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Chattanooga Update - July 22, 2013

79 views · Published 22 July 2013 · 5:28 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: chattanooga times free press · 2013 · News & Politics

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Andy Berke reaches his 100th day in office as Chattanooga's mayor this week.

Berke says he's revamped City Hall, fired 18 department heads and eliminated several departments altogether.

His ability to listen to others and hold community meetings has made him popular and many people say they find him more approachable.
But so far Berke's tenure has been marked by very little specific action.
Though he took credit for more than 900 jobs created on his watch, the genesis of almost all those jobs came during the Littlefield administration.
Berke's pledge to combat violence by 2014 has yet to reduce violence on the streets. Shootings are up since he disbanded the city's gang task force and replaced it with his own group. Chattanooga was rocked by 71 shootings and 86 deaths in the first half of 2013, compared to 51 shootings and 59 victims for the same period in 2012.
And some former city officials are criticizing Berke for being so quick to kill the gang task force.
Still, Berke, who ran without any substantial competition, says he believes his administration has accomplished a lot in the last 100 days. And He promises the community will see fewer shootings by 2014.
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Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel has big plans for T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital.
Spiegel says the 1970-s era facility is due for a major face-lift or a full replacement in the next ten years.
A new children's hospital is just one of three expansions Spiegel says he'd like to see during his tenure. He also has his sights on creating a world-class cancer center and a neuroscience center.
But Spiegel says his first priority is regaining Erlanger's financial health. The hospital has had its bond rating downgraded, and operated nearly $10 million in the red in the most recent fiscal year.
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A Varnell, Georgia, police officer won't be getting prison time after he killed a 70-year-old man in a wreck.

Officer James Smith slammed his off-duty cruiser into Leon Thurman's car last year.

Smith wasn't responding to a call and was traveling 104 miles per hour before the crash.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide and reckless driving.

The district attorney says the victim's family didn't want Smith to go to prison.
Instead, Smith will serve 10 years' probation, do 300 community service hours, pay a $25 hundred dollar fine and will never work in law enforcement again.
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The Tennessee Tea Party wants to challenge U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in the 2014 Republican primary.

Several would-be favorites, including Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, have already declined the honor. But wrestling superstar Glenn Jacobs hasn't ruled it out.

And Alexander's not taking any chances. In December he rolled out a list of GOP endorsements. He's already running ads, and he's also got $3 million dollars of cash on hand and he's raising more.
Also, Alexander says the latest surveys he's seen shows he has a higher approval rating from tea partiers than from Republicans.
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U.S. Senator Bob Corker now says the United Auto Workers union contributed to Detroit's downfall.

Detroit recently became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.
Corker says a union-fed culture of animosity between companies and workers helped put Detroit on track to its current ills.

That's why he says he and some others are worried about a UAW presence at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant.
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A tennessee woman riding a golf cart has been killed in a hit and run.

75-year-old Janice Patterson of Johnson City died and three other people on the cart were hurt in the wreck, which happened in South Carolina.
James Bloodworth II has been arrested and charged in the incident.
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A Rossville man has been arrested on child rape charges.
Police say a woman walked into her daughter's room and found 25-year-old Daniel Andrew Hendley in bed with the 10-year-old girl.
The girl said Hendley began sexually abusing her about a year ago.
Hendley was also arrested in 2009 on a statutory rape charge. He pleaded guilty and went on probation for one year.
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Valleybrook Golf Course is going on the auction block.

The 1960s course, clubhouse, pool and pro shop will be auctioned August 22 at the course with no reserve.

Chattanooga investor Henry Luken, who purchased several other area golf courses, says he'll be at the auction.
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And Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee Bliss Welch was named first runner-up in the 2014 Ms. Wheelchair America pageant.

Welch, who is from Harrison Tennessee, is working on her master's degree in accounting at UTC.

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