News - Friday, March 27, 2026

“Building a business in Chattanooga just got a little easier,” Mayor Tim Kelly said March 20, standing at the front of a bright, newly finished classroom where rows of chairs had filled quickly with city officials, entrepreneurs and community advocates.

While the Small Business Resource Center is designed as a single point of entry, the support it offers is powered by a coalition of local, state and national organizations that together form Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Rather than duplicating services, the center brings these groups under one roof, making it easier for business owners to access specialized expertise without navigating a fragmented system.

An ongoing tour through Chattanooga’s culinary tuck-ins leads to Hungry Mother, an artisanal breakfast and lunch spot offering a seasonal menu of bagels, sandwiches, espresso and coffee. It’s the kind of place you’re glad to find, even if it has a foible or two.

For Dawn Lemaitre, food is about nourishing the body as well as feeding the soul through family.

That philosophy is at the heart of Dishin’ with Dawn, her Chattanooga-based business that blends catering, private dining, family-style meals and hands-on cooking classes into something more personal than traditional food service.

Judicial temperament: The cornerstone of public trust in the federal courts

In a recent column, we wrote about judicial restraint and its critical role in retaining public respect and support for the federal judiciary. In this column, we will write on a related topic: judicial temperament.

School assignments matter to families. They shape daily routines, long-term planning and often where people choose to buy a home. But imagine purchasing a home only to learn later that your child may be bused to a school 30 minutes away, even though the neighborhood school is less than a mile from your front door.

Officials have broken ground on Phase 2 of the seven-phase One Westside redevelopment project, marking another step in a sweeping effort to transform the city’s historic College Hill neighborhood.

The latest phase will bring 144 new mixed-income apartments to downtown Chattanooga, providing housing for residents relocating from College Hill Courts public housing as well as new tenants seeking affordable and moderately priced options. Construction is underway, with completion expected by the end of 2027.

A UTC nursing professor has received national recognition for her work improving health care access and education. Kristi Wick, a UC Foundation associate professor and the Vicky B. Gregg Chair of Gerontology, was named the 2026 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Practice Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

The national ambassador for young people’s literature will visit the Chattanooga Public Library’s downtown branch (1001 Broad Street) April 9 at 5:30 p.m. as part of his nationwide tour, “Behold, The Picture Book! Let’s Celebrate Stories We Can Feel, Hear and See.” Barnett will explore how words, illustrations and even page turns create a uniquely engaging reading experience for children and adults alike. The free event is open to the public.

Rising prices might not dominate headlines the way they did a year or two ago, but retirees are probably still feeling them. Even when overall inflation cools, the costliest expenses – health care, utilities, insurance and property taxes – tend to rise faster than broad inflation numbers suggest. That creates a squeeze that can make you question whether your income plan is built to last.

By Rhiannon Potkey

Any momentum generated by the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team in head coach Kim Caldwell’s debut last season has completely evaporated. The Lady Vols ended one of the most disappointing seasons in the program’s storied history with a first-round exit in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

You do it with your stocks. Your entire investment portfolio, in fact, is diversified. As an investor and a businessperson, you know how important that is for your bottom line. You also know what a benefit diversity is in your customer base and your workforce and how homogeneity isn’t necessarily a good thing in the long run. So now read more and get ready to grow….

It’s pretty common for new-car shoppers to look at what they can afford and go from there. Typically, that means focusing on vehicles from mainstream brands, even though owning a luxury vehicle is something many people aspire to. 

But there’s a right-now alternative that could be intriguing: For about the same price of a new mainstream car, you could get a used luxury car instead.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has opened investigations into how race is considered in admissions at three medical schools, ratcheting up its pressure campaign against colleges and universities.

The Justice Department opened the investigations Wednesday into possible discrimination at the medical schools of Stanford University, Ohio State and the University of California, San Diego. Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights, announced the investigations on X.

As the Trump administration wages war on Iran, it's citing national security to seek an exemption from the Endangered Species Act for expanded oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico — a move alarming environmental groups who say it could set a dangerous precedent for future fossil fuel projects.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Iran appears to be setting itself up as the gatekeeper for the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important artery for oil shipments. The move could cement Tehran's de facto chokehold over the crucial waterway and formalize its ability to keep its own oil flowing to China.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday announced it had eased restrictions on a group of Belarus-linked financial and potash companies in the latest sign of improving ties between the country's autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, and Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With pressure mounting, senators moved quickly Thursday to debate a "last and final" offer to end the funding impasse that has jammed airports and put the livelihoods of Transportation Security Administration workers in jeopardy as Republicans try to address Democratic demands for changes to President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement changes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump may believe the adage that the pen is mightier than the sword — as long as it's a Sharpie.

During a Cabinet meeting Thursday that discussed the war in Iran, record-long security lines at many of the nation's top airports, rising oil prices and skittish stock markets, the president interjected by holding up a custom-made black and gold Sharpie and offering a long story about how his preferred marker came to be a White House fixture.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mikayla Blakes thinks of her Sweet 16 showdown with Hannah Hidalgo more as Vanderbilt against Notre Dame than a matchup of two of the nation's top three scorers.

Commodores coach Shea Ralph would expect exactly that mentality from the Division I scoring leader, even during March Madness and the Fort Worth Regional 1 semifinals on Friday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators never doubted they could be a playoff team. Proving it took far longer than expected.

A franchise that ranked dead last in the NHL standings as late as Dec. 8 goes into the final 10 games of the regular season sitting in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Even better, Nashville is just three points back of Utah for the first wild-card berth with a game in hand.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Nico Hischier scored two goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Jesper Bratt scored a goal and added two assists, Timo Meier scored an empty-net goal, and Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves for the Devils, winners of five of six. Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler had two assists apiece.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has ruled in favor of artificial intelligence company Anthropic in temporarily blocking the Pentagon from labeling the company as a supply chain risk.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin on Thursday said she was also blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's social media directive ordering all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic and its chatbot Claude.

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge plans to hear arguments Friday on a demand by officials in Georgia's Fulton County that the FBI return seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee wrote in a scheduling order that the hearing was needed after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in court-ordered mediation.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis woman who confronted federal immigration officers alongside Alex Pretti in January was among a group of potential litigants who spoke out Thursday about alleged excessive force against people protesting or monitoring the enforcement surge in Minnesota.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 7 million student loan borrowers who have been enrolled in a Biden-era repayment plan will receive notices beginning Friday with instructions to seek a new plan to repay their debt, the Education Department said.

Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, which was struck down by a federal court earlier this month, have been in forbearance since July 2024 as a legal battle played out in courts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Makers of dietary supplements are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to expand the types of ingredients they can put in their products, a change that could open the door to more marketing of peptides, probiotics and other trendy wellness offerings.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Internet trailblazer Yahoo is exploring technology's next frontier with Scout, an answer engine powered by artificial intelligence. Scout seems insightful, based on its response to a question posed by The Associated Press about why one of Silicon Valley's brightest stars faded away a decade ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents.

Arctic sea ice levels, especially in the summer, are crucial to Earth's climate because without the ice reflecting sunlight, more heat energy goes into the oceans. Ice of all kinds around the poles acts as Earth's refrigerator. Wildlife, such as polar bears and seals, also depend on sea ice. Lack of sea ice in the Arctic creates new shipping routes and in doing so causes geopolitical disruptions, making once-ignored places such as Greenland, more desirable.

Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a "moonshot." Microsoft says it's still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as "a marathon, not a sprint."

WASHINGTON (AP) — A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed Friday to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and has posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents. Many of those records appeared to be more than a decade old.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a convulsing stock market, President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to buy himself more time and hold off, once again, on carrying out a threat to obliterate Iran's energy plants over the Islamic Republic's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Farmers around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran's near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing.

The fertilizer shortage is putting the livelihood of farmers in developing countries — already troubled by rising temperatures and erratic weather systems — further at risk, and could lead to people everywhere paying more for food.

It has a catchy name — Build America, Buy America — and the lauded goal of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

But the law has spurred a bottleneck for affordable housing.

Nearly everything from HVACs and lighting to sink hooks and ceiling fans in affordable housing projects that get federal dollars must carry the Made in the USA label. But, developers say, numerous products do not, as they have long been imported from overseas markets with cheaper labor costs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Friday held the inaugural meeting of a new anti-fraud task force he's leading as the Trump administration seeks to show it's cracking down on potential misuse of social programs.

Vance, speaking Friday before the task force held a closed-door meeting, said that the federal government for decades had not taken the issue of fraud seriously and that it needed to be tackled with "a whole-government approach."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate early Friday approved Department of Homeland Security funds to pay Transportation Security Administration agents and most other agencies but not the immigration enforcement operations at the heart of the budget impasse that has jammed airports, disrupted travel and imposed financial hardship on workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents, while senators worked late into the night trying to end a budget impasse that has jammed airports and left workers without paychecks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thea Price anticipated changes under the second Trump administration, but she never expected her life to be thrown into such disarray.

Along with the 300 other employees of the United States Institute of Peace, Price was fired, rehired and then fired again as part of President Donald Trump's crusade to shrink the federal government, a chaotic effort that cut tens of thousands of jobs and shrank or dismantled entire agencies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, the House Ethics Committee found Friday in a ruling that could add weight to Republicans' potential push to expel her from Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department plans to put President Donald Trump's signature on all new U.S. paper currency, the agency announced on Thursday.

The move would be a first for a sitting president, since traditionally, U.S. paper currency carries the signatures of the Treasury Secretary and the Treasurer, not the president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will relocate from its headquarters to a smaller Washington office as part of the Trump administration's dismantling of the agency, officials said Thursday.

The agency has seen its ranks thinned by mass layoffs since President Donald Trump took office, and its headquarters building has been 70% vacant, the Education Department said. In its place, the Energy Department will assume the lease in the building.