These pictures were taken at a East Tennessee Lawn Mower Racing Association competition this weekend near Highway 58 in Ooltewah. The ETLMRA is sanctioned under the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association, which is nationwide with more than nine classes of racing and featuring some mowers costing up to $8,000.

Local guitar maker Bruce Bennett and his business partner, Kevin Maxfield, have teamed to produce a line of uniquely designed instruments that they hope to sell worldwide.

Last week people around the world turned off their lights for one hour to draw attention to issues of climate change and energy use.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/31/08

The Chattanooga Downtown Redevelopment Corporation board this afternoon approved an $85,000 forensics study to look at problems at the water-based Passage attraction at the downtown waterfront.

Former Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Stuart James said today that he is challenging state Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, in the Aug. 7 Democratic legislative primary.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Local bail bondsman and former Cleveland City Councilman Rod Davis was arrested today on a felony theft charge, according to Assistant District Attorney Stephen Hatchett.

Democratic sheriff nominee Greg Beck may have to step down from his job as a Chattanooga City Court officer during his run for Hamilton County sheriff.

Five stores sold beer to a 19-year-old during a series of compliance checks Friday night, according to a news release from Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Kim Noorbergen.

A Hamilton County judge slashed a $450,000 bond amount to $50,000 today for former Chattanooga firefighter Marvin Nicholson, whose murder trial earlier this year ended with a hung jury.

Times Free Press Sports Editor Jay Greeson and lead columnist Mark Wiedmer break down the match-ups in this weekend’s NCAA tournament. The Final Four teams — Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas — are vying to play in Monday’s championship game.

Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey today voiced his support for GOP sheriff nominee Jim Hammond.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My brother recently had Guillain-Barre syndrome. What causes it, and what is its treatment? Will he be able to walk again? — J.M.

Firefighters began leaving Quality Carpet & Cushion around noon today, more than 20 hours after they responded to a four-alarm blaze at the manufacturing facility.

Civil war re-enactors and their families prepare for the last battle of the three day re-enactment of the Siege at Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Ala.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Producing unforgettable moments in this part of the country is becoming routine for Candace Parker.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team remained perfect in Southern Conference play Sunday, wrapping up a three-game sweep over Western Carolina at Jim Frost Stadium.

One on one, new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive coordinator Dick Hopkins is friendly, chatty and cordial. On the field, however, he’s a bit of a bulldog.

The charter bus carrying the Greenville, S.C., baseball team got stuck in the mud behind Central’s baseball field, but the harried driver was no worse off than the team he was hauling.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golf team captured the Furman Intercollegiate with junior Jonathan Hodge winning medalist honors.

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. — A library of loaner textbooks will help keep students on financial aid from getting behind at Chattanooga State Technical Community College in Bledsoe County, one student said.

Across the country, zoos are addressing obesity problems with their animals. A visit to the Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park shows what local zookeepers are doing to keep their year-round residents in shape.

BRIDGEPORT, Ala. — Civil War re-enactors have refought the Siege of Bridgeport during late March for the past 14 years. The results, though not always historically accurate, are always the same: Union troops, hold the fort on Saturday, Confederate forces are victorious on Sunday.

RINGGOLD, Ga. — The $56 million expected to be collected if Catoosa County voters approve a new five-year special purpose local option sales tax on Sept. 16 will not cover the wish lists being written, officials said.

On Wednesday, Chattanooga high schoolers plan to kick back against cigarette advertisements that target youth as part of national “Kick Butts” Day.

Chattanooga firefighter Marvin Nicholson’s murder trial ended with a hung jury in March, but he’s still sitting in jail on a $450,000 bond.

To raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, LaFayette Wal-Mart employees have had photo contests and egg decorating contests — but they still wanted something bigger.

Administrators at Hutcheson Medical Center are taking bids and working with architects in preparation for the largest upgrade of the hospital’s buildings and equipment in recent history, officials said.

"My mom is the reason I love fashion."

For many high school students, showing an educational video is the equivalent of hitting the snooze button.

WASHINGTON — Six years and $7.2 million in federal funds since 2002, the site of the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District remains virtually unchanged.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/31/08

BENTON, Tenn. — After several months of high jail medical bills, Polk County commissioners have chosen a company to provide inmate health care.

ETOWAH, Tenn. — Work on a new sidewalk and landscaping along U.S. Highway 411 is almost finished, and local leaders say they are pleased with the result.

Jessica Martin didn’t intend to stay here, not for long anyway.

He wasn’t old enough to vote in Tennessee’s Feb. 5 presidential primary, but that didn’t keep Seth Eichenthal from knocking on doors, making phone calls and digging into the political process.

As the nation’s economy reels, vehicle repossessions are predicted to reach the highest level in a decade.

Forty-five years ago when Christian apologist C.S. Lewis died, church attendance in Great Britain was falling.

Nigalya, a red panda, gorges on grapes. But workers at the Chattanooga Zoo have the 11-year-old mammal on a diet and limit him to a mere five grapes a day.

It should have gone in. What better way to celebrate the student part of student-athlete than for Davidson senior point guard Jason Richards to nail a 25-footer at the buzzer to knock off Kansas in Sunday's Midwest Regional final?

OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas A&M doesn’t feature any former AAU stars or highly-regarded recruits like the other schools at the Ford Center, coach Gary Blair noted following Sunday’s regional semifinal.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Producing unforgettable moments in this part of the country is becoming routine for Candace Parker.

WASHINGTON — Nationals Park had quite an opening.

The name and cause of death for a man found Friday in Carters Lake remain a mystery, according to officials with the Murray County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department.

Smoke from a fire inside a carpet manufacturing plant filled the sky this afternoon in LaFayette, Ga., according to Walker County 911 dispatchers.

BRIDGEPORT, Ala. — Civil War re-enactors have refought the Siege of Bridgeport during late March for the past 14 years. The results, though not always historically accurate, are always the same: Union troops, hold the fort on Saturday, Confederate forces are victorious on Sunday.

Give till it hurts.

There will be one unbeaten in District 5-AAA baseball after tonight and there could be none following Tuesday’s games.

John Calipari has a good reason for calling his Memphis Tigers a “Dream Team” — a kid from Chicago who wears No. 23 and makes plays that bring fans out of their seats.

A shooting incident early Sunday has left a man dead and a teen wounded, according to Chattanooga police spokeswoman Lt. Kim Noorbergen.

Chattanooga’s veteran of the year is a disabled Marine who fought in Vietnam and now serves as a chaplain, presiding at as many as five funerals of veterans in a week.

Local models showcase this year’s spring fashions at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. A 12-page special section in Sunday’s paper explains that colorful clothing is expected to dominate as warmer weather arrives.

DUNLAP, Tenn. — Glenn Barker works at the same bank he helped found in Dunlap more than 35 years ago. Over the years, he’s seen the economy in the Sequatchie Valley wax and wane.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Developers may have to put more consideration into trees and neighbors when they prepare building sites.

As an adult, I gravitated to the work world of non-profits. I find the people who dedicate their lives to improving the lives of others are the ones I want to spend my time working around and I find the work being done – servicing mankind – fills the need I have to be a servant.

I love where I work -- or I would, except for the fact that my job is being ruined by a nasty co-worker. She is rude and condescending to me and everyone else.

Weather Guy Spring Produce

Stained-glass artist Carolyn Insler sometimes uses the “wrong” side of glass in her artworks. “The texture can be heavier on the back, and I like to incorporate it to get a wider variety of surfaces,” said Ms. Insler.

Americans planning to travel to Europe this summer will face a “triple whammy,” according to Tom Parsons, who operates the travel Web site Bestfares. com.

ONE OF CHATTANOOGA’S most anticipated fashion shows of the year, StyleWorks, will be held May 1 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Mayor Ron Littlefield has delivered his third state of the city address.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I once shaved with a dull razor, which left me with an ingrown hair that turned into a keloid.

The Easter Bunny is on his deathbed.

Never having been a quick study, I had to reach retirement age before realizing that what I really want to be when I grow up is just one of the girls.

Charles Ashton Gregg opened Chattanooga Florist in 1933 with $8 in his pocket.

The florist industry has undergone numerous changes in the 75 years Judy Hacker’s family has owned Chattanooga Florist

Name: Downing Green (part of Mulberry Park subdivision) Location: Bill Reed Road in Collegedale Number of homes: 71 planned; five have been built or are nearly finished

Matt Drake was recently named branch manager of the Chattanooga office of Optimum Staffing Services, 6102 Shallowford Road.

Marti Rutherford, a broker with Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty, has earned the Senior Specialist designation.

The developers of the Black Bear development will have an open house on Saturday and next Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pharmacist Chuck Gass has no way of knowing if a customer legitimately needs prescription painkillers or is shopping around North Georgia drug stores in search of an illegal high.

BENTON, Tenn. — Polk County Sheriff Bill Davis said he’s going to start trying to seize property of four rafting companies that haven’t posted required bonds in a lawsuit over a county rafting tax.

While some drug task forces are cash-strapped and bracing for federal funding cuts, the 10th Judicial District’s interdiction team is enjoying such prosperity that it is giving money away.

DUNLAP, Tenn. — Tim Grant says he’s constructing a kids’ paradise on the south end of Dunlap.

This past week will be one to remember in Travis Adams’ first year as Bradley Central’s baseball coach.

KNOXVILLE — When Dave Clawson coached at Villanova, the same thing always happened when Brian Westbrook was on the field.

Welcome to the unofficial farewell tour of the most underappreciated dynasty in American professional sports. Or as they’re more popularly known, the Atlanta Braves.

KNOXVILLE — Sprawled on his back with team medical staff on hand, David Holbert thought he was in a dream.

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. — Families and children, gripping little flags, listened for the loud hum of motorcycles and crowded shoulder to shoulder Saturday waiting for a homecoming 35 years in the making.

Chattanooga’s veteran of the year is a disabled Marine who fought in Vietnam and now serves as a chaplain, presiding at as many as five funerals of veterans in a week.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Not far from here, just down the road inside a cozy high school gym in Midwest City, one stunning moment created a legend.

The founder of Bridge Refugee and Sponsorship Services Inc. said more faith-based groups are stepping up to sponsor families searching for new lives in East Tennessee.

Despite the dreary day Saturday, John Shulman had plans to spend time with his family in Chattanooga and not friends in Texas.

The Chattanooga Lookouts of 2008 will have a similar look to last year’s team.

Rather than cut a sprawling elm in his St. Elmo yard, Sean Loftin hired specialists to remove dead branches in an attempt to nurse the tree back to health.

You’ve probably never met them, and they probably don’t know anything about you.

NASHVILLE — Tennessee-American Water Co.’s request for a 20.58 percent increase in water rates is churning up waves among some members of Hamilton County’s legislative delegation.

Jay Leno joked Monday night about a Chattanooga Times Free Press item that reported that former Sheriff Billy Long had promised to take students to the Hamilton County Jail.

Neighbors to the proposed new Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Hollywood, Ala., will get a chance to tell regulators about any of their environmental concerns about the project during public hearings Thursday in Scottsboro, Ala.

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority used a decade-old computer model to forecast river flooding affecting what could become one of the United States’ first new nuclear plants of the 21st century.

DALTON, Ga. — As a 21-year-old Dalton man serves a 20-year prison term for the Memorial Day slaying of a Dalton High School football player, the community still grapples with the gang violence that a prosecutor said led to that tragedy.

Car washes are a traditional method of springtime fundraising for Georgia youths drumming up money for their baseball or softball teams.

There was loud thunder outside Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church during Saturday afternoon’s nearly two-hour service to remember Victor Ellis, perhaps indicating Ellis didn’t need long to find a quarterback to sack in heaven.

OKLAHOMA CITY — So much for Tennessee playing NCAA games in consecutive road environments.

From the minute Lona Brannon saw her eighth-grade students this year, she knew their names. She knew which ones needed extra help in social studies, and which ones liked to speak up in class.

When city officials finalize their new pay plan, fire and police, finance, engineering and information technology employees will receive much of the $2 million needed for salary adjustments this fiscal year.

Chattanooga Police Detective Terry Topping knows there’s at least a chance he could catch a break if a fellow officer pulls him over for speeding or squeaking by a red light.

Whoever occupies the Oval Office next should craft a “bipartisan grand strategy” within four months of taking office to fix domestic and international issues facing the nation, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and Chattanooga native David Abshire said.

Legislators have set Friday as the last day of their 40-day session.

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Work on the West Chickamauga sewer interceptor project has been stopped three weeks but is scheduled to resume on Monday.

DALTON, Ga. — The city recently hired a stormwater management director.

Chattanooga’s condo market is holding steady in terms of sales volume, although the median price declined in 2007, data show, and several condo projects have stalled.

These pictures were taken at Thursday night's Republican Convention to pick a sheriffs candidate for the August Hamilton County general election. The convention chose Jim Hammond as the GOP candidate.

Crossville, Tenn. held a parade to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in Tennessee and events were organized by the Vietnam Veterans organization of Cumberland County, Tenn. An observance was also held at Veterans Park in Soddy Daisy.

Thirty-three years after the end of the Vietnam War, veterans from across Tennessee were thanked for their service and welcomed home on Saturday in Crossvile, Tenn.

Photos of the Week

Mike Bailey, Wildlife Officer, shows eastern pipistrelle bats in hybernation in the White Side Cave in White Side, Tenn.

Although defensive end Marcus Howard had the most impressive going-away party for Georgia last season with his MVP performance in the Sugar Bowl, he may not be the player the Bulldogs miss most in 2008.

John Shulman hosted a family gathering in Chattanooga on Friday night.

Chattanooga State’s softball reputation continues to feed off itself.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The rising cost of materials plus a mandated accounting change is pushing Cleveland Utilities to seek an increase in water, sewer and electricity rates.

Murl Dirksen, District 2 representative on the Cleveland School Board, said he intends to seek re-election in Aug. 7 county general election.

Chattanooga officials hope to use about $5.4 million in federal money to help EPB bring Internet, cable and telephone service to inner-city neighborhoods faster than EPB had planned.

Q: I tried to change my cell phone carrier and was horrified to learn that breaking my contract would result in a $200 early termination fee.

When first launched, Acura's TSX was a neat and tidy package. It was a treat for the eyes and fun to drive.

In Class A high school softball games when teams appear similar, the one that executes in the clutch wins. Friday at Grace Academy, that was Whitwell.

On any day, inside any gym, against any college basketball opponent, these University of Tennessee Volunteers probably could have left the court with a win.

The best laid plans...

The person most responsible for Angie Bjorklund’s 3-point shooting show for Tennessee back in January wasn’t missing defensive assignments or not hustling or failing to fight through screens

Putting a football schedule together is a lot like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Getting one part done is pretty easy, but the completed portions are at risk every time you address the other sides.

Antonio Miller was out at Finley Stadium on Friday, watching and helping out during the second day of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s spring practice. The former UTC quarterback got an up-close view of the early stages of the competition to replace him.

For Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, spring practice is meant to focus on players, not plays.

Thirteen freedom riders who were expelled from Tennessee State University in 1961 for participating in the civil rights movement will not be offered honorary degrees by the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Former McCallie coach C.R. “Bubba” Simmons will return to the school, having been named its new athletic director.

Seven people received federal prison sentences in U.S. District Court ranging from 18 months to 20 years on Friday for conspiring to manufacture and sell more than 375 pounds of methamphetamine during a two-year period.

ATLANTA — Senators overwhelmingly approved Friday a 10 percent cut to state income tax touted by Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, as the “largest economic stimulus package” to come before the Legislature.

WASHINGTON — No longer limited to asking friends and neighbors for tips, hospitalgoers now have a new way to predict how likely it is their hospital bathroom will be clean, whether staff nurses and doctors will communicate clearly and other details about their stay.

Patrons to the Downtown Family YMCA are experiencing the benefits of $5.1 million in renovations, including a larger wellness center and other improvements designed to provide more offerings and make better use of the Sixth Street facility.

WASHINGTON — Gov. Phil Bredesen has made national headlines for his proposal to have a superdelegate convention before the Democratic National Convention, but he said his efforts are not an attempt to become a vice presidential candidate.

A fatal disease killing bats in the Northeast has not struck this region yet, but wildlife experts worry that “white-nose” syndrome could infiltrate hibernation caves in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

As the cost of a college degree continues to outpace inflation, Tennessee Board of Regents officials say the answer to an increasingly pricey education may lie in expanding a growing system of online education.

The position of a sole county commissioner is unique to Georgia and has critics and supporters.

ATLANTA — The Senate on Friday unanimously passed its own version of next year’s $21.2 billion budget. Now, negotiations can begin in conference committee with a week left until the session ends.

With their hands covered in red paint, several Indian students smeared one another’s faces and wished one another happy Holí, meaning “let’s forget about all the quarrels we had in the past.”

The board of the Tennessee Valley Authority will convene Thursday in Knoxville, and for the first time in the agency’s 75-year history it will include a Georgia representative.

DALTON, Ga. — The resignation this week of Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce President George Woodward — who cited personal reasons — came unexpectedly, according to local officials and the chairman of his own board.

Chip Baker wants a chance to forge a greater relationship between Hamilton County Schools and the business community, so he announced this week he would seek a third term on the school board.

Former state Rep. Jim Vincent said Friday he plans an attempt to retake his old House seat from friend and fellow Republican state Rep. Jim Cobb, of Spring City.

WASHINGTON — Seeking to fix what they call a “broken” budget system, U.S. senators from Tennessee and Georgia are supporting a bipartisan plan to move to a two-year federal budget cycle.

A rented charter bus carrying Birmingham, Ala., fifth-graders to the Tennessee Aquarium overturned Thursday morning, injuring 20 occupants, school and state patrol officials said.

Best Buy will unveil Chattanooga’s first and only Apple Shop today at the Gunbarrel Road location where an official said it will help bring new technology to the city.

It’s hardly letting out a secret that Tony Stewart and the media get along about as well as cats and dogs. Republicans and Democrats. Kobe Bryant and Shaq. Larry McReynolds and a dictionary ... well, you get the idea.

Satisfaction among people submitting short-term disability claims with Unum Group in 2007 exceeded the industry average, according to research by JHA.

Chattanooga was mentioned in a variety of media outlets recently with stories ranging from it having a resilient economy to becoming a top site for eco-tourists.

Since entrepreneurs Brian and Jamey Elrod started franchising their school uniform stores five years ago, they have gotten pretty good at it.

North Chattanooga Chamber: The Chamber will meet Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. The topic will be summer activities and safety on the North Shore. The cost of lunch is $10.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Activity has begun at the site of Cleveland’s future airport.

DAYTON, Tenn. — Rhea County has no extra money that could help cover a projected 51 percent increase in diesel fuel costs for school buses, the Budget Committee chairman said this week.

SARASOTA, Fla. — He’s an outfielder, he’s a Texan, and he’s among the top prospects in the Cincinnati Reds organization.

ATHENS, Tenn. — A McMinn County native came home this week to shoot a short film on location in Athens.

The Rev. Sherry Boles said she knew members of St. John United Methodist Church had accepted her recently when they pranked her, but good.

In theater’s visual medium, costuming can convey the personality of a character to the audience before that actor ever says a word.

In two years, Adam Bryan and Jerry Draper have restored a 1930s Brainerd home to its original beauty.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I don’t know if this is silly, but I am worried about my husband.

With 8:18 to play Thursday night, Chris Lofton finally hit a 3-pointer against Louisville. Tennessee’s most decorated player had been trying the entire game to swish his signature shot. Seven times previously, he’d missed. One had even been blocked.

Eastern Pipistrelle bats are one of 16 different species found in Tennessee and they hybernate from October to late March.

Visit the McCraw farm in North Alabama, where Civil War re-enacters portraying Union and Confederate forces will stage the Siege at Bridgeport this weekend. In the video, participants take you on a tour back in time to a campsite from that era.

Retired Blairsville, Ga., banker Tom Gilliland was sworn in today as the first director ever from Georgia on the Tennessee Valley Authority board.

A man seen slumped over his steering wheel while driving Thursday afternoon died of natural causes, the Hamilton County medical examiner’s office determined.

Seven people received federal prison sentences ranging from 18 months to 20 years this afternoon in U.S. District Court here for conspiring to manufacture and sell more than 375 pounds of methamphetamine over a two-year period.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/28/08

Former McCallie coach C.R. “Bubba” Simmons will return to the school as its new athletic director. At the end of the current school year Simmons will succeed Bill Cherry, who resigned last month after overseeing the Blue Tornado athletic program for 35 years.

Chattanooga firefighters stopped a kitchen fire from spreading to other parts of the John Calvin Apartments at 364 Northgate Mall Drive this afternoon, a fire department spokesman said.

Chattanooga police have arrested and charged a city employee with stealing parts from city-owned bulldozers and selling it at scrap yards, according to a police department statement.

East Ridge police are investigating a robbery at the SunTrust Bank at 4323 Ringgold Road that occurred about 10:15 a.m. today.

As the NCAA men’s basketball tournament continues this week, Assistant Sports Editor Jim Tanner and sports columnist Mark Wiedmer look at the East and West regional match-ups Wednesday. On Thursday they’ll talk about the games in the South and Midwest regions.

Former state Rep. Jim Vincent said today he will enter the House District 31 and try to take the seat from Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City.

After 12 years with the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce, George Woodward has announced his immediate resignation as its president, citing personal reasons.

The EPB cable court hearing that had been scheduled for this morning in Nashville has been postponed.

At least 18 passengers were injured when a charter bus loaded with Birmingham fifth graders overturned this morning on its way to the Tennessee Aquarium, a Jefferson County school system spokeswoman said.

More students are taking courses online through the Tennessee Board of Regents universities and two-year colleges, said Chancellor Charles Manning in an address to the board today.

The Chattanooga Medical Examiner is working to determine the cause of death for a man involved in a traffic accident Thursday afternoon.

One season removed from a century of existence, the Tennessee men’s basketball still can’t advance past a Sweet 16 that tastes more bitter every year.

After four years apiece at Hiwassee College and Chattanooga State, Bart Walker has accepted the job of women’s basketball coach at Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Niceville, Fla.

One season removed from a century of existence, the Tennessee men’s basketball still can’t advance past an NCAA Sweet 16 that tastes more bitter every year.

Steve Garland saw the opportunity and didn’t hesitate to get his message across. The Soddy-Daisy High School baseball coach knew, with four days to go before his team begins district play, that what he was seeing on the field at AT&T Field would get his team beat.

A rare opportunity to become head coaches at the same school has lured two of this area’s brightest young assistants away.

NASHVILLE — From Fox News to C-SPAN, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has been blitzing national media this week in an effort to sell his idea of a “primary” of Democratic superdelegates to break a potential logjam in the party’s presidential nomination battle.

Here is a list of national news outlets in which Gov. Bredesen has pitched his idea of "primary" of superdelegates to decide the Democratic presidential nomination if the race remains deadlocked after the end of the primary season on June. 3.

Athletic director Rick Hart and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman talked openly about Shulman’s interview at Texas Christian University on Tuesday.

Georgia officials, rebuffed by the Tennessee General Assembly in their first attempt to stake a claim on the Tennessee River, say they may launch another legal attack to gain access to the nation’s fifth-biggest river.

A labor union’s independent sampling of drinking water in Dalton, Ga., found the presence of a carpet industry chemical EPA has labeled a likely carcinogen.

Webb is the coach of both CCS tennis teams that have been dominant in the area and the state. The Lady Chargers come into the season as three-time Class AA state team champions and the Chargers finished as runners-up in Murfreesboro.

The owner of Chattanooga’s Ashley Furniture HomeStore will continue a free furniture promotion hinging on the University of Tennessee basketball teams’ bid for the NCAA tournament championship even though the state attorney general has said it is illegal.

Chattanooga city planners say they anticipate conducting their own citywide study before the end of the year on the effect that a lack of grocery stores has on the health of a community.

Erlanger hospital’s board of trustees on Thursday night approved a $12.1 million sale of the hospital’s three helicopters and the transfer of 16 pilots and mechanics to Texas-based Med-Trans Corp.

A Hamilton County jury acquitted a man of vehicular homicide Thursday in an unusual case in which the prosecution said the passenger of a sport utility vehicle was criminally responsible for the driver’s actions.

A general feeling of distrust expressed by firefighters and police officers Thursday led members of the Fire and Police Pension Fund board to object to having city-appointed representatives.

MANY FOLKS remember Liz Morin as “Liz, Liz, the Showbiz Whiz” on the old Lite Mix 105 radio station.

Chattanooga’s tourism industry could be the key to the local economy remaining fairly stable as a slowdown occurs nationwide, said Dennis P. Lockhart, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, on Thursday.

Already the most serious offense in soccer, a red card now carries a heavier penalty for high school players in Tennessee.

When Anita Campbell tried to help a teacher at Howard School of Academics and Technology organize a student project on World War I, the librarian couldn’t find a single book about the war on any of the shelves.

Members of the Tennessee Board of Regents, considering a nearly 10 percent tuition increase, were looking for some temporary relief Thursday from a bleak state economic forecast.

SARASOTA, Fla. — For the second straight year, the Chattanooga Lookouts have a pitching coach with a crowning achievement.

ATLANTA — The House passed its own version of a local transportation sales tax Thursday, bringing the measure a step closer to voters in November.

This is a list of new cases filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court-Eastern District of Tennessee for the period of March 20-26.

WEHCO Media Inc., the owner of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, on Thursday announced it has acquired the Jefferson City News Tribune as well as the daily Fulton Sun and the weekly California Democrat, all in Missouri.

Shares of trucking company Covenant Transportation Group fell 18.6 percent Thursday as it projected a larger-than-expected first-quarter net loss due to diesel fuel costs.

The developer of a proposed key downtown project and the city forester are at loggerheads over keeping two large oak trees on Market Street fronting the site.

ATLANTA — As House and Senate leaders jostle over the best tax cut policy — reducing either property or income taxes — most North Georgia legislators just mainly want a cut.

Hamilton County commissioners on Thursday discussed a proposal to increase the fee charged to prisoners each day from $28 to $40.

At an age when most kids take up odd jobs to scrimp and save for a bike or a video game, Celtic performer Jamie Laval was working his way toward his first instrument, a clarinet.

Chattanooga Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Williams was honored Thursday morning with the governor’s Honorary Tennessean award for his work with the Chattanooga SWAT team, officer training and school violence response development.

The news last week that Chattanooga State would be selling the license for WAWLFM 91.5 and converting to an online version was not met with universal approval.

Chattanooga has its fair share of Mexican restaurants, but the new Taco Rico on Main Street isn’t a typical south-of-the-border cafe.

In 1991, when Yattie Westfield — then just a junior in high school — was tapped to play in Kings of the Killer Fish, he had no idea the run he was in for.

Aren’t weekends supposed to be relaxing affairs filled with badminton, shuffleboard and other lawn sports? Well, that was my understanding based on years of watching far too much BBC programming.

You don’t carry around the kitchen sink, but this season’s trendy oversized handbag could accommodate one.

This week for your listening pleasure we have an example of the “dirty blues” from local singer/songwriter Husky Burnette.

Chattanooga Times Free Press music reporter Casey Phillips spoke with Celtic performing partners Jamie Laval and Ashley Broder about how they started playing Celtic music and why their music reflects a natural evolution of the music.

The center median barrier that separates the four lanes of traffic on U.S. Highway 27 north of the Tennessee River tells a story.

A LaFayette, Ga., man who worked as a community youth mentor has been charged with molesting two children and possessing thousands of child pornography pictures.

MUSICcast: Husky Burnette in Studio ’99 03/28/08 MP3 Download SUBSCRIBE

Adam Morrison became the first Grace Academy student to sign a golf scholarship when he signed papers Tuesday to continue his career at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn.

The accent remains unmistakably Southern, the product of being raised in Burlington, N.C., and spending four years in Chattanooga, attending McCallie School. But this summer Michael Bingham is likely to represent the United Kingdom, home to a father that deserted his family, at the Beijing Olympics.

AREA SOFTBALL LEADERS

The Baylor baseball coach, who had open-heart surgery in 2002 and a hip replacement in 2001, has been described as eccentric and as a pioneer.

Erlanger hospital’s board of trustees approved a $12.1 million sale of hospital helicopters and the transfer of 16 pilots and mechanics to Texas-base Med-Trans Corp. on Thursday evening.

Tennessee tight end Jeff Cottam sustained a fractured tibia after catching a touchdown pass during practice Thursday.

The ability to market internationally and be more open to foreign investment is a key component in the growth of the local economy, business leaders said Thursday.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Police will keep looking for whoever painted racial slurs on two houses and a church for as long as it takes to solve the case, Chief Wes Snyder said Thursday.

DUNLAP, Tenn. — Saturation patrols and driver checkpoints in Sequatchie County are helping stem alcohol-related traffic fatalities, officials said.

COPPERHILL, Tenn. — Intertrade Holdings Inc. on Thursday said it has sold its Copperhill organic sulfonate plant to Pilot Chemical Corp., which will shut the plant down in four months.

Area track leaders Stats through March 26

BOYS Name, School Record

Batting Name School G AB H Avg

Goals Player, School Matches No.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/28/08

Down Home: Dalton talks about how his parents were complete opposites 03/28/08 MP3 Download SUBSCRIBE

Over his 70-plus years of touring, B.B. King has performed more than 10,000 concerts, but he has said that the thrill is still there for him every time he plays to an audience.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: In the past six months, I have had three mammograms. The findings are always the same — microcalcifications in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast.

Jim Hammond stood up, spoke up and shut up, then won the Hamilton County Republican Party’s sheriff nomination Thursday night at the East Ridge Community Center.

Michael Dzik serves on the parent-teacher association at his daughters’ elementary school, and he hopes soon to represent his PTA colleagues as their school board member.

Former Hamilton County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Hammond captured the county Republican Party’s nomination for sheriff tonight, defeating state Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, in a run-off election by 14 votes.

Rhea County School Board Chairman Bill Davault said Thursday night that enough money should be available to keep school buses running this school year.

Celtic performing partners Jamie Laval and Ashley Broder visited Studio 99 at the Chattanooga Times Free Press to perform a track from their album "Zephyr in the Confetti Factory." The musicians will appear at Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave., Friday at 8 p.m. Read about the duo in Friday’s FYI Weekend.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/27/08

DAYTON, Tenn. — Mayor Bob Vincent said today that a second candidate will be offered the fire chief’s post after the city’s first choice declined an offer.

A damaged guardrail on Highway 27 just north of the Olgiati Bridge is unsightly but not unsafe, said Tennesee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn. She said bids go out Friday for a contractor to repair the guardrail and that the project should be completed by August.

Dennis P. Lockhart, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, today said there is no proof the country is in a recession.

A Hamilton County jury today acquitted a Dayton, Tenn., man of vehicular homicide by intoxication.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The FBI will investigate whether racial slurs painted on two homes and a church in the last few weeks may constitute a hate crime, officials said this morning.

COPPERHILL, Tenn. — Intertrade Holdings Inc. announced at noon today it has sold its organic sulfates plant to Cincinnati-based Pilot Chemical Corp., which plans to shut it down and lay off workers.

Business leaders today discussed the importance of Chattanooga embracing the global economy.

Hamilton County commissioners this morning discussed a proposal to increase daily prisoner fees from $28 to $40.

WEHCO, an Arkansas-based media company that also own the Chattanooga Times Free Press, today announced its acquisition of the Jefferson City News Tribune as well as the daily Fulton Sun and the weekly California Democrat. The three newspapers are located in Missouri.

After sitting in a garage for about six years...

A Texas newspaper is reporting that Mocs basketball coach John Shulman has met with Texas Christian University officials on a vacant head coaching position.

On his first play from scrimmage for the Georgia Bulldogs, Harris caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Shockley during a 48-13 rout of Boise State to open the 2005 season.

Ask Louisville coach Rick Pitino to discuss his relationship with Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl and he'll say, “We're not really that close. But I marvel at the job he's doing. Bruce is making it fun there. He's great for college basketball.”

They lined up along Faculty Drive late Wednesday afternoon, four and five deep, quite possibly more folks than Davidson College’s 1,700 total students.

The will of a senior in the NCAA tournament, Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale noted after Tuesday night’s game, is immeasurable.

Not long after the sun rose over Finley Stadium on Wednesday morning, Raeshon Ball jogged off the field with a smile on his face. He was a football player again.

Leave it to Wayne Chism to mention the painfully obvious counterpoint.

Kentucky is commonly referenced as the basketball program that missed on Chris Lofton.

Craig Tatum did not pick Mississippi State to win the NCAA basketball tournament. He didn’t even have his Bulldogs getting past Memphis in last Sunday’s second round.

Terri Thompson compares the responsibilities of managing a shopping center to those of being a mayor.

We finish yard chores or a workout, turn on the tap and fill a glass of cool water to drink. We trust that this water will be safe, and in most of America it is.

Note: Events without published prices are free, and registration is required for most programs.

After suffering through name-calling in the early 1970s, and then the years of denial that followed, Roger Rahor finally is ready to own up to his Vietnam veteran status with pride.

Record participation in the Super Tuesday primaries has state election officials in Tennessee and Georgia bracing for massive voter turnout in November that some experts say could shatter all-time records.

Rhea County school officials faced with rising diesel and electricity costs could have at least three options, state Rep. Jim Cobb said Wednesday.

Former state Rep. Jim Vincent said Wednesday he is considering trying to retake the House District 31 seat he once held from incumbent Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City.

Regions Bank’s newest branch opens today in Ooltewah on Little Debbie Parkway in front of Wal-Mart. The bank will celebrate the grand opening with a block party Saturday.

From home building to interior and exterior design, lawns and landscaping, the 2008 home and garden show Saturday will offer anyone considering changes a chance to meet dozens of vendors.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/27/08

Two men accused of exploiting an underage girl at Club Coffee, a Chattanooga nightclub, last year pleaded guilty to lesser charges Wednesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court.

Dozens of people wearing hard hats and T-shirts scurried about Wednesday afternoon as they prepared McKenzie Arena for performances of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Snuggled against one side of Stringer’s Ridge, Spears Avenue School gave meaning to the term “neighborhood school” for several generations of black students.

Most adults fail to keep up with their vaccinations, a new study shows.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am writing for information on the management of cluster headaches.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department inspects restaurants twice a year and grades the businesses on a 100-point scale.

When the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center takes over Chattanooga’s animal control services in July, it likely will start up with a new staff of animal control officers, current employees and city officials said.

Roberto Rojas has seen too many Hispanic students fall victim to “the monster of dropout,” a troubling trend the educator is working to reverse.

Foreign-born Hispanics migrating to the United States tend to have higher drop-out rates than native-born Hispanics, a national researcher said.

Ooltewah’s Caroline Denton hasn’t picked up a tennis racket since last summer.

Hunter Adkins said he struggled, but if the Red Bank pitcher wasn’t at his best Rhea County doesn’t want to see him at the top of his game.

Hixson seemed to have a slight edge when it came to being first to figure out the strikezone in its high school softball game against Baylor.

As the Georgia Senate considers tax incentives designed to lure a hotel to the Northwest Georgia Trade Center and Convention Center, the center’s executive director, Rick Tanner, announced his resignation Wednesday.

As public schools grapple with rising costs and tight budgets, local education foundations are mobilizing money and volunteers for programs that can fall by the wayside amid uncertain economic times.

The prep baseball season begins to heat up in Northwest Georgia next week, especially in Region 7-AAAA, where league play finally begins. So, the question is, who’s the favorite? If you look at pre-region records, you might think Ridgeland, Rome and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe are the teams to beat.

Metropolitan Atlanta added nearly as many residents last year as live in the entire city of Chattanooga, according to government population figures released today.

It has been only six years since Kevin Burke graduated from Ooltewah High School, but the 23-year-old said he is eager to serve his former school system as a member of the Hamilton County Board of Education.

Per capita income in Tennessee grew only two-thirds as fast as in the rest of the country during 2007 and remained nearly 14 percent below the U.S. average, the government reported Wednesday.

The Chattanooga City Council’s Legal and Legislative Committee is reviewing the city’s policy on authorizing Erlanger hospital security officers to carry weapons.

Bruce Pearl will be the keynote speaker at the Better Business Bureau’s annual meeting.

A Florida-based cable company is plugging into Chattanooga’s economy by hooking up businesses.

While most students and teachers are counting the days to summer break, many parents of Georgia 4-year-olds are thinking of next school year and how to secure a spot for their child in a state-funded prekindergarten program.

Chattanooga’s Office of Multicultural Affairs wants to host an evening celebrating diversity in each City Council district, but so far only four of nine districts are participating.

“If I go back to work, will I automatically lose my disability benefits?”

The Bredesen administration and Senate Republicans appear closer to a compromise on lowering the cumulative grade-point averages Tennessee’s college students need to retain lottery-funded scholarships, but some Democrats are balking over plans to phase in the proposed change.

A Hamilton County jury will continue deliberating this morning in an unusual vehicular homicide case in which prosecutors say the passenger of a sport utility vehicle is criminally responsible for causing a man’s death.

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Three Hamilton County teachers have been selected as the best in their field and the system’s 2008 teachers of the year, officials announced today.

Edward “Ace” Williams and Randolph Scott Jennings, both charged with especially aggravated exploitation of a minor and other counts in connection with a 2007 raid at a Rossville Boulevard club, pleaded guilty today to lesser charges.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/26/08

A Hamilton County Criminal Court jury is deliberating this afternoon in the case of Bachar Martin, a Dayton, Tenn., man charged with vehicular homicide after a car in which he was a passenger struck and killed a man.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus pitched its big top today in Chattanooga, with tigers, elephants and zebras unloading for a weekend of shows here beginning Thursday.

Chattanooga police arrested a man early this morning in connection with a vehicle reported stolen earlier this month.

NASHVILLE — Tennessee college students could retain their lottery-funded scholarships with a 2.75 grade point average through their junior years under a $7 million proposal laid out this morning by Senate Education Committee Republicans.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A 1,700-acre prescribed burn is being conducted in the Wolf Ridge area of the Ocoee Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest, officials said.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team kicked off its spring practice on a chilly morning at Finley Stadium today.

A man has been arrested today in connection with an incident during which he allegedly exposed himself to a 6-year-old at the Falling Water Elementary School playground on March 21.

The South’s extended drought will have lasting effects on the region’s tree population. More ...

Victor Ellis, who gained admirers as a University of Alabama linebacker and as a cancer fighter, died Tuesday night at the age of 28.

A pair of bills that would allow Tennesseans to buy wine from grocery stores and over the Internet went sour Tuesday, running into opposition from liquor interests and lawmakers reluctant to make purchases of alcohol easier.

Want to experience wildflowers this year? Open your eyes and step lightly.

EAT AT SOME OF THE city’s favorite restaurants and help those less fortunate at the same time by dining out every Tuesday in April.

Students unsatisfied with the education they receive in the classroom can follow the advice of American educationalist John Gardner and “shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his education.”

Good golly there’s a lot of talk about beef these days. Those pictures we all saw on the nightly news of cattle seemingly crippled by disease but still being taken off to slaughter did nothing to help my appetite.

To me, “Drillbit Taylor” is a hard film to pass judgment on. The plot’s premise is referred to numerous times during the film as “The dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” and I couldn’t agree more.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I’m writing to alert your readers to malignant melanoma. I lost my husband to it last year. He had what looked like a mole, but it was growing.

CREATIVE DISCOVERY Museum’s “Amuse”Um fundraiser drew the biggest crowd in its 12-year history with first-time attendees making up 200 of 700 people on hand, officials said.

Weather Guy Ducks

About three years after the grand opening of Chattanooga’s 21st Century Waterfront, parts of the downtown site have required or will need repairs to address various problems, officials said.

Pat Summitt got her wish Tuesday night.

So many new members are joining that the board of the Athens YMCA is weighing expansion plans.

Drug investigators in Northwest Georgia could be the first to test a program to track electronically the sale of over-the-counter medicines used to make methamphetamine.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Sonny Perdue restored full-time nurses and paraprofessional educators to Catoosa County Schools, schools director Denia Reese said Tuesday.

Mirzeta Muretcehajic, 18, often thinks of how dramatically different her life could have been had she not ended up at East Ridge High School.

Louisville pulled away from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golf team on the final few holes Tuesday to claim the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate tournament hosted by the University of South Alabama.

All the newcomers within the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program will merge with the returners in the pre-dawn darkness this morning, and together they will kick off spring practice at Finley Stadium.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/26/08

As the price of gas rises to new heights, consumers often find themselves thinking about the good old days when gas was less than $1 a gallon and 50 cents bought a loaf of bread. Some baby boomers in Chattanooga give their thoughts on how prices have risen over the years.

Most Tennessee fans probably cringed when Candace Parker grabbed her shoulder in pain after attempting to steal a pass just five minutes into Tuesday’s game.

You might think the students and faculty of Charlotte Christian School would be going bonkers over 2006 graduate Stephen Curry this week.

It’s a new brand of baseball they’re playing at Bradley Central these days.

The defending national champion Tennessee Lady Vols won easily tonight at Purdue against Purdue in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, 78-52.

With Tennessee entering its first day in pads of spring practice, defensive back Demetrice Morley had better reason than most of the Volunteers to feel rusty Tuesday.

It’s hard to describe Wayne Chism to people who have never met him.

Understanding other cultures, especially when it comes to medical care, is becoming an essential skill for area health practitioners, two seminar speakers said Tuesday.

A University of Georgia scientist said studies will be conducted this summer on fish and mussels in the Conasauga River to test for a chemical an Environmental Protection Agency advisory board calls a “likely carcinogen.”

In the summer of 1996, Tiger Woods turned pro and Monica Lewinsky no longer worked as a White House intern.

When you reach for a bag of grains on the grocery shelves, you’re paying for a lot more than its contents. Add on a few cents for packaging.

Many of the Hamilton County elected officers whose names did not appear in a list of local officials who had filed personal finance reports with the state said they filed their forms by or just after the Feb. 15 deadline.

A Dayton, Tenn., man who could spend up to 12 years in prison for vehicular homicide faltered Tuesday as he testified against his “former best friend” who is standing trial for the same crime.

If Tennessee had played a men’s basketball game Tuesday, coach Bruce Pearl said Chris Lofton would have been in the lineup.

The voices crackled from police scanners shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday: “Fire is out, start doing triage. There are several that are not responding. We need medical right now.”

For 15 years, Sharron Watson of Chattanooga devoted herself to the care of her aging parents, making calls to countless agencies and providers and researching all options to get them the care they needed.

A Bradley County commissioner is seeking to end the 2 percent processing fee charged to people who pay their property tax with a credit card.

Two Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics opening on the fringes of Southeast Tennessee could help local veterans who need health care, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis said Tuesday.

Westinghouse Electric Co. on Tuesday won an 11-year property tax break related to its planned expansion slated to add 52 jobs in Chattanooga.

Years ago — probably around the time when children walked five miles uphill in the snow to get to school — applying for college was a lot harder.

Despite a lawsuit by the county challenging its legality, the Fort Oglethorpe Council has approved annexation of 25 acres on Mack Smith Road under zoning for single-family housing.

Roy Hall is a disabled veteran at odds with the Marion County Trustee’s Office over whether he’s exempt from county property taxes.

Projects for which SPLOST funds will be used must be spelled out on the referendum.

While Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb may have transformed civilization, it turns out that sunlight actually can be better than the plugged-in kind.

Skybus Airlines, which announced last week it’s pulling out of Chattanooga in April, has replaced the chief executive officer who guided the low-cost carrier through its launch and first year.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A Bradley County commissioner is seeking to end the two percent processing fee charged to people who pay their property tax with a credit card.

Senior guard Chris Lofton sat to the side during the University of Tennessse’s basketball practice on Tuesday afternoon in Thompson-Boling Arena.

As the NCAA men’s basketball tournament continues this week, Assistant Sports Editor Jim Tanner and sports columnist Mark Wiedmer look at the East and West regional match-ups Wednesday. On Thursday they’ll talk about the games in the South and Midwest regions.

Gov. Phil Bredesen visited St. Barnabas new skilled nursing facility on Tuesday to address The Long-Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008. The act could transform Tennessee’s approach to long-term care by allowing individuals to have more options on how the long-term care money is spent.

A simulated plane crash at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport this morning had emergency responders busy. It was all part of a required, full-scale exercise for the airport.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/25/08

A fire that gutted a Hixson apartment this morning apparently was caused by careless smoking, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department.

Chattanooga Police Department traffic investigators have identified the drivers involved in this morning’s fatal accident at 3000 Hickory Valley Road.

Jury selection wrapped up today and the trial began for a Dayton, Tenn., man charged with vehicular homicide and driving under the influence by consent.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen led a roundtable discussion on long-term care at St. Barnabas Senior Living Services’ new skilled nursing facility this afternoon, responding to concerns from area caregivers, social workers and providers of long-term care services.

Local emergency response teams prepared for a worst-case scenario during a simulated airplane crash near the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport this morning.

A two-story house off Morris Hill Road was a total loss today after a fire swept through it and its garage and car port.

A head-on collision killed one person about 7:30 a.m. today in the 3000 block of Hickory Valley Road near Highway 58.

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, in conjunction with local emergency response agencies, will be conducting a full-scale exercise today at 10 a.m.

The Times Free Press doesn’t make a policy of handing out player-of-the-year awards two weeks into a season. If we did, Ooltewah’s Holly Thomas would be crowned 2008 softball queen today.

TECHcast: Donnie Jenkins talks about ‘E-mails answered’ 03/25/08

Warehouse Row officials have started work on what could be one of the biggest makeovers in Chattanooga’s central business district in years if it unfolds as planned.

Erlanger hospital is considering selling its three Life Force helicopters to an air-medical provider that would become the hospital’s partner in treating patients who need emergency transport.

Winning a game in the NCAA tournament is all that eluded the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s five women’s basketball seniors in their careers, which came to an end Sunday at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

Moving to automate through so-called Smart Grid technology, EPB personnel expect to finish laying 300 miles of fiber-optic lines to 116 electric substations by summer, an official said Monday.

Susan Pierce: America, you voted the wrong girl off “American Idol” last week.

Friends since seventh grade growing up in Naperville, Ill., Tennessee’s Candace Parker and Purdue’s Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton often imagined competing against each other in college. Both starred in high school and played on the same AAU team.

Opinions of students and teachers are mixed on a new policy at Bradley Central High School this year requiring students to wear IDs.

One of 10 NCAA wrestling champions crowned Saturday, Cornell’s 157-pounder wasn’t hurting from too much celebration. He was drained after fighting off illness plus some of the best wrestlers in the country.

The business licenses as provided by the Hamilton County Clerk for March 17-21 follow:

Dalton High School will have just its fifth head coach in the past 60 years next season. Adam Winegarden was named to succeed the retiring Ronnie McClurg at a special meeting of the Dalton Board of Education Monday.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/25/08

Even when its members “lose” money in the stock market, Chattanooga’s Mizpah Congregation wins.

Vanderbilt University screen-writing professor Will Akers says his first career goal was to become a cartoonist.

Cody Batts and Josh Gibson, two Cleveland High School students who have never traveled outside the United States, hope their trip to France with their Frenchlanguage class this summer will help them understand life in another country.

Each of the Hamilton County Republican Party’s five candidates for sheriff on Monday said he would not run as an independent if not selected as the GOP nominee.

Georgia has the comfort of returning nine defensive starters from last season’s Sugar Bowl champions.

The entire field struggled to remain within sight of par Monday in poor conditions at the Mobile Bay (Ala.) Intercollegiate tournament, but the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s golf team at least stayed close to tournament leader Louisville.

Chattanoogans’ wardrobe essentials this week are fairly typical for springtime across the Tennessee Valley: parkas and snow boots one day, shorts and sandals the next.

Police and prosecutors would get new tools to fight rising thefts of copper and other valuable metals under a bill the House sent to Gov. Phil Bredesen on Monday night.

Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick left the Mackey Arena floor during Purdue’s first-round NCAA women’s basketball game Sunday, turned a corner in the tunnel and saw coach Pat Summitt.

If it weren’t for late-night Frisbee practice on the old football field in the heart of the UTC campus, Zachary Robbins said he may not have found his place as a transfer student in a sea of new faces.

It took no more than one weekend for the East Region of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to prove what many started suggesting on Selection Sunday.

Some City Council members on Monday voiced concerns about ensuring the separation of church and state when the head of the nonprofit Front Porch Alliance requested city funding during a morning of budget hearings.

Two of Chattanooga’s five homicides this year have been of women slain, not by strangers in random attacks, but by men they knew, according to police.

In a world where phones are ear pieces and computers can fit into a pant pocket, it’s hard to believe a parent could go six hours, even 12 hours, without knowing their child was injured or dead.

DR. DONOHUE: My granddaughter has cystic fibrosis. We were informed that it is a fatal disease.

Despite a decrease in student enrollment, the Hamilton County Schools system saw about a 3 percentage point increase in 2007 in the number of high school graduates who went to college, Superintendent Jim Scales said Monday.

City Council members here still are exploring the idea of a downtown market day.

The 45 dogs at the Paws of Love Dog Sanctuary in Marion County know Sebe Christian as a playmate but they know little of the 11-year-old’s campaign to keep them fed.

Senators began work Monday adjusting the budget passed by the House last week, but leaders said it’s too early to tell how much they will try to restore of the $140 million cut from school funding.

School districts that want to “green clean” their buildings have a whole world of products and equipment designed to clean and make schools healthier.

Local police officers and sheriff’s deputies hope to partner with Head Start to improve security for the school readiness program.

For a couple of months, the flu was a fact of life for the employees of Cutting Edge Packaging Solutions in Chattanooga.

A $2 billion project aimed at taking freight off tractor-trailers and putting it on rail could mean faster, longer trains barreling through North Georgia and the Tennessee Valley.

Four teenage girls have been charged in a Thursday fire that damaged an East Brainerd landmark, a Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman said.

Every entrepreneur knows of the significant selling opportunities that the Internet provides. From 24/7 customer access to security of payments to on-demand manufacturing, all can be important contributors to an upstart’s success.

Today we again answer common e-mails I receive.

Each of the five Hamilton County Republican Party candidates for sheriff said Monday night that he would not run as an independent if he does not win his party’s nomination.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/24/08

Chattanooga City Council members this morning raised church-state questions when an official with the nonprofit Front Porch Alliance requested city funding during a morning of budget hearings.

Almost three-quarters of all 2007 Hamilton County high school graduates went on to attend college, up three percent from the year before, schools Superintendent Jim Scales said today.

Hamilton County Schools students returned to school this morning after spring break vacation, and residents on Signal Mountain were greeted with early morning snow flurries.

Prison ministries can be an effective way to reduce recidivism and return inmates to society, but good prison ministries can just focus on preaching behind the prison walls. Inmates need help when they get on the streets, so ministries are changing to meet that need.

On The Air: Sean Phipps 03/24/08

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The task of slaying mighty Tennessee, players for 16th-seeded Oral Roberts said earlier in the weekend, was analogous to the Biblical story of David and Goliath.

Louie Elliott and Ryan Glasby are still in school, but the UTC doctoral students also are on the job for Radiance Technologies.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — It was anyone’s game at halftime. It was still anyone’s game with 70 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the rest belonged to Kansas State.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Kelsey Nelson picked an opportune time to play the game of her life.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Louisville’s 78-48 dismantling of Oklahoma in the second round of the East Regional was barely over when Cardinals reserve forward Terrance Farley was asked about facing Tennessee on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tyler Smith has just 20 blocked shots in Tennessee’s 35 games this season.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — We all know the line about playing two quarterbacks. If you’ve got two quarterbacks you’ve got none.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two teams that made the Sweet Sixteen last season — and probably didn’t deserve to see each other until the Sweet Sixteen this season — battled Sunday just to get past the second round.

ATHENS, Tenn. — Cities and agencies in McMinn County are seeking a Governor’s Highway Safety Office grant for equipment and staff to try and reduce the number of local vehicle crashes and fatalities.

ATHENS, Tenn. — A local gift shop has been honored as one of the 25 best retailers in the nation by a leading industry magazine.

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Catoosa County has not given up on reaching agreements with Post Volunteer Fire Department to work with county firefighters or with Ringgold on a possible funding arrangement, officials said.

Rex Harrison initially thought the Tennessee Aquarium would never be more than a giant fish tank when it was built 15 years ago in downtown Chattanooga.

A local minister and a parent coordinator at Howard School of Academics and Technology are on a mission — help students succeed in school and life.

Prosecutors are preparing a wish-list of technology upgrades for the three Hamilton County Criminal courtrooms.

Plowing Humvees through the hot Iraqi sun, the baby-faced 33-year-old who speaks in a thick North Georgia drawl was surprised to realize after hours of conversation how much his Muslim translator reminded him of himself.

A Georgia man’s $100,000 lawsuit against the city of Chattanooga for an arrest he claims violated his civil rights is set to go to trial today in U.S. District Court.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — For years, the Cleveland City school board presented decorated rocking chairs to retirees.

It’ll take 45 “forests” to double Chattanooga’s trees.

Behind the cinderblock walls and razor-wire fencing at Silverdale Detention Center, Karla Hood prayed until she cried.

Catoosa County will welcome a new addition in August when Heritage High School opens its doors to its first class of students.

With all the communications technology available today, teens say they feel connected to the world — but some find it almost impossible to take a break from their parents.

With a little more than seven months remaining before the 2008 presidential election, we asked Chattanooga-area teenagers where they stand on the candidates.

With prom season near, young women are struggling to find the perfect attire. Yet they may be surprised to find it buried in their grandmother’s old trunk.

Times Free Press model search finalist

One part stylist, one part shrink, one part fortune-teller; he’s nixed half my wardrobe, but in a single two-hour meeting he showed me how I can look better at age 44 than I did at 20.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My wife has been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since her diagnosis, she has adhered to a strict gluten-free diet and appears to be recovering nicely.

About 100 Prison Prevention Ministries volunteers visited Silverdale inmates during a three-day Prison Prevention Ministries jailhouse revival. “God puts us here on our backs, so we can look up. We have no choice,” said inmate Karla Hood.

Employees at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefield often provide programs for the public, but sometimes they also need the public to pitch in and give back.

I love my job because I am a part of the lives of so many students.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The task of slaying mighty Tennessee, players for 16th-seeded Oral Roberts said, was analogous to the Biblical story of David and Goliath.

The story of a 19th-century British statesman credited for halting slavery in his country underscores the strength one individual has to change the world, the author of a biography of William Wilberforce said.

Here we are two weeks into the season, and I don’t know if anything has really been settled.

An attempt to elude police turned deadly Sunday morning, according to Georgia State Patrol communications officers.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Tennessee men’s basketball held off Butler on Sunday for a 76-71, overtime victory in a second-round NCAA tournament game at BJCC Arena.

Sophomore J.P. Prince is listed as the University of Tennessee’s starting point guard for today’s second-round NCAA tournament game against Butler.

Kansas State guard Shalee Lehning converted a three-point play with 1:08 to Sunday that put the Wildcats up four and over the top in a 69-59 win over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

It's a little bit before tip-off here at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Kansas State and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are here and no doubt feeling a few butterflies before their NCAA tournament first-round game.

Staff Photo By Kelly Wegel -- Jericho Brass band warms up before the Salvation Army's Easter Sunday Sunrise service on top of the hill of the Chattanooga National Cemetery on Sunday morning.

An East Ridge family escaped from their burning home late Saturday night, but the family did lose three pets in the blaze.

Christian Motorcyclists Association members pray with cyclist during the annual Blessing of the Bikes on Saturday at the Tennessee Riverpark.

Five races into the 2008 Sprint Cup season, there are many early storylines — some expected, some that have come out of nowhere.

Ooltewah High School softball coach Norma Nelson said when Holly Thomas is on her game, the rest of the Lady Owls manage to fall in line behind.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Brad Stevens thought Tennessee was a “great team” last season.

As the face of Chattanooga changes, leaders of nonprofit organizations said they want to extend their reach through the use of bilingual volunteers.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl didn’t divulge his entire game plan for today’s second-round NCAA tournament game against Butler, but he said sophomore J.P. Prince will continue playing some at point guard.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Oral Roberts is a Christian university, so its athletes are very familiar with the story of David and Goliath.

The offense didn’t win and the defense didn’t dominate, so nobody walked away thrilled Saturday afternoon following Georgia’s first football scrimmage of the spring.

Cody Cleveland had mixed emotions Saturday after he was pinned and finished eighth at the NCAA wrestling tournament in St. Louis.

Less than six years after coming to town, a computational engineering program at UTC already is helping Chattanooga determine its place in a major Southern technology corridor.

The SonRise Resurrection Pageant presented annually at Southern Adventist University draws ever larger crowds to Collegedale to share a story central to Christians of all denominations.

Grand tour: Nine homes will be available for touring next Sunday on the Tour of Downtown Living. The properties range from private condos to single-family residences and townhomes that are for sale.

The countdown is under way.

I am a Registered Nurse at Memorial Hospital, working on One Central, and I love my job. I don't consider it a job as much as I consider it a calling.

I moved to a new town and, ever since, my career has been in a freefall.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My question is about warts or moles. I’m not sure which I have. They’ve been appearing on my body for the past couple of years. Some are dark and rough.

Margarite Sicard’s oil paintings of women and still life will debut at Hollis Gallery in the Southside on Saturday, April 5.

The following arts and crafts fairs and festivals are within a day-trip’s drive of Chattanooga.

As hillsides in the Tennessee Valley burst into pastel hues, a weekend getaway to an outdoor festival could be your cure for a case of cabin fever.

VIRGINIA WEBB’S “The Passion Flower Project” at In-Town Gallery opened with a large reception.

Grocery Run

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Catoosa County Commissioner James Emberson, who’s said he won’t seek another four-year term, said he sought to balance conservative and progressive ideals during his tenure.

DALTON, Ga. — The city’s outspoken Mayor David Pennington said he does not think the Downtown Dalton Development Authority needs its own staff, and he reiterated that the tax it charges is a disincentive to new businesses.

A digital machine that quickly zips fingerprint images to the state crime lab is being added to Whitfield County Probate Court to expedite issuing gun permits.

When James Sewell’s marriage ended, he needed someone to look after his children while he works.

The three Chattanooga men honored this year by the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame at UTC’s College of Business all share a common characteristic — perseverance.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 14.

Lynda Fleury, assistant vice president and chief information security officer at Unum Group, has been presented the Information Security Executive Southeast Award 2008.

Freddie Williams and Elmar Kuli-Zade scored 20 and 19 points as Lee University defeated University of the Cumberlands 84-72 in the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament Friday night at Kansas City, Mo.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Laughing and prancing inside the Tennessee locker room Saturday afternoon, senior guard JaJuan Smith hardly acted like a guy whose next college basketball loss could be his last.

In 1965, when I was 7 years old, my family bought a little red Volkswagen.

Almost 100 protesters marched through downtown Chattanooga on Saturday, marking the five-year anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq.

NASHVILLE — A Tennessee attorney general’s opinion should provide a legal boost to proposed legislation cracking down on illegal immigrants arrested for felonies and repeat DUI offenses, a Chattanooga lawmaker said.

Chattanooga Police Capt. Jeannie Snyder sent numerous work-related e-mails the week of her Feb. 7 detention at a Georgia mall — the same period of time Police Chief Freeman Cooper has insisted she was on personal leave.

Sophomore Ramar Smith is again listed atop the depth chart after not playing in the first half of the Vols’ first-round victory over American, but no one would be surprised if senior Jordan Howell started again today.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — On the eve of another Tennessee game in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, coach Pat Summitt fielded more questions about the last one.

Up on the fourth floor of McKenzie Arena, back in the football corner, things look about the same as they did four months ago. Same white walls, same navy blue doors, same cracked videocassette propping open the door to the stairwell by coach Rodney Allison’s office.

At least a dozen elected local officials in Hamilton County do not have required personal financial disclosure forms on file with the Tennessee Ethics Commission, an online search found.

It’s one thing to construct two new $12 million schools on time, but quite another to erect them next to the buildings they will replace.

Almost two years ago Ken Dickinson, of Ooltewah, lost the bottom half of his left leg in a motorcycle accident.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Some of Bradley County’s youngest voters are eager to cast their first ballot this year.

COPPERHILL, Tenn. — An illegal road crossing on the Old Line Railroad threatened to delay scenic trips through the Hiwassee Gorge and to Copperhill scheduled for later this month.

EVENSVILLE, Tenn. — It’s not known if enough money is available to complete construction of a new Rhea County Animal Shelter, but building continues anyway, officials said.

Five questions as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga heads into spring football practice Wednesday:

In position for a sweep of its opening Southern Conference series of the season, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team scored five runs in its first time at bat Saturday.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Existing industries and work force development are getting special attention at the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce.

NASHVILLE — Legislative infighting over how to spend Tennessee’s estimated $410 million lottery surplus is shaping up as a major problem just as it did last year.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the United States “should be embarrassed” by its system of nominating presidential candidates.

From Etowah, Tenn., to Dalton, Ga., the Chattanooga region’s towns have found 21st-century uses for railroad depots.

Lots of young people turn to video games, MySpace and reality TV to relax during their down time, but library staff and teachers are encouraging them to pick up a book instead.

ATLANTA — Construction on a visitors center at Resaca Battlefield could begin soon if $3 million for the Civil War park development remains in the budget passed by the House on Thursday.

During the long Easter break, Senate committees will meet to discuss the fiscal year 2009 budget the House passed Thursday. The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the budget Friday.

The Sonrise Resurrection Pageant, held at Southern Adventist University, is an annual production which recreates the last days of Christ, features 500 actors and draws as many as 8000 spectators.

The story has not changed in more than 2,000 years, but the saga of Jesus’ last days on earth never grows wearisome for Christians.

Photographer's choose their best photo's,of this week

About 100 protesters marched through downtown Chattanooga today to mark the five-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk matched her team-record 15 strikeouts in the first game and won the second one in relief as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga opened Southern Conference softball play Friday by defeating UNC Greensboro 4-1 and 4-2 at Jim Frost Stadium.

Thousands of people gathered at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Dalton for the Stations of the Cross celebration.

Well, it looks like another banner year for my bracket.

Nearly a year after 92,138 Alabama football fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium for Nick Saban’s first A-Day spring game, Georgia players remain amazed by the feat.

Q: We’ve had to use the funds put aside for our high school senior’s college tuition to pay for unexpected and expensive medical treatments.

If Ooltewah and GPS aren’t the best high school softball teams in the Chattanooga area this spring, they sure looked the part Friday.

There are some serious advantages to being a high NCAA tournament seed.

Every college basketball fan with a filled bracket and a TV knows the feeling.

The images of that magical day are still fresh, still capable of sending chills down spines. The passage of time can dull some memories, but life’s truly remarkable moments tend to linger.

Tennessee isn’t the only men’s basketball team here that’s upset with its NCAA tournament seeding.

Chattanooga has two 2008 wrestling All-Americans: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Cody Cleveland and Jordan Leen, son of former UTC coach Mark Leen.

For most of Friday night’s Pre-Game Academy Roundball Classic high school basketball boys’ all-star game, Howard senior Dominique Taylor just wanted to have fun.

As the Butler Bulldogs were entering the BJCC Arena on Thursday afternoon for their shoot-around, a security guard stopped senior point guard A.J. Graves, pointed at first-year coach Brad Stevens and asked, “Is that your coach? He looks like a player.”

DALTON, Ga. — Carrying bottles of water, umbrellas and snacks, thousands of people participated in the Stations of the Cross here Friday afternoon.

The NCAA tournament is about opportunity. At some point in almost every game, the underdog has an opportunity to step up, to surprise, to shock. At roughly that same moment, the favorite has the opportunity to say no.

WASHINGTON — Bob Tuke and Mike Padgett have directed most of their campaign talk toward criticizing Republican incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander, but before either faces off against him in the general election, one will have to emerge from the Democratic primary.

Rain-muddied water boils at the foot of a mountainside waterfall as the paddler steadies his kayak and eyes his approach.

Supporters said a plan to build two full-service libraries in Polk County is dead after county commissioners refused to supply $49,000 in funds.

Signs springing up alongside area interstates and state highways now tell motorists when they enter the watersheds of local rivers.

The Cleveland City Council will be considering ordinance changes to allow for tree preservation and for buffering between properties in high and low density use areas Monday.

Tracking health goals and daily fitness activity has gotten a little easier with a free Web tool from the Tennessee Department of Health.

Just as Mayor Ron Littlefield was mentioning a plan to swap downtown parking for the former Narrowbridge restaurant in his State of the City address, fire investigators said someone was inside the now-closed restaurant trying to set the place ablaze.

A few months ago, real estate broker John Duckett put a blindfold on his brother and drove him to the Southside.

Garrison Carr got a new name Friday afternoon in the Tennessee men’s basketball locker room.

A 3-3 record isn’t the way most teams want to start a season, but new Ringgold baseball coach Brent Tucker will take it.

Pardon me, but where’s the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?

Nearly 2,500 people attended the Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dalton, Ga., on Friday. The annual event covered Jesus’ journey on Good Friday, leading to his crucifixion and resurrection on Easter Sunday.

DALTON, Ga. — Pointing to the receding stream bank, conservationist Frank Sagona explained to eight high school seniors the importance of repairing the erosion he described as “an open wound” on Swamp Creek.

DUNLAP, Tenn. — Tom and Diane Egleston were looking to escape the crime, congestion and costs of South Florida when they decided in the summer of 2005 to search for another home in Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee.

RINGGOLD, Ga. — Residents on Chestnut Ridge Drive said they were shocked, and now they are concerned, when deep fissures opened up in their yards.

Tennessee and Georgia’s prekindergarten programs earned high marks for meeting benchmarks by increasing the number of children served, and Tennessee was spotlighted as one of eight states meeting nine of 10 quality indicators, according to a recent national report.

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Nearly one year after Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker disappeared, Hilda Wilson sorted through her missing sister’s belongings, trying to salvage memories.

As businesses attempt to cut overhead in the midst of more difficult economic times, some are looking to outsource their technological support to geeks willing to travel, says the owner of a local start-up.

As he walks through the remodeled offices of his bank’s downtown offices, CapitalMark Bank & Trust President and CEO Craig Holley is visibly proud.

WASHINGTON — To beat Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in the November election, leading Democratic contenders Bob Tuke and Mike Padgett say they probably will need to raise $5 million to $10 million for the general election.