News - Friday, December 19, 2025

When leaders from education, libraries, nonprofits and local government talk about Chattanooga 2.0, they rarely start with its programs.

They talk instead about rooms where people who rarely worked together before now sit at the same table – comparing data, identifying gaps and imagining what might be possible if systems aligned around children rather than institutions.

Ten years ago, community leaders in Chattanooga and Hamilton County rallied around a shared premise: The long-term health of the local economy depended on whether children have real opportunities to succeed, from early childhood through adulthood.

The image Maria Noel offered to open the Alton Park Connector groundbreaking was ancient.

In Greek mythology, she told the crowd gathered for the Dec. 13 ceremony, a man is condemned to push a massive boulder up a hill for eternity, only to watch it roll back down as he nears the top. The story is often framed as an example of futility, but Noel reframed it as perseverance – the refusal to stop pushing, even when progress feels temporary.

Federal judges understandably receive the most public attention in carrying out the judiciary’s responsibility of upholding the rule of law, interpreting the Constitution and striving to see that justice is done.

But for judges to meet this responsibility, the assistance of many others is necessary. For the most part, these are people who quietly do essential work behind the scenes. Among these unsung workers are the members of the United States Marshals Service.

Welcome back to Flick Picks, your twice-monthly movie fix. This installment invites you to imagine eternity, savor a sharply crafted murder mystery and take guilty pleasure in a gloriously over-the-top ’90s disaster romp.

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If you could choose any place to spend your afterlife, where would it be? In a casino where you always win? On a beach gazing out at a flawless ocean and sky? In a world where you can smoke as much as you like? (You can only die once, after all.)

Last week we covered how Realtors belong to a coordinated network at the local and state levels. Now we’ll focus on the National Association of Realtors, which provides the backbone that supports every local transaction.

While much of a consumer’s experience happens here at home, NAR supplies the common standards, research and advocacy that help buyers and sellers move with confidence, whether they make a purchase in Tennessee, Georgia or across the country.

Your smartphone buzzes with an alert: Your budgeting app has spotted an unusual spending pattern and suggests transferring $50 from your savings account to your checking account. Later that day, a robo-adviser automatically rebalances your investment portfolio. Welcome to the age of artificial intelligence in personal finance, where technology is reshaping how we manage money.

This time last year, Jim Knowles was scheming a way to stop the Tennessee offense as the defensive coordinator for Ohio State football during the Buckeyes’ run to the national title.

After a tumultuous stint at Penn State that ended quicker than anyone could have imagined, Knowles is on his way to Rocky Top. UT head coach Josh Heupel announced the hiring of Knowles last week as the new defensive coordinator for the Vols.

If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, the remaining weeks of December could very well be a great time to buy. 

Several recurring industry trends converge at year-end, creating favorable conditions that can help you save money. The auto experts at Edmunds have come up with three key reasons why December often delivers the opportunity for better deals – and what to know to ensure you get the best one.

Your phone, wallet, a planner and two credit cards. Everything you need for the day is in your purse or briefcase. Tissues. A mirror and lip balm. Keys, work and a paperback for downtime.

Yes, you have pockets, but a pocketbook is better. In “Bag Man” by Lew Frankfort, you’ll read about the evolution of a classic.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs insist they have plenty of motivation left when playing their first game with no hopes of a playoff berth in more than a decade and worse, no Patrick Mahomes.

The franchise that played in seven consecutive AFC championship games and five Super Bowls during a remarkable run still has something more than pride on the line. The Chiefs (6-8) need to win out starting with Sunday's visit to Tennessee to continue the streak of a winning record in each of coach Andy Reid's 13 seasons.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's governor pardoned country star Jelly Roll on Thursday for his criminal past in the state, acknowledging the Nashville native's long road back from drugs and prison through soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for second chances.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Federal regulators will allow tech companies to effectively plug massive data centers directly into power plants, issuing a long-awaited order Thursday, as the Trump administration urges it to help the U.S. lead the world in artificial intelligence and revive domestic manufacturing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved legislation Thursday aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for new energy and infrastructure projects and limiting judicial review.

The bill, dubbed the SPEED Act, would enact the most significant change in decades to the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental law that requires federal agencies to consider a project's possible environmental impacts before it is approved.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The "Warrior Dividend" that President Donald Trump announced during his televised address to the nation Wednesday is not a Christmas bonus made possible by tariff revenues, as the president suggested.

Instead, the $1,776 payments to troops are coming from a congressionally-approved housing supplement that was a part of tax cut extensions and expansions bill signed into law in July, Trump's administration said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research, a major shift in federal drug policy that inches closer to what many states have done.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington's leading performing arts center as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House said, in a move that was quickly denounced as a "disgrace" by the Democratic leader of the House, who is on the board.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats released several dozen more photos Thursday from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, showing his associations with the rich and famous, as the Department of Justice faces a deadline to release many of its case files on the late financier by the end of the week.

ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats will not issue a postelection report on their 2024 shellacking after all.

The Democratic National Committee head has decided not to publish a formal assessment of the party's defeat that returned Donald Trump to power and gave Republicans complete control in Washington.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is grateful his mother wasn't following her usual routine of watching him play road games at his house when burglars broke in carrying guns and other weapons.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge's order reversing billions of dollars in funding cuts to Harvard University, extending a standoff over the White House's demands for reforms at the Ivy League school.

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal late on Thursday in a pair of consolidated lawsuits brought by Harvard and the American Association of University Professors. The case has tested the government's power to sway the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, which has resisted a pressure campaign targeting elite colleges around the country.

ATLANTA (AP) — When Donald Trump delivered the first White House address of his second presidency Wednesday night, all major U.S. networks beamed his image and voice onto their airwaves, cable feeds and online platforms.

Americans ended up watching the Republican president stand in the Diplomatic Reception Room and deliver 18 minutes of aggressive, politically motivated arguments that misstated facts, blamed the nation's ills on his predecessor, exaggerated the results of his nearly 11 months in office and amplified his characteristically gargantuan, immeasurable promises about what's to come.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The livestream of a YouTube content creator talking about investments mysteriously appeared to take over a White House website, raising questions about whether the site was hacked.

The livestream appeared for at least eight minutes late Thursday on whitehouse.gov/live, where the White House usually streams live video of the president speaking.

The head of the U.S. agency for enforcing workplace civil rights posted a social media call-out urging white men to come forward if they have experienced race or sex discrimination at work.

"Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws," U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas, a vocal critic of DEI, wrote on X Wednesday evening. The post urged eligible workers to reach out to the agency "as soon as possible" and referred users to the agency's fact sheet on "DEI-related discrimination" for more information.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — To tax tips or not? That is a question that will confront lawmakers in states across the U.S. as they convene for work next year.

President Donald Trump's administration is urging states to follow its lead by enacting a slew of new tax breaks for individuals and businesses, including deductions for tips and overtime wages, automobile loans and business equipment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Erika Kirk, widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and the organization's new leader, endorsed a potential presidential bid by Vice President JD Vance on the opening night of the conservative youth group's annual conference.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center started the work of adding Donald Trump's name to the building on Friday, a day after the president's handpicked board voted to do so.

Several blue tarps were hung in front of the institution early Friday to block views of the work underway. A large letter D was seen on the exterior before the final tarps went up, along with workers on scaffolding at the center, which was named for John F. Kennedy, a Democratic president.

PHOENIX (AP) — Camdyn Glover used to be a quiet conservative. She worried what her teachers would think or if she would lose friends over her convictions. But she said something changed when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, and she started crying in her classroom at Indiana University while other students cheered and clapped.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Julia Dvorak is worried her 83-year-old mother's emergency room trips for seizures are depleting her retirement savings and will soon force her to go on Medicaid.

At the same time, Dvorak, who's 56 and suffers from a chronic knee condition that keeps her on state and federal assistance, expects her own health costs to go up next year.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada and the U.S. will launch formal discussions to review their free trade agreement in mid-January, the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump launched a law enforcement operation in Washington, D.C., four months ago, he billed it as a mission to fight rampant crime.

But activists and local leaders say that description belies what has emerged as a simultaneous crackdown on immigrants, who have grown increasingly concerned for their status and safety in the city.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world's most influential people, including Donald Trump, who as president had tried to keep the files sealed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's "blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela's coast is raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fueling concerns that the U.S. could be edging closer to war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson had a ready-made refrain when asked why Republicans weren't moving to extend federal health care subsidies: their party wanted to help 100% of Americans with their costs, not just the 7% of Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday began releasing its files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world's most influential people, including Donald Trump, who as president had tried to keep the files sealed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys for President Donald Trump urged a federal judge on Friday to rule that Trump is entitled to presidential immunity from civil claims that he instigated a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with immigration judges on Friday, rebuffing the Trump administration for now in a case with possible implications for federal workers as the justices weigh expanding presidential firing power.

The decision is a technical step in a long-running case, but it touches on the effects of a series of high-profile firings under President Donald Trump. The justices let stand a ruling that raised questions about the Trump administration's handling of the federal workforce, though they also signaled that lower courts should move cautiously.

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge on Friday ordered the release of court documents detailing the divorce of U.S. Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, months after she filed citing "biblical grounds."

Pope Leo XIV on Friday named the Rev. Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, currently pastor of a predominantly Hispanic church in the Queens borough of New York City, as bishop of Palm Beach, Florida.

The diocese is home to the Mar-a-Lago estate of President Donald Trump, whose get-tough immigration policies have drawn objections from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating wounded troops in a combat zone, ending an exercise made obsolete by simulators that mimic battlefield injuries.

The prohibition on "live fire" training that includes animals is part of this year's annual defense bill, although other uses of animals for wartime training will continue The ban was championed by Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican who often focuses on animal rights issues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department began releasing records Friday from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world's most influential people — including Donald Trump, who as president had tried to keep the files sealed.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday that she is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek reelection to Congress, bowing out of the race in a surprise statement that said "it is not an effective use of our time" to stay in what was expected to be a bruising Republican primary.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center on Friday quickly added Donald Trump's name to the performing arts center Congress designated as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, a day after the center's board of trustees voted to make the change.

Blue tarps were hung in front of the building to obscure workers on scaffolding as they executed the transformation. Hours later it had a new name: The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.