Around and About Chattanooga

Justine Jones owns Ashanti Hair Design in East Chattanooga. She starts by analyzing her customers' hair and face shape, and sometimes they give her instructions as simple as, "Tina, just go for it."

A couple of times each week, about a dozen people gather at an old tennis court in Chattanooga. They're on bikes. They bring mallets. They're here to play bike polo.

InfoSystems is hosting the Technology Convergence Showcase, an event that will highlight technology solutions for business, at the Sheraton Read House Hotel on August 28th.

Bob Norton, his wife and several passengers disappeared in a 2009 plane crash.  Norton was from the Sand Mountain area, but he'd moved to Venezuela and become a medical missionary pilot.  Friends formed the Norton Search Team, and they're getting closer to finding the wreckage--but they need funds.

Diane Ravitch, Thomas Friedman, Will Allen, and Ira Glass will all be speakers as a part of the George T. Hunter Lecture Series.

The United Way of Greater Chattanooga will celebrate Live United Day at the Chattanooga Market on Sunday August 19th.

Eight teams of entrepreneurs and eleven students from all over the world have been holed up in the Gig Tank for fourteen weeks.

The Choo Choo Shag Club is hosting their annual fundraiser, Shag Tracks, August 16 - 18 in Chattanooga. 

The American Bicycle Company engineers titanium racing bicycles, off road bicycles and bikes specifically designed for triathlons.  One recent project took the company in an entirely new direction as they teamed up with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to move the exploration rover Curiosity across the planet Mars. 

In less than three weeks, volunteers pieced together an entire plane from parts. The T-28 has a rich history -- it flew in both the U.S. and Cambodian militaries.

The Humane Educational Society of Greater Chattanooga is hosting the 5th annual Paws for the Cause on Thursday August 23rd at The Mill.

Mise en Scenesters has teamed up with the Chattanooga Film Society to screen Reel Old School, a documentary that features Steve Albini and other producers discussing how digital recording and the Internet have changed the recording industry.  Two Chattanooga college students created it.  The screening is August 13th at the downtown YMCA. 

Bax and Velvet Walker were collectors. In the past, the couple collected Coca-Cola products, Warner Brothers items, sports memorabilia, almost anything Americana. They displayed their gigantic collections within their home, a two-story warehouse.

Reginald Cousin, owner of Kenton Shoe Shop on Broad Street, has been in the shoe repair business since 1959. He says, "Once you learn how to fix a shoe, you can always fix them."

Demetrius Daniel combines spoken-word performances--vibrant, original verse--with trombone riffs, snapping and singing.  He calls it Tromboetry, and he performed in our studios recently.