John Mercer getting tasered

The best part of this is the necktie..

Climbing Gym Birthday Party.

I don't think we planned on it, but we ended up having a "party" of sorts at Urban Rocks Climbing Gym.

Happy birthday to me! Thanks to all the well-wishers..

Manufacturing plant locates in Chattanooga: Entire community pats itself on back..

VW Newsroom: VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES IT WILL PRODUCE CARS IN CHATTANOOGA; DECISION MARKS COMPANY’S ONGOING COMMITMENT TO NORTH AMERICAN MARKET

I'm pretty sure my dry-cleaner has a clipping from the newspaper about how he was also instrumental in this achievement..

Enviro water park..

Splash Valley Tennessee
Surely this can be done in an environmentally sensitive way. "Splash down into a natural wave pool full of cat-tails, lillies, and live frogs!"

Google Maps Street View spotted in Chattanooga

My tech-savvy wife spotted and correctly identified the Google Map's street view car in Chattanooga last week. Here is a shot of it working in Knoxville:


Wonder what weird things they'll catch Chattanoogans doing.

Reality Me » Knoxville Street Views Happening Now

They all add up to 23.. no wait, 33.

I counted up a mind-boggling eleven Channel 3 logos on the main page of WRCB TV's webpage. That's above the fold (before you scroll down). Only six 9's for NewsChannel 9, and five 12's for WDEF. At what point can we say, OK, I've got it.. There's your logo.. Can I see the weather now??

minute clinic

Despite some controversy from local doctors, Chattanooga's minute clinics seem to be taking off. Minute Clinic is a quick way to get a cold or sore throat treated or conjunctivitis as I have and took under an hour and cost $20.00 on my insurance, much better than going to the doctor or any other emergency clinic. I hope this trend, cheaper, closer to home healthcare, will take off.

MinuteClinic — Pioneer and Leader in Retail Health Care

Wag of the finger

Who owns Republic parking? This monopoly is getting ridiculous and the public-private thing is going too far as well. Paid parking at public parks live Renaissance, Coolidge, and the riverfront is a slap in the face for tourists already spending TONS of money in our downtown and a big KEEP OUT to residents with low incomes. For more on this debate and debacle check out CARTA director's response to this article in the Chattanoogan.com.

I'm fuming..

$15,000.00 incentive

Found this interesting:

UTC Faculty
Dear Colleagues,

As many of you know, one of the exciting possibilities in our UTC community is the opportunity to live close to the campus and help build one of our great downtown neighborhoods. The historic M. L. King community has been undergoing revitalization over the past three years, and new housing and business developments are underway. Through many efforts here at UTC and by our partners, we are bringing new life, businesses, and homeowners to this area.

As part of our commitment to the revitalization of the M. L. King community,

UTC offers a $15,000 incentive to faculty and staff who purchase homes in
this growing community. We are very pleased to announce that some
additional incentives are now available.

YOU ARE INVITED TO A SPECIAL INFORMATION SESSION TO LEARN ABOUT THE NEW HOMES AND CONDOMINIUMS NOW AVAILABLE - and enjoy a free lunch!!! RSVP IS REQUIRED AND SPACES ARE LIMITED.

----------------

Two ways to respond I think.
1. Well, $15,000 would buy a lot of alarm systems.
2. That's great! Great for the people buying the condo. Great for the people selling the condo. But, not so great for the people who lived in that community for years. Not so great for the people who sold their homes or may have had imminent domain for all I know. Not so great for community revitalization as much as community takeover.

Should be nice though, walk to work, live among "the people." $15,000 and a free lunch, or is there any such thing? Takes money to make money and I'll betcha the people making the money are all white..

Chattanooga Stinks!

Since I can tell the smell of my son's diaper deposits, driving into downtown today I really had to wonder whose poop is it that I smell? It turns out that lots of people are wondering the same. Below is a snippet from UTC's safety police about their investigation. Perhaps the good folks at the Pulse could also do a Geraldo-type piece on this.

----------------

In recent days the Safety Office has received several complaints of a sewer odor on campus during the morning hours. As a result of these complaints, we have been working with the UTC Facilities Department and Chattanooga - Hamilton County Air Pollution Control and the Hamilton County Health Department to identify the source of the odor.

There are a few situations that can often lend to this type of odor issue. They are building issues, weather issues, equipment issues or combined stormwater /sewer drains (such as the ones here on campus). In this particular instance, our investigation has identified the weather to be the primary contributing factor.

According to Chattanooga - Hamilton County Air Pollution Control, the odor has been present in many areas around downtown Chattanooga. The strongest being reported at the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant. According to officials "temperature inversions tend to trap odors in the downtown area". They also stated that "there has been no malfunction of equipment at the plant" and that "the treatment facility will always have odors due to the nature of their process".

Although there is no evidence of a health risk from the odors associated with this particular occurrence, we will continue to monitor the situation. Please continue to contact the Safety Office for any concerns in the future regarding sewer or other strong odor complaints. We take these issues seriously and will continue working with Facilities as well as other outside agencies to identify any concerns that could possibly lead to health issues.

Office of Safety & Risk Management

Where?

I want to move to this town.

Interesting old pictures

I found these old pictures of Chattanooga very interesting, hosted by the Lupton Library's Special Collections.