People who had a way with words in the news last week:
“Having La Roja here is the biggest international story we’ve had since Volkswagen.”
– Charles Wood, president of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, talking about the significance of the Spanish national soccer team choosing to train in Chattanooga during the World Cup.
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“I know that AI, and all these things, are a freight train that’s coming through here, but it doesn’t have to be devastating, and we don’t have to be taken advantage of.”
– Resident Cathy Kott speaking about data centers during a Whitfield County Board of Commissioners meeting.
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“I think about the city as kind of like a body. Downtown is the heart. And, if the heart is not doing well, no other place in the city is going to be.”
– Chattanooga City Council member Raquetta Dotley, speaking about investment in downtown Chattanooga through projects like the riverfront redevelopment.
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“The other folks have been left alone, and that has totally changed morale at TVA.”
– U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, saying that all employees at the federal agency except the CEO have been spared the effects of a $500,000 compensation limit proposed by President Donald Trump.
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“I don’t see any future for FarmToMed in the hemp industry in Tennessee under this legislation.”
– Chris Sumrell, owner of FarmToMed in Chattanooga, on new restrictions on hemp products in Tennessee.
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“I just like to point out that telling the one Black man on scene that he is ‘your servant’ is probably not very good judgment.”
– Hamilton County prosecutor Sean Boers after showing a jury body camera footage depicting Randy Vega’s interaction with emergency service personnel the day of the fatal 2023 Frazier Avenue crash.
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“There will be cribs for babies. There will be mothers, fathers and children who walk through the doors during what is likely the hardest time of their lives.”
– Brooke Satterfield, a former policy officer for the city of Chattanooga, about Airport Inn’s conversion into a family homeless shelter.
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“I played soccer my whole life, I watched soccer my whole life. I just love soccer.”
– Carlos Duran, who moved from Spain to Chattanooga three years ago when he was 16 for his mother’s job. Duran was among the fans present at the Embassy Suites hotel for the arrival of the Spanish national team.
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“I’ve been following La Liga most of my life, so a lot of these players, I’ve seen them grow, and now to have them here is really special.”
– Alejandro Villegas, who works with Telemundo Atlanta and Sports Venezuela, and traveled to Chattanooga to cover the Spanish national team.
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“I think it’s cool. I think it would look cool. I think it’d be great for people that don’t live on the mountain to experience the beauty of the mountain.”
– Mike Willingham, a member of the Planning Commission in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, explaining one reason he supports Rock City’s efforts to build part of a gondola within city.
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“Everybody on the mountain, off the mountain or who has ever been on the mountain seems to have an opinion.”
– Lookout Mountain, Georgia., Planning Commission Chair Keith Sanford, on Rock City’s proposed gondola project.
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“Being a senator — you want to accomplish something — is more like being a drum major. You’ve got to recruit the marchers, line them up, pick the music, try to make sure they don’t walk in the ditch, usually have one or two of them march out front as soloists.”
– Former Tennessee Gov. and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander speaking about the difference between those jobs during an appearance before the Chattanooga Downtown Rotary Club.
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