Pam Sohn is the Times opinion editor, representing the left-leaning side of the Chattanooga Times Free Press opinion pages. Sohn has been reporting or editing Chattanooga news for 30 years. A Walden's Ridge native, she began her journalism career with a 10-year stint at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. She came to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 1999 after working at the Chattanooga Times for 14 years. She has also been a city editor, Sunday editor, wire editor, projects team leader and assistant lifestyle editor. As a reporter, she covered the police, courts, health, education and environment beats. She has won dozens of writing and editing awards in both Alabama and Tennessee, including first-place honors for breaking news, investigative news, public service, features, reporting without a deadline and editorial writing. During her tenure as Sunday editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the paper received the 2002 first-place honors for Best Sunday editions and Sweepstakes Award — Best Paper in the State. She has been married for 41 years to photographer, Louis Sohn. They have a grown son, Mitch, as well as three dogs and a grand cat. When not working, Pam gardens, researches family roots and plays piano. Contact her at psohn@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6346.
Elvis - er, a Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest - has left the building. Tennessee's Capitol building.
by Pam SohnA self-styled techie, Chattanooga's new mayor, Tim Kelly, sits at a desk filled with electronic devices that include two big computer screens, a tablet and a cell phone.
by Pam SohnIt's hard not to get caught up in the new space race - the tourism space race that makes us mortals close our eyes and dream of seeing the earth as a blue marble instead of planning a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium or to the Grand Canyon.
by Pam SohnHypocrisy is running rampant in Tennessee. No, this is not a new problem - seeing as we're a red state and Republicans and hypocrisy go together like bread and butter, cookies and milk, PB&J - you get it.
by Pam SohnThe signals aren't subtle. Just this year, the west has had historic heat and wildfire — after previous historic years of heat and wildfire. We've watched devastating storms, drought that's shrinking major reservoirs, an ice storm that crippled the entire state of Texas.
by Pam SohnIn the idealistic Americana paintings of Norman Rockwell, police were seen as community minders and menders.
by Pam SohnLast week, Pam Sohn, opinion editor of the Times Editorial Page, interviewed Mayor Tim Kelly about policing and other issues. Here is a transcript, edited for clarity and brevity, of the conversation about policing:
by Pam SohnThe Chattanooga Police will not be auctioning off guns that have been seized or confiscated.
by Pam SohnIt would seem that Tennessee's state lawmakers and governor are doing all they possibly can to discourage COVID-19 vaccination.
by Pam SohnIt seems that everywhere we look, we see signs of life returning to normal in our post-pandemic world.
by Pam SohnIf you're scratching your head about why so many Republican governors are suddenly falling all over themselves to announce they're sending a handful or so of their state's National Guard troops or law enforcement officers to help out on our Southern border, you're looking for rational answers.
by Pam SohnCome see Tennessee on Lee - Gov. Bill Lee, that is.
by Pam SohnWho remembers when Gunbarrel Road in East Brainerd was a two-lane byway through cattle pastures with a few small houses here and there?
by Pam SohnTwo hundred forty five years. Seven to 10 generations. That's how old - or young - this country of America is.
by Pam SohnWell, well, well. It seems Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee does listen to some people.
by Pam SohnSound the trumpets! Hamilton County at long last may be nearing the opening - perhaps by August 2022 - of a vocational and technical trade school in the heart of Chattanooga on a regular public bus line.
by Pam SohnIt's long been a joke - but not a joking matter - that thanks to Gov. Bill Lee, state lawmakers, the National Rifle Association and the Tennessee Firearms Association, our state motto might as well be something like, "Tennessee - where we let you shoot first, and we'll ask questions later. Maybe."
by Pam SohnThe surveillance camera video is horrifying.
by Pam SohnChattanooga has a lion's share of wonderful outdoor play areas and venues, from downtown Riverwalk stages to majestic bluff views to the quiet lush of the Cumberland Trail.
by Pam SohnThe United States vs. Georgia, a lawsuit filed Friday by Attorney General Merrick Garland, draws a long red line in the sand.
by Pam Sohn