VOL. 41 | NO. 43 | Friday, October 27, 2017
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
We know her as one of Nashville’s broadcast treasures, but she is something altogether different for the 5-year-old boy and his 2-year-old sister watching college football games, their eyes more focused on sidelines reports than gridiron action, in the family living room in Peachtree City, Georgia.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
As the Tennessee Titans head into their bye week, they use this time to self-evaluate the first seven games of the season.
Coming off a miserable offensive performance and an overall malaise in Sunday’s overtime escape in Cleveland, Titans coach Mike Mularkey gave his team the entire bye week off.
NEWSMAKERS
Jeff Young has been appointed as Tennessee Bank & Trusts’ Williamson County-area executive.
BRIEFS
GRAMMY-winner Keith Urban will headline Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville for a second consecutive year.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
It’s easy to donate a car to charity if all you want to do is get rid of it. Simply call a charity that accepts old vehicles, and it will tow your heap away. But if you want to maximize your tax benefits, it’s more complicated. Here’s a walk through some of the considerations, with the usual proviso that you should discuss these issues with your tax preparer before you act.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You know your rights. You’re well aware of what you can and can’t do legally because you’ve armed yourself with knowledge. You have rights and, in “Rossen to the Rescue” by Jeff Rossen, one of them is the right not to be scammed, schemed or unsafe.
CAREER CORNER
In the age of computers, the way we do business is changing at a record pace. Some change is good. But, inevitably, some is also quite painful.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Democrats have voted to support resolutions calling for the legalization of medical marijuana, wider health care coverage and a $15 minimum wage.
SPORTS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — In a game that included 20 penalties and 52 penalty minutes, the San Jose Sharks found a way to win ugly.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Google is partnering with AutoNation, the country's largest auto dealership chain, in its push to produce self-driving cars for wide use.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — In three exhaustive hearings this week, executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google acknowledged that their platforms were used by Russia to try and create division over such disparate issues as immigration, gun control and politics. House investigators released a trove of Facebook and Twitter ads that showed just how extraordinary the cyber intrusion was.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The hackers didn't just go after Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Global stock markets were mostly lower on Thursday as investors awaited President Donald Trump's announcement on his choice to lead the Federal Reserve. Some markets were pressured by investors locking in profits from recent gains.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the first time in a decade to contain an increase in inflation stoked by the Brexit vote in what is otherwise a moment of high uncertainty for the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, as the figure stayed close to historic lows in a sign that the job market is healthy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. workers' productivity jumped 3 percent in the third quarter, the strongest gain in three years, while labor costs remained moderate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a search more public than any before in the Federal Reserve's more than a century of history, President Donald Trump is prepared Thursday to name his choice to lead the Fed. All signs suggest that Trump's pick is Jerome Powell, a member of the Fed's board, to replace Janet Yellen when her term ends in February.
MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI) on Thursday reported third-quarter net income of $23 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are set to unveil their far-reaching tax overhaul Thursday, making major changes yet looking to preserve current tax rules for retirement accounts popular with middle-class Americans and to retain a top income-tax rate for million-dollar earners.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When in Asia, make sure handshakes aren't too long — or short. Don't bobble names or titles. Stifle the critical tweets. Don't question the food.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Washington restaurant is offering a special $5 "Moscow Mueller" drink every time special counsel Robert Mueller indicts an associate of President Donald Trump.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — People with state-issued handgun carry permits will be allowed to be armed within Tennessee's new legislative office complex.
STATEWIDE
GATLINBURG (AP) — Even when the rugged expanses of the Great Smoky Mountains were bursting with their famous fall colors, they always looked dull black and tawny to Lauren Van Lew from the 3,590-foot-high (1,090-meter) perch of Mt. Harrison.
COURTS
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The complex schemes to get first dibs on teenage athletes with pro potential can resemble the drug trade.
HEALTH CARE
A new deadline, rising prices and fewer options for help will greet health insurance shoppers as the Affordable Care Act's main enrollment window opens Wednesday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Fueled by increased demand from rental car companies, strong truck and SUV sales, and recovery from hurricanes in Florida and Texas, U.S. auto sales appear to have posted a surprise increase in October.
APNewsBreak: Gov't won't pursue talking car mandate
TOKYO (AP) — Honda Motor Co.'s fiscal second quarter profit slipped compared to a year ago as costs related to a massive air-bag recall erased the perks of strong sales, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers on Wednesday released a trove of Facebook ads linked to a Russian effort to disrupt the American political process and whip up tensions around sensitive social issues such as Islam, race and gun control.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers demanded answers Wednesday from leading social media companies about why they haven't done more to combat Russian interference on their sites, and said congressional action might be needed in response to what one Democrat called "the start of cyberwarfare" against American democracy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Rising energy stocks helped nudge the Standard & Poor's 500 close to its record high, but drops for smaller stocks left U.S. indexes mixed on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending increased 0.3 percent in September as the biggest advance in government building activity in four months offset weakness in other areas.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American factories grew more slowly last month, but U.S. manufacturing remains healthy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added a solid 235,000 jobs in October, according to a private survey, partly reflecting a rebound from the previous month when hiring was held back by several hurricanes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As consumers demand ever-quicker and convenient package delivery, the U.S. Postal Service wants to boost its business this holiday season by offering what few e-commerce retailers can provide: cheap next-day service with packages delivered Sundays to your home.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed the repeal of a banking rule that would let consumers join together to sue their bank or credit card company to resolve financial disputes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Furiously working to finish a tax bill, House Republicans have decided to keep the income tax rate for the wealthiest earners in the face of Democratic criticism that the overhaul pushed by President Donald Trump would benefit the rich.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans struggled to complete work on a sweeping tax proposal, delaying its public release by a day as President Donald Trump set an ambitious, by-Christmas timetable for passage of the legislation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump dismissed George Papadopoulos as a "liar" and a mere campaign volunteer, but newly unsealed court papers outline the former adviser's frequent contacts with senior officials and with foreign nationals who promised access to the highest levels of the Russian government.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The indictment that alleges covert foreign lobbying by two former Trump campaign officials is casting shadows on three powerful Washington lobbying and legal firms, with Democratic as well as Republican ties, broadening the stakes of the Russia investigation and drawing in the brother of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin are opting out of Gov. Bill Haslam's signature effort to privatize facilities management services.
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Diane Black's gubernatorial campaign is taking aim at Republican rival Randy Boyd, launching a broadside Tuesday at the former member of Gov. Bill Haslam's Cabinet for everything from his running attire to what the congresswoman decries as his moderate record.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Highway Patrol is ramping up its enforcement efforts for Halloween.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose sharply in August from a year ago, a trend that is thwarting many would-be buyers and potentially slowing sales.
AUTO INDUSTRY
ATWATER, Calif. (AP) — Google's self-driving car spin-off is accelerating efforts to convince the public that its technology is almost ready to safely transport people without any human assistance at all.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Major tech companies plan to tell Congress Tuesday that they have found additional evidence of Russian activity on their services surrounding the 2016 U.S. election.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks inched ahead on Tuesday after the makers of Kellogg's cereal and Oreo cookies joined the parade of companies reporting stronger-than-expected profits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. trade commission recommended on Tuesday that the Trump administration impose tariffs or other restrictions to slow an influx of low-cost solar panels imported from China and other countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers are the most confident they've been in nearly 17 years, more good news for an already healthy economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. workers' wages and benefits grew faster in the third quarter, adding to recent signs that American workers are seeing their pay climb.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are ripping Facebook, Twitter and Google for missing signs that advertisers with ties to Russia were exploiting their services to sway last year's presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll finds white millennials split on whether they think President Donald Trump is racist, while overwhelming percentages of their minority counterparts believe he is.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is spending more than $200 million a day responding to recent hurricanes and wildfires, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Congress Tuesday in testimony that also slammed the $300 million Whitefish contract in Puerto Rico.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One day before the big reveal, President Donald Trump intensified his lobbying Tuesday for a tax overhaul plan whose shape was still under negotiation by congressional Republicans. The president predicted a grand signing ceremony before Christmas at "the biggest tax event in the history of our country."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats — and a few Republicans — in Congress have a clear message for President Donald Trump: Don't mess with Robert Mueller.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's becoming harder for President Donald Trump to speak dismissively of the Russia investigation now that his former campaign chief is under house arrest and a one-time aide has pleaded guilty to lying about his Russian interactions. But he's still trying.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Donald Trump campaign aide described by the White House as a low-level volunteer was thrust Monday into the center of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, providing key evidence in the first criminal case connecting Trump's team to alleged intermediaries for Russia's government.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller has sent a warning to individuals in President Donald Trump's orbit: If they lie about contacts between the president's campaign and Russians, they'll end up on the wrong end of federal criminal charges.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30
SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Butch Jones says he's "disappointed but not discouraged" and believes he still has the support of athletic director John Currie as the Volunteers try to snap a four-game skid.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Country Music Academy has announced the death Australian music promoter Rob Potts, who brought some of the biggest American country music acts to his home country.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Another deep crack opened in the support for President Donald Trump and the Republicans' tax-cutting plan on Monday, as a powerful lobbying group in the housing industry withdrew its blessing for the GOP's top legislative priority just as its details are set to be revealed.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an odd twist, low-income people in about half of U.S. counties will now be able to get a taxpayer-subsidized "Obamacare" policy for free, according to a new study that suggests some actions by President Donald Trump against the health law could backfire.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's sign-up season for the Affordable Care Act, but the Trump administration isn't making it easy — cutting the enrollment period in half, slashing advertising and dialing back on counselors who help consumers get through the process.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks retreated from their record highs on Monday, ahead of a frenetic week for markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome "Jay" Powell, a member of the Federal Reserve's board, is President Donald Trump's leading candidate to replace Janet Yellen as the head of the nation's central bank, with an announcement planned for Thursday, according to senior administration officials.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers boosted their spending by 1 percent in September, the biggest gain in eight years. The surge was fueled by robust demand across sectors, especially autos in the wake of recent hurricanes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the robots came to online retailer Boxed, dread came, too: The familiar fear that the machines would take over, leaving a trail of unemployed humans in their wake.
LONDON (AP) — The appetite for mergers and acquisitions remains near a record high as firms try to adapt to fast technological changes and despite a welter of geopolitical concerns, a survey of executives found Monday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians, special counsel Robert Mueller said Monday, while Trump's former campaign manager and that official's business partner pleaded not guilty to felony charges of conspiracy against the United States and other counts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump moved quickly Monday to distance himself and the White House from the indictment of his former campaign chairman and another aide, saying Paul Manafort's alleged misdeeds occurred "years ago" and insisting there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump misstated the reach of the indictment against his former campaign chairman Monday, claiming it deals with activities "years ago," before he was running for president. Actually, some of the criminal behavior alleged in the charges is as recent as the early days of his presidency.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling ramped up on Monday, with an indictment of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman and one of his associates. Separately, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos is pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort's business associate Rick Gates face decades in federal prison and millions of dollars in potential fines if convicted on all counts in a sprawling federal indictment unsealed Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal court in Washington is barring President Donald Trump from changing the government's policy on military service by transgender people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — What is middle class? President Donald Trump and Republican leaders are promoting their tax-cutting plan as needed relief for the stressed American middle class and a catalyst for job creation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his vice president came out this past week with initiatives that are not as big, bold or immediate as they appeared.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a co-sponsor of legislation criticized as checking federal power to stop companies from distributing opioids, is calling it "absurd" to suggest she return contributions from big drug companies that supported the new law.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The trial of former executives at the truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has been pushed back.
STATE LEGISLATURE
FRANKLIN (AP) — Republican state Rep. Charles Sargent, the chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee, said won't seek another term in the Tennessee General Assembly.
BRENTWOOD (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn has named southwestern Tennessee state Rep. Ron Gant as campaign treasurer for her bid for the Senate.
HEALTH CARE
PHOENIX (AP) — The drug company founder charged with leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors and pharmacists to widely prescribe an opioid cancer pain drug for people who didn't need it came to the U.S. for postgraduate studies and for a time was listed among Arizona's richest billionaires.
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. prosecutors brought a fraud and racketeering case Thursday against the founder of an opioid medication maker that has faced increasing scrutiny from authorities across the country over allegations of pushing prescriptions of powerful painkillers amid a drug epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives each year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In ringing and personal terms, President Donald Trump has pledged that "we will overcome addiction in America," declaring opioid abuse a national public health emergency and announcing new steps to combat what he described as the worst drug crisis in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump is promising a "massive advertising campaign" as part of his administration's response to the worst drug crisis in U.S. history, but past marketing efforts have shown few results and experts say other measures could be far more effective in curbing the current epidemic.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen saw its profit drop by half in the July-September period due to expenses for fixing and buying back diesel cars in the United States, but otherwise had what it called a "strong third quarter" and raised its earnings outlook for the full year.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The costs of borrowing to buy a home increased slightly this week, but U.S. mortgage rates are still near relative lows.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes was flat in September, reflecting an ongoing nationwide shortage of homes being listed for sale.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure in advance of hearings on Russian election interference, Facebook is moving to increase transparency for everyone who sees and buys political advertising on its site.
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast's video upswing could be sputtering out.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Some of the biggest companies in the world had their best day in years Friday as Microsoft and Alphabet soared following strong third-quarter reports, as did online retail giant Amazon. U.S. stocks set more records as their winning streak extended to a seventh week.
NEW YORK (AP) — There's trouble in toyland, and companies are blaming Toys R Us.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Powered by businesses and consumers, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 3 annual pace last quarter despite two devastating hurricanes — evidence of economic durability and all but assuring that the Federal Reserve will resume raising interest rates late this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — J.C. Penney slashed its annual profit forecast as it accelerated the clearance of slow-moving inventory and warned of weaker sales.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced it will be accepting oil exploration bids for more than half of the land on a Northern Alaska petroleum reserve that's the size of Indiana.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the National Archives came out Thursday night with a hefty cache of others.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday gave a significant boost to President Donald Trump's promise to cut taxes, narrowly passing a GOP budget that shelves longstanding concerns over federal deficits in favor of a rewrite of the tax code that Republicans promise will jump-start the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The former NATO chief and adviser to Ukraine's leader said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin "must be laughing" at how successfully he's undermined Western democracy and exploited the Trump administration's mixed messages.