Chattanooga riverfront ranks No. 7
The readers of USA Today have ranked Chattanooga's downtown riverfront as the seventh best in the country.
The national newspaper said Chattanooga's waterfront contains some of the city's top attractions, including the Tennessee Aquarium and Walnut Street Bridge, and "offers a venue for myriad outdoor activities and festivals throughout the year."
Readers of USA Today ranked Wilmington, N.C., as the city with the best riverfront.
Top philanthropists to be honored
The Southeast Tennessee chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals will honor Chattanooga's top philanthropists next month.
Franklin Farrow, co-founder and chief operating officer of Independent Healthcare Properties LLC, will be recognized as the outstanding philanthropist. Keith Sanford, market president for First Tennessee Bank in Chattanooga, will be honored as volunteer fundraiser of the year. Ralston Harness and Thomas West, students at McCallie School and co-founders of a new arts and leadership group known as ReGenerate, will be recognized as the winners in the Youth in Philanthropy award. The Hutton Cos., a real estate, development and construction firm, is being honored as corporate philanthropists of the year.
The annual luncheon award ceremony will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at The Chattanoogan hotel ballroom. Information and $40 tickets are available at www.afpsetn.afpnet.org
NRC sued over nuclear wastes
Nine environmental groups and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed separate lawsuits Wednesday to try to block the recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to allow nuclear plants to store spent fuel wastes on site indefinitely.
The lawsuits claim the NRC failed to comply with a 2012 federal court ruling that concluded that proper procedures were not followed after the commission was forced to come up with a new waste storage plan when Congress quit funding work on building the Yucca Mountain waste depository in Nevada.
The NRC concluded that nuclear wastes can be safely stored in dry casks at nuclear plant sites across the country. But the environmental groups claim that storage and disposal of spent reactor fuel poses a major public health and environmental problem. The federal government estimates that over 141,000 metric tons of spent fuel either already has or will be produced under existing reactor licenses and reactors under construction.
Under the previous court ruling, the NRC could not issue new licenses for plants like TVA's Watts Bar Unit 2 or extend licenses like at TVA's twin-reactor Sequoyah site, until the waste issue was resolved.
"The NRC has not dealt seriously with the safety and environmental risks posed by extended spent fuel storage and disposal," said Diane Curran, an attorney for the plaintiffs suing the NRC.
Ryan to head CWC offices
CWC, the Southeast's largest office furniture dealer and Atlanta's only Herman Miller certified dealer, has appointed Kyle Ryan as principal. In his new role, he will lead the sales team for CWC offices in Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Chattanooga.
Kyle has been one of CWC's top manufacturer representatives over the years. He has also successfully run dealerships in Nashville and Charlotte for Alfred Williams & Co.
"We are thrilled to welcome Kyle to our team at CWC," said Paul Conley, company president.