Tag: featured

Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Family, Health, outdoors, Sports, teachers

For the Girls

Written by Carter Graham

Ana Garcia (14) rushes past Valerie Huerta (18). Tuesday, October 29, 2024. (Photo by Mia Liu).
Addi Dills receives her senior roses. Tuesday, October 29, 2024. (Photo by Mia Liu).

In the chaos of high school extracurriculars, where the color guard rehearses their routines with large bright flags sweeping back and forth, the marching band walks in unison with the distant sounds of football pads colliding from a practice field. It’s a typical Tuesday night at Heritage High School, and the Girls Varsity Flag Football team is about to kick off.

Led by Junior linebacker and wide receiver, captain Addi Dills’ face is painted with the familiar eye black spectators many see on Saturday or Sunday, reminiscent of Ray Lewis or John Randle. Dills, a three-sport athlete, also plays basketball and runs track. 

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community, Environment

Helping Henegar

Written by Maleah Holder

Jordan Guest stands among the rubble while helping clean up the Hughes family home. On the night of May 8th, tornadoes ravaged northeast Alabama causing catastrophic damage. Henegar, AL. Thursday, May 9th, 2024. Photograph by Caleb McCool.

Dark clouds roil over Henegar, Alabama as thunder shakes the homes below. For many, it was just like any other thunderstorm on a humid spring day, but for the Hughes family, it was one to remember. 

A storm began to brew over the Southeast. Heavy rains and lightning were predicted along with flooding in several major municipalities. Tornado warnings sounded across Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, typical for thunderstorms in the area, but no one imagined how quickly those warnings would become a tornado emergency. 

April Hughes had just hit her six-week mark on her journey to recovery after a crucial surgery on her neck to remove a cancerous mass. What began as a simple mass removal ended up being the first in a streak of unfortunate twists in her and her family’s lives. As April was recovering, her husband Nathaniel patiently waited for his own surgery on his shoulder following a recent injury. 

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