News - Friday, May 11, 2012

Since the dawn of time, men have refused directions. Fathers have passed down this genetic quirk to their sons for countless generations, resulting in untold hours wandering down wrong paths. But the winds of change are blowing, and modern man is slowly realizing he doesn’t know everything.

Vivian Hughbanks of Signal Mountain is the first place winner in the high school category of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Second Annual YouTube Video Contest, while Alyssa Neuhoff of the Walden Home School on Signal Mountain took second place in the middle school category. The TBA announced the results of the competition last week as part of its national Law Day celebration.

MultiCultural Law Magazine has listed Miller & Martin, which has offices in Atlanta, Nashville and Chattanooga, as one of the “Top 50 Law Firms for Associates” for 2012. The firm was also ranked in the “Top 25 Law Firms for African-Americans.”

The Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and the Wills for Heroes Foundation will be in Chattanooga May 19 to provide basic wills, living wills and powers of attorney to first responders and their spouses or partners without cost.

A Hamilton County woman is charged with 24 counts of TennCare fraud for using someone else’s TennCare benefits to pay for fraudulent prescriptions for drugs.

The Office of Inspector General last week announced the arrest of Jacqueline Rogers, 58, of Ooltewah.  The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

It seems like it wasn’t that many years ago that I used to brag the only people I knew who didn’t seem to age much were Michael Landon, Dick Clark and me. Michael’s been gone a long time now on that “Highway to Heaven” and Dick Clark has taken his final trip to the bandstand. So I admit, I’m getting a little concerned.

There are relatively few times in your life that you make a choice that truly changes the course of your existence. Sometimes, the choices you make seem to be hoisted upon you like those made in an emergency situation where little or no time is allotted to make a decision. The choice you make in these situations is quick and sometimes all you can do is hope for the best.

Saturday, May 12

Dr. Joe W. Goss, assistant superintendent for general administration in the city school system for more than two years, has resigned effective July 1 to accept a position with George L. Wright & Co., management consultant firm of Atlanta.

May 11

Nightfall concert series starts

The Nightfall Concert Series will begin its 24th year of summer musical programming with a headline show by Alexis P. Suter Band. The opening act will be Ashley & The X’s. The free show will begin at 7 p.m. on the River City Stage at Miller Plaza Sept. 7. Recently nominated as Best Soul Blues Female Artist, Suter has a deep baritone voice that catches some folks off guard. Among her biggest fans are B.B. King and Levon Helm, with Suter regularly playing at Helm’s Ramble shows in Woodstock, N.Y. Beer, wine, food and non-alcoholic drink concessions are available on site. No outside food or beverages are allowed.

I’m glad a picture is worth a thousand words, because as I looked down at the Tennessee River Gorge from 2,300 feet in the air, I knew words would fail me when I tried to describe what I saw. People have written volumes about the beauty of the Greater Chattanooga area, but you can’t truly appreciate the splendor of this region until you’ve seen it from a bird’s eye view.

My mother said to me, “If you become a soldier you’ll be a general, if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.” Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” – Pablo Picasso

As Mother’s Day is Sunday I was thinking about mine, again; I’ve been doing a lot of that it seems of late.

Between the Pay for Pain bounty scheme implemented by the New Orleans Saints, Tiger Woods’ continued woes on the golf course and Bobby Petrino’s troubles away from the football field, the negatives in sports have outweighed the positives as of late. What can be done about limiting concussions in football? Will more fines and penalties limit the problem? Will a better helmet help?

Near the end of a short essay, “El Dorado,” published in 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “… to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive ….” (Hint: The essay is not about travel at all. It’s about life.)

The Chattanooga Zoo last week announced the discovery of a turtle never before documented in Tennessee. The turtle, called the Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle, was found in a tributary in the Conasauga River.

The Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell is a subspecies of the more prevalent Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle found throughout Tennessee. Chattanooga Zoo researchers Rick Jackson and David Hedrick were in the process of looking for multiple reptile and amphibian species that had never been officially recorded in Bradley County when they discovered the Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle.

Buildings are more than brick and mortar to artist Gay Arthur; they are living, breathing structures that speak to her. While she loves architecture in general, she is most drawn to old buildings, especially those in danger of returning to the dust from which they came.

Crye-Leike Chattanooga Realtor Rachael Henderson knows the importance of keeping her knowledge of the housing market update, so she takes pride in continuing her real estate education to better serve her clients. She recently decided to earn a professional real estate designation as a Certified Distressed Property Expert to help people who are falling behind on their mortgage payments.

Achan Okech and her son Robert Bagio’s journey to Chattanooga has been long and hard, but they are poised to become homeowners. Construction of a simple Habitat for Humanity home got underway April 28 thanks to the Thrivent Builds partnership between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Habitat for Humanity International, Chattanooga Lutherans and the Chattanooga Habitat for Humanity affiliate.

Saturday, May 11

The city of New Orleans is flooded following the most terrific rainstorm in the history of the city. Over five and one-half inches fell in a short time; the streets are under seven inches of water. The wind and the Mississippi flood waters have endangered the levees until the people are in a state of panic.

You would expect whenever you look up in a tree that you just might see a bird or a squirrel doing what they normally do in a tree because trees are their natural habitat. Of course, these days, it is not unusual to see a plastic bag having been blown up there in a wind or even a deer stand built by someone getting ready for the hunting season. All of those things are just items that do appear in trees across our state on a regular basis, and we have become accustomed to seeing them there. Other items just don’t fit the landscape as tree adornments, and lately something has been added to trees across the state that will catch your eye if you happen to see one.

Cancers of every type abound in today’s society, and as we move further away from homemade meals made with fresh meats, fruits and vegetables to fast foods and prepared, packaged meals, the threat of developing this life-changing and sometimes fatal disease increases, despite new advances in medicine.

Marvel’s The Avengers” made a gazillion dollars its first weekend in theaters, which means there’s a good chance you’ve already seen it. So, instead of writing a review, I’ll simply say, “The movie rocks,” and list my favorite things about it, kind of like we’re geeking out on it over shawarma. (If you got that reference, you not only saw the movie, but stayed through the end credits.)

Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise last week announced a partnership with the City of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Police Department to incent sworn police officers to become homeowners within the city limits. Chattanooga Police Fund for Homeownership offsets the initial costs of homeownership for officers relocating from outside the city limits or transitioning from renting to owning anywhere in the city.

Today the highest peak on Jasper Mountain, Tenn., has a new name – Pat’s Summitt, after the legendary former Lady Vols Coach. John “Thunder” Thornton, CEO of Thunder Enterprises, dedicated the peak on the new Jasper Highlands development to his long-time friend. In addition, Thunder Enterprises made a $50,000 donation to the Pat Summitt Foundation.

This particular puzzle is one of my favorites because it is full of miscellaneous things that once you read here, you will forget it. Just stuff. But who knows? You might be smarter than you think when it comes to knowing just stuff!

1. Where did the potbelly pig originate? Vietnam; Russia; England; China.

This article originally ran May, 2009.

Don, my mom, and I were traveling to Florida a few weeks back, and while driving through Mississippi, we passed the Sardis Lake exit. That sign started a flood of childhood memories as we drove down the road.