Clint Cooper is the Free Press editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, representing the conservative side of the newspaper's opinion section. Previously he worked as a lifestyles reporter, and has been an assistant sports editor and Metro staff writer for the newspaper. Prior to the merger between the Chattanooga Free Press and Chattanooga Times in 1999, he was sports news editor for the Chattanooga Free Press, where he was in charge of the day-to-day content of the section and the section's design. Before becoming sports news editor, he was a staff writer. In the Life section, he is responsible for the content of the weekly religion page but also contributes entertainment stories to the current section; health, home and profile stories for the daily Life pages; and general news articles to the news columns. In the past, he has written on technology and baby boomers for the section. Clint has received honors over the years for his writing and design in both individual work and work as part of a team or section. Among those are several best overall team coverage awards from the Southern League (when he was either lead writer or content/design editor), a best section award by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (when he was content/design editor) and several first-place awards in the community lifestyles category of the Tennessee Press Association contest (as part of a staff). The Chattanooga native is a cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in mass communications and did postgraduate work there in secondary education. Clint and his wife of 21 years, Donna, have one son, Patrick, 18. He enjoys acting, reading and running. Contact Clint at 423-757-6497 or ccooper@timesfreepress.com. You may friend him on Facebook.
Black voters have an interesting dilemma in considering for whom to vote in November's presidential election.
by Clint CooperIt's been a plunging fall for Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, once complimented by like-minded members of the national media for his handling of the COVID-19 virus in his state.
by Clint CooperIt feels particularly cruel that the year in which the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II is marked will see no public Memorial Day ceremony at the Chattanooga National Cemetery and no flags at each of the more than 50,000 graves in the nearly 121-acre expanse.
by Clint CooperThe city Andy Berke inherited as mayor in April 2013 was one that had weathered the Great Recession better than most, according to experts.
by Clint CooperPaintballs have replaced bullets in fights among young adults in some Chattanooga neighborhoods, and on the surface spilling paint is better than spilling blood.
by Clint CooperIn late March and April, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was criticized over the state's backward, unscientific and late responses to the COVID-19 virus.
by Clint CooperNo matter what any experts tell Americans about the COVID-19 virus, what we know is we don't know what we don't know.
by Clint CooperExcuses from the Joe Biden camp around his growing scandals have multiplied like Hillary Clinton's reasons for losing the 2016 presidential election.
by Clint CooperIn the halcyon days before the COVID-19 virus, the United States government was nearly $25 million in debt and was projected to spend $1.1 trillion more this year than it collected in taxes.
by Clint CooperDoctors and first responders don't ask for immigration papers when treating patients with the COVID-19 virus, but Chattanooga became the latest U.S. city Thursday to record a rise in cases among a Hispanic immigrant population.
by Clint CooperThe very name of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's COVID-19 virus relief bill, the Heroes Act, suggests it's something it's not.
by Clint CooperHamilton County teachers have complained for years about their salaries being too low, and for the most part they've been right.
by Clint CooperTennessee residents may get an opportunity in 2022 to vote to prohibit slavery in the state.
by Clint CooperThe Democrats' Marie Antoinette moment of the week belongs to U.S. Rep. Harley Rouda of California, who said opening beaches was "reckless," then was photographed last weekend spending time on a beach with his family.
by Clint CooperNone of their websites say they like baseball, hot dogs or apple pie, but the nine candidates for the Republican nomination for the United States House seat in Georgia's 14th congressional district claim to have nearly every other all-American attribute.
by Clint CooperIf you feel like the walls are closing in as a result of prolonged orders to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, you aren't the only one.
by Clint CooperIf the United States had waited to declare victory until the last Japanese soldier surrendered to end World War II, nearly 30 years would have passed.
by Clint CooperFormer President George W. Bush reminded us over the weekend of one of the jobs our White House leader should embrace — uniter in chief.
by Clint CooperSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, fretted over Monday's reconvening of the United States Senate because of what he said was the inability to test all 100 of its members for the COVID-19 virus.
by Clint CooperKentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, the same man who told residents of his state not to go into Tennessee and catch the COVID-19 virus, recently had to pull his foot out of his mouth after blasting people using false names to defraud the state's unemployment benefits system.
by Clint Cooper