“The new normal.”

What is it?

What was it?

What will it be?

What should it be?

Here on our campus - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - Chandra Ward is an assistant professor of sociology and Ethan Mills is an associate professor of philosophy.

When the pandemic sparked interest in home gardens, canning what is grown in those gardens would soon have to follow.

June Puett is an agent with the UT Extension Office here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County.

She’s teaching an online class about Home Canning for The Chattery on Saturday, starting at 10 AM.

Unum here in Chattanooga recently established a Social Justice Fund to - quote - “create stronger, more equitable communities.”

The insurance firm made a $500,000 corporate gift, now being supplemented with employee and company matches, to set up the fund - which will support projects to fight racism, discrimination and bias.

Rick McKenney is Unum’s CEO - and Liz Ahmed is its executive vice president of people and communications.

Each week online, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center here in Chattanooga features community members reading children’s books - to spur dialogue on race relations.

The digital series is called “Bessie’s Front Porch” - and yesterday, Ron Harris of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee read:  "One Vote, Two Vote, I Vote, You Vote."

Watch the entire readings from “Bessie’s Front Porch” on the Facebook page - and YouTube channel - for the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.

New readings appear online at 11 AM on Thursdays.

Ron Harris reads "One Vote, Two Vote, I Vote, You Vote."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb2I4D_3sg8?fbclid=IwAR1dx0v3lW5cB2MgqB7HsmYW3RNIOlX5OH_MqgyLfR2GoOTVJKmk4wv8_Qs" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">

Here in Chattanooga, the Tivoli Theatre Foundation has created a recovery fund to maintain its iconic venues, which have lost millions of dollars in revenue in canceled bookings during this pandemic.

Nick Wilkinson is the Foundation’s executive director.

We spoke with Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke - as we do here each month - live on WUTC.

Richard Winham presents the first part of a performance by Peppino D’Agostino, a finger-style guitar player, from a show streamed online on Barking Legs Theater’s Facebook page.

Rick Rushing learned how to play guitar here in Chattanooga.

He performs locally and regionally with his blues band:  Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers.

In the past year, Rick has been one of the teaching artists working in our community through the Wolf Trap program at UTC’s Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, now known as the Arts-Based Collaborative at UTC.

For more on the Arts-Based Collaborative here on the UTC campus, visit:  utc.edu/arts-based-collaborative.