News - Friday, September 11, 2026

Standing on five vacant acres at the corner of 33rd and Broad streets, Claudia Barbera saw something that wasn’t there.

She could picture buildings rising from the property, businesses filling them and people bringing life to a stretch of South Broad Street she believes is ready for something new.

Station 33 is a $130 million-plus mixed-use development planned for five acres along South Broad Street near downtown Chattanooga.

The five-building project will encompass about 500,000 square feet, including 100,000 square feet of retail and office space, more than 100 residential units, a 120-room hotel and 475 parking spaces.

Most people travel Brainerd Road with somewhere else to be, passing aging storefronts, shopping centers, churches, restaurants and old buildings that have outlived their original purposes while watching the car ahead or waiting for the next light to change.

While staring slack-jawed at my TV, I happened upon a video from YouTube food critic Brennen Taylor, who has 4 million subscribers and a snarky attitude his viewers must find amusing.

Taylor was spending the day eating at “viral” Chattanooga restaurants and offering his thoughts on the food, service and atmosphere. His first stop was Lo Main, a neighborhood bar in the Ridgedale and Highland Park communities whose Murder Burger has achieved legendary status among locals.

Realtors are always on the move, working from offices, coffee shops, showings, closings, airports and everywhere in between. Staying connected is part of the job, but so is protecting the information clients trust us with every day.

As we recognize September as Realtor Safety Month, we’re sharing guidance from a National Association of Realtors Real Estate News article by Burton Kelso on “How to Use Public Wi-Fi Safely” with practical reminders for taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity.

The event, hosted by the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and Feeding the Future, will take place Saturday at First Horizon Pavilion. Sponsored by Five Star Breaktime Solutions, the family-friendly event will raise funds and awareness to fight food insecurity in the Chattanooga area. The 5K begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by a 1-mile walk at 8:45 a.m. The event will also feature children’s activities and local food trucks. Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations to support individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. Proceeds will support hunger-relief efforts throughout the region.

Local 3 will add meteorologist Kinley Beshers to its Storm Alert Weather Team this month while moving Logan Dubel to the weekend morning anchor desk.

Beshers will become the weather team’s fourth member, replacing Hannah Skye, who is leaving for WXIA, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. Beshers holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism from Auburn University and broadcast meteorology and geosciences from Mississippi State University. She most recently interned at WKRN in Nashville.

A $25 million federal RAISE Grant will support the replacement of Chattanooga’s aging Wilcox Boulevard Bridge.

Built in 1958, the bridge carries more than 18,000 vehicles daily. The project will replace the aging structure with an 851-foot, four-span bridge featuring four 12-foot travel lanes, 4-foot shoulders and a 12-foot multiuse path.

If you’ve just started managing your own finances, recommitted to doing it well or noticed your spending isn’t making you as happy as you’d hoped, a budget might be exactly what you need. When you know where your money is going, you’re likely to feel more in control and more confident your finances reflect what actually matters to you.

Chattanooga Ballet will open its 2026-27 season Oct. 8-10 with “ART / Bridges,” a program featuring works by three nationally recognized choreographers and exploring the connections between classical and contemporary ballet.

Performances will take place at the UTC Fine Arts Center and feature works by Kara Wilkes, Jamorris Rivers and Chattanooga Ballet CEO and artistic director Brian McSween.

By Rhiannon Potkey

Arion Carter is one of the most feared defenders in the country. The University of Tennessee star linebacker has delivered plenty of hits that can rattle an opponent’s teeth. As a dean’s list student who graduated in three years with a degree in public health, Carter also knows the importance of wearing a mouthguard for protection.

Draft picks are going to have to start making an impact if the Tennessee Titans are going to dig out of the doldrums that have plagued them for the past four seasons.

It’s not just recent first-round picks like Carnell Tate, Keldric Faulk or 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Those guys need to become stars. What the Titans really need is contributors from middle- and late-round picks.

Football is finally back for real with the regular season starting Sunday as the Titans host the New York Jets, Robert Saleh’s former team. Let’s look at some of the Titans’ keys to victory:

First down

Bring the heat. Saleh’s defenses are known for their waves of relentless pressure and continuing to rotate in fresh players to keep the heat turned up on opposing quarterbacks. Geno Smith had a penchant for putting the ball in harm’s way last year with the Raiders. The Titans need to see if he will do the same thing against their defense.

Three taps of the gavel, and the room went silent. The audience is yours now, all ears are tuned to you. You worked hard to get to this meeting, to land this position for your community or organization. You’re just where you wanted to be.

So now read “Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings” by Jared Diamond and see if your leadership will matter.

If you’re looking to reduce your gas bills but buying an electric vehicle just isn’t for you, the 2026 Hyundai Tucson Plug-in Hybrid or 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid might be a smart solution. These are hybrid SUVs that drive like a regular gas-powered hybrid but have a rechargeable battery that lets you drive a short distance on all-electric power first. 

NASHVILLE (AP) — Chris Johnson has been to every major ALS clinic in the country and seen neurologists respond once they learn he played football. The sixth man to run for 2,000 yards in an NFL season read the study that found former NFL players were nearly four times as likely to develop and die from ALS than other men.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-five years later, the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, are still remembered as among the most important historic events in many Americans' lives, according to a new poll.

A new Ipsos poll finds that about half of U.S. adults name the 9/11 attacks in an open-ended question about the most important historic occurrences in their lifetimes. That's despite other momentous events that have happened since then, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the elections of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices keep climbing as the war with Iran keeps clogging the global flow of crude, and they leaped Thursday to their highest levels since before the summer. That worsened worries about inflation and cranked up pressure within the bond market, helping to send stocks lower again on Wall Street.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending.

NEW YORK (AP) — The largest cyclospora food poisoning outbreak in U.S. history is over, U.S. health officials said Friday.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they are confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific outbreak is off the market.

FOREST CITY, Mo. (AP) — The price of diesel is hitting record highs just when many U.S. farmers need it to power combines, tractors and other equipment to harvest two of the nation's largest commodities, soybeans and corn.

The spike adds to an already tough year for these farmers, who also faced higher costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.

CHICAGO (AP) — Diesel prices in the U.S. hit yet another record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average as Washington's war with Iran disrupts the world's flow of fuel.

The national average of nearly $6.06 is up from $5.85 last week and almost $3.71 this time last year, according to motor club AAA.

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen 's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said Friday, opening a new front in the Iran war and further threatening Saudi oil exports through one of the world's key shipping lanes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — During his first address to a Republican convention in 2016, Donald Trump had an audacious message to a nation yearning for change: "I alone can fix it."

A decade later and nearing the midpoint of his final term, Trump is still pitching himself as America's essential repairman. It's a strategy that's helped him overcome daunting odds before but now guarantees this year's midterms will be a referendum on his unpopular presidency. And it previews how difficult it will be for his party to prepare for a future without him as he shows little interest in ceding the stage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ordering officials in more than two dozen states to preserve records from the 2024 election as part of a campaign to force states to turn over detailed voter records despite repeated court losses.

The Justice Department sent letters to 29 states and the District of Columbia instructing election officials not to destroy the records. Those are places the Trump administration has sued in a bid to gain access to voter registration information that contains addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation accelerated last month as gas prices spiked in the wake of renewed fighting in the Middle East, underscoring the affordability challenges that are top of mind for many voters with midterm elections now just seven weeks away.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration has provided a $99.6 million loan to a U.S.-owned cell phone network operator in Africa to expand American tech presence on a continent where China's Huawei is a leading player.

The loan from the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank was announced by the operator Africell on Friday. It is the only U.S.-owned cell network operator in Africa.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican officials came together for a two-day convention this week to rally voters in advance of midterm elections in November. But in celebrating their accomplishments, they made several false and misleading claims, many of which have been stated repeatedly during Trump's second term.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump observed Friday's 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by attending a ceremony at the Pentagon commemorating the lives lost when al-Qaida militants hijacked planes and killed nearly 3,000 people in three locations, upending American foreign policy and national security.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ally of President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has resigned from his post leading a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against the Republican president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers worried about the existential risk posed by new artificial intelligence products demanded information from OpenAI on Thursday with separate queries that underscored growing concerns in Washington about the technology's potential to elude human control.

DALLAS (AP) — As Vice President JD Vance addressed the crowd at the Republican midterm convention, he was interrupted by a fan who shouted "JD 48!" Others joined in, and Vance paused with a smile before cutting them off.

"We gotta take care of business this November and then we'll worry about what comes next," he said.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets ' ever-spinning kicker carousel is stopping on Jason Sanders this week.

In a bit of a surprise Friday, coach Aaron Glenn announced Sanders will be the Jets' kicker Sunday in the season opener in Tennessee and not Blake Grupe, who's currently on the active roster.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell Generating Plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region, and he used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican officials came together for a two-day convention this week to rally voters in advance of midterm elections in November. But in celebrating their accomplishments, they made several false and misleading claims, many of which have been stated repeatedly during Trump's second term.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have yet another new coach working with a general manager in his second season with the franchise. They also spent more than anyone else in the NFL to kick off free agency in March.

Not even the new uniforms helped as they looked like the same old Titans with yet another loss.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The New York Jets made some big moves and changes during the offseason trying to shake up a franchise mired in a decade of losing.

For one game, they got exactly what they wanted.

Breece Hall ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, Geno Smith threw for 215 yards in his Jets' return and the Jets defeated Tennessee 23-10 on Sunday to spoil Titans coach Robert Saleh's debut against his former team.

There's a new No. 1 team in the AP Top 25: Texas snagged the top spot after a wild win against Ohio State, xgiving the Longhorns their earliest No. 1 regular-season ranking since 1965.

The Buckeyes slid down five places to No. 6, leaving the top five for the first time in two seasons.

The Big Ten took quite the gut punch in Week 2 with Ohio State blowing a 20-point fourth-quarter lead at Texas and Oregon getting embarrassed at Oklahoma State.

The conference that has won the last three national championships lost six of eight matchups against Power Four opponents last week and the two it won weren't much to look at.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former CIA Director John Brennan has been subpoenaed to testify next month before a Florida grand jury as part of a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump, one of his lawyers said Monday.

MARFA, Texas (AP) — Landowners, ranchers and business owners in the Big Bend region of Texas along with a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the region's landscape and heritage are suing to stop the Trump administration's plans to build a wall and other border infrastructure through the remote section of the state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to repeal rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove billions of dollars in costs for the industry and help "unleash" American energy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be a sufficient guardrail against rogue artificial intelligence, claiming that any efforts to limit the technology was part of a "SICK conspiracy."

Trump was pushing back against calls by tech leaders such as Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk to have greater government oversight of AI. Their goal is to ensure the technology is developed in ways that promote safety, address legal liability, feed economic growth, advance science and preserve national security.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New warnings from within the artificial intelligence industry have revived a long-running debate over whether advanced AI could escape human control and ultimately threaten humanity's survival, and whether the companies developing the technology are doing enough to prevent such a scenario.

CAIRO (AP) — A crucial Saudi oil pipeline that was struck in an attack will mostly be out of service for weeks as the damage is repaired, two regional officials said Monday, as Yemen's Houthi rebels seized more islands along Red Sea shipping routes in a new blow to Saudi Arabia's oil exports.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote opened his refinery to public ownership Monday with plans to raise $1.6 billion from retail investors across the continent in Africa's biggest initial public offering, or IPO.

Dangote, Africa's richest man, dubbed the IPO one "for the people" and said he wants everyone to be able to own a share. Retail investors can buy shares in the sprawling Lagos-based refinery for 5,250 naira ($4) per share with a minimum purchase of 10 shares. Dangote retains 87% ownership of the refinery, Africa's largest.

ROVANIEMI, Finland (AP) — European leaders were meeting Monday to discuss growing competition in the Arctic, where global warming is opening new shipping routes, governments are vying for vast natural resources and a Russian military buildup is heightening security concerns.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Mackie, the fashion designer whose visually provocative Hollywood style defined glamour for the 1970s — including putting Carol Burnett in some of her kookiest get-ups and Cher in her raciest ones — died Monday. He was 87.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey stood alone at the Sphere, attempting to comprehend what she had witnessed after U2's opening night performance in 2023. Mesmerized by the multisensory event, the Queen of All Media had a thought: Could she use the groundbreaking, 4D capabilities of the globe-shaped arena to help others reach their highest potential?

NEW YORK (AP) — The venerable newsmagazine "60 Minutes" opened its 59th season on CBS-TV on Sunday night with no direct mention of the turmoil and departures that have unfolded behind the scenes in recent months.

Hosts waited until the show's end to acknowledge that anything different was going on.

TORONTO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump wants factories and investment moving south to the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is betting he can make billions flow north.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had been hearing the message loud and clear for weeks about the sweeping cryptocurrency bill being written in the Senate: to get it across the line, he would have to agree to ethics provisions that apply to him, too.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has agreed to a significant portion of a stringent ethics proposal that is part of broader cryptocurrency legislation headed for a key vote this week, according to three of the bill's main Republican authors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees is planning to propose adding President Donald Trump's name to the facility's exterior in recognition of his saving the building from its "precarious fiscal position," according to a new court filing in a suit aimed at blocking the addition of his name to the building.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to every American adult if his Republican Party maintains control of the House and Senate in the November election needs congressional approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday, while pledging to try to make it happen.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will look into requests from families of Sept. 11 victims to release records that could shed light on Saudi Arabia's alleged role in the attacks 25 years ago.

Several families have long alleged that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia gained influence in the Saudi government and aided the hijackers. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, but the Saudi government has long denied any involvement in the attacks.