title: Penn Jillette

text: From January 3, 2006, to March 2, 2007, Jillette hosted, along with fellow atheist, skeptic, and juggler Michael Goudeau, a live, hour-long radio talk show broadcast on Free FM. The show, "Penn Radio", broadcast from his Vintage Nudes Studio in his Las Vegas home. The most notable recurring segment of the show was "Monkey Tuesday" and later "The Pull of the Weasel". On March 2, 2007, Jillette announced that he would no longer be doing his radio show. He stated that he is a "show biz wimp" and decided to stop doing the show so he could spend more time with his children.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In 2008, Jillette was a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars", paired with professional dancer Kym Johnson. He was the first celebrity to be eliminated. A reference to his large feet as a sign of another large body part was censored in the West Coast airing.


title: Penn Jillette

text: On August 16, 2011, Jillette's book "God, No! Signs You May Already Be An Atheist and Other Magical Tales" was released and made the New York Times Best Sellers shortly after, in the week of August 28, in the 14th position.


title: Penn Jillette

text: An avid upright bassist, Jillette frequently accompanies jazz pianist Mike Jones, who opens for the magician's Las Vegas show. On March 16, 2018, Jones released a live jazz album with Jillette entitled "The Show Before the Show" which consisted of ten tracks played by the duo at the Rio Las Vegas. Jillette additionally performed at the famed Green Mill Cocktail Lounge to coincide with the album's debut.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette was one of the contestants on "The Celebrity Apprentice" season 5, beginning on February 19, 2012. He was fired from the show by Donald Trump during the Week 11 episode. Also on February 19, 2012, along with Michael Goudeau, he started the podcast "Penn's Sunday School".


title: Penn Jillette

text: In 2013, he returned for the All-Star Celebrity Apprentice season, where he successfully made his way to the finale, raising $663,655 for the charity of his choice, Opportunity Village. On April 5, 2013, Penn and Teller were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the live performance category. Their star, the 2,494th awarded, is near the star dedicated to Harry Houdini. The following day they were recognized by the Magic Castle with the "Magicians of the Year" award.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Penn credits magician and skeptical activist James Randi for his career. During an interview at TAM! 2012, Penn stated that "If not for Randi there would not be Penn & Teller as we are today." He went on to say that "Outside of my family... no one is more important in my life. Randi is everything to me."


title: Penn Jillette

text: From 1987 to 1989, Jillette provided financial support to David and Jad Fair of the art rock band Half Japanese for their record label 50 Skidillion Watts. This allowed the band to release the albums "Music to Strip By", "The Band That Would Be King" and "Charmed Life". When asked about his assistance Jillette said, "anybody who listens to Half Jap becomes a fan."


title: Penn Jillette

text: In July 1999, Jillette was granted for the "Jill-Jet", a hot-tub jet specially angled for allowing a woman to masturbate against the water stream. The patent expired in September 2018. He has credited Debbie Harry of Blondie for suggesting the idea, as the two of them were once in a hot tub and Harry made a remark about changing the jets for a woman's pleasure. Jillette liked the idea enough to pursue a patent application at the USPTO under the patent title "Hydro-therapeutic Stimulator".


title: Penn Jillette

text: The abstract of the patent explains that a "discharge nozzle is located within the tub and connected to the outlet, mounted to the seat so that the discharged water from the circulation pump automatically aligns with and is directed to stimulation points (e.g., the clitoris) of the female user when the female user sits in the seat." An article in the June 2006 issue of "Playboy" shed additional light on the invention. Originally, it was to be called the "ClitJet"; however, he stated that "Jill-Jet" was more suitable because it included his name in the title.


title: Penn Jillette

text: On the "Penn Radio" show, telling the listeners about the photo shoot for the "Playboy" article, Jillette mentioned that he has a Jill-Jet installed in a tub in his house, and that several of his female friends and friends' female spouses enjoy it a lot, but he is not aware of any other installations of a water jet in such a configuration anywhere else.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette created a private recording studio in his Las Vegas home. The addition, designed by "Outside The Lines Studio" and built by Crisci Custom Builders between October 2003 and June 2004 as part of his Las Vegas home, was named Vintage Nudes Studios by Jillette for playing cards that he had collected. The cards are displayed in the interior design in a manner which is meaningful to magicians. The studio was home to Free FM's "Penn Radio" show, and was the home of the Penn's Sunday School stream and podcast until it was demolished in 2016, along with his former home, "The Slammer".


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette has told multiple stories regarding the red fingernail on his left hand. In one, Jillette's mother told him to get a manicure because people would be looking at his hands. In response to this, he had all of his nails painted red as a joke. Jillette has also claimed that red fingernail provides excellent misdirection and is just plain cool.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In direct response to questions about his red fingernail, Penn has stated "People are asking about my fingernail. Wear my Dad's ring and my Mom's nail polish. Just for remembrance and respect." On the podcast "Skepticality" in 2012, Jillette said that he was considering changing the meaning of the red nail polish, telling his daughter it is for her. During his appearance on the "Chopped" Tournament of Stars (2014), he told the story of his mother suggesting he get a manicure for the reasons stated above, and said that he kept it out of respect for her.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette says that he has an addictive personality and claims to have never had "so much as a puff of marijuana or a drop of alcohol" because he does not trust himself to do it in moderation.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In December 2014, Jillette's blood pressure caused him to be admitted to the hospital. By his birthday, March 5, 2015, he had lost . He follows Joel Fuhrman's nutritarian diet, which means that he eats little or no animal products, no processed grains, and no added sugar or salt. Penn is featured in "Eating You Alive", a 2016 American documentary about food and health. In an interview with Big Think in 2020, Jillette said he is a vegan.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette identifies as an atheist. His cars' license plates read "ATHEIST", "NOGOD" and "GODLESS". "Strangely enough, they wouldn't give me 'INFIDEL,'" he said.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In 2005, he wrote and read an essay for National Public Radio claiming that he was "beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God... I believe there is no God." His atheism, he has explained, has informed every aspect of his life and thoughts, and as such is as crucial to him as theistic beliefs are to the devout. Jillette encourages open discussion, debate, and proselytizing on the issue of God's existence, believing that the issue is too important for opinions about it to remain private. Jillette does not dismiss all who do believe in God: a 2008 edition of his "Penn Says" podcast expresses his appreciation for a fan who brought him the gift of a pocket Gideon Bible after a performance because he realized that this individual sincerely cared enough about him to try to help him.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In January 2007, Jillette took the "Blasphemy Challenge" offered by the Rational Response Squad and publicly denied the existence of a holy spirit.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette appeared in the 2019 Church of the SubGenius film "J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius", where he spoke positively of the parody religion.


title: Penn Jillette

text: Jillette has previously identified as a libertarian, and stated in 2003 that he may consider himself an anarcho-capitalist. He was a fellow at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In 2008, Jillette stated that there is not enough information to make an informed decision on global warming, that his gut told him it was not real, but his mind said that he cannot prove it. As of 2014, he has changed his position and now believes that climate change is occurring.


title: Penn Jillette

text: and endorsed Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson for President in 2012 and 2016. However, he participated in vote swapping in 2016 by voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the swing state of Nevada, in exchange for "10 or 11" of his friends promising to vote for Johnson in blue states like California and New York.


title: Penn Jillette

text: In 2020, Jillette distanced himself from aspects of right-libertarianism, particularly surrounding COVID-19. In an interview with Big Think, he stated, "[A] lot of the illusions that I held dear, rugged individualism, individual freedoms, are coming back to bite us in the ass." He went on to elaborate, "[I]t seems like getting rid of the gatekeepers gave us Trump as president, and in the same breath, in the same wind, gave us not wearing masks, and maybe gave us a huge unpleasant amount of overt racism."


title: Penn Jillette

text: In the 2020 United States Presidential Election, Jillette endorsed Andrew Yang in the Democratic primary. In an op-ed for CNN after that year's general election, he stated that he "used to identify as Libertarian", but voted for Joe Biden.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee's fourth-largest city and one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee, along with Knoxville. It anchors the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Tennessee's fourth-largest metropolitan statistical area, as well as a larger three-state area that includes Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Northeast Alabama.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga was a crucial city during the American Civil War, due to the multiple railroads that converge there. After the war, the railroads allowed for the city to grow into one of the Southeastern United States' largest heavy industrial hubs. Today, major industry that drives the economy includes automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and beverage production, healthcare, insurance, tourism, and back office and corporate headquarters. Chattanooga remains a transit hub in the present day, served by multiple Interstate highways and railroad lines. It is northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, east-northeast of Huntsville, Alabama, and northeast of Birmingham, Alabama.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Divided by the Tennessee River, Chattanooga is at the transition between the ridge-and-valley Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau, both of which are part of the larger Appalachian Mountains. Its official nickname is the "Scenic City", alluding to the surrounding mountains, ridges, and valleys. Unofficial nicknames include "River City", "Chatt", "Nooga", "Chattown", and "Gig City", the latter a reference to its claims that it has the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga is internationally known from the 1941 hit song "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by Glenn Miller and his orchestra. It is home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and Chattanooga State Community College.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The first inhabitants of the Chattanooga area were Native Americans. Sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period (c. 10,000 BCE) show continuous human occupation through the Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian/Muskogean/Yuchi (900–1714 CE), and Cherokee (1776–1838) periods. The Chickamauga Mound near the mouth of the Chickamauga Creek is the oldest (c. 750 CE) remaining visible art in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Citico town and mound site was the most significant Mississippian/Muscogee landmark in Chattanooga up to 1915. The first part of the name "Chattanooga" derives from the Muskogean word "cvto" /chắtȯ/ – 'rock'. The latter may be derived from a regional suffix "-nuga" meaning dwelling or dwelling place. It is also believed to be derived from the Creek Indian word "Chat-to-to-noog-gee", meaning ‘rock rising to a point’, which is speculated to be a reference to Lookout Mountain.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The earliest Cherokee occupation of the area dates from 1776, when Dragging Canoe separated himself from the main tribe to establish resistance to European settlement during the Cherokee–American wars. In 1816 John Ross, who later became Principal Chief, established Ross's Landing. Located along what is now Broad Street, it became one of the centers of Cherokee Nation settlement, which also extended into Georgia and Alabama.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In 1838, the U.S. government forced the Cherokees, along with other Native Americans, to relocate to the area designated as Indian Territory, in what is now the state of Oklahoma. Their journey west became known as the "Trail of Tears" for their exile and fatalities along the way. The U.S. Army used Ross's Landing as the site of one of three large internment camps, or "emigration depots", where Native Americans were held before the journey on the Trail of Tears.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In 1839, the community of Ross's Landing incorporated as the city of Chattanooga. The city grew quickly, initially benefiting from a location well-suited for river commerce. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Chattanooga became a boom town. The city was known as the site "where cotton meets corn," referring to its location along the cultural boundary between the mountain communities of southern Appalachia and the cotton-growing states to the south.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: During the American Civil War, Chattanooga was a center of battle. Chattanooga served as a hub connecting fifty percent of the Confederacy's arsenals, those being located in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, and Macon. Chattanooga's railroads were vital to the Confederacy's transportation of raw material to processing plants for producing small arms munitions. During the Chickamauga Campaign, Union artillery bombarded Chattanooga as a diversion and occupied it on September 9, 1863. Following the Battle of Chickamauga, the defeated Union Army retreated to safety in Chattanooga. On November 23, 1863, the Battles for Chattanooga began when Union forces led by Major General Ulysses S. Grant reinforced troops at Chattanooga and advanced to Orchard Knob against Confederate troops besieging the city. The next day, the Battle of Lookout Mountain was fought, driving the Confederates off the mountain. On November 25, Grant's army routed the Confederates in the Battle of Missionary Ridge. In regard to victories won by the Union, Chattanooga marks one of three defining moments that turned the Civil War in their favor. The Battle of Gettysburg brought the streak of victories obtained by the Confederacy to an end, while the Siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy itself in half, while Chattanooga served as the doorway to the deep south. These battles were followed the next spring by the Atlanta Campaign, beginning just over the nearby state line in Georgia and moving southeastward. After the war ended, the city became a major railroad hub and industrial and manufacturing center.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The largest flood in Chattanooga's history occurred in 1867, before the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system was created in 1933 by Congress. The flood crested at and completely inundated the city. Since the completion of the reservoir system, the highest Chattanooga flood stage has been nearly , which occurred in 1973. Without regulation, the flood would have crested at . Chattanooga was a major priority in the design of the TVA reservoir system and remains a major operating priority in the 21st century.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In December 1906, Chattanooga was in the national headlines in "United States v. Shipp," as the United States Supreme Court, in the only criminal trial in its history, ruled that Hamilton County Sheriff Joseph H. Shipp had violated Ed Johnson's civil rights when Shipp allowed a mob to enter the Hamilton County jail and lynch Johnson on the Walnut Street Bridge.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga grew with the entry of the United States in the First World War in 1917; the nearest training camp was in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. The Influenza pandemic of 1918 closed local movie theaters and pool halls. By the 1930s, Chattanooga was known as the "Dynamo of Dixie", inspiring the 1941 Glenn Miller big-band swing song "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Through Mayor P.R. Olgiati's efforts, Chattanooga became the first city in Tennessee to have a completed interstate highway system in the latter 1960s. In February 1958, Chattanooga became one of the smallest cities in the country with three VHF television stations: WROM-TV (now WTVC-TV) channel 9 (ABC), WRGP-TV (now WRCB-TV) channel 3 (NBC), and WDEF-TV channel 12 (CBS).


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The same mountains that provide Chattanooga's scenic backdrop also trap industrial pollutants, which settle over the city. In 1969, the federal government declared that Chattanooga had the dirtiest air in the nation. Like other early industrial cities, Chattanooga entered the 1970s with serious socioeconomic challenges, including job layoffs because of de-industrialization, deteriorating city infrastructure, racial tensions, and social division. Chattanooga's population increased by nearly 50,000 in the 1970s. However, this was mostly because the city annexed nearby residential areas. By the mid-1980s, local leaders launched Vision 2000, an effort to revitalize and reinvent Chattanooga's culture and economy. Chattanooga's population declined by more than 10% in the 1980s, but regained it over the next two decades, the only major U.S. city to do so.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city of Chattanooga has grown, attracting people from out of state and even out of the country.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga launched the first one-gigabit-per-second Internet service in the United States in September 2010, provided through the city-owned utility EPB.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In August 2012, Chattanooga developed its own typeface, called "Chatype", which marks the first time a municipality has its own typeface in the United States and the first crowd-funded, custom-made typeface in the world.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: On July 16, 2015, six people—four U.S. Marines, one sailor, and the gunman—were killed and two more were wounded in shootings at two U.S. military facilities in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: On November 21, 2016, a school bus carrying students from Woodmore Elementary School crashed in the Brainerd neighborhood, killing 6 and injuring 23. In March 2018, the driver, an employee of Durham School Services, was convicted of six counts of criminally negligent homicide, 11 counts of reckless aggravated assault, seven counts of assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and illegally using his phone while driving. The crash reignited the debate about whether seat belts should be required in school buses.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 5.12%, are water. The most prominent natural features in and around Chattanooga are the Tennessee River and the surrounding mountains. The Tennessee River is impounded by the Chickamauga Dam north of the downtown area. The city is nestled between the southwestern Ridge-and-valley Appalachians and the foot of Walden's Ridge; the river separates the ridge from the western side of downtown. Several miles east, the city is bisected by Missionary Ridge. The downtown area sits at an elevation of approximately , one of the lowest elevations in East Tennessee.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Downtown Chattanooga has a wide variety of entertainment, dining, cultural and architectural attractions, including the Tennessee Aquarium, opened in 1992; the Creative Discovery Museum, opened in 1995; and the historic Walnut Street Bridge, reopened in 1993. The downtown footprint is bounded by interstate highway I-24 on the south to Frazier Avenue in the Northshore, as well as US highway 27 in the west to Central Avenue in the east.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The modern downtown skyline is dominated by the Aquarium, the Republic Centre (tallest building in Chattanooga), John C. Portman Jr.'s the Westin (Gold Building), the James Building (Chattanooga's first skyscraper), and The Block, a climbing gym with 5,000 square feet of functional climbing space. Chattanooga has buildings with historical significance, such as The Read House Hotel (the longest continuously operating hotel in the Southeastern United States), the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel (a converted railroad terminal), the Maclellan Building, the Dome Building (once the home to the Chattanooga Times), and the Tivoli Theatre. The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters, atop Cameron Hill, is the second-largest LEED Gold-certified corporate campus in the nation.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Downtown Chattanooga has four main bridges over the Tennessee River: the Walnut Street Bridge, the Market Street Bridge, the Olgiati Bridge, and the Veterans Memorial Bridge. These bridges allow pedestrians to connect the Riverfront and Northshore to the Tennessee Riverwalk and Bluff View Art District. Downtown Chattanooga parks include Coolidge Park, Renaissance Park, Miller Park, Miller Plaza and Main Terrain Art Park. The Martin Luther King District runs parallel to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's campus and features the largest mural in Chattanooga. The 40,000-square-foot mural was created by Philadelphia-based muralist Meg Saligman and seven other local artists.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In late 20th and early 21st centuries, substantial private and governmental resources have been invested in transforming the city's tarnished image. In 1993, restoration of the Walnut Street Bridge was completed. An excellent specimen of the Camelback truss bridge, it is the oldest surviving bridge of its kind in the Southeastern United States, having been built in 1891. Efforts to improve the city include the "21st Century Waterfront Plan" – a $120 million redevelopment of the Chattanooga waterfront area, which was completed in 2005. The Tennessee Aquarium, which opened in 1992, has become a major waterfront attraction that has helped to spur neighborhood development. Since the opening of the aquarium, downtown Chattanooga has received over $5 billion of private investment, including nearly $1 billion from 2014 to 2018.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city has won three national awards for outstanding "livability", and nine Gunther Blue Ribbon Awards for excellence in housing and consolidated planning. Public art experts chose Passageways 2.0 City Thread from among 50 outstanding public art projects created in 2018 through the Public Art Network Year in Review program, a national program that recognizes compelling public art. In addition to winning various national and regional awards, Chattanooga has been in the national limelight numerous times. Chattanooga was the profile city of the August 2007 edition of "US Airways Magazine". Chattanooga-based businesses have been recognized for their investment in solar energy. In December 2009, Chattanooga was ranked 8th out of America's 100 largest metro areas for the best "Bang For Your Buck" city, according to "Forbes" magazine, which measured overall affordability, housing rates, and more.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has many buildings and three neighborhoods on the National Register of Historic Places: Ferger Place, Fort Wood, and St. Elmo. Additionally, Chattanooga has several local historic districts: Battery Place, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge, M.L. King, and Stringer's Ridge. Four of these are formally managed as local historic districts by the city.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga, like much of Tennessee, has a four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa"). Winter days are usually mild, but most years have at least one day (average 3.2) where the high remains at or below freezing. Snowfall is highly variable from year to year. were recorded between January 9–10, 2011. Summers are hot and humid, with a July daily mean of and 52 days annually with or greater temperatures. Chattanooga is the sixth fastest warming city in the United States due to climate change.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Average annual precipitation is over . On average, November through March represents an extended relatively wet period, because of Chattanooga's frequent placement (in the winter season) in a zone of conflict between warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from Canada, amplified by jet-stream energy and abundant Gulf moisture. July presents a secondary maximum in precipitation, due to frequent thunderstorm activity. Despite the mountains that surround the city, Chattanooga has been affected by tornadoes. These tornadoes include the 2011 Super Outbreak, which impacted the city and nearby locations, including Apison and Cherokee Valley in Catoosa County, Georgia, where fifteen people died, eight in Apison and seven in Cherokee Valley. An EF3 tornado struck southeastern portions of Chattanooga on the night of April 12, 2020, and caused significant damage and three fatalities.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga uses the Eastern Time Zone. Counties directly to its west (in both Tennessee and Alabama) use the Central Time Zone.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 181,099 people, 79,565 households, and 41,059 families residing in the city.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 167,674 people, 70,749 households, and 40,384 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 79,607 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 58.0% White, 34.9% Black, 2.0% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.8% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin (regardless of race) constituted 5.5% of the total population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 55.9% of the population in 2010, down from 67.3% in 1980. There were 70,749 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.94.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. 46.1% of the population was male and 53.9% of the population was female.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The median income for a household in the city was $35,817, and the median income for a family was $43,314. Males had a median income of $36,109 versus $31,077 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,756. About 14% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga's Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties in Georgia, grew from 476,531 people, as of the 2000 census, to 529,222 people, as of the 2010 census, an 11% increase during the 2000s.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The single largest religious group in Chattanooga is Christianity. According to 2010 statistics, the Southern Baptist Convention was the largest denomination with 225 congregations and 122,300 members; followed by the United Methodist Church with 31,500 members and 83 churches. The third-largest group of Christians identified as non-denominational congregations; and the fourth-largest organized denomination was the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) with 82 churches and 17,900 members. The 5th largest Christian religious group, according to 2010 statistics, was the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, which had 12 congregations and 14,300 members. Islam has 2,200 adherents in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga's economy includes a diversified and growing mix of manufacturing and service industries.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Notable Chattanooga businesses include Access America Transport, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, CBL & Associates, The Chattanooga Bakery, Sanofi, the world's first Coca-Cola bottling plant, Coker Tire, U.S. Xpress Inc., Covenant Logistics, Double Cola, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Luken Communications, Miller & Martin, the National Model Railroad Association, PepsiCo, Reliance Partners, Republic Parking System, Rock/Creek, Tricycle Inc., and Unum. The city also hosts large branch offices of Cigna, AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and UBS. McKee Foods Corporation, the maker of nationally known Little Debbie brand snack cakes, is a privately held, family-run company headquartered in nearby Collegedale, Tennessee.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Notable companies that have manufacturing or distribution facilities in the city include Amazon.com, BASF, DuPont, Invista, Komatsu, PepsiCo, Rock-Tenn, Plantronics, Domtar, Norfolk Southern, Ferrara Candy Company (manufacturer of Brach's candies), Alco Chemical, Colonial Pipeline, and Buzzi Unicem. The William Wrigley Jr. Company has a prominent presence in Chattanooga, the sole site of production of Altoids breath mint products since 2005.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In a seminal event for Chattanooga, Volkswagen announced in July 2008 the construction of its first U.S. auto plant in over three decades, the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. In May 2011, Volkswagen Group of America inaugurated its plant. The $1 billion plant, opened in May 2011, served as the group's North American manufacturing headquarters. The plant, which initially employed 2,700 people, later increasing to 4,700, manufactures the Passat and the Atlas. It also has a full research and development center in downtown Chattanooga, employing some 200 engineers, the first of its kind in the South. The plant was the first new Volkswagen plant in the United States since the 1988 closure of the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania. In 2019, Volkswagen Chattanooga announced plans to expand its Chattanooga-based plant to construct electric vehicles. The expansion is expected to create one thousand new jobs and $800 million in investments.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In addition to corporate business interests, there are many retail shops in Chattanooga, including two shopping malls: Hamilton Place Mall in East Brainerd and Northgate Mall in Hixson. Eastgate Mall in Brainerd used to be a shopping mall, but has changed into a multi-use office building. Tourism and Hospitality has been a growing part of Chattanooga's economy, with 2014 being the first year for Hamilton County to surpass $1 billion in revenue.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Startups have been an increasing trend, due in part to EPB's fiber optic grid. Notable venture firms based in the city are Blank Slate Ventures, Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, Lamp Post Group, SwiftWing Ventures, and the Jump Fund. The city is served by several incubators, notably Co.Lab, the Business Development Center, and Lamp Post Group. The Business Development Center is among the nation's largest incubators, both in square footage and in the number of startups that it supports. Co-working spaces have picked up downtown, including Society of Work and Chattanooga Workspace. Unique in the city is the startup accelerator Gigtank, which utilizes the city's gigabit capacities and focuses on 3D printing, healthcare, and smartgrid technologies. Notable startups include Quickcue (acquired by OpenTable in 2013), and Reliance Partners. Chattanooga went from zero investable capital in 2009 to over $50 million in 2014.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Electric power for most of the city and surrounding area is provided by the city-run Electric Power Board (EPB). EPB also provides high-speed Internet service, TV, and telephone service to business and residential customers throughout Hamilton County, as well as parts of Bledsoe County, Bradley County, Catoosa County, Dade County, Marion County, Rhea County, Sequatchie County, and Walker County, via the nation's largest municipally owned fiber optic system. TVA operates the nearby Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant, Chickamauga Dam, and the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant, all of which provide electricity to the greater Chattanooga area. TVA's corporate power generation and distribution organization is headquartered in downtown Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Natural gas and water are provided by the privately run Chattanooga Gas Company and Tennessee-American Water Company, respectively. In 2005, Mayor Ron Littlefield stated his desire for the city to purchase the Tennessee-American Water Company, which was sold in a public offering in 2007. Former Mayor Jon Kinsey's attempts to have the city buy control of Tennessee-American Water were defeated in court.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: EPB Fiber Optics is the dominant cable and internet service provider for most areas of the city. The incumbent telephone company is AT&T Inc. However, competing phone companies, such as EPB, cellular phones, and VoIP are making inroads. A major interstate fiber optics line operated by AT&T traverses the city, making its way from Atlanta to Cincinnati. There are more choices among TV, Internet, and phone service providers for Chattanooga residents than in most other cities its size because of the intense competition between AT&T, Comcast, and EPB.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Beginning in 2009 and continuing through March 2011, when Haletown, Tennessee, received service from EPB's fiber optic network, EPB began to establish its exclusive fiber optic network to its service area, which covers the greater Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area. In September 2010, EPB became the first municipally-owned utilities company in the United States to offer internet access directly to the public at speeds up to ten gigabit (10,000 megabits) per second. The network has been emulated by at least six other cities in Tennessee and studied by other cities in the U.S. and internationally. Jay Weatherill, South Australia's Premier, visited Chattanooga in January 2012 and studied the gigabit network that was supporting critical city safety functions such as police and fire communications infrastructure, equipment and applications. He also inspected wastewater management, storm water management, traffic control and medical diagnostics applications, as well as operations of a smart lighting and camera system that allows the police to control public lighting and see what is happening in heavy crime areas. The use of broadband to carry the video and control signaling has contributed to making Chattanooga's Coolidge Park a safer place to visit.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In 2011, the expansion of EPB's network became a subject of major controversy in Tennessee. The success of its network, credited with the expansion of Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant and the establishment of Amazon.com facilities in Chattanooga and Cleveland, led to a number of legal challenges by AT&T and Comcast insisting that public funds not be used to fund expansion of public networks in competition with private ones. However, according to EPB, federal agencies, electricity industry trade sources, and other press sources, the investment in the fully fiber optic network is justified by electrical system benefits alone, including early fault detection and decreases in standby power.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: As of 2014, there are 27 banks operating in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, lending to financial strength. Among the larger banks are regional banks First Horizon Bank, Truist Financial, and Regions Financial Corporation, but the area also has offices from UBS, Chase, and Bank of America. In part to the strength and growing economic development, Chase recently shifted its East Tennessee headquarters from Knoxville to Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In early 2015, three locally owned banks and one in nearby Cleveland, Tennessee, were acquired by other banks. CapitalMark, formed in 2007, will be acquired by the Nashville-based Pinnacle Financial Partners for $187 million to have the fourth largest market share in the Chattanooga metro area. First Security Group, Inc, the largest Chattanooga-based bank, formed in 2000, will be acquired by the Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc., for $160 million. Cornerstone, started in 1985, will merge with the Knoxville-based SmartBank in a stock deal. Cleveland's Southern Heritage Bank was acquired in 2014 by First Citizens National Bank in Dyersburg, Tennessee, for $32.2 million. All these mergers only leave one Chattanooga-based, independent bank, First Volunteer Bank. Others in the area locally based include Dunlap, Tennessee-based Citizens Tri-County Bank, Ooltewah-based Community Trust and Banking Co., Dayton, Tennessee-based Community National Bank, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia-based Capital Bank, LaFayette, Georgia-based Bank of LaFayette, and Cleveland-based Bank of Cleveland.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: As the birthplace of the tow truck, Chattanooga is the home of the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. Another transportation icon, the passenger train, can be found at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, called TVRM by locals, which is the largest operating historic railroad in the South. Chattanooga is home to the Hunter Museum of American Art. Other notable museums include the Chattanooga History Center, the National Medal of Honor Museum, the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, the Chattanooga African American Museum, and the Creative Discovery Museum.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has a wide range of performing arts in different venues. Chattanooga's historic Tivoli Theatre, dating from 1921 and one of the first public air-conditioned buildings in the United States, is home to the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera (CSO), which became the first merged symphony and opera company in the United States in 1985. The CSO performs under the baton of Kayoko Dan. The Chattanooga Theatre Centre offers 15 productions each year in three separate theater programs: the Mainstage, the Circle Theater, and the Youth Theater.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Another popular performance venue is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. It was built between 1922 and 1924 by John Parks, General Contractors, and was designed by the architect R.H. Hunt, who also designed the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga hosts several writing conferences, including the Conference on Southern Literature and the Festival of Writers, both sponsored by the Arts & Education Council of Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga touts many attractions, including the Tennessee Aquarium, caverns, and new waterfront attractions along and across the Tennessee River. In the downtown area is the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, housed in the renovated Terminal Station. Also downtown are the Creative Discovery Museum, a hands-on children's museum dedicated to science, art, and music; an IMAX 3D Theatre, and the newly expanded Hunter Museum of American Art. The Tennessee Riverwalk, an approximately trail running alongside the river, is another attraction for both tourists and residents alike.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Across the river from downtown is the North Shore district, roughly bounded by the Olgiati Bridge to the west and Veterans Bridge to the east. The newly renovated area draws locals and tourists to locally owned independent boutique stores and restaurants, plus attractions along the Chattanooga Riverpark system, including Coolidge Park and Renaissance Park.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park is at 301 North Holtzclaw Avenue, a short distance from the downtown area. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. In 1937, the first small exhibit was "established with the construction of a 4x6' cage for two Rhesus Monkeys." The Zoo has since grown, as in 2017, "the Zoo kicked off the year with the announcement of the Kits and Cubs Program, which is a unique early childhood learning program designed specifically for the youngest of animal lovers." And in May 2017, "the Zoo broke ground to expand the Corcovado Jungle exhibit adding six new outdoor and six new indoor exhibits to house small South American monkeys and mammals in June." Parks and natural scenic areas provide other attractions. The red-and-black painted "See Rock City" barns along highways in the Southeast are remnants of a now-classic Americana tourism campaign to attract visitors to the Rock City tourist attraction in nearby Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The mountain is also the site of Ruby Falls and Craven's House. The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is a steep funicular railway that rises from the St. Elmo Historic District to the top of the mountain, where passengers can visit the National Park Service's Point Park and the Battles for Chattanooga Museum. Formerly known as Confederama, the museum includes a diorama that details the Battle of Chattanooga. From the military park, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of Moccasin Bend and the Chattanooga skyline from the mountain's famous "point" or from vantage points along the well-marked trail system.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Near Chattanooga, the Raccoon Mountain Reservoir, Raccoon Mountain Caverns, and Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden boast a number of outdoor and family fun opportunities. Other arboretums include Bonny Oaks Arboretum, Cherokee Arboretum at Audubon Acres, and Cherokee Trail Arboretum. The Ocoee River, host to a number of events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, features rafting, kayaking, camping, and hiking. Just outside Chattanooga is the Lake Winnepesaukah amusement park. The Cumberland Trail begins in Signal Mountain, just outside Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga hosts the well-known Riverbend Festival, an annual four-day music festival held in June in the downtown area. One of the most popular events is the "Bessie Smith Strut", a one-night showcase of blues and jazz music named for the city's most noted blues singer. The annual "Southern Brewer's Festival" and the "River Roast" festival celebrate such traditional Southern staples as beer and barbecue.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: New events, such as GoFest!, the "Between the Bridges" wakeboard competition, Heritage Festival, and Talespin, complement well-established events, such as Riverbend and the Southern Brewer's Festival, and attract their own audiences. Back Row Films is a citywide celebration of film co-sponsored by the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Arts & Education Council, and UTC.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: "Nightfall" is a free weekly concert series in Miller Plaza on Friday nights that features an eclectic mix of rock, blues, jazz, reggae, zydeco, funk, bluegrass, and folk music from Memorial Day until the end of September. The Chattanooga Market features events all year round as part of the "Sunday at the Southside", including an Oktoberfest in mid-October.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival, held each June, features workshops for mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, and auto harp, among others, along with performances by champion performers from across the nation.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga is also the center of much bluegrass music. In 1935, as well as from 1993 to 1995, the city hosted the National Folk Festival. Since 2007, the annual 3 Sisters Festival showcases traditional and contemporary bluegrass artists, and has been named one of the country's "5 Best" bluegrass festivals by Great American Country.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Each January, Chattanooga plays host to Chattacon, a science fiction and fantasy literary convention. The convention is organized by the nonprofit Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. First held in 1976, the convention drew an estimated 1,000 attendees to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 2012, as well as an estimated 1,300 attendees in 2013.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has a large, growing, and diversified sports scene for a city of its size, including college sports, minor league baseball, semi-professional teams, professional cycling exemplified by the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, the Ironman Triathlon, and a large nationally renowned regatta the first weekend of November.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga was the home of the NCAA Division I Football Championship game, which was held at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, from 1997 to 2009.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Mocs compete in NCAA Division I and the Southern Conference. UTC's athletic programs include football at the FCS level, women's soccer, volleyball, and cross country in the fall; men's and women's basketball, Wrestling, and indoor track & field in the winter; and softball and outdoor track & field in the spring. Men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis play in the fall and spring.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Lookouts, a Class AA Double-A South baseball team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, play at the riverfront AT&T Field.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga also is home to several semi-professional football teams, including the Tennessee Crush and the Chattanooga Steam. The Tennessee Crush plays its games at Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Steam plays at Lookout Valley High School near Lookout Mountain.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city has two professional soccer teams. From 2009 to 2019, Chattanooga FC played in the National Premier Soccer League, but is moved to an unsanctioned professional league (NISA) in 2020. Founded in 2009, Chattanooga FC has gone to the national finals four times since its inception, and drew a record 18,227 fans for their 2015 NPSL title match. The club has also found success in the U.S. Open Cup defeating the professional USL's Wilmington Hammerheads to reach the tournament's third round in 2014 and 2015. In 2019, Chattanooga FC became one of the founding members of NPSL's Founders Cup, a group of eleven teams playing a professional tournament in the fall before forming a fully professional league in 2020. To support this, Chattanooga FC became only the second sports team in the U.S., after the Green Bay Packers, to sell supporter shares in the team. These moves were partially in response to a USL League One franchise, the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC starting play in the 2019 inaugural season of that new third-tier professional league under the direction of Chattanooga FC's former general manager. The Red Wolves are play in USL League One and intend to build a multi-million dollar soccer specific stadium in the neighboring town of East Ridge, Tennessee. Before the proposed stadium was built, the Red Wolves had a legal battle with Arkansas State, with ASU sending them a cease-and-desist letter in November 2019. The stadium was announced as CHI Memorial Stadium, and was opened for play and fans in 2020 while still under construction. It will hold an estimated 5,000 fans for soccer matches.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga is also home to several rugby teams: the Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, Nooga Red, Nooga Black, men's Old Boys, a women's rugby team, men's and women's teams at UTC, and an all-city high school team. The Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, which was established in 1978 and the 2011 and 2013 DII Mid South champions, is affiliated with USA Rugby and USA Rugby South. The club fields two teams, Nooga Red, which competes in Division II, and Nooga Black, which competes in Division III. There is also a men's Old Boys team, a Chattanooga women's rugby team, as well as collegiate men's and women's teams representing the Mocs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A citywide high school rugby team, the Wolfpack, was established in 2012 and is open to any high school player living in the Chattanooga area. All seven teams play their home matches at Montague Park.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Head of the Hooch rowing regatta takes place along the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga during the first weekend of November. The head race originally took place on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta before moving to Chattanooga in 2005, hence the name "Head of the Hooch". With 1,965 boats in 2011 and nearly 2,000 boats in 2012, this competition ranks as the 2nd largest regatta in the United States, with numerous college and youth teams, such as UNC Men's Crew, Vanderbilt Rowing Club, James Madison University Crew, University of Tennessee Women's Rowing, Orlando Rowing Club, Nashville Rowing Club, Newport Rowing Club, and Chattanooga Rowing, competing. There are also multiple local rowing clubs, such as the Lookout Rowing Club for adults and the Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club for high school students. The weekend of the Head of the Hooch also sees hot-air balloon rides and other activities.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In 2013, the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships were held in Chattanooga. The schedule for the 3-day event on May 25–27 featured a handcycling time trail and various other cycling time trials and road races, including a men's road race that took the cyclists through the heart of downtown Chattanooga and up Lookout Mountain for a total race distance of . American professional cyclist Freddie Rodriguez won the national road race championship title for the fourth time in his career. The Championships' debut in Chattanooga marked the first time in the event's 29-year history that women were allowed to compete for professional national titles. Chattanooga will also host the Championships in 2014 and 2015.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city is home to the Chattanooga Bicycle Club. It was established in 1967 to "encourage and promote bicycle riding and safety, and to foster good relationships between cyclists and motorists by demonstrating courtesy and respect the law." The Chattanooga Bicycle Club advocates for transportation, fitness, and recreation, as well as health and wellness.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: This club is in relative with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), Adventure Cycling, Bike Chattanooga, and Outdoor Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Due to its location at the junction of the Cumberland Plateau and the southern Appalachians, Chattanooga has become a haven for outdoor sports, and has even been named Outside Magazine's "Best Town Ever" twice such as hunting, fishing, trail running, road running, adventure racing, rock climbing, mountain biking, and road biking. The internationally known StumpJump 50k has been hosted on nearby Signal Mountain since 2002.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Erlanger Half Marathon and Marathon have become a large part of the spring activities in Chattanooga in recent years. These events are orchestrated by the Chattanooga Sports Committee, and the half marathon course and marathon course are designed by the same group of runners. The course is subject to change throughout the years. The most recent marathon and half marathon were held on March 3, 2019.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In August 2013, further cementing Chattanooga's growing status as a nationally recognized outdoor haven, the Chattanooga Sports Committee, an organization established in 1992 to help the city host major sporting events, announced that the Ironman Triathlon would be coming to the city in a 5-year deal. The city became one of only 11 cities in the United States to host the grueling competition showcasing Chattanooga's natural beauty, which consists of a swim, a bike race (which is broken down into two loops), and a run (which is broken down into two loops). The event has a $40,000 prize purse and chances to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On November 4, 2014, it was announced that Chattanooga would host The Ironman 70.3 event, also known as the Half Ironman, in addition to the standard Ironman Triathlon. This event consists of a swim, bike ride, and run, and has a prize pot of $30,000. On September 29, 2015, The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that Ironman had chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee to host the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has been a member of the League of American Bicyclists' Bronze level since October 2003, the only city in Tennessee to be a member of the organization before Knoxville and Nashville joined in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The city has a number of outdoor clubs: Scenic City Velo, SORBA-Chattanooga, the Wilderness Trail Running Association, and the Chattanooga Track Club. The city also funds Outdoor Chattanooga, an organization focused on promoting outdoor recreation. In September 2004, the city appointed its first-ever executive director of Outdoor Chattanooga to implement the organization's mission, which includes promoting bicycling for transportation, recreation, and active living. For paddlers, Chattanooga offers the Tennessee River Blueway, a recreational section of the Tennessee River that flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge. The Tennessee Aquarium has a high speed catamaran, the "River Gorge Explorer", to allow up to 70 people to explore the Tennessee River Gorge. The "Explorer" departs from the Chattanooga Pier. Since 2008, Chattanooga has hosted the Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship, the crowning event of the largest disc dog competition series in the world.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city of Chattanooga is served by numerous local, regional, and national media outlets which reach approximately one million people in four states: Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The "Chattanooga Times Free Press", the area's only daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of two papers that had been bitter rivals for half a century, the "Times" and the "News-Free Press". The "Times" was owned and published by Adolph Ochs, who later bought "The New York Times". The "Times" was the morning paper and had a generally more liberal editorial page. The "News-Free Press", whose name was the result of an earlier merger, was an afternoon daily and its editorials were more conservative than those in the "Times". On August 27, 1966, the "News-Free Press" became the first newspaper in the nation to dissolve a joint operating agreement. In 1999, the "Free Press", which had changed its name from "News-Free Press" in 1993, was bought by an Arkansas company, WEHCO Media, publisher of the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette," which then bought The "Times" from the Ochs heirs. The "Times Free Press" is the only newspaper in the United States to have two editorial pages, reflecting opposite ends of the political spectrum. The "Times"s editorial page, which is liberal, is on the left page and the "Free Press"s editorial page, which is conservative, is on the right.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The "Chattanooga Pulse" is a free weekly alternative newspaper, published every Wednesday, that focuses primarily on arts, music, film and culture. It was formed in 2003 by Zachary Cooper and Michael Kull, running independently until 2008, when the paper was purchased by Brewer Media Group, which also owns and operates five radio stations in the city.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: "Enigma" is a free monthly pop culture and entertainment magazine. Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1995 by David Weinthal, "Enigma" lays claim to being Chattanooga's oldest alternative newspaper, even though it had ceased physical publication from 2013 until it resumed as a monthly magazine in 2015.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: "The Chattanoogan" and its website "Chattanoogan.com", established in 1999, is an online media outlet that concentrates on news from Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Southeast Tennessee. The publisher is John Wilson, previously a staff writer for the "Chattanooga Free Press". The "Chattanoogan" is the oldest online newspaper in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: "Nooga.com", purchased in November 2010 by local entrepreneur Barry Large, relaunched in 2011 as a local news website offering "quality daily content focusing on local business, politics, and entertainment in the Chattanooga area." In August 2018, Nooga.com partnered with Greenville, S.C.-based media company 6AM City. The outlet was rebranded and relaunched as NOOGAtoday in September 2018. While NOOGAtoday's primary product is its daily email newsletter, it also publishes content on its social media accounts and website.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city operates under a charter granted by the state legislature in 1852; the charter has been subsequently amended.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city operates under a strong mayor system, which changed from a commission form of government with members voted at-large. In 1987 twelve African American city residents filed a complaint, "Brown v. Board of Commissioners of the City of Chattanooga", alleging that the commission-style government violated their civil rights, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, by diluting the minority black vote. In 1989 U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar ruled in their favor, compelling the city to abandon the at-large voting system that it had used for the 'commission' form of government, established single-member geographical districts to proportionally represent both majority and minority elements of the population according to the city's racial demographics, eliminated voting privileges for non-resident property owners, and created the city's current mayor-council form of government. The Chattanooga City Council has nine members, of whom four are African American. The strong-mayor system began in 1991 after a 1990 citywide election that used the new court-ordered district system.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city's legislative branch is represented by members from nine districts, elected from single-member districts in partisan elections. The current council members are Chip Henderson (District 1), Jenny Hill (District 2), Ken Smith (District 3), Darrin Ledford (District 4), Isiah Hester (District 5), Carol Berz (District 6), Raquetta Dotley (District 7), Marvene Noel (District 8), and Demetrus Coonrod (District 9).


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga's delegation to the Tennessee House of Representatives includes Robin Smith (R), District 26; Patsy Hazlewood (R), District 27; Yusuf Hakeem (D), District 28; Mike Carter (R), District 29; and Esther Helton (R), District 30. In the Tennessee Senate, Chattanooga is divided between Districts 10 and 11 with Todd Gardenhire (R) and Bo Watson (R) representing each district respectively.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Chuck Fleischmann (R), who represents the 3rd District. In the United States Senate, both Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R) have district offices in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga, as the county seat of Hamilton County, is home to Chattanooga's City Courts and Hamilton County's Courts.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga is the location of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee's Southern Division, which is housed in the Joel W. Solomon Federal Courthouse. The Southern Division has jurisdiction over Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, and Sequatchie counties.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Police Department dates from 1852. Starting in 1883, it hired black police officers, making Chattanooga one of the first major Southern cities to have them. But after the state legislature imposed segregation, black police officers were dropped from the force. They were hired again on a permanent basis beginning on August 11, 1948, years before other major cities in the Southeast, such as Birmingham, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi, integrated their police departments. The first seven black officers in 1948, Thaddeus Arnold, Singer Askins, W.B. Baulridge, C.E. Black, Morris Glenn, Arthur Heard, and Thomas Patterson, were initially restricted to walking beats in black neighborhoods. In 1960, black police officers were authorized to patrol all neighborhoods and arrest white citizens.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Most of Chattanooga's primary and secondary education is funded by the government. The public schools in Chattanooga, as well as Hamilton County, have fallen under the purview of the Hamilton County Schools since the 1997 merger of the urban Chattanooga City Schools system and the mostly rural Hamilton County Schools system. The Howard School was the first public school in the area, established in 1865 after the Civil War. Tyner High School (now Tyner Academy) was the first secondary school built east of Missionary Ridge in 1907. It is now the home of Tyner Middle Academy. The Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, the STEM School Of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts are additional public magnet schools.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city is home to several well-known private and parochial secondary schools, including Baylor School, Boyd-Buchanan School, Chattanooga Christian School, Girls Preparatory School, McCallie School, and Notre Dame High School. The Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga is a specialized institution in the field of early childhood special education.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: A wide variety of higher education institutions can be found in Chattanooga and nearby. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is the second largest campus of the University of Tennessee System, with a student population of over 11,587 as of 2017–18 school year. Chattanooga State Community College is a two-year community college with a total undergraduate enrollment of roughly 8150 students in 2018. Tennessee Temple University was a Baptist college located in the Highland Park neighborhood that is no longer operating as of 2015. Chattanooga is also home to a branch of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, which provides medical education to third- and fourth-year medical students, residents, and other medical professionals in southeast Tennessee through an affiliation with Erlanger Health System. Covenant College, a private liberal arts college operated by the Presbyterian Church in America, is located in the nearby suburb of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and has a student population of about 1,000. Southern Adventist University is located in the suburb of Collegedale, Tennessee, and enrolls roughly 3,000 students. Richmont Graduate University is a Christian graduate school located in Chattanooga with a CACREP accredited clinical mental health counseling program as well as other ministry related degrees and a student population close to 300. Virginia College School of Business and Health offers a variety of programs leading to diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Public Library opened in 1905. Since 1976, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library system had been jointly operated by the city and county governments; due to Chattanooga terminating a 1966 agreement with Hamilton County to distribute sales tax revenue equally, the city has taken over full funding responsibilities as of 2011. The city was given a Carnegie library in 1904, and the two-story purpose-built marble structure survives to this day at Eighth Street and Georgia Avenue as commercial office space. In 1939, the library moved to Douglas Street and McCallie Avenue and shared the new building with the John Storrs Fletcher Library of the University of Chattanooga. This building is now called Fletcher Hall and houses classrooms and offices for the university. In 1976, the city library moved to its third and current location at the corner of Tenth and Broad streets.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has three hospital systems: Erlanger Health System, Parkridge Hospital System, and CHI Memorial Hospital System.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Founded in 1889, Erlanger is the seventh largest public healthcare system in the United States with more than half a million patient visits a year. Erlanger Hospital is a non-profit academic teaching center affiliated with the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine. Erlanger is also the area's primary trauma center, a Level-One Trauma Center for adults, and the only provider of tertiary care for the residents of southeastern Tennessee, north Georgia, northeastern Alabama, and western North Carolina. In 2008, Erlanger was named one of the nation's "100 Top teaching hospitals for cardiovascular care" by Thomson Reuters. Erlanger has been operated by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority since 1976.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Parkridge Hospital is located east of downtown in the Glenwood district and is run by Tri-Star Healthcare. Tri-Star also operates Parkridge East Medical Center in nearby East Ridge.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Memorial Hospital, which is operated by Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, is located downtown. In 2004, Memorial was named one of the "100 Top Teaching Hospitals" by Thomson Reuters.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Considered to be the gateway to the Deep South, along with the Midwest and the Northeast for motorists from states such as Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Chattanooga's extensive transportation infrastructure has evolved into an intricate system of interstates, streets, tunnels, railroad lines, bridges, and a commercial airport. While only a midsize city, Chattanooga is ranked as having some of the worst traffic congestion of cities its size, due primarily to unusually high volumes of truck traffic. A 2015 study by Cambridge Systematics found that 80% of trucks that pass through Chattanooga are destined for a different location, the highest share of any metropolitan area in the country.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Interstate 75 (I-75) connects Chattanooga with Knoxville to the northeast and Atlanta to the south. The eastern terminus of Interstate 24 (I-24) is in Chattanooga with I-75, which connects the city to Nashville to the northwest. The northern terminus of Interstate 59 (I-59) is about southwest of downtown Chattanooga in Dade County, Georgia, and connects the city to Birmingham to the southwest. A controlled-access segment of U.S. Route 27 (US 27) begins at an interchange with I-24 in downtown Chattanooga, and ends in northern Hamilton County, connecting the city with the cities of Red Bank, Soddy Daisy, Dayton, and Dunlap to the north. State Route 153 (SR 153), some of which is controlled-access, is a major route which connects I-75 to US 27 in the eastern and northern parts of the city. A short controlled-access portion of SR 319, known as DuPont Parkway, connects downtown Chattanooga to the Hixson area.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In addition to US 27, several other US Highways pass through Chattanooga as surface streets, and many share concurrencies. They include U.S. Routes 11, 41, 64, 72, 76, and 127, the last three of which have termini in Chattanooga. US 11 and 64 form a concurrency as Brainerd Road and Lee Highway, and connect Chattanooga to Collegedale and Cleveland to the northeast. US 41/76 (Ringgold Road) connects the city to Ringgold, Georgia to the southwest, and a surface-street section of US 27 (Rossville Boulevard) connects to Rossville, Fort Oglethorpe, and LaFayette, all in Georgia, to the south. Beginning in downtown and continuing for several miles to the southwest, US Routes 11, 41, 64, and 72 run together as Cummings Highway, before US 11 splits off, heading toward Trenton, Georgia. The remaining three routes continue toward Jasper, where US 72 splits off headed towards Huntsville, Alabama. US 127 (Signal Mountain Boulevard) begins in North Chattanooga at an interchange with US 27, and connects the city to Signal Mountain and Dunlap to the northwest.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Other major state routes in Chattanooga include routes 17, 58 (Riverfront Parkway, Amnicola Highway), 148 (Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway), 317 (Bonny Oaks Drive), 319 (Hixson Pike), and 320 (East Brainerd Road). Major city-maintained surface streets include Broad Street, Georgia Avenue, Gunbarrel Road, Hickory Valley Road, McCallie Avenue, Shallowford Road, Dayton Boulevard, and Frazier Avenue.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city is served by a publicly run bus company, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA). CARTA operates 17 routes, including a free electric shuttle service in the downtown area, and free wireless Internet on certain "smartbuses".


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Department of Transportation has a mission "to make efficient transportation viable for all commuters- cyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists while enhancing multi-use public spaces for all people." Chattanooga favors public transit, as the opening lines on the TDOT website read: "Sit back, relax, and let someone else deal with the traffic. Compared to driving, public transportation is less expensive, safer, and better for the environment. It reduces traffic congestion, saves energy, and benefits the communities it serves."


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The city has its own bicycle transit system (Bike Chattanooga) with 300 bikes and 33 docking stations, all supplied by PBSC Urban Solutions, a Canadian company.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Though Chattanooga's most famous connection to the railroad industry is "Chattanooga Choo Choo", a 1941 song made famous by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, the city serves as a major freight hub with Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX running trains on their own (and each other's) lines. The Norfolk Southern Railway's main classification yard, DeButts Yard, is just east of downtown; Norfolk Southern's Shipp's Yard and CSX's Wauhatchie Yard are southwest of the city. Norfolk Southern maintains a large railroad repair shop in Chattanooga. The two railroad companies are among the largest individual landowners in the city (the Federal Government is another).


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), the largest historic operating railroad in the South, and the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway also provide railroad service in Chattanooga. The headquarters of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) were located in Chattanooga next to the TVRM from 1982 to 2013, when the NMRA moved to Soddy-Daisy, a nearby suburb. (The NMRA had moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Chattanooga.)


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Despite the high level of freight rail activity, there is no passenger rail service in the city for commuters or long-distance travelers. But the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) has Chattanooga on a proposed future route that would run from Atlanta to Nashville twice daily, with additional stops in Marietta, GA; Cartersville, GA; Dalton, GA; Bridgeport, AL; Tullahoma, TN; Murfreesboro, TN; and the Nashville International Airport.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Using the AAR reporting marks (NS for Norfolk Southern, CSXT for CSX Transportation, TVRM for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, TNT for subsidiary Tyner Terminal Railroad, and CCKY for Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway), the rail lines passing through Chattanooga are as follows:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, often referred to as the Incline Railway by locals, serves as a tourist attraction. It is also occasionally used for commuting by Lookout Mountain residents, particularly during wintry weather when traveling up and down the mountain could be very dangerous.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Until the 1960s the Louisville and Nashville railroad ran passenger trains through Union Station and the Southern Railway ran trains through Terminal Station. The last train, the L&N's "Georgian", left Terminal Station in October 1971.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Being bisected by the Tennessee River, Chattanooga has seven bridges that allow people to traverse the river; five of the bridges being automobile bridges, one a rail bridge, and one a pedestrian bridge. These are the following, from west to east:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) offers non-stop service to various domestic destinations via regional and national airlines, including Allegiant Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines and its regional carrier Delta Connection, and United Express.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga has been referred to in pop culture numerous times over the decades, including in books, documentaries, films, TV shows, and more. In recent years, Chattanooga has appeared in more productions of blockbuster movies and TV shows, as well as independent films and documentaries.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Books that have Chattanooga as either a major or minor plot setting include "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" by Cherie Priest.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Documentaries have been filmed in Chattanooga over the decades, mostly related to the railroad industry or the Civil War battles that were fought in Chattanooga. These include the following:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Chattanooga and its environs have been featured in numerous films since the early 1970s, principally due to Chattanooga being the home of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), which has allowed its equipment to be filmed in various films.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In addition to the above TVRM films, the following films were filmed either in Chattanooga itself or in nearby locales:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: The 1941 Glenn Miller song that catapulted Chattanooga to international fame, "Chattanooga Choo Choo", has been performed in numerous movies, including the 1941 film "Sun Valley Serenade", featuring the Miller Orchestra and Milton Berle, "The Glenn Miller Story" starring James Stewart in the 1953 title role, and the 1984 eponymous film "Chattanooga Choo Choo".


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: A number of pro wrestling events, as well as other events, such as circuses, concerts, ice shows, monster truck rallies, and rodeos, have been held in Chattanooga since the late 1980s, all at UTC's McKenzie Arena, also known as "The Roundhouse" because of its round shape and the impact of the railroad industry on Chattanooga. The events include the following:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: "Police POV", "COPS", and the MTV show "Cuff'd" have shown members of the Chattanooga Police Department apprehending suspects. In addition to police reality shows, Chattanooga and nearby areas have been either been featured or mentioned in several TV shows, including the following:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Numerous independent short films have been produced in Chattanooga over the last several years, including the following:


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: Some TV movies have been filmed in Chattanooga or nearby areas, as well, including the 1986 TV movie "A Winner Never Quits". In addition, the 1999 music video "Usher Live", starring Chattanooga native Usher, was filmed in Chattanooga.


title: Chattanooga, Tennessee

text: In January 2007, all of the cities above (with the exceptions of Wolfsburg and Tōno) and the former sister cities of Swindon and Ascoli Piceno had a tree native to each locale planted at Coolidge Park's Peace Grove, which was established to replace a 100-year-old Slippery elm tree which was damaged in a lightning storm in August 2006. Wolfsburg and Tōno were added in September 2011 and January 2018, respectively. The Peace Grove has nine trees: a linden tree, which represents Hamm; a Chinese elm, which represents Wuxi; a Mediterranean cedar, which represents Givatayim; a white birch, which represents Nizhny Tagil; a ginkgo tree, which represents Gangneung; an English elm, which represents Swindon; a European hornbeam, which represents Ascoli Piceno; an oak tree, which represents Wolfsburg; and a cherry tree, which represents Tōno.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009) in collaboration with Gabriyel’ Arkadyevich Ureklyan (1899–1945), and its music was composed by Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946). For a two-decade interval following de-Stalinization, the anthem was performed without lyrics. The second set of lyrics, also written by Mikhalkov and in which Stalin's name was omitted, was adopted in 1977.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: A decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the music was adopted with new lyrics as the Russian national anthem.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: The anthem's music was originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1938 for the Hymn of the Bolshevik Party. Its opening bars were borrowed from one of Alexandrov's previous pieces, "Life has become better", which was based on a quote by former Soviet Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin at the First All-Union Meeting of the Stakhanovites on 17 November 1935. The song alludes to Stalin's cult of personality.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: Other than "Life Has Become Better", the music of the anthem has several possible outside influences. Alexandrov himself has described it as the combination of a march with Russian traditional music, particularly that of "bylina" epic songs. The anthem shares several chord progressions with Vasily Kalinnikov's overture "Bylina, Epic Poem" (which, as its name indicates, is also inspired by the "bylina" tradition). There also exist similarities between Alexandrov's anthem and Robert Schumann's "Frühlingsfahrt".


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: When the Communist International (Comintern) was dissolved in 1943 for the Soviet Union to maintain its alliance with the other Allies of World War II, a new composition was needed to replace "The Internationale" as the national anthem. A contest was held in mid to late 1943 for a new anthem, and more than 200 entries were submitted. Alexandrov's music was personally chosen by Stalin, who both praised and criticized it. The anthem's lyrics then had to be written. Stalin thought the song should be short, and that it should invoke the Red Army's impending victory over the forces of Germany on the Eastern Front. The poets Sergey Mikhalkov and Gabriyel’ Arkadyevich Ureklyan were chosen by Stalin's staffers, called to Moscow, and given the task of writing lyrics that referenced not only the Great Patriotic War, but also "a Country of Soviets". The first draft was completed overnight.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: The anthem was first published on 7 November 1943. It was played for the first time on Soviet radio at midnight on 1 January 1944, and officially adopted on 15 March the same year. The new lyrics had three refrains following three different stanzas. In each refrain, the second line was modified to refer to friendship, then happiness, then glory. Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union's war against Germany were originally invoked in the second and third verses, respectively. Reportedly, Stalin was opposed to including his name in the lyrics but relented after some Politburo members insisted.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: With the process of de-Stalinization after Stalin's death, the lyrics referring to him were considered unacceptable, and from 1956 to 1977 the anthem was performed without lyrics. A notable exception took place at the 1976 Canada Cup ice hockey tournament, where singer Roger Doucet insisted on performing the anthem with lyrics after consultations with Russian studies scholars from Université de Montréal and Soviet team officials. In 1977, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution, revised lyrics, written in 1970 by original author Sergey Mikhalkov, were adopted. The varying refrains were replaced by a uniform refrain after all stanzas, and the line praising Stalin was dropped, as were the lines referring to the Great Patriotic War. Another notable change was the replacement of a line referring to the Soviet national flag with one citing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the form of ""Partiya Lenina"" ("The party of Lenin"). These lyrics were also present in the original party anthem at the same place in the melody, but followed by the lyrics ""Partiya Stalina"" ("The party of Stalin").


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation adopted a new wordless anthem, the "Patriotic Song", although there were suggestions for adopting lyrics. As a result, a few different versions were produced. In late 2000, the current national anthem of Russia was introduced, which uses the music of the Soviet national anthem with new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: The same music was used for a proposed anthem for the State Union of Russia and Belarus, entitled "Derzhavny Soyuz Narodov" ("Sovereign Union of Nations"). Its lyrics were not tied to any specific nationality, and there were official versions in the languages of every Soviet republic and several other Soviet languages; thus it could have been adopted by a broader union. However, it was never officially adopted, and there appear to be no plans to utilize it in any official role.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: In some post-Soviet states which adopted decommunization laws banning Communist symbolism, publicly performing the Soviet anthem is illegal. For example, since 2015, offenders in Ukraine face up to five years in prison. Similar laws were adopted in Latvia and Lithuania.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: Similarly, some communist symbols (particularly Soviet symbols) are banned in Georgia, Germany and Poland.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: The anthem has since also become a popular internet meme. Existing remixes on YouTube include a techno cover, a "Minecraft" note block cover, a version with the Bart megaphone meme and an 8-bit cover, as well as covers on instruments such as the flute.


title: State Anthem of the Soviet Union

text: This table shows the anthem's various lyrics. As there were two official lyric versions (in 1944 and 1977), both are included within their sections.


title: Denise Crosby

text: Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in of "", and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She is also known for her numerous film and television roles, and for starring in and producing the film "Trekkies".


title: Denise Crosby

text: Denise Michelle Crosby was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Marilyn Scott and actor Dennis Crosby, after whom she was named. Crosby's paternal grandfather was the famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. Crosby was born out of wedlock, and Crosby's parents went through a highly publicized, three-year-long lawsuit her father had brought in an attempt to cancel the $80 per week he was paying Crosby's mother for child support. Crosby's mother prevailed in the lawsuit, and Dennis was ordered to continue paying child support and legal fees. The lawsuit deeply embarrassed Dennis and Bing Crosby, whom Crosby never met even though she was 19 when he died.


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby graduated in 1975 from Hollywood High School, followed by Cabrillo College, where she studied theater. She dropped out of college after she was interviewed by a local paper and revealed her famous family background: "One of the drama teachers used the story to illustrate to the class that this crap is what Hollywood's all about, using people's names to get somewhere. I was very, very hurt by it. So I just checked out." She started modeling and, in 1979, posed nude for the March issue of "Playboy" magazine, which she called "some kind of rebellion on my part, some way of saying screw you to the family image".


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby's choice of career solidified at an early age and was influenced by her grandfather Bing Crosby and her father Dennis Crosby. Crosby's first high-profile role was as Lisa Davis on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives". She has appeared as Dr. Gretchen Kelly in three episodes of "", and as a sheriff on "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." episode "No Man's Land".


title: Denise Crosby

text: In the early 1990s, she played the role of the mayor in the short-lived series "Key West". She also appeared in two episodes of the cable television series "Red Shoe Diaries", playing a different character in each episode. Crosby had a small recurring role in Aaron Spelling's primetime drama, "Models Inc", a spin-off from "Melrose Place". She was a guest star on the eighth season of "The X-Files" for two episodes, in which she plays a doctor who examined Agent Scully's baby. In 1991, she was a guest star in "The Deadly Nightshade", a first-season "The Flash" episode as Dr. Rebecca Frost.


title: Denise Crosby

text: In 2001, Crosby appeared in two episodes of NYPD Blue as the abrasive Lieutenant Susan Dalto. In 2006, she was a guest star in "Popping Cherry", the third episode of the first season of "Dexter", appearing via flashback as the victim of Dexter's first serial killing. Crosby had a recurring role in "Southland" as Detective Dan "Sal" Salinger's wife.


title: Denise Crosby

text: One of her first film appearances was in the 1982 Nick Nolte/Eddie Murphy film "48 Hrs." This was followed by a small role in the 1982 film "Trail of the Pink Panther", which she reprised in the sequel "Curse of the Pink Panther." In 1985, Crosby appeared in the music video for the Chris Isaak song "Dancin'". In 1986, she appeared in the music video for Black Sabbath's song "No Stranger to Love". In the same year, she played a robotics engineer, Nora Hunter, in the science-fiction movie "Eliminators". She starred in Stephen King's "Pet Sematary", played the lead role in "Dolly Dearest" in 1991, and also appeared in "Deep Impact" and Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown". Her other film roles included the 2002 Western horror film "Legend of the Phantom Rider", and the 2005 Tobe Hooper horror film "Mortuary".


title: Denise Crosby

text: In 1987, Crosby was cast in the role of Tasha Yar for the much-publicized return of "Star Trek" to television in the syndicated series "". She had been chosen to play Counselor Deanna Troi before Gene Roddenberry switched the roles that Marina Sirtis and she had originally been given. Initially one of the top-billed characters and featured prominently in episodes such as "The Naked Now" and "", the role of Tasha gradually moved into the background as other members of the ensemble cast became a greater focus of the series. Crosby reportedly grew disillusioned with her role because of its "Uhura-like" status: "I was struggling with not being able to do much with the character. I had all these ideas and couldn't do them. I was just stage dressing." Ultimately, Crosby decided to leave the show. Her character was killed by the alien creature Armus during the episode "Skin of Evil". She had appeared in 22 episodes when she left.


title: Denise Crosby

text: In later years, Crosby approached the "TNG" production team with the idea of reprising her role of Tasha Yar. This came to be in season-three's "Yesterday's Enterprise", in which an alternate timeline is created after the USS "Enterprise"-C, the predecessor to TNG's USS "Enterprise"-D, comes forward 22 years in time, just before it was to be destroyed. Yar joined the "Enterprise"-C before it returned to its own time to restore the original timeline. During the documentary "Trekkies", Crosby commented that her Tasha Yar character had to die to get "the best episodes".


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby also guest-starred in several other "TNG" episodes, including "" and "" as Romulan Commander Sela, the half-human, half-Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar, who had been taken prisoner in the past while on board the "Enterprise"-C. Crosby later reprised the role in the "" video game, and again in the series finale, "", in which Captain Picard is moving back and forth through time, and encounters Tasha during the events just prior to the pilot episode.


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby co-produced and narrated the 1997 documentary "Trekkies", followed by the 2003 sequel "Trekkies 2". Both films star Crosby, who conducts interviews with devotees of "Star Trek", more commonly known as "Trekkies". , she was reportedly working on a sequel called "Trekkies 3".


title: Denise Crosby

text: Along with other "Star Trek" actors, she has also appeared in the "Blood and Fire" episode of the fan-produced series "," playing Dr. Jenna Yar (grandmother of Natasha Yar).


title: Denise Crosby

text: In 2013, Crosby provided voicing for the characters of Tasha Yar and Sela in the Cryptic Studios MMORPG "Star Trek Online". Crosby became the first of a new wave of several "Star Trek" alumni to return to the roles they originated since Leonard Nimoy's participation at the game's launch in 2010.


title: Denise Crosby

text: In January and February 2010, Crosby performed alongside Gale Harold and ex-model Claudia Mason in Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" at Theater in Los Angeles. The production and cast received mostly positive reviews in the "Los Angeles Times", which stated, "Harold, ideally cast, beautifully ignites with Crosby, whose unconventional interpretation is an affecting revelation."


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby has a recurring role on Showtime's 2013 series "Ray Donovan". In 2014, she appeared in three episodes of AMC's "The Walking Dead" as Mary, a member of a group of cannibals. The character first appears in the penultimate episode of season four, "Us", and made her final appearance in the season-five premiere, "No Sanctuary".


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby also played the role of widow Margie Curtis in the TV series "Bones", season three, episode four, "The Secret in the Soil". She played the role of Special Master Faye Richardson in the legal drama "Suits" in its final season.


title: Denise Crosby

text: Crosby was married to Geoffrey Edwards, son of director Blake Edwards, from 1983 to 1990. She appeared in a number of her former father-in-law's films, including "10", "Skin Deep", "Trail of the Pink Panther", and "Curse of the Pink Panther". Crosby married Ken Sylk in 1995, and they have a son born in 1998.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: Scary Movie 2 is a 2001 American supernatural parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to "Scary Movie" and the second film in the "Scary Movie" film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans (all reprising their roles from the first film, despite their characters having seemingly been killed off), as well as Tim Curry, Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, Chris Masterson, Kathleen Robertson, David Cross and James Woods.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: The film is the last in the series to feature the involvement of stars Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and director Keenan. Marlon would eventually go on to produce a similar horror-themed parody, "A Haunted House", and its sequel, both starring himself. In the latter film, Wayans pokes fun at the "Scary Movie" series' decline in quality after his family's departure.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: Where the original film was mainly based on the slasher films of the 1990s, "Scary Movie 2" parodies an array of supernatural and haunted house films from various decades, namely "The Haunting" (1999), "Stigmata" (1999), "The Exorcist" (1973), "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), "The Amityville Horror" (1979), "Poltergeist" (1982), "The Legend of Hell House" (1973), "House on Haunted Hill" (both the 1959 and 1999 versions), "The Changeling" (1980), "What Lies Beneath" (2000) and "Bloodbath at the House of Death" (1984) while also making many references to the slasher flick "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" (1998). It also spoofs the comedy film "Dude, Where's My Car?" (2000) and some contemporary films, such as "Hannibal" (2001) and "Hollow Man" (2000). "Scary Movie 2" was commercially successful, grossing $141.2 million worldwide from a $45 million budget, but received largely negative reviews from critics.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: At haunted mansion Hell House, teenage Megan Voorhees becomes possessed by the spirit of Hugh Kane, the house's cruel, wicked previous owner. She interrupts a formal dinner party, thrown by her mother, who seeks help from two priests, Fathers McFeely and Harris. After an unsuccessful attempt to exorcise Kane's ghost, McFeely pulls a gun and shoots Megan.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: One year later, Cindy Campbell, Brenda Meeks, Ray Wilkins and Shorty Meeks are at college, trying to live new lives after surviving the events of the first film. Cindy and Brenda are tagged by socially maladjusted Alex. Shorty is still the same stoner he was before. Ray, still confused about his sexuality, has two new male friends, Tommy and Buddy, the latter of whom becomes romantically interested in Cindy. She rebuffs him but agrees to be friends. Immediately after, Buddy runs up behind Cindy and administers a near atomic thong wedgie in the hallways of their high school, thinking this is normal friend behavior. Cindy screams as she is lifted nearly off the ground before Buddy releases her thong, which snaps back against her ass, and Cindy nearly falls to the ground, knees buckled.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: The sinister Professor Oldman and his charming paraplegic assistant, Dwight Hartman, plan to study the paranormal activity at Hell House. They recruit Cindy and her friends as test subjects under the pretense of a psychological experiment on sleep paralysis. At the mansion, Cindy encounters a foul-mouthed parrot and Hanson, a creepy caretaker with a badly malformed hand. Later, the group is joined by the attractive Theo. They sit down for dinner, but soon lose their appetite due to Hanson's repulsive treatment of the food.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: That night, Cindy hears voices directing her to a secret room, where she and Buddy discover the diary of Kane's wife. Seeing her portrait, they note Cindy's (slight) resemblance. Meanwhile, the others also experience bizarre encounters. Kane's ghost has sex with Alex in her bedroom, and quickly departs at the mention of commitment. Cindy gets into a fistfight with the house cat, Mr. Kittles. When Cindy tries to tell Oldman, he dismisses it, and sends Theo to take Cindy to bed. Later, Cindy is possessed by Kane's wife, and she seduces Oldman. She quickly returns to normal, with no memory of the event. A toy clown attempts to kill Ray, but in a strange turn of events, the doll is sexually assaulted by Ray instead. A weed-monster rolls Shorty into a joint. It proceeds to smoke him (much to Shorty's enjoyment), but gets distracted and lets him escape. The next morning, Oldman tells Dwight that no one is leaving the house, despite the attacks, and shows his true lecherous nature. Dwight is given the only house keys, and told to give them to nobody. Theo offers oral sex to no avail; Dwight does it to himself. She knocks him out and takes the keys.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: Oldman is seduced and killed by the ghost of Kane's mistress, Victoria Crane. Shorty later encounters the same ghost, but charms and has sex with her. After Dwight equips the teens with weapons that can injure their spectral enemy, they are pursued throughout the mansion, Alex attempts to win Kane's love, but is killed by Crane's ghost. Buddy and Cindy are locked in the walk-in freezer. Cindy uses a collection of random objects to produce a Caterpillar 2-Ton tractor and escapes the freezer.


title: Scary Movie 2

text: Hanson becomes possessed by Kane and kidnaps an inebriated Shorty. Cindy, Brenda and Theo team up to battle Hanson with highly stylized fight choreography, but are defeated. Dwight regroups with the teens, and Cindy chooses to act as bait to lure Kane into a device that will destroy him. The plan succeeds, freeing the group from the house's curse.