Brainerd Living

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March 28, 2007

Who's Fault Is It?

This is just me thinking outloud again ...

Re: "Gang Problems" etc...

Gangs or no gangs, there is obviously an underlying problem and our youth is suffering from it.

The question shouldn't be:
What should THEY do to fix "the problem"?

The question should be:
What should I do to help fix "the problem"?

We live in a culture that allows us to hold everyone else accountable without holding ourselves accountable.

How do you think problems like this come about?

Is it the city's fault? Is it the plolice department's fault? Is it the park ranger's fault? Is it the school system's fault? Is it the media's fault? Is it the parent's fault? Is it the kid's fault?

It is because we live in a society that no longer feels a personal obligation or responsibility to anything.

Everything is someone else's fault and someone else should fix it - not me.

(Have I contributed to "the problem" in anyway? Have I attempted to make a difference? Can I be partially to blame? Can we all?)

Just wondering....

Posted by Sara at 10:11 AM | TrackBack

March 27, 2007

Another Letter To The Editor

Another Brainerd resident weighed in on the "gang problems" in Chattanooga. The following letter was posted on the Chattanoogan.com.

Volunteer To Help Solve Gang Problem

posted March 26, 2007

In response to the many letters regarding the gang problem in Chattanooga:

I will not make judgments as to whether some comments are racist. What I will say, is that as a single mom of a 14-year-old son and a teacher of adolescent boys, I’ve seen that becoming a man is a difficult, complex and painful process. I also know that young men tend to express emotional pain and anger in physical ways.

I teach many boys who have fathers in their homes, who attend church and who have strong relationships with coaches and male teachers. These boys make mistakes, get in trouble and do stupid stuff. Some of them learn from their mistakes; some do not.

I was at the Riverpark on Saturday afternoon and saw one of the fights. The group had been there for several hours for a party. For most of the afternoon they were playing in the field, listening to music and behaving like teenagers. The kids who were fighting were just that: kids. They were boys. I did not observe any grown men in their group and I have no idea if these boys have dads in their homes or coaches who work with them.

But I do know that there are a lot of kids out there who do not have dads at home or any good male role models in their lives. There are many boys who need more grown people mentoring them, more positive role models influencing them and more opportunities to choose the right path. I hope some of the men and retired persons, who are writing to complain about the gangs in Chattanooga, will consider becoming a Big Brother, volunteering at after school programs, or starting a mentoring program at their churches. If everyone who wrote a letter would mentor one kid, just think of the difference we could make.

Candy Corneliussen
corncandy@att.net

One kid at a time may seem like small thing and my not seem like it would be very effective, but if each of these kids had some one involved in their lives who was a possitive influence it would make a big difference.

Some of them have parents, or family members who are doing their very best, but are at the end of their rope. I'm sure they would covet any help they were offered.

There are so many children in our city who need people to step in and help them change the direction their lives are headed in.

You might want to check out Chattanooga's Big Brother Big Sister organization.

Posted by Sara at 12:02 PM | TrackBack

March 26, 2007

Have you turned on the A.C. yet?

I can't believe we are looking at temps in the mid 80's.

After an outrageous electric bill the last couple of months I'm really fighting turning the air conditioner on. I was hoping we would have at least a few weeks of not having to heat or cool our house.

I might not hold out much longer at this rate. I've been doing house work upstairs and it is VERY warm.

So, have you used your A.C. yet?

Posted by Sara at 03:28 PM | TrackBack

Fighting at the Brainerd WalMart?

Talk Radio news is reporting that the fighting at the Riverpark this weekend may have moved to the Brainerd WalMart.

They said their were 30-40 people fighting in the parking lot. I think they said there may have been an arrest and an injury to a patron of the store.

I'd be interested to know if anyone was a witness to this. Were you there? Did you see anything?

-------------------------

I saw about 4-5 police cars swarming my sister's neighborhood last night. I wonder what/who they were looking for.

Posted by Sara at 09:09 AM | TrackBack

March 23, 2007

Some Random Thoughts On The Recent Trouble In Our City

All this talk about groups of kids getting in trouble around the city has me troubled.

Just a bunch of random thoughts:

-They are causing trouble because they are on Spring Break and have nothing else to do.

-Where are their parents?

-An opinion article in the Chattanoogan.com suggests parenting classes to help curb the "gang problem".

Yes, that might help I guess - obviously a big part of the problem is lack of parental guidance.

The problem is the parenting classes would have to start at age 13. I see so many young, young parents walking up and down my street.

-I hope we never go to year-round-school, that would mean several more week long breaks during the year --> more weeks like this one..

At least when kids are out for the summer it is a long enough period of time for some of them to get jobs and stay busy.

I've always been slightly insulated from these kinds of things, but when a gun fired several shots just yards from my sister's house earlier this week (during the afternoon) it got a little too close to home. Not only were my neice and nephew in their backyard playing, but they only live a couple of blocks away and my kids play there on a consistent basis too.

I'll be ready for school to start back next week - hopefully before any more kids get themselves in trouble or worse.

Posted by Sara at 11:04 AM | TrackBack

March 21, 2007

Letter To The Editor

Another fellow Brainerd resident is asking for more police action in our area:

From the Chattanoogan.com Opinion section

We Admit We Have A Gang Problem, Now What?

posted: March 21, 2007

I've got to say that I am happy that we have taken a step in the right direction by admitting we have a gang problem in Chattanooga; however, I am frustrated by the lack of response from the mayor's office, the sheriff's department, but especially the Chattanooga police department. It was refreshing to hear Sheriff Long recognize the problem recently, but honestly, his department isn't usually responsible for patrolling the problem areas in town.

I live in the Brainerd area with my family. For those of us that live in this part of town, we realize that we have a diverse and interesting mix of people. For those of us that are relatively peaceful, it is disheartening to see the area run over by "gangsta thug" teenagers from Brainerd High School (if they attend school at all). As I was driving home this evening, I noticed the word "Bloods" spray painted in red on a side street off of North Moore Road. As I drive down my street every day, I see apathetic hoodlums standing in the street, wearing very bright colors that are notoriously associated with gangs. Obviously they are either a part of a gang or don't mind being associated with one.

I get frightened at the thought of my stay-at-home wife being at home with our six-month-old son with these people on our own streets. I shouldn't have to feel this way about my own neighborhood.

So what do we do now? Do we just admit there is a problem in Chattanooga and do nothing? Do we spend our time talking about community education and lifting these poor, pitiful thugs out of their lifestyle? My suggestion is that our local police departments and courts get down to some good old fashioned skull thumping by doing some legitimately decent patrols and by cracking down on sentencing on these people when they eventually end up in the court system. Community education is nice, but ultimately we've got to provide some serious consequences for this kind of behavior.

On a final note, I would like to say that the problem specific to the Brainerd area would probably ease up a little bit if the Chattanooga Police department patrols would spend a little less time in the Salvation Army parking lot talking to each other, and a little less time stuffing their faces at Krispy Kreme and start doing some serious patrols on our side streets in the Brainerd Area.

Folks, slowly but surely Chattanooga is becoming a scarier place to live in than I ever would have imagined.

M Lyons
beevco@juno.com

Posted by Sara at 02:45 PM | TrackBack

Concerts at Walmart?

Can't believe I missed the Danielle Peck concert at Walmart.

I know there is a bunch of fiddlers that play on Saturday morning at the Soddy-Daisy Hardees (or is it McDonalds) but Walmart?

Posted by Greg at 08:18 AM | TrackBack

March 20, 2007

New Blog

We have started new family blog. It will be the blog where we post entries specifically about our family.

I was just too uncomfortable posting personal family entries on our main chattablogs site. This new blog is more private and requires a password to accesses it.

All family and friends are invited to view our other blog. If you are interested you can email me here and I will be glad to give you the password.

The new blog can be seen here. It doesn't have a name yet, but we have already posted several entries about things the kids are doing and funny stories about all the mischief they are getting into these days.

See you there!

Posted by Sara at 11:30 AM | TrackBack

Need Help Getting Rid Of Mice

Our three year old twins were getting shoes out of their closet when they started calling for me.

A&B: "MOMMY!! MOMMY! WE SAW SOMETHING!"

B: "We saw something, Mommy"

Mommy: "What do you mean?"

B: "It had a mean face."

M: "A mean face?"

B: "Yeah, we saw something, it had a mean face and was there and went there." (pointing first at their closet and then at their basket of toys)

M: "What did it look like?"

B: "It had a mean face, and (some other indistinguishable three year old words) and a tail."

M: "It had a tail?"

B: "And a mean face."

Soooo, I'm guessing there was a mouse in their closet. I hope it was a mouse and not a rat. Rats are not uncommon in this neighborhood.

The kids all went over to my sister's house and I'm home alone now with a mouse/rat in the house and freaking out.

I hate them. I was planning to straighten up our coat closet and linen closet today and I'm afraid to get in them. What if there are mice in them?!?!?

My biggest problem is I don't know how to get rid of them with kids in the house.

We have had them in the garage before and could put poison out in places the kids would never get into. But what do you do about them in the house when you have toddlers and an infant who will eat anything that looks like food? I don't think a trap would work very well either, Jacob would be sure to check it out and get snapped or stuck to it depending on which kind we tried.

HELP!!!!!

Posted by Sara at 10:10 AM | TrackBack

Is Coolidge Park Safe?

There are some interesting opinion articles on the Chattanoogan about safety at Coolidge Park. I have heard other stories.

Are people overreacting?

Posted by Greg at 09:44 AM | TrackBack

March 19, 2007

Learning a New Camera

I got my new camera and I'm trying to learn how to use it.

Although it is a point and shoot camera with auto settings I guess it still has a learning curve.

I tried to take a few shots of some of the kids at my parent's house yesterday and was disapointed in the way they turned out (I think my batteries may already be running out - it was acting strange).

The pictures may not be great, but the subject matter was cute enough to post anyways.

In order to see the pictures with this post you must view this entry on our new family blog. If you are interested in a username and password you can email me here. I have removed the pictures from this public blog

Posted by Sara at 10:49 AM | TrackBack

March 14, 2007

Chattanooga Gangs On You Tube

I saw this on the Channel 9 News.
What Do You Think?

Posted by Sara at 05:09 PM | TrackBack

On A Serious Note

This entry is quite a departure from any of our other entries. I have been hesitant to post entries with this type of content on our blog because it is such a public forum, but my heart has been heavy with this and I needed a place to get it out. Since I don't have a diary or journal I write in at home, I decided to go ahead and post it here.

I, like Karen, have been operating with a heavy heart the last couple of days.

Although life continues to move at it's very hectic pace, my heart and soul seem to be dragging behind - burdened and heavy with grief.

Through Karen's blog I was introduced to the Miller Family. I had been reading their blog entries about the birth of their son and the journey they were on with him through heart surgery only days after his birth. Despite the Doctor's best efforts, the Millers lost their precious Luke only a short time after the Lord gave him to them. They are a testimony of God's grace in the life of people who are suffering.

Their loss is one I can not image.

Then on Monday my sister received a call from the mother of a friend. Her daughter, who we went to high school with, died suddenly and unexpectedly during the night. As far as I know, they still don't know what happened. She was the mother of 3 yr old twin boys - the wife of a loving husband, pregnant with their third child. A young lady who loved the Lord and served him faithfully. She had a beautiful voice and sang in many groups throughout the years and was part of her Church chior.

These losses are beyond my comprehension.

WHY? WHY? I believe in a Sovereign and Holy Lord. I should not question His will, I know it is good, but WHY?

Why must these people suffer? Why would He take a child from loving parents? Why would He take a loving Mother from her young children?

I know we live in a fallen world. This was not the way God created the world to be and I know that this suffering is temporary. He has victory over death and through Him we do to.

That doesn't really lessen the pain for those precious three year old boys when they are told their Mommy is never coming back.

I know eventually my heart will let go of these burdens. They aren't really mine to carry anyway.

My prayer is that the Lord will ease the pain for those who lost their loved ones. That his presence will be felt by them in a supernatural way and that His Love will be apparent to all those who knew baby Luke and Valerie. That their short lives and sudden deaths will be used to further His kingdom here on earth.

I also pray that He will use them to bring me to a greater understanding of who He is.

Posted by Sara at 03:06 PM | TrackBack

Warning Label Needed

Posted by Sara at 01:50 PM | TrackBack

March 13, 2007

Blue Cross

There are two things that make me mad in the financial world... one is gas companies and the other is insurance companies.

While thinking about Cameron Hill found this Q & A on the Blue Cross website.

They are going to build a 950,000 sq foot building to help control costs?
The more I read the full of crap I think they are.

They are not going to raise rates to pay for the building, just use money in reserve. WHY DO THEY HAVE SO MUCH MONEY IN RESERVE!

Posted by Greg at 11:02 PM | TrackBack

Cameron Hill

While I was driving by Cameron Hill today it made me kind of sad to see the cranes and tractors building a Blue Cross headquarters. I believe I read that Cameron Hill used to mirror Lookout Mountain before they built apartments on it.

Is BCBS headquarters going to be better than apartments? I know the 'Hill' has already been ruined but it still made me sad.

And our premiums just keep going up.

This is a picture from their webcam.

Posted by Greg at 10:47 PM | TrackBack

March 11, 2007

Have we become a Nascar family?

My four year old son loves the movie 'Cars'. He has seen it a billion times. Ever since, we have started to watch Nascar after returing home from a day with the in-laws. We usually get home around 6 pm, have a bite to eat and sit down to watch the end of the race. Katie likes to read the count down... "25 laps to go, Daddy"

Even our three year old twins like to watch it.

It may have been the finish of the Daytona 500 that got us all hooked. The kids loved seeing a car come across the finish line upside down.

I think we are hooked. (although we only actually watch the last 20 minutes)

Posted by Greg at 11:44 PM | TrackBack

March 07, 2007

Visit our new Krystal

Although the sign said 'closed for remodel', what they really meant was we are tearing down this old store and building a one of a kind new and improved Krystal. Pretty cool for Brainerd Road. Nothing like a late night Krystal.

From the Krystal Website:
THE KRYSTAL COMPANY ANNOUNCES NEW DINE-IN, DRIVE-IN AND DRIVE-THRU KRYSTAL RESTAURANT TO OPEN ON BRAINERD ROAD
One-of-a-Kind Location to Serve Up Full Line of New Menu Items and Feature Full-Service Drive-In that Pays Homage to Krystal Drive-Ins of the 1950s While Giving a Fresh, Modern Edge to an American Classic

Posted by Greg at 09:46 AM | TrackBack