Chattanooga Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced the closing of the bridge over Friar’s Branch on Standifer Gap Road between Hickory Valley Road and Shallowford Road, beginning Monday. The closure will last approximately 18 months. This will be a hard closure with no traffic allowed on the bridge. The Tennessee Department of Transportation conducted a bi-annual ... (click for more)

Tracey Crawley came to the Whitfield County Engineering Department with no experience in that area. It didn’t take her long to catch on, says co-worker Jonathan Wells, who successfully nominated her as Whitfield County Employee of the Month for August. “Tracey came to our department in November of 2014 with no experience in engineering/planning,” Mr. Wells said. “She not ... (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)

It is said that the opening paragraph of my favorite ode to baseball should be the centerpiece for the canon of sports literature. It was written by former commissioner Bart Giamatti in "The Green Fields of the Mind,” a most marvelous essay to the last day of the regular season in the major leagues. “It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in ... (click for more)