People who had a way with words in the news last week:
“The words that come to mind, especially in the current context, are abusive, hostile and highly inefficient.”
— Jeff Duncan, a former National Parks Service ecologist who retired from his Chattanooga post earlier this year, on threats from the White House to fire federal employees if the government shuts down.
“When you throw a party, you wonder if people are going to show up.”
— Ken White, executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association, talking about the first year of World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga.
“I wouldn’t criticize TVA if I didn’t care about it. The critics are the real lovers deep down.”
— Author Jared Sullivan, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate whose book on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s 2008 coal ash spill has won the Tennessee Book Award for nonfiction.
“The developers and everybody and their mama are snatching up these back-tax properties.”
— Sandra Gober, Chattanooga’s housing and community grants manager, on challenges for affordable housing.
“I’m making a gin.”
— Wanda Lee to her husband when they decided to open distillery Gate 11.
“We can’t balkanize our country. It’s not how the United States of America does business.”
— Cornbread Hemp cofounder Jim Higdon, fighting to retain online access for Tennessee customers to patronize his Kentucky business.
“What I’ve learned now is that with any development, the chances of a delay are inevitable. The bridge is so old. All the delays are for all the years we did not do the maintaining.”
— Chattanooga council member Raquetta Dotley of East Lake on rising costs and delays for the renovation of the Walnut Street Bridge.
“You can either do one of two things when bad things happen: You can either wallow in it, or you can use it as motivation to make a difference.”
— Entrepreneur Ryan Seaberg who developed an electronic medication tracker after losing a friend to an opioid overdose.
“Sewanee has neglected its dorms to the point that they became a running joke amongst students.”
— A lawsuit filed by current and former University of the South students about mold found in dorm rooms.
“The magnitude of that storm put the system to the test and tested resilience, and then caused us to look backwards and implement some new techniques and protocols and communication backups that make us stronger today.”
— James Everett, general manager of river management at TVA, about historic flooding from Hurricane Helene a year ago.
Did you see a quotation we should highlight? Send an email to news@timesfreepress.com with QuoteWorthy in the subject line.