Mayor Ron Littlefield said, “As students you have the privilege of higher education and a responsibility to use your talents to make the world a better place. Accordingly, you have the obligation to not simply [sic] appose the plans but become involved in seeking a better solution.”

Posted by pulseblogger at 07:48 AM | TrackBack

November 17, 2006

Play(Station) On, My Man

The Christmas shopping season kicked off early, as video gamers (or those who want to sell consoles on eBay for a lot of money) spent a good chunk of last week at stores, waiting anxiously for Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Some people were more determined than others to get the golden game systems, with at least one person being offered $1,200 to stand in line for another, said Chattanooga Police Sgt. Tom Layne.

Brandon Karnes, of Hixson, had been at Best Buy on Highway 153 since midday Tuesday. He was one of about 30 people lined up to get 26 consoles Friday morning.

“I’ve got plenty of clothes, plenty of blankets. The real trouble is the rain,” Karnes said of the drizzle that continued to fall Thursday. He said about 10 of the campers bought tarps on Wednesday to protect their tents from constant rain. “It was all we could do to stay dry.”

Conditions were more Spartan at Target. Sean McGill, of Hixson, arrived about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the first of about 10 people to line up for eight game systems.

“We could keep warmer if Target would let us have tents. They think it looks tacky. Well, why not let us use red and white tents?” McGill said, referring to the colors the discount chain uses in its advertising campaigns. (Psst, Target. Here’s a thought: Make ‘em use tents sold only in your store. Translation: More profit.)

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:20 PM | TrackBack

Police on Lookout for PR Flack

The Chattanooga Police Department is looking for someone to fill a role called “senior manager of media relations.”

According to the city’s Web site, the person will promote “the understanding of the departmental objectives, functions and accomplishments … that conveys a favorable public image for the Police Department and for the City of Chattanooga.”

But wait! That’s not all. If you act now, you will be “supervising the development of internal communications for information purposes; planning strategies to correct misunderstandings, problems or friction; consulting with Chief of Police, management personnel and other officials to review department activities, provide recommendations and communicate on other matters; coordinating with other departments and outside agencies to ensure accuracy and uniform message; serving as liaison between media and the Police Department, responding to questions and requests as needed; managing a budget and performing other administrative duties.”

Gee, that’s what Sgts. Tom Layne and Tetzel Tillery already try to do. And what do you bet they’re paid less than what this person will get. The salary range is listed as $46,878 to $72,363.

So, if you have a bachelor’s degree in journalism or communications and three years of experience in news media or a field related to government, politics or law enforcement, the Chattanooga Police Department is looking for you. In a good way.

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:19 PM | TrackBack

Here We Go Round in Circles

Roundabouts have made their way back into the news in Chattanooga as the city opens its newest traffic circle in Hixson. This new circle is at the intersection of Access Road with Lake Resort Drive and the ramps from Highway 153 at Chickamauga Dam.

There already are roundabouts outside the Bachman Tubes through Missionary Ridge in East Ridge and in Red Bank at Mountain Creek Road, but drivers are a little apprehensive about using these traffic devices.

No need for worry, folks. A roundabout is just a circle in which drivers travel counterclockwise and take a particular exit to get to a connecting street. Here are a few pointers from the Web site roundaboutsusa.com on how to drive on one:

• As you approach a roundabout there will be a “Yield” sign and dashed yield limit line. Slow down, watch for pedestrians and bicyclists, and be prepared to stop if necessary.

• When you enter, yield to circulating traffic on the left, but do not stop if the way is clear.

• A conventional roundabout will have one-way signs mounted in the center island. They help guide traffic and indicate that you must drive to the right of the center island.

• Upon passing the street prior to your exit, turn on your right turn signal and watch for pedestrians and bicyclists as you exit.

• Left turns are completed by traveling around the central island.

That’s how you do this particular hokey-pokey.

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:16 PM | TrackBack

October 11, 2006

A (More) Spirited Debate

I, for one, thought last night's debate was a truer representation of the acrimony that obviously exists between the two candidates (parties?) than anything I have seen before.

Both were committed to lobbing as many "grenades" as possible at each other (possibly because there was no :30 response to the rebuttal like in Memphis).

Each presented himself more in a "Senatorial" light, throwing around more names, places and figures as befits a national politician.

Looked to me like Ford had more to answer for: family political machine, law school vs. passing the bar, Missing votes in congress as opposed to Corker's illegal alien flap and cookie cutter republicanism.

All in all, I thought it was Corker's debate to lose, although Ford rebounded pretty well and came off human at times, as when fessing up to law school.

Memphis: Ford by a nose
Chattanooga: Corker by a nose
Nashville: ?

Posted by mkull at 11:51 AM | TrackBack

Corker, Ford and Bored

A few brief thoughts and observations on Tuesday night's debate...

1. Mr. Ford has a steely and determined "I'm thinking of my response" face.

2. Mr. Corker wants to bring people together. And stay the course. And bring people together and stay the course. And bring people together.

3. Mr. Ford will -- get this -- say "yes" to some people and say "no" to others. This is called being "independent." So is, evidently, voting with Hillary and Ted 88 percent of the time.

4. Fed Ex doesn't like Mr. Ford. Even if he did get them that runway.

5. Evidently, if the INS likes what you're doing, they'll come and tell you about it -- three times.

6. The majority of the people asking the questions had absolutely no idea who James Baker is.

7. When you accuse somebody of being lobbied by their daddy, they won't shake your hand after the debate.

8. Mr. Corker referenced Mr. Ford's being a career Washington politican, which is something Mr. Corker would be today if he'd beaten Bill Frist back in 1994.

9. Most of the time, when you don't show up for a congressional vote, it's not that important. But sometimes it is. It's OK, though, not to show up if you're seeking a higher office.

10. So, tell me more about Chris Lugo...

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:18 AM | TrackBack

October 10, 2006

Poor Little Rich Convicted Shooter

Rheubin Taylor II lives under house arrest with his father, Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, who earns more than $126,000 annually. But you’re paying for the kid’s legal fees. Thanks!

Special Judge Buddy Perry has ruled that the Taylor fils is indigent, and his legal fees will be paid by the taxpayer-funded Tennessee indigent defense fund. So that’s how Stewart Jenkins will be collecting for his defense of Taylor, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter earlier this year in the shooting that killed Tory Hardy following the 2003 Bessie Smith Strut.

Jenkins said Taylor’s living conditions weren’t a factor in his ability to pay. “He has no property and no job,” Jenkins told the Times Free Press on Friday. It is hard to find work when you’re under house arrest.

But it’s easier to find a job when you have a clean record – which Taylor might if the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals rules his way. Perry has already ruled that Taylor’s charges would be expunged from his criminal record if he finished three years of probation without incident, but the D. A.’s office is appealing the ruling.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:11 AM | TrackBack

So, Who's Al Green, Again?

Two days after being quoted by the Times Free Press as being “not in support of relaxing the concession policy or further enabling the sale of alcohol at either the Tivoli or Memorial,” Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield appeared on WGOW’s “F.R.E.D. the Show” with Jeff Styles last Tuesday to receive a proper public grilling on the matter.

Littlefield was actually in the studio to discuss recent recycling developments, but Styles was able to get the mayor to spend roughly eight minutes (you can download the podcast here) discussing the topic of Tivoli/Memorial concessions towards the end of the show.

First, they talked about sticky floors. Littlefield argued that people “hate going to movie theaters” because sticky floors are a “common occurrence.” He doesn’t want to see that happen at the Memorial or the Tivoli. Styles didn’t have much to say on that, but our very own City Editor/Movie Critic Aaron Mesh, who has visited the Rave in East Ridge “well over one hundred times” since its early 2005 opening, says he’s encountered sticky floors “maybe twice.” Mesh adds that those two sticky visits did not make him hate going to the theater.

The most puzzling portion of the interview, however, came when Littlefield explained that the reason the recent Al Green show at the Memorial Auditorium was cancelled was because people would have to “be my age to know who Al Green is, almost” and that ticket prices were “pretty high for us.” While his first point is almost too ridiculous to even comment on (the mayor only needs to attend a local prom or watch, say, Pulp Fiction to properly gauge Al Green’s appeal among folks younger than himself), Styles convincingly countered Littlefield by pointing out that the reason ticket prices were so high was because promoters couldn’t sell alcohol and had no choice but to make their money on ticket sales. Littlefield then responded that “we need more people with more money in their pocket to buy tickets and we will do very well.” Perhaps the mayor might want to consider that one way people might wind up with more money in their pockets is by not paying more than they have to for concert tickets.

Styles told Littlefield that, for every act he could name that’s sold out the Tivoli or Memorial lately, he could name 30 bands that “could have sold out that we won’t get because of the alcohol policy.” The mayor mentioned a show by contemporary Christian act, Third Day.

“I was there. It filled the auditorium,” he said.

Time ran out before Styles could list his 30 bands, but to Littlefield’s credit, he did agree to come back on the air to discuss the subject again. He needs to.

Somebody should bring beer.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:09 AM | TrackBack

September 26, 2006

Yes, There Are Such Things As Guard Donkeys

Here's the press release from the city:

One of the kudzu eating goats on Missionary Ridge has been mauled and was found dead this morning. A concerned citizen called 311 this morning to report the downed goat.

“The contractor in charge of the goats will probably try to put a guard donkey in the area to protect the goats. Donkeys raised with goats become very protective of their flock and can ward off attacks from coyotes or stray dogs,” said Lee Norris, assistant administrator for public works.

Poor goat.

Posted by colrus at 02:55 PM | TrackBack

For Just $25 More, You Can Get Your Bin Monogrammed!

When last we considered the curbside recycling controversy, it looked like Frank DePinto and his recycling activists had managed to collect enough signatures to force the issue onto November ballots. But he wasn’t so sure. “There’s a lot of grey areas,” he told The Pulse. “On quite a few of [the petitions], they had missed putting the date, they had missed putting their address or zip code. These are what I call the grey areas. That’s where the politics come in. There could be the mayor and his boys saying, ‘There’s a lot at stake here – we don’t want this sucker passed.”

Turns out DePinto was right to worry – though perhaps not for those reasons. The Hamilton County Election Office count of the petitions found that even though more than 7,000 signatures were submitted, only 4,992 were valid. That was well short of the necessary 6, 372. “We gave them every benefit of the doubt,” election official Charlotte Mullis told Chattanoogan.com. “We put in every possible effort for them.”

So no dice. And, if the city’s Public Works department has its way, no curbside service for glass, aluminum, electronics or plastic. In the proposal submitted to the City Council last Tuesday, curbside pickup would be reduced to once a month, for paper only – and participating citizens would have to purchase a recycling bin for $70.

Oh boy! You mean I can shell out 70 smackers to participate in a failed recycling program that I wasn’t using in the first place? Where do I sign up?

The Council was equally skeptical. “Why do you think people will pay $70 for a trash can when they don’t have to?” Marti Rutherford asked Public Works officials. Council members instructed Public Works to keep the full curbside program running monthly until November 1, and to submit a report on how to use its $100,000 education budget to encourage use of the new program.

Hey, maybe they could use that $100,000 to buy hammers. Then they could hit people over the head until they were stupid enough to spend $70 on a recycling can.

Addendum: The bin plan has now been trashed. (Get it?!?)

Posted by colrus at 09:57 AM | TrackBack

Something Is Going On Here and We Don’t Know What It Is, Do We, Mr. Jones?

Edward Antwan Jones finally got a day in court. And one of his alleged victims said what Jones has been saying for months: he didn’t do it.

Cory Harris, who has shot in the chest in a November 17 home invasion, testified Tuesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court that he was coerced and threatened by police into identifying Jones as his assailant. “I just went with it,” Harris said.

But that testimony wasn’t enough to get Jones out of jail. Judge Rebecca Stern refused to reduce Jones’ bond until after his trial for the first-degree murder of Don Maurice Airline – a trial that has once again been delayed, this time until October 31. That was all good news to Assistant District Attorney Leslie Longshore, who said Tuesday that shots had been fired at Harris’ house since he first testified against Jones, and that Jones had called Harris from inside county lockup. “There are all kinds of reasons why Mr. Harris would change his story that do not include him not telling the truth the first time,” she said.

Here’s one possible reason: in an interview with Pulse city editor Aaron Mesh last month, Jones confirmed that he had called Harris – and told him who really shot him. “I been in here on a bogus charge that I didn’t even do and that the victims and witnesses say that they know that I didn’t do, and they know who done it, and they try to come forward and say who done it, but them people try to charge them with perjury.”

Now they’ve come forward. Whether it will matter remains to be seen.

Posted by colrus at 09:52 AM | TrackBack

September 13, 2006

A Manny for All Seasons

City Councilman Manuel Rico is safe for at least another year. Not that we were all that worried about him.

The Hamilton County Election Commission ruled last week that a recall effort targeting Rico could not appear on ballots for at least a year. “It’s very poorly presented, and it’s too late to get anything on the ballot this year,” Elections Administrator Bud Knowles told the Times Free Press last week.

Black community leaders had drafted a petition to recall Rico for “abuse of his office, and showing no respect or regard for the citizens of District 7.” Which Rico thinks translates into “failed to vote for $450,000 disparity study proposed by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.”

“I've had several elected and other black leaders come and ask me to vote for it,” Rico told WDEF News 12, “and sometimes even try to intimidate me. So, that's the only thing I could think of that they're not happy with.”

Well, Manny, there was that time that you suggested that Power 94 attracts “bad people.” But we’re sure that has nothing to do with this. Just ignore that poll on the Power 94 Web site – the one asking, “Do you feel that Manny Rico is representing his district in the best interest of the people?” That’s not important. Let’s move along. No impending racial conflict to see here.

Posted by colrus at 12:46 AM | TrackBack

Do You Believe in Miracles? Okay: They did it. They saved curbside recycling. Well, maybe.

In one of the more impressive grassroots efforts since those people hung those balloons from that bridge, Chattanoogans Recycle came in under the wire with 7,133 signatures needed to get a curbside recycling ordinance on the November ballot. Only two weeks ago, the group had only attracted 2,250 signatories. Now the Election Commission – that poor, poor Election Commission – has to verify that at least 6,372 of those John Hancocks were from registered voters living within the city limits.

Campaign leader Frank DePinto was, as you might have predicted, gleeful. “It was fun, it was meaningful and hopefully this Campaign will have been an asset to this Wonderful City,” he wrote in a statement. Then he explained why the vote mattered.

“Presently, the mayor and City Council are trying to institute 'selective curbside recycling' for just some neighbors in Chattanooga, not all. This would be neighborhoods that have had a good record of curbside recycling, neighborhoods that are probably wealthier, better educated, etc; while not allowing for recycling in less educated, not as wealthy neighborhoods; although these people would be paying the taxes for curbside recycling for the wealthier neighborhoods i.e. Segregated Recycling. This will not happen if the initiative passes in November. Curbside recycling will be a service for ‘all Chattanoogans,’ not just a select few. This will be accomplished by a more aggressive recycling education to the entire city.”

And so it will. If, you know, people vote for it.

Posted by colrus at 12:45 AM | TrackBack

September 07, 2006

What Is a "Goat Fine," Anyway?

As was reported in today's Metro section, the "Slow Goats Working - Goat Fines Up To $250" signs around Missionary Ridge were posted illegally and anonymously. The city plans to take the signs down.

Public Works Deputy Administrator Lee Norris told the TFP that the city's "going to think of it as a nonevent," and while they are looking into who created and put up the signs, they are not going to take any action against them.

Norris went on to say that there's no need for a sign, adding, "I'd just as soon not anybody know the goats are there."

If you happen to know who created the signs, have them call me.

Posted by colrus at 09:35 AM | TrackBack

September 06, 2006

What About Toddlers Who Commit Armed Robbery? What’s Required of Them?

So a Hamilton County Grand Jury panel isn’t exactly impressed with the county workhouse at Silverdale. How unimpressed are they? To wit:

“We believe that child day care centers require more from their charges than is required of the inmates,” the panel said in its final report. “This facility appears to be a place where convicted criminals can go to heal up, rest up, and fatten up, at taxpayer expense, before being released back into society.” Well, at least they’re fat. Fat criminals can’t run very fast.

So what would the Hamilton County Grand Jury panel have us do instead? “If it were true that taking away one’s freedom is enough of a deterrent to prevent crime, why are there so many repeat offenders? We believe that these inmates should have a vocation while incarcerated – this is supposed to be, after all, a ‘workhouse’, not an assisted living facility. Detention facilities should not be nice places and inmates should have few rights. When individualism and personal rights win out over the well being of society, then we all lose.”

The Hamilton County Grand Jury panel sounds like it would be a lot of fun at parties.

Posted by colrus at 09:44 AM | TrackBack

Just In Time for Tourist Seas… Well, Next Year’s Tourist Season!

It finally happened. The City Council passed a new waterfront vending policy. If you’re anything like us, you stopped caring about this about a month ago, but here’s the lowdown:

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will now control 21st Century Waterfront vending. The department is taking bids for seven waterfront spots. The bids must be in by September 29. Then Parks and Rec staff will sit down with Friends of the Festival members to pick the best bids.

“This is a dynamic process,” Parks and Rec Administrator Larry Zehnder told the TFP’s Herman Wang. “We’ve never done this before.”

Actually, they have. Several times. That’s been the trouble. Here’s hoping it takes this time.

Posted by colrus at 09:43 AM | TrackBack

The Same Services, But Now with More Poisoned Dirt!

Farewell, Homeless Hilton. We hardly knew ye.

Mayor Ron Littlefield told the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Wednesday that he is no longer pushing to construct a homeless campus on the Farmer’s Market property the city has purchased – and he doesn’t want the city to spend money on such a building.

“It was a concept for the way things could be,” he told the paper’s editorial board, while a muted rendition of “The Rainbow Connection” played in the background. “I’m not talking about building. The cost to us is minimal if the agencies already out there utilize the space.”

So that’s the new idea: gather the Union Gospel Mission, the Chattanooga Rescue Mission and the Interfaith Hospitality Network to the property across the street from the Community Kitchen. “There are buildings there that, with very little cost, could be renovated into offices for the various agencies,” Littlefield said. “We can make the land available to them at a very desirable price.” Because it’s not like this land has any history of contamination! No sirree! This is clean land! Or it will be as soon as the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation finishes testing for foundry sand, coal tar and “volatile vapors”! And that will take only six to eight weeks!

So what do the opponents of the Homeless Hilton think of the downscaled plan? Are they happy with a more measured approach? Nope. “Having large concentrations in one location only multiplies the number of individuals that would be unconfined and in our neighborhood,” said Merri Mai Williamson, “and they would certainly be a magnet for predators.”

By “predators,” we can only assume she means the dinosaurs currently trapped in the coal tar.

Posted by colrus at 09:42 AM | TrackBack

August 16, 2006

Junecast: She, Too, Was Born on a Mountaintop in Tennessee

By now, you've likely heard about June Griffin's recent run-in with the law. But did you hear her interview on talk radio? Huh? Did ya?

Well, click here to hear it in all its flag-swipin' glory.

If you still have no idea what I'm talking about, read on:

She, Too, Was Born on a Mountaintop in Tennessee

June Griffin: not a big fan of the Mexicans. That’s the one clear lesson from the Rhea County religious activist’s arrest last week on charges of civil rights intimidation, phone harassment, theft under $500 and vandalism. The same week she lost her Quixotic bid to replace Zach Wamp in Congress, she allegedly stole a Mexican flag from a Hispanic grocery store in Dayton.

We say “allegedly” because we’re paranoid that way, but Griffin has proudly admitted to stealing the flag. “I went into the store,” she said in a statement, “and a young man sat there and could speak no American at all. I looked around and saw a small Mexican flag stuck to the back door. Seeing this effrontery, I tore it off the door and left. Of all the nerve! It was not stolen; it was an act of war!”

Griffin, who is also accused of making threatening phone calls to the store (which she basically acknowledged as well), faces up to five years in jail. She pled not guilty Friday. She also issued a statement “to the Mexican consulate”:

“Of all the nerve, you people come into our town, speak Spanish, put up their alien flags and expect us to take it laying down. You can be sure the inactivity on the part of veterans and patriots is no sign of love for your effrontery or that their hearts are not grieved and broken. They just wait for the Lord to execute His Wrath as He did in avenging the death of Davy Crockett.”

Yep. Davy Crockett. She remembers the Alamo. She’s going to be a real treat for the wardens. Hopefully they’ll speak American.

Posted by colrus at 10:31 AM | TrackBack

July 03, 2006

Clapp If You Love the Library

Mayor Ron Littlefield found himself in another public squabble last week. But this one had a novel ending: his combatant apologized.

“I owe an apology to Mayor Littlefield and the City Council for inadvertently mischaracterizing City support of the library and its funding,” Hamilton County Bicentennial Library Director David Clapp said in a statement. “Ron Littlefield has been a lifelong friend of the library and kept our budget at a higher level last year when he could have legitimately cut it to match the county’s contribution. Both he and most members of the City Council have gone out of their way to help us during his administration. It was completely unfair to lay our budget crisis at the door of our best friends and supporters.”

The apology came after Littlefield defended the city’s library funding, which has grown even as the county has cut its contribution. “Our hearts are with the library,” he said. “We do all we can to make sure the budget is balanced and they have the services they need.”

Posted by mesh at 07:26 AM | TrackBack

This is What We Like to Term Nyukraking Journalism

So Harold Ford gave this stump speech on June 24 before a rally at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. And suddenly the race for U. S. Senator got a little more Grand Ole Operatic.

The big phrase that Ford dropped on the Jackson Day crowd was “the Three Stooges,” a moniker he bestowed upon GOP primary candidates Bob Corker, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary. But Ford said a lot more than that.

“They really need to grow up,” Ford told the Associated Press after his speech. “They should be running a race that is worthy of the intellect, needs and aspirations of the people of this state. I watch them at times, and I'm a little embarrassed to hear them raise their voices, yelling, sounding like children at times.”

The Tennessee Republican Party responded as if it had been poked in the collective eye. “Last time I checked, name-calling didn’t win too many elections in Tennessee," state GOP chairman Bob Davis told the AP on June 26. “Maybe Ford’s immaturity and insulting character assassination works in Washington, D.C., but in Tennessee it doesn’t fly.”

And then, in an attempt to raise the level of discussion, everybody went on Fox News. First Ford appeared on “The Big Story with John Gibson,” telling the host on June 27 that he wouldn’t back down. “Look, the horrible things they've said about me, that was probably the nice thing I said about the level of discourse among the three of them,” Ford said. “The conversation and the debate they're having is beneath voters in our state. The awful and terrible things they're saying about one another reminds you of kindergarten.”

Ed Bryant was not amused when he took his turn with Gibson on June 28. “Certainly it is a spirited contest we have in Tennessee and our primary,” he said, “but I think we have to first acknowledge that Congressman Ford's remarks yesterday are an example of a young man who is certainly eager to go over to the Senate, perhaps a little too eager to go there. Clearly if he's interested in a higher discourse of debate in this campaign, he is not going down the right track talking about the Three Stooges.”

And the snark kept coming. (We recognize that nothing is being accomplished by repeating all this, but it’s so much fun.) “Seems people from Washington have a penchant for calling people names and labeling them and distorting,” Corker told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Sunday, while Ford shot back with one name he wouldn’t call. “If they want me to call them the Three Statesmen, they ought to act like it,” he told the Times Free Press’ Andy Sher.

Meanwhile the Three Whatevers had a chance to prove their gravitas in a televised debate last Wednesday. And they successfully avoided name-calling. For about five minutes. “My Washington friends and lobbyists would have a better view of what that process is all about,” Corker said when pork-barrel spending was brought up. And Hilleary, as is his wont, took the conversation to 11: “If I am your ‘Washington friend,’ you are my pro-choice tax-raising-through-the-roof buddy.” (They don’t sound like friends.)

Perhaps lost in the furor was what ticked Ford off so much in the first place. During his Jackson Day speech, he lashed out at critics of his influential Memphis family. (Ford’s uncle, John Ford, was indicted on corruption charges in last summer’s Tennessee Waltz probe.) “When you figure out the recipe to fix a family, call me,” he said. “Otherwise, let us run for the Senate. When you have nothing else to talk about, you talk about those issues.”

Posted by mesh at 07:25 AM | TrackBack

June 26, 2006

The Walnut Street Bridge is Safe Until the Impending Apocalypse

Ron, meet Bill. Bill, meet Ron. Shake hands. Swap land. Make everybody happy.

Such was the big North Shore news last week, as more than a year of negotiations ended with developer Bill Young exchanging his property next to the Walnut Street Bridge for city land near Renaissance Park, thus ensuring that no monstrous, sun-devouring hotels would be built next to Chattanooga’s finest viewshed. Mayor Ron Littlefield brokered the deal, and was much pleased: “The swap of the Bill Young property resolves a sticky problem for the community,” he told Mike Pare of the Times Free Press, “and opens a new opportunity for development adjacent to Renaissance Park.” Young said that development would not likely be a hotel, “unless one comes calling.” Bring flowers, Miss Hilton.

We could attempt to refresh you with the background on this story – how people hung balloons from the bridge and protested at packed City Hall meetings and how an entire mayoral election seemed to hinge on this one building for a very long time – but it’s all very complicated, and we think you’d much rather read about…

Posted by mesh at 06:47 PM | TrackBack

‘Twill be a City on a Hill

Blue Cross Blue Shield announced at the latest meeting of the Chattanooga Rotary Club that the medical insurance giant will spend $300 million on it new headquarters on Cameron Hill. The development will include five buildings connected by skybridges and walkways, 4100 parking spaces, a wellness center for employees, a health institute and public spaces that provide scenic views of the city – all of which brings the development’s grand total to 950,000 square feet, up from 2003’s estimation of 800,000 square feet and $226 million. Better hope your premium doesn’t go up.

Posted by mesh at 06:46 PM | TrackBack

This Pancake is Way Better than IHOP’s

Saturday night, Chattanooga’s Blaire Pancake, eldest daughter of Dr. Bruce and Mrs. Debbie Pancake, became the newest Miss Tennessee. This “aspiring anthropology lawyer” wowed the judges with her avid activism for children’s rights and her rendition of “I’m a Woman” from the musical Smokey Joe’s Café, which also gave her top honors in the talent portion as she beat out thirty-eight other pageant hopefuls.

For the time being, Pancake will wait on law school so that she can become the new spokesperson for the governor’s Safe and Drug-Free Tennessee campaign, as well as compete in the Miss America pageant, beginning in September. And since Country Music Television will film the seven-week preliminaries for their new TV show “Finding Miss America,” she’ll also become a reality TV star during her academic hiatus. Not even syrup could make us like her more.

Posted by mesh at 06:45 PM | TrackBack

June 20, 2006

Chattanooga Rec Centers: They're a Hit!

From a kindly, sharing reader and his TiVo:

A recent WRCB news broadcast started off with a story about recent gang violence in Chattanooga. It then moved into a piece by Matt Johnson about all the good a rec center was doing.

While the voiceover talks about a "friendly game of pool," the following scenes can be seen in the background. (Click for bigger view.):

First, a child hits another with a pool stick...

...then, he uses a fist.

Thoughts, anyone?

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:36 AM | TrackBack

June 13, 2006

Lest Ye Receiveth a Cash Advance

In an effort to, evidently, prevent check-cashing firms from overtaking our city, Chattanooga City Councilwoman Marti Rutherford is behind a proposal that would, essentially, require check-cashing firms to spread out all over our city.

From today's TFP:

Chattanooga officials may limit how close check-cashing firms, pawn shops and payday lenders may be located from one another.

"The reason is to prevent the clustering that has taken place on so many major roads," City Councilwoman Marti Rutherford said Monday.

The City Council on July 11 will consider restricting the location of alternative financial services. The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission on Monday voted 8-2, with one abstention, to endorse the restriction.

An attorney representing Cleveland, Tenn.-based Check Into Cash raised several objections Monday with the proposal.

The proposal would change the city’s zoning ordinance to require certain businesses be located a minimum distance of 1,320 feet from one another. The targeted businesses are check cashing, deferred presentment, title pledge and pawn shop services, according to the resolution.

Existing locations at about 100 Chattanooga sites would be grandfathered in and not subject to the new rules, if adopted. Many of the businesses are on Brainerd Road, Highway 58, Highway 153 and Rossville Boulevard, said Michael N. St. Charles, an attorney with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel PC. Other cities that regulate business locations, such as Las Vegas and Pittsburgh, have set a standard distance of 1,000 feet of separation, Mr. St. Charles said. He said his client, Check Into Cash, is not opposing the ordinance change. But he said the alternative financial services were being singled out and the proposed change deals with "more perception than reality."

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:35 AM | TrackBack

June 12, 2006

Random Riverbend Observations: Weekend One

You can pay $2 to use a clean, air-conditioned restroom one time (or pay $5 for an unlimited use, evening-long “potty pass”) at the Courtyard by Marriott just outside the festival gates if you want to.

No matter how they position the stage from year to year, the heat at any Covista Stage show before 8 p.m.—the Lovell Sisters’ Friday night appearance being a highlight of the festival so far—is almost unbearable. Don’t let this stop you from checking out some great music, however. Take advantage of that convenient misting tunnel right around the corner. The cardboard hand fans that everybody and their brother are passing out this year simply do not help.

If the whiffs of patchouli and the number of noodle dancing teens is any indication, Infradig’s set on the AmSouth stage on Friday night was a hit, as the band zipped through a bunch of new tunes and old faves (DJ Shadow’s “Organ Donor” and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” among them) in a sort of warm-up gig for this week’s Bonnaroo appearance. Watching Al Di Meola’s band and crew set up for 45 minutes afterwards was not nearly as exciting. Things did pick up when he started to play, however.

Historically, Riverbend’s redneckiest acts draw the biggest crowds, and Friday night’s Hank Williams, Jr. show was no exception, as crowd estimates topped well above 100,000. An interesting phenomena was observed, as well: More and more people are abandoning any attempts to see the stage at all, instead opting to stand around the several large video screens strategically placed near to Coca-Cola stage.

Kenny Rogers may be close to 70, but his face isn’t a day over 54, and his catalog of hits—many of which getting a well-rehearsed, abbreviated treatment Sunday night with the CSO—goes back almost 40 years. Rogers was a tad put off by the bars on the front of Coca-Cola barge and occasionally gently chided the audience for their lack of participation, but was genuinely likable and entertaining during his 63-minute-long set. (Though news of a young man leaping to his death from the Walnut Street Bridge Sunday night put a damper on an otherwise beautiful and enjoyable evening.)

For full, colorful coverage of this year’s festival, read next week’s edition of The Pulse.

Posted by pulseblogger at 03:09 PM | TrackBack

June 05, 2006

Come Back, Bob! Come Back!

So much for that name-recognition problem. The latest statewide polls from Bob Corker’s campaign show the former mayor with a 20-point lead over his closest opponent, Van Hilleary. The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, shows Corker with 43 percent of the Republican primary vote, with Hilleary holding 23 percent and Ed Bryant bringing up the rear with 17 percent.

Neither of Corker’s rivals disputed that the new numbers showed him pulling away from the pack. “I think the response from our opponents to the survey results demonstrates that they believe what we’ve released is accurate,” Corker Campaign Director Ben Mitchell told the Times Free Press on Friday. Corker, appearing at a rally on the 21st Century Waterfront on Saturday, told his supporters that “we are just getting going.” He also said that he isn’t paying attention to Bryant or Hilleary. “I haven't been paying attention to them,” he said. “We are very focused on what we have to do.”

Which left Ed and Van to focus on each other. Bryant’s campaign called Friday for Hilleary to “be a hero” and drop out of the race, allowing a fellow theocon to gather support. (Well, they didn’t say “theocon,” but they might as well have.) The Hilleary camp thought about this idea, and decided it had some flaws. “The person who’s in last place and doesn’t have a chance of winning doesn’t get to decide who stays in races and who pulls out,” said Hilleary spokeswoman Jennifer Coxe. But that way would be so much more exciting!

Posted by pulseblogger at 01:25 PM | TrackBack

The Trouble Is, Everybody Loves Them Some Free Music

Despite a rumor-squashing press release sent out by the Chattanooga Downtown Partnership last Thursday stating that Nightfall would not be leaving Miller Plaza to move to the waterfront, Riverbend Festival Talent Coordinator Joe “Dixie” Fuller could be heard on WUTC with Richard Winham on Friday discussing the possibility of the waterfront being used for Nightfall events in the future. Huh?

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:12 PM | TrackBack

Blog Bites

The Brass Register will soon be reopening on Georgia Avenue. Bud’s Sports Bar has purchased – and will be moving to – the old Christopher’s location on Brainerd Road. Big River is opening another restaurant at the old Grady’s location at Hamilton Place. Clumpie’s has opened another store next to the new Target in Hixson. (They’re also opening one in Birmingham.) The Bluewater Grille is now open in the old Burger King space across from the Bijou on Broad Street. Work is underway at the new P.F. Chang’s site at Hamilton Place.

Posted by pulseblogger at 11:23 AM | TrackBack

May 31, 2006

You'd Have to Be Smoking Crack to Steal Commemorative Brass Nameplates from the Walnut Street Bridge in Order to Sell Them for Scrap So You Can Buy More Crack

Yep. Pretty much. Luke H. Swafford, the offender, got 11 months and 29 days.

In related news, the City Council is considering the purchase of a $265,000 surveillance system to help combat theft and vandalism.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:08 AM | TrackBack

May 30, 2006

CNE Leaving the Property Management Biz

According to a press release, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise will gradually leave the property management business over the 14 months. CNE will shift its focus to training and education programs, various low- and moderate-income lending and neighborhood revitalization.

Posted by pulseblogger at 11:02 AM | TrackBack

Doing the Am-Nasty

You’re never going to believe this, but all three Republican candidates for U. S. Senate are so totally against amnesty for illegal immigrants. Oh, and they don’t like the Senate’s new immigration bill – the one Bill Frist voted for – either.

“The immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate is unacceptable,” Van Hilleary declared Thursday in a press release. “Not only does it grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants who have broken the law but it also requires the United States to get Mexico’s approval before any physical barrier is constructed along our southern border.”

Ed Bryant agreed: good fences make good neighbors. “We must strengthen security at the border, refuse to tolerate illegal behavior, and make sure the federal government does not abdicate its constitutional responsibility to secure our borders,” he said. “We need comprehensive immigration reform, but we don't need amnesty, or any other reward for illegal behavior.” (We always rather thought that illegal behavior was its own reward.)

As for Bob Corker: yep, him too, but with a nifty instant-status-verification twist. “Comprehensive immigration legislation must include strong provisions to secure our borders without the inclusion of amnesty,” he said, “provide a means for those who want to work here to do so legally, and an instant verification system for employers to use to determine a worker’s status.” Corker did not offer any opinions on the upcoming Jack Black vehicle Nacho Libre. Or the Dixie Chicks.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:54 AM | TrackBack

Long Time Gone

Have you heard the Dixie Chicks’ new single, “Not Ready to Make Nice”? No? That’s because Chattanooga’s country stations aren’t playing it.

Singer Natalie Maines famously badmouthed President Bush in a 2003 concert, and local radio behemoth US 101 isn’t… well, it isn’t ready to make nice. “We polled listeners online,” station operations manager Kris Van Dyke told the TFP’s Barry Courter, “and 67 percent said they still did not want to hear them, and that’s before they started running down country fans.” That’s funny: we didn’t know country fans could operate the Internet. Just kidding! We kid because we love! Please don’t boycott us!

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:53 AM | TrackBack

Let the Healy-ing Begin

At least one chapter of the Rob Healy saga ended on May 23 as Mayor Ron Littlefield announced a replacement for his favorite bomber atop Outdoor Chattanooga. Philip Grymes, who previously headed the city’s canoeing and kayaking programs, will receive a $45,000 salary.

Littlefield told Herman Wang – a nice busy outdoor week for him – that Grymes defeated five other finalists for the job. “He’s got more experience doing what Outdoor Chattanooga was intended to do,” the mayor said. “I’m sure he’ll carry this opportunity forward without missing a beat.” Or a stroke.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:51 AM | TrackBack

Vend Over

Want to set up your hot dog stand on the 21st Century Waterfront? You’ll have to ask Friends of the Festival if your cart cuts the mustard. (The puns are no extra charge.) The City Council on Tuesday passed a contract placing the Riverbend Festival-running organization in charge of regulating sidewalk vending and street performers. Vendors and buskers will now be restricted to certain areas of the Waterfront.

“I think the agreement will bring more order to a potentially chaotic situation down there,” Councilman Jack Benson told the Times Free Press's Herman Wang. Because we all know what havoc a few warring string trios can wreck. They’re ruthless, those cellists.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:50 AM | TrackBack

May 23, 2006

Hamilton County Herald IS a Newspaper

Giving an opinion after a request from Rep. JoAnne ("A representative from District 29, with Jo on our side the future's looking bright...") Favors, the Tennessee Attorney General's office has ruled that the Hamilton County Herald is, in fact, "a newspaper of general circulation."

Read more here.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:52 AM | TrackBack

Da, Da, Da

Say this for the Times Free Press: It does not lack for Da Vinci Code coverage. Not satisfied by Saturday’s front-page story in which pastors used their pulpits to dispute the celluloid heresy? Don’t worry: Monday’s paper has another, front-of-Metro story about pastors using their pulpits to “debunk” the movie. (Nice work on the unbiased headline, by the way.) Parishioners seem to have gotten the message, and are now ready to critique the film’s claims. “Harrison Ford would have been better than Tom Hanks,” a Good Shepherd Lutheran Church member told the TFP.

That’s not to mention the two-page spread on the movie in the Weekend section, or the interview with religious scholars in Saturday’s Lifestyle pages. Somehow it seems worth noting that all but one of these features was centered around the Christian counterattack on the movie. Damn secular media.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:43 AM | TrackBack

Staying Stong

The Stong Building, a century-old hotel next door to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo – and the structure named the city’s second-most imperiled by The Pulse last July – has been saved from demolition. Probably.

Joe Sliger of Eastman Construction purchased the Stong Building for $171,000 last week, according to reports in the Times Free Press and Chattanoogan.com. “I’ve always wanted that building,” Sliger told the TFP’s Herman Wang. We hope so: the top two floors of the three-story building are partially collapsed, and a rehabilitation plan is due to the city by May 30 to avert the wrecking ball.

The Stong Building, a thin wedge at the corner of Market and 14th Streets, first arrived on the city landscape as the Terminal Hotel, owned and operated by Chester Davis, a former porter at the Terminal Station (now the Choo-Choo) who made his capital on tips. The building stayed in the family even after the hotel closed in 1930. “My grandfather, he put a lot of work into the building, and over the years we kind of got away from doing what we should have done to keep the building running,” said Darrell D. Davis, one of 11 family co-owners. That might be an understatement: Neeld Messler, a local developer, told The Pulse last summer that the building’s deterioration was mostly due to roof leaks. “And it takes nothing more than going to ACE Hardware and getting some roof tar,” Messler said.

Note to Joe Sliger: Go to ACE Hardware. Get some roof tar.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:42 AM | TrackBack

Bob and Van and Weave

Just hours removed from the East Brainerd and Lookout Valley kickoffs of his door-to-door campaigning efforts, former Chattanooga Mayor and senatorial hopeful Bob Corker reportedly got into a shouting match with rival Republican primary candidate Van Hilleary outside a Tennessee Homecoming event in Memphis on Saturday night.

According to various reports, Hilleary and Corker traded verbal jabs as attendees filed past them into the venue. Hilleary is said to have attacked Corker’s recent TV ads as being full of lies. Corker supposedly accused Hilleary of “never doing anything with his life.”

Of course, considering subsequent comments from Hilleary-backing blogger Jeff Ward, it’s often hard to take any of this seriously.

“Heck I’m from West Tennessee, we have settled a lot of problems and disagreements in politics with our fists and a ball bat or two. It may be wrong, immature and unprofessional, but it is very decisive.”

And we wonder why it’s hard to get people to go to the polls. Or take bloggers seriously.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:40 AM | TrackBack

You Can Claim a Taser Was Used Improperly On Your Genitals, But You Can’t Hide

Brian Woodby, who was spotted by authorities while at press conference held by attorney John Wolfe accusing the Bradley County Sheriff’s department of improper Taser use, was arrested last week and charged with assault, disorderly conduct, unlawful possession of a firearm and public intoxication. Woodby, who is also facing charges in several other states including California and Minnesota, had claimed that a Taser was used on his testicles.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:38 AM | TrackBack

A Giant Leap for Ronkind

Responding to widespread criticism and speculation concerning pollution at the city’s proposed homeless shelter site, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield told City Council members last week that “you don’t have to wear a space suit there.”

Though a referenced EPA report said no further remedial action needed to be taken on the site, Littlefield also pointed out that there are no final design plans for the site as of yet, no cost estimates and no timetable for the project.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:36 AM | TrackBack

Chattanooga: (Still) Great for Auto Manufacturing!

A recent New York Times story mentioned Chattanooga as one of four possible locations for a new Toyota plant; the others being Greensboro, NC, Roanoke, VA and northeast Arkansas. Hopefully someone has told Toyota about Enterprise South.

Posted by pulseblogger at 09:34 AM | TrackBack

May 09, 2006

And the Award for Sorest Loser in Last Week's Elections Goes to…

…18-year Bradley County Sheriff Dan Gilley, who was quick to blame “outside influences” for his loss to Tim Gobble in last week’s Bradley County Sheriff’s race.

Chief among those “outside influences” is Chattanooga attorney/talk show host John Wolfe, who is currently representing Jason Adams, Brian Woody and the family of Timothy McCargo—three men who were all allegedly improperly stunned with tasers while in custody at the Bradley County Jail. Shortly after losing the election, Gilley told NewsChannel 9 that he was “surprised at how much influence outside individuals” like Wolfe “had in this race.”

“I don't think a Chattanooga ultra-liberal attorney should be allowed to have an active role in anybody's campaign, and obviously he did," he added.
Gilley also saved some ire for the folks behind the “outside influences” at HometownCleveland.com, a Web site that has published extensive criticism of Gilley.

"We've got an online news service here in Cleveland that is just scurrilous, probably the worst piece of trash that I've ever read and it apparently influenced some peoples' thinking," he said.

HometownCleveland.com writer J. Michael Leonard told Channel 9 that Gilley "ran a bad campaign and I'd like to think we had influence." Perk Evans, technical director for the site, told the station that if the site was “able to play a small part in the march for justice, then that's the role we're happy to play."

Despite conspiracy theories to the contrary, Gobble told Channel 9 that he had never even met Wolfe prior to victory celebration party Tuesday night, and while HometownCleveland.com might have had a hand in educating people about local issues, his victory was due to a “grassroots” campaign, word of mouth and the hard work of his supporters. Gobble didn’t respond to Gilley’s allegations, refusing to get involved in a “tit-for-tat” volley with the now-defeated sheriff.

Posted by pulseblogger at 03:04 PM | TrackBack

Unseen Risk at Homeless Site Actually Seen

Contrary to the scandalous headlines on the front page of Sunday’s Times Free Press, the polluted history of the city’s proposed homeless campus site has been common knowledge – at least since Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield’s initial announcement about the proposed development on April 20.

Reminiscing about the history of the neighborhood once known as Onion Bottom, Littlefield recounted to the crowd a conversation he’d had with former Chattanooga Mayor Gene Roberts.

“I said, ‘We’ll call it the Gene Roberts Memorial…’ and he said, ‘Dump,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ Because that’s what it used to be: a dump.”

Speaking of the pollution in the TFP piece, Littlefield said, “All the authorities think it’s something we can live with as long as we don’t disturb it.”

While good news for the proposed homeless campus, this assessment means, of course, that the city will probably have to cancel its Homeless Miners Initiative. Or keep the homeless from jumping up and down a lot.

Posted by pulseblogger at 03:01 PM | TrackBack

March 27, 2006

How Do Appeals Appeal to You?

City Council members Duke Franklin and Jack Benson, along with Mayor Ron Littlefield and Federal Judge Bernie O'Brien, told the newly organized City Personnel Task Force last week that they support shifting employee personnel appeals away from the council. According to Chattanoogan.com, Benson said he stopped volunteering to sit on the three-member appeal panels after he voted to uphold an employee and a supervisor told him he had "undermined my authority" by his vote.

But some task force members said that a shift awafy from the council might not be the best move. Former Chattanooga Fire Chief Jim Coppinger said he is concerned that an appointed civil search board might wind up being as political as the council, adding that very few decisions by the council have wound up in court and that the hearings have been handled fairly thusfar.

The City Personnel Task Force -- which is headed by interim City Councilman Wallace Chambers and which met for the very first time just last week -- was created last fall in response to the dismissal of two longtime city recreation supervisors accused of misusing city funds. One, David Crutcher, has subsequently been charged with theft. The panel wants to learn about civil service boards in other cities and how their members are appointed. It plans to meet for about six weeks before making recommendations to the mayor. Among the issues being discussed by the panel is the possibility of granting tenure to city employees.

Let's hope this doesn't include the ones who are stealing from it.

Posted by pulseblogger at 12:54 PM | TrackBack

Sno-Cones, Socks and Wicker Chairs

Last week, the Chattanooga City Council passed an ordinance -- because that's what they love to do -- banning street vendors from our newly awesomitized waterfront. Councilwoman Sally Robinson said without the legislation "we could wind up with people selling sno-cones out of the back of a truck." (Has she not seen the folks that are already doing just that at the foot of the Walnut Street Bridge?)

In passing the ordinance, some council members offered the opinion that the ordinance should be extended to cover other instances of unsightly, rogue commerce in the area.

Councilwoman Marti Rutherford said, "Brainerd Road looks so trashy in the spring with people selling socks, teddy bears and hot dogs."

Councilman Jack Benson cited "vendors on Shallowford Road selling furniture, rocking chairs and everything," adding that he "would really like to do something about all those wicker chairs."

Phil Noblett of the city attorney's office said an ordinance already exists that bans such licenseless vending. Councilman Leamon Pierce said it is not enforced.

Posted by pulseblogger at 10:32 AM | TrackBack