Opinion: Making McCallie Avenue safer for peddlers, camera focus must continue, new award categories, obituaries

I have to admit, the timing must have been a coincidence. Really. And a bit of a shame, especially with the overload of search engine results with the word “McCallie” in them.
There was a press release about a McCallie school employee let loose, tons (rightly so) about the McCallie Avenue shooting, stories about a failed surveillance camera at that scene, and a memory of the one of the victims of the McCallie Avenue shooting.
Well, since this area of town gets more blue lights than Black Friday at a Kmart, City Hall has announced another set of bike lanes planned for McCallie Avenue.
Sin. McCallie Avenue will be reduced to three lanes between Central and Highland Park Avenues as bike lanes are added and sidewalks are widened.
After having helped empty the car parks in the city center, cycle paths are planned, and I mean it, according to the Local 3 News report, “to make our streets safer,” according to city transportation officials. Yeah, right now they might want to rework that wording, don’t you think?
A truly meaningful government gathering
Thus, there have been vigils and community meetings following the downtown shootings for the past two weekends.
We hope this will produce results, both in the fight against gun crime and for peace for the loved ones of the victims.
But here’s a thought for the city council: whenever the hammer falls on your weekly meeting, rather than talking about your outrage, let’s make sure someone – anyone – asks the Chattanooga Police Department how many these cameras are operational and what is being done to quickly replace those that are not.
Thank goodness for social media in this case, because that’s apparently where most of the details about what’s going on come from.
New category
So I saw that the Grammys added a category for best social change song.
Great. I suppose. If we’re going to grandpa in a couple, shouldn’t we start with “We Are the World” after all?
That would be pretty awesome because it would mean Kevin Costner and Dan Aykroyd would be among the winners since they were in the video with some of the best recording artists of all time. Crash Davis and Elwood Blues with the Grammys? I’m good with that.
And while we’re here, do you want to know of a price discount change that I would appreciate?
The Academy needs “Most Entertaining Movie of the Year” because “Top Gun: Maverick” won’t get much attention next to Meryl Streep’s three snoozefests.
“Top Gun: Maverick” was better than all that drama, and the movie industry should be so grateful to Tom Cruise for reminding us all post-pandemic just how fun it is to go to the movies.
Obituary observation
I was fascinated by the range of skills mentioned in “Buddy” Rhodes Jr.’s obituary earlier this week. Rhodes died late last month. He was 88 years old. Learn about the life challenges he overcame.
He was stationed in Germany as a decorated marksman from 1956 to 1958 in the United States Armed Forces. He worked as a representative for Coca-Cola after returning from the service for a few years before becoming general manager of Lake Winnie for most of the 1960s. In 1970 he started Rhodes Oil in LaFayette, Georgia, and carried all hats, from the big boss to the gas station attendant.
And he was clearly the charmer, since his obituary read, “He was a member of the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club and also frequented the Cleveland Country Club where he never put his own name on the tab.”
Wow, what a life. And what a skill set.
Contact Jay Greeson at [email protected] or 423-757-6273. Follow him on Twitter @jgreesontfp.