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DA releases video of CPD shooting of Roger Heard Jr., after protests and calls for accountability

Camm Ashford
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DA releases video of CPD shooting of Roger Heard Jr., after protests and calls for accountability

Hamilton County District Attorney Cody Wamp released video footage on Sunday showing the confrontation between Roger Heard Jr. and Chattanooga police officers that led to Heard’s death.

Concerned citizens filled the City Council chambers last Tuesday night, demanding answers about the death of Heard, who was shot multiple times by police on August 11 at the Speedway gas station on Third Street. The crowd grew increasingly frustrated when Councilwoman Jenny Hill, who represents District 2 and is the council’s vice chair, told speaker Yolandra Porter that the council was “not in a situation to do a back-and-forth tonight.” Porter responded, “So what’s the use of us coming to the podium if you’re not going to give us no feedback?”

Community activist Marie Mott (center, with arms outstretched) spoke out about the tragic death of 34-year-old Roger Heard Jr., who was killed by local police at the Speedway gas station on Third Street in Chattanooga on August 11th.

In a show of solidarity, the majority of attendees walked out of the meeting following Hill’s remarks and gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest the city officials’ lack of satisfactory explanations.

The three police officers involved in Heard’s shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, in accordance with department policy. Officer Celtain Batterson, a nine-year veteran of the department, was wounded in the gunfire and is currently on leave. Additionally, Officers Nicholas Ayres and Christopher Dyess, with five and two years of experience respectively, have been placed on leave.

DA Wamp labeled Heard as a “violent felon, a known drug dealer, and a gang member, serving time in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and had felony convictions out of Hamilton and Bradley Counties.”

Heard had outstanding felony warrants at the time of the shooting, she said.

“As the video shows, Heard was purposefully traveling in the direction of Batterson, and still armed, when he was met with gunfire from Batterson and other law enforcement officers,” the statement released by Wamp on Sunday reads. “Heard had a large amount of cash on his person, approximately one pound of marijuana in his vehicle, and the firearm he had used to shoot Investigator Batterson was stolen in Chattanooga in 2022. Because he was a convicted and violent felon, it was unlawful for Heard to be in possession of any type of firearm. On the night of August 11, 2023, Heard was committing a litany of felony offenses, all of which are overshadowed by his attempt to gun down a law enforcement officer at point blank range.”

Chattanooga NAACP President the Rev. Ann J. Pierre said in a statement that the NAACP respects the grieving period of Heard’s family and has no comment on the released video. However, the organization renewed its call for the public release of all information related to the incident.

“The Chattanooga Hamilton County Branch of the NAACP recognizes the pain of the family as they viewed the video showing issues leading to Mr. Heard’s death,” Rev. Pierre said in the statement. “Therefore, we respect the grieving period of the family and have no comment on the released video. We realize that a portion of the video was shared with the community on Sunday, August 20, 2023. Regretfully, as of this time, the total video from the Speedway, nor the police video and audio or live stream from other sources in police custody has been released. As we continue to gather facts and other contextual information pertaining to this incident, we are renewing our call for the public release of the vital information. Complete closure will not exist until all information is made available to the family and the public taxpayers. Let us remember the Heard family in our prayers.”

Wamp said there won’t be any body camera video because there isn’t any to release.

“It is not CPD (Chattanooga Police Department) protocol for investigators to be equipped with body worn cameras; therefore, no body worn camera was able to capture the attempted murder of Investigator Batterson,” she said.

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly released the following statement, in part, regarding the officer involved shooting of Heard: 

“What happened last week was a terrible incident for everyone involved: Our community, our wounded officer, our police family, and the family and loved ones of Roger Heard, Jr.

When officer-involved shootings like these happen, best practice is to have an outside entity conduct an objective review so that the community can have full faith and confidence in the findings. That process is intentional, and it is good. By having an unbiased third party (in this case, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which is a state-level law enforcement agency) reconstruct the details surrounding such an event, the public can be confident that the findings will be fact-based.

As the TBI conducts its independent probe into what exactly happened, I am asking for your patience, and I am asking that you not jump to conclusions. TBI agents are working diligently and impartially to determine the series of events that led to the exchange of gunfire. All of the facts will soon come to light.

Officer Celtain Batterson only yesterday underwent an intensive surgery and has not yet been interviewed by investigators. That interview is critical to the TBI investigation. At the same time, we understand the family and friends of the deceased are grappling with new grief at the loss of a loved one. 

Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy (right) is surrounded by protestors gathered outside the City Council chambers seeking answers regarding the circumstances of 34-year-old Roger Heard Jr.’s death.

The frustration we saw and heard Tuesday night at City Council and on the steps of City Hall was clear and consistent with much of what I heard through the course of my campaign: We are working hard to build trust between our police department and the community. Chief Celeste Murphy’s demonstrated commitment to community policing was a major factor in my decision to hire her, and I have full confidence in her ability to help us navigate difficult situations like these. 

We all want the questions to be answered comprehensively and fairly, not hastily. The agencies involved are working to do that, and at the proper time all of the information related to this incident will be readily available.” Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy offered her condolences to Heard’s family and friends.

“This is a terribly tragic incident for a lot of people,” she said. “It’s tragic for the Chattanooga Police Department, the officer who was wounded and other officers who responded to the scene, certainly the family and friends of the man who lost his life, for people who were nearby at the time, and for people hearing and reading about it now.”

Black voices on the Riverboat “throw down!”

Terry Howard
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Black voices on the Riverboat “throw down!”

Silly me. Really, I should’ve known!

The phone calls, emails, text messages and memes came at me fast, furious, and frequent, all asking, “Terry, are you going to write about the Montgomery Riverboat fracas?  

Humm…well…uh, uh… I waffled!

Alright, quite frankly I hadn’t planned to since I figured that the photos and commentaries said all that I could possibly say about the incident. But in the end dogged persistence by some and, okay, flattery by others, eventually won out. So here we go.  

But first I say this: If you light a match to a history of smoldering pent-up frustration – WHAM! – you get an explosion of reactions, chief among them anger and the risk of a riverboat-type all out freefall on your hands. It’s that volatile.

Now with that as a context, I decided to weave reactions from Black folks in local barber shops with snippets from commentaries by some compelling writers. You see, the advantage of letting others weigh in first is that it allows for cherry-picking to stitch together a single story. Let’s begin with “voices” from my visits to a couple of neighborhood barbershops.

“It was so inspiring to see brothers rushing to the support of a brother being attacked by a mob,” said a barber who paused and looked up from his chair at the TV screen on showing the attack.

Said a middle-aged Black man in another shop, “for me a positive that came out of this is the knowledge that Montgomery has a Black mayor and fire chief. As a Yankee raised on stereotypes about the deep south, I never thought that would ever happen in Alabama.”

Penned an editor of a publication, “My husband was the first to tell me about a video out of Montgomery that’s going viral. Black man. Handful of white guys. A confrontation. He was only a few words in before I felt my heart rate pick up. “Is everyone ok?” I cut him off: “Is anyone dead?” “Everyone’s fine,” he tried to reassure me. “It’s not that kind of video!”

“We’ve all had our fun laughing at the jokes and memes after the riverboat fight,” said another writer with a global publication. “Yes, I laughed at the song, “Lift Every Chair and Swing.” However, this writer and others linked the incident to the national climate he says is fostered by ex-president Trump who delivered a fiery speech a few days before not far from the wharf.

“The rhetoric that has become part of every election cycle has reached a fever pitch,” he wrote. “Telling people to “fight like hell” got us January 6 and the Montgomery riverfront brawl. I’m thinking it’s nowhere near over.”  This concern was echoed by another fellow in the barbershop. “After all the jokes are behind us, my worry is the potential for backlash that could have far worse results.”

“Thank God that there were no firearms involved,” said a fellow sitting next to him.

“I am a proud Alabamian,” said a self-described poet, writer, and college professor. “I’ve forever been interested in — or perhaps obsessed with — Alabama as the setting of many of my nonfiction, poetic and social justice endeavors.” Because of the writer’s Alabama roots, clearly the riverboat incident touched a raw nerve with this Alabamian.

“Because of my personal experiences with how people view Black Alabamians, I’ve always wanted to celebrate Alabama as a writer. Alabama is always — and I repeat, always — the butt of the joke on racism and its systemic oppression of people of color. I need for you to understand that there is always a silent dialogue within the Black collective.”

Silent dialog? Well, the truth is – and to this writer’s point – there are definite private “inside” observations and conversations that people outside Black culture are not privy to.

“They speak of a different America, one barely recognizable in daily media and news cycles. They watch intently as political figures get away with obstruction of justice, sedition, and insurrections against the United States because the government is afraid of the backlash while their brothers, sisters, friends, and family members are locked up doing prison time for much, much less.”

So we can rightfully assume that the boat co-captain’s hat-throwing before getting into a fighting stance piqued curiosity on one hand and side-spitting insider humor on the other.

Wrote the Alabamian, “When it became clear that the white boaters intended to jump Pickett in an unfair fight, he did a move, throwing his hat straight up in the air before the fight began. No, that was not the Wakanda call, as some have claimed. Anybody familiar with Black Alabama culture will tell you the symbolic hat-throwing is always a preface to the fight as in, OK, now it’s on, let’s get it on.”

At my last barbershop stop, a young lady whose school age son was getting his haircut, got a laugh with this observation: “For years, the shoe was always on the other foot with our race getting the brunt of it. Well, this time the shoe was on the other foot and the chair was in the other hand.”

So, readers, I end this by granting you free and untethered use of this collection of “voices” as a tool for teachable moments, however with this stipulation: that it be used before it gets sugarcoated, swept under the rug or – Heaven help us – added to the preposterous list of banned books and other “divisive” reading material.

Terry Howard is an award-winning writer and storyteller. He is a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, Blackmarket.com, co-founder of the “26 Tiny Paint Brushes” writers guild, recipient of the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award and third place winner of the 2022 Georgia Press Award.

After Being Jailed Three Times, He Then Became the Youngest Judge in Pennsylvania at Age 27

Submitted Article
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After Being Jailed Three Times, He Then Became the Youngest Judge in Pennsylvania at Age 27

In 2018, at the age of 27, Judge Hanif Johnson made history as the youngest judge ever elected in the state of Pennsylvania, driven by his personal encounters with law enforcement.

During his teenage years, Johnson found himself in handcuffs on multiple occasions, reflecting on a system that he felt often failed to offer him a fair opportunity. He perceived a disparity in the treatment he received compared to individuals who didn’t resemble him or understand the realities of his community. 

Determined to turn those negative experiences into a force for change, Johnson took a brave step and left his well-paying job to embark on a campaign for public office. While some skeptics dismissed him as too young, he persisted, engaging in multiple conversations with those who doubted him until he proved his knowledge and capability to lead. 

The key to his success lies in his deep connection with the community he serves. In his free time, Judge Johnson dedicates himself to mentoring the youth in his neighborhood, guiding, and inspiring them to pursue their dreams relentlessly. Whether their aspirations lie in professional sports or the entertainment industry, he encourages them to take tangible steps toward their goals, instilling in them the belief that they can overcome obstacles and achieve greatness.  Since assuming office in 2018, Judge Johnson has made a significant impact during his six-year term. His approach to justice and the law is informed by the empathy and understanding he gained through his own experiences. This unique perspective allows him to address issues in a way that resonates with the people he serves.

Timing Your Dietary Supplement is Important for Your Other Medications

Robin Smith
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Timing Your Dietary Supplement is Important for Your Other Medications
Dietary supplements are common in medicine cabinets and daily health regimes.

But has anyone ever told you that calcium supplements, zinc, and magnesium interfere with the absorption of some pretty important medicines that you may take to treat ailments that include seizures, reflux, and even infections?

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, up to 60% of U.S. adults with chronic disease regularly use dietary supplements with at least 25% of patients taking prescription medications using a dietary supplement “concurrently” or at the same time.

These dietary supplements range from the mineral calcium for the common goal of bone and joint health, and magnesium to assist with gut health and muscle function, to melatonin used to assist with sleep, and zinc to boost one’s immune system–just to name a few. The widespread use of dietary supplements, such as these and many more herbal and alternative options, generate a $165.71 industry, which speaks to the extremely widespread use of these over-the-counter compounds.

So, how do these interfere with the absorption of other medications and why should I time these separately from certain prescriptions?

Medications, supplements, vitamins, and herbal compounds are absorbed into the bloodstream after being ingested and broken down. When taken with medications, there may be competition for cellular sites for absorption–a change in the actual metabolism of the prescription due to a change in the stomach’s acidity or alkalinity–for example, or even the interference with excretion of medications.

When this competition for absorption sites at the cellular level occurs or a change in the absorption, the Federal Drug Administration warns, this may “affect the potency of your medication, which means you may get either too much or too little of the medication you need.”

The FDA notes, for example, “drugs for HIV/AIDS, heart disease, depression, treatments for organ transplants, and birth control pills are less effective when taken with St. John’s wort, an herbal supplement” used to treat depression and mood. Another cited example by the FDA is the action of four different compounds which slow blood clotting, hence, cause bleeding. Warfarin, ginkgo biloba, aspirin, and vitamin E all impact the viscosity of the blood and clotting time. Only one of these four is a prescription medication, yet all may be in one’s possession in the belief of a health benefit.

For women and seniors, calcium is a very common mineral supplement as we age for the purpose of bone strength and health. The Mayo Clinic recommends taking your calcium supplement with meals to facilitate metabolism and absorption but to time that at least one hour after other medications such as blood pressure medications, calcium channel blockers used in heart ailments, antibiotics, certain hormones, as well as seizure medications, and other prescription drugs for osteoporosis or bone loss. The lesson is simply that if it’s over the counter or listed as “natural” or a dietary supplement, there is still pharmacokinetic activity or actions that need to be considered for your best health. Live healthy!

How Tennessee’s Justice System Allows Dangerous People to Keep Guns — With Deadly Outcomes

Submitted Article
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How Tennessee’s Justice System Allows Dangerous People to Keep Guns — With Deadly Outcomes

By Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio, with research by Mariam Elba, ProPublica

Co-published with WPLN/Nashville Public Radio

Series:Under the Gun: How Gun Violence Is Impacting the Nation

As America emerged from the pandemic, communities continued to experience a rising tide of gun violence. School shootings and the rate of children and teens killed by gunfire both reached all-time highs since at least 1999. ProPublica’s coverage of gun violence reveals how first responders, policymakers and those directly affected are coping with the bloodshed.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with WPLN/Nashville Public Radio. 

This story contains a description of a 911 call that took place as a homicide was being committed.

Michaela Carter felt like she was being hunted.

She fled her family’s home on Nov. 15, 2021, and called 911 with her mother, pulling into the parking lot of a discount store in southeast Nashville, Tennessee, to await the police.

“Are they sending people?” Carter can be heard asking her mom on the 911 call. An excerpt of the first call Carter and Jones-Mbuyi made to 911. Jones-Mbuyi told the dispatcher that Carter’s estranged husband, James Leggett, had been seen with a gun. (Credit: Obtained by WPLN)

Her mother, Kimberly Jones-Mbuyi, told the dispatcher that Carter’s estranged husband had just been seen walking around a family member’s apartment complex with a gun.

James Leggett had gotten out of jail 10 days earlier. He’d been locked up since Carter reported to police that he’d repeatedly hit her in the face with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. Since he was released, he’d started calling her and sending increasingly desperate text messages.

The night before, he posted on Facebook: “Somebody with nothing to lose won’t give a fuck when shit gets real.”

Then, that morning: “Today is the day.”

ATTORNEY AMANDA JELKS TO SPEAK AT SCENIC CITY WOMEN’S NETWORK AUGUST 24 MARKETPLACE LUNCHEON AT MOUNTAIN CITY CLUB

Adrian Edwards
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ATTORNEY AMANDA JELKS TO SPEAK AT SCENIC CITY WOMEN’S NETWORK AUGUST 24 MARKETPLACE LUNCHEON AT MOUNTAIN CITY CLUB

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.  – Scenic City Women’s Network (SCWN) is excited to announce Amanda Jelks, attorney, Jelks Law, PLLC, as guest speaker for the August Marketplace Luncheon Thursday, August 24, Noon, at Mountain City Club (729 Chestnut St., in Chattanooga). A delicious buffet and dessert will be served.

About Amanda Jelks:

Amanda is a Chattanooga native who attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for undergrad and the University of Memphis for law school, both on academic scholarships. She had the distinct pleasure of working with the corporate legal department of Pinnacle Airlines (now known as Endeavor Air).

She founded Jelks Law in the summer of 2015. Her practice focuses primarily on providing peace of mind to entrepreneurs and small business owners through her business legal services and estate/succession planning. As a business owner, she understands the legal concerns of business owners and has a real world view of what it takes to operate a successful business.

A motivational speaker, since 2001, Amanda has given motivational talks to diverse audiences at schools, colleges, churches, and nonprofits to help individuals overcome tremendous odds to reach their maximum potential.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the City of Chattanooga’s Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board, Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute, and the Tennessee Law Association for Women. Amanda has also served on the advisory boards for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and the MOMentum Network. From 2013 to 2016, Amanda served on the board of directors for Chattanooga Room in the Inn, a homeless shelter for women and children which supplies women with the resources necessary to end the cycle of homelessness. She is also a former board member of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.

This event is open to the public. Space is limited and registration ends August 22. Register online at SCWN.org, or call (423) 698-6262 for registration fee and information. (Registration link: August Marketplace Luncheon: https://www.scwn.org/events/august-luncheon)

AUGUST IS BLACK BUSINESS MONTH

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AUGUST IS BLACK BUSINESS MONTH

Black Business Month is celebrated in August — it’s a time to acknowledge and appreciate black-owned businesses across the nation and all that they represent in the country’s continual striving for diversity and equality. Denise Moore, CEO of the Black Business Alliance in Peoria, Illinois, has this to say about the importance of Black Business month: “Black Business Month is exciting because it gives us an opportunity to focus on a community that is far too often underrepresented when it comes to access to capital and opportunities to build wealth.”

When we celebrate the contribution of black business owners and entrepreneurs, it pays homage to them and their legacies, especially since celebrating this month recognizes the importance of black-owned businesses when it comes to contributing to the nation’s economy as well. Approximately 10% of all American businesses are black-owned, and if we look at what statistics say about minority-owned businesses, about 30% of these would belong to black business owners. The primary sectors in which black-owned businesses operate include health care, social work, repair and maintenance, beauty salons, restaurants, and more. Black businesses across the country are booming and, on the rise, with Washington D.C. having the highest ratio of black-owned businesses, a whopping 28%. 

HISTORY OF BLACK BUSINESS MONTH

The history of Black Business Month can be traced back to the year 2004, when engineering entrepreneur Frederick E. Jordan partnered with the president and executive editor of the scholarly publishing company eAccess Corp,’ John William Templeton, to start this annual event. The intention of the pair was to “drive the policy agenda affecting the 2.6 million African-American businesses,” in order to highlight and empower Black business owners all over, especially given the unique challenges faced by minority business owners. This stemmed from Jordan’s own personal experience of the struggle to gain financial backing and funding when he began his own firm in San Francisco in 1969.

Today, he is the successful owner of F. E. Jordan Associates Inc., a company that has international reach, but it also led him to realize that the odds are still not in favor of Black entrepreneurship. To push for equity in the business spaces and to celebrate those who are thriving despite the challenges, Black Business Month is a month-long celebration of entrepreneurs who beat the odds.

Since the late 1700s, both free and enslaved Black people began to open their own small businesses, from barbershops to tobacco shops and shoemaking. As emancipation grew, so did the establishment of Black-owned businesses, and this led to the period between 1900 — 1930 being labeled as the ‘golden age’ of Black-owned businesses. Segregation saw entire districts becoming Black-owned, such as Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 1915, with the establishment of The National Negro Business League, there was widespread support of African-American entrepreneurship, with The National Business League spreading to over 34 states. By 2002, 1.2 million of the United States’ 23 million businesses were owned by Black people, bringing in a revenue of over $150 billion! How’s that for booming business?

Proud, Hopeful, Bright, Best – The State of Chattanooga, says Mayor Tim Kelly

Robin Smith
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Proud, Hopeful, Bright, Best – The State of Chattanooga, says Mayor Tim Kelly

“I want you to be proud to be Chattanoogans…and be hopeful because the future is very, very bright…we will build the very best city in America.”

The closing remarks of Chattanooga’s sixty-sixth mayor, Tim Kelly issued this excerpted declaration and a challenge to those in attendance at the Walker Theatre upstairs in the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorium last week.

 Following almost an hour of a fireside chat format of Q&A with Local3 News’ Greg Glover serving as host and interviewer, Mayor Kelly used the extremely well-done video production which opened the evening as a launching pad to provide updates on his campaign promises from 2021 and the One Chattanooga Plan. The video featured key figures within the Kelly Administration ranging from the City’s Chief Operating Officer Ryan Ewalt speaking about critical infrastructure progress to Jermaine Evans, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, addressing workforce development priorities to Nicole Heyman, Chief Housing Officer, whose task is to work to oversee affordable housing access and availability in the City. These, and many others, provided specific updates proving the One Chattanooga Plan is more than a shelved document. It’s a blueprint.

Featured in Mayor Tim Kelly’s remarks and video cutaway of Ewalt, the tripled infrastructure budget, from $2.5 million in 2010 to $10 million, has filled 40,000 potholes, 63 lane miles paved, and will fund, along with a $25 million grant, the construction and replacement of the Wilcox Bridge used by thousands to reach the Glenwood and Orchard Knob areas from Amnicola Highway.

Workforce development was identified as a critical part of bridging the gaps between races and demographic groups in Chattanooga. Both Jermaine Evans and Quentin Lawrence, Director of Workforce Development Strategy, emphasized the projected $500 million in new investment coming to the South Broad Street area, which will include a new stadium, as well as The Bend that will develop an entire new sector of mixed-use properties of business, retail, housing, and recreation.

Adjacent to The Bend property, formerly the Alstom parcel featuring the big blue building, is the important project to renovate and expand the current housing of the College Hill Courts. Mayor Kelly stressed that since its founding in the 1940s, very little investment has been made in this property that is seen immediately from TN Highway 27 and is a key parcel in the downtown area.

The $50 million in Choice Neighborhood grants along with the $90 million in tax credits to incentivize investment in the area which houses many in the minority community, will increase the quality and the number of units available, while “no residents are displaced.”

Acknowledging the priority of public safety and complimenting Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy along with the entire CPD, property crimes were down by 30% while homicides increased. The commitment of disincentivizing crime through both punishment of criminals, as well as prioritizing education, skills training, and mentorship was unquestionably communicated by Mayor Kelly and his Administration.

The archive of the entire evening is available online via the City’s YouTube channel.

Mayor Tim Kelly Presents Inaugural One Chattanooga Awards

Camm Ashford
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Mayor Tim Kelly Presents Inaugural One Chattanooga Awards
Purpose Point Learning Academy Dr. Ternae T. Jordan Sr., (left) one of the founders of the Purpose Point Learning Academy, and Mayor Tim Kelly.

Mayor Tim Kelly presented his inaugural One Chattanooga Awards during his state of the city address last Thursday night at the Walker Theatre. The awards recognize outstanding individuals and organizations who have embraced the vision of One Chattanooga and whose work is contributing to the success of the city.

“Our success would not be possible without committed people and organizations throughout the community,” said Mayor Kelly. “Chattanooga has a deep history of civic engagement through its community, philanthropic, faith-based and other service organizations. They are truly the heartbeat of Chattanooga, and this is a chance to begin to publicly recognize a few of them for their contributions and positive impact.”

This year’s One Chattanooga Award winners are:

Purpose Point Learning Academy for bringing 180 new early learning seats online and for providing a safe, and positive environment in teaching the next generation the social, emotional and practical skills they need for life success.

“I’m so grateful for the leadership of our awesome director, Ellwanda White, and her amazing staff. You guys rock,” said Dr. Ternae T. Jordan Sr., one of the founders of Purpose Point Learning Academy.

Youth Community Action Project (YCAP) for its use of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan funds, awarded by the city of Chattanooga, to open a fourth site at the Chris L. Ramsey Community Center, providing mentorship, tutoring and love to 100 kids per day.

“So incredibly thankful for the work our staff at YCAP does every single day,” said YCAP Executive Director Andy Smith. “This award is an honor to have. Thankful for Mayor Tim Kelly and his staff for their hard work to making our city better.”

Purpose Point Learning Academy Dr. Ternae T. Jordan Sr., (left) one of the founders of the Purpose Point Learning Academy, and Mayor Tim Kelly.

The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga for its work to make a tangible difference in reducing the city’s homeless population and for preventing evictions for more than 400 households since starting up the Eviction Prevention Initiative (EPI).

The One Chattanooga plan, released by Mayor Kelly in May 2022, sets out seven main goals for the city, with 40 key priorities. The goals are to:

•             Build a universal path to early learning

•             Catalyze economic vitality in the Black community

•             Ensure affordable housing choices for all Chattanoogans

•             Improve local infrastructure and public transit

•             Build a competitive regional economy

•             Close the gaps in public health

•             Provide responsive and effective local government

Mayor Kelly said that the One Chattanooga plan is a blueprint for a better Chattanooga. “We don’t yet have all of the solutions or a complete roadmap to guide the way there, so the path will be far from easy, but it will be worth it, because if we achieve it, we will have made Chattanooga the best city in America,” he said.

TITANS MAKE ROSTER MOVE, SIGNING MURRAYS

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TITANS MAKE ROSTER MOVE, SIGNING MURRAYS

BY ANTOINE HARP

HayWood Media NASHVILLE, AUG. 5, 2023 – LAST SATURDAY, THE TENNESSEE TITANS SIGNED OFFENSIVE TACKLE JUSTIN MURRAY (PICTURED COURTSEY OF SI), WHOM THE LAS VEGAS RAIDERS RELEASE FOUR DAYS EARLIER, TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. THE TITANS THEN SIGNED CENTER JIMMY MURRAY AND WAIVED WIDE RECEIVER JACOB COPELAND, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2.

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