Chattanooga Is Home

Chattanooga was featured in tonight’s NBC Nightly news:

I firmly believe Georgia’s fight for the border change will not come out to their liking. I personally like my husband’s suggestion: if Georgia wants to tap into our water, how about they get serious about the high speed rail between Chattanooga and Atlanta? But if I were to wake up one morning and be old I live in Georgia now, well, guess I’m from the Peach State.

[tags]Georgia water war[/tags]

Today I was the 82nd person to put my ballot into the scantron machine in my polling station. And it was 1:25. I’m not sure why the number was so low but I hope the number climbs in the later hours.

According the Hamilton County Election Commission website, the polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. So go! Get your vote on! There is only one question (who should be the next Sentator for Tennessee Senate District 10) and only two answers (Andy Berke and Oscar Brock) to choose from. It took me less than five minutes, with a toddler in tow, to get in and get out.

Please Chattanooga, go and vote.

[tags]Chattanooga, Chattanooga election, Tennessee Senate District 10, Oscar Brock, Andy Berk[/tags]

Today is the Primary Election in Hamilton County. This primary is for the special election for Tennessee’s 10th District state Senate seat.

I am not so political that I enjoy debating issues or even mentioning the issues. But, I do go and vote. And if you live in the Chattanooga area, so should you!

You can see sample ballots on the Hamilton County Election Commission’s website. Polling places for district 10 are as follows:

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One of my favorite weekends is coming up fast- the Tennessee Tax Holiday!

The shopping for school supplies (including art supplies!) and clothing will start at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August 3rd and end at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 5th.

The state website has plenty of information on what is exempt from taxes that weekend, so make sure to take a look.

Since Chattanooga borders Georgia, Chattanoogans can get a head start on the shopping on August 2nd, when the Georgia tax free holiday begins. It ends on Sunday, August 5th.

[tags]Chattanooga tax free weekend, tax free holiday, Georgia tax free weekend, Tennessee tax free holiday[/tags]

Our family disappeared from the Tennessee Valley to head north to the Ohio Valley. Now we are back for the long haul… and it is good to be back in Chattanooga. It is very familiar, comforting, and well… it is home!

Trying to get back into the swing of things, especially this blog, has been difficult due to illness and the impending dentist appointment tomorrow.

But it helps to have something as exciting as the promise of Segways leading tours of Chattanooga. Well, it doesn’t seem to be a promise yet, mainly a proposal. And I hope that it goes through.
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I am still in Alabama with my family, just chilling for the week. We should be back on Sunday.

But even if I am not there in Chattavegas, I am sure there is plenty to do there. In my email this morning I got my weekly edition of the Arts Wire. This is an email sent out by Allied Arts.

Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga is a private, nonprofit united arts fund and arts council, established in 1969. Allied Arts provides a united voice for all cultural organizations and activities in Hamilton County.

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Back in January I was excited to read about the penguins coming to Chattanooga and I can’t believe that they are here and being shown to the public now. The Penguins Rock exhibit opened today and thousands made their way to see the Gentoos and Macaronis. School children got to see the Penguin Keeper and ask her questions.

I love what the Penguin Keeper wrote about the Macaronis:

Olympic long distance swimmers are amazing to watch, but they would be no match for our macaroni penguins. These little birds spend more time in the water than on the rocky shoreline of “Penguins’ Rock.” In fact macaronis are swimming around about 80 percent of their lives. One co-worker even said, “The macaronis are like a bunch of 7 or 8 year olds that won’t get out of the pool.”

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Yesterday the local news channels ran stories about the Market Street Bridge and the progress report on its repairs. The bridge has been closed since 2005 and officials were given a tour of the bridge, along with the news that the bridge repairs are ahead of schedule.

The Times Free Press reported:

“(We’re ) ahead of schedule,” said Jerry Britton of Mountain States Contractors. “I can’t give a date because there are too many things that can happen.”

Apparently one of those things is vandalism. For the third time in three months, damage has been done to the bridge, this time breaking concrete in the bridge deck. It is being reported that this sets the $13 million project back two days.

This is a very disappointing development. I hope the culprits are caught soon and that the bridge can reopen sooner rather than later. A reward of one thousand dollars is being offered by Mountain States Contractors. If you have information, please call 423-698-2525.

[tags]vandalism, Chattanooga, Market Street Bridge, Mountain States Contractors, Chattanooga vandalism, reward[/tags]

Yesterday I wrote about certain hazards at the St. Elmo Park. This is the same park where the playground will be built, beginning tomorrow.

As I mentioned, I did call 311 to report the hazards. A very nice woman named Wendy took my concerns, my name, and my phone number. She said that should would be reporting these to the Parks Department.

However, in the interest of honesty, I didn’t call 311 until about 3:45 this afternoon. My day got away from me and I got too busy to call. What prompted me to remember to call was an encounter I had around 3:30.
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Our family just returned from our semi-annual trip to the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, and we had a lot of fun. Sure, our team was knocked out in the first round, but that didn’t hamper our fun. We still went to the games, cheered on the SEC, and enjoyed some good basketball.

The tournament is a great family get away for us, which is why I am excited to see that in a few years, March Madness will be in Chattanooga again. The Southern Conference is bringing both the Men’s and the Women’s basketball tournaments to Chattanooga, in the years 2009 and 2010.

The last time the tournament was here was in 2005.

If we can rally the community to support the NCAA Championship Football game, then I think we can support the Mocs in their conference. I’m putting it on my calendar and plan on attending at least the game with the hometown team. If anything, it is always an exciting atmosphere with lots to see… I love the people watching, the bands playing, and the cheerleaders flipping.

[tags]Chattanooga, Chattanooga sports, Southern Conference, basketball, UTC Mocs[/tags]