Scenic Roots

A Make Music Day performance in Chattanooga. (Make Music Chattanooga) (Aired Thu 1/16/25) Music is in season yearround here in Chattanooga. Each year, Make Music Chattanooga hosts citywide events and activities that highlight the local music scene, part of a global celebration of learning and creating music open to people of all ages and skill levels. Planning has already begun for Make Music Day,...

Part of a model of Chattanooga’s tree canopy created with satellite imagery and artificial intelligence tools by Charlie Mix, GIS director for University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2023. (UTC via Chattamatters) (Aired Thu 1/16/25) Despite the recent blanket of snow here in Chattanooga, city thinkers are still thinking about how to cool things off in the summer. Trees that provide shade can hel...

(Solutions Journalism Network) (Aired Thu 1/16/25) One form of journalism goes beyond reporting on problems and challenges in society by offering real solutions. Students here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, are now participating in what’s known as “solutions journalism” - and their project focuses on mental health. On Wednesday, January 22nd, UTC’s Department of Communi...

Discover, Report, Solve: Solutions Journalism at UTC. Chattamatters: Expanding tree canopy in Chattanooga. Hitting the notes for 2025 at Make Music Chattanooga. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Emily Mack (River City Company) (Aired Weds 1/15/25) Look at a map of economic development projects in downtown Chattanooga, and you’ll see the profile of River City Company. For nearly four decades, the nonprofit has partnered with local government, business and philanthropy to revitalize and reshape downtown. How is the map shaping up for downtown in this new year of 2025? Emily Mack is presiden...

Mayor Tim Kelly (City of Chattanooga) (Aired Weds 1/15/25) On Tuesday, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly stopped by our studio for our latest conversation. Topics: Novonix; Chattanooga Airport; the Chattanooga Land Bank Authority; Invest Chattanooga - and this year’s MLK Day of Service in Chattanooga.

(Regional Outreach Cooperative) (Aired Tues 1/14/25) To confront and curb homelessness here in Southeast Tennessee takes people who know the streets - who bring help to those without shelter wherever they are and whatever their condition. Some of those people here in Chattanooga belong to the Regional Outreach Cooperative, or the ROC: a coalition of outreach social workers, faith-based groups and...

The Martin Luther King, Jr. mural by Kevin Bate in downtown Chattanooga. (Preserve Chattanooga) (Aired Tues 1/14/25) The holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been celebrated for thirty-nine years - as many years as the civil rights leader lived. Here in Chattanooga, this year’s celebration of Dr. King has already begun - and the week of events culminates with Monday’s holiday. Eric...

The James Building, designed by Chattanooga’s “master architect” R.H. Hunt. (Preserve Chattanooga) (Aired Tues 1/14/25) During this new year of 2025, Preserve Chattanooga - the nonprofit for historic preservation in this city - turns fifty. It’s a time to reflect, a time to celebrate - and a time to look forward. Todd Morgan is executive director of Preserve Chattanooga. This past fall, Bea Lurie...

At Preserve Chattanooga, fifty years of historic preservation. “Dream Bold!” This year’s MLK celebration in Chattanooga. Giving back for a mission to confront and curb homelessness. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Gail Loveland Barille (TEDxChattanooga) And now, one more speaker from TEDxChattanooga's "Stewards of Nature," an evening of talks from local voices on the outdoors, conservation and the environment - presented in partnership with Southeast Conservation Corps at The Historic on Rossville Avenue: Gail Loveland Barille, director of Outdoor Chattanooga - part of the City of Chattanooga’s Parks and Ou...

Shawanna Kendrick (TEDxChattanooga) In 2024, TEDxChattanooga added to its calendar of “ideas worth spreading” - with its first “Stewards of Nature.” The evening of talks from local voices on the outdoors, conservation and the environment - in partnership with Southeast Conservation Corps - was held in September at The Historic on Rossville Avenue. On an earlier episode of “Scenic Roots,” we shared...

Bethany Cothran and James Grant, co-hosts of the Psychanooga podcast. (Psychanooga) (Aired Thu 1/09/25) Psychanooga is a podcast that delves into the mind from here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Students Bethany Cothran and James Grant host and produce the podcast for UTC’s Psychology Department. Here’s part of an episode on stress, anxiety and burnout - featuring Dr....

Clarence T. Jones Observatory (UTC) (Aired Thu 1/09/25) ( NOTE: After this interview was broadcast, the Open House was canceled due to inclement weather - but the Star Parties continue. ) Just off Brainerd Road here in Chattanooga, an observatory stands on a hill whose rock is about 450 million years old. The Clarence T. Jones Observatory - which has scanned the night sky since 1938 - is owned and...

Zoe & Cloyd, the opening act for this year’s WoodSongs Dalton. (Zoe & Cloyd) (Aired Thu 1/09/25) At the end of this month, an Americana concert series for a cause returns to Northwest Georgia. WoodSongs Dalton supports the DEO Clinic, a health care nonprofit for low-income uninsured residents in the Dalton area. The first of the four concerts in this year’s series is Saturday, Janu...

Invest Chattanooga’s logo. (City of Chattanooga) (Aired Thu 1/09/25) If local housing developers here in Chattanooga are willing to build affordable units, they may soon have a new option to get funding: a revolving loan tied to the City of Chattanooga. William Newlin of Chattamatters explains how the program would work, if the City Council approves it. _____ For more stories on local government a...

From “A Call from the Wild” - a documentary from Norway to be screened at the 2025 Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chattanooga. (Lookout Wild Film Festival) (Aired Thu 1/09/25) The cinematic panorama of the Lookout Wild Film Festival encompasses nature and the outdoors, conservation and the environment, adventure and resilience. This year’s festival - which celebrates “the beauty of wild places and...

Outdoors on screen: The Lookout Wild Film Festival. Americana concerts for a cause at WoodSongs Dalton. Psychanooga - a podcast by students here at UTC. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Stage combat at Scenic City Slam on the UTC campus. (Battlekat Combat) (Aired Weds 1/08/25) The fight is on at the Scenic City Slam. Tate Messner - a student in UTC's Department of Communication - takes us there for this story as an intern here at WUTC. _____ Our thanks to UTC students Ryan Matthews and Tate Messner for their stories as interns here at WUTC. Stay tuned for new stories from student...

Glass bottles at Overlooked Materials. (Overlooked Materials) (Aired Weds 1/08/25) Last year, a new business in Chattanooga was born - offering the city’s first curbside recycling service in more than five years and the first local processing since the 1980’s. Ryan Matthews paid a visit as an intern here at WUTC for this story.

A Ferrari at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. (Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) (Aired Weds 1/08/25) Ryan Matthews - another UTC student in the Department of Communication - tells his story on the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival as an intern here at WUTC.

A Porsche at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. (Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) (Aired Weds 1/08/25) If you’re in downtown Chattanooga during the fall, the cars are the stars. Two students in the Department of Communication on our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - checked them out. Each student produced their own story as interns here at WUTC. First, here’s the story from Tate...

Kim Jackson (Kim Jackson) (Aired Weds 1/08/25) The stories we live shape the stories we tell. Kim Jackson believes - quote - “we are all born storytellers - and we each have the amazing opportunity to share our story and be a part of countless others’ stories.” For Kim’s story, her chapters weave through growing up here in the South, living away from it - and then coming back. As a classically tra...

From abc@utc: Kim Jackson, Wolf Trap teaching artist. And a few stories from UTC students here at WUTC. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Daniela Paz-Peterson (TEDxChattanooga) (Aired Tues 1/07/25) In September, TEDxChattanooga presented its first “Stewards of Nature” - an evening of talks from local voices on the outdoors, conservation and the environment - in partnership with Southeast Conservation Corps at The Historic on Rossville Avenue. One of the speakers: Daniela Paz-Peterson - Tennessee director of welcoming places at The T...