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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Cook: ‘Les Miserables’ and the end of cash bail in Hamilton County

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/5/17. An inmate covers up to keep warm while waiting to be locked up at the Hamilton County Jail in downtown Chattanooga on April 5, 2017.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/5/17. An inmate covers up to keep warm while waiting to be locked up at the Hamilton County Jail in downtown Chattanooga on April 5, 2017.

Don’t want to talk impeachment. Not yet.

Instead, a round of applause: Tivoli Theater, bravo. You’re staging some exceptional performances these days. We recently saw “Les Miserables.” It was magnificent.

You know the story. Frenchman Jean Valjean, imprisoned for stealing bread in starving times, can’t escape his criminal past. Despite self-transformation, he is hounded by a merciless system designed against, not for, his best interest.

He can’t get free.

The night we went, the place was packed. At the end, there was a rousing standing ovation.