.”

• The little bios posted online and elsewhere of people who die from COVID should say whether the victim had been vaccinated, just as articles about traffic fatalities say (or used to) whether the victims were wearing seat belts. Same principle.

Negotiating is an important personal finance skill that can help you earn more and pay less. Whether you’re discussing a job offer, dickering at a car dealership or just trying to work out a budget with your significant other, the ability to bargain effectively can have a huge impact.

The joy of shouting to your friends over the roar of a crowded bar, the giddiness of seeing the world rushing by below you from the seat of an airplane, the weirdly constricting sensation of wearing pants that aren’t elastic – the summer of 2021 brought back many experiences we had forgone during the past year and a half of the pandemic.

With all the developments in the auto industry you may think your next car will be electric, including a new federal target that would mean half of all new vehicles sold within a decade will have zero emissions. This will be a dramatic – and perhaps unsettling – shift for car shoppers.

You thought you’d be back by now. When you left your job last year, they said they’d call you when things opened up, but here we are, 18 months in, and you’re still sitting at home.

It’s finally occurred to you that you’re not going back and you have mixed feelings. Is this a blessing in disguise or, as in “Roar” by Michael Clinton, is it an opportunity to sink your teeth into?