From economic and cultural growth to tragedies and natural disasters, the Chattanooga area has had a formative decade that will continue to shape the city in the 2020s and beyond.
While breaking news events like the July 16, 2015, shootings, which killed five local service members - an attack Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke calls one of the most impactful events of the last decade - mold the character of a city, he said the most notable changes to Chattanooga over the last 10 years have been more tangible themes of growth and change.
"Our national reputation has grown. We have been featured in all kinds of publications for all kinds of different awards and feats. That's been a big change," Berke, who was mayor for most of the decade, said of the city's increasing stature. "Now we're a city that can be more picky about what options we want. If an economic development prospect comes to town, we can be more discerning about what kind of incentives or what kind of investment we want to put into bringing them to the city, because we see lots of other kinds of growth."
That recognition comes as a result of the city's growing innovation district and record-setting internet, which is available at speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second.
"The growth of the gig and more innovation businesses has led to higher wages in our city. Ten years ago we were just starting with the gig, and now it is a full part of Chattanooga's identity," Berke said. "We have purposefully tried to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as a result you see more high-wage-growing businesses in Chattanooga, especially in the Innovation District."
With the growth, Berke said, diversity and quality of life for residents has improved.
"We have more housing options today than we had 10 years ago," he said. "With some of the work that we've done to try and promote the Innovation District and building Miller Park, we see many more downtown options than existed 10 years ago. In 2011, coming out of the recession, many people lost their homes. As we have kind of rebuilt our stock, we have seen a lot more diversity in the options that we have. There are also significantly more entertainment options for people in our city than we had 10 years ago."
Former Chattanooga mayor and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker echoed Berke's comments, citing growth as one of the big stories of the decade.
"Our community has had a really good run, it has. I think Volkswagen has been a gift that just keeps giving in terms of expansions and new employers," Corker said, who stepped down from the Senate after not seeking re-election in 2018, adding that Chattanooga's "Gig City" effort has made the city "distinctive and it is now a tool our community continues to be able to utilize" while "our focus on the outdoors has been effective and accentuated the quality of life for all our citizens."
Berke said he hopes the area continues to grow responsibly and equitably to promote similar changes in the coming decade.
"We have become a top destination for people looking to vacation or to locate their business here, because our wages are growing and the quality-of-life options are expanding," Berke said, setting his sights on the upcoming decade. "We need to be focused on the places where we can see even more growth that is equitable across our city and raises the quality of life even further."
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said similar economic and population growth have defined the county surrounding Chattanooga.
"The most impactful thing about the last decade has been the incredible forward progress Hamilton County has made. The Triple-A bond rating we have maintained throughout the decade has created the kind of economic stability that has fostered the creation of 116 business expansions and brought 58 new companies to Hamilton County creating more than 17,709 new jobs," reads a statement by Coppinger. "This may be part of the reason that over 27,800 people have moved to Hamilton County since 2010. We have met the challenges of our forward progress with renewed support for public safety and capital improvements to our schools that have surpassed 248 million dollars. We continue to believe Hamilton County's greatest asset is our people and they will continue to be as we move forward into the next decade."
Here are the top 100 stories of the last decade as selected by readers and editors over the years:
2010
In a trial that brought out salacious details about her private life and turned friend against friend, former Chickamauga, Georgia, teacher Tonya Craft was found not guilty on 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation involving three girls.
After the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation complained about Christian prayers at local high school football games, then-Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Jim Scales halted the practice. The decision brought a loud response for and against the action.
Petition to recall Mayor Ron Littlefield
A group of local residents got thousands of names on a petition to oust Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield from office. But a judge later ruled the petition did not contain enough valid signatures.
Two adults and one juvenile were arrested in connection with a shooting at Coolidge Park that injured five people. The location and ages of the victims prompted a public outcry for more aggressive police action against gangs.
Amazon.com has said it would employ more than 1,400 people full time and potentially more than 2,000 on a seasonal basis after it built distribution facilities in Hamilton and Bradley counties.
The Rev. David Strong was beaten and stabbed to death in his Glenwood Drive home. Police later arrested Antonio Henry and his 16-year-old cousin Brendan Barnes. In an exclusive jailhouse interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Henry said he "snapped" when the minister offered him $100 for a sex act.
Vols football coach Lane Kiffin jumped ship for his "dream job" at the University of Southern California. He was replaced by Derek Dooley, son of the famous University of Georgia coach, Vince Dooley.
The remains of Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker, missing since March 2007, were found on the banks of the Chattooga River in Northwest Georgia.
Tornado hits the Chickamauga Dam
A tornado hit Highway 153 on the Chickamauga Dam, causing a seven-car pileup that shut down the bridge for about three hours and sent five people to the hospital, including a child, none with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Delighting area shoppers and elected officials, the warehouse giant announced it was coming to Fort Oglethorpe in February and opened its doors in October.
2011
More than 45 tornadoes tore through the tri-state area over 12 dark hours, killing 81 people. Hundreds more were left injured and homeless throughout Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama. The storms left millions of dollars in damage.
Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin, 51, was shot in the head and killed while responding to an armed robbery in Brainerd. Jesse Mathews, a 26-year-old escaped parolee from Colorado, pleaded guilty to his death in 2013.
In January 2011, Volkswagen announced its Chattanooga-made car would be a redesigned Passat, one geared for the American market. The first 2012 Passat rolled off the assembly line in April 2011 and the plant held its grand opening ceremony in May. The car garnered Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year award.
Gail Palmgren, a 44-year-old Signal Mountain mother, dropped her two children off at home on April 30, then disappeared without a trace. Scrutiny of her husband, Matt Palmgren, increased as he filed for custody of the couple's two children and put the family's home up for sale. Then on Dec. 1, her remains were found beside her Jeep on the side of Signal Mountain.
After a drawn-out court battle, former Mayor Ron Littlefield became Chattanooga's first mayor to be formally recalled. The charge to recall the mayor began in 2010 and was driven by Chattanooga Tea Party activists and the groups Citizens to Recall Mayor Ron Littlefield and Chattanooga Organized for Action.
Gang violence grew in the city
With at least 60% of the city's 25 homicides that year deemed gang related, officials said they were trying different strategies for cracking down on Chattanooga's 44 documented gangs, which included about 1,100 members.
Amazon completed its distribution centers in Hamilton and Bradley counties, prompting the largest hiring spike for the area in decades. As many as 4,500 part-time and full-time jobs opened up with the online retail giant.
Dorothy Cooper, 96, sparked a national firestorm in October when she was denied a photo ID at a Chattanooga Driver Service Center after a new state law required Tennessee residents to show a photo ID to vote. Her story made national news with critics claiming the law suppressed poor and elderly voters, while others said it's a safeguard against voter fraud.
In the largest snowfall event since the Blizzard of '93, nearly a foot of snow piled up around the Chattanooga area on Jan. 9-10, crippling transit and cutting off some people's power for days. Local public works crews worked 12-hour shifts, struggling to combat the freezing and refreezing on roads with a limited supply of sand and salt.
Patrick Sharrock, 9, and his parents won the hearts of hundreds across the region when "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" rebuilt the family's Rossville home to be more accessible for Patrick, who had brittle bone disease. Sharrock died in 2017 at the age of 15. Lauren Alaina, of Rossville, finished second in the 10th season of "American Idol." And Dalton native, Iraq war veteran, burn survivor and soap opera star J.R. Martinez danced to the winning spot on "Dancing with the Stars."
2012
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office investigators ruled the death of a 44-year-old Signal Mountain woman missing for months was accidental. Gail Palmgren was last seen dropping off her two children at her home on April 30, 2011. She was reported missing by her husband on May 2. For months, friends and family searched for Palmgren, fearing someone may have harmed her. An aerial search revealed she crashed her Jeep Rubicon, which went off East Brow Road and plummeted 155 feet down the side of Signal Mountain, coming to rest above the W Road. Traffic investigators were able to use the vehicle's "black box" to learn she crashed shortly after dropping off her children.
DesJarlais' past comes to light
U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais built a political career on a family-values, anti-abortion platform that fit well with the rural 4th Congressional District. But weeks before the election, news reports revealed the Republican physician-turned-congressman had sex with female patients and pressed one to have an abortion. DesJarlais still beat Democrat Eric Stewart, but after the election, documents showed he supported his ex-wife's two abortions and slept with more patients and co-workers than previously known.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Attorney General's Office and Comptroller's Office open a wide-ranging investigation of allegations of corruption and misconduct raised in a weeklong Times Free Press series. The newspaper uncovered evidence that District Attorney General Steve Bebb improperly drove a seized drug car and accepted taxpayer reimbursements for fuel; that he stood by as the former 10th District drug task force director, whom he supervised, misspent thousands in taxpayer funds and that assistant district attorneys botched important cases - in one case, enough that the suspect in the 1999 Valentine's Day triple slaying in Cleveland, Tennessee, walked free.
Six tornadoes tore through the area March 2, including an EF3 twister with 165 mph winds that plowed through Hamilton County and into Bradley County. While the onslaught of twisters took no lives, they destroyed many more homes than the deadly April 27, 2011, outbreak and caused more than $19 million worth of damage in the region.
Two Cleveland, Tennessee, boys were declared dead June 28, autopsies later showing the bodies of 5-year-old Leland Bates and his 3-year-old brother, River, shut down after their core temperatures soared to at least 109 and 103 degrees. In November 2013, the boys' mother, 26-year-old Tasha Bates, was found guilty of first-degree murder for leaving the boys in a hot car.
Keoshia Ford, 13, is shot in the head when caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting on March 17. Keoshia needed 24/7 care after she was released from the hospital and later died in 2017 at the age of 17.
Hamilton County residents Tommy Coleman and Brandon Jones sued the County Commission in June, alleging that the county had violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause by holding Christian prayers before meetings. Commissioners quickly adopted a new prayer policy to make invocations more inclusive to other faiths, but most of the invocations are still led by evangelical ministers.
One of Chattanooga's best-known businesses, founded in the midst of the Great Depression, announced it was moving its headquarters out of its birthplace city of Chattanooga. The Krystal Co., the nation's second oldest fast-food chain behind only White Castle, got new owners and planned to relocate its headquarters to Atlanta.
Sheriff's budget decisions under fire
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond found himself in the County Commission's crosshairs when the sheriff asked commissioners to dip into his reserve fund for $275,000 to cover overspending in fuel and overtime costs. The commission refused. In 2011, commissioners approved a $325,000 increase to cover overspending. Budget troubles also emerged when it was reported that the sheriff used money budgeted for vacant positions to pay for part-time workers whose jobs weren't funded, including Hammond's son. The commission also challenged the sheriff's travel budget and questioned pay raises he gave to his top officials.
Hamilton County opened a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math school on the campus of Chattanooga State Community College, keeping up with the national buzz surrounding STEM education.
2013
Collegedale becomes the first city in Tennessee to approve benefits for domestic partners.
Inmate deaths and lax security in the Trion, Georgia, maximum security prison forced Georgia Department of Corrections officials to spend millions on facility repairs and replace top management at the facility.
A fire at the highrise apartment building in May created a monthlong humanitarian crisis for 241 residents. After six months, and lots of prodding from Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, many of the tower's safety problems were fixed and living conditions improved.
The soul/rap/R&B vocalist and judge of NBC's "The Voice" swore, drank and mooned the audience during his June 8 headlining performance, leading to a wave of complaints to organizers at Friends of the Festival. He later apologized.
Supporters of President Barack Obama and plenty of his detractors turn out for the commander in chief's visit to the Scenic City in July to tout his economic development programs at the Amazon Fulfillment Center at Enterprise South industrial park.
Mother Nature gave Chattanooga and surrounding areas a real soaking, with rainfall totaling about 15 inches above normal. As of Dec. 18, Chattanooga had received almost 65 inches of rain, compared to an average of 50 inches.
Owners of Chattanooga Whiskey got approval from state lawmakers to distill spirits. They announced plans for a $6 million still house at the corner of Broad and Fourth streets downtown.
Former Democratic state Sen. Andy Berke became Chattanooga's newest mayor and pledged to work aggressively on public safety issues, early childhood education, civic engagement, economic development and government accountability and transparency. Voters also chose seven new city council members, the largest turnover since the council form of government was instituted in 1990.
Shooting incidents were up. Even gang members said violence had gone too far and negotiated a partial cease-fire; Mayor Andy Berke made public safety a top priority.
Mayor Berke's attempt to evict the 86-year-old paddleboat, a part of the nation's river royalty, sparked debate. An agreement between Berke and the Queen's operators gave the paddleboat six more months of mooring next to Coolidge Park, but it eventually set sail in 2015.
2014
Chattanooga State's Catanzaro retires
After a statewide inquiry examining his hiring practices and a vote of no confidence from faculty, controversial Chattanooga State Community College President Jim Catanzaro announced his retirement from the university. The announcement ended months of turmoil, much of it surrounding Catanzaro's hiring of Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes, whose academic credentials were questioned.
In May, three former Calhoun High School athletes were charged with sexual battery after a post-prom party at an Ellijay cabin where they allegedly assaulted a female student. Calhoun City Schools initially banned Damon Avery Johnson, Fields Benjamin Chapman and Andrew Isaac Haynes, all 18 at the time of their arrests, from walking at graduation but later allowed them to attend. All three were indicted and their cases are still pending.
Eighth-grader, caught in gang crossfire, dies
Deontrey Southers was just 13 when he was killed in the doorway of his East 50th Street home, the victim of a rivalry between the Athens Park Bloods and Bounty Hunter Bloods.
Tennesseans approved with 53% of votes a measure that would allow state legislators to pass stricter requirements on women who seek abortions and on abortion providers.
A clarification of part of Bryan College's statement of belief that embraced a narrower stance on creation caused an uproar at the school, with faculty and a trustee resigning and others seeing their contracts go unrenewed. Students protested, and faculty voted no confidence in President Stephen Livesay.
A roundup of more than 30 men that law enforcement and city officials called some of the city's worst relied heavily on wire taps. We chronicled how agents used this tool, made famous by shows like HBO's "The Wire," to bust the massive crack cocaine ring.
Longtime Hamilton County Commission District 1 Commissioner and Chairman Fred Skillern lost his re-election bid during the Republican primary. Skillern came close with 49% of votes but was beaten by Randy Fairbanks.
Gov. Bill Haslam expands Medicaid
Haslam had vowed not to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, and instead on Dec. 15 announced new plans for his "Insure Tennessee" program, which would funnel the federal Medicaid dollars to cover more than 200,000 new low-income Tennesseans, incorporating voucher programs and wellness initiatives as an alternative to "traditional Medicaid expansion."
Elections keep GOP reps in Congress
Election day meant a second victory for Third Congressional District U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and Fourth Congressional District U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., survived a tight GOP primary election challenge, a bout with cancer and rumors about his personal life.
Cannibalism and killing in Coffee County
Police arrested 37-year-old Gregory Scott Hale on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse after he confessed to killing and eating parts of a Sequatchie Valley woman in June.
Chattanooga to sell Harriet Tubman building
Chattanooga Housing Authority officials announced in March of 2011 their plan to sell or demolish the East Chattanooga housing development of about 300 occupied units. It was vacated in 2012, and after several bids and a failed attempt to secure a private buyer, the city purchased the property at a cost of $2.6 million. The sale marked Chattanooga's move toward a national trend of shuttering public housing projects.
2015
A 24-year-old Muslim gunman attacked two military sites in Chattanooga on July 16, killing five U.S. service members. The attack, which federal investigators say was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, prompted a national debate about how to protect members of the nation's armed forces, and thrust Chattanooga into a national spotlight as the city mourned and healed.
A truck driver slammed into traffic on Interstate 75 in a horrific crash that killed six people, including two children, drawing the attention of trucking and safety officials across the country.
Volkswagen officials admitted the company cheated on emission standards, affecting about 11 million diesel-powered vehicles worldwide and nearly 500,000 in the United States. The scandal, which involved the Chattanooga-made Passat, hurt sales and lopped billions of dollars off the value of the automaker.
Hutcheson Medical Center shut down after operating for 62 years. But the death of the Fort Oglethorpe hospital was greatly exaggerated, as one week later a company from Atlanta offered to buy the campus.
Gov. Bill Haslam's plan to use federal money from the Affordable Care Act to extend Medicaid to an estimated 280,000 low-income Tennesseans was killed in Senate committees during a special session and again in the regular legislative session.
Superintendent Rick Smith spent months touting a $34 million budget increase for schools through a hike in property taxes. Hamilton County commissioners said they weren't convinced an increase in the school's budget would correlate with better test scores, and Mayor Jim Coppinger ultimately shut down the proposal.
Five years after EPB launched the first citywide gigabit-per-second Internet in the Western Hemisphere, Comcast debuted its Gigabit Pro service offering up to 2 gigs in selected areas. But then EPB upped its speed Internet offering to 10 gigs, billed as the fastest in the world.
Chattanooga becomes a soccer town
Soccer took a major step forward in 2015. The Chattanooga Football Club advanced to the National Premier Soccer League championship match, playing the final at Finley Stadium in front of 18,227 fans. The area's success led to an appearance from the U.S. Women's World Cup national team, which made a stop in Chattanooga on its victory tour and defeated Costa Rica 7-2 before a crowd of 20,535.
The United Auto Workers won an election to represent a group of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, gaining a foothold for the first time in an auto assembly plant owned by a foreign carmaker in the South. The vote was 108-44, or 71% for the union. The election was the second time in less than two years the UAW tried to organize workers at the Chattanooga plant.
Just days after the closest finish in Ironman race history, officials announced the Scenic City landed the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. The city already played host to a full-distance Ironman and a 70.3 event, and the addition of the men's and women's championships meant Chattanooga would be the first city to host four Ironman events in one year.
2016
A bus carrying 37 students from Woodmore Elementary and driven by 24-year-old Johnthony Walker crashed on Talley Road in Brainerd on Nov. 21. The crash killed six children and injured many others.
A freshman at Ooltewah High School was sexually assaulted by three of his basketball teammates while on a team trip to a tournament in Gatlinburg. Two of the older players held the victim down while a third forced a pool cue into his rectum, causing severe injury that required emergency surgery. All three were charged with aggravated rape and assault, but ultimately, only one was convicted of rape and he spent less than a year in juvenile detention.
Months of meager rainfall over the summer and fall led to an exceptional drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor's most extreme designation, which spread over much of the Southeast. A plague of wildfires followed soon after, some of them started by arsonists, and they consumed more than 80,000 acres across six states. The most damaging was a wildfire in Gatlinburg that killed 14 people, injured another 176 and caused an estimated $500 million in property damage.
Critics slammed Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith over his handling of the Ooltewah rape, and he eventually stepped down from his position. News also surfaced that the five lowest-performing schools in Hamilton County have achieved little - if any - academic progress over the past three years despite $10.6 million in grants, and that Hamilton County has almost three times the number of least-effective teachers than the state average.
Following the Gatlinburg fire, at least seven people were killed in a series of storms that swept through Tennessee and Alabama overnight on Nov. 29 and spawned at least 13 twisters.
Investigators said they cracked a decades-old cold case in October, leading to murder charges against Christopher Jeffre Johnson in the slayings of brothers Sean and Donny Goetcheus. It is still unclear what happened that January night in 1997, but investigators believe Johnson went to the brothers' house to buy a videotape of illegal activity involving Rick Davis of Rick Davis' Gold & Diamonds and ended up shooting both brothers.
America's first new nuclear reactor of the 21st century was completed at Watts Bar in Spring City, Tennessee, in October. A $4.7 billion investment, the plant is expected to help TVA meet nearly half of its electricity demand with carbon-free generation. Chattanooga developer Franklin Haney agreed to buy the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Stevenson, Alabama, from TVA for $111 million. He would become the first individual to own and operate a U.S. nuclear power plant if the venture is successful.
Pat Summitt, the legendary former University of Tennessee women's basketball coach, died at age 64 after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. Over the course of her career, she accrued 1,098 career wins, the most in NCAA basketball history. She served as head coach of the Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012 before retiring at age 59. She won eight NCAA championships and two Olympic medals: a gold as head coach of the 1984 U.S. women's basketball team and a silver as a player on the 1976 team.
Chattanooga's Violence Reduction Initiative, a program that calls for the police, courts and social services to combine their firepower to fight gang violence, became a flashpoint as a gang war erupted in the spring and the rate of shootings and homicides in the city remained persistently high. District Attorney Neal Pinkston and Chattanooga police bickered over his office's authority and the quality of their cases.
2017
Corker says no to third Senate term
The Chattanooga native announced he would not run for a third term in the U.S. Senate. His announcement and criticism was followed by a barrage of tweets by Trump, saying, "Liddle Bob Corker" decided not to run for Senate again because the president didn't endorse him and that he "couldn't get elected dogcatcher." Formerly, the president and senator got along very well - Trump had considered him as a potential vice president and later for secretary of state.
Chattanooga becomes premier city for Ironman
The city became the first in the world to host four Ironman events in one year and set a record for the biggest Ironman 70.3 event with the world championships.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's IMPROVE Act raised fuel taxes for the first time in nearly 30 years, which will pay for the revamp of the Interstate 75/Interstate 24 interchange and U.S. Highway 27 widening projects, among many others in the circulation area.
Grundy County attempted rape case
Five football players - a freshman, three juniors and a senior - were accused of attempting to rape a 15-year-old freshman teammate with the metal handle of a dust mop in a school's football fieldhouse some time before 6 a.m. CDT on Oct 11. Months after the incident, school officials refused to answer questions, and a judge allegedly placed a nondisclosure order on the case, preventing anyone from discussing any developments. Other incidents of vandalism and shifting of security camera monitors raised questions among community members.
Erlanger breaks ground on new children's hospital
In the biggest capital investment in its 128-year history, Erlanger Health System and its partners announced it would be building more than $100 million of new facilities at four different sites.
Nearly $1 billion was invested in new housing, hotel and commercial space in Chattanooga in 2017. That includes about 2,600 apartments and 750 hotel rooms and almost 600,000 square feet of commercial space. With the increase in residents, the most in-depth parking study of downtown Chattanooga in about two decades was initiated.
Woodmore Elementary School bus crash
Woodmore Elementary School employees have filed lawsuits claiming they suffered acute emotional trauma from 2016's deadly crash and wanted the bus company to pay for its negligence. Around 40 lawsuits were filed since the bus crash that killed six children.
After nearly a month of negotiations, the Hamilton County Board of Education approved Superintendent Bryan Johnson's four-year contract in July. Johnson was ultimately picked out of 14 candidates who applied for the position in April.
Hamilton County Schools' capital building plan
Without any public discussion, the Hamilton County Board of Education voted during its October board meeting to spend $125 million to build, merge and renovate schools. The move caused a stir among parents that night, many of whom said they only knew to be there because of a previous report by the Times Free Press, alerting the public of the potential plans.
The town formed a committee to study splitting from Hamilton County Schools in February. Since then, the committee has released its final report, stating that a new district would be viable if certain obstacles are overcome. Critics of the split say the obstacles are costly if not impossible to overcome.
2018
Walker County deputy fatally shoots Rossville man on New Year's Day
Deputy John Chandler was responding to a call that a woman was threatening to kill herself and her children. When he saw a man pointing a gun at him from inside the house, he fired and killed Mark Parkinson, the innocent homeowner. Officers later learned Parkinson's daughter was in a custody battle and her mother-in-law had made a false call. Dorothy Gass faced felony charges in the case but died in November before she could be tried.
The school bus driver was sentenced to four years in prison on convictions for vehicular homicide in the 2016 crash that killed six Woodmore Elementary students. While out on bond appealing that sentence, he was charged with statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in Nashville. A judge revoked his bond, and the case is pending before a Davidson County grand jury.
Erlanger opens $30 million children's center
Named the Kennedy Outpatient Center for the family that donated $5 million to the project, the 90,000-square-foot building was the largest philanthropic campaign in Chattanooga history and received contributions from more than 6,000 people. It will house all of Erlanger's children's outpatient services, including cardiology, pulmonology, neurology and orthopedics.
Truck driver Ben Brewer convicted
The Kentucky trucker was convicted on all charges for the 2015 Interstate 75 crash that killed six people, including two children. Brewer was speeding and had methamphetamine in his system when he barreled into slowed vehicles in a construction zone. A judge sentenced Brewer to 55 years in prison.
Volkswagen of America announced a $340 million expansion to begin production of the five-seat Atlas SUV. The carmaker said it will add up to 1,000 more employees at its Chattanooga vehicle assembly plant.
Trump, Pence visit Chattanooga
One of the biggest political races in Tennessee history, the contest to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, brought President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to Chattanooga just days before the Nov. 6 election, marking a rare joint appearance by a sitting president and vice president.
Sears closing last retail outlets
What once was the largest retailer in the Chattanooga region, battered by the shift to online shopping, announced plans to close its last retail outlets. Sears said its local stores would be turned into restaurants and other uses.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn becomes the first woman from Tennessee elected to the U.S. Senate. The Williamson County Republican soundly defeated Democratic former governor Phil Bredesen to take the seat being vacated by Corker.
The Republican Party consolidated its grip in Tennessee in November elections when businessman and political newcomer Bill Lee defeated Democrat Karl Dean in the race to succeed outgoing GOP Gov. Bill Haslam. In Georgia, Republican Brian Kemp squeaked out a win against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
Floods in September prove deadly
On Sept. 26, floodwaters raging through Soddy-Daisy killed a woman and forced dozens of other people from their homes as a record-setting onslaught of rain pummeled the tri-state area. Meteorologists said more than 5 inches of rain fell on Hamilton County in 48 hours, with even higher rainfall reported in the region.
2019
CEO Kevin Spiegel was forced out at a time of growing displeasure among doctors. The hospital also cut positions amid a $8.9 million loss.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Wilkey was indicted on more than 40 criminal charges related to traffic stops, during which he is accused of engaging in misconduct ranging from illegal drug searches and a roadside body cavity search to a forced baptism and the groping of female minors.
Volkswagen had a big year. It broke ground on an $800 million plant expansion, unveiled a new car, a union was voted down and a new CEO named.
After a record wet 2018, this year started off even wetter. February brought torrential rains that caused flooding and triggered landslides, one of which flattened a Subway restaurant building at the foot of Signal Mountain.
One person was injured when a large chunk of bridge fell from an Interstate 24 overpass onto the roadway below.
Chattanooga police Officer Nicholas Galinger died after he was hit and killed on a stretch of road in Hixson by a woman police say was drunk.
A water main break cut much of Chattanooga off from its water supply for a weekend in September.
The future of the Chattanooga Lookouts became uncertain as Major League Baseball proposed cutting minor league teams.
Riverbend organizers announced a major format change that saw the annual festival shortened and tickets prices raised significantly. That meant smaller crowds and questions of whether the festival would survive. It also lost its longtime director.
Local teachers and elected officials argued all year over pay raises for Hamilton County teachers. Most recently, hundreds of teachers signed a petition calling for more pay and school funding.