Chattanooga Times Free Press
Blue, restored and ready
Come rain or come shine, the Walnut Street Bridge will reopen to the public Saturday, concluding an 18-month closure that saw the historic structure undergo extensive repairs. State and local officials will join Chattanoogans in celebrating the...
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TVA gets a speedy permit to build modular nuclear reactor
A speedy permit to build a first-of-itskind commercial small modular nuclear reactor in the U.S. is not just a victory for the Tennessee Valley Authority, but also the Trump administration. TVA is owned by the federal government but funds itself by...
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‘Special day for us’
Top Volkswagen officials celebrated the launch of the 2027 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport models at the company’s Chattanooga plant as the German automaker embarks on the most significant downsizing in its history. While the Chattanooga plant will not be...
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State reverses site choice for mental health hospital
Less than a week after announcing a new site for the $260 million Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, state officials have reversed course. “After further deliberation, the Tennessee Department of General Services has decided not to move forward...
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New York firefighter’s stem cell donation saves Chattanooga patient
Chattanooga and Rochester, New York, are separated by 860 miles, but in May 2024, the two cities became intertwined after a stem cell donation from a New York firefighter saved the life of a Sale Creek resident. “It is such a selfless act to give the...
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Trump draws ovation from sold-out Neyland Stadium
KNOXVILLE — The line had formed outside of Neyland Stadium well before sunrise. Hours before Saturday’s noon kickoff, tens of thousands of fans — decked out head-to-toe in bright orange — endured extra security checkpoints, then waited expectantly for...
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Leaked drawing creates concerns
Residents of the Valleybrook and Windbrook neighborhoods in Hixson are petitioning developer Jimmy White, owner of the Valleybrook Golf and Country Club, and public officials to include them in any future development plans at the course. The petition...
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Sewer payment site sends users to porn page after web lapse
Those looking to make sewer payments through a third-party platform used by Chattanooga and Hamilton County were warned not to trust the link on government websites because it began redirecting to a porn site. The cyber security incident has since...
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‘The right home’
Construction of a new, $260 million Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute is planned for a site 4 miles southwest of its present location, on an almost 50-acre site between Chattanooga’s Lookout Valley community and the Georgia state line. The plans...
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‘We want to learn more’
Chattanooga city officials said Tuesday they intentionally left AI license plate reader cameras in a proposed five-year Axon technology package though neither police nor city technology officials requested them, preserving the option to study the tech...
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Rock City’s plans to build a gondola hit a setback
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. — In the end, the “No Gondola” movement was an unstoppable force. The City Council of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, voted 3-2 Monday night to deny amendments requested by Rock City to the city’s zoning laws. The changes would have...
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Bridging art and motion
Pierceton Mazell, a professional dancer with the Chattanooga Ballet, walked away from the troupe’s rehearsal space Wednesday for a swig of water after a choreography run-through. He was breathing laboriously and drenched in sweat. “There is nothing...
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QUANTUM LEAP
EPB launched a $22-million quantum computer Friday morning, making Chattanooga’s municipal utility the first company in the world to combine commercial quantum computing and quantum networking in one center. The computer, the IonQ Forte Enterprise,...
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Sizzling under the heat dome
Chattanooga has gone 45 days hitting highs of 90 degrees or more, setting a 147-year record Thursday, and forecasters say the heat won’t relent until next week. “In terms of 1879 to the present day, when we look at the number of consecutive days for...
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Chattanooga seeks to expand traffic technology
The city of Chattanooga is nearly finished with a $2 million grant to help emergency vehicles communicate with the intersections they’re passing through, and local officials are looking to expand the program beyond the downtown health...
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Main Street paving project converts four lanes to two
Main Street is Chattanooga’s latest target for a road diet and redesign. Paving and striping are converting much of the former four-lane route to one lane in each direction. The $2.6 million project started Aug. 30 and is on track for completion by...
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TVA, state sign nuclear fusion partnership in UK
The the Tennessee Valley Authority and a nuclear fusion company based in the state signed a collaborative agreement with the U.K. government in London on Monday. The goal of the agreement is to speed up commercialization of nuclear fusion, a...
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FOSSIL FEUDS
Two climate nonprofits sued the Tennessee Valley Authority in federal court over the federal utility’s plan to run coal-fired and gas-fired power plants simultaneously at a Middle Tennessee site. Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club, represented by...
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Symphony plans its return to Tivoli
The city’s largest orchestra is set to kick off its much-anticipated 2026-2027 concert season this month by featuring an internationally acclaimed violinist and performing a euphonic mixture of local compositions, Duke Ellington classics and selections...
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Worker hospitalized after arm caught in machine at downtown plant
A worker at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant in downtown Chattanooga remains in the hospital after his arm became stuck in a conveyor. “The decision was made to transport the patient to the hospital with his injured arm still in the machinery due to the...
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Baylor, McCallie have some seeking opt out
A move that could potentially shake up the entire framework for the TSSAA’s private-school membership could be presented to the state’s high school sports governing body as early as next week. After numerous individual discussions recently,...
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New laws in effect for tourism zones
The state agency overseeing tourism development is partnering with the Chattanooga Tourism Co. to host a townhall-like event at the Chattanooga Convention Center later this month. The event is open to all residents, and conversations will center...
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Rapper brings world tour home
Chattanooga rapper Isaiah Rashad has announced that the final stop on the North American leg of his world tour will take place in the Scenic City. The third phase of Rashad’s “Its Been Awful” world tour was released Tuesday afternoon. It includes 14...
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TedxChattanooga
This year’s TedxChattanooga event will highlight the voices of a grocery store employee, a content creator, two communications executives, two nonprofit CEOs, the CEO of an AI company and a vice provost in higher education. The eight speakers, who all...
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DA’s office closing summer on heater
Within five weeks this summer, Hamilton County juries convicted Jamal Adams, Mark Caslin and Lawrence Goodine of murder charges carrying life sentences. Assistant District Attorney Paul Moyle served as lead prosecutor in all three unrelated cases,...
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Hamilton County tourism brings in $1.9B in 2025
Tourism in Hamilton County generated nearly $1.9 billion in visitor spending in 2025, according to recently released data from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Direct visitor spending — defined as dollars visitors spend at businesses...
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Travelers receive late-summer break
Transportation departments in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama have suspended construction-related lane closures for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Wildlife agency officials will be watching for boating violations over the warm weekend, and AAA...
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Walnut Street Bridge set to reopen Oct. 3
After 18 months of renovations, Chattanooga’s iconic Walnut Street Bridge is set to reopen in a month. The public will be able to walk across the pedestrian bridge once again beginning Oct. 3, the city announced Thursday. The grand reopening is set...
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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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