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Community Organizations Worth Noting

2010-03-12T09:04:55-04:00

While this blog is one of several neighborhood blogs, in actuality Signal Mountain is made up of three distinct communities, each with multiple neighborhoods. Most Chattanoogans are familiar with the Town of Signal Mountain, as it is the largest of the three and it is the first area of the mountain you encounter when driving up Highway 127. Traveling north, you will next come to the Walden's Ridge community, and, just before heading down the mountain into Dunlap, you will drive through the community of Lone Oak.

Each of these communities has a distinct character, positive attributes and issues and problems. Each also has a community center run by and serving citizens. Coincidentally, all three centers are housed in former school buildings.

The Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC) is located in the building that was once Signal Mountain Grammar School. The building was constructed in 1926, and in 2002 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The MACC is "committed to bringing the best of the fine arts to Signal Mountain." Classes in everything from beer brewing to yoga are offered at reasonable tuition rates at MACC. The facility is available for rental and may be the site of a community garden in 2011.

The Bachman Community Center states: "Our mission is to foster a sense of community by supporting programs and events that reflect the needs of all residents of Walden's Ridge, while continuing to preserve our historic building as a community resource." Organizations of all sorts make use of the Center, and the Bachman Bargain Barn Resale Shop is open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Lucky shoppers can find deals on all sorts of items, from housewares to clothing.

Lone Oak is the smallest, both in population and in size, of the three communities and is also located in Sequatchie County. The Lone Oak Community Center is housed in what was once Lone Oak Elementary School. The Lone Oak Fire Hall is in the same building. The Community Center does not have a website, but it provides a range of vital services from free monthly medical clinics to weekly GED classes to providing space for a community senior citizens' group. A quiliting group meets regularly and sells beautiful quilts to raise money for the Center. You may reach the Lone Oak Community Center at (423) 886-7250.

Washed Out Brings 'Glo-Fi' to Chattanooga

2010-03-12T08:57:38-04:00

Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, will perform at 412 Market Street on Saturday. By The Windish Agency via Web.

This Saturday night, rising chill-wave pop star, Washed Out, will be playing at 412 Market with Small Black, Pictureplane and Purple Asia. Washed Out is the new wave electro-groove project of Ernest Greene from Perry, Ga. (via Columbia, S.C.). The sound of Washed Out has been dubbed anything from “glo-fi bedroom” to “hypnagogic pop”, but don’t let those terrifying descriptors deter you from catching this splendid $7.00 show on Saturday. Washed Out is pioneering a “new” genre in electronic music that combines warm pads, smooth samples, and ethereally altered vocal tracks along with bands like Toro y Moi and Dog Bite. Check out selected tracks from Washed Out’s latest EP, “Life of Leisure,” in the sidebar.

Who: Washed Out with Small Black, Pictureplane, Purple Asia
Where: 412 Market Street (formerly Fathom)
When: Saturday, March 13. Doors open at 8:00 p.m.
Cost: $7

Corker Drops Out of Financial Reform Talks

2010-03-11T13:50:01-04:00

As Senate Democrats plan to unveil a proposal next week, Sen. Bob Corker drops out of negotiations on financial reform. Read Corker's statement.

Via nytimes.com

Preview | 'Police, Adjective'

2010-03-11T13:00:00-04:00

Christi (Dragoş Bucur) is an undercover cop being pressured by his superior officer, Anghelache (Vlad Ivanov), to arrest a Romanian teenager who gives pot to his classmates. Torn between ruining the teen's life over a trumped-up dealing charge and appeasing the bureaucracy of his law enforcement division, Christi faces a crisis of conscience during a three-day period in post-Soviet Romania.

Police, Adjective was directed by Corneliu Poromboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest) and won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Police, Adjective opens March 12 at the Majestic 12 as part of the Arts & Education's Independent Film Series and plays until March 18. For showtimes and tickets, visit carmike.com.

Chattooga County Hopes to Buy Finster's Paradise Gardens

2010-03-11T12:20:10-04:00

Chattooga County officials are looking to purchase Paradise Gardens Park and Museum, which belonged to the late folk artist, Howard Finster, with grant funding. See also: The Public Interest.

Via timesfreepress.com

Take Root in Highland Park

2010-03-11T11:00:00-04:00

Over 20 volunteers from Volkeswagen, along with representatives from Take Root planted seven Lacebark Elm trees in the Highland Park neighborhood this past Saturday. The trees were planted near Tatum Park on South Holly Street between Bailey Avenue and Union Avenue.

This was the last phase in a multi-stage effort to bring more trees to Highland Park. The initiative was started last fall and throughout the season, Highland Park residents and other volunteers planted trees on both the east and south sides of Highland Park. Overall, around 30 trees, including Black Tupelos and Trident Maples, were planted.

Visit takerootchattanooga.com to see how they can beautify your neighborhood.

New 'Guns in Bars' Bill Clears First Hurdle

2010-03-11T09:02:20-04:00

After a Davidson County court overturned similar legislation last year, a new bill passed a House Criminal Practice and Procedure Committee vote on Wednesday.

Via timesfreepress.com

Zoning Out Former Plans

2010-03-11T09:00:27-04:00

The recent debate over Normal Park Museum Magnet's zone involves a 2007 decision by the Hamilton County School Board, which voted to ultimately expand the zone to include the area encompassed by Bell Avenue, Spears Avenue and Cherokee Boulevard. Since that time, more families than expected have moved into the North Chattanooga area, and school officials worry that expanding the zone as planned may now cause overcrowding at the school.

According to Superintendent Jim Scales, the new expanded zone would increase Normal Park's enrollment by approximately 105 students. The school would have to take on portable classrooms or significantly decrease its lottery enrollment in order to accommodate the new students. The lottery system, however, is a key component to the magnet program.

In January, Scales proposed a significantly reduced expansion that would include only a portion of the originally agreed upon zone—the area east of Spears Avenue and north of Cherokee Boulevard—in order to salvage Normal Park's magnet program and prevent the need for portable classrooms. Furthermore, his proposal would prevent Red Bank Elementary School, a Title I school that has made strides in academic achievement, from losing 80 students—students that would be rezoned to Normal Park if the district follows through with the original plan.

"It would cause them [Red Bank Elementary] to lose an assistant principal and possibly some staff members," Scales said in January at a School Board work session. "We wouldn't want to do harm to that particular program."

Scales also said that Red Bank Elementary had already lost 13 students by the 20-day count (marking official enrollment numbers) this year. His new proposal, though, would allow the school to maintain its current staffing levels.

If passed by the School Board, the superintendent's proposal will come as tough news for families that moved into the Bell and Spears Avenue area with the expectation that their children would be able to attend Normal Park, a locally esteemed and nationally recognized magnet program.

The Hamilton County School Board is expected to vote on Scales's proposal this month. Both Normal Park and Red Bank Elementary are in the 2nd District, represented by School Board member Chip Baker.

Debate Narrows on Water Quality Budgets

2010-03-10T12:45:00-04:00

The debate over water quality fees could be resolved within two weeks once the Legal and Legislative committee reconvenes to bring two different proposals closer together, Councilman Jack Benson said Tuesday evening.

Chattanooga City Council members spent part of Tuesday hashing out differences between two plans: one from a council-appointed Blue Ribbon committee and another from the mayor's office. The two plans differ primarily in the number of fee credits users are allowed and the overall fee structure and budget that will be put in place next year.

Both plans lower water quality fees from present levels, which tripled in October 2009. The Blue Ribbon committee's plan would be more affordable for ratepayers, but its budget doesn't include costs for the infrastructure needed to satisfy federal and state regulators. (The city was notified of 57 water quality violations last year and, as a result, faces threat of legal action from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation and the Environmental Protection Agency.)

The administration's budget begins at $12 million and goes up to $16.7 million in five years. Accordingly, nonresidential rates for businesses and nonprofits increase during that time. The Blue Ribbon committee's budget stays flat at $10 million every year. In that proposal, nonresidential rates also increase, but not by as much. Residential rates remain relatively flat under both proposals.

The current budget, following the October rate increase, is $21.5 million. Both proposals cut the budget roughly in half.

During Tuesday's discussion, Benson joked that Bill Raines and Mike Price from the Blue Ribbon committee should be locked in a padded room with Lee Norris, Deputy Administrator for the Department of Public Works, to work out a compromise, according to chattanoogan.com.

Earlier that day, an anonymous, full-page advertisement appeared in the Chattanooga Times Free Press urging residents to contact council members to support the Blue Ribbon committee's plan. The ad argues that businesses will be tempted to move out of Chattanooga if the City Council adopts the administration's plan.

The Legal and Legislative committee will meet on Tuesday, March 16 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss the water quality budget.

Corker Comes Under Fire for Payday Lender Exemptions

2010-03-10T11:51:58-04:00

A payday lender based in Cleveland, Tenn. could be exempt from a Senate proposal to regulate consumer finance.

Under the proposal, which is being negotiated by Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Tennessee Republican, Bob Corker, a proposed consumer protection agency would have difficulty enforcing new regulations on nonbank financial companies, including payday lenders like Jones Management LLC, the New York Times reports.

The Times reports that Corker has been instrumental in scaling back the power that the consumer protection agency would have over payday lenders.

Earlier this morning, a Bloomberg report shows that Corker has received $17,325 in campaign donations from executives with Jones Management and an additional $1,000 from a political action committee with ties to the payday lending industry:

Executives of Jones Management Services LLC, based in Cleveland, Tennessee, and its loan companies contributed $17,325 to Corker’s 2006 and 2012 Senate campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

Corker has also received $1,000 from the political action committee of the payday lenders’ trade group, the Community Financial Services Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Corker denied allegations that he advocated for special treatment for the payday lending industry. From Reuters:

Amid reports that he has pressed in negotiations for special treatment in legislation for payday lenders, Senator Bob Corker said, "There are no carve outs for anybody."

The first-term Republican also reiterated, in remarks at a conference, that consumer protection should not be allowed to trump supervision of bank safety and soundness—a position Republicans have held consistently through months of debate.

Via Post Politics.

Van Irion Dismisses Residency Concerns

2010-03-10T11:03:53-04:00

The Knoxville resident tells a Nashville blogger why it's not that important that he lives very close to, but outside of, the Third Congresssional District boundary.

Via politics.nashvillepost.com

State Revenues Fell Short in February

2010-03-09T21:00:00-04:00

With sales-tax collection down for the 21st month in a row for the state of Tennessee, February revenues are $47.1 million less than expected.

From tn.gov:

State revenue collections once again fell short of budgeted estimates last month. Overall February revenues were $638.9 million, which is $47.1 million less than the state budgeted.

“This entire fiscal year has brought us negative growth in the sales tax, which is almost two-thirds of our revenue,” Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz said.

“Moreover, the running total is now 21 consecutive months of negative growth in sales tax collections since January 2008, when the downward economic spiral began for us in Tennessee.”

“In spite of the budgetary challenges, we have laid out a plan for balancing the budget and we’re working with the Legislature to end this year and the next with a balanced budget, as our constitution requires.”

Making the Case for a Property Tax Increase

2010-03-09T19:45:00-04:00

During an editorial meeting with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Mayor Ron Littlefield says the first property tax increase in 10 years now seems likely.

Via timesfreepress.com

Newspaper Ad Criticizes City Hall's Water Quality Plan

2010-03-09T13:58:58-04:00

One week after the mayor proposed an alternative water quality budget to the Chattanooga City Council, a full-page newspaper advertisement says the plan will drive business out of the city.

Contrasting the Blue Ribbon Water Quality Committee's proposal with that of the Littlefield administration, the advertisement, which appeared on page A3 of today's Chattanooga Times Free Press, characterizes the administration's proposal as costing more.

"Businesses will be tempted to move their businesses out of Chattanooga to places like Bradley County or Rhea County, which have no stormwater fees," the ad says.

The advertisement—which includes the URL chattanoogastormwater.com and was paid for by "area business organizations, business-owners, faith-based organizations and non-profits"—comes on the same day that the City Council is holding an afternoon committee meeting to determine whether to adopt the water quality plan from the Blue Ribbon Committee or from the administration.

Derryberry Public Relations maintains chattanoogastormwater.com, and President Robin Derryberry confirms that the organization placed the ad in the Times Free Press.

From chattanoogan.com:

Robin Derryberry, president of Derryberry Public Relations, said, "We were asked to place the ad on behalf of several grassroots organizations, many of which also sponsored ChattanoogaStormwater.com. The website is NOT critical of the city or the Mayor. It is neutral, by design.

"No member of the committee provided funding to the ad that was placed.

"While the storm water issue is extremely complicated, the ad was developed to share information in a manner which is easily understandable to user fee payers. People want to know the impact of the proposed fee rate increase to their household budgets, their businesses or to non-profit organizations that make such a difference in the community.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from HireHere penned a defense of the ad's content soon after chattanoogan.com posted its story online.

Knoxville Columnist Names Smith 3rd District Frontrunner

2010-03-09T12:31:18-04:00

Georgiana Vines, political columnist at the Knoxville News Sentinel, points to three of Robin Smith's endorsements.

Via knoxnews.com

Our Shaded Neighborhood

2010-03-09T11:00:00-04:00

Illustration by Jordan Poole.

I've heard people say Highland Park has a "front-porch culture," which I take to mean that we have front porches, and we use them. This bears repeating because it's deceptively simple. The front porch is a uniquely American creation, one that sprang up out of the quick immigration of huge numbers of people to the hot climates of the South. These porches also represented the growth of leisure time, as well as community—two things we all hope to have in spades. They began to exist as towns developed, before cars, where neighbors walked up and down sidewalks and waved or called to one another as they passed the cool comfort of the soon-ubiquitous shaded, outdoor entrance ways.

These were more than entrances, of course. They were the original outdoor living space. There are about a dozen warm and fuzzy thoughts an American porch might call up—a misty glass of sweet tea, a sleeping dog, maybe a small child reading a book to a smaller child, each in rocking chairs. Nostalgic images that in a big portion of America, just don't exist anymore.

Go look at a brand-new home in the suburbs and you'll see the sorry state of things. A nice house might have a covered entrance where a few people keep their shoes, or planters, but it's the rare porch that will offer any sense of significance. It's well off a road, probably, where no one ever walks anyway, and it usually looks out over nothing except maybe a driveway and a few shrubs. It's an afterthought. This was an unsurprising result of the growth of the automobile-owning population. As people moved further out, they began to hide in their garages and inside their air-conditioned homes.

Walk around to the back of this new house that seems to offer no cool welcome to strangers or friends, and you'll notice another missing piece of American life. It might take a second, as like porches, we've begun to expect their absence.

There are no trees.

There will probably be a deck, where the grill stands sentry in the summer, or a nice table and chairs where the modern family can eat and watch the clouds, uninterrupted by the sense that they are not alone in the world. At least until mid-day, when the scorching sun forces them to flee back into their living room. The lawn is usually spic and span, and often lifeless.

But in Highland Park, we have decades-old shade trees. Pecans, oaks, hackberries infamous for their fast growth, the occasional crape myrtle saved from the ax and now matured, with branches that twist with age and flower for months at a time. Many of our homes are shaded by these incredible, irreplaceable fixtures, and to watch the sunlight scatter through their branches and dance along the walls is worth more than the best air-conditioning money might buy. These are true members of our family, and it pains me to think that children grow up without a tree in their yard—but they do.

What it means to live in Highland Park, beyond the restored Victorian, Bungalow, Foursquare and Queen Anne homes, is the chance to share in something older than houses. It's to participate in a part of American culture that often seems in danger of disappearing, and to relax beneath the shade of a front porch, or an old oak, like your grandmother did when she was a child.

In our first year here we harvested about ten pounds of pecans, and felt like true Southerners for the first time. It was a good feeling, and one I'd like everyone in Chattanooga to have.

We've still got pecans to share—just stop by if you see us on the porch.

A special thanks to Take Root and Volkswagen, who have been kind enough to plant an additional four-score trees along our sidewalks and help ensure these great traditions. Also, the drawing above was done by Jordan Poole during the creation of the Highland Park Historic Resources Survey.

ChattaData Hopes to Create Data-Driven Discussions

2010-03-09T08:45:00-04:00

Screenshot of chattadata.blogspot.com By ChattaData.

In Technology: The data deluge, The Economist recently explored the ever-increasing amounts of data being generated, analyzed and consumed throughout the world:

Everywhere you look, the quantity of information in the world is soaring. According to one estimate, mankind created 150 exabytes (billion gigabytes) of data in 2005. This year, it will create 1,200 exabytes. Merely keeping up with this flood, and storing the bits that might be useful, is difficult enough. Analysing it, to spot patterns and extract useful information, is harder still. Even so, the data deluge is already starting to transform business, government, science and everyday life (see our special report in this issue). It has great potential for good—as long as consumers, companies and governments make the right choices about when to restrict the flow of data, and when to encourage it.

Bill Johnson, a systems analyst at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has started ChattaData, a new blog which he hopes will be part of the conversation about local data and how technology and design can be used to make sense of it. Johnson answered our questions about the blog and what he hopes readers will gain from it.

Q: What inspired you to create ChattaData?

Johnson: ChattaData came about as a result of my interest in how we use technology, the important role that design plays in this relationship and the current push to make large amounts of data open. I have worked in various technical support roles for the past 15 years, always working to put technology in the service of people so that they can use these new tools toward their ends. This work has ranged from running a lab where children used a piece of software to help them develop phonemic awareness to providing technical support and systems administration for academic labs at the university level. At first, the work had a lot to do with helping users make the transition from the old tools to the new ones. Once the PC became ubiquitous, the work shifted more toward data and helping users find and use the data they needed. My interest then turned to the way that we interact with and share this data, inevitably leading me to read the work of Edward Tufte and others on the subject of data visualization. These influences, combined with an interest in Chattanooga's past and present, led to the creation of ChattaData.

Q: What areas of data and analysis do you plan to focus on?

Johnson: One of my favorite quotes is "Where we are going is how we get there" from musician Robert Fripp. While data visualization and information of interest about Chattanooga serve as a point of departure and the foundation for ChattaData, I don't know where it will end up. The Open Government Directive, giving us easy access to more government data, will be an important topic of discussion. Also, as I look more deeply into current issues in Chattanooga, along with the city's history, people, places and events, I know there is a lot more to explore. In the blog, I will also cover the technical side of ChattaData, which is taking up most of the time at this point, so the tools and technology I play around with will certainly contribute to the content on Chattadata.

Q: What do you hope readers will gain from ChattaData?

Johnson: I hope that readers will gain, and contribute, insights about the Chattanooga region. Also, I hope that ChattaData will simply be part of the much-needed conversation of data users. A few weeks back, there was a very good article on O'Reilly Radar by Nat Torkington called Rethinking Open Data, in which he stresses that value comes from open data only when there are groups of data users applying it to some end. So whether it is a huge dataset from data.gov or the results of our own Stand survey, they are just spreadsheets without people organized and prepared to put them to use.

Editor's note: Bill Johnson's wife, Helen, is co-founder of CreateHere, one of the supporting organizations of the Chattanooga Stand initiative.

Alexander: DOE Loan Program Is 'Another Washington Takeover'

2010-03-08T15:52:53-04:00

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Tennessee's senior senator criticizes Department of Education plans for a federally funded student loan system.

Via washingtonpost.com

Jobs Bill Gets Mixed Reaction From Local Business

2010-03-08T13:08:36-04:00

In late-February, the U.S. Senate passed a $15 billion bill aimed at stimulating new jobs through various tax incentives for businesses. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a similar bill, which was altered to more fully cover its costs and add a provision for minority contractors.

Once signed into law, the legislation will provide business owners with a Social Security tax exemption—equal to 6.2 percent of an employee's wages—for new hires who had been unemployed for at least 60 days. In addition, businesses would receive a $1,000 income tax credit for new hires who remain employed for 52 consecutive weeks. The bills also provide tax incentives for investing in new equipment. Rather than spreading the deductions over time, businesses would be able to immediately write off up to $250,000 for equipment purchases in 2010.

As Democrats and Republicans alike debate the potential impact of the legislation, local businesses have mixed reactions.

The Electric Power Board, which is accelerating its plans to implement a smart grid network throughout the region with $111.5 million in stimulus funding, does not anticipate a major impact because of the new incentives from Congress.

"The major growth ahead of us involves our smart grid initiative which will be affected most by the recent stimulus award by the Department of Energy in October and not necessarily the kinds of incentives found in the recently passed jobs bill," said Lacie Newton, EPB Corporate Communications, in an email.

Representatives from smaller, local companies tend to agree.

Daniel Fell, Executive Vice President at Neathawk Dubuque & Packett, said his company is planning to grow in 2010, but that these incentives aren't large enough to create jobs on their own. "For companies like ours that are hiring now and plan to do more in 2010, it's a nice bonus," he said. "And it may push some others to move forward with plans a little faster. But for those companies that are still struggling, the dollars aren't significant enough to off-set taking on the additional overhead until sales pick up."

Local craftsman Aaron Cabeen agreed. "The only thing that would help me to hire more people is if I had a heavier stream of work coming to justify it," he said in an email. "I cannot hire someone just for a tax credit, I need to hire someone to alleviate a stress on the work load."

The Social Security tax exemption applies only for new employees who have been out of work for at least 60 days.

Kent Underwood, President of Quiddity Entertainment, says the exemption wouldn't significantly influence the selection of new employees. "I hire specifically on need and experience," he said in an email. "I would make my decision based on who is the right fit long-term for our company foremost."

Underwood also said the immediate write-offs would have little impact on equipment purchases.

"We're pretty small and being able to write off equipment that would normally be depreciated is nice, but isn't enough to sway my decision making." Cabeen said, "The accelerated tax write off might help, I personally am just leery of using anything from the government."

But Fell sees more potential from the equipment incentive than some of the tax breaks for hiring unemployed workers. "This might have more impact in the short-term," he said. "A lot of companies have put off updating technology or replacing aging equipment, so capital investment incentives are looked at favorably."

Fell also thinks the measures could change the mood of the marketplace. "There is also a psychology factor to all this that's harder to quantify. If a lot of companies think a lot of other companies will be taking advantage of say the equipment investments, it could create a general expectation that sales will pick up and result in an optimism that permeates some markets," he said.

You Could Have Left Your Hat On

2010-03-08T07:13:27-04:00

Van Irion sent the following to supporters on Sunday:

This email is about a hat. At the LiberTea debate, a girl’s hat mistakenly got packed up with our campaign materials. I am sure someone is missing it by now and we would like to get it back to its owner. If you email us with a description of the hat we will be sure to get it back to you.

While the campaign didn't offer any possible explanations as to how the hat ended up in their possession, one theory is that it accidentally got caught on the pitchfork.