Tag: Chattanooga

Marsha Blackburn Commentary: The Migrant Crisis in Chattanooga

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In the 4 months since the Democrats took control in Washington, never once have they indicated they understand the severity of the crisis on our southern border—a feat that requires a thick set of blinders.

In April, Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 178,000 people trying to illegally cross our border. Almost 14,000 of them were unaccompanied children or single minors. Drug seizures were up 6% from March, and we’ve already seized more fentanyl this year than we did all last year. On top of all that, law enforcement officials are still catching smugglers trying to pass off counterfeit face masks, prohibited COVID test kits, and banned pharmaceuticals. 

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Biden Administration Finally Offers Response to Migrant Children Being Flown into Tennessee

Corinne Murdock

The Biden Administration responded through White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki last Friday concerning reports of migrant children being flown into Tennessee. Psaki offered some remarks – though she refused to answer whether the Biden Administration purposefully ignored Tennessee leaders’ wishes when it came to housing migrant children.

During Friday’s White House Daily Briefing, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Psaki about how the Biden Administration appeared to ignore Governor Bill Lee’s decision to decline housing unaccompanied migrant children in Tennessee. 

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Former Flying J Officials Want Change of Venue in Federal Trial

Chris Butler

Three former Flying J officials want a change of venue in their pending retrial on federal charges of cheating truckers out of diesel fuel rebates. This, according to an article that the website Transport Topics published late last week. The website reported that “the high-decibel press coverage from the east Tennessee media has poisoned the jury pool to the point that a fair trial in east Tennessee is impossible.”

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Chattanooga Mayoral Race Heads to Runoff on April 13

Jason M. Reynolds

Chattanooga’s mayoral race dropped down from 15 official candidates to only two following Tuesday’s election, with the top vote-getters preparing for a runoff election.

Tim Kelly and Kim White will runoff on April 13, The Chattanoogan said. Kelly, a former car dealer, received 8,562 votes, or 30 percent, compared to White’s 8,289, or 29 percent. White is former president of River City Co.

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Chattanooga Fires Library Activist Who Allegedly Burned Books Written by President Donald Trump, Ann Coulter

Jason M. Reynolds

The City of Chattanooga reportedly fired a worker for allegedly burning books written by conservative authors, including President Donald Trump.

Officials said part-time library specialist Cameron Dequintez Williams took the books and burned them in December, WDEF reported last week. Williams led several protests last year in Chattanooga and was charged with blocking streets.

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Chattanooga Left-Wing Activist Under Criminal Investigation Speaks to Middle School Students About Political Activism

Chris Butler

A left-wing activist in Chattanooga who allegedly vandalized property and allegedly used social media to attack the family of the judge overseeing her case served as guest speaker to middle school students and discussed political activism.

That activist, Marie Mott, is currently running for the Chattanooga City Council, according to her campaign’s Facebook page.

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New Motion Alleges Woman Blackmailed Tennessee District Attorney

Chris Butler

Tenth Judicial District Attorney General Stephen Crump allegedly had an extramarital affair that prompted him to commit prosecutorial misconduct in a murder trial, according to a motion that a Chattanooga attorney filed this month.

Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, and Polk counties make up the 10th Judicial District, according to the Office of the District Attorney General’s website.

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Marsha Blackburn Tells FOX News How Cancel Culture Hit a Chattanooga Restaurant

Chris Butler

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week appeared on FOX News and spoke out on behalf of Chattanooga restaurant owners who received violent threats for merely taking a food order for a pro-police rally.

Blackburn told the network that members of her staff have reached out to the family who owns the business, Shuford’s Smokehouse. The people who made the threats, the senator said, are part of “the raging mob.”

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Chattanooga-Area Restaurant Targeted Online, Threatened with Arson After False Rumor of ‘Back the Blue’ Rally Donation

Chris Butler

An unknown person allegedly threatened to burn down a Chattanooga-area restaurant this past weekend after a news station reported — erroneously — that restaurant owners would donate food to a rally that supported local police.

Online threats forced employees at that restaurant, Shuford’s Smokehouse, to take drastic measures to protect their business, said Madison Davis, whose father, Jeff, owns the restaurant.

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Hamilton County Residents Get Robocalls About ‘White Privilege’

Chris Butler

  Hamilton County residents are reportedly getting robocalls that warn the local public school district has a liberal agenda. Issues of “white privilege” and the school district’s recent efforts to teach local educators about the matter were reportedly mentioned on the call. This, according to the Chattanooga-based News Channel 9. The station’s website reported no one knows who is behind these efforts. “Some parents and teachers say the underlying message is spreading lies about public schools in Hamilton County,” according to the station’s website. “Both the robocall and survey refer to concerns expressed in a social media post, showing slides from a professional development seminar discussing racism and white privilege.” A 26-question survey, among other things poses questions about race and white privilege, the station reported. “UnifiEd has published and distributed a report that suggests that many of Hamilton County Schools remain intentionally segregated and imply that these same schools are failing because of white privilege and racism. Do you strongly agree somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree?” News Channel 9 quoted the poll as asking. “Are you aware of the controversy involving the presentation to Hamilton County Opportunity Zone teachers that referred to ‘white privilege’? Do you think this…

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Volkswagen of Chattanooga Reportedly Does Not Pay School Property Taxes

Chris Butler

  Government officials have reportedly given Volkswagen of Chattanooga a mind-boggling and generous incentives package, so much so it does not even have to pay school property taxes. This, according to Helen Burns Sharp, founder of the Chattanooga-based Accountability for Taxpayer Money. According to ATM’s website, members of the group want local elected officials to reform the current system for granting property tax breaks. “Did you know that Volkswagen does not pay its school property taxes in full because of a sweetheart arrangement whereby its storm water fee is paid from those school taxes?” Sharp asked in a column published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Sharp called the Volkswagen package “overly generous.” “Land, site preparation and cash grants of more than $50 million are part of the deal, in addition to a tax break agreement that lasts a very long time (until 2040.) Last year alone, our local governments abated $17.5 million in property taxes. VW will not pay any taxes to support police, fire, streets, parks, etc. until 2040,” Sharp wrote. “By 2040, the total amount of VW tax incentives the city and county will have granted could approach $500 million in lost property tax revenue. The state…

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Four Chattanooga Foundations Reportedly Funding Left-Wing UnifiEd

Chris Butler

  Four Chattanooga-based foundations help fund the city’s left-leaning UnifiEd, according to a letter The Chattanoogan published Monday. The author of the letter, April Eidson, listed the Benwood Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the Lyndhurst Foundation, and the Footprint Foundation as UnifiEd donors. Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd linked to Eidson’s letter on his Facebook page Monday. Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga spokesman Joda Thongnopnua told The Tennessee Star Monday that Eidson’s letter lacked some important context. “I want to be clear. We supported the (UnifiEd) 501C3. They have a 501C4 as well. That is a more political organization, but all our money went explicitly toward the 501C3,” Thongnopnua said. “We did that to fund some pretty specific non-controversial things like successfully advocating for the adoption of some changes that improved the transparency and accountability of things like school board meetings and putting the budget online. They also did these community input sessions that engaged about 2,600 local residents and that kind of community voice where we invested in UnifiEd and other groups that work to make sure every kid has access to a great public education regardless of what zip code they are in.” No one at…

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Former Chattanooga Central High School Football Coach Indicted for Theft 

Chris Butler

  Authorities have indicted the former head football coach at Chattanooga’s Central High School on a charge of theft more than $1,000, after they say he pocketed money he wasn’t supposed to have. This, according to a press release Tennessee Comptrollers put out this week. That former coach, Cortney Braswell, is currently a quality control assistant for the University of Louisville football team, according to Comptrollers. “Comptroller investigators determined that Braswell pocketed at least $2,480 in payments he received from two semi-pro football teams that had paid to use the high school’s football field for their home games. The money should have been turned over to the school,” the press release said. “The investigation revealed that Braswell was paid a total of at least $1,480 by a women’s semi-pro team in 2016 and 2017. He was paid $1,000 by a men’s semi-pro team in 2017.” Hamilton County Department of Education policy requires groups seeking to use school facilities to complete a use form and have it approved by the principal and the Office of Risk Management. The form also requires applicants to submit proof of general liability insurance, according to Comptrollers. “Neither team submitted this information to the high school in 2017; instead, they stated there was a verbal agreement with Braswell regarding the use of the football field and rental payments. This created a…

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Volkswagen Chattanooga Workers Vote No on United Auto Workers

Chris Butler

  Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the United Auto Workers, has released a statement concerning the results of the election at the facility. Workers rejected the UAW this week by a vote of 833 to 776. “We could not be more excited about the outcome of the election,” the workers said. “We are happy for our families, for Volkswagen Chattanooga, and for our community. What started as just a handful of us grew into a force of hardworking employees determined to better educate voters about the decision before them. And now all of us have spoken. We are grateful for those in the community who rallied behind our efforts and thankful to our fellow workers who joined us along the way. We will continue to advocate for the best interests of our families and for the future of Volkswagen Chattanooga and look forward to getting back to what we do best: working as one team to build quality cars.” As The Tennessee Star reported, one of the primary people fighting for the United Auto Workers to set up shop at Volkswagen Chattanooga reportedly had to settle a slander suit for his part in a nasty mudslinging campaign…

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Experts Say UAW Treats Volkswagen Chattanooga as Adversary

Chris Butler

  Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the United Auto Workers, this week responded after Automotive News reported the UAW is “disputing whether the automaker is maintaining its neutrality.” This, according to a press release the group put out this week. “Here we go again,” said Maury Nicely, a Chattanooga-based lawyer for Evans Harrison Hackett PLC, who has worked with anti-UAW team members since 2014. “While the UAW has tried to distance itself from attacks on the company by the Center for VW Facts, the union itself is treating Volkswagen as an adversary. The UAW has been provided with an unprecedented hands-off approach from Volkswagen, yet they are still attacking the company. We are glad voting is underway and are hopeful workers have seen that the UAW is not here to be a partner to the company and our community. They are simply here to knock Volkswagen down and collect membership dues to send back to Detroit.” As of 8 p.m. Central Friday night, a final vote tally was not officially announced. As The Tennessee Star reported, one of the primary people fighting for the United Auto Workers to set up shop at Volkswagen Chattanooga reportedly had to…

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State Sen. Gardenhire Wants to Create Incentives for Grocery Stores to Open in Urban Areas, So Called ‘Food Deserts’

Jason M. Reynolds

  State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-TN-10) wants to boost inner-city and rural access to fresh food to fight “food deserts,” The Chattanoogan reports. Gardenhire made the announcement Monday to the Hamilton Place Rotary Club. The Hamilton County senator said he wants to provide incentives for grocery stores to open in the inner-city. The senator made reference to a Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations report from January that found 21 percent of Tennesseans live in an area considered to be a food desert. Fifteen percent live in an urban food desert, while 6 percent live in rural food deserts. The TACIR report is available here. Residents in “food deserts,” or areas with lowered access to healthy food, “tend to have a less nutritious diet and poorer health outcomes than those living in other communities,” the report says. Also, according to the report: While not always limited to food deserts, a variety of policy alternatives have been implemented in states and communities around the US to both improve access to and encourage the consumption of healthy food, including improving transportation to and from healthy food retailers, bringing the food to the customer through mobile markets or food delivery, providing vouchers for…

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Key Figure Trying to Get UAW to Come to Volkswagen Chattanooga Reportedly Had to Settle Slander Suit

Chris Butler

  One of the primary people fighting for the United Auto Workers to set up shop at Volkswagen Chattanooga reportedly had to settle a slander suit for his part in a nasty mudslinging campaign in Michigan. This, according to this week’s Washington Free Beacon. Joe DiSano, a Michigan political consultant, heads up the Center for VW Facts. DiSano reportedly accused VW of waging a “deceptive campaign to discourage employees” from becoming the first UAW plant in the right-to-work state. “DiSano would know a thing or two about ‘deceptive’ campaigns. During a 2012 Democratic primary for a Michigan statehouse seat, he circulated a robocall accusing one of the candidates of ‘using the internet to lure young girls into nude modeling sessions at his home,’ where he took “dirty pictures in his basement,’” The Washington Free Beacon reported. “The target of those robocalls lost the race and later filed a defamation suit seeking to clear his name. A judge dismissed DiSano’s First Amendment defense and the two parties settled. As part of the settlement agreement DiSano agreed to circulate a new robocall correcting the previous mudslinging and issue public apologies in two newspapers.” Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the…

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Hamilton County Commissioners Warn Left-Wing Group UnifiEd Could Spread Influence Across Tennessee

Chris Butler

  Depending upon whom you ask, the Chattanooga-based UnifiEd is either a harmless political group with no real clout or it’s one of Tennessee’s most far-left and dangerous organizations. Many people in Hamilton County believe UnifiEd members orchestrated a proposal to add 350 new positions to the county school system, at a cost of $34 million, and at taxpayer expense. As reported, many of those proposed positions are for social workers and new administrators. Most school board members voted for the plan, but county commissioners have the final say approving it. If they do so, they may have to raise property taxes. County Commissioner Tim Boyd told The Tennessee Star this week he doesn’t underestimate UnifiEd, nor will he take any chances on the threat he says members pose. “UnifiEd has a political agenda, and it is not to improve education in Hamilton County. It is to turn Hamilton County from bright red (politically) to dark blue,” Boyd said, adding he’s spent a lot of one-on-one time with UnifiEd members, and he knows them well. No one at UnifiEd’s Chattanooga office returned repeated requests for comment Friday. “The GOP locally keeps ignoring me screaming and hollering about them,” Boyd said…

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Wife of Hamilton County Superintendent Takes $90,000 a Year Job Working for Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke

Chris Butler

  The wife of Hamilton County Superintendent Bryan Johnson has taken a $90,000 a year position as a senior advisor to Democratic Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke. This, according to Berke’s spokeswoman Richel Albright, who said Candy Johnson joined Berke’s administration as one of his senior advisors. Johnson took the job last week, Albright told The Tennessee Star. Chattanooga City Council member Chip Henderson said Thursday that no one from Berke’s administration had formally introduced Johnson to the council, as is customary. “I will tell you we have not been briefed on the hire,” Henderson said. This, despite The Chattanoogan reporting Council member Demetrus Coonrod welcomed Johnson at Tuesday’s City Council Agenda Session. “Stacy Richardson, the mayor’s chief of staff, said she would discuss with council members ‘offline’ the role of Ms. Johnson at the mayor’s office,” The Chattanoogan reported. Albright said several people have advised Berke since 2013, most recently Hames McKissic, who left in 2018. “Mayor Berke is the final decision maker on positions in his office,” Albright said in an emailed statement to The Star. On her LinkedIn page, Johnson describes herself as an independent consultant. She also was the lead education policy contact for the Nashville Area…

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Volkswagen Chattanooga Employee Releases Testimonial Against the UAW

Chris Butler

  This week, Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the United Auto Workers, released the first in a series of worker testimonial videos regarding the upcoming election at the facility. “It’s time for the attacks to stop,” says Carol Gruber, a team leader at Volkswagen Chattanooga. “It’s time to build that quality car that gives us a paycheck in our bank account every two weeks. It’s time to stop so we can move forward and build the quality car that we know we can build. I am Volkswagen. And when you’re attacking Volkswagen, you’re attacking me, my friends, and my family.” Gruber has worked at Volkswagen for eight years, according to a press release. “I’ve worked a lot around all the areas, so I see how some are concerned about the union coming in. They are making promises that, unfortunately, it’s not really a promise. It’s, ‘We can possible get you this,’ or, ‘possibly get you that.’ Unfortunately, everything that we’re offered comes in one pile and something’s going to get taken away – your leased vehicle or less pay for different benefits. If it wasn’t for Volkswagen, I wouldn’t have what I have today.…

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Volkswagen’s Chattanooga Workers Speak Out Against UAW

Chris Butler

  A grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the United Auto Workers spoke out this week against the union’s efforts to set up shop at their factory. The group, Southern Momentum, released the following statement in response to an advertisement paid for by the Center for VW Facts that appeared in The Chattanooga Times Free Press last week. The Center for VW facts was created by a UAW member and Michigan political consultant, according to a press release. “Thousands of Chattanooga families depend on the success of Volkswagen Chattanooga and our suppliers, and by tearing down the company, the UAW and its cronies are showing yet again that they do not care about our future,” said CB Bitten, a team leader at Volkswagen Chattanooga. “The disgusting public attacks and increasing intimidation and harassment are desperate and sickening but not at all surprising given the UAW’s track record.” Southern Momentum first formed ahead of the 2014 election at the Volkswagen Chattanooga facility, which the UAW lost by a vote of 712 to 626. As The Tennessee Star reported, this time around, UAW officials are seeking outside help to set a foothold in Chattanooga. When asked about this, a spokesman for the…

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Bill Gates Backs 17 Percent Hamilton County Property Tax Hike For Education, While School Board Member Questions Need for 350 New Non-Teaching Positions

Jason M. Reynolds

  Bill Gates says he will continue to pour his foundation’s money into Tennessee education initiatives and he seemed to endorse a proposed 17 percent Hamilton County property tax increase, according to an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The interview is available here. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given more than $2.7 million to education initiatives in the Chattanooga area, the Times Free Press said. Gates told the newspaper his foundation does not take positions on school vouchers. He met with Gov. Lee and other state education officials in Nashville, the Times Free Press reported, to see if the governor and the state had placed a priority on education. As a result of his meeting, he said the foundation will make more investments in the state, having already spent about $34 million in Tennessee. Chattanooga officials hope to receive word of another Gates Foundation grant later this summer. Gates also spoke to the Times Free Press about the proposed property tax increase in Hamilton County. “How else do you get more resources for your school system unless the business community thinks, ‘OK, this is going to pay off for us,’ because they are the ones who are…

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United Auto Workers Step Up Efforts at Volkswagen Chattanooga

Chris Butler

  The United Auto Workers are renewing their efforts to set up shop at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant, and this time they’re seeking outside help. When asked about this, a spokesman for the Virginia-based National Right to Work Foundation said “the scandal-ridden union bosses at the UAW really have no shame at all.” According to its website, the NRTWC is a nonprofit tasked with eliminating coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses. “After the Volkswagen workers’ 2014 vote to reject the union, UAW officials sought to overturn their vote on the grounds that workers heard too much information that was critical of unionization from elected leaders from Tennessee,” said NRTWC spokesman Patrick T. Semmens, in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “Now the very same UAW officials have three UAW-funded out-of-state Senators attempting to interfere with the NLRB’s own established procedures for dealing with election petitions.” According to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, those three U.S. senators, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan; and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, have questioned Volkswagen about the matter. “You have to wonder whether the UAW hierarchy knows more details are coming out soon about their massive embezzlement and corruption scandal, and this whole…

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Fight to Stop UAW at Volkswagen Chattanooga Plant Gets Underway

Chris Butler

  A plan is underway to fight efforts to unionize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. Paydayreport.com this week profiled Rick Berman, reportedly an anti-union lawyer from New York, tasked with defeating the United Auto Workers’ efforts to unionize at Volkswagen-Chattanooga. The stakes, according to the website, are high. “A win at the German-owned automaker would be the UAW’s first successful union organizing drive at the foreign-owned auto plant in the South,” Paydayreport.com said. “A win there would give a massive boost to workers in the South who have sought unsuccessfully to organize the growing auto industry in the region.” Berman told the website “we are looking at all of the misbehavior and the fraud practiced on the UAW members that have only recently come to light, and we are giving it some exposure,” Berman said. Berman specifically referenced ads that Paydayreport.com said highlight  “the conviction of 4 top UAW officials for accepting $4.5 million in bribes from Chrysler in exchange for taking concessions from the company at the bargaining table behind the backs of their members.” “The ads, which first appeared in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press as well as in the Detroit Free Press this weekend, focus heavily on how the UAW has had to spend…

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Labor Union Representing Lordstown Auto Workers Rocked By Scandal

Andrew Shirley

The labor union solely responsible for the future of Ohio’s Lordstown Auto Complex was blasted Wednesday in Tennessee for the myriad of scandals that have plagued the organization over the past several years. The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, commonly known as the United Automobile Workers, or UAW, is one of the largest international labor unions in the country. For more than five years, the union has been lobbying for the unionization of a Volkswagen plant, based in Chattanooga. The plant currently employs more than 3,500 workers. In 2014, the plant held a vote among eligible workers on the weather on not they should unionize. The vote failed by a total of 712-626. On April 29th and 30th, a new vote will be held and the UAW has been heavily focused on ensuring that the plant votes for unionization this time. In response to this, a nonprofit organization ran a full-page ad in the Detroit Free Press blasting the UAW, citing statements made by the U.S. Department of Justice and a local law professor, noting, among other things, the union had “…a culture of corruption among senior leadership….”. The ad doesn’t directly acknowledge the upcoming…

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The Tennessee Star Report Takes a Call from a Career Trucker with Insights into Recent Bridge Collapse in Chattanooga

Julie Carr

On Thursday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy discussed the recent report from CNN about the Chattanooga bridge collapse. The duo took a call from a career trucker named Art who expressed some interesting views on the situation and the possible reason it could have happened: Gill: This report by CNN that the bridge rail collapse down in the Chattanooga area was because a truck hit it and sliced some of the steel beams that held the barrier, the wall in place. Let’s go to Art. He had a comment about a truck hitting the bridge. Art, good morning. Welcome to the Tennessee Star Report. Art: Thank you. Thank you. Great show, love your show every morning. Gill: Thank you Leahy: Thanks Art. Art: Just a different comment on this truck thing. I haul delivery equipment and have and you name it for about 28 years and part of the problem is not just the trucks. They get a permit to haul this stuff, these oversized loads and normally DOT or TDOT or wherever they originate from, give…

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Volkswagen Hires Retired Sen. Corker’s Former Chief of Staff Womack to Handle Lobbying

Jason M. Reynolds

Volkswagen hired Bob Corker’s former chief of staff, Todd Womack, to do lobbying on trade matters, proving that working as a public servant can pay off. Womack made the announcement Friday on Twitter: “Excited to be working with @VW.” He is president and CEO of Bridge Public Affairs, a lobbying firm created by former Corker staffers including Womack, who has worked with Corker since he was mayor of Chattanooga. Excited to be working with @VW pic.twitter.com/jrSA0FFP6T — Todd Womack (@TWchatt) March 30, 2019 Terms of Womack’s’ deal are not known, but Volkswagen spent $1 million last year on lobbying, Politico said. Corker was a U.S. senator (R-TN) when Volkswagen selected Chattanooga in 2008 for its assembly plant, the Chattanoogan said. The plant received “attractive” state subsidies, the Chattanoogan said: Volkswagen of America received an attractive, comprehensive package of incentives for the new facility from Gov. Bredesen’s office and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, it was stated. The statutory incentives are tied to job creation and capital investment. Additional support includes assistance for public infrastructure and job training, each designed to ensure the local economy best leverages Volkswagen’s investment to benefit the local work force and ensure the…

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Chattanooga May Give Taxpayer Money to Small Businesses

Chris Butler

Something known as the Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund in Chattanooga might use $500,000 in taxpayer money on the city’s small businesses, according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Specifically, this money will help small businesses with facility renovations, equipment and inventory acquisition, and website development and marketing. According to the paper, this is Mayor Andy Berke’s initiative to bolster existing small businesses and neighborhoods. “In the first year, Berke said he expects more than 10 companies to take advantage of the effort that could provide individual businesses with loans of up to $25,000,” The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. Businesses would have to match a percent of the loan amount, depending on how much is borrowed, Berke told the paper. Burke also said participants will work with small business coaches such as those at SCORE, the Company Lab and the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. Patricia Wente, the SCORE chapter chairwoman, reportedly told the paper that coaches “will go through the company’s business plan.” “She said the mentoring group will sign off on that part of a company’s efforts,” according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Burke told the paper that “when he first ran for the mayor’s office, he heard…

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New Private School to Open in Chattanooga

Chris Butler

This fall, Chattanooga Christian School and Olivet Baptist are scheduled to launch a new private school that will cater to students in kindergarten through the fifth grades, according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. According to the paper, officials will call it the King School, and they will have it on church grounds, the paper said. This, the paper said, is “a new education option for students in the city’s worst-performing schools.” “The venture, leaders say, is meant to provide more quality education options to students for whom a private school education is unattainable and to increase educational equity in Chattanooga,” according to The Times Free Press. Chad Dirkse, president of Chattanooga Christian School, told the paper that “families desire educational equity and that the more options they have, the better off they are.” The school’s tuition is $6,500 per year and is designed so low-income families may more easily access the school, according to The Times Free Press. The school will start year one with two classes of 12 students each, for kindergarten and another for the first-grade, the paper said. The school plans “small class sizes, low student-to-faculty ratios, engaging curriculum and extracurricular opportunities,” according to The Chattanooga…

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Tennessee Investments in Electric Cars Don’t Seem to Have the Best Track Record

Chris Butler

Some research shows manufacturers of electric cars wouldn’t make a tidy profit in a pure free market system because, at least right now, there isn’t enough demand for that product. So that’s why government gets involved. Tennessee officials have done a lot this decade to help subsidize and promote electric cars, and they’ve reportedly done so again. As The Tennessee Star reported, state officials have given Volkswagen some type of concessions to compel the company to build electric cars in Chattanooga. As Nashville Public Radio reported, state officials spent years pitching the state as Volkswagen’s best choice for an electric car manufacturing facility. “Drew Frye, Technology Innovation Engineer at TVA, confirms the utility and other transportation stakeholders have met for several years to build out the state’s electric vehicle network,” according to Nashville Public Radio. The state’s Department of Environment and Conservation, the radio network went on report, helped make the pitch to Volkswagen. As The Tennessee Star reported last fall, former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen said in 2010 that during the coming decade we’d see a surge of electric vehicles on the state’s roads and highways. So certain of it, he handed out $2.5 million in government money…

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Volkswagen Reportedly Demanded Things from Tennessee Officials Before Announcing Chattanooga Electric Car Plant

Chris Butler

Tennessee officials reportedly made concessions to Volkswagen to get the company to construct a new electric vehicle plant in Chattanooga, according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. But, as the paper went on to say, state residents may not yet see a list of those concessions, which are apparently financial. For that, they will have to wait until new Republican Gov. Bill Lee presents his first proposed state budget in March, according to the paper. Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe told the paper Lee will deliver that proposed budget March 4. “Rolfe’s comments came following his budget presentation to Lee in which he asked for a $126.2 million increase in departmental spending for the 2019-2020 budget, which would take effect July 1,” according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. “The VW project wasn’t included. The commissioner said the amount was determined as part of the negotiations with the German auto manufacturer.” Rolfe told the paper that Volkswagen officials “wanted a definitive number before they made a commitment to expand in Tennessee.” “We are aware they (Volkswagen) had conversations with a couple of other states.” Rolfe told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. As The Tennessee Star reported, last…

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