Chattanooga Times Free Press
‘COERCED FAITH IS NO FAITH AT ALL’
Looking at the spread of different faiths present at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center for a conversation about faith on Wednesday, it would be hard to believe productive conversation could take place. Representatives of Islam, Catholicism, the Church...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘A right way to do a right thing’
The Chattanooga Police Department will not give trespassing law exemptions to volunteers and nonprofit employees who venture onto private property to provide services to homeless encampments, Police Chief John Chambers said after the outreach community...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘SUBTLE DENSITY’
In the heart of Alton Park, a dozen homes with thin front porches and bright pastel paint jobs stand neatly tucked together facing a grass courtyard. They’re the vanguard of a planned 160-unit community in South Chattanooga called Somerville Cottages....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Thousands flock to US-themed prayer rally
WASHINGTON — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.” Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘What we’re doing is right’
For years, groups of church volunteers and nonprofit staffers have provided food, clothes and other supplies to Chattanooga’s homeless encampments — most on private property. According to an email sent by a Chattanooga police officer in late April to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LOOKOUTS SIGN $500K CHECK
The Chattanooga Lookouts made their first lease payment to the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County for the team’s new ballpark in the form of a physical check for $500,000. The Lookouts owe the city and county’s joint Sports Authority $1 million...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CEO sings sour notes over company’s stock
The CEO of a Colorado-based developer planning to buy land in Chattanooga for a 12,500-seat amphitheater has expressed frustration with his company’s stock price, which has fallen more than 50% in the past year. The decrease in value of Venu Holding...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FAST GROWING CARE
Erlanger will expand its Erlanger East Hospital in East Brainerd through a $122 million project centered on a new threestory medical building. The expansion will add services and capacity in what hospital leaders described as the fastest-growing part...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A QUESTION OF SCALE
Plans for a water line to run to Raccoon Mountain homes are in the works once again after over a decade of back-and-forth, though some Chattanooga City Council members say they take issue with the timing of the proposal. Council member Chip Henderson...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Developer plans $300M amphitheater on riverfront
A Chattanooga company is partnering with a publicly traded national venue developer to build a $300 million, 12,500-seat amphitheater on the Tennessee River off Riverfront Parkway, set to be one of the city’s largest entertainment...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PANDEMIC PROBLEMS
A workforce that largely refused to wear masks or get COVID vaccines helped drive delays and cost overruns on a $1 billion-plus project at the Chickamauga Dam, according to documents stemming from a dispute between the federal government and a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Agency: Virus on ship ‘not another COVID’
TENERIFE, Spain — The head of the World Health Organization sought Saturday to reassure residents of the Spanish island where passengers of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are expected to be evacuated, issuing them a direct message that the virus was...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Transformative project’
FORT OGLETHORPE — The completion of $8.1 million in restorative work on roads dating to at least 1863 in the 5,300-acre Georgia portion of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Friday at Brotherton...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Goodbye, AT&T Field
AT&T Field, home to the Chattanooga Lookouts for 25 years, will be torn down this summer after the minor league baseball team moved south to Erlanger Park. River City Co., a private nonprofit focused on downtown development, has engaged a demolition...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BOUNDARY ISSUES
The Hamilton County branch of the NAACP hosted a press conference to oppose state lawmakers’ newly proposed congressional maps and the redistricting effort to eliminate the last Democratheld seat in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee reconvened the General...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Rising costs bring end to dental clinic
A dental clinic run by Hamilton County will close in July, and 15 jobs will be cut, according to a press release issued by the county Health Department. The cut to the dental program, which provides preventive, restorative and emergency care to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
IT’S MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
A few months ago, Matt Bedsole got a call from two real estate developers asking for his help. Their plan to build a four-story apartment complex in Chattanooga, Tennessee, had a financial hole that no backer seemed eager to fill. The developers needed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A ‘hasty plan’
On a drizzly summer night, Hamilton County sheriff ’s deputies wanted to arrest Erick Roberson without risking a possible chase, according to details in the newly released Tennessee Bureau of Investigation case file. Instead, law enforcement quietly...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NOWHERE TO GO
DeTory Douglas feels like an invisible Chattanoogan. Each night, he searches for someplace to sleep — a parking garage, a side street, a patch of grass behind a store. He knows that if he’s discovered by law enforcement, he could go to jail for camping...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘NOT CONSULTED’
The Chattanooga Airport board plans to mount a legal challenge against a Tennessee bill that would place most of the panel’s nine seats under state control. The board held a special meeting Friday afternoon at the law offices of Grant, Konvalinka and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Louisiana congressional primaries suspended
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana suspended its congressional primaries Thursday as early voting was about to get underway, while pressure mounted on Republican officials in other states to redraw their U.S. House maps in light of a Supreme Court ruling...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Know what to do’
On an April afternoon, Assistant Principal Travis Miller walked up to a piece of paper with “firearm” written on it. He waited until the class of kindergarteners yelled “stop” to pause. As Miller kept moving, the students called out the other safety...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘IT’S JUST TIME’
Fusion Threads Collective, a small business that makes hand-dyed apparel on natural fabrics, started at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s incubator program at the Hamilton County Business Development Center in September 2022 after completing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Seat reassignments
A bill that Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly has argued would wrest control of the local airport board away from city leaders has cleared both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly. The measure — House Bill 2507 — now requires a signature from Gov....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Tennessee passes slate of immigration bills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee General Assembly wrapped up its annual session this past week, with the Republican supermajority signing off on a slate of bills codifying some of the party’s priorities on education and other issues. Lawmakers...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘They’ve already decided’
Public board meetings at the nation’s largest public power provider are scripted, according to multiple former members of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors. One former director said the scripted meetings are part of TVA management...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Major milestone’
With the now-completed, $328 million, seven-year project serving as a backdrop, state and local officials celebrated the official opening of the reconstructed Interstate 75/Interstate 24 interchange with a ribboncutting Friday atop the Belvoir Avenue...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Smacks of voter suppression’
Hamilton County resident Kay Mitchell got a postcard in the mail this week, sent by the Hamilton County Republican Party to some residents. On the front side, the mailer cautioned in bold red letters with a warning icon: “Fraudulent primary voting is...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A growing concern
Business owners participating in the incubator program housed at the Hamilton County Business Development Center held an open house Wednesday at the facility, where members of the County Commission, Chattanooga City Council and County Mayor Weston Wamp...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WASTE TO POWER
Emissions from Chattanooga’s sewage and other wastewater will soon be captured and used to produce electricity on-site to power the region’s largest wastewater treatment plant. The Moccasin Bend Environmental Campus is partnering with California-based...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Almost impossible’
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Bradley County Commission received a standing ovation from residents as it unanimously approved zoning regulations Monday that leave few, if any, properties where data centers could be built. The commission room at the Bradley...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Charters pay teachers less, administration more
Charter schools in Hamilton County pay their teachers less on average than the Hamilton County school system, a Chattanooga Times Free Press analysis found. The average salary for a charter school teacher was $57,712 in March. Teachers in the school...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ROLE REVERSAL
In January, at the start of Tennessee’s legislative session, GOP leadership announced the introduction of several immigration bills that the White House and Stephen Miller, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, had collaborated on. “We’re sending a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHALLENGES FACE NEXT CEO OF TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority is searching for a CEO who can manage a $14 billion utility operation as demand for electricity rises, while also fulfilling legal mandates to generate low-cost power for more than 10 million people, prevent flooding,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘DEVASTATING FOR US’
Plans to sell a Hamilton County building housing a business incubator program sparked tension at a County Commission meeting. The dialogue included business owners lambasting the county government and some county commissioners questioning whether a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Elevating and celebrating’
Elected officials and business leaders celebrated the opening of Erlanger Park in a VIP section at the stadium brimming with people for whom the $115 million project represented years of tense work when the outcome was uncertain. The Coca-Cola Pattern...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CITY CHRISTENS ERLANGER PARK
Thousands of Chattanoogans poured through the gates of Erlanger Park on Tuesday night, inaugurating a new home for the Chattanooga Lookouts at a former foundry site most attendees had likely seen from Interstate 24 but never visited before. The $115...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EYESORE TO ICON
In their heyday, the U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry sites were thriving operations, serving as two of Chattanooga’s top employers and manufacturers. The plants produced iron castings, auto parts, drilling equipment and more for over 100 years until the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Most County Commission challengers are women
For the past four years, the Hamilton County Commission’s 11 representatives have all been men. Now, the majority of challengers running against the incumbents this election cycle are women. Seven out of 11 races have female challengers, and four of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
VW will stop producing the ID.4 in Chattanooga
Volkswagen will cease production of the ID.4 at its plant in Chattanooga this month amid headwinds facing the market for electric vehicles. The German automaker will instead shift its focus to the Atlas and the Atlas Cross Sport. That includes the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘A proud moment for our community’
More than a decade after the owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts first began working with elected officials to plan a new stadium, the team on Tuesday celebrated the upcoming opening of Erlanger Park at a dedication ceremony. “Despite the extraordinary...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Tennessee, Turning Point partnership details unclear
Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, reaffirmed the December announcement that the state is partnering with Turning Point USA to put affiliate clubs of the organization, founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ALL ABOUT THE MATH
A firm that has produced economic reports for multiple Chattanooga developments does not determine whether the visions of developers are too ambitious, said a longtime leader at the company. Younger Associates takes plans from developers and turns...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
City cutting down trees near Chatt Foundation
The city of Chattanooga is cutting down about a dozen trees outside the Chatt Foundation, a social service agency where the homeless community frequently gathers outside, as summer nears. The group’s CEO says he wasn’t aware until Day 1 of the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Developer casts doubt on Novonix’s plan to expand
Novonix is exploring an expansion next door to its riverfront plant in Chattanooga, but the move would not be the best use for the property, according to the developer of the surrounding site. The battery materials maker is assessing whether to buy a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Competitive disadvantage’
As it competes with surrounding communities for athletic events, Hamilton County may need to construct a large indoor sports complex if it wants to keep up with demand, according to a recent study. “We have more demand than we have capacity in current...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Heading to the moon
A towering orange-and-white NASA rocket blasted off from Florida on Wednesday evening, lifting four astronauts toward space and transporting spectators’ imaginations to a future in which Americans may again set foot on the moon. As they did during the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘PRETTY DARN CLOSE’
A study provided to elected officials before they approved a special tax district for a 28-block development on Chattanooga’s Westside predicted the site would produce more than $9.5 million of new tax revenue last year, but the site produced...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Holding pattern
The timeline for approving or denying Rock City’s requested changes to law on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, to build a gondola lift is delayed as the city waits for more information from studies on traffic and sewer impacts. The city’s Planning...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘PROFIT OVER PATIENTS’
ATennessee bill that CVS Health has claimed would force it to close all its pharmacies in the state would not require such closures — and would create a more even playing field, said local independent pharmacists in Chattanooga. State lawmakers are...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
STILL IN THE BALLPARK
As the Chattanooga Lookouts prepare to celebrate the opening of Erlanger Park, a study that made predictions for the scope and speed of development around the minor league baseball stadium beginning in 2026 appears optimistic, although officials...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
RIVERFRONT REFRESH TO START IN THE FALL
Come November, urban planners expect to begin a multimillion dollar project aimed at revitalizing Chattanooga’s downtown riverfront, making it a park that residents use on a more daily basis. “This is one of Chattanooga and Hamilton County’s premier,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Work on Chattanooga icon enters final stretch
One year into its 18-month closure, the Walnut Street Bridge is on track to reopen in late September, officials say. The city hosted a walking tour of Chattanooga’s iconic pedestrian bridge Thursday for local media to see the progress made since the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PROJECT TAKES A HIT
More than $1.5 million in federal funds have been cut from a program designed to alleviate the shortage of mental health professionals in rural Tennessee schools. Project Rural Access to Interventions in School Environments pays the tuition of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MIXED MESSAGES
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump said for a second day that the U.S. was in talks with Iran to end the war as diplomatic efforts picked up Tuesday and Iran issued a newly defiant statement. Airstrikes battered the Islamic Republic...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Westside milestone
One Westside, a major project of the Chattanooga Housing Authority to revitalize the eponymous city sector and replace over 600 aging public housing units, started construction on the second phase of its sevenphase plan Monday. The new development...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Real momentum’
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is in talks with potential buyers for its downtown Chattanooga headquarters on Cameron Hill, although the state’s largest health insurer has not listed it for sale. The insurance company said last year it may place...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Transitory’ records
Public records requests sent to 35 state and local governments and agencies in the Chattanooga area reveal that officials at more than a dozen use generative artificial intelligence for work. Reporters at the Chattanooga Times Free Press submitted the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DOUBLE PARKING
While CARTA brings forward city legislation to boot chronic parking violators downtown, the transit authority is crafting a plan to push private parking operators to lower their prices. The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority primarily...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Chaos or not chaos’
Most local and state governmental agencies in the region haven’t enacted policies to govern employee use of artificial intelligence, which experts say could make oversight more difficult and introduce security and privacy risks, according to a survey...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Hamilton County takes step to end partnership
The Hamilton County Commission voted 7-4 Wednesday to allow Mayor Weston Wamp to sever the county’s contract with a planning agency it shares with the city of Chattanooga. “When Chattanooga and Hamilton County go their separate ways, that’s a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ross’s Landing closure looms
Not long after the Walnut Street Bridge reopens to the public this fall, another major renovation project is expected to begin. While speaking about upcoming projects at Coolidge Park and the Brainerd Levee at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, city...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SPLIT ENDS
After seven years of orange barrels, dump trucks and backups, the $328 million, two-phase project to rebuild the state-line interstate junction known for decades as the split is taking its final lap. For all practical purposes, the Tennessee...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘The pay went crazy’
President Donald Trump in August 2020 decried the multimillion-dollar salary of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s thenpresident, Jeff Lyash, calling for him to be replaced. “The new CEO must be paid no more than $500,000 a year,” Trump said. “We want...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘People are going to go somewhere else’
A memo signed by President Donald Trump pushing a $500,000 compensation ceiling onto the Tennessee Valley Authority dropped like a bomb at the federal utility, where its provisions would land far beyond its intended target, the CEO. There would be...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Grassroots effort grows
Four years after a city of Chattanooga Department of Parks and Outdoors public survey revealed that respondents’ No. 1 facility request was a botanical garden, a group of citizens is working to bring that collective wish to life. Chattanooga Botanical...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump directs TVA board to limit pay
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors to place a compensation limit of $500,000 on all employees, including the CEO. Trump instructed the board to place the limit if it’s consistent with...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘NOT NOW, NOT EVER’
Hamilton County Commissioners were split in a heated debate over a proposal that would lead to a separate planning agency for unincorporated county developments, despite being partially funded by taxes from city residents. The resolution, introduced...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Oil takes center stage
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels Tuesday, and the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single liter” to be shipped to its...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
POTENTIAL SWITCH
Novonix, a Chattanooga-based battery materials manufacturer, has secured rights to purchase a property next door to its facility off Riverfront Parkway as an alternative to a planned second site at Enterprise South Industrial Park. The company has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR’
Around the turn of the new year, 120 public libraries across Tennessee performed state-requested ageappropriateness reviews of their juvenile and children’s sections. In the 11 counties surrounding Chattanooga, seven libraries flagged a total of 15...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
IT’S GO TIME
Though the relative progress of two ambitious Chattanooga redevelopment projects may seem ripe for comparison, the deals behind the new Lookouts stadium and the riverfront commercial district known as The Bend are fundamentally different, according to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump demands Iran’s unconditional surrender
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” the latest and broadest expansion of his goals for the war, while Israeli jets pummeled Tehran and other parts of Iran with a fresh wave of airstrikes. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)