VOL. 42 | NO. 43 | Friday, October 26, 2018
With homecoming season well underway, Tennessee campuses are awash in school spirit. But the University of Tennessee system also is in flux, with a new board of inexperienced trustees, an interim chancellor at its flagship campus in Knoxville and an interim system president with little experience in higher education.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
With all the growing pains that Nashville is experiencing, there is one plague that has eluded the area – Nashville has not fallen prey to the rat infestation that is plaguing cities with similar populations.
REAL ESTATE
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged slightly higher this week amid continued anxiety in financial markets as interest rates rise.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pending home sales rose slightly in September, but contract signings are depressed from a year ago as affordability has become a greater challenge for would-be buyers.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Almost any professional football player who has done time on injured reserve will tell you that it is a very lonely place to be. Players whose seasons have been ended prematurely by injuries often wind up being detached from the rest of the team as their priorities shift from getting ready for games to rehabbing from the injury or surgery and just hoping to get back to playing football once again.
Three things to feel good about heading into the week off
UT SPORTS
The letters come like clockwork every Friday night. Before he nods off to sleep, Joe Doyle checks his email to read words of inspiration from his 85-year-old grandfather.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee offensive tackle Trey Smith is out indefinitely after doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs, a recurrence of an issue that also caused him to miss spring practice.
NEWSMAKERS
Stites & Harbison, PLLC has added attorney Jamie Little, who will serve as counsel to the firm in the Construction Service Group.
BRIEFS
Social3 has announced a new social media automation tool designed for small business owners, SocialChimp.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Every year, vehicles become more feature-packed and more expensive, potentially shutting out buyers on a tight budget. Fortunately, you can find many small, affordable cars that offer good value and don’t feel cheap.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Americans on average spend more on health care than groceries, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Expenditure Survey shows. Saving money on medical care is a lot tougher than saving money on food, however.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You only want to relax. At the end of a business trip, you just want a hotel bed with the softest pillows. You don’t want a broken coffee maker, hair in the sink or malfunctioning air conditioning. No loud sounds in the hallway at midnight. No shortage of shampoo.
CAREER CORNER
Sometimes, you want to feel like your work means something. You want to feel like a person who is performing a craft. You want to feel like a professional.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
What’s so great about live video? Everything, according to research by Livestream.
COURTS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California groundskeeper said Wednesday that he will accept a judge's reduced verdict of $78 million against Monsanto after a jury found the company's weed killer caused his cancer.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is scheduled to execute a double-murderer in the electric chair Thursday evening.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal website where consumers can sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act got off to a slow start Thursday on the first day of open enrollment.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon wants to get more kids thinking about becoming computer engineers.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google engineers and other company workers around the world walked off the job Thursday to protest the internet company's lenient treatment of executives accused of sexual misconduct.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spending on U.S. construction projects was essentially unchanged in September. It is the weakest showing since June, as an increase in home construction was offset by a slide in spending on government projects.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — A German consumer group has filed a suit against Volkswagen that aims to establish a right to compensation for car owners affected by the automaker's diesel emissions scandal.
MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) — An automotive parts company will open a new manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant, an investment of $60.9 million expected to create 150 jobs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are higher Thursday morning as major indexes extend a rebound into a third day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American manufacturers grew at a slower pace in October as factories contended with supply disruptions caused by trade disputes with China, Europe and other trading partners.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the third quarter, a slowdown from the previous quarter but still better than the lackluster gains of the last decade. Labor costs accelerated but remained at a low level.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border could reach 15,000 — roughly double the number the Pentagon said it currently plans for a mission whose dimensions are shifting daily.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Perhaps nowhere is the choice facing voters on Tuesday more vividly on display than in the battle for control of the U.S. House. Democrats are fielding more women and minority candidates than ever, while Republicans are trying to hold their majority with mostly white men.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — In Tennessee's U.S. Senate race, Democrat Phil Bredesen and Republican Marsha Blackburn say it would be unconstitutional for President Donald Trump to use an executive order to end so-called birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. of non-citizen parents.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court struggled Wednesday over what to do about an $8.5 million class-action settlement involving Google and privacy concerns in which all the money went to lawyers and nonprofit groups but nothing was paid to 129 million people who used Google to perform internet searches.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty will be holding vigils across the state on Thursday ahead of the scheduled execution of Edmund Zagorski.
NASHVILLE (AP) — If Tennessee electrocutes Edmund Zagorski on Thursday, it will be in an electric chair built by a self-taught execution expert who is no longer welcome in the prison system and who worries that his device will malfunction.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee inmate Edmund Zagorski has once again been placed on death watch in anticipation of his Thursday execution by electric chair.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Prosecutors in Tennessee say mental health officials have concluded that the suspect in a deadly Waffle House shooting is competent to face charges in court.
EDUCATION
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Valparaiso University officials say the northwestern Indiana college will shutter its financially struggling law school after nearly 140 years.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have activated Vezina Trophy winning-goaltender Pekka Rinne from injured reserve.
NASHVILLE (AP) — After a lackluster opening period by the Nashville Predators, Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala went to work.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — As General Motors reported a healthy $2.5 billion third-quarter profit, the Detroit automaker ramped up its cost-cutting efforts by offering buyouts to 18,000 white-collar workers.
DETROIT (AP) — Shares of General Motors rose more than 6 percent Wednesday morning after the company posted a $2.5 billion third-quarter profit that blew away Wall Street estimates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks climbed for the second day in a row Wednesday at the end of a brutal month for the global market. Investors applauded strong quarterly results from companies including Facebook and General Motors, but U.S. stocks still finished with their worst monthly loss in seven years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is proposing to ease requirements for holding capital and cash for U.S. banks that are big but smaller than the Wall Street mega-banks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies added jobs in October at the healthiest pace in eight months, and wages rose by the most in a decade, the latest evidence of the durable strength of the U.S. job market.
LONDON (AP) — Consumer prices across the 19-country eurozone rose at their fastest rate in nearly six years in October, largely on the back of higher energy costs, official figures showed Wednesday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Rifle Association — long seen as a kingmaker in Republican politics — is taking a lower profile in this year's high-stakes midterm campaign, a sign of the shifting dynamics of the gun debate as the GOP fights to maintain its grip on Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has imposed restrictions on technology exports to a state-supported Chinese semiconductor maker, citing national security grounds amid a mounting tariff battle.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has stepped up scrutiny of asbestos trust funds, concerned that the pots of money intended to help people exposed to the hazardous substance are being depleted by fraudulent claims, harming victims, businesses and the government.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden bemoaned the tone of Trump-era politics at a campaign stop in Iowa on Tuesday, previewing on his first trip to the leadoff caucus state how he might take on the Republican president should he seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of U.S. troops to stop an "invasion" of migrants. Tent cities for asylum seekers. An end to the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
ELECTION 2018
NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon will be among the special guests when Michelle Obama goes on tour for her memoir "Becoming."
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — President Donald Trump will be in Tennessee two days before Election Day to help Republican Marsha Blackburn in her U.S. Senate race, marking his third visit for the congresswoman's campaign.
COURTS
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge has ruled that two Wyoming laws barring people from trespassing to collect environmental data run afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a Tennessee death row inmate cannot be executed unless prison officials give his attorney access to a phone during the execution.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home price gains slowed for the fifth consecutive month in August as higher mortgage rates have lowered home sales.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen saw net profit more than double in the third quarter even as sales fell due to delays certifying vehicles for new emissions tests.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. reported a 21 percent jump in its profit in the last quarter on cost cuts and healthy motorcycle sales.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple's new iPads will more closely resemble its latest iPhones as they ditch a home button and fingerprint sensor to make more room for the screen.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday after solid earnings reports from several big companies. Stocks had closed at five-month lows the day before, and groups of companies that struggled badly made big gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence rose again this month, hitting a new 18-year high.
ATLANTA (AP) — Strong sales of water and sugar-free drinks powered third-quarter earnings for Coca-Cola Co.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has warned that if Democrats regain political power in the midterm elections, the U.S. economy would essentially implode.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making another hardline immigration play in the final days before the midterm elections, declaring that he wants to order an end to the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the United States to non-citizens. Most scholars think he can't implement such a change unilaterally.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has astonished legal scholars with his claim that he can end birthright citizenship with a swipe of his pen. No, they say, he can't.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he wants to order the end of the constitutional right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born in the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has imposed restrictions on technology exports to a state-supported Chinese semiconductor maker, citing national security grounds amid a mounting tariff battle.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government's international broadcasting agency says it will discipline employees responsible for a television report on philanthropist George Soros that violated its professional ethics and standards.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — A federal trial in Colorado could have far-reaching effects on the United States' budding marijuana industry if a jury sides with a couple who say having a cannabis business as a neighbor hurts their property's value.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee death row inmate Edmund Zagorski is asking a federal judge to issue an emergency order putting a halt to his Thursday execution.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The 2018 muzzleloader and archery season for deer in Tennessee opens on Saturday.
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina rallied support Sunday in Tennessee for Rep. Marsha Blackburn's Senate bid, saying the fellow Republican "represents good old common sense."
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Fear that the Trump administration will announce tariffs on all remaining imports from China helped knock U.S. stocks from a strong early gain to another sharp loss Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer spending rose by an inflation-adjusted 0.3 percent in September, led by increased spending on health care services and motor vehicles.
NATIONAL POLITICS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sitting in his office beside photos of grandchildren decked in Philadelphia Flyers jerseys, Christopher Scott shakes his head. Another email has come in from another supplier. It wants to raise prices to cover the cost of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
It was the kind of security lapse that gives election officials nightmares. In 2017, a private contractor left data on Chicago's 1.8 million registered voters — including addresses, birth dates and partial Social Security numbers — publicly exposed for months on an Amazon cloud server.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is accusing the media of being "the true Enemy of People" in the wake of a mass shooting and a mail bomb plot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A battle is brewing between the Trump administration and some of the president's biggest supporters in Congress who are concerned that sanctions to be re-imposed on Iran early next month won't be tough enough.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former top Drug Enforcement Administration official says he told staffers who work with Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn exactly what to expect from a 2016 law she co-sponsored during the nation's opioid crisis.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A friend of a Tennessee state lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct has been recorded saying the Republican once said he wanted to take a teenage girl to a hotel after "playing around a bit" when he was a high school basketball coach.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's Meharry Medical College will test out a technology developed by the U.S. Army to quickly identify disease-causing pathogens in clinical samples.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — A record label representative says Tony Joe White, the country rocker and hit songwriter behind such hits as "Polk Salad Annie" and "A Rainy Night in Georgia," has died at age 75,
PREDATORS
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jusse Saros gave the Nashville Predators a second chance to win with a save on a short-handed, third-period breakaway.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have recalled forward Rocco Grimaldi from their American Hockey League affiliate in Milwaukee and have placed defenseman Dan Hamhuis on injured reserve.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Federal prosecutors say the former president of the largest U.S. fuel retailer should celebrate Christmas in prison.
FRANKLIN (AP) — A family is suing a school district in Tennessee's wealthiest county for repeatedly denying their child with Down syndrome access to its afterschool program.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it will ask the federal government for one national gas mileage standard, including a requirement that a percentage of auto companies' sales be zero-emissions vehicles.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration is announcing plans to come up with a strategy for supporting the development of next-generation wireless networks known as "5G."
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter is doing more with less, at least when it comes to making money from a declining user base.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It started out modestly enough: David Hertz, having learned that under the right conditions you really can make your own water out of thin air, put a little contraption on the roof of his office and began cranking out free bottles of H2O for anyone who wanted one.
BERLIN (AP) — Google is abandoning plans to establish a campus for tech startups in Berlin after protests from residents worried about gentrification.
HELSINKI (AP) — Telecom networks provider Nokia reported Thursday lower third-quarter earnings and said it would start a new cost-cutting program as it waits for demand for the new 5G systems to pick up.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — President Donald Trump's plan to lower prescription drug prices closely resembles Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen's proposal last week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With midterm elections less than two weeks away, President Donald Trump is pushing a plan to lower prices for some prescription drugs, and Friday it put his administration on a collision course with the powerful pharmaceutical industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than two weeks before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump is focusing on the cost of prescription drugs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are back in the red for the year after another wave of selling hit Wall Street Friday.
BERLIN (AP) — The rich got richer than ever before last year, with China leading the way.
NEW YORK (AP) — As stocks hit record after record in the past decade, investors didn't much care if a stock was cheap or expensive. What mattered most was: Is it growing quickly?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a robust annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September quarter as the strongest burst of consumer spending in nearly four years helped offset a sharp drag from trade.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nerve-wracking anxiety that's gripped the U.S. stock market seems oddly unmoored from economic reality: Despite the turbulence on Wall Street, economic growth is strong, unemployment ultra-low and consumers exceptionally confident.
BEIJING (AP) — China and Japan displayed a united front on "free and fair" trade as leaders of Asia's two biggest economies met Friday in Beijing.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon reported another quarter of record profit Thursday, fueled by the growth of online shopping and its cloud-computing service.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google says it has fired 48 employees for sexual harassment during the past two years and sent them away without a severance package.
NEW YORK (AP) — If you're an investor who was lulled to sleep by the stock market's calm, steady gains this summer, you're wide awake by now.
NEW YORK (AP) — The ghost of Toys R Us is haunting Sears suppliers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter's stock is surging before the opening bell as investors overlook a huge drop in monthly user numbers, and focus instead on stronger-than-expected profit and revenue in the third quarter.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Florida man charged with sending more than a dozen package bombs to Democratic political figures is described as a troubled loner who showed little interest in politics before the rise of President Donald Trump.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will revisit a crucial part of its year-old payday lending industry regulations, the agency announced Friday, a move that will likely make it more difficult for the bureau to protect consumers from potential abuses, if changed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Suspicious packages addressed to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper — and similar in appearance to pipe bomb devices sent to other prominent Democrats — have been intercepted, the FBI said Friday, as investigators scrambled from coast to coast to locate the culprit and motives behind a bizarre plot aimed at critics of President Donald Trump.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox News says its new streaming service will debut in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to dispatch 800 or more active duty troops to the southern border at the direction of a president who has sought to transform fears about immigration into electoral gains in the midterms as a caravan of thousands of migrants makes its way through Mexico.
BEIJING (AP) — Taking a page from the U.S. president's own playbook, China on Thursday denounced a U.S. newspaper report that it is listening to Donald Trump's phone calls as "fake news," and suggested he exchange his iPhone for a cellphone made by Chinese manufacturer Huawei.