This railroad began existence as the Hiwassee Railroad Company in Tennessee in 1836, intending to link up with the Georgia State Railroad (Western and Atlantic, or W&A) at Dalton extending to Knoxville, Tennessee.   The Red Clay and Cross Plains Branch Railroad Company was chartered in 1840 to meet the former company at Red Clay.   After reorganizing into a single ... (click for more)

This is the railroad that gave birth to Atlanta and other towns and spearheaded the making of Chattanooga into the great railroad center it became. The Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) started life as the Georgia State Railroad, which was leased to the company bearing this name in 1870.   The railroad was built from Zero Mile Post in what is now Atlanta to Chetoogeta ... (click for more)

County Commissioner Tim Boyd said he questions the effectiveness of the Read 20 pre-K literacy program and wants the director to come before the County Commission to answer questions.   County Mayor Jim Coppinger defended the program, noting that it was the creation of former County Mayor Claude Ramsey.   Commissioner Boyd said the low literacy level hearing ... (click for more)

In remarks on the Senate floor  on Wednesday , Senator Bob Corker joined a number of colleagues to discuss the broken federal budget process.   “The processes that we have in place make it impossible for us to really deal with our country’s fiscal issues,” said Senator Corker. “Today is the perfect example of that: we pass a continuing resolution ... (click for more)

If only we had known about the Chattanooga City Council's planned retirement send off for Jimmy Templeton of Public Works, the room would have been filled to overflowing with his friends and admirers - including me.   I have had the honor of knowing and working with Jimmy since the 1970's (and also knew his father "Big Jim").  Jimmy was a strong right hand for whoever ... (click for more)

I’ve seen some beautiful things in my life. I’ve eaten dinner inside the Eiffel Tower with the city of Paris all aglitter below. I’ve been sprayed by champagne in the Dallas Cowboys’ dressing room after they won the Super Bowl. I’ve stood both at the top and at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I’ve snorkeled in the Great Exuma islands, learned to snow ski in the Austrian Alps, and ... (click for more)