News - Friday, August 21, 2026

Courtenay Cholovich carries two or three small notebooks in her bag.

When an idea strikes her – a funny line, an observation, the beginnings of a premise – the Chattanooga-area comedian writes it down by hand. Sometimes she’ll sit with the idea and work out where it might fit into a performance. Other times, she’ll take it to an open mic in its raw, unfinished form and see what happens in front of an audience.

Lookout Comedy has performed in bars, restaurants, a public library and even a cat cafe.

The Chattanooga nonprofit doesn’t have a permanent venue, and Courtenay Cholovich, one of the local comedians behind the organization, sees that as an advantage.

For a time, Shan Jones thought owning a home had slipped beyond her reach.

“Life happened, and I reached a point where I thought I’d never be able to own a home,” she says.

Then she reached out to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga.

People passing the new Shallowford Hites development might do a double take when they see the name.

Is “Hites” a typo?

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga CEO Jens Christensen says it’s not.

The name is a tribute to the late Chattanooga Realtor Mark Hite, a longtime Habitat board member and active advocate for the organization who died unexpectedly on Jan. 1, 2024.

Although Shallowford Hites marks Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga’s first effort to develop an entire neighborhood from beginning to end, larger-scale developments are not new to Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat began in 1976 with a model centered on building affordable homes in partnership with individual families. Over the decades, however, affiliates have undertaken clusters of homes, subdivisions and planned communities.

July’s housing report shows why local context matters.

Existing-home sales slowed from the previous month, but year-over-year activity was still higher, the National Association of Realtors found.

Here in the Chattanooga region, the picture looked steady in a different way. New listings were nearly even with last year, pending sales climbed, inventory continued to build and homes spent slightly less time on the market.

By David Laprad

In April, I drove past the Taco Bell on Dayton Boulevard and did a double take: The building had been reduced to rubble, as if a tornado had touched down on the lot while somehow leaving the surrounding buildings untouched.

A quick hop onto my trusted source of local news – the Chattanooga subreddit – revealed that the Taco Bell had been demolished and was destined for a rebuild.

The Hamilton County Election Commission is calling this month’s election one of its smoothest August elections in decades, citing strong turnout, election safeguards and the efforts of poll workers.

Administrator of Elections Scott Allen, who has worked in elections for nearly 30 years, says the county reported no major Election Day issues.

The city of East Ridge will celebrate the grand reopening of the newly renovated East Ridge Community Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Saturday, Aug. 22. The ribbon cutting begins at 11 a.m., followed by tours, family-friendly activities, raffles and a light lunch (while supplies last) through 4 p.m. The $2.6 million renovation includes an expanded gym with a regulation basketball court and pickleball courts, improved accessibility, upgraded building systems and remodeled community spaces. The East Ridge Community Center is located at 1517 Tombras Ave. Information

When you think about investing, you probably want your money to grow. But maybe you also want it to make a positive difference in the world while you continue pursuing your financial goals. That’s the foundation of sustainable investing – an approach that considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors alongside traditional financial analysis.

By Herald staff

After years of serving – or, in one case, deciding police work wasn’t for him – two members of the Chattanooga Police Department’s K-9 Unit are settling into retirement.

K-9 Burt, an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois, retired following a decade-long career that included helping apprehend hundreds of violent offenders, recovering illegal firearms and detecting millions of dollars in illegal drugs and currency.

UTC LIVE! is getting a new home for much of its 2026-27 season, giving audiences a more intimate setting to experience music from around the world.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga performing arts series will move most of its upcoming performances to Cadek Hall, where the building’s 217-seat recital hall offers a setting organizers say is well suited to the artists and programs UTC LIVE! brings to campus.

“Cam Ward wants to be great.” So says pretty much every Tennessee Titans coach who has guided him and every front office person who has had a hand in drafting or developing him.

While Ward is still learning the rigors of being an NFL quarterback and has been plagued by inconsistent performances, the narrative of Ward wanting to be great persists. And he puts in the time both in season and out of season to try and perfect his craft.

A small number of vehicles are discontinued every year, and their exits rarely make news. But if you know where to look, there’s an opportunity to get a good deal on a vehicle that’s at the end of its life cycle.

There’s a good chance dealers will be looking to off-load their remaining inventory of a discontinued vehicle, which can present an opportunity for you to negotiate on price. It’s also possible that a discounted vehicle might become a high-value classic many years from now. 

CHICAGO (AP) — Meta insists it has a long history of protecting its youngest customers as it defends itself against a swath of lawsuits alleging its social media empire harms children.

In the latest such instance, the social media giant is fighting allegations in a California federal court that it contributes to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately and stealthily designing features to get children hooked on its platforms Instagram and Facebook. Four states are seeking billions of dollars in damages as well as fundamental changes to how Meta runs those apps.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported its slowest growth in U.S. comparable sales in six years during its most recent quarter, and the retailer's guidance for the rest of the year was seen as cautious by Wall Street.

Walmart's second quarter fanned anxiety about the financial well-being of low-income shoppers who are spending cautiously as prices rise at the gas pump and everywhere else.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection faced scrutiny Thursday after a watchdog group warned that forced labor persists on sugarcane fields in the Dominican Republic, which exports large amounts of sugar and other products to the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — University of Louisville athletic director Josh Heird says there is no "silver bullet" that will help his department's current revenue race.

To compete in the increasingly commercialized world of college sports, programs of its size might spend more than $40 million a year on talent acquisition, revenue sharing and other costs, according to experts. But just five of Louisville's 23 sports generate any revenue, according to the athletic department. Only football and men's basketball turn profits.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — You've heard about the patches coming soon to a college football jersey near you. You've seen the corporate logos cropping up on football fields from South Carolina to the University of Washington. Talent fees on season tickets, league-level deals with the likes of PayPal, naming rights revenue not just for a stadium but for the playing field within the stadium.

SAO PAULO (AP) — In the global race to secure rare earths that are key for everything from mobile phones to green technologies, Brazil is emerging as an alternative to China's dominance, particularly for the United States and Australia, according to an analysis of mining permits by The Associated Press and Reporter Brasil.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed carrier following reports of mental health challenges and supply shortages aboard while it was supporting the Iran war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates rebounded Thursday despite efforts by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs, a sign Wall Street investors remain worried about burgeoning government debt, heavy borrowing by tech firms, and the Federal Reserve's commitment to fighting inflation.

TORONTO (AP) — Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said Thursday that Prime Minister Mark Carney had answered many of her questions about an emerging Canada-U.S. trade agreement, but she stopped short of endorsing the deal while the province assesses its potential impact.

NEW YORK (AP) — The relief that swept the bond market just a day earlier disappeared as oil prices, worries about high inflation and the U.S. government's debt kept rising.

That helped knock the U.S. stock market to its worst loss in three weeks on Thursday, and Walmart led the way on concerns about its upcoming profits.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's technology giant Alibaba on Thursday reported a 75% drop in profit for the latest quarter as it invested big in artificial intelligence infrastructure, even as revenue coming from its AI-related services gained 45%.

The Hong Kong- and U.S.-listed company, which started out in e-commerce and online retail but is increasingly focused on AI technologies, said that its profit for April-June was at 10.5 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), down from 43.1 billion yuan ($6.4 billion) the same quarter last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, speaking alongside cryptocurrency leaders at the White House this week, made a statement that Republican and Democratic candidates alike wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

"If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center," Trump said, "I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is increasing pressure on Cuba by imposing more economic penalties on industries in the heavily sanctioned socialist country and broadening enforcement of laws that bar Americans who visit the island from dealings with government-owned or -affiliated businesses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Rep. Eric Swalwell and searched his Washington home as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the ex-Democratic congressman from California, according to a person familiar with the matter.