Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, TN) articles from March 2001

Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, TN) archives from March 2001

Atlanta-Based Restaurant Firm to Open Eateries in Chattanooga, Tenn., Area.
March 3, 2001... Byline: Jamie Hancock Mar. 3--Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits is bringing its New Orleans-style Cajun cooking to three area locations in Chattanooga. AFC Enterprises, based in Atlanta and known for its Church's Chicken, Popeyes, Cinnabon...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Area Railway to Reopen.
March 3, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 3--The Incline Railway, closed for three months for major trestle work, is to reopen today and its operators hope the slowing economy doesn't push ridership off track. Even before the planned shut- down of the...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Hopes to Claim Title of `Rehabilitation Capital'.
March 5, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 1--Wooing more research and development, creating an institute and huddling with state legislators were steps cited Wednesday to build Chattanooga's rehabilitation business. "The purpose of the business cluster...

Archer Daniels Midland Vegetable Oil Refinery in Chattanooga, Tenn., to Close.
March 5, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 1--Archer Daniels Midland has announced that it will close its Chattanooga vegetable oil refinery and hydrogenation facility at the end of March. Larry Cunningham, ADM's senior vice president for corporate...

North Carolina Business Officials Witness Chattanooga, Tenn., Revitalization.
March 6, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 6--Fewer than 24 hours after battling on the basketball court, Chattanooga and Greensboro, N.C., were working together. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of North Carolina at...

Tennessee Valley Authority Predicts Increased Revenue.
March 6, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 6--The Tennessee Valley Authority projects it will have at least $15 billion of extra revenues over the next decade to cut its debt in half. However, TVA Chairman Craven Crowell said Monday the federal...

US Airways to Launch Daily Flights between Chattanooga, Tenn., Pittsburgh.
March 6, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 6--US Airways Express will launch two daily nonstop flights between Chattanooga and Pittsburgh starting May 6 and open up more of the Northeast to area travelers, officials said Monday. "It's another gateway city,"...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Area Unemployment Fell to Lowest Level in Decades.
March 9, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 7--Unemployment in metropolitan Chattanooga fell to its lowest level in a generation last year, according to government figures released Tuesday. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development...

Northwest Airlines to Try New Deal with Mechanics Union.
March 9, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 7--Northwest Airlines and its mechanics union are to go back to the bargaining table today to make what one official calls "a final stab" at an agreement to avoid a Monday strike deadline. The carrier, whose...

Chattanooga, Tenn., To Sell Municipal Bonds with Best Ratings Ever.
March 10, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 10--The city of Chattanooga will sell nearly $50 million of municipal bonds next week with its best ratings ever from one of Wall Street's main rating services. Fitch IBCA, an international bond rating...

Developer To Offer Lease-To-Own Office Space in Chattanooga, Tenn.
March 10, 2001... Byline: Beverly A. Carroll Mar. 10--Developer Ken Defoor is bringing the lease-to-own option popular for furniture and cars to Chattanooga's office market. Mr. Defoor is breaking ground, both literally and figuratively, on two new...

Tennessee Valley Authority Proposes To Build Plant Powered by Natural Gas.
March 12, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 8--The nation's biggest producer of electricity, which has battled for home heating customers against natural gas for decades, is increasingly turning to gas itself to power its future. The Tennessee Valley...

New Owners of Tennessee Resort Hope to Increase Business with Expansion.
March 12, 2001... Byline: Jamie Hancock Mar. 8--The new owners of Island Cove Marina and Resort on Lake Chickamauga are hoping an expansion project now under way will carry them to more business. Jim Sheets and Arthell Gray hope more than $1 million...

Bike-Frame Maker Litespeed Buys Trademark of Colorado Manufacturer.
March 14, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 13--Ooltewah-based bicycle-frame maker Litespeed continues to keep its pedals to the metal when it comes to acquisitions. Just last year, Litespeed bought two companies -- Merlin Metalworks had been...

Marietta, Ga., Chemical Firm Wants to Use Former Volunteer Army Acid Plant.
March 14, 2001... Byline: Judy Walton Mar. 14--A chemical company has applied for a permit to transport sulfuric acid to and from an old acid plant at the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant. Xavier Chemical of Marietta, Ga., wants to use a 1970s-era...

New Honda of Cleveland Dealership Marks Its Grand Opening Today.
March 20, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 20--The offices and showroom at Honda of Cleveland's new $2.5 million home may be nice, but Tab Barrow will take the service department -- a spacious 12,000 square feet, fully enclosed and, most importantly,...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce Backs High-Speed Train Network.
March 20, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 20--An alliance of 13 chambers of commerce in the Southeast, including the Chattanooga Chamber, on Monday supported efforts to garner $12 billion in federal funds for a national high-speed train network. The...

Retailer Unhappy with Chattanooga, Tenn., Mall's New Curfew Policy.
March 21, 2001... Mar. 20--The largest retailer at Hamilton Place mall wants the shopping center to consider easing a new weekend curfew for teen shoppers. The head of Proffitt's, which operates two department stores at Hamilton Place, said Tuesday that she...

Wireless Phone Company Uses Its Chattanooga, Tenn., Service as National Model.
March 21, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 20--With a half dozen other mobile phone networks already in Chattanooga, the organizers of Cricket Communications wanted a different ring to their service when they began in 1999. Unlike other cellular phone...

Cincinnati-Based Comair Adjusts Flight Schedules as Strike Deadline Looms.
March 22, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 22--Comair, the third busiest carrier at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, is facing a Monday strike deadline and the airline has begun modifying some of its flight schedules. Starting today, the Cincinnati-based...

Report Says Tennessee Is Ahead of Nation in Share of Black-Owned Businesses.
March 22, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 22--A report released today by the U. S. Census Bureau finds that Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama each rate ahead of the nation in the share of businesses owned by blacks. The 1997 government survey showed that...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Area Mall Sticks with Teen Curfew Policy.
March 22, 2001... Mar. 22--Hamilton Place mall is sticking with its teen curfew policy and officials said Wednesday they have a plan to meet the concerns of its biggest retailer. Proffitt's, however, wants to see it. "What is the plan? We need to hear...

Development Firm To Begin Work on Chattanooga, Tenn., Medical Building.
March 22, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 22--A decade after its debut, the Atrium complex on Gunbarrel Road is getting its finishing touch. Atrium Development Inc. plans to break ground this summer on an $11 million, 61,000-square foot building at...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Based Consumer Products Maker Posts $47.4 Million Net Sales.
March 23, 2001... Mar. 23--Chattanooga-based consumer products maker Chattem Inc. earned 7 cents a share before an extraordinary gain in its first quarter, citing strong sales for its appetite suppressant Dexatrim. The company earlier said it expected to...

LaFayette, Ga., General Electric Appliance Plant Adds Employees, Products.
March 23, 2001... Byline: Anne Patterson Braly Mar. 23--LAFAYETTE, Ga.--At a time when some manufacturers are slumping, the Roper appliance plant here is adding employees and products. In a news conference Thursday, officials at the northwest Georgia...

Census Figures Indicate Population Growth in Chattanooga, Tenn., Area.
March 23, 2001... Mar. 23--Chattanooga and Hamilton County added population in the 1990s, reversing the losses in the previous decade, according to Census 2000 figures released Thursday. But the federal government's head count continued to show more people...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Airport Looks to Secure More Flights to Big Cities.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 24--Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, which will see direct flights to Pittsburgh starting in May, has a handful of other cities on a wish list for new nonstop service. "There is tremendous untapped potential in...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Sells $48.3 Million in Bonds with Record-Low Interest Rate.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 13--The stock market selloff Monday on Wall Street stripped away more than $500 billion of paper wealth from investors. But Chattanooga finance director Jim Boney was still all smiles Tuesday. That's...

Rally-Car Business Keeps Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., Family Busy.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 16--John Shirley of Knoxville struggled through most of his first 10 years as a rally racer due as much to problems in the garage as on the course. "My car is a technical car to operate," he said Thursday. "I...

Rebirth of Downtown Chattanooga, Tenn., Sets a Good Example, Official Says.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 15--Chattanooga's downtown renaissance on the riverfront and Southside demonstrate how decaying industrial sites can be reclaimed for new business, the head of Chattanooga's Brownfields Program will tell a...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Businessman Sells Dry-Cleaning Stores in Plan to Retire.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Beverly A. Carroll Mar. 13--A longtime name in the dry cleaning business is changing hands, but the label will stay the same. After 41 years in the business, Carriage Dry Cleaners owner Ralph Whitmire Jr. sold three of his five...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Based Fast Food Chain Enters a Renaissance Period.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 15--As a teen-ager growing up in Pikeville, Tenn., T. Wayne Hale would frequently drive into Chattanooga with his buddies and cruise the town. But no matter how their nights would go or how late they would...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Hospital Continues Expansion.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 20--Chattanooga's downtown hospital is continuing to expand into the suburbs. Erlanger hospital, which acquired a vacant clinic in Soddy-Daisy and bought the rest of Women's East Hospital in East Brainerd...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Insurance Leaders Seek Talks with Health-Services Sector.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 17--Leaders in Chattanooga's insurance industry want to talk to the region's rehabilitation and health services sectors to find ways to grow their businesses. The groups represent over 20,000 employees in the...

Browns Ferry, Tenn., Nuclear Power Plan Is One of Nation's Most Efficient.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 16--The Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, the site of one of the nation's worst nuclear accidents early in its life, is entering middle age as one of the nation's most efficient atomic plants. The Unit 2...

Economic Changes Boost Property Values in Hamilton County, Tenn.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Beverly A. Carroll Mar. 17--The economic upturn since Hamilton County's last property appraisals in 1997 has boosted most property values by more than 10 percent, Assessor Bill Bennett said. "In general (property values) went up...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Residents React Differently to Stock Market Drop.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 15--Chattanoogans Joe and Jody Solis share money, but not an outlook on it. "I was cutting the grass one morning last week when she came outside and said she had bad news," Mr. Solis, 70, said Wednesday. "She...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Trade Center's Expansion to Add over 1,000 Jobs.
March 26, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 16--The Trade Center's expansion will support more than 1,000 jobs in the Chattanooga area, officials said Thursday as they broke ground on the long-planned $50 million addition. "This is a milestone in the...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Comair Passengers Adjust to Flight Cancellations.
March 27, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 27--Comair passengers in Chattanooga are scrambling to book reservations on other airlines as the carrier continues to cancel its flights in the wake of a walkout by pilots. "I was lucky," said Oklahoma City...

Chattanooga, Tenn.-Area Gas Prices Fall.
March 27, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 27--About the only thing falling faster than gasoline prices over the past month was the stock market, but fuel costs aren't expected to stay down in the Chattanooga area. The average price of a gallon of regular...

Traffic Increases at Chattanooga, Tenn., Consumer Credit Counseling Center.
March 28, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 28--As the economy slows, the dozen employees at Chattanooga's Consumer Credit Counseling office are working harder than ever. "Our counselors are booked two weeks in advance right now," said Charles Hixon,...

Ted Turner Blasts President Bush for Environmental Stance.
March 28, 2001... Byline: Jan Galletta Mar. 28--Cable television pioneer Ted Turner, who has given millions of dollars to ecological causes, said Tuesday in Chattanooga that the election of George Bush is "a personal blow to environmentalists." Mr....

Chattanooga, Tenn., Credit Counselors See More Bankruptcies.
March 29, 2001... Byline: Dave Flessner Mar. 27--As the economy slows, the dozen employees at Chattanooga's Consumer Credit Counseling office are working harder than ever. "Our counselors are booked two weeks in advance right now," said Charles Hixon,...

Opponents of Tennessee Bill Say It Would Raise Gas Prices.
March 29, 2001... Byline: John Commins Mar. 29--NASHVILLE, Tenn.--A bill the Tennessee House is expected to take up next week could make it harder for high-volume retailers like Wal-Mart to sell gasoline at cut-rate prices. Opponents of the legislation...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Off-Duty Police Officers Won't Enforce Mall Youth Curfew.
March 29, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 29--Off-duty Chattanooga Police Department officers providing security at Hamilton Place will not enforce the mall's new teen curfew policy, Chief Jimmie Dotson said Wednesday. "My police officers won't be...

Chattanooga, Tenn., Medical Firm Serves Patients in New Location.
March 29, 2001... Byline: Bob Gary Jr. Mar. 29--Violet Goodner of Athens, Tenn., knew she faced a long road to recovery after suffering a stroke on Valentine's Day. That road's not as long as it would have been, though, owing to the new Cleveland,...

Mental Health Service Company May Move to Chattanooga, Tenn.
March 31, 2001... Byline: Mike Pare Mar. 31--A nonprofit company that provides outpatient mental health services won approval for $1.35 million in development bonds to finance a move to North Chattanooga. Volunteer Behavioral Health Care System...