When teaching Environmental Science I will conclude the year with a garbage unit. Most years some students participate in a litter clean up which has given me a good perspective of litter in Hamilton County. One year my students also made a presentation to the Hamilton County Commission about litter. I believe that litter, specifically […]

As the sun rose over Marlboro Avenue this Fourth of July morning, I noticed what appeared to be foggy conditions in East Ridge. Walking across the street to put the Sunday Times Free Press on my neighbor’s doorstep, the unmistakable smell of spent fireworks wafted through the air. Oh, glory! Ain’t it great to be […]

Mr. Cook wrote an excellent article on the cliches of East Ridge. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the internal workings of the East Ridge governing body. I’m not great with dates, but back when I was in office 1998-2002 the city paid a premium price for a compensation and job […]

Cliches are cliches for a reason. Maybe its because they are true. One that comes to mind these days is “you can’t fight City Hall.” Our elected officials passed a budget last week that ballooned a million bucks between first and second readings. The extra million for the $17.3 million fiscal year 2021-22 budget is […]

East Ridge lost its “watchdog” on Saturday when citizen activist Frances Johnson Mathis Pope passed away at her home. Pope, 73, battled metastatic lung cancer for 15 months with the kind of dignity and determination and selflessness that is rarely seen in this world.  Pope, all four-foot-11 inches of her, cast a giant shadow on […]

There’s a little pile of rubble on Covington Street. It’s no more than six-feet square. It’s been sitting there for a couple of weeks. I can testify to that. I walk by there with my wife and a couple of my neighbors most every day on our morning exercise walk. Found out yesterday from the […]

East Ridge’s ineptness in dealing with issues of extended-stay motels in our fair city can be laid at the feet of past administrations and councils. One can go back to Mayor Mike Steele and his City Attorney John Anderson, who went hard after Superior Creek Lodge and its owner David Gysin. Push up the timeline […]

In the early 1970s, East Ridge had one of the highest concentration of motel rooms around an interstate exchange in the entire United States. These motels flew the flags of respectable hoteliers; Holiday Inn, Ramada Inn, Howard Johnson’s, Best Western, Days Inn. Exit 1 was hot and business was booming. One thing that wasn’t booming […]

Do you think Mr. Biden could allow the city of East Ridge to help the city of Chattanooga get the necessary funds for their displaced citizens they have relocated to the most populated city in the state of Tennessee, proper housing? Asking for a friend.  _ Mickey Spence

East Ridge elected officials now have a real opportunity to address the issue of homelessness. The real question is will they? Last week Chattanooga officials came up with a plan to put a roof over the heads of at least 100 area homeless people for three months. The problem was the roof over their heads […]

In 2021, wokeness and cancel culture fill the air like ash from a recent volcanic eruption.  We have a new administration, more than two genders, more illegal “non-citizens” entering the country, and too many companies who are more perceptively woke than ever.  For many Conservative Americans, the time has come to show our wokeness but […]

You’ve won the lottery!  But wait, don’t go buy that Lamborghini yet.  You’ve been randomly selected to give a sample of your bodily fluids to a state and federally funded entity.  Where is this happening you may ask?  A place where apparently your First Amendment is valued more than your Fourth Amendment, the University of […]

East Ridge City Council meetings are becoming must-see viewing on YouTube every other Thursday over dinner. Only problem is the actions of staff and council tend to give one indigestion. Last Thursday, I almost choked on my chowder when City Manager Chris Dorsey reassured our elected officials that the hubbub over the liquor store ordinance […]

The free market as we knew it barely exists anymore. When stores were told to shut down in March/April, most mom and pop businesses complied while corporate big box stores and chains mopped up behind them. Subsidizing big business on the federal, state, and local level results in the government choosing winners and losers. The […]

Last November, voters in East Ridge overwhelmingly approved a referendum that would allow sales of liquor in package stores in our city. It was a move whose time had come. As the city approaches the 100th anniversary of its founding, residents would now be able to go up the street to a conveniently located liquor […]