People who had a way with words in the news last week:
“Twenty-seven years of working with emotionally disturbed teenage boys prepared me for the Tennessee legislature.”
— State Rep. and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Gloria Johnson on Wednesday during a campaign rally in Chattanooga.
“Nobody is going to make any money in the industry selling a couple gummy bears and lotions.”
— Chris Sumrell, owner of Soddy-Daisy based hemp grower and retailer Farm to Med, on new hemp rules from the state’s department of agriculture that will outlaw sales of THCa flower.
“Doing something like this, where people can get involved and have some sort of stake in it, we find helps people become more invested.”
— Jake Cash, director of marketing and communications, for the Chattanooga Zoo, which is asking the public to help name two newborn pied tamarins, a critically endangered species of small primates native to the Brazilian rainforest.
“National Action Network is here in the city of Chattanooga, and we are going to move powerfully and boldly in this city, joining people of all diverse backgrounds together.”
— Elenora Woods, founding president of the new Chattanooga chapter of National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991.
“Schools play an absolutely essential role in teaching kids to read and write, but it can’t just be about schools.”
— Brandon Hubbard-Heitz, director of literacy and student strategies for Chattanooga 2.0, which has developed a tool kit to help after-school programs give reading support to students.
“You’re allowed to live as far north and west as North Memphis, all the way at the edge of the state. But what we can’t do is live just below the line.”
— Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers, during an appearance before the city council, speaking in favor of lifting a requirement that city employees live in Tennessee.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Hamilton County Health Department administrator Sabrina Novak speaks in 2023 during a media availability event on the steps of the Hamilton County Courthouse.“By bringing services directly to the community, we can better address the diverse health needs of our residents and provide critical support to those who need it most.”
— Sabrina Novak, the health department administrator, on Hamilton County’s launching of two new mobile health care units.
“It makes me really uncomfortable that we’re having this conversation and we’re already talking numbers and we’re already talking about priorities without having any information on the school in my district.”
— Hamilton County Board of Education member Jill Black, D-Chattanooga, during a discussion on the board’s facilities priority list. Site reports for all schools on the list have been completed except for Clifton Hills Elementary, which is in Black’s district.
Did you see a quotation we should highlight? Send an email to news@timesfreepress.com with QuoteWorthy in the subject line.