President Andrew Johnson in the news again

By Mike Steely The name of Andrew Johnson has popped up in local and national news recently. Locally it’s the historic Andrew Johnson Building which was recently sold to BNA Associates for $6 million. That controversial sale finally concluded after years of...

Ever visit a waterfall inside a city?

By Mike Steely Ever visit a beautiful waterfall located inside a city? Noccalula Falls Park is in Gadsden, Alabama, just a few minutes off Interstate 59 and about an hour and a half south of Chattanooga. The city park’s 250 acres features a 90-foot waterfall, an...

Readers respond to ‘What do you collect?’

By Mike Steely In a recent story in The Focus I mentioned that my wife and I collect political and promotional buttons and cups from places we’ve visited, and other things like postcards and business cards. The article drew some response when it appeared. Kathy Turpin...

Traveling historic Norris Freeway

By Mike Steely The highway runs from Rocky Top (Lake City) to Halls Crossroads and, among other landmarks, crosses TVA’s Norris Dam, the agency’s first hydro-electric producer. But Norris Freeway is more than just a road that did not exist before the 1930s and much...

What do you collect?

By Mike Steely For more than 50 years my wife and I have been collecting things. As a reporter and an advertising representative we’ve moved around a lot, visited every state except Alaska, and we’ve collected mementos of places such as cups, photos, postcards and...