Well, folks, it’s late summer, and that means it’s time for a couple more botany terms! Are you ready? OK! The truly vibrant flowers in this photo deserve a thought or two. Of course, it is the corolla which is vibrantly colored, the corolla consisting of all the petals fused at their edges (5 petals in this case). Below or “behind” the corolla is going to be a green calyx, ... (click for more)

Catoosa County Commissioners, Parks and Recreation officials and contractors invite the community to “Play Ball!” at the renovated Poplar Springs Park ballfields, which are officially open. The nearly $2-million renovation serves Catoosa County and visiting families with new, world-class baseball and softball fields, new dugouts and stands, a new concessions, umpire and restrooms ... (click for more)

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the $80 million Southside Stadium project. The action puts in motion the ability for a new city/county Sports Authority to convene and issue $80 million in bonds for the "community" facility on nine acres at the U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site. Councilman Chip Henderson added several provisions that he said would add "transparency" ... (click for more)

Officials of the Chattanooga Housing Authority said the plan to re-envision the Westside includes building 1,783 new housing units. Betsy McCright, CHA executive director, said the College Hill Courts and the Gateway Tower will be taken down, but she said residents in those 629 have been promised a spot in some of the new housing. She said the demolition will be in stages ... (click for more)

Athens and Tennessee lost a great friend and a long-time public servant when Larry Wallace passed away Saturday afternoon. The 1962 McMinn County High School graduate started his lifetime law enforcement career with the Athens Police Department in 1964. He joined the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 1967 and was appointed as a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of ... (click for more)

When Alabama football coach Nick Saban described last year’s season as a “rebuilding effort,” it triggered a lot of good-natured laughter throughout college sports. After all, the Crimson Tide just won 13 games and the SEC championship game before losing the national title game to Georgia. As if to underscore such greatness, this year’s Alabama team has just been chosen by the AFCA ... (click for more)