From the looks of the headlines about pending development in the Chattanooga area, conversations about ensuring many of us can afford to continue living here have either taken a backseat or simply aren't being heard above the clinking of big developers' gold coins.

As fatigued as we all are of COVID-19, it would be disrespectful today not to recognize and mourn the horrible milestone we'll likely cross by Monday - the deaths of 1 million Americans to a virus that could and should have been snuffed out last year had it not become another ridiculous political culture war talking point.

Suppose you're a Hamilton County commissioner. And suppose you read in the Times Free Press on Tuesday that the Hamilton County Board of Education may come to you soon to request $10 million in recurring maintenance money. That's $10 million over the $456 million fiscal 2023 budget the school board just voted to send you. You read that they want the extra money so they can "begin" tackling the school system's nearly $1 billion in deferred building repairs.

Time's a-wasting. "Earth given 50-50 chance of hitting key temperature mark by 2026," screams Tuesday's headline at the top of Page A5 in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Beyond thinking about specific stadium plans and wastewater treatment and how to improve schools, a city and a county like ours must have broader goals - broader, but not so broad that they become mere platitudes.

Lost amid the election hubbub of the week were headlines about Gov. Bill Lee on Monday signing into law the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act.

Suppose a plane powered solely by solar power circumnavigated the Earth without using a drop of fuel.

The primary morning-after newness is starting to sink in, and with new political leaders springing up here like May flowers, it's a new day in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

There is no greater testament to the adage, "election's matter," than today's screaming headline across the country about a leaked Supreme Court draft of a majority opinion striking down the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision, Roe v. Wade.

Voting locally is complicated these days. Far more complicated than calling yourself a Democrat or a Republican or an independent.

Sheriff Jim Hammond was described on this paper's front page Friday as "defiant" as he responded during a news conference to complaints that his department has presided over incidents of violence involving some of his deputies, the public and among inmates at Silverdale Detention Center.

It is always gratifying to hear the words Chattanooga and "new" or "2nd Volkswagen plant" in the same sentence, so this week's Times Free Press headline saying an expansion might happen here for VW's ID.Buzz - an electric version of the iconic Volkswagen bus - is music to our ears.

A 'crazy right wing' school board?

The May 3 Republican Democratic Primary is clearly drawing nigh, and the races that already were hot now are crackling with attempted one-ups, accusations, and he-said-she-said retorts.

Words at first seemed to fail us when we read in Tuesday's paper that the Tennessee General Assembly took a final vote Monday to criminalize homelessness.

Did you hear? Sabrena Smedley - when first elected eight years ago she was Sabrena Turner - is the daughter of former state Rep. Brenda Turner and the granddaughter of the infamous late and former Hamilton County Sheriff Bookie Turner. Did you hear that campaign whisper?

Of nine county judgeships and one city judgeship on the May 3 primary ballot, only three are contested, and both of the county races offer candidates only on the Republican ballot. The city judge race is nonpartisan.

Some political observers say school board races are the most important elected seats anywhere.

Voters have five Hamilton County Commission district primaries to decide this election season, and that means local government representation is up in the air for half of the nearly 370,000 people who live here.

The Hamilton County mayor's race — the first truly competitive county mayor's race here in decades — has been interesting from the very first moment 11-year Mayor Jim Coppinger announced in October he would retire.

One of the hottest political races this primary season is for Hamilton County district attorney, who will serve for the next eight years.

If you're a Democrat or Democratic leaning in Hamilton County, your ballot in recent years has looked pretty lean.

Dear Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn: We have a question for you and your closest, disrespectful GOP colleagues.