News - Friday, May 22, 2026

On a stretch of icy road in 2000, Nick Barboza learned a lesson that would impact the rest of his life behind the wheel.

The trailer began to slide first, then the tractor followed. In an instant, the truck jackknifed – steel folding against itself, momentum overtaking control. Ice, Barboza would come to understand, demands respect.

Before Nick Barboza ever trained another driver, he had to learn how to speak for himself – in a language that wasn’t his own.

When Barboza arrived in the United States from Mexico, he spoke little English. That made his path to becoming a commercial truck driver more complicated, but not impossible.

For years, the homeless people standing along Chattanooga’s roadsides barely registered in Wyndi White’s mind.

She says she noticed them briefly, peripherally, as part of the landscape around traffic lights and intersections – a man holding cardboard near Brainerd Road, someone pushing a shopping cart along South Terrace Avenue, figures gathered near interstate ramps.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is encouraging eligible residents to serve as poll workers ahead of the Aug. 6 State and Federal Primary and County General Elections and the Nov. 3 State and Federal General Election.

Poll workers assist with a range of duties during early voting and on Election Day, including greeting voters, checking voter registration information, answering questions, explaining voting procedures, assisting voters when needed and helping process ballots after polls close. Workers are compensated and receive training before Election Day.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball program has promoted Sydney Johnson from graduate assistant to full-time assistant coach.

Johnson joined the staff last summer and helped the Mocs post a 20-11 record and capture the Southern Conference regular-season championship during the 2025-26 season.

The Chattanooga Bar Association recognized community leader Bill Norton with its 2026 Liberty Bell Award during the organization’s annual Law Day Celebration on Wednesday at St. John’s Restaurant.

This year’s Law Day theme was “The Rule of Law and the American Dream.”

The Chattanooga Police Department reported sharp declines in violent crime, property crime and overdoses in 2025, while department leaders credited a combination of proactive policing, technology investments and community partnerships for the improvements.

Let’s say you dream of spending your retirement mornings on a warm beach, coffee in hand, waves rolling in. To get there, you had a simple plan: save $1 million and buy the beach house you always wanted.

But when retirement arrives, reality hits. After accounting for keeping your current home, everyday expenses and health care, $1 million doesn’t stretch as far as you thought, and the beach house remains a dream. The problem wasn’t your discipline – it was that your number was never really your number. It was arbitrary, not anchored to what your ideal retirement would actually cost.

Markets can feel confusing when national headlines point one way and your local experience feels another. That is why this monthly snapshot matters.

It highlights what’s changing in the Chattanooga region, including how much is coming to market, how quickly buyers are moving and how pricing is holding up.

I don’t think of myself as a rebel, college alma mater (Hotty toddy!) notwithstanding. But I staged a mini-protest the other night at a Sounds game, by refusing to stand and take off my hat as requested.

No, not for the national anthem. I always rise and de-hat for that at games, sometimes even singing along and hitting the occasional right note. But I remained defiantly seated and head-covered for “God Bless America.” I’ll tell you why in a bit.

It’s common to see the University of Tennessee rowing team conducting early-morning workouts on the Tennessee River. The Lady Vols have built their confidence through every stroke and they are reaping the rewards.

After capturing their first SEC championship, the Lady Vols are ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association rankings for the first time in program history. Rowing is the 14th program at UT to hold a No. 1 ranking, and the fourth in the 2025-26 athletic year, joining softball, soccer, and men’s indoor track and field.

On what would you spend your last dollar?

That may be a trick question; you can’t get much with a dollar anymore. Half a candy bar? A sniff of gasoline? Even a box of tenpenny nails will set you back more than ten pennies. So what will you do with your last dollar? Because, as you’ll see in “The Almighty Dollar” by Brendan Greeley, there’s more where that single buck came from.

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) – For high school senior Aliyah Pack, getting distracted during school is the norm. Kids in her Pennsylvania school district use iPads starting in kindergarten, switch to Chromebooks in second grade and get their own MacBooks in eighth grade.

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) – Before every important test, teacher Nancy Barajas dims the lights, turns on a disco ball and blasts music from her playlist. Her sixth graders dance together as a “pre-celebration” to boost their confidence before taking their exam.

Does the high price of gas have you considering a hybrid for your next vehicle? We don’t blame you, especially if you drive a lot. Fortunately, there are lots of hybrids to choose from, and many don’t cost much more than their non-hybrid counterparts.

NEW YORK (AP) — Hour-to-hour swings for oil prices keep jerking financial markets around, and U.S. stocks wavered Thursday following the latest reversal.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and inched closer to its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 276 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1%.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR's three national series, has died. He was 41.

The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given.

NEW YORK (AP) — The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew wider Friday, as U.S. stocks rose toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week, their best such streak since 2023. That's even though a survey showed U.S. consumers are feeling even worse about the economy.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials on Thursday called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994, after his executioners tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line. Gov. Bill Lee announced soon afterward that the state would not try again for at least a year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed off on a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate President Donald Trump's allies for alleged political prosecution, he may have pleased his boss.

But the eyebrow-raising move — the latest in his push to prove his loyalty to Trump — has agitated the same Republican lawmakers he would need to secure the permanent job.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior officials in the Food and Drug Administration's tobacco center were blindsided by a recent decision that opens the door to allowing more unauthorized electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches onto the U.S. market, The Associated Press has learned.

NEW YORK (AP) — The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew wider Friday as U.S. stocks rose to the finish of their eighth straight winning week, the best such streak since 2023. That's even though a survey showed U.S. consumers are feeling even worse about the economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday oversaw the White House swearing-in of the new Federal Reserve chair and said he would like Kevin Warsh's help in stimulating the economy even as he tried to emphasize that the nation's central bank would remain independent.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — European Union officials said Friday that Europeans can expect oil and gas prices to remain above what they were before the Iran war for at least until the end of 2027, with prices of other goods also following an upward trajectory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators is pushing back on delays by the Department of Defense in sending $600 million in security aid to Ukraine and other allies in eastern Europe, dispatching a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday that calls for the funding to be disbursed.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, finding that the Justice Department's pursuit of criminal charges was designed to punish him for challenging his mistaken deportation to El Salvador last year.