Chattanooga Times Free Press
BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE
State, federal and local officials celebrated the signing of a $25 million federal grant to support the Wilcox Boulevard Bridge replacement project, set to start in early 2027 at an estimated cost of almost $130 million. At Norfolk Southern Railway’s...
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Hamilton County sheriff says he will pause about 70 license plate readers
A license plate reader program managed by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office will be paused due to residents’ concerns, Sheriff Austin Garrett said. The office operates about 70 cameras across the county, according to a press release...
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Novonix nixes plan to buy property next to plant
Novonix decided not to purchase a 17.5-acre property adjacent to its Chattanooga plant and headquarters, the company told investors in a report on Monday. The synthetic graphite manufacturer plans to invest $1 billion in a second local plant as it...
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New billboard atop Parkway Towers replaces graffiti, honors 36 people
A dilapidated and abandoned tower in Southside Chattanooga — best known for its large graffiti art reading “JUNK” — has a new cherrycolored sign on top that honors the lives of three dozen people, including a local man who was left paralyzed and...
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NAVIGATING CHANGE
As the 18-month closure of Chattanooga’s downtown riverfront nears, event organizers are planning for a 2027 without Ross’s Landing. The riverfront is set to close in November for a redevelopment project that aims to make the park a space residents...
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Seeking closure
HARRIMAN, Tenn. — As the Tennessee Valley Authority nears the end of a decade-long process to study the best solution for closing waste sites at coal plants under a Tennessee state order, it’s facing a familiar public relations problem. The only thing...
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Restored glory
As scaffolding came down inside Chattanooga’s historic Tivoli Theatre, fresh gold leaf glinted under the glow of work lights and once-decaying features displayed new life. In the past year, the Broad Street theater has undergone a $75 million...
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PROJECT RIVER
CHARLESTON, Tenn. — $11.3 billion. 2,600 jobs. Tens of millions in new local tax revenue. A 1,000-megawatt gas plant and a 500-megawatt biomass plant fueled by pine trees to revive the region’s logging sector while attracting a major power...
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A LEGEND EXITS THE STAGE
Dolly Parton has died. On Tuesday, in a two-minute video posted to the Tennessee icon’s official Instagram page, Bryan Seaver, Parton’s nephew, broke the news. An hour after the video was posted, it had over 17 million views, 2.8 million likes and...
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Hoax signs raise hopes of In-N-Out under construction in Chattanooga
No for Chattanooga, yet. Signs posted over the weekend on a construction site fence on Signal Mountain Road appeared to show Californiabased chain In-N-Out Burger was planning a location there. Those signs were fake, said a developer of the site. ”It...
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‘Odyssey’ sells out all shows at Aquarium IMAX
Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is proving to be a genuine blockbuster for Chattanooga’s Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater. “We anticipated it was going to do well for us, certainly,” Corey Cobb, the theater’s director of IMAX operations, said by...
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SMALL TO HYPERSCALE
Not all data centers are created equal. Out of the 12 centers in operation or in development the Chattanooga Times Free Press identified in the newspaper’s coverage area, seven look like what most imagine when they hear “data center” — loud, resource...
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Teaming up for a smoother ride
The city of Chattanooga is planning with the state, Norfolk Southern Railway and Hamilton County to replace the 72-year-old Wilcox Boulevard bridge from Amnicola Highway over Norfolk Southern’s DeButts Yard to the Avondale neighborhood in East...
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Leaders praise $130M Southside project Station 33 at groundbreaking
A team of local Chattanooga developers broke ground Thursday morning on Station a $130 million development on the Southside set to include shops, a food hall, a pedestrian plaza, condos and a hotel. Living up to their desire to make Station 33 a...
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Rock City shares vision for future
Rock City brought a map of a potential nine-phase expansion to community meetings this week with residents who oppose its plan to build a gondola up Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Company officials say the gondola is necessary to expand the Rock City...
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Heat relief
Temperatures are forecast to remain above 90 through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service office in Morristown, Tennessee. A heat advisory was issued Monday for counties in Southeast Tennessee with heat index values as high as 105,...
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Hixon man pleads guilty, will serve 15 years
A Hixson man will serve 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a second-degree murder charge as part of a negotiated plea agreement. Marquel Lane, 38, originally faced a first-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Justin...
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Wamp wins reelection as Hamilton County mayor
Republican incumbent Weston Wamp defeated Democrat Mark Herndon to win a second term as Hamilton County mayor Thursday. The race was close for most of the night as precincts rolled out their vote tallies. Wamp earned 52.5% of the vote, with 33,840...
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‘We’re going to take care of your children’
Principal Shalunda Shackelford sat at her desk and dialed in to Dalewood Middle’s announcement system before welcoming students back to school. “Remember, our theme this year is believe in you,” she said. “Believe with your heart, believe with your...
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HE SAID, SHE SAID
On opposite ends of Hamilton County’s Tennessee-Georgia border, Republican opponents for Tennessee governor spoke at separate rallies, simultaneously, ahead of Thursday’s election. Both candidates, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep....
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‘Front porch’ project
There’s little more than pavement underneath the Olgiati Bridge, but a $10 million commitment will help change that. The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation is contributing the funds to establish the BlueCross Healthy Place at Ross’s Landing...
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Fully behind Fritts
Local Chattanooga church Calvary Chapel is promoting Monty Fritts as the Republican pick for Tennessee governor. Despite a longstanding tax law that prohibits political activity at the pulpit, the Chattanooga megachurch has continued to campaign in...
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BACK TO SCHOOL
More than 45,000 Hamilton County students return to the classroom Wednesday, and district officials say students and families can expect to see the school system continue to focus on the things that have made it successful. That includes maintaining...
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Discarded SpaceX rocket on collision course with the moon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A drifting SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon after launching a pair of lunar landers more than a year ago. The rocket’s upper stage will unintentionally slam into the moon Wednesday, carving out a crater and...
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Chattanooga Times Free Press sold. Paper to have local owners
Freight media executive and entrepreneur Craig Fuller and his father, Max Fuller, have purchased the Chattanooga Times Free Press from Arkansas-based WEHCO Media Inc. in a deal announced to newspaper staff on Thursday morning. The sale, effective...
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City Council tensions reach boiling point
Interpersonal tensions between Chattanooga City Council members have reached a boiling point after a contentious chair vote in April. The growing divide resulted in talking over one another and a cacophony of raised voices during Tuesday night’s...
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EQUIPMENT BACKLOG
Large-scale data centers are upending business as usual for the Tennessee Valley Authority not only because of their high electricity needs, but also because they are competing with utilities for power equipment. Some of the data centers, like Elon...
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Pastor turns to hope
The former pastor of Venue Church, a megachurch that filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after reports of a relationship between the married pastor and another staff member, is fundraising for renovations to a space for the new church he started in...
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‘VERY FRUSTRATING’
When Cheyenne Bedell heard about Chattanooga’s police officers and firefighters getting major raises, she was thrilled for them. She thought she would be next, Bedell said. But Bedell, a senior telecommunicator for the region’s 911 emergency...
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WAKING UP FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM
VERACRUZ, México — Before the late May sun rose on the outskirts of the city of Veracruz, Guillermina Solano-Chala had set up her humble taco stand. Several coolers of stewed meat, the freshest corn tortillas and rice waited on folding tables for...
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Politics at the pulpit
Despite longstanding tax law that prohibits political activity at the pulpit, a Chattanooga megachurch has continued to wield political influence in state and local politics this midterm election. At the most recent Sunday morning service at Calvary...
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Leaders optimistic about Erlanger deal
Hamilton County leaders see the potential for more specialists, technology and medical training as Erlanger Health seeks to join a much larger health system headquartered in South Carolina — but they also want reassurance their local hospital will...
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Erlanger seeks to join South Carolina health system in proposed $2B deal
Erlanger Health could become part of one of the Southeast’s largest nonprofit health systems under a proposed partnership with South Carolina-based Prisma Health, a move leaders say would bring $2 billion in investments over 15 years and transform...
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PERFECT MATCH
When Spain won the World Cup on Sunday, Chattanooga won a title of its own as the chosen training base camp for the top sports team in the world. The victory was a bow on top of a hosting experience local officials have celebrated as a...
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CHATTANOOGA TO CHAMPIONS
Chattanooga has earned the right to bask in the prideful afterglow as the host to the 2026 FIFA World Cup champions. From June 5 through June 30, before advancing from the group stage to the knockout rounds of the tournament, the Scenic City served as...
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‘CLEAN SLATE’
SALE CREEK — With over 1,000 acres at McDonald Farm set to become a new state park, officials are seeking input from the community to inform the vision for the property. The public engagement period is slated to last for about nine months as officials...
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A MIXED DIAGNOSIS
Dentist Jon Salinas didn’t learn Hamilton County would refer displaced patients to his practice until weeks after officials had already announced plans to close the county’s dental clinic but said he welcomes the opportunity to treat them. After more...
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‘Backed into a corner’
RINGGOLD — The Catoosa County Board of Education has voted unanimously to increase its millage rate by 1.5 points, to 15.750, increasing property tax revenue by more than 17%. The school system faced a projected $3.5 million shortfall primarily due to...
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AIRPORT TAKEOVER
Anew state-run board for the Chattanooga Airport on Thursday voted to withdraw Lovell Field from the city’s lawsuit attempting to keep the previous, locally run board in place. The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority had a quorum with five of...
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Window shopping for mall’s next life
As developers work to reimagine Hixson’s Northgate Mall, community members have expressed desires for what they want from the site. With sticker dots and multicolored sticky notes in hand, attendees of a Wednesday meeting of the community organization...
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Ready to take flight
Meeting for the first time, a brand new board mostly appointed by state lawmakers is scheduled to sit down at the Chattanooga Airport on Thursday to decide whether to withdraw from litigation that challenges the panel’s authority, according to an...
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‘The names keep changing’
A change in the ownership structure for a riverfront project called The Bend has caused a Chattanooga board that oversees tax incentives to scrutinize its deal with the developer. The situation led to a pointed exchange during a public meeting last...
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Hard-liners in Iran want to keep fighting America
The striking prominence of red flags — a Shiite Muslim symbol for vengeance — among the sea of mourners attending the weeklong funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader was considered a none-too-subtle statement that the country should continue the war...
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WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG?
More than five years after company leaders announced plans to revive an abandoned factory in Chattanooga for the electric vehicle age, Novonix is still not operating a synthetic graphite plant at scale. The stakes for Chattanooga are jobs that haven’t...
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Company bright spot
After tariffs cut into Volkswagen’s performance from April to June last year, the company said, a boost in car sales for the same period in 2026 could signal some stabilization in the U.S. — even as the broader brand struggles in China. Two...
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Sewer investment planned after spills into Mill Creek
The developers of a luxury resort in Walker County have poured more than $5 million into upgrading an aging sewage system, an official said, and they intend to make further repairs after two spills that dumped thousands of gallons of raw sewage into...
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Planning Commission chair out after a decade
Ethan Collier, a prolific Chattanooga home builder, is out as chair of a regional zoning board after more than a decade in the role. He’ll be replaced with a consensus pick by Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “We...
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NATO UNVEILS ARMS DEALS
ANKARA, Turkey — President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that the United States should be in control of Greenland rather than NATO ally Denmark, renewing tensions in Europe even as the transAtlantic military alliance was announcing billions in arms...
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Radiology delays
CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital is experiencing delays in radiology services that have affected patient imaging appointments and increased wait times for some scans, according to a public statement from the health system. The statement, posted Friday...
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Question of jurisdiction
Aconstable elected to serve in Tennessee travels far and wide, to North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and elsewhere on assignment for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but his jurisdiction stops at the Bradley County limits. How does that...
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Leaders did ‘everything we could’ to bring VW to area
When German representatives from Volkswagen hopped into a TVA helicopter almost two decades ago to get a bird’seye view of Enterprise South Industrial Park, they generally liked what they saw. But they couldn’t get a thorough sense of the site because...
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NOT SO FAST
ARepublican nominee for Bradley County constable who is running unopposed in the Aug. 6 general election and won’t be sworn in until September signed an agreement to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May. The federal agency...
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BLAST FURNACE
Fourth of July revelers might wish they could declare independence from the heat while tracking down weekend celebrations of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Chattanooga’s forecast calls for temperatures near triple digits for Friday and Saturday as a...
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From Kirk to immigration, new state laws take effect
A slew of new state laws took effect in the Volunteer State on Wednesday. They range from regulating screens in school to artificial intelligence, child social media influencers and religion in school in honor of the late conservative activist Charlie...
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‘TAKE PRECAUTIONS’
Blistering temperatures starting Wednesday will hardly relent as the Fourth of July holiday weekend approaches with daily highs near 100 and a forecast for the heat to stay above 90 through Monday. A heat advisory has been issued for Southeast...
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Kratom countdown
‘KRATOM and THC BUY 2 GET 1 FREE’, says a printed sign hanging on the door of a Highland Park gas station. Products are readily sold in the Chattanooga area, containing kratom in drink, powder, pill and gummy form, which, in just days, will become...
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STATUS CHECKS
A set to take effect Wednesday will require local government agencies such as health departments to verify and report the immigration status of people applying for certain public benefits. Vivian Lozano Sterchi, chief operating officer of the...
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Child welfare checks
Two Bradley County constables — one-person, elected law enforcement agencies that don’t have regular government salaries or funding — traveled to at least four cities in three states outside Tennessee on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs...
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Hooch could head out
Organizers of one of the largest rowing regattas in the nation are questioning the future of the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga amid plans to renovate the city’s downtown riverfront. Construction at Ross’s Landing, which aims to add shade trees, a...
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THE LONG VIEW
Hamilton County’s new “history experience” aims to span tens of thousands of years for tourists and residents alike, according to the project’s creative director. A temporary history museum funded by Hamilton County will open up in Chattanooga’s...
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TVA offering rare chance to see plant
A power plant unlike any other in the region will open to the public for tours as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public power provider in the U.S., celebrates the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. Members of the public can...
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‘Should alarm taxpayers’
A federal civil rights lawsuit is seeking a court-appointed review of conditions at the Hamilton County Jail after a Maryland man alleged he nearly died from sepsis when his wounds went untreated. Filed by Chattanooga attorney Neal Pinkston, former...
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‘Stability matters’
Apilot program designed to house Hamilton County students experiencing homelessness has led to more than 200 people securing housing over the past year. As of June 5, the pilot had housed 67 families, serving 178 children, said Lori Carmack, Hamilton...
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Street-level view
Rock City has released a traffic study at the center of its plan to build a gondola sky lift up Lookout Mountain in what the company called the first in a series of documents it hopes will address concerns from neighbors. The tourist attraction made...
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‘Sickening drama’
Two of three city employees who regularly visited homeless encampments have resigned, and a third was reassigned, leaving city leadership to figure out how its staff fits into outreach efforts, according to Casey Tinker, who leads Chattanooga’s...
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Board OKs policy ending take-home devices for K-8
Elementary and middle school students will not be assigned a device to take home next school year under a new policy approved by the Hamilton County Board of Education. The new policy sets rules around both device access and usage, with the amount of...
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‘Inevitable is happening’
About 15 years ago, architect David Hudson — now retired — worked on a plan that envisioned a brand new gateway to Chattanooga’s Southside. As part of a broader urban design challenge held by the River City Co., Hudson and his team proposed a new...
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High tech partnership
Hamilton County Schools and EPB will partner to create an Energy and Quantum Industries Academy at the district’s newest career and technical education center, county and utility officials announced Wednesday. The new academy at the Franklin Roberts...
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Pilgrim’s to close part of poultry operations
A $75 million investment in Pilgrim’s Pride poultry facility in Ellijay, Georgia, will result in the company closing its aging harvesting operations in Chattanooga at 1591 Broad St. “As consumer demand shifts and our customers grow, we are investing...
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