Chattanooga 2.0 is a city and county-wide initiative. Their goal is to improve opportunities and outcomes for all Chattanooga and Hamilton County students from the moment of their birth until the day they begin their careers. For its first three years, Chattanooga 2.0’s focus has been on early childhood education—preparing children for kindergarten and beyond. As Executive Director Jared Bigham sees it, to truly improve the school system for all students will take a generation. In last week’s

The opioid crisis affects children as well as adults. Community leaders gathered in a conference room at the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce to talk about those sometimes-forgotten victims during a panel Council For A Strong America organized. Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy discussed how new training is teaching officers to be more empathetic toward children, and Major General Leslie Purser talked about the opioid crisis's effect on military recruitement.

Welcome Home of Chattanooga provides a home to people who are terminally ill and have nowhere else to go; particularly, homeless people or people without much family support. The nonprofit also hosts educational events for anyone interested in end-of-life-care, including hospice workers and the general public. On September 14 , their new speaker series begins with "Accidental Prophet" Peter Anthony . He and Welcome Home Executive Director Sherry Campbell join us.

National Drive Electric Week begins this Saturday and events celebrating plug-in vehicles are happening nationwide, including right here in Chattanooga. WUTC’s Will Davis is talking to James Dillard.

La Paz Chattanooga's mission is to guide, connect and strengthen Chattanooga's Latino community through advocacy, education, and inclusion. Angela Garcia, Director of Marketing and Business Development, joins us to talk about their 2018 Latino Leadership Awards. The public is invited to the ceremony on September 17, and part of the voting is open to the public.

Dr. Douglas Tallamy joins us to discuss making your home garden work with, rather than against, the local ecosystem. He and Rick Darke wrote The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Tallamy is speaking with us ahead of his September 7 public lecture at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

William "Buddy" Scarborough wrote a Harvard Business Review article earlier this year about gender inequality in management positions, and joins us to talk about his research. Scarborough tells us about women and men being disproportionately represented in certain industries’ top positions. He also talks about the situation in Chattanooga. He’ll be in town September 6 for Minding The Gaps: A Symposium on Women in the Workforce.

This year’s Wine Over Water will take place October 4 through October 7. WUTC’s Will Davis talked with Amanda Carmichael about the popular food and wine festival.

Educators have long known that 80% of our cognitive development occurs before we are 3 years old. But for most of us that is a startling wake-up call. For Chattanooga 2.0, it’s the foundation of one of their primary goals—to make every new parent aware of just how important it is to read to their children from a very early age, every day. Jared Bigham is the executive director of Chattanooga 2.0, a group of education, business and community leaders who have joined forces to improve education in

Let America Vote founder Jason Kander joins us to talk about voter suppression and how his organization is encouraging young people to vote. Kander will be in Chattanooga Wednesday, August 29 th for Cap, Gown, Vote! At the event Wednesday evening, Kander, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, and members of the Mayors Youth Council will build strategies for registering, mobilizing, and energizing first-time voters in our community. The event is free and open to the public.