VOL. 47 | NO. 3 | Friday, January 13, 2023
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
About this time last year, The Tennessean announced that it was killing its Saturday print edition.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The threat of a recession has been looming throughout the past six months against a backdrop of good and bad jobs reports and optimistic and pessimistic consumer spending reports. The conflicting indicators have left many looking for a safe place to park their cash in order to best weather the storm.
REAL ESTATE
Top Davidson County commercial real estate sales for 2022, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After two straight weekly increases, the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate came back down again this week but remains a significant hurdle for many prospective homebuyers.
TECHNOLOGY
If you’re a gadget lover at heart, hearing the letters CES strung together transports you to the biggest and baddest new technology around … the stuff you put in your house that can cost more than your house.
UT SPORTS
Josiah-Jordan James experienced the normal frustrations that come with rehabilitating an injury. The senior guard admitted to having “dark days” and not feeling like he was getting better.
NEWSMAKERS
Ogletree Deakins has selected Luther Wright, Jr. as its office managing shareholder in Nashville.
BRIEFS
The inauguration for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s second term is set for later this month.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The supply chain shortage continues to tamp down automotive production and sales, but that hasn’t stopped automakers from introducing new and redesigned models. Electric vehicles are the next hot trend, but gas-powered and hybrid vehicles aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and there are plenty of new ones hitting the market this year.
CAREER CORNER
“If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?” It’s a great question one that I’m often asked.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Chances are your “buy-now, pay-later” bill from the holiday season will arrive soon or has already has.
PERSONAL FINANCE
By now, you’re probably familiar with the more obvious ways inflation affects your finances. Your money doesn’t go as far at the grocery store, for example. Credit card and other variable-rate debt is getting more expensive as the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates to combat inflation. Rates are also rising, albeit more slowly, on savings accounts.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kevin Lankinen made 39 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Tuesday night.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have hired San Francisco director of player personnel Ran Carthon as their general manager.
TOURISM
Nashville’s tourism industry generated record economic activity for the city in 2022 with the most room nights ever sold in a single year at 9.5 million room nights, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced today.
GATLINBURG (AP) — Great Smoky Mountains National Park has begun selling annual parking tags ahead of a new requirement beginning March 1 to buy daily, weekly or annual tags to park any vehicle for more than 15 minutes.
COURTS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk was depicted Wednesday as either a liar who callously jeopardized the savings of "regular people" or a well-intentioned visionary as attorneys delivered opening statements at a trial focused on a Tesla buyout that never happened.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Capitol riot was the culmination of weeks of preparation and a moment of triumph for the Oath Keepers, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday in closing argument in the second seditious conspiracy trial against members of the far-right extremist group.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he met for 2½ hours Tuesday with Manhattan prosecutors who have revived a years-old investigation into payments made to a porn star to keep her quiet about an alleged extramarital tryst.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian national who founded a cryptocurrency exchange that the Justice Department says became a haven for the proceeds of criminal activity has been arrested, federal officials said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed sympathetic to the arguments of a deaf student who sued his public school system for providing an inadequate education, a legal challenge important for other disabled students and their families.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two former Fox executives went on trial Tuesday, accused of bribing South American soccer officials for TV rights to one of the continent's biggest annual tournaments and using information gathered in the process to help the network's winning World Cup broadcast bid. It's the latest case to go to court in the sprawling FIFA corruption scandal.
MEDIA
A neon Twitter bird for $35,000, anyone? How about a used industrial kitchen mixer for a good price? Going once ....
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government says it will begin a targeted crackdown on nursing homes' abuse of antipsychotic drugs and misdiagnoses of schizophrenia in patients.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street had its biggest pullback of the year as a January market rally sputtered.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sales for the holiday 2022 season slowed more than expected from its blistering pace a year ago as higher borrowing costs and higher inflation made shoppers pull back, according to the nation's largest retail trade group.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growing evidence that high inflation is finally easing shows that the Federal Reserve's sharp interest rate hikes are working as intended, says Loretta Mester, a key Fed policymaker. But further rate hikes are still needed, she says, to decisively crush the worst inflation bout in four decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose 6.2% in December from a year earlier, a sixth straight monthly slowdown and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures will continue to cool.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans cut back on spending in December, the second consecutive month they've done so, underscoring how inflation and the rising cost of using credit cards slowed consumer activity over the crucial holiday shopping season.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell tested positive Wednesday for COVID-19 and is experiencing "mild symptoms," the Federal Reserve announced.
United Airlines reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue higher than Wall Street expectations and gave a bullish 2023 forecast that assumes people will keep traveling despite inflation and concern about the economy.
LONDON (AP) — U.K. inflation eased for a second month in December, boosting confidence that the cost-of-living crisis has peaked.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Turkey on Wednesday looked to brush aside differences that have strained relations for years but were unable to report progress in resolving disagreements over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and NATO expansion that have soured ties between the allies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Joe Biden stepped to the lectern in the shadow of the Brent Spence Bridge in northern Kentucky this month, he couldn't stop showering praise on the state's senior Republican senator, who had fought to repair the ramshackle span for decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will headline the White House's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday, a bitter historical milestone for the Biden administration after the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back the national right to abortion.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Juuse Saros made 38 saves, including 21 in the third period, to lead the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
TENNESSEE TITANS
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals have hired Monti Ossenfort as the team's new general manager.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials are encouraging rescue squads to apply for grant money to purchase lifesaving equipment.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — A public memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley will be held next weekend at Graceland, the famed Memphis home of her father, Elvis Presley.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A company co-founded by Vanderbilt University professors has received a special designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a breakthrough device.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The fastest Corvette ever made comes out later this year, and it's not powered soley by a howling V8.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn't.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Major U.S. indexes closed mixed on Wall Street at the beginning of a holiday-shortened, but earnings-heavy week.
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The World Economic Forum says billionaire Elon Musk wasn't on the guest list for the annual meeting of business executives, global leaders and cultural trend-setters in Davos, Switzerland — despite what the Twitter owner claims.
NEW YORK (AP) — Emerson is going public with a $7.6 billion bid for National Instruments, saying the company has avoided serious buyout negotiations since early last year.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union pushed forward on Tuesday with a major clean tech industrial plan which not only should keep the continent in the vanguard of plotting a greener future but also guarantee its economic survival as it faces challenges from China and the United States.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House brushed aside criticism Tuesday of its fragmented disclosures about the discovery of classified documents and official records at President Joe Biden's home and former office, saying it may withhold information to protect the Justice Department's investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to host Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for talks as the U.S. administration looks to persuade the Netherlands to further limit China's access to advanced semiconductors with export restrictions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to California's central coast Thursday to visit areas that have been devastated by extreme weather.
MONDAY, JANUARY 16
COURTS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn't.
TRANSPORTATION
BANGKOK (AP) — Yeti Airlines flight 691 crashed Sunday just before landing in Nepal's tourist city of Pokhara, the gateway to a popular hiking area in the Himalayas, after a 27-minute trip from Kathmandu.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The World Economic Forum is back with its first winter meetup since 2020 in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, where leaders are seeking to bridge political divisions in a polarized world, buttress a hobbling economy and address concerns about a climate change — among many other things.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, in Switzerland on Wednesday to discuss economic developments between the two nations.
LONDON (AP) — People worldwide are more gloomy about their economic prospects than ever before and trust business far more than other institutions like governments, nonprofits and the media in an increasingly divided world, according to a survey from public relations firm Edelman.
NEW YORK (AP) — When some of the world's wealthiest and most influential figures gathered at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting last year, sessions on climate change drew high-level discussions on topics such as carbon financing and sustainable food systems.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and Belarus on Monday launched joint air force drills, an exercise that underlines close defense ties between the two allies amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly empowered House Republicans on Sunday demanded the White House turn over all information related to its searches that have uncovered classified documents at President Joe Biden's home and former office in the wake of more records found at his Delaware residence.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans interviewed two in-house candidates on Thursday for the team's vacant general manager position.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored two power-play goals and the Montreal Canadiens held off the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Thursday night after honoring former defenseman P.K. Subban in a pregame ceremony.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
MEMPHIS (AP) — Lisa Marie Presley will be buried at Graceland, the famed home of Elvis Presley that on Friday became a gathering place for fans distraught over her death a day earlier.
Reaction to the death of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, who died Thursday at 54.
EAST TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The U.S. diving trials for the 2024 Olympics will be held in Knoxville, Tennessee.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Montana man who authorities say entered the U.S. Capitol with his juvenile son during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot was charged with misdemeanor crimes including disorderly conduct.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's company was fined $1.6 million Friday as punishment for a scheme in which the former president's top executives dodged personal income taxes on lavish job perks — a symbolic, hardly crippling blow for an enterprise boasting billions of dollars in assets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants led a coordinated attack on "the heart of our democracy" in a desperate attempt to keep Donald Trump in the White House, a federal prosecutor said Thursday at the start of their seditious conspiracy trial.
HEALTH CARE
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — An appeals court has affirmed a ban in three states on enforcing a federal vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government.
TECHNOLOGY
KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — The European Union wants to bolster its capacity to launch small satellites into space with a new launchpad in Arctic Sweden.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday rejected Tesla CEO Elon Musk's bid to move or delay a trial over a misleading tweet about a potential buyout of the electric automaker, setting the stage for the mercurial billionaire to be thrust into a legal drama amid the turmoil of his Twitter takeover.
DETROIT (AP) — With its sales slowing and its stock price tumbling, Tesla Inc. slashed prices dramatically Friday on several versions of its electric vehicles, making some of its models eligible for a new federal tax credit that could help spur buyer interest.
CHIBA, Japan (AP) — To accelerate the global move toward sustainable vehicles, Toyota is suggesting simply replacing the inner workings of vehicles already on the roads with cleaner technology like fuel cells and electric motors.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as earnings reporting season got underway and CEOs began to show how well or poorly they're navigating high inflation and a slowing economy.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will take a more than 40% pay cut this year from a year earlier as the company adjusts how it calculates his compensation partly based on a recommendation from Cook himself.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission went after two prominent companies in the crypto community, alleging that Genesis Global Capital and the crypto exchange Gemini were selling unregistered securities through a popular program that was supposed to give high interest payments on crypto deposits.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. said its fourth-quarter profits rose 6% from a year ago, as higher interest rates helped the bank make up for a slowdown in deal-making in its investment bank. The bank also set aside more than $2 billion to cover potential bad loans and charge-offs in preparation for a possible recession.
Wells Fargo's profit for the fourth quarter came in ahead of Wall Street's targets but were about half of what it earned last year as the bank had to pay another $3.3 billion in fines and penalties to settle numerous scandals from recent years.
Delta Air Lines said Friday that it earned $828 million in the fourth quarter and that consumers are still snapping up flights and making purchases with their airline-branded credit cards.
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines raised its forecast of fourth-quarter revenue and profit Thursday, boosted by higher fares and full planes capped off with a busy holiday travel period.
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. economy grew unexpectedly in November as the tight job market increased demand for employment services and soccer's World Cup boosted hospitality.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress on Friday that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on Thursday and will then resort to "extraordinary measures" to avoid default.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address on Feb. 7, the White House said, after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy extended the invitation for him to address a joint session of Congress that day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held wide-ranging talks at the White House on Friday as Japan looks to build security cooperation with allies in a time of provocative Chinese and North Korean military action.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In naming a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents at President Joe Biden's Delaware home and former office, Attorney General Merrick Garland described the appointment as underscoring the Justice Department's commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive investigations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's President Joe Biden's refuge from Washington — a place that's part home office, part Sunday family dinner venue, a safe place for his treasured 1967 Corvette and a makeshift campaign studio during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key dates related to the discovery of classified documents tied to President Joe Biden, based on statements from the White House, the president and Attorney General Merrick Garland:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chaos? In the House of Representatives?
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner scored a power-play goal with 1:15 left in regulation and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Wednesday night.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — A little over a year after being celebrated at the Kennedy Center, Joni Mitchell will return to Washington for another lifetime achievement honor: the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department accused Los Angeles-based City National Bank on Thursday of discrimination by refusing to underwrite mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities, requiring the bank to pay more than $31 million in the largest redlining settlement in history.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Proud Boys national chairman is standing trial on the most serious charge that has been lodged in the U.S. Capitol attack. That's seditious conspiracy, which is the same offense that two Oath Keepers leaders were convicted of weeks ago.
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia state lawmakers are pushing back on a state court ruling that forced some of them to testify during an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in the state.
ENVIRONMENT
DENVER (AP) — Exxon Mobil's scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists' conclusions, a new study says.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House on Thursday voted to block oil from the country's emergency stockpile from going to China.
TRAVEL
Delays and cancellations among flights across the United States were minimal on Thursday, a day after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed, grounding U.S. air traffic and leading to thousands of stranded travelers.
BERLIN (AP) — Travelers whose package tours were ruined by the imposition of restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic may be entitled to at least a partial refund, the European Union's highest court said Thursday.
DALLAS (AP) — Until Wednesday, few travelers had ever heard of a Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, nor did they know that the system used to generate those notices could cause widespread travel misery.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Virgin Orbit said Thursday its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. failed after its rocket's upper stage prematurely shut down.
AUTO INDUSTRY
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Electric vehicles took two of three categories for the first time in this year's North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year awards.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers for Tesla shareholders suing the electric vehicle maker's CEO Elon Musk over a misleading tweet are urging a federal judge to reject the billionaire's request to move an upcoming trial to Texas from California.
BEIJING (AP) — China's auto sales rose 9.5% last year as electric vehicle purchases nearly doubled, but demand in the global industry's biggest market slumped in December, foreshadowing weaker growth this year, a trade group reported Thursday.
DETROIT (AP) — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.
MEDIA
ATLANTA (AP) — CNN is moving out of the CNN Center, its longtime downtown Atlanta home by the end of this year.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — TikTok will be banned from all Mississippi-issued government devices and the state's network, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday in a letter to department and agency heads.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — As alarms began to go off globally about a novel coronavirus spreading in China, officials in Washington turned to the intelligence agencies for insights about the threat the virus posed to America.
PERSONAL FINANCE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The official start date of the 2023 tax filing season is Jan. 23, when the IRS will begin accepting and processing 2022 returns, the agency announced Thursday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed higher after a report showed inflation slowed again last month. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Thursday.
KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — As the European Union thinks about injecting more subsidies into its industry to counter U.S. efforts to ramp up its green technologies sector, fears only increase that the continent's giants will profit at the cost of the small member states.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising U.S. consumer prices moderated again last month, bolstering hopes that inflation's grip on the economy will continue to ease this year and possibly require less drastic action by the Federal Reserve to control it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in 15 weeks as the job market continues to show resiliency in the face of attempts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy.
Activist investor Nelson Peltz is fighting for a seat on the board of Walt Disney Co., claiming that the company is struggling with self-inflicted problems.
NEW YORK (AP) — Love her or loathe her, Barbie has been transformed again, this time into a version for children as young as 3.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney for Maryland nominated by then-President Donald Trump, will serve as special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden's home in Delaware and at an office in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified marking found at President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden acknowledged on Thursday that a document with classified markings from his time as vice president was found in his "personal library" at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, along with other documents found in his garage, days after it was disclosed that sensitive documents were also found at the office of his former institute in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's legal team has discovered additional documents containing classification markings in a second location, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The revelation comes days after an attorney for the president said Biden's lawyers had discovered a "small number" of classified documents at his former office space in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton's presidential dreams were undermined by her use of a private email server that included classified information.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Japan unveiled plans Wednesday to strengthen their alliance to help counter threats from North Korea and China, which they called the greatest security challenge in the region.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are taking early action on abortion with their new majority, approving two measures Wednesday that make clear they want further restraints after the Supreme Court overruled the federal right to abortion last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, is set to visit Poland and Germany later this month to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to hold meetings aimed at combating rising antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Wednesday opened their long-promised investigation into President Joe Biden and his family, wielding the power of their new majority to demand information from the Treasury Department and former Twitter executives as they laid the groundwork for public hearings.