Hamilton County School Board passes school facilities plan

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Hamilton County School Board had their final vote on the facilities plan. The talk of renovations, closings and new schools has been a point of discussion for many months. Thursday night, it came to an end. The school board unanimously passed the new facilities plan. The new plan had the Gateway renovation as the top…

TECH BYTE: Apple’s Spatial Computing Era Begins

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Apple’s era of spatial computing is finally here! You can now preorder the Vision Pro. It’s Apple’s first VR headset and spatial computer. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls it “the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created.” The tech company first announced the new device last summer. It lets your imagination come to life – blending…

Mocs 2024 Football Schedule Features 12 Games With Opener on Rocky Top

(gomocs.com) CHATTANOOGA—The Chattanooga Mocs revealed the 2024 football schedule Thursday. The 12-game slate includes two FBS bowl winning sides as well as three FCS Playoffs participants from the 2023 campaign. It starts heavy. The opener is at Tennessee followed by a trip to Georgia State before the home opener against Mercer. The Vols were 35-0 Citrus Bowl winners over Iowa,…

McDonald Farm receives grant as zoning debate continues

SALE CREEK, Tenn. (WDEF)- Hamilton County has secured important funding related to development at McDonald Farm in Sale Creek. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development awarded a three million dollar grant for water infrastructure to be installed. This is one of 12 grants awarded across the state totaling 18 million dollars. According to a statement from the county’s…

Crews preparing for potential freezing rain on Thursday night

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- With more potential winter weather moving through the Tennessee Valley, Chattanooga Public Works says they are preparing to treat roads. Since Sunday morning, crews have sprayed more than 20,000 gallons of brine on more than 600 miles of city streets. Additionally, they have used sand and salt mixtures to clear roads. As of today, the vast majority…

Zoo hosts special performances for closing weekend of Asian Lantern Festival

'The Pop-Up Project'

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — In spite of ongoing cold temperatures on Sunday, many came out to the last night of the Asian Lantern Festival held at the Chattanooga Zoo. For the grand finale of the festival, ‘The Pop-Up Project’ presented a special celebration through music and dance. The Pop-Up Project presented a 50-minute immersive dance performance that traveled throughout the…

Innovators visit Chattanooga for inaugural startup Accelerator

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — A snow storm passing through the States didn’t stop a group of researchers and innovators from traveling to the Scenic City. An inaugural program hosted by The Company Lab and Gener8tor is providing opportunities for five startup companies across the world. They announced their first-ever cohort Thursday for the ‘Sustainable Mobility Accelerator.’ This is providing opportunities and…

Salvation Army of Chattanooga extends Shield of Warmth program

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Salvation Army of Chattanooga is extending their Shield of Warmth Program.  The program has been going on for six months during the winter.  It is a partnership with Chattanooga Gas to help provide payment assistance to residents’ natural gas bills.  The program is ensuring that warmth and comfort is given to residents.  It is all…

School board members share their personal school priority list

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — At the last school board meeting, each member was tasked with filling out their priority list for changes coming to schools in their districts. Here is how the changes were ranked ahead of Thursday’s school board meeting. Soddy Daisy: The original plan was to renovate the current high school into a 6-12 campus. Yet all…

Areas North of Chattanooga Dealing with Aftermath of Winter Storm

The Sequatchie Valley covered in snow from the Highway 111 Scenic Overlook. DUNLAP, Tenn. (WDEF)- While areas in the Chattanooga metro have seen significant improvement from the snow, areas to the north and west are still buried in inches of snow and ice. Marion, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Rhea, and Meigs County were some of the hardest hit by the winter storm…

TVA seeing record breaking power-use for single-digit temperatures

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – TVA and EPB have been working around the clock to make sure no one goes without power during these frigid temperatures. While people have been using record breaking amounts of power, it hasn’t slowed up the power grids one bit. “We’ve seen bitter, cold, single digit temperatures across the Tennessee Valley and that has driven up…

Golden Apple Award: Liz Stanfield, Boynton Elementary

RINNGOLD, Ga. (WDEF) – At Boynton Elementary, Liz Stanfield has a gift for making sure each one of her students believes that they are just as smart, capable and worthy as anybody else. One parent calls her a light in a career that is often overlooked, underpaid and criticized. We decided to give Ms. Stanfield some well-deserved recognition with the…

Chattanooga Area Food Bank opens after snow day

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Some businesses in Chattanooga have remained closed following the snow on Monday, but not the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.  Though they opened late, they felt the need to serve community members.  Since opening, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank has provided more than 100 meals to families.  They say it’s important to feed families that are hungry…

Drivers should avoid I-24 westbound near Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Interstate 24 to the west of Chattanooga was chaotic Tuesday morning and into the afternoon. The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported several crashes on I-24 Tuesday. The wrecks are due to the winter weather the Tennessee Valley has faced the past few days. With temperatures being well below freezing, there are slick and icy spots on many…

Driver recaps seeing truck spinout on I-24 due to ice roads

A truck spinning out on I-24 East Monday during a winter storm. (Courtesy: Jeffery Martinez) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The residual ice from Monday’s winter storm is wreaking havoc on traffic not just there but all across the Tennessee Valley. For one local driver, Jeffery Martinez, he said quite the scene happened in front of him on I-24 east Monday at…

Mom to Mom – Smoke Detectors

Today, on Mom to Mom, we’re going to talk about the fire alarms in your house. We all have them in our homes, but we don’t really pay that much attention to them until we actually need them. So, I had my good friend here, Todd, who is a firefighter, to tell us about the smoke detectors and how many…

What’s Right with our Schools: Howard Triage

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Some schools are preparing kids for ‘the real world’ before they finish high school. Howard wants students to be prepared whenever there is a disaster. Here’s today’s edition of “What’s Right with Our Schools.” The ones doing the triage out there tagging currently, they will be in clinical internship this next year. “Howard has four institutes, and one…

Tennessee Valley enjoys MLK snow day

Sledders enjoying the the thrills of Cardboard Hill during the snow on MLK Day 2024. CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A snow day in Tennessee Valley often means time for play. Folks all over the Chattanooga sought out ways to enjoy the snow of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2024. One area that was buzzing Monday was Cardboard Hill in Renaissance Park…

Church in Pikeville opens doors to homeless during arctic blast

Lee Station Baptist Church

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) — Approaching the harsh, winter weather temperatures sweeping across the nation, one small church in the Tennessee Valley has decided to make a big impact. Lee Station Baptist Church in Bledsoe County will be opening their doors to those who need a warm meal and a place to stay. Pastor, Bill Wolfe said, “We get a lot…

Mocs women dominate over Samford

GoMocs-  Chattanooga women’s basketball was on cruise control in their most recent matchup against Samford on Saturday, with the Mocs shooting their way to a 75-52 win over the Bulldogs in front of the McKenzie Arena faithful. The Mocs (14-3, 2-0 SoCon) shot the lights out of the Roundhouse on Saturday with the team going 58 percent from the floor,…