Free Republic

Volkswagen Group has displaced Toyota for the first time as the world's largest car manufacturer in terms of production. The German carmaker produced 4.4 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, overtaking its Japanese rival by 400,000 units, consulting firm IHS Global Insight said on Wednesday. Volkswagen Group owns a variety of models such as Skoda and Seat and high-end lines Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. In July it expanded its stable by acquiring Porsche. HIS Global Insight said Volkswagen was able to beat Toyota thanks to increased sales in China, Germany and the U.K. even amid...

Comments that included the Muslim slur "ragheaded" have offended some Facebook friends of Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Hayes Ledford, who posted the remarks to the Web site in reference to 9/11. "His statement is an embarrassment to Chattanooga, the city to which he is supposed to recruit jobs and industry," said Chris Anderson, a board member with the Hamilton County Democratic Party. "In this case, Mr. Ledford advocated brutal violence against an entire race of people, most of whom had nothing to do with attacking our great nation." Mr. Ledford made his comments on the social networking Web...

CHATTANOOGA — With children and other onlookers holding umbrellas, Sylvester Kitchens stood in the flooded street, laughing and bragging he could swim an overflowing Chattanooga storm ditch outside their house. Wearing shorts and shirtless, the 46-year-old Kitchens dared onlookers to bet him $5 he couldn't do it. Even when nobody showed any money, Kitchens jumped in. After bobbing along in the gushing water about 150 feet late Sunday afternoon and grabbing a chain link fence above the ditch, Kitchens lost his grip as family members tried to toss him the end of a water hose. He washed away into an...

A search turned up no posts for the Chattanooga, TN, Tea Party yesterday. This link has numerous photos. I'd say the crowd was more like 1500, though.

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on Monday its 2008 profit rose 15 percent and it expected to gain market share during the current global automotive sector crisis. A VW statement said 2008 net profit came to 4.75 billion euros (6.0 billion dollars) as sales rose 4.5 percent to a record 113.8 billion euros, with operating profit up 3.0 percent to 6.3 billion euros. The 2008 dividend was increased seven percent to 1.93 euros per share. "We met our target and surpassed our record results for 2007 even though conditions were tougher," chairman Martin Winterkorn said. VW...

German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) has chosen to locate its new US car plant in Tennessee, a move that could pump $1bn (£498m) into the local economy. VW opted for a site in the city of Chattanooga in preference to possible locations in Alabama and Michigan. The euro's rise against the dollar has made it costly to make cars in Europe and export them to the US, leading VW to explore manufacturing again there. The move is good news for a US car industry shedding thousands of jobs. New car Earlier on Tuesday, GM said it planned to make further cutbacks...

Chattanooga Chosen For $1 Billion Volkswagen Plant Plant At Enterprise South To Have 2,000 Jobs posted July 15, 2008 Volkswagen AG has chosen Chattanooga for its new $1 billion U.S. plant, the European carmaker announced today.

Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long — who after his election victory in August 2006 pledged to “take the department to a higher level” — now is in federal custody on extortion, money laundering and gun charges. Sheriff Long, 55, was escorted into U.S. District Court Saturday afternoon in jeans, a denim jacket and handcuffs. FBI agents had arrested him several hours earlier, the next step in what they said was an approximately 10-month investigation that is still continuing. Authorities said he will remain in custody in an undisclosed location pending the outcome of a bond hearing set for 2 p.m....

Civil War history enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of programs this weekend and next commemorating the 144th anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga. The events hosted by the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park kick off today. Park Superintendent Shawn Benge said highlights will include several living history programs, the firing of cannons and walking tours. "It's really an opportunity to come out and learn ... some Civil War history about the campaign for Chattanooga and to immerse yourself more than (through) the traditional level of programs that we offer," he said. The Battles for Chattanooga marked the end of...

CHATTANOOGA - A live Nativity scene that has been part of Chattanooga's annual Grand Illumination has been scrapped. Chattanooga Downtown Partnership executive director Carla Pritchard says the representation of the birth of Jesus Christ was eliminated after several people complained. The Partnership receives funding from the city. The illumination event takes place the day after Thanksgiving and begins the holiday shopping season and the downtown Winter Days & Lights event. The Nativity had been performed since the 1980s by First Baptist Church of Soddy-Daisy. Church pastor Dr. Seton Tomyn says the decision is disappointing, but understands diverse cultures are part...

(AP) RED BANK, Tenn. Police are investigating after a man wrote about launching a "feline jihad" to rid his Chattanooga suburb of stray cats. Max Gerskin wrote a two-part series in the Chattanooga Pulse weekly publication, the first of which was published Aug. 9 and titled, "Madder Max: The Cat Lady and My New Dog." The second installment was published Wednesday and titled, "Feline Jihad: The Cat Lady, Part II." In his commentary, Gerskin said the strays fed by a "neighborhood cat lady" have brought filth and disease to his home, and local Humane Society officials haven't been able to...

Chattanooga’s oldest radio station, WDOD, has ended its 11-month experiment with progressive talk radio. At 10 a.m. this past Monday, the station switched to a format featuring musical oldies and standards from the late 1950s and the 1960s and 1970s, according to Danny Howard, director of programming and operations for WDEF and WDOD. The new format, which is locally controlled, is known around the station as Ruby AM 1310. Who’s Ruby? “It’s kind of funny,” Mr. Howard said with a laugh. “When we started talking about doing this, it turned out that everybody had an Aunt Ruby or a grandmother...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A judge threw out a gang rape case Wednesday against six University of Tennessee-Chattanooga football players, ruling that there was not enough evidence to prove that their sex with a female student was not consensual.--snip--She testified Wednesday that she attended a football game and cheered for the players the day after the alleged Oct. 21 rape and then had consensual sex with another player hours before going to police Oct. 23. The six players, all out on bond since they were charged in early November, hugged each other and celebrated quietly after the judge announced his decision....

<p>CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Six football players at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga have been charged with taking turns raping a drunken student after a party, a university spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>District Attorney Bill Cox declined to comment. Defense attorney Jerry Summers, who is representing at least some of the players, called an afternoon news conference.</p>

'To support and defend... So help me God' Mark Alexander May 27, 2005 "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means...." --John Adams Monday is Memorial Day, set aside to honor our fallen Patriots -- generations of American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen -- who served their country with honor from 1776 to this...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A college student who admitted he fatally shot his parents in their bedroom and broke a chain saw cutting up their bodies told investigators: "God told me to." Philip Badowski made the comment in a recorded interview with police following the Dec. 2 slayings of Chester "Chet" Badowski Jr., 47, and Christine Badowski, 46. Prosecutors played the recording at Badowski's preliminary hearing Friday. General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon referred two murder and abuse of corpse charges to a grand jury and ordered Badowski held without bail. Lawyers for both sides declined to comment after the...

Hey, y'all. I just accepted a job in Chattanooga, TN, and I was wondering if anybody had advice on things like traffic, local gov't (sales taxes, etc.), where to live / avoid, and anything else that comes to mind. I am coming from Montgomery, AL and have only visited the city once, when I interviewed this week. At first my wife & I will probably rent an apartment or a house for a year or so, then permanently locate, preferably somewhere rural. The areas to the southwest (like extreme NW Georgia) looked pretty nice driving through on I-24 & I-59,...

Justice Department dispatching 'Impact Teams' WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department is dispatching teams of federal agents to 15 cities struggling with violent crime problems despite a dropping U.S. crime rate, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday. Ashcroft told reporters that the effort would be targeted at "the hottest zones of criminal activity" in cities where high murder and violence rates persist despite a violent crime rate that is at a 30-year low nationwide, based on federal victimization statistics. Tulsa, Oklahoma, which had a record 69 homicides committed in 2003, is one of the 15 cities receiving assistance. The initiative...

Larry Wallace Is Surprise Choice For Police Chief Former TBI Director Had Been Hired To Help Pick Dotson Replacement posted January 13, 2004 Former TBI Director Larry Wallace is the surprise choice of Mayor Bob Corker as the next Chattanooga Police chief. Mayor Corker said at a press conference late Tuesday morning that he would be recommending Mr. Wallace to the City Council at their 3 p.m. meeting today. Mr. Wallace had been hired by the mayor as a consultant to help pick the new police chief. He replaces Jimmie Dotson, who is stepping down at the end of the...

Man Held in Bomb Scare at Chattanooga Air Show CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - (Reuters) - A man who left two suspicious packages at the Chattanooga airport was taken into custody by police on Saturday, delaying the start of an air show, but a bomb squad determined the packages contained no explosives. The man, identified as May Willy Sommer, 62, was spotted by airport security guards placing a "briefcase-type package" under a table near two U.S. Air Force Thunderbird jets, said Ed Buice, a spokesman for the Chattanooga Police Department. A second package was left in a nearby parking lot. "He was...

Secret Service Investigating Alleged Bush Threat— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service said on Sunday it had no comment on a report that a trucker had been arrested outside Chattanooga, Tennessee after allegedly threatening President Bush. "The Secret Service is conducting an investigation and due to there being an active, ongoing investigation, I can't make any further comment about it," said a Secret Service official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Cable News Network reported the man told police he had a 3,000-pound bomb "... and the president has problems," in a telephone conversation that led to his apprehension...