Streight's Raid topic of talk

Henry Simpson, a Birmingham attorney and chairman of the Civil War Preservation Trust and U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society, will discuss Streight's Raid in April 1863 during a Monday meeting of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association and the history department of the Public Library.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Chattanooga Library.

Simpson will discuss the Union raid, led by Col. Abel D. Streight, across northern Alabama in April and May of 1863. The objective was to cut Southern supply lines by disrupting the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which supplied Chattanooga, according to a news release about the event.

Simpson said the raid has been described by historians as "one of the most spectacular exploits of the war."

Simpson is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia.

U.S. 27 south will be 1 lane today

Construction crews will close Manning Street between the southbound and northbound entrance ramps to U.S. 27 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today to erect girders for a new bridge, according to a news release.

Tennessee Department of Transportation officials said two other projects in the area also could affect traffic in coming days.

The southbound off ramp at exit 20 on Interstate 75 in Cleveland, Tenn., will be closed Sunday from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. so work crews can widen and pave the ramp and mark the pavement.

On Tuesday, the Bachman Tubes tunnels in East Ridge will be closed from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Wednesday so workers can replace overhead lights.