Monoclonal treatments offered outside Parkridge hospital

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Monoclonal treatments for COVID-19 are growing in popularity. They first become available in Dalton in late August, and now through Access Pharmacy in Hixson. “What it is, is two different monoclonal antibodies that are basically used to prevent the spike protein in COVID from entering the body’s cells. So it reduces viral load and thus it…

Healthy Chattanooga Coalition

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn (WDEF) – ​​The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the city of Chattanooga and member businesses, announced today the launch of the Healthy Chattanooga Coalition. The Healthy Chattanooga Coalition is a group of employers working together to provide strong incentives for vaccine use among workers and to increase vaccination rates across the city. The goal is to…

Flu Season and Covid-19 Boosters – trying to avoid a “Twin-Demic”

Experts says Flu Season could be devastating for our local healthcare systems

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn (WDEF) – With flu season right around the corner and the delta surge in full swing, many people are wondering about the possibility of a “twin-demic’ and if a Covid booster shot will be necessary? Experts with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health explain.  Within an average year, the flu causes 30-60 thousand deaths, 300 to 600 thousand…

Can you identify Walker car burglars from surveillance video?

ROSSVILLE, Georgia (WDEF) – Walker county Sheriff Steve Wilson is warning residents about car thefts and burglaries after a recent incident on Saturday.   Surveillence video shows two, possibly three suspects entering several vehicles and stealing two vehicles in the Mission Glen Subdivision of Rossville, Georgia.   Sheriff Wilson says these types of crimes typically happen when people forget to…

There is a real lion roaming the University of North Alabama campus

Rick Nyman visits the real life mascot

FLORENCE, Alabama (WDEF) –  The Chattanooga Mocs football team traveled to Florence last Saturday to face the North Alabama Lions. U-T-C had to tread lightly on enemy turf because U-N-A features a live lion mascot. He actually lives on campus. Talk about your Animal House. For more on the U-N-A Big Cat, we sent News 12 scaredy cat, Rick Nyman….

Tennessee leading the nation in new COVID cases

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Volunteer State is breaking national records, and not in a good way. “Hospitalizations and ICU admits currently are at their highest level ever,” says Dr. Jay Sizemore, the Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Erlanger. A recent White House report says that Tennessee is the worst state in the country for coronavirus spread. And on…

Tennessee Nurses face staffing shortages and burn out during Covid-19 pandemic

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn (WDEF) – The Tennessee Nurses Association says that before the pandemic hospitals were already facing a staffing shortage, but covid-19 has made the problem much worse. With hospitalizations rapidly increasing- nurses are overworked, overwhelmed, and burnt out.   “I have never seen anything as devastating as Covid-19 has been,” says Nancy Stevens, Chattanooga Nurse The COVID-19 pandemic has had a…

School board selects superintendent search firm

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF)- Hamilton County School Board selected Buffkin/Baker to search for the next superintendent for Hamilton county schools. Buffkin/Baker was one of the three firms who previously presented why they should be the ones to find superintendent candidates. Joe Smith says he felt the three firms were all providing very similar services but with very different price options. Smith…

Young Adult Advocacy Board aids Homeless Coalition with underserved population

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF)- Brittany Stowers grew up experiencing homelessness and while attending school she lived out of her car and couch surfed. “I was a full-time student and I was also a full-time employee. I was really trying to juggle my personal life as well and it was just very hard because I didn’t know where I was going to…

Rossville Boulevard facing “food desert”

Local agencies hosting virtual workshops to address it

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – “I’m exactly two miles from three different food cities. So I’m equal distance to all of them but that’s my closest food source.” Jazmine LeBlac lives along Rossville Boulevard – which has now come to be known as a food desert. But through her work with Crabtree Farms, she’s hoping to come up with solutions. “The…

Vaccination Rates in North Georgia slowly increasing

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga (WDEF) – The delta variant surge has continued to push through our country, wreaking havoc on our local hospitals and taking the lives of many. But has this surge caused more people to get vaccinated? The numbers say yes, but officials warn that they still aren’t where they need to be. Despite improvement, North Georgia Counties such as…

What’s Right With Our Schools: East Ridge Middle’s Herbert Elder

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) – It’s been said that the custodian is the eyes and ears of an institution. At East Ridge Middle School, their custodian is so much more than that!   Shimson Racine is the Regional Director for SSC. He recently awarded Herbert Elder with the GEM Award. Racine explains, “The GEM award is for our associates that go…

Woman has life-threatening injuries after being shot on Long St.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Chattanooga police are investigating a shooting that happened earlier tonight on Long Street. Chattanooga police say that one woman has life threatening injuries after being shot tonight on Long St. pic.twitter.com/Pd5A17EEiw — Danielle Moss (@SunnyD_wx) September 13, 2021 The call came in just after 8:30 pm. Police say that a woman was shot and has life threatening…

‘Shang-Chi’ tops box office again with $35.8 million

NEW YORK (AP) — “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” stayed on top at the box office, collecting $35.8 million in ticket sales in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That total was good enough for the best second-weekend gross of any film during the pandemic, edging out the previous Marvel movie, “Black Widow.” This year, relatively few…

Local Boy Scouts sell MoonPies

RINGGOLD, Ga. (WDEF)- The Cherokee Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America launched their Shoot for the Moon MoonPie Fundraiser. Boy Scouts all over the region kicked off their sales today. Scouts from pack 3177 set up their first shop at Ringgold United Methodist Church. Kyle Croft, Pack 3177 CubMaster, says, “I really hope that our scouts take away…

Pros and Cons of hybrid work schedule

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF)- John Vandergriff from Blue Ridge Wealth Planners said there are secret costs of working from home. They include spending more on utilities and paying for a workstation. “There’s an additional cost because some people look at it and see if I can work from home I can work anywhere. If you have that flexibility and you go…