VOL. 48 | NO. 41 | Friday, October 11, 2024
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
In mid-September, the country waited anxiously as Federal Reserve hinted it was flirting with a substantial reduction in interest rates.
REAL ESTATE
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. surged to 6.32% this week, adding pressure on home buyers facing sky-high prices and a limited supply of houses for sale.
Top Davidson County residential real estate sales for September 2024, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Welcome to Quarterback Purgatory. Both the Tennessee Titans and Sunday’s opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, reside in the perilous realm of what is and what could be.
In addition to National Football League, NFL also is an acronym for “Not For Long.” Former Oilers coach Jerry Glanville made that line famous when caught by an NFL Films crew berating a first-year official after what he perceived to be a bad call.
After finally getting their first win of the season, the Titans now return home to face their first AFC South opponent when the Indianapolis Colts visit Nissan Stadium. Let’s look at the keys for the Titans.
NEWSMAKERS
Parking Management Company, a national parking services provider based in Nashville, has announced the promotion of Jake Varshal to national commercial sales director.
BRIEFS
The live show for Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park will be headlined and co-hosted by four-time Grammy-winning artist Keith Urban, joining previously announced headliners Kane Brown, an award-winning, multi-Platinum recording star, and Grammy-nominated artist Jelly Roll.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buying a reliable used car, truck or SUV on a $15,000 budget is easy if you know what to look for. Edmunds’ experts have done that homework for you so you can start your search with the five recommended models listed below.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Push up, minimize, sports-type. Enhanced backside, padded hips, slimming effect, lift and separate. Smooth lines, no seams, no lumps, no peekaboo, not too-tight, no surprises, all curves.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann and Adam Larsson each had a goal and an assist to lead Seattle Kraken to a 7-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
SEC SPORTS
The first half of the Southeastern Conference season has featured a stunner from Vanderbilt, with three teams rising to No. 1 and Texas now the only unbeaten team.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is the Southeastern Conference favorite in basketball, not football. John Calipari is leading a team with high expectations, just not at Kentucky.
SPORTS
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Nicholas Vattiato passed for 199 yards, Omari Kelly returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown and Middle Tennessee beat winless Kennesaw State 14-5 on Tuesday night in the first meeting between the programs.
REGION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government has approved nearly $2 billion in assistance across six states to help people hit hard by hurricanes Helene and Milton, the White House said Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump directed prosecutors Wednesday to search for and provide to the former president's lawyers any Justice Department information related to a separate investigation into Mike Pence's handling of classified documents.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday halted a program that made thousands of legal voters in Alabama inactive, restoring active registration status for both American-born and naturalized citizens ahead of the November elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a federal regulation aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the presidential race moves into its final weeks, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump embarked on an interview blitz that offered new details about their policy priorities and their political strategies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a drab office suite just blocks from the White House, seasoned political operatives are drawing up detailed plans for a government in waiting. Another identical suite in the same government building is dark and idle.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If he wins next month's election, Donald Trump would be the oldest person in U.S. history to be elected president. Yet the 78-year-old Republican nominee refuses to disclose new details about his physical or mental well-being, breaking decades of precedent.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, a tech mogul who is the world's richest person, plunged more than $70 million into helping Donald Trump and other Republicans win in November's election, making him one of the biggest donors to GOP causes this campaign season, according to campaign finance disclosures released this week.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris rallies in Michigan's union halls, standing alongside the state's most powerful labor leader, while former President Donald Trump fires back from rural steel factories, urging middle-class workers to trust him as the true champion of their interests.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Kamala Harris would "cut her own path" once she wins the 2024 election, allowing for more daylight between him and his vice president as she works to win over skeptical voters three weeks before Election Day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama will headline a rally in Atlanta a week before the Nov. 5 election alongside celebrities and civic leaders focusing on engaging younger and first-time voters, as well as voters of color.
CLAWSON, Mich. (AP) — Jill Biden wasted no time after she stepped up to the microphone at a suburban Detroit restaurant.
YOUR MONEY
The Federal Trade Commission adopted a final rule Wednesday that will require businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships.
ENERGY
Amazon on Wednesday said that it was investing in small nuclear reactors, coming just two days after a similar announcement by Google, as both tech giants seek new sources of carbon-free electricity to meet surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.
The world is set to make abundant energy by the second half of the decade as the production of batteries and solar panels surges — but there'll also be an excess of planet-warming fossil fuels, a report released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency said.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon announced Tuesday that more than 800 military personnel have seen their service records upgraded to honorable discharges after previously being kicked out of the military under its former "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
ECONOMY
LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has fallen to its lowest level for more than three years, official figures showed Wednesday, a drop that has cemented market expectations that the Bank of England will lower interest rates at its next policy meeting in November.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Wednesday following better-than-expected profit reports from Morgan Stanley, United Airlines and other big companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — RTX Corporation, the defense contractor formerly known as Raytheon, has agreed to pay the U.S. government $252 million to resolve criminal charges alleging it paid bribes to secure contracts with Qatar, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing signaled Tuesday that it could raise up to $25 billion in new stock or debt to shore up its balance sheet after years of heavy losses.
Dozens of people rallied outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. Tuesday, demanding that the company remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the U.S.
United Airlines on Tuesday reported that its third-quarter profit fell 15% from a year ago but revenue trends improved thanks to low-fare carriers scaling back their growth plans for the rest of the year.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Germany Thursday and will visit Angola the first week in December, rescheduling visits that were postponed so he could remain in Washington to monitor the federal response to Hurricane Milton as it struck Florida.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration has run out of money for the disaster assistance loans it offers small businesses, homeowners and renters, delaying much needed relief for people applying for aid in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15
UT SPORTS
As the college football season reaches its midway point, plenty of playoff contenders suddenly find themselves dealing with season-ending injuries to notable players.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals panel has temporarily halted two permits needed to begin construction on a pipeline project in Tennessee that will supply a natural gas plant.
REGION
Now that the threat of Hurricanes Helene and Milton has receded, millions of homeowners and business-owners across Florida and the Southeastern U.S. are faced with traversing the often long and laborious process of using insurance to rebuild their lives.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The family of a Tennessee employee who was killed by catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Helene has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company he worked for, arguing that workers were forced to stay at their posts even when managers knew conditions were becoming dangerous.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out a decision allowing 18-year-olds to openly carry guns during emergencies in Pennsylvania.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, sued CNN on Tuesday over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website's message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a federal appeals court to take a new look at the lawsuit filed by a Texas-based online citizen journalist who said she was wrongly arrested in a case that drew attention from national media organizations and free speech advocates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. court has given two top associates of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman until early November to start turning over any evidence in a lawsuit from a former senior Saudi intelligence official who says he survived a plot by the kingdom to silence him.
ELECTION 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — Donald Trump seized Tuesday on an opening to sound his frequent argument that imposing huge tariffs on foreign goods would amount to an economic elixir — one that he claims would raise enormous sums for the government, protect U.S. firms from overseas competition and prod foreign companies to open factories in the United States.
CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to say whether he's spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, as reported in journalist Bob Woodward's latest book. But if the two did speak, Trump said, it would be "a smart thing" for the United States.
DETROIT (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both pushed Tuesday to energize key constituencies that their allies worry might be slipping away, with the vice president looking to reach Black men and the former president focusing on women.
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge has ruled county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law and cannot exclude any group of votes from certification even if they suspect error or fraud.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With characteristic bravado, Donald Trump has vowed that if voters return him to the White House, "inflation will vanish completely."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will unveil his ticket's plans to improve the lives of rural voters, as Vice President Kamala Harris looks to cut into former President Donald Trump's support.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Election Day draws nearer, Democrat Kamala Harris is trying to maintain a diverse coalition of voters who were driven four years ago by their fierce opposition to Republican Donald Trump and anxiety over a deadly pandemic.
OAKS, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump 's town hall in the Philadelphia suburbs turned into an impromptu concert Monday after the former president was twice interrupted by medical emergencies in the room.
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Two men who were shot during the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump this summer say the U.S. Secret Service was "negligent" in protecting the former president and other bystanders at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
EDUCATION
BOSTON (AP) — At a sparsely attended meeting last year, the Saugus Public School Committee approved a new admissions policy, it said, to streamline the process of enrolling students.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia, China and Iran are increasingly relying on criminal networks to lead cyberespionage and hacking operations against adversaries like the U.S., according to a report on digital threats published Tuesday by Microsoft.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pulled back from its records on Tuesday after the price of crude oil tumbled and technology stocks faltered.
NEW YORK (AP) — The largest retail trade group in the United States said Tuesday that it expects consumers to spend more during the upcoming holiday shopping season but the growth in sales to be slower than last year due to concerns over persistent inflation and prices.
U.S. Agriculture Department officials have launched an internal investigation into how the agency handled reports of serious problems at a Boar's Head deli meat plant tied to a deadly listeria outbreak, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners are growing more uncertain about the economy ahead of the presidential election and are reining in spending, according to a new survey.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There has been a doubling of petitions by workers to have union representation during President Joe Biden's administration, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board.
The artificial intelligence boom has benefited chatbot makers, computer scientists and Nvidia investors. It's also providing an unusual windfall for Anguilla, a tiny island in the Caribbean.
NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Democrats in Congress appealed to the largest U.S. companies Tuesday to hold onto their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying such efforts give everyone a fair chance at achieving the American dream.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden-Harris administration announced plans Tuesday to provide up to $750 million in direct funding to Wolfspeed, with the money supporting its new silicon carbide factory in North Carolina that makes the wafers used in advanced computer chips and its factory in Marcy, New York.
Walgreens plans to close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as the drugstore chain seeks to turnaround its struggling U.S. business.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran's missile barrage earlier this month, two U.S. officials said Tuesday.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans brought in an offensive-minded head coach with a new staff and spent a bunch of money along with using a lot of draft picks in the offseason.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Joe Flacco has been around the NFL long enough to know the backup quarterback should always be ready to start.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans made wide receiver Calvin Ridley one of their top free agent additions this offseason, giving him a four-year deal for $92 million.
SEC SPORTS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is the favorite to win the Southeastern Conference men's basketball championship this season, led by preseason player of the year Mark Sears.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Defending national champion South Carolina is the pick to win the Southeastern Conference women's basketball championship.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gunfire broke out among a crowd near Tennessee State University's homecoming celebrations, killing one person and wounding nine others, police said.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The leading private prison company in the U.S. has spent more than $4.4 million to settle dozens of complaints alleging mistreatment — including at least 22 inmate deaths — at its Tennessee prisons and jails since 2016.
REGION
BAKERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene downed power lines and washed out roads all over North Carolina's mountains, the constant din of a gas-powered generator is getting to be too much for Bobby Renfro.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The indictment charging Donald Trump with hoarding classified documents leveled one jaw-dropping allegation after another, including that he showed off a secret Pentagon attack plan to guests at his golf club and suggested his lawyer mislead the FBI about the presence of the White House records.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A year that began with the prospect of a federal court reckoning for Donald Trump will conclude without any chance at trial, leaving voters without the finality of an up-or-down jury verdict in the two most consequential cases against the Republican presidential nominee.
ELECTION 2024
More than 50% of Americans say they believe democracy is “under attack,” while only 10% say U.S. democracy is jot in danger, the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy survey finds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will be interviewed by Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday in Pennsylvania as she steps up her travel and conversations with media outlets in the closing stretch of the presidential campaign.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will take their fight for Pennsylvania to opposite ends of the state on Monday, with Harris speaking in the northwest corner in Erie and Trump in the southeastern suburbs of Philadelphia.
ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump insists that Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for a hard-right turn in American government and society, does not reflect his priorities for a White House encore.
WASHINGTON (AP) — During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing a plan to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances to thrive as she works to energize a key voting bloc that has Democrats concerned about a lack of enthusiasm.
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Sunday proposed hiring 10,000 additional Border Patrol agents and giving them a $10,000 retention and signing bonus, after he derailed a bipartisan bill earlier this year that included funding for more border personnel.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Kamala Harris used an appearance Sunday before a largely Black church audience in battleground North Carolina to call out Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the government's hurricane response. President Joe Biden visited Florida for the second time this month to survey storm damage.
ATLANTA (AP) — The latest method of voting to fall into the political crosshairs is the way overseas voters — including members of the military stationed abroad — cast their ballots.
ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton urged churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, on Sunday to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign for the office he once held.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis is fixing its slowing U.S. sales at the right pace after fumbling a marketing plan earlier this year, CEO Carlos Tavares told reporters Monday.
PARIS (AP) — Auto manufacturers competing to persuade drivers to go electric are rolling out cheaper, more tech-rich models at the Paris Motor Show, targeting everyone from luxury clients to students yet to receive their driving licenses.
HEALTH CARE
A health care spending surge looms in the new year, and Business Group on Health is helping employers understand it.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rolled to more records Monday as U.S. stocks added to their all-time highs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Lilly Ledbetter, an former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to landmark wage discrimination legislation, has died at 86.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults are more likely than the overall U.S. population to view legal immigration as an asset to the country's economy and workforce, according to a new poll.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are coming off the early bye nobody really wanted, with the NFL schedule offering a chance to start making up for their 0-3 start.
SEC SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The leaders of the SEC and Big Ten want to see how the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff works before deciding what comes next.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Dallas scored three goals on consecutive shots in the second period to hold off the Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
SPORTS
RUSTON, La. (AP) — Freshman Evan Bullock threw touchdown passes on four straight drives to open the game and ran for a score on the fifth as Louisiana Tech cruised to a 48-21 victory over Middle Tennessee on Thursday night.
EAST TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Authorities in eastern Tennessee continued Friday to investigate a container suspected of holding large amounts of dynamite, warning residents that evacuations will likely remain in place throughout the night.
REGION
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says counties severely impacted by Hurricane Helene will soon be able to access a new $100 million loan program designed to help clear debris and repair damaged water systems.
Human-caused climate change intensified deadly Hurricane Milton 's rainfall by 20 to 30% and strengthened its winds by about 10%, scientists said in a new flash study. The analysis comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern United States, a storm also fueled by climate change.
COURTS
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Relatives of some of the 346 people who died in two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max planes are in court Friday, where their lawyers are asking a federal judge to throw out a plea agreement that the aircraft manufacturer struck with federal prosecutors.
ELECTION 2024
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Donald Trump is detouring from the battleground states Friday to visit a Colorado suburb that's been in the news over illegal immigration as he drives a message that migrants are causing chaos in smaller American cities and towns, often using false or misleading claims to do so.
NEW YORK (AP) — JD Vance, Republican vice presidential nominee, again refused to acknowledge that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election over former President Donald Trump, evading the question five times in an interview with The New York Times, the newspaper reported Friday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and suggested he was wrongly trying to turn the deadly storms to his political advantage.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Former President Barack Obama gave a blistering critique of his White House successor Donald Trump and urged Black men to show up for Kamala Harris as he opened a swing-state tour for the Democratic ticket.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of unwelcome and destructive guests named Helene and Milton have stormed their way into this year's presidential election.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked to name three virtues that her opponent in next month's election, Donald Trump, possesses — but was unable to come up with even one.
DETROIT (AP) — Former President Donald Trump criticized Detroit while delivering remarks to an economic group there on Thursday, saying the whole country would end up like the city if his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is elected.
DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out more plans for tax breaks without offering details on how they would work or how they'd affect the federal budget.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A solid majority of Hispanic women have a positive opinion of Vice President Kamala Harris and a negative view of former President Donald Trump, but Hispanic men are more divided on both candidates, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's reputation as a hothouse of progressive politics is being tested in a string of U.S. House contests that are again expected to play into which party controls the chamber next year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Stellantis, which makes Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, announced a number of significant leadership changes, including the timing of CEO Carlos Tavares' retirement and the departure of its chief financial officer as it struggles to revive sales in North America.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, though fans of the electric vehicle maker will have to wait until at least 2026 before they are available.
BANKING
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan's net income fell 2% in the third quarter as the bank had to set aside more money to cover bad loans, but the results topped Wall Street estimates and shares rose in morning trading.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Withdrawing the United States from the IMF and World Bank would be "a step backward," a top U.S. Treasury official said Friday, defending the organizations before a presidential election that could cast uncertainty about America's future in them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States were unchanged last month in another sign that inflation is returning to something close to normal after years of pressuring America's households in the wake of COVID-19.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' outlook on the economy soured a bit this month after two months of small gains, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index, released Friday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records Friday as big banks rallied following a run of reassuring profit reports.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan on Friday reported that its net income fell 2% in the third quarter as the bank had to set aside more money to cover bad loans.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Israel's sabotage and military operations in Lebanon taking out many of Hezbollah's senior leaders, some in Washington and elsewhere believe there may be a window for a new push to break the political deadlock in Lebanon to try to ease escalating war.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10
TENNESSEE TITANS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts are still in a holding pattern in awaiting the returns of quarterback Anthony Richardson and running back Jonathan Taylor. Now they're also monitoring receiver Michael Pittman Jr.'s back injury, too.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The eighth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are being tested for the first time this season.
NASHVILLE AREA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators said Wednesday that air traffic controllers cleared an Alaska Airlines jet to take off from Nashville last month after telling pilots of a Southwest Airlines jet to cross the same runway.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's corrections chief said Wednesday that the department expects to unveil a new process for executing inmates by the end of the year, signaling a possible end to a yearslong pause due to findings that several inmates were put to death without the proper testing of lethal injection drugs.
REGION
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Communities in Florida still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene are now also grappling with the still-unfolding damage from Hurricane Milton. The storm crashed into a community south of Tampa, drenching counties with torrents of rain, downing power lines and bridges and kicking up dangerous storm surges.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, and whipping up a barrage of tornadoes. It caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.
With its mighty strength and its dangerous path, Hurricane Milton powered into a very rare threat flirting with experts' worst fears.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday publicly admonished Donald Trump, telling his predecessor to "get a life, man" and try to help people impacted by a pair of devastating hurricanes rather than spreading misinformation about the federal response.
RAMSEYTOWN, N.C. (AP) — As the Black Hawk helicopter slowly descends in Ramseytown, North Carolina, a plume of sand kicks up. When the dust settles, the sprawling sea of stones and twisted metal beams becomes clear.
ELECTION 2024
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — The city of Aurora is roughly the size of pre-evacuation Tampa, Florida. With 400,000 people spread over 164 square miles, it has swank subdivisions, working-class neighborhoods and the high-end resort where Donald Trump will hold a rally Friday to highlight a city turned into "a war zone" by immigrants, in the words of his campaign.
NEW YORK (AP) — The hosts of ABC's "The View" clapped back at Donald Trump on Thursday, a day after the Republican nominee for president insulted co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg.
NEW YORK (AP) — Even in an election year, most seem to agree on one aspect about Ali Abbasi's much-debated Donald Trump film "The Apprentice": Sebastian Stan is a remarkably good Trump and Jeremy Strong is chillingly riveting as the New York power broker Roy Cohn.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris visits Nevada and Arizona while former President Donald Trump talks economic issues in Michigan, as presidential campaigning continues even with Hurricane Milton hitting Florida.
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump hurled insults at his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other women Wednesday — saying he had no interest in stopping his attacks even if they turn off female voters — as Hurricane Milton made landfall, lashing Florida with rain, tornadoes and tropical-storm-force winds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With less than four weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing new urgency to define how her potential presidency would be different from that of President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's contributions from small-dollar donors have plummeted since his last White House campaign, presenting the former president with a financial challenge as he tries to keep pace with the Democrats' fundraising machine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new book's assertion that former President Donald Trump may have had as many as seven private phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving the White House has refocused attention on their politically fraught relationship and on Trump's sustained dialogue with world leaders as he seeks a return to power.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homebuyers in Seattle, Silicon Valley and the nation's other priciest markets are seeing more properties hit the market as mortgage rates finally start trending lower.
AGRICULTURE
A company is recalling nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products made at an Oklahoma plant because they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria that can cause illness and death.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Expectations are high for the long-awaited unveiling of Tesla's robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night. Too high for some analysts and investors.
PERSONAL FINANCE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living increase to their monthly checks beginning in January, the Social Security Administration announced Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of millions of older Americans will see an increase in benefits this January when a new cost-of-living adjustment is added to Social Security payments.
MEDIA
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The social media platform X began returning to Brazil on Wednesday, after remaining inaccessible for more than a month due to a clash between its owner, Elon Musk, and a justice on the country's highest court.
TECHNOLOGY
Form Energy, a company that is beginning to produce a longer-lasting alternative to lithium batteries, hit a milestone Wednesday with an announcement of $405 million in funding.
BANKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — TD Bank will pay approximately $3 billion in a historic settlement with U.S. authorities who said Thursday that the financial institution's lax practices allowed significant money laundering over multiple years.
ECONOMY
GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization raised its outlook for global goods trade this year slightly, but cautioned Thursday that increasing geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over economy policy pose "substantial" risks to its forecast.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States dropped last month to its lowest point since it first began surging more than three years ago, adding to a spate of encouraging economic news in the closing weeks of the presidential race.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week jumped to its highest level in a year, which analysts are saying is more likely a result of Hurricane Helene — and the Boeing machinist strike — than a broader softening in the labor market.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged back from their records Thursday after reports showed inflation was a touch warmer last month than expected and more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.
She blames greedy companies for price-gouging. He blames the Biden administration's economic policies.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Ratan Tata, one of India's most influential business leaders, was cremated after a state funeral in the country's financial capital on Thursday. The veteran industrialist, former chairman of a $100 billion conglomerate Tata Group, died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night at the age of 86.
Third-quarter earnings fell 26% at Delta Air Lines, which struggled to overcome a global technology outage that led to thousands of flight cancellations, and indications that growth in air travel is beginning to slow.
Marriott International has agreed to pay $52 million and make changes to bolster its data security to resolve state and federal claims related to major data breaches that affected more than 300 million of its customers worldwide.