News - Friday, November 14, 2025

When a man walked into First Choice Title last year holding a yellowed business card, Amber James wasn’t sure what to expect. The card, worn and creased from decades in a wallet, bore the name “Kitty Thompson” – James’ mother and founder of the company.

When Michael and Angela Ballard began exploring the world together, they never imagined their adventures would one day earn them a place among the globe’s most accomplished travelers. Now, the Chattanoogans are finalists for Biggest Traveler of the Year in the 2025 NomadMania Travel Awards – an honor often described as “the Oscars of travel.”

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Burwell Baxter “B.B.” Bell III has donated his personal papers and recently published memoir, “Memoirs of a Nondescript Four-Star General: A Love Story,” to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library’s Special Collections.

Chattanooga is launching a major traffic signal retiming project and installing new smart technology aimed at easing congestion citywide.

The upgrades include the addition of Gridsmart GS3 Fisheye Camera Vehicle Detection Systems, which enable real-time, adaptive traffic management. The installations, handled by the Department of Public Works, were funded through grants.

CHI Memorial Medical Group has added two new physicians to its pulmonary care team. Drs. Osamuyi Idubor and Robert Marcum have joined CHI Memorial Lung Care Associates.

Idubor earned his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee, Georgia. He completed his internal medicine residency at Northside Hospital Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and a pulmonary disease fellowship at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California.

Welcome back to Flick Picks, your twice-monthly movie fix. In this installment, we see that films don’t need explosions to make you sweat, as psychological tension can be just as combustible.

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One of my goals with these capsule reviews is to give readers a sense of what they’re walking into if they see a movie I’ve covered. That’s easy when it comes to “Die, My Love,” a psychological drama directed by Lynne Ramsay, the Scottish filmmaker who gave the world “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” Imagine being trapped in a POW sweatbox with no one around to let you out.

The East Ridge Animal Shelter is sounding an urgent alarm: it has reached its limit. Every kennel and cat cage is full, and more animals are arriving every day.

“Our shelter is overflowing with amazing dogs and cats, and we need the community’s help showing them that they matter,” says Jennie Van Ausdal, animal services supervisor for the shelter. “In these times, we all need some extra love in our lives. These incredible companion cats and dogs are just waiting for you to come and change not just their lives but yours as well.”

In the world of investing, we’ve all heard this phrase: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It’s solid advice that emphasizes the importance of diversifying your investments. 

Unfortunately, some people misinterpret this wisdom to mean they should avoid consolidating their investment accounts and keep their money spread across multiple financial institutions, often working with several different financial advisers.

As the holiday season approaches, churches, nonprofits and community partners across the Chattanooga region are working to ensure no family goes hungry.

A new “Food Resources” guide for November highlights dozens of places where residents can receive free groceries and meals throughout the month.

After talking with the program’s trainer, director of operations, strength and conditioning coach, and every individual member of her staff in the offseason, Tennessee women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell had nearly three full pages of notes of things the Lady Vols could alter, change or tweak.

Mike Borgonzi appears to be an island of hope and reason in the Tennessee Titans’ sea of dysfunction.

The team’s general manager gave his first real solo news conference recently and, quite frankly, delivered a home run for an organization that desperately needs to provide answers for past mistakes and show a plan to make sure the future is better than the dismal present.

The Tennessee Titans are back in the driver’s seat.

Unexpected wins from the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets have the Titans as the lone team with one win this season, so even without taking the field during their bye week, Tennessee now possesses a coveted commodity – the first overall pick in the NFL Draft – with eight games still remaining.

Let’s say you need a vehicle with room for more than five passengers, a large cargo area and the ability to pull a heavy trailer. A full-size three-row SUV should work well, but which one? 

The most significant news this year is the redesigned Ford Expedition. Ford has given its biggest SUV a complete makeover with a more upscale interior, new technology features and a novel split-opening tailgate.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades has stepped down from his role as chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee and is taking a leave of absence from the school.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for two of President Donald Trump's foes who have been charged by the Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to dismiss the cases against them, saying the prosecutor who secured the indictments was illegally installed in the role.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver's motions to toss out a prosecution against her stemming from a visit to an immigration detention center this year.

U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper also said he would reserve judgment on one of the New Jersey congresswoman's motions to toss the case brought by acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, who was President Donald Trump's former personal attorney.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The six-week government shutdown that came to an end late Wednesday will be another drag on an economy already facing many challenges, though the full impact will take months to measure.

About 1.25 million federal workers haven't been paid since Oct. 1. Roughly 10,000 flights have been cancelled since last week and disruptions will continue, the officials say, even as air traffic controllers return to work. Government contract awards have slowed and many food aid recipients have seen their benefits interrupted.

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud is still recovering from a concussion and will miss a second straight game Sunday when the Texans visit the Tennessee Titans.

Davis Mills will start for the second week after throwing two TD passes and running for the go-ahead score as the Texans rallied from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 36-29 win over Jacksonville last week.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block new congressional district boundaries approved by California voters last week, joining a court battle that could help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House in 2026.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that the government shutdown is over, House and Senate Republicans say they will negotiate with Democrats on whether to extend COVID-era tax credits that help tens of millions of Americans afford their health care premiums. But finding bipartisan agreement could be difficult, if not impossible, before the subsidies expire at the end of the year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club, was pardoned by President Donald Trump more than a year after he was fined $5 million after pleading guilty to insider trading and conspiracy charges in New York, authorities said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is speeding toward a vote next week on releasing files related to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a step that comes after months of resistance from Republican leaders.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have a very low bar for showing improvement after being shut out by Houston the last time these teams met.

"We definitely got to score more points," interim coach Mike McCoy said. "That's a given."

Surveillance video shows Tennessee Titans cornerback L'Jarius Sneed driving a Lamborghini Urus at a suburban Dallas dealership and nearby gas station minutes before two men allege that shots were fired at them from that vehicle last December.

Sneed, 28, was indicted Tuesday by a Dallas County grand jury on a misdemeanor charge of failing to report felony aggravated assault to law enforcement. The indictment does not include details of the alleged incident on Dec. 6.

ATLANTA (AP) — A longtime prosecutor announced he will take over the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others, after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case and no one else wanted the job.

LONDON (AP) — A London judge ruled Friday that global mining company BHP Group is liable in Brazil's worst environmental disaster when a dam collapse a decade ago unleashed tons of toxic waste into a major river, killing 19 people and devastating villages downstream.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers representing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, branches of the Sackler family that own it, cities, states, counties, Native American tribes, people with addiction and others across the U.S. delivered a nearly unanimous message for a bankruptcy court judge Friday: Approve a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against the company.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Two months after 300 South Korean nationals were detained and left the U.S. following in an immigration raid at Hyundai's electric vehicle manufacturing site in Georgia, some of those workers have returned to America to resume those jobs, their employer said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A team of researchers has uncovered what they say is the first reported use of artificial intelligence to direct a hacking campaign in a largely automated fashion.

The AI company Anthropic said this week that it disrupted a cyber operation that its researchers linked to the Chinese government. The operation involved the use of an artificial intelligence system to direct the hacking campaigns, which researchers called a disturbing development that could greatly expand the reach of AI-equipped hackers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unapproved peptide drugs have become a trendy new hack among wellness influencers, fitness coaches and celebrities, pitched as a way to build muscle, shed pounds and look younger.

Online stores will offer injectable vials for $300 to $600 each. Longevity and wellness clinics offer in-office evaluations and injections, sometimes with membership fees of thousands of dollars per month.

SEOSAN, South Korea (AP) — Hwang Seong-yeol stood at the edge of a golden field, watching nervously as a combine harvester crawled through his rice, churning up mud and stalks. Its steady hum filled the damp autumn air as grain poured into a truck waiting at the other end of the muddy paddy.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will challenge the European Union's plan to end Russian energy imports and take the case to an EU court, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday.

Speaking on state radio, Orbán accused the bloc of trying to sidestep his veto power over sanctions on Russian energy by using trade rules instead in its plan to phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland announced plans on Friday to invest $200 billion in the United States through 2028 as it finalized a hard-wrought deal to slash U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods.

Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said the Trump administration has agreed to cut U.S. tariffs on most Swiss goods to 15% — the same level imposed on the neighboring European Union — from 39%, the highest rate on any Western country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Thursday that it had reached trade frameworks with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The frameworks are about increasing the ability of U.S. firms to sell industrial and agricultural products in these countries, according to a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity as a condition for briefing reporters on a call about the agreements.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who turned America's largest retailer into a tech-powered giant and spearheaded a period of robust sales growth since becoming chief executive in 2014, plans to retire early next year, the company said Friday in a surprise announcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration's top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor, alarming senior officials of the government-backed lending giant who warned it could expose the company to claims that it was colluding with a rival to fix mortgage rates.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause new California laws expected to require thousands of companies to report emissions and climate-risk information.

The laws are the most sweeping of their kind in the nation, and a collection of business groups argued in an emergency appeal that they violate free-speech rights.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal bankruptcy court judge on Friday said he will approve OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma's latest deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids that includes some money for thousands of victims of the epidemic.

Nearly two dozen babies in 13 states have been sickened in a growing outbreak of infantile botulism linked to recalled ByHeart infant formula, federal health officials said Friday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported 23 cases of confirmed or suspected illness in babies who consumed ByHeart formula since August. That's an increase of 10 babies treated for the rare and potentially deadly disease since the outbreak was announced Nov. 8. The most recent case was reported on Nov. 11.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it will add a new warning and other limitations to a gene therapy for Duchenne's muscular dystrophy that's been linked to two patient deaths.

The infused therapy from Sarepta Therapeutics will carry a boxed warning — the most serious type — alerting doctors and patients to the risk of potentially fatal liver failure with the treatment, the FDA said in a release.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's not an official state visit, but the White House is preparing to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week with the pomp and circumstance that is typical of one.

The crown prince's day at the White House next Tuesday will begin with an arrival ceremony on the sweeping South Lawn and a subsequent greeting on the South Portico, according to a senior White House official.