News - Friday, September 27, 2013

“Welcome to the unveiling and hanging of Judge Durby,” Judge Clarence Shattuck said to a standing room-only crowd in General Sessions Courtroom Six Wednesday, September 25 as he opened a ceremony lauding the career of the Honorable Ronald W. Durby. The laughter that followed Judge Shattuck’s introduction continued throughout the event as local judges shared stories about the beloved and respected justice. Friends, family, and colleagues attended the unveiling of the portrait of Judge Durby, who served Hamilton County for decades and stepped down from the bench last year due to health reasons. A reception hosted by the Chattanooga Bar Association followed the event. Pictured: Judge Durby, far left, and his family pose with the newly unveiled portrait. Additional photo on page 4. (David Laprad)

The Women’s Center at UTC and Partnership for Families, Children and Adults will present “Take Back the Night Chattanooga,” an evening to take a stance against sexual assault and domestic violence. Take Back the Night will be held on October 23 at the Oak Street Amphitheatre on the UTC campus. “Take Back the Night” is an international march and rally to bring awareness to sexual assault and domestic violence.

With just one percent of all federal cases reaching the Supreme Court of the United States, the decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit “by and large” govern those within its domain, says District Judge Curtis L. Collier. For this reason, Judge Collier believes every attorney practicing in the Greater Chattanooga area should consider attending “The Sixth Circuit: A Year in Review,” a conference the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is scheduled to host next month.

Lisa Shepperd Zavogiannis, District Attorney General, 31st Judicial District, was sworn in as a special assistant U. S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Tennessee. The ceremony was held Monday, September 16, in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga by the Honorable William B. Mitchell Carter, U.S. Magistrate Judge.

At the annual Equal Opportunity Day breakfast on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:30 a.m. at the Chattanooga Convention Center, the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga will honor local corporate and individual leaders who have championed the principles of equal opportunity and social justice. The keynote speaker is Gale King, executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Nationwide Insurance, a Fortune 100 company.

Charles “Buz” W. Dooley, right, greets the Honorable Ronald W. Durby as the retired judge enters General Sessions Courtroom Six on Wednesday, September 25 to attend the unveiling of his portrait. (David Laprad)

Historian, tactician, admirer of the law, and advocate for the cause, Irving Younger embodied both the noblest aspects of the legal profession and the zealous application of its tools. “Evidence for Trial Lawyers” is one of his most cherished masterworks. Now lawyers in the Chattanooga area can experience this program, which has been re-mastered from the original recording and includes commentary by Steve Easton, Dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law, ensuring Younger’s instruction is matched to current rule and practice.

After taking a summer break during the symphony’s offseason, Warehouse Row and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera have relaunched their series of live, informal musical performances at the retail destination on the third Thursday of each month. Treating shoppers and downtown business people to a monthly respite during their lunch hour, the Third Thursday concert series will feature alternating performances of woodwind and string quintets. The first performance took place September 19; additional perforances are scheduled to take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 17, November 21, and December 19. Pictured: The string ensemble performs at the Mercantile, a collection of locally-owned and operated eateries, on September 19. (David Laprad)

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year finalists join President Obama for an exclusive meeting in the Oval Office as the culmination of a week-long competition to be named the 2013-14 National Youth of the Year, the highest recognition a club member can receive. The newly named Youth of the Year, Kiana Knolland (left), received the top honor and over $60,000 in college scholarships from national Youth of the Year sponsor, Tupperware Brands. From left to right: Kiana Knolland; RaShaan Allen, Military Youth of the Year from Devers Youth Center on Ft. Knox, Ky.; Yossymar Rojas from Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley, Calif.; Jesse Friedman from Boys & Girls Clubs of South Oakland County, Mich.; Martaluz Olang from Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Conn.; and Meeri Shin from Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland, Tenn. (Photo provided)

Bummer! 

I drove in from Tulsa a while ago. No big deal that my teammates and I suffered an ignominious defeat on the golf course this morning. No big deal that I opted to not listen to the football game on the radio during the drive home, which might have made the drive seem briefer.

Fall is here. It’s a wonderful time of the year. Cooler weather, colorful trees, pumpkins, festivals – it truly is one of my favorite times. But along with all the good things the cooler weather brings comes the ragweed. Ragweed is one of the worst pollen bearers for allergy sufferers. Along with ragweed, the cooler weather brings sinus problems, congestion, viruses, and colds.

Area residents, private companies, and non-profits last week turned parking spots into playful areas for the sixth year of Park(ing) Day. On Friday, September 20, Chattanoogans created and enjoyed numerous parklets, or mini-parks, constructed in downtown metered parking spaces.

Do you ever feel like you have a thousand things to do? OK, I exaggerate; more like two thousand. 

I got up on a recent Saturday morning with the best of intentions. “Things will get done today,” the annoying little conscience guy in my head was telling me (Whenever I think of my conscience I’m reminded of Tom Hulse, aka Pinto, in “Animal House,” and his two voices of reason)

This past Saturday afternoon, we went to lunch with several family members. As you can guess, we had a lot of fun. There was plenty of ribbing, joking, and laughing during the few hours we spent together.

We went to eat at a place that’s very popular and has been around a long time, but that I’ve never tired – Buffalo Wild Wings. Quite a fun place, especially if you like sports, because there were more TV’s hanging around than Best Buy has on their showroom floor! Well, maybe not that many, but there were a lot!

Linda Gaddis wanted to see the path along which God wanted her to walk, but she was in a fog.

Early in life, Gaddis had felt the certainty of solid ground under her feet. A native of Chattanooga, she had graduated from Brainerd High School, earned a degree in office administration from UTC, married, and then accompanied her husband to seminary in Mississippi, where she took classes on how to be a preacher’s wife.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a program of Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults, has received a $2,500 grant from Wells Fargo designated for Homeowner Education and Foreclosure Counseling. CCCS will use the funds to support its homeownership education course, “The Keys to Your Future.”

For more than 20 years, North American river otters have been one of the Tennessee Aquarium’s top attractions. “If you go through the Cove Forest, and the otters are out scampering around and swimming, guests are delighted with the experience,” said Jackson Andrews, the Aquarium’s director of husbandry and operations. “It’s still nice strolling through that forest, surrounded by a gorgeous variety of plants while enjoying the birds, fish and reptiles, but the impact is not the same if the otters are asleep.A dramatic otter exhibit is something people have wanted.”

I was bored with what was on TV the other day, so I tuned into the Home Shopping Network. The man on the tube was selling coins of all kinds at cheap prices. My husband is a numismatic, so I knew most of what he was selling was not what he was making it seem. However, he did give me the idea to do this trivia puzzle on coins. Test your knowledge on our currency!

"Prisoners” plays like several different movies wrapped into a single viewing experience. Only one of the films feels out of place, though. This is a testament to the writing, which has the focus of a predator zeroing in on its prey, and the directing, which places your head in a vice and slowly tightens the grip. By the time you hear your skull cracking, you’ll be too captivated to pull away.

As one of the most feared diseases, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis presents many challenges for families living with this disease. Because an estimated 70 percent of people with Alzheimer’s live at home, the responsibility of caring for them usually falls on their families, who frequently face – and dread – the unexpected and unknown. While it may be impossible to predict behaviors exhibited by a person struggling with Alzheimer’s, there are free resources available to help area families cope with whatever situation may arise.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation this week released a study that analyzed the state’s domestic violence crime data as reported by law enforcement agencies through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System program in an effort to gain more insight into the problem of domestic violence in Tennessee. The report analyzes offense data flagged as domestic related from 2010 through 2012 and shows a 3.4 percent decrease in offenses reported during that time period, a .4 percent drop from 2010 to 2011, and a 2.9 percent decrease from 2011 to 2012.

R. Samuel Chambers has joined the real estate sales staff of C.V. Brown and Bros., Chattanooga’s oldest realty firm, established in 1881, Lonnie Speed, sales manager, announced. Chambers, a native of Atlanta, has been employee relations manager for the Chicopee Mfg. Co. in New Brunswick, N.J.

Saturday, September 27

Former President Taft has spent three days with the Lincoln Memorial Commission deciding on the awarding of the contract for the Lincoln Memorial Monument, which will cost over $1,637,800.

Sunday, September 28

Friends of the Library used book sale

 Through Monday, September 30

The next Friends of the Library book sale will take place at Eastgate Town Center Saturday, September 21 through Monday, September 30. As many as 30,000 used books will be available for purchase. The event will raise money for programs at the Chattanooga Public Library the city does not fund including literacy programs, staff appreciation and development, and projects for special populations. The upcoming sale also will feature local poets and fiction and non-fiction writers, who will sign their work at the author’s table. For more information, call Becky Wooley at 423-653-7902.