Greeson: Legal matters of all sorts, and kudos Mr. Schulson

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, left, congratulates Creative Discovery Museum Executive Director Henry Schulson on his 20 years at the helm of the museum.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, left, congratulates Creative Discovery Museum Executive Director Henry Schulson on his 20 years at the helm of the museum.
photo Jay Greeson

Let's move quickly today because there is a lot to get to this morning.

And man, the challenge of finding strange news for this space is more about culling the unreal stories down rather than finding them.

We'll start here. As we all are outraged by the lawsuits filed by Three Blind Owls - and thanks everyone for the emails - take this spoonful of perspective: The town of Ferguson settled for $1.5 million with the family of Michael Brown, the black teenager shot and killed by police in the Missouri town.

Our Three Blind Owls want almost twice that for emotional distress for their lack of attention, supervision and leadership that led to a horrific pool cue rape.

Speaking of lawsuits

Last week, a jury awarded a man almost $1 million in a medical malpractice suit because someone dropped the ball.

In 2013, Steven Hanes had an orchiectomy - a surgical procedure to remove a testicle - and the doctors removed the wrong one.

The jury awarded Hanes $870,000 for his suffering.

According to a study by the public agency for Healthcare Research and Quality after it looked at almost 3 million operations over two decades, operations on the wrong body part are extremely rare. Their number released in 2006 showed that surgery on the wrong body part happens about once in 113,000 cases.

But this is a testy situation for sure.

Here's the quote from Hanes' lawyer in the Washington Post this week: "The doctor gave an explanation that really made no anatomical or medical sense. He claimed that he removed the testicle that was on the right side of the scrotum and the testicle had a spermatic cord that led to the left side of the body.

"Essentially, the doctor claimed that the testicles had switched sides at some point."

Don't call it a comeback

We spent a little time at Camp Jordan last weekend and noticed that the remake of the Superior Creek Lodge is progressing.

You remember Superior Creek, right? The extended-stay place right off Interstate 75 just inside the Tennessee state line in East Ridge?

Well, it's been almost two years since the facility was condemned in September 2015, and the reworking of whatever is going to be Superior 2.0 is progressing nicely.

In fact, the work must be ahead of schedule considering police are already ramping up prostitution stings in East Ridge.

Saturday star

Lots of options. Lots of them.

But this one seems pretty clear to me.

With kids who are 9 and 6, it's safe to say the Creative Discovery Museum has been one of our family's favorite spots for years.

And that in a lot of ways is due to the great leadership and direction of Henry Schulson, who earlier this month celebrated his 20-year anniversary leading the museum. On Thursday night, Schulson got a key to the city from Mayor Andy Berke for his tireless efforts.

Yes, Schulson would certainly credit all the efforts of all the folks who have been part of his staff and the board during his tenure. And yes, he would have a point.

But for those of us who have enjoyed the growth, the changes and the glory of the CDM, Schulson's leadership has been a huge part of the museum's transformation from good idea to downtown staple.

We'll give the final word to Lori Runge, who was the museum's board chairwoman when Schulson was hired and had this to say Thursday at the key ceremony:

"Twenty years ago Paul [Brock] was the acting director of the Museum and I was serving as his board chair As many know and I do say every single chance I get, hiring Henry was our greatest accomplishment. We realized we could provide a little context of the full scope of Henry's accomplishments for those of you who weren't here 20 years ago. We all know the great place the museum is today, but it wasn't always that way. Twenty years ago the museum was one-and-a-half years old. The early attendance was good but nowhere near our projections. In the first year of this museum, the exhibits had taken a beating and consequently the expenses came earlier than expected. The vision of this museum as an educational resource was always there. But in that first year-and-a-half it was also clear that that vision and piece of our mission really needed some thought and attention and focus to execute. So it was clear to all of us that we needed a leader who could embrace the mission and vision and make it a reality, and bring this young institution to grow into its full potential. And to our great fortune, along came Henry Schulson."

Nice job, Henry.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.

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