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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

‘This is like Christmas morning.’: Notable quotes from a week of Chattanooga area news

Staff photo by Seth Carpenter / New City Properties President Jim Irwin talks about the development process of the Fourth Ward in Atlanta. Irwin is the master developer for the Foundries District surrounding Erlanger Park, the new home of the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Staff photo by Seth Carpenter / New City Properties President Jim Irwin talks about the development process of the Fourth Ward in Atlanta. Irwin is the master developer for the Foundries District surrounding Erlanger Park, the new home of the Chattanooga Lookouts. Staff photo by Seth Carpenter / New City Properties President Jim Irwin talks about the development process of the Fourth Ward in Atlanta. Irwin is the master developer for the Foundries District surrounding Erlanger Park, the new home of the Chattanooga Lookouts.

People who had a way with words in the news last week:

“This is like Christmas morning.”

— Jim Irwin, master developer of the foundries district around Erlanger Park, describing his feeling standing behind the gates as the ballpark opened to the public.

“Many papers made a fatal mistake in the ’90s that they’re still paying for — giving the news away online for free. The idea was that the page views would turn into digital advertising gold. They didn’t. Instead, what happened is we trained an entire generation to believe that professional journalism has no cost.”

— Eliza Gaines, publisher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, in a speech to the Rotary Club of Chattanooga on the future of newspapers.