Best Local Stories
The best in our day-to-day coverage of the Chattanooga area in 2014.
Dr. Jim Catanzaro is photographed at Chattanooga State in January 2014.After a statewide inquiry examining his hiring practices and a vote of no confidence from faculty, controversial Chattanooga State Community College President Jim Catanzaro announced his retirement from the university in December. The announcement ended months of turmoil, much of it surrounding Catanzaro's hiring of Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes, whose academic credentials have been loudly questioned.
Avery Johnson, Fields Chapman, and Andrew Haynes, from left, converse during a break while in Gilmer County Superior Court Judge Amanda H. Mercier's courtroom on Thursday. The three are defendants in a sexual battery case from a Calhoun High School post prom party earlier this year.In May, three former Calhoun High School athletes were charged with sexual battery after a post-prom party at an Ellijay cabin where they allegedly assaulted a female student. Calhoun City Schools initially banned the Damon Avery Johnson, Fields Benjamin Chapman and Andrew Isaac Haynes, all 18 at the time of their arrest, from walking at graduation but later allowed them to attend. All three were indicted and their cases are still progressing through the court system.
Bullet holes are visible Tuesday in the exterior of a home on East 50th Street
where a 13-year-old boy was shot to death Monday night in Chattanooga.Deontrey Southers was just 13 when he was killed in the doorway of his East 5oth Street home on Jan. 20, the victim of a rivalry between the Athens Park Bloods and Bounty Hunter Bloods.
Signs outside a polling place support different opinions on an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution on Nov. 4, 2014, in Nashville.Tennesseans approved with 53 percent of votes a measure that would allow state legislators to pass stricter requirements on women who seek an abortion and on abortion providers. Opponents have since filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Nashville alleging lawmakers didn't follow the wording of the constitution as it addresses amendments.
Bryan College students leave chapel at the Rudd Auditorium.A clarification of part of Bryan College's statement of belief that embraced a narrower stance on creation caused an uproar at the school, with faculty and a trustee resigning and others seeing their contracts go unrenewed. Students protested, and faculty voted no confidence in President Stephen Livesay last spring.
A roundup of more than 30 men that law enforcement and city officials called some of the city's worst relied heavily on wire taps. We chronicled how agents used this tool, made famous by shows like HBO's "The Wire," to bust the massive crack cocaine ring.
Fred SkillernLong-time Hamilton County Commission District 1 Commissioner and Chairman Fred Skillern lost his re-election bid during May's Republican primary. Skillern came close with 49 percent of votes, but was beaten by Randy Fairbanks.
Gov. Bill Haslam talks during a press conference in Nashville on Dec. 15, 2014. Haslam vowed a year and a half ago not to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, and instead on Dec. 15 announced new plans for his "Insure Tennessee" program. Insure Tennessee would funnel the federal Medicaid dollars to cover more than 200,000 new low-income Tennesseans, incorporating voucher programs and wellness initiatives as an alternative to "traditional Medicaid expansion." The plan will need majority approval from Tenn. lawmakers before it goes into effect.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann speaks to his supporters after winning the race for the 3rd Congressional District in this file photo.Election day meant a second victory for Third Congressional District U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and Fourth Congressional District U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., survived a tight GOP primary election challenge, a bout with cancer and unsavory rumors about his personal life.
Gregory Scott Hale allegedly killed and dismembered a woman near the Bledsoe County, Tenn., home he lived in on Pete Sain Road near Manchester, Tenn.Police arrested 37-year-old Gregory Scott Hale on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse after he confessed to killing and eating parts of a Sequatchie Valley woman in June.
Chattanooga Housing Authority officials announced in March of 2011 their plan to sell or demolish the East Chattanooga housing development of about 300 occupied units. It was vacated in 2012, and after several bids and a failed attempt to secure a private buyer, the city purchased the property at a cost of $2.6 million last March. The sale marked Chattanooga's move toward a national trend of shuttering public housing projects
Southern Adventist University while it was on lockdown.Frustrated student James Gaines joked with a school counselor that he might have to "strap a bomb on me" and "put a gun to their head" to get the transcript he wanted from Southern Adventist University in January. The words prompted a lockdown of the school, but Gaines agreed to community service and won't see jail time.
Cleveland, Tenn., police chief Wes Snyder speaks to members of the media during a news conference Wednesday. Chief Snyder called a story written by Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Todd South "grossly inaccurate."Chief Wes Snyder suddenly announced his retirement in December 2013 after storage unit security footage showed him meeting MainStreet Cleveland Director Sharon Marr for a romantic rendezvous. But just before his scheduled retirement on Jan. 5, Snyder tried to rescind his decision to leave. City Manager Janice Casteel said his rehiring was not in the city's best interest, and David Bishop was selected to replace Snyder.
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Photo Gallery
A Man of No Importance
The cast of A Man of No Importance playing at the Weekend Theater located on the corner of 7th Street and Chester.