A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, an education historian, an urban farming activist and a radio show producer will talk with Chattanooga locals during this year's Hunter Lecture Series at UTC.

Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, MacArthur Fellow Will Allen and "This American Life" host Ira Glass are this year's featured speakers. + More

The lecture series was created five years ago to bring respected influential figures to Chattanooga, said Lori Quillen, community program director for the Benwood Foundation.

"We try to find speakers who are engaging and bring a different perspective to Chattanooga," Quillen said. "It should be an engaging experience, and something that you can't do anywhere else."

The foundation co-sponsors the series with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and all lectures are free and open to the public.

Ravitch will kick off the series Sept. 18. She is well-known for her stance on education reform and wrote the best-selling book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System."

In November, Friedman will speak on community development. Friedman is the author of six books and has written on environmental issues, foreign affairs, globalization and the Middle East.

Allen, the founder of "Growing Power," a farm that produces healthy food for low-income neighborhoods in Milwaukee, will visit Chattanooga in February. His lecture will focus on the environment.

The series will end in April, when Glass speaks. Glass produces a radio show on Chicago Public Radio that is heard by nearly 2 million people.

UTC Chancellor Roger Brown said the lecture series is valuable because people who attend can interact personally with the speakers.

"The series puts us in the same room with nationally renowned speakers to learn what they have to say firsthand and ask questions," he said. "It helps to create an awareness for us all on larger-scale issues and is truly an enlightening experience."

Each lecture lasts about an hour, Quillen said, and includes a question and answer session at the end. Typically, 700 people attend each session.

She said Chattanooga residents seems to enjoy the experience.

"We've gotten a tremendous response from the community," she said. "The lecture series has been really well received and I think people appreciate being able to hear from these speakers."

Donna Perkins' classroom is stocked with whiteboards, desks and computers, but little else.

It will take a massive amount of work to make her room as bright and welcoming as those of other teachers at Clifton Hills Elementary School, but the first-year fourth-grade teacher finds one consolation in the task ahead. + More

"The positive thing about having nothing is I can make it my own," she said while looking up and down her bare walls. Click here for the full article. - Less

If it were up to Glenwood resident Christy Montgomery, she and her teenage daughter would eat salads every night.

Click here for full article. + More

Officials from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's SimCenter: National Center for Computational Engineering, SimCenter Enterprises Inc. and Chattanooga's Gig City initiative were on hand in Washington when the White House launched US Ignite, a national innovation initiative for developing and deploying public sector applications and services on ultra-fast networks.

Click here for full article. + More

A new cultural plan for Hamilton County has reached another milestone this week as Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga announced a series of new programs and initiatives designed to move the long-term plan forward.

Click here for the full article. + More