News - Friday, April 3, 2026

At the edge of Enterprise South Nature Park, the throaty engine of a four-wheeler blends with the steady drone of traffic on Interstate 75 as it moves along a bumpy, rock-strewn trail.

It passes between a pair of wooden gates, their white-painted planks hanging from rusted hinges on posts bound with sagging barbed wire. A white cross crowns one gate, where a missing sign leaves a rectangular patch of bare wood – likely once bearing the name “Summit Cemetery.” The other stands in disrepair, its cross toppled at its base.

Old Summit Cemetery contains the graves of a once-thriving Black community – people whose lives reflect a long history of adversity and endurance in the South.

Some are known by name; many are not. Together, they form a record of a community that built lives in what was once rural Hamilton County – then lost much of it, piece by piece, to forces beyond their control.

1859

The East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad completes its line through the area, establishing a stop that would become known as Summit.

1860s-1870s

In the years following the Civil War and emancipation, Black families begin settling in Summit, many migrating from North Georgia and Alabama in search of land, safety and opportunity.

Cemeteries in Tennessee are protected under a mix of state laws designed to preserve burial sites, even when they’re located on private property. But those protections can be complex – especially in cases like Old Summit Cemetery, where boundaries are unclear and development is nearby.

More than 100 members of the local legal community gathered March 24 in Hamilton County Circuit Court to honor the career of retired Circuit Court Judge Marie Williams as her official judicial portrait was unveiled during a ceremony sponsored by the Chattanooga Bar Association.

The Chattanooga Public Library has added admission passes to the Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center to its Family Pass Collection, expanding free access to one of the city’s key historical attractions.

The new passes, now available at all five library locations, cover admission for up to four people of any age and may be checked out with a valid library card on a first-come, first-served basis. Each cardholder may use the pass once per calendar year.

The Salvation Army of Chattanooga will host its 50th annual Easter sunrise service at Chattanooga National Cemetery, 1200 Bailey Avenue. The free, community-wide service will begin at 7:15 a.m. Guests will be served coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts while listening to a sunrise sermon and bagpipe music. The service, first organized in 1976 by Mildred Montague, has grown to draw hundreds each year. This year’s program will feature remarks from Divisional Commanders Majors Algerome and Teresa Newsome.

Chattanooga Police Lieutenant Justin Kilgore has graduated from the 297th session of the FBI National Academy, a prestigious leadership program for law enforcement professionals.

Kilgore was among 253 officers selected to attend the academy in Quantico, Virginia. The class included representatives from 48 states, the District of Columbia and 24 countries, along with members of four military and four federal civilian organizations.

A new real estate brokerage has launched atop Lookout Mountain, aiming to meet what developers describe as a growing appetite for luxury homes tied to one of the Southeast’s most ambitious resort communities.

McLemore Real Estate Partners, LLC will focus exclusively on marketing private residences and homesites within McLemore Resort, a mountaintop development that has steadily gained national attention for its golf courses, hospitality offerings and scenic views.

Children’s Hospital at Erlanger plans to renovate its emergency department, main lobby and entryways as part of an effort to create a more child-centered experience for patients and families.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2026 and conclude by the end of the year. The project will be funded through a combination of organizational resources, private donations and proceeds from the 2026 Erlanger Believe Bash.

You might have heard that buying a home is better than renting. After all, why “throw money away” on rent when you could be building wealth through homeownership? Financial professionals say the decision isn’t that simple.

The answer depends on your personal and financial situation. Before you begin house hunting, ask yourself two key questions: Can you afford to buy? And should you buy?

The Chattanooga City Council has been selected as the first recipient in the area of a commemorative replica Liberty Bell, now installed outside the City Council Building at 1000 Lindsay Street.

The installation is part of a broader effort to mark the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a milestone being recognized by communities across the country.

The Final Four remains uncharted territory for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball program.

For the third consecutive season, UT was eliminated in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols were trounced by Midwest region No. 1 seed Michigan 95-62 Sunday in Chicago, falling one step shy of the elusive national semifinal appearance.

Three-row midsize SUVs are very popular among American families who want space and flexibility without the expense of a full-size SUV or the stigma of owning a minivan. Within this category, the Ford Explorer and Nissan Pathfinder are notable for their long-running nameplates and wide range of trim levels, including models designed for occasional off-roading on dirt roads or trails. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general, ending the contentious tenure of a loyalist who upended the Justice Department's culture of independence from the White House, oversaw large-scale firings of career employees and moved aggressively to investigate the Republican president's perceived enemies.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks overcame early losses to finish with slim gains and close out their first winning week since the start of the Iran war.

Oil prices remained elevated, however, having soared after a national address late Wednesday from President Donald Trump, where he vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East.

PHOENIX (AP) — Shea Ralph surveyed the room as she received The Associated Press Coach of the Year award and all she saw was family.

On one side was the Vanderbilt coach's assistants and school administrators, as well as her husband, daughter and mother. On the other, was her mentors from UConn, including Huskies coaches Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey, for whom she played and worked alongside.

PHOENIX (AP) — Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt was named The Associated Press women's basketball Coach of the Year on Thursday after turning the Commodores into one of the top teams in the nation.

Ralph led a team that returned just one starter to the most successful season in school history. The team went 29-5, with 13 of those wins coming in the regular season against a rugged Southeastern Conference schedule. The Commodores finished tied for second in the conference, which matched the best finish in program history. They earned a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pam Bondi is out of her job after failing to deliver criminal cases against President Donald Trump's political enemies.

But there's no guarantee her successor will have any better success at placating the president.

Over the last year, Bondi's Justice Department has encountered resistance from judges, grand jurors and its own workforce in trying to establish criminal conduct by one Trump foe after another. A new attorney general will confront not only Trump's demand for political prosecutions — a constant dating back to his first term in the White House — but also the same skeptical court system, and factual and legal hurdles, that have impeded efforts to deliver the sought-after results.

NEW YORK (AP) — After Pam Bondi became U.S. attorney general last year, conservative influencers, online sleuths and others who wanted the government to disclose all it knew about Jeffrey Epstein thought they might have a champion in the Department of Justice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the Army's top uniformed officer and two other generals, the Pentagon said Thursday without giving a reason for the departures while the United States is waging a war against Iran.

Gen. Randy George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately," said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he will allow service members to carry personal weapons onto military installations, citing the Second Amendment and recent shootings at bases across the country.

In a video posted to X, Hegseth said he is signing a memo that will direct base commanders to allow requests for troops to carry privately owned firearms "with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection."

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February. And the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%.

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is slapping a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on third-party sellers using its platform starting later this month amid a spike in fuel prices since the war in Iran started.

The temporary charge is effective April 17 for many of the sellers who use Amazon's fulfillment services, the online behemoth confirmed to The Associated Press in an email Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday accused China of "bullying" by detaining or holding up dozens of Panama-flagged ships — though for a short period of time — after the Central American country seized control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal earlier this year from a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company.

NEW YORK (AP) — This is not the run up to the midterm elections that Republicans wanted.

A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict that many in his own party do not like.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia General Assembly ended its annual session early Friday without a plan for new equipment to overhaul the state's voting system by a July deadline, plunging into doubt the future of elections in the political battleground.