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Chattanooga Update - January 16, 2014

116 views · Published 16 January 2014 · 5:04 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: chattanooga times free press · 2014 · News & Politics

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Three UTC football players have been dismissed.

Junior receiver Terrel Robinson, sophomore running back Kenny Huitt, and redshirt freshman longsnapper Will Sharpton have all been let go from the team.

Coach Russ Huesman says the three were dismissed over a violation of athletic department policy, but wouldn't give any details.

Robinson is the only one to ask for a release so he can transfer. Huitt and Sharpton will be staying at UTC - at least for this semester.
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The J.C. Penny store at Northgate Mall is closing.

The company says it plans to shut the department store here by the end of June, ending 42 years in the Hixson area.

The Penny store is the second-largest at the mall, behind Sears, and represents about 25 percent of the entire facility.

The mall's owner is looking at a number of reuses, including possibly tearing down a part of the store to create new restaurants and shops.

J.C. Penny says it plans to close 33 locations across the nation, but the stores at Hamilton Place Mall, Bradley Square Mall, and Walnut Square Mall - will remain open.
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The future of Chattanooga's deadly road rage shooting case is now in limbo.

Richard Allen Manning is accused of shooting and killing Norman Alex Gallman in an episode of road rage in December.

But Manning, who is 62 years old, isn't in jail. Instead, he's in a bed at Erlanger hospital under armed guard. He's under treatment for diabetes, cancer, and a stroke-related condition.

And his cascading health problems have created a legal limbo preventing the case against him from moving forward and raising questions about whether he'll ever be able to stand trial.

His attorney, Lloyd Levitt, says Manning is on a feeding tube and a breathing apparatus, and all he does is flutter his eyes.

Erlanger wants to discharge Manning to long-term care, but no local facility will accept him as long as he requires armed guards.

And unless a judge reduces or eliminates Manning's $350,000 dollar bond, deputies are required to guard him 24/7.

Manning faces charges of criminal homicide and aggravated assault. His next hearing, if he can make it, is January 28th.
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America's biggest public utility will get smaller this year.

Tennessee Valley Authority is asking its employees to resign or retire to help cut expenses.

TVA's seeking to cut $500 million dollars a year in operating expenses.

Officials say the staff cuts are needed to bring rates more in line with other utilities and offset a four year decline in electricity sales.

The cuts will be felt especially hard in the Chattanooga area, where nearly a third of TVA employees work. The utility is one of the city's biggest employers.

TVA is offering nonessential employees the option to leave before October and receive up to 30 weeks of severance pay. That plan is designed to limit or hopefully avoid - major layoffs.
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The Chicago based group that planned to buy the Harriet Tubman public housing site doesn't have the $2.8 million dollars they originally promised.

Lakewood Realty Group has offered the Chattanooga Housing Authority $500,000 dollars to extend the deadline to January 22nd.

It's the third requested extension for the group, and this time - CHA board members say time is up.

The board voted not to give Lakewood another extension, and now one official says the city is still interested in purchasing the property.

City Council Chairman Yusuf Hakeem says the city is interested in a higher use for the site than low income housing. He says the city wants to use the land for industry - to bring in new jobs.
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Finally, a new bill seeks to ban the federal health care law in Tennessee.

Legislation proposed Wednesday would make health insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act illegal.

Senator Mae Beavers and Representative Mark Pody say the measure seeks to prohibit any cooperation by the state or its agencies in implementing the federal law.

Beavers called the health care law an overreach of power that the federal government does not have constitutional authority to implement.

But Representative JoAnne Favors is calling this new bill 'embarrassing to the state.' And she believes Tennessee's attorney general will find it unconstitutional.

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