Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd from District 8At a recent meeting, Hamilton County Commissioners Tim Boyd and Joe Graham announced festivals in East Ridge and Lookout Valley for June 30.
Boyd said the East Ridge Merchants Association Libertyfest will take place at Camp Jordan Park. It will begin at 10 a.m. and feature live entertainment. Admission is $10 per car with a maximum of eight per car, he said.
Graham said the Lookout Valley Neighborhood Association will host the Red, White and Bluegrass concert at the John A. Patten Center, 3202 Kelly's Ferry Road, from noon to 4 p.m.
"It's free, as many you want in your car," Graham said at the meeting. "We have Elvis coming from Mississippi, and he also does a mean Conway Twitty."
STEM INPUT
The public is invited to attend a series of community meetings to examine ways to enhance local science, technology, engineering and math education.
Hamilton County is opening a STEM school on the Chattanooga State Community College campus in August. As part of a $1.8 million state grant, the local STEM organization must find ways to improve STEM education throughout the region.
Part of that effort will include STEM teaching fellows, who will be trained in best practices for teaching STEM subjects. Currently, the program has 26 fellows from six Southeast Tennessee counties.
Those fellows are looking for input from business leaders and community members on area resources that can help classroom lessons on science, technology, engineering and math.
The meetings are scheduled for:
• Wednesday at 7 a.m. in the Signal Mountain Middle/High School theater, 2650 Sam Powell Drive, Signal Mountain.
• July 10 at 7 p.m. in the East Hamilton Middle-High School theater, 2015 Ooltewah-Ringgold Road.
• July 11 at 5:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Public Education Foundation, 100 E. 10th St.
PEF GETS $40,000
The Public Education Foundation was one of seven Tennessee nonprofits recently to win a $40,000 grant from the Tennessee College Access and Success Network.
PEF will use the money to fund its Student Opportunities, Access and Retention program, which pairs first-generation college students with peer mentors at Chattanooga State and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The program is aimed at helping those first-generation students complete associate degree coursework at Chattanooga State, then go on to UTC for completion of a bachelor's degree.
Officials say the grant will allow SOAR to expand leadership training of the mentors as well as create an academic success lab dedicated to helping participants.
TESTERMAN HOLDS MEET AND GREET
David Testerman, a Democratic candidate for the District 10 seat in the state Senate, will hold a public meet-and-greet event Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Chattanooga Choo Choo's Roosevelt Room at 1400 Market St.
Testerman currently serves as the District 8 representative on the Hamilton County Board of Education. In the state Senate race, he faces City Councilman Andraé McGary and Quenston Coleman in the Aug. 2 primary.
BERKE HOSTS COFFEE
Democratic state Sen. Andy Berke, the first to announce a bid for Chattanooga mayor, will hold a "Coffee with Andy" event at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Café LeMont, 801 Dodds Ave.
The event, moderated by former city Judge Walter Williams, will focus on getting input from Chattanoogans about the most important issues facing the city.