News - Friday, September 11, 2026

Standing on five vacant acres at the corner of 33rd and Broad streets, Claudia Barbera saw something that wasn’t there.

She could picture buildings rising from the property, businesses filling them and people bringing life to a stretch of South Broad Street she believes is ready for something new.

Station 33 is a $130 million-plus mixed-use development planned for five acres along South Broad Street near downtown Chattanooga.

The five-building project will encompass about 500,000 square feet, including 100,000 square feet of retail and office space, more than 100 residential units, a 120-room hotel and 475 parking spaces.

Most people travel Brainerd Road with somewhere else to be, passing aging storefronts, shopping centers, churches, restaurants and old buildings that have outlived their original purposes while watching the car ahead or waiting for the next light to change.

While staring slack-jawed at my TV, I happened upon a video from YouTube food critic Brennen Taylor, who has 4 million subscribers and a snarky attitude his viewers must find amusing.

Taylor was spending the day eating at “viral” Chattanooga restaurants and offering his thoughts on the food, service and atmosphere. His first stop was Lo Main, a neighborhood bar in the Ridgedale and Highland Park communities whose Murder Burger has achieved legendary status among locals.

Realtors are always on the move, working from offices, coffee shops, showings, closings, airports and everywhere in between. Staying connected is part of the job, but so is protecting the information clients trust us with every day.

As we recognize September as Realtor Safety Month, we’re sharing guidance from a National Association of Realtors Real Estate News article by Burton Kelso on “How to Use Public Wi-Fi Safely” with practical reminders for taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity.

The event, hosted by the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and Feeding the Future, will take place Saturday at First Horizon Pavilion. Sponsored by Five Star Breaktime Solutions, the family-friendly event will raise funds and awareness to fight food insecurity in the Chattanooga area. The 5K begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by a 1-mile walk at 8:45 a.m. The event will also feature children’s activities and local food trucks. Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations to support individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. Proceeds will support hunger-relief efforts throughout the region.

Local 3 will add meteorologist Kinley Beshers to its Storm Alert Weather Team this month while moving Logan Dubel to the weekend morning anchor desk.

Beshers will become the weather team’s fourth member, replacing Hannah Skye, who is leaving for WXIA, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. Beshers holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism from Auburn University and broadcast meteorology and geosciences from Mississippi State University. She most recently interned at WKRN in Nashville.

A $25 million federal RAISE Grant will support the replacement of Chattanooga’s aging Wilcox Boulevard Bridge.

Built in 1958, the bridge carries more than 18,000 vehicles daily. The project will replace the aging structure with an 851-foot, four-span bridge featuring four 12-foot travel lanes, 4-foot shoulders and a 12-foot multiuse path.

If you’ve just started managing your own finances, recommitted to doing it well or noticed your spending isn’t making you as happy as you’d hoped, a budget might be exactly what you need. When you know where your money is going, you’re likely to feel more in control and more confident your finances reflect what actually matters to you.

Chattanooga Ballet will open its 2026-27 season Oct. 8-10 with “ART / Bridges,” a program featuring works by three nationally recognized choreographers and exploring the connections between classical and contemporary ballet.

Performances will take place at the UTC Fine Arts Center and feature works by Kara Wilkes, Jamorris Rivers and Chattanooga Ballet CEO and artistic director Brian McSween.

By Rhiannon Potkey

Arion Carter is one of the most feared defenders in the country. The University of Tennessee star linebacker has delivered plenty of hits that can rattle an opponent’s teeth. As a dean’s list student who graduated in three years with a degree in public health, Carter also knows the importance of wearing a mouthguard for protection.

Draft picks are going to have to start making an impact if the Tennessee Titans are going to dig out of the doldrums that have plagued them for the past four seasons.

It’s not just recent first-round picks like Carnell Tate, Keldric Faulk or 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Those guys need to become stars. What the Titans really need is contributors from middle- and late-round picks.

Football is finally back for real with the regular season starting Sunday as the Titans host the New York Jets, Robert Saleh’s former team. Let’s look at some of the Titans’ keys to victory:

First down

Bring the heat. Saleh’s defenses are known for their waves of relentless pressure and continuing to rotate in fresh players to keep the heat turned up on opposing quarterbacks. Geno Smith had a penchant for putting the ball in harm’s way last year with the Raiders. The Titans need to see if he will do the same thing against their defense.

Three taps of the gavel, and the room went silent. The audience is yours now, all ears are tuned to you. You worked hard to get to this meeting, to land this position for your community or organization. You’re just where you wanted to be.

So now read “Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings” by Jared Diamond and see if your leadership will matter.

If you’re looking to reduce your gas bills but buying an electric vehicle just isn’t for you, the 2026 Hyundai Tucson Plug-in Hybrid or 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid might be a smart solution. These are hybrid SUVs that drive like a regular gas-powered hybrid but have a rechargeable battery that lets you drive a short distance on all-electric power first. 

NASHVILLE (AP) — Chris Johnson has been to every major ALS clinic in the country and seen neurologists respond once they learn he played football. The sixth man to run for 2,000 yards in an NFL season read the study that found former NFL players were nearly four times as likely to develop and die from ALS than other men.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-five years later, the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, are still remembered as among the most important historic events in many Americans' lives, according to a new poll.

A new Ipsos poll finds that about half of U.S. adults name the 9/11 attacks in an open-ended question about the most important historic occurrences in their lifetimes. That's despite other momentous events that have happened since then, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the elections of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices keep climbing as the war with Iran keeps clogging the global flow of crude, and they leaped Thursday to their highest levels since before the summer. That worsened worries about inflation and cranked up pressure within the bond market, helping to send stocks lower again on Wall Street.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending.

NEW YORK (AP) — The largest cyclospora food poisoning outbreak in U.S. history is over, U.S. health officials said Friday.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they are confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific outbreak is off the market.

FOREST CITY, Mo. (AP) — The price of diesel is hitting record highs just when many U.S. farmers need it to power combines, tractors and other equipment to harvest two of the nation's largest commodities, soybeans and corn.

The spike adds to an already tough year for these farmers, who also faced higher costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.

CHICAGO (AP) — Diesel prices in the U.S. hit yet another record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average as Washington's war with Iran disrupts the world's flow of fuel.

The national average of nearly $6.06 is up from $5.85 last week and almost $3.71 this time last year, according to motor club AAA.

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen 's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said Friday, opening a new front in the Iran war and further threatening Saudi oil exports through one of the world's key shipping lanes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — During his first address to a Republican convention in 2016, Donald Trump had an audacious message to a nation yearning for change: "I alone can fix it."

A decade later and nearing the midpoint of his final term, Trump is still pitching himself as America's essential repairman. It's a strategy that's helped him overcome daunting odds before but now guarantees this year's midterms will be a referendum on his unpopular presidency. And it previews how difficult it will be for his party to prepare for a future without him as he shows little interest in ceding the stage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ordering officials in more than two dozen states to preserve records from the 2024 election as part of a campaign to force states to turn over detailed voter records despite repeated court losses.

The Justice Department sent letters to 29 states and the District of Columbia instructing election officials not to destroy the records. Those are places the Trump administration has sued in a bid to gain access to voter registration information that contains addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas prices spiked in the wake of renewed fighting in the Middle East, underscoring the affordability challenges that are top of mind for many voters with midterm elections now just seven weeks away.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration has provided a $99.6 million loan to a U.S.-owned cell phone network operator in Africa to expand American tech presence on a continent where China's Huawei is a leading player.

The loan from the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank was announced by the operator Africell on Friday. It is the only U.S.-owned cell network operator in Africa.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican officials came together for a two-day convention this week to rally voters in advance of midterm elections in November. But in celebrating their accomplishments, they made several false and misleading claims, many of which have been stated repeatedly during Trump's second term.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump observed Friday's 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by attending a ceremony at the Pentagon commemorating the lives lost when al-Qaida militants hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people in three locations, upending American foreign policy and national security.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ally of President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has resigned from his post leading a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers worried about the existential risk posed by new artificial intelligence products demanded information from OpenAI on Thursday with separate queries that underscored growing concerns in Washington about the technology's potential to elude human control.

DALLAS (AP) — As Vice President JD Vance addressed the crowd at the Republican midterm convention, he was interrupted by a fan who shouted "JD 48!" Others joined in, and Vance paused with a smile before cutting them off.

"We gotta take care of business this November and then we'll worry about what comes next," he said.