People who had a way with words in the news last week:
“You’re more prone to go to something in your community for services versus downtown, where somebody might not look like you or speak like you.”
— Thomas Battle, director of the East Lake Community Center, on why moving city services into community centers is especially important for East Lake.
“The defendant is pleading guilty, because the defendant is in fact guilty.”
— Former Chattanooga accountant Jonathan Frost’s plea agreement acknowledging criminal conspiracies involving wire fraud, tax fraud and money laundering.
“For decades, we have invested in land around our headquarters to meet the long-term needs of our business and to support a prosperous community. As Chattanooga’s only Fortune 500 company, we now face the likelihood of losing property that is essential to our future growth and to the city’s continued progress.”
— Emily Downing-Bear, a spokesperson for the insurance company Unum, on the federal government’s decision to build a new federal courthouse building on a site the company owns.
“The Sheriff’s Office, and certainly the Chattanooga Police Department, are not hunting people down. What’s happened in other cities is kind of a nightmare scenario for mayors. So I’m happy with the way things have been going here.”
— Mayor Tim Kelly on immigration enforcement in Chattanooga.
“We set out to be the first state in America to build a small modular reactor. Now it appears that Tennessee will be that state.”
— Gov. Bill Lee on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to build a new kind of reactor in Oak Ridge during his final State of the State address Monday.
“I mean, how cool is that? Oh, I’m in the neighborhood that’s between the Incline and the cable cars. It’s just one more thing for Chattanooga.”
— Jeffrey Cross, a 31-year resident of St. Elmo, on why he supports Rock City’s proposal to build a gondola that would take off near the neighborhood.
“I think every district in the county has a deep bench of people who want to be engaged. They have their own idea of things that need to happen or be changed in our county,”
— Hamilton County Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Brainerd, on how his term limits proposal could bring fresh ideas to county government.
“We have the opportunity to allow voluntary prayer in school so that we can both meld the spiritual formation and the academic formation of our schoolchildren.”
— State Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, on his prayer in schools proposal.
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