Omerrieal Woods faces phony ‘driving’ charges in East Ridge city court; his defense?
State traffic laws put commerce under police jurisdiction, such as enforcement by Tennessee Highway Patrol, whose badge makes clear his authority over commerce. East Ridge resident Omerrieal Woods faces East Ridge city court judge Chris Helton on the charge of “driving without a license.” Mr. Woods, a VW worker on the late shift, has never […]
Residents take a lot of abuse from government; just don’t try to boot them from houses
Residents applaud a statement made by a city council member at a raucous East Ridge city council meeting consumed with objections to an expansive “redevelopment” plan. (Photos David Tulis) Meredith Moore, 30, a renter in East Ridge who works at a Christian nonprofit organization, is scandalized at the seeming low qualifications of members of East […]
City slow to enforce misshapen Airbnb ban
City government’s appointee for economic development has been tasked with blockading economic development on the Internet. (Photo LinkedIn) It may be good that Chattanooga city government is bureaucratically slow in getting into gear its surveillance of the short-term vacation rental market. Donna Williams of the mayor’s economic and community development office has the unfortunate duty […]
Backers of homeless prick Roddy, Berke trial balloon ban on panhandling
Regina Ledford shamefully admits to city council that she panhandles to survive her poverty. Other critics of a proposed begging ban are Jean-Marie Lawrence, left, and Beth Foster, right. (Photo David Tulis) The left wing of Christendom is out in force to denounce a police harassment bill in Chattanooga sought by Mayor Andy Berke’s executive […]
Notice to Hammond: Reform required even though Haslam, judges, legislators opposed
Sheriff Jim Hammond talks with Greg Luther, left, at a 2014 political event. Mr. Luther is defending the right of citizenry to photograph department officers in any public place. (Photo David Tulis) The following is a letter sent to Jim Hammond, sheriff of Hamilton County, Tenn., regarding an interview about the laws he is charged […]
Hammond gets help on key question: Does travel = transportation?
Sheriff Jim Hammond, the most powerful man in Hamilton County, Tenn, declines to answer questions about the scope of authority of the driver license law, but indicates his belief that no one can be on the road without a license, even if that person is non-commercial. (Photo David Tulis) Sheriff Jim Hammond declines to answer […]
How Berke could win all sides by restraining cops, ordering ’open’ city
Mayor Andy Berke speaks with members of the audience at a campaign debate at UTC in 2017. (Photo David Tulis) I realize it will take a while for the policy and political implications of transportation administrative notice to take effect. For busy men such as Mayor Andy Berke and city attorney Wade Hinton, it will […]
Katz says localism seedbed of quasi-independent city-state, prosperity
Researcher Bruce Katz of Brookings Institution and Marcus Shaw of Chattanooga discuss lococentrism at a local economy-boosting event in Chattanooga. (Photo David Tulis) This book argues that in local economy people can exercise self-determination via the city-state and escape an impoverished political and national status quo. (Photo David Tulis) Boosters of local economy and tech-driven […]
Musician, hairdresser in Nashville sue to legalize home businesses
Musician Lij Saw is suing to overturn a ban in Nashville on home-based businesses. (Photo Beacon Center) Nashville hair stylist Pat Raynor says it is unjust and ugly for city government in Nashville to make her an outlaw for practicing her trade. (Photo Beacon Center) NASHVILLE, Dec. 5, 2017 — Today, the Beacon Center teamed […]
66% inmates in jail unconvicted as system ignores ‘guilty mind’ rule for prosecutions
Accountable to voters, Jim Hammond, center, opens a re-election bid for sheriff of Hamilton County as supporters gather at an event Oct. 19 downtown. Next to him is his wife, Jeannie, mother of their three children. (Photo David Tulis) The refusal of the judicial industrial complex in Hamilton County to uphold Tennessee’s guilty intention (“premeditation”) law […]