The headlines are dominated by everything COVID-19-related.
It's understandable.
But let's spend a moment this morning reviewing an inventive idea that could be part of - a very real part of - the ever-growing and ever-changing idea of our new normal.
News came late last week from Times Free Press education reporter Meghan Mangrum that Hamilton County Schools was exploring a way to use the former Sears property at Northgate Mall to house a new K-12 Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts building.
Kudos.
Forget the modern workforce buzz words of "doing more with less" or "creating synergy" or, worst of all, "win-win-win." Those verbal Trojan horses do not apply here.
This is inspired for everyone involved, and one of those rare ideas that seems to have little downside.
Without going too far down the road of broken dreams that has been the CSLA journey to a new facility, it's safe to say that the supporters of that magnet school have forever been disappointed.
But the uncertain future we face as we flatten the coronavirus curve will leave governments at every level in a state of limbo as they prepare for budgets for the next fiscal year - and likely beyond.
Nationally, the deficit has become such a monster figure it's almost too big to comprehend.
Locally, county, city and school finance officers are trying to figure out what their revenues will be, but suffice it to say revenues are going to be down significantly.
That's because the lion's share of our governmental budget is based on property tax and sales tax revenue. Here's betting that both will be down significantly.
In fact, now may be a really good time to again thank County Commissioner Greg Martin for breaking the deadlock and turning down a tax increase last summer. Just about any way you slice it, despite healthy reserves, governments like Hamilton County could face the real possibility of a tax increase. That likely would cover just day-to-day operating funds, rather than the laundry list of other typical costs including pay raises, health insurance cost increases, technology, jails and, of course, schools.
Which brings us back to the CSLA-Sears idea.
An empty building that could be overhauled - for a bigger school that would be more centrally located and serve more students - for half the cost of building CSLA a new facility seems like a no-brainer.
That's checking a lot of important boxes in a financial climate that no one can really predict, but one that we almost all can agree will be much tighter than we thought three months ago.
And who knows, if it works and is viable, well, could it not be a potential blueprint for a different revenue stream for locally-owned mall giant CBL?
There are going to be lots of businesses facing uncertain futures in a post-corona economy. But the growing threat to large, brick-and-mortar stores - like Sears of the past - is clear.
And that is a threat to CBL too. This could be the blueprint for repurposing those empty spaces elsewhere, too.
I firmly believe that it feels impossible to know what the long-term economic future will look like in the months and years to come after coronavirus.
But I also believe that I know an inspired idea - like this one - when I see it.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp.
Jay Greeson