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.