Josh McManus, the general manager of Track 29 and the co-creator of CreateHere, will be spending less time in Chattanooga and more time in Cincinnati and Detroit.
He is creating organizations in those cities similar to CreateHere, which he started in 2007 along with Helen Johnson. Its mission is to encourage and facilitate innovations in arts, cultural and economic development. McManus said CreateHere was always designed to be a five-year project.
"It ends on Dec. 31 of this year," he said. "Actually, it supernovas then. When a star explodes, new things shoot out from it."
McManus said he will continue to work with Track 29, though he believes there will be some changes to the management team.
"I jumped in and did the GM role because I was closest to it," he said. "This doesn't overnight change anything, but it will change."
He said the new music venue, which opened Sept. 1, is doing fine, despite some well-publicized hiccups.
"I actually think it's going well," he said. "There were some unfortunate circumstances, but it's in good shape."
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According to a memo sent to all Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Guild members, a majority of members overwhelmingly voted to dissolve the guild as of today.
The move comes after the CSO board of directors voted to gain direct control of the guild funds in late July. The 61-year-old guild raised money for the CSO through fundraisers and also awarded music scholarships. The letter also states guild members will be looking into future options.
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WDEF-TV 12 has expanded its news programming options, adding a 7 a.m. and a 7 p.m. show, according to news director Dutch Terry. The shows have been on for a couple of weeks, and Terry said in a news release that the station is pleased so far.
The early morning expansion actually takes place on Tuff TV 12, the additional digital channel the station operates.
"People need to stay informed and up-to-date on their local news, weather and traffic, and our local, quick and to-the-point news delivery works extremely well for our loyal morning viewers," Terry said in a news release.
The new 7 p.m. newscast, which includes some locally generated features as well as news and weather, has been well received by viewers in the Central time zone, according to general manager Phil Cox.
"We've received viewer feedback for quite some time now that tells us there is a large and growing number of folks who don't get home in time to watch local news at 6 p.m." he said. "So, now we can offer our local news viewers at 7 p.m. the opportunity to stay connected and get caught up on their local news as well as several new specialty local franchise segments."
The segments inform viewers on local issues such as "Our Town's Rebuilding" (from the April tornado damage) and weekly features such as "Salute our Military," which highlights the stories of local men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces.