News - Friday, September 9, 2016

Lacey Yerbey Williams is on a mission that’s proving to be anything but easy. As the co-owner and broker of Weichert Realtors - Yerbey Realty, a provider of full-service real estate in the Greater Chattanooga area, she wants to teach people to pronounce the first part of her company’s name correctly. It’s not wee-churt, she says, but y-curt.

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors (GCAR) will be advocating for Realtor safety throughout the month of September, known as National Realtor Safety Month.

To recognize National Realtor Safety Month, GCAR is hosting two safety classes. A self-defense class is scheduled for Sept. 23 from noon to 4:00 p.m., and a “Safe Business = Smart Business” seminar is set for Sept. 28 from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Both classes are being offered free to members of the association. Non-members are also invited to attend for a small fee.

Most people can relate to the complications and complexities involved with moving. Whether you’re relocating to a recently purchased apartment or a starter home, resettling takes time, effort and planning.

Joanna Jackson, broker of RE/MAX Real Estate Center, recently graduated from the three-part Momentum training in Atlanta, Ga. The new program, offered only by RE/MAX, is a set of office systems that will allow Jackson to provide her agents with “a clearly defined office culture, a unique value proposition, and a definitive plan for success, both at an office level and an agent level,” RE/MAX said in a press release.

Sara Ridley of Harrison has become affiliated with Crye--Leike’s Ooltewah branch.

As a Realtor and affiliate broker, Ridley serves the real estate needs of buyers and sellers in and around Hamilton County. She specializes in residential real estate with a focus on new home construction and helping first-time home buyers.

Newly released data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Census Bureau show national sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 12.4 percent in July (18.1 percent in the South), which is the highest reading in almost nine years.

The American Cancer Society on Saturday, Oct. 22 will host an evening packed with music, dancing, and food as it raises money to confront every form of the disease.

Called Gala of Hope, the evening will take place at the Celebration Event & Conference Center (6425 Lee Highway) beginning at 7 p.m. An open bar will be available and multiple auctions will be held. Love, Peace and Happiness Band will provide music.

Justice William M. “Muecke” Barker swears in Criminal Court Division II Judge Tom Greenholtz Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Judge Greenholtz won the Republican primary in March and was unopposed in the Hamilton County election in August. He was appointed to replace retired judge Rebecca Stern in Sept. 2015.

Eleven attorneys at Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan have been selected for inclusion in the 2017 edition of “Best Lawyers in America.” The Best Lawyers list is based on peer-review surveys in which more than 83,000 eligible attorneys cast more than 7.3 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. The publication now covers almost 70 countries and 142 practice areas. 

Country singer Billy Dawson will be in Chattanooga the week of Sept. 12-16, but not to perform hits like “Whatever Happens,” “Lance Corporal Austin,” and “Twenty Once, Too.” Instead of bringing his guitar, he’ll be bringing copies of his best-seller for kids, “You Never Know,” and speaking with students at ten local middle schools about bullying.

Did you know that National Grandparents Day is less than a week away? While this “Day” is not as widely known as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, it is nonetheless important, as it recognizes the key role that grandparents play.

Perhaps filming the story of Ben-Hur for the sixth time wasn’t the best idea. The 1959 version starring Charlton Heston is a classic, so why remake it when you’re not going to be able to improve on it? Movie studios still seem to think the answer to that question is money, but audiences have been proving them wrong for a while.

Voter registration drives

A taskforce comprised of community leaders and pastors are teaming up to launch GOVoteCHA. Through this nonpartisan effort, organizers will host voter registration rallies throughout the Greater Chattanooga Area to educate residents about the importance of civic participation and to encourage them to register to vote.

State lawmakers hit the snooze button in July when prospects were high for a special session to oust Rep. Jeremy Durham over a career of carousing.

They’re now getting a wakeup call from Gov. Bill Haslam after federal transportation officials gave the Legislature an Oct. 1 deadline to fix a new underage DUI law or lose $60 million for breaking the feds’ “zero-tolerance” statute. The “disappointed” Haslam is calling for a special session to hold on to the money.

Imagine if Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd hadn’t recovered the fumble by UT quarterback Joshua Dobbs in the end zone for a touchdown in overtime last Thursday night.

If an Appalachian State player had recovered, the Vols would have been doomed by a field goal on the Mountaineers’ overtime possession. Instead, Hurd’s fumble recovery and Tennessee’s defensive stand resulted in a 20-13 victory at Neyland Stadium.

Saturday, Sept. 10, 1966

Death today claimed one of the city’s best-loved matrons, Mrs. Katharine Pierce McCallie, widow of Dr. Spencer J. McCallie, one of the founders of McCallie School.

Saturday, Sept. 16, 1916

Chattanooga’s Troop B left early last night from Camp Rye for the Mexican border. Amid cheers and bugle calls, 22 cars and 215 men boarded the train under command of Capt. Douglas McMillian.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a business CEO who signed a lease on behalf of the company as well as in his personal capacity is liable for the obligations of the lease.

At issue in the case of MLG Enterprises v. Richard Johnson are the two signatures of Richard Johnson, CEO of Mobile Manufacturing, and whether his second signature was sufficient to make him individually responsible for obligations under the lease. In addition to signing the lease for Mobile Manufacturing to rent commercial space in a Williamson County building, Johnson signed the lease personally, but added “for Mobile Master Mfg. LLC” in handwriting after his second signature.

This column will be a listicle of sorts: Stuff that has somehow just been floating through my mind of late.

Personal competencies 

Not just a buzz-phrase, this term of art. The University of Pennsylvania Law School’s website addresses it under a section captioned “Professionalism.” Personal competencies, it says, include