VOL. 40 | NO. 44 | Friday, October 28, 2016
Tennessee leaders are touting a transition in the state’s higher education system as a “landmark moment” amid the appointment of six boards designed to increase autonomy at universities statewide.
Gov. Bill Haslam's appointments to boards of trustees for Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay, University of Memphis and East Tennessee State:
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
MTSU student Emily Webb cobbled together enough money to pay for her first year and a half of expenses.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The family’s decision to sell its house is one that is seldom taken lightly and comes laden with emotion and passion.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, September 2016, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week, moving closer to historically low levels.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
Based on the eye test – as well as what has transpired on the field – I think it’s pretty safe to say Alabama is the best team in the SEC.
DAVE LINK: UT SPORTS
Tennessee begins the easy part of its football schedule Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. (ESPN2) against South Carolina in Columbia.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
By the time many of you read this, Marcus Mariota might have already torched the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With the Titans reaching the midway point of the 2016 season, let’s get a quick evaluation of where they are in all aspects of their offense, defense, special teams and coaching with half a season left to play.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans head into the second half of the season believing they're right in the playoff mix now that they've already exceeded their win total from last year.
NEWSMAKERS
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired Timothy L. Capria as an associate on the Intellectual Property team in Nashville. He previously was with Patterson Intellectual Property Law.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
A distinctive choice among the vast SUV market, the 2016 Fiat 500X is a larger, taller version of Italy’s iconic small car, the 500, and is the first Fiat with all-wheel drive.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
I’ve always contended that there are few business professions as challenging as a career in sales, so it’s not surprising that more than 45 percent of salespeople don’t meet their annual quota, according to a CSO Insights 2015 Sales Compensation and Performance Management Study. The reasons are varied and often involve sales discipline. In the sales world, discipline is often defined as setting an activity schedule and sticking to it.
CAREER CORNER
Sometimes, the devil really is in the details. This is especially true when it comes to the questions you ask when you’re looking for a job. Asking the wrong question, or not asking the right question, can get you into trouble when you least expect it. And it can be tricky to know when to ask which questions.
I SWEAR
Looking back, I’m struck by the irony: This column’s shutting down at year’s end. She’s been around, in one form or another, for 32 years. Read that: I’ve been on deadline, like, forever.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Thursday is the last chance for Tennessee voters to cast early ballots.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped this week, reaching their highest levels since late June amid indications of strength in the economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were higher in early trading Thursday, putting the market on track to break a seven-day losing streak, but the gains were modest as investors remain transfixed on the potential outcome of next week's presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies grew at a slower pace in October, although the economy appears poised to continue expanding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but jobless claims remain at levels that suggest most workers enjoy job security.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The productivity of American workers rose in the July-September quarter at the fastest pace in two years, while labor costs slowed.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's High Court brought government plans for leaving the European Union screeching to a halt Thursday, ruling that the prime minister can't trigger the U.K.'s exit from the bloc without parliamentary approval.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With six days before Americans choose a new president, the Federal Reserve sent a dual message Wednesday: It isn't yet time to raise interest rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wells Fargo has confirmed the existence of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its sales practices, and the bank revealed that it has almost doubled funds set aside to deal with its ongoing legal problems.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae reported net income of $3.2 billion from July through September, up from $2 billion a year earlier, as its losses declined on investments it uses to hedge against interest rate swings.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - More than $16 million in political contributions has flowed to candidates running for seats in the Tennessee General Assembly this year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Restoration work is getting underway on the cupola of the Tennessee Capitol building.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country star Kenny Chesney picked up his first of two major awards in as many days on Tuesday just after releasing the 17th album of his career, "Cosmic Hallelujah."
REGION
HELENA, Ala. (AP) — Executives at a pipeline company say their goal is to restart the line as early as this weekend after an explosion and fire shut down gasoline shipments to millions across the South.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Money isn't everything, but it counts for a lot at work. That's why work-related websites like LinkedIn and Glassdoor are adding new online tools to help professionals understand their salary potential.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators have closed an investigation into Nissan Rogue air bags without seeking a recall.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says its U.S. sales fell 12 percent in October, hampered by a slowing market and a safety recall.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday, six days before Americans choose a new president, but hinted that it would raise rates soon, possibly in December.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks retreated for a seventh consecutive day on Wednesday, the market's longest decline in five years, as investor worries about the U.S. presidential election continued to weigh on the market.
The nation's leading airlines are confident they can handle higher Thanksgiving travel this year partly because more people have signed up for quick-screening programs that are designed to keep airport security lines moving.
BERLIN (AP) — The German government's panel of economic advisers pushed Wednesday for more reforms in Europe's biggest economy, including a higher retirement age, and said Britain shouldn't be given substantial concessions on immigration as it negotiates its exit from the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With voters set to choose a new president and Congress in six days, the Federal Reserve will likely keep a low profile when it ends a meeting Wednesday to try to ensure it doesn't become part of the debate at the close of a tumultuous political campaign.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country songwriter Claude "Curly" Putman, who wrote iconic country songs like "He Stopped Loving Her Today," ''D-I-V-O-R-C-E," and "The Green, Green Grass of Home" has died. He was 85.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Grammy-winning bluegrass and country artist Ricky Skaggs and bluegrass singer-turned-country star Chris Stapleton were honored at the ASCAP Country Music Awards on Monday night.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Mayor Megan Barry says she will push for a $12 million undertaking to equip all Nashville police officers with body cameras.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislative leaders have said that sexual misconduct accusations levied against ex-lawmaker Jeremy Durham are not demonstrative of the state Capitol culture, but officials have refused to give data about sexual harassment in state government.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is kicking off his annual public budget hearings next week as he gets ready to put together his annual spending plan for the state of Tennessee.
REGION
HELENA, Ala. (AP) — A fatal explosion has shut down a pipeline supplying gasoline to millions of people across the Southeast — the second accident and shutdown in two months — raising the specter of another round of gas shortages and price increases.
HELENA, Ala. (AP) — Colonial Pipeline says it has restarted one of its two main pipelines after an explosion in Alabama, but anticipates that its main gasoline line will remain down the rest of this week.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — It's a chilly autumn for U.S. auto sales. Sales of new cars and trucks were expected to fall in October as consumer demand wanes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed broadly lower on Tuesday, as nervous investors continued to monitor the run-up to the 2016 election, which is turning out to be closer than previously expected.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders cut their spending on construction projects in September, the second straight monthly decline. Much of the decrease came as government spending for schools, sewers and transportation projects tumbled — part of a broader yearlong decline as infrastructure funding has become a key policy issue in the presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Manufacturing expanded in the United States and China last month, good news for a sputtering global economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — USA Today publisher Gannett walked away Tuesday from its attempted takeover of Tronc, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other major dailies.
HAVANA (AP) — For a while Saul Berenthal and Horace Clemmons were the seventy-something poster boys of U.S.-Cuba detente.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31
NASHVILLE AREA
Baker Donelson is merging with national law firm Ober/Kaler effective Jan. 1, creating one of the 50th largest law firms in the country.
SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd has indicated he plans to transfer, leaving the Volunteers without one of the most prolific runners in school history as they attempt to snap a three-game skid that has dropped them out of the Top 25.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Star wide receiver Andre Johnson is retiring after 14 seasons in a career mainly spent with the Houston Texans.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state is offering another set of tourism grants to encourage cities and counties to invest in infrastructure that will inspire people to visit an area.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were mostly unchanged on Monday, despite some positive economic data and a raft of big new merger announcements over the weekend.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers boosted their spending in September at the fastest pace in three months, while their incomes grew by a modest amount.
LONDON (AP) — The 19-nation eurozone economy eked out another quarter of muted growth in the third quarter of the year, and saw inflation rise in October to its highest level in more than two years as oil prices rebound from decade-lows, official figures showed Monday.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - At least six current and former Republican lawmakers in Tennessee had financial ties to a prominent GOP donor who recently settled a federal fraud case involving the military health care program.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Grand Ole Opry is going north. The famous venue for country music is branching out of Tennessee for the first time its 91-year history with a new restaurant and venue in Times Square.
STATEWIDE
FRANKLIN (AP) - The Tennessee Preservation Trust has unveiled its 2016 list of the 10 most-endangered historic properties across the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam says Tennessee students made the fastest strides in the country in a national science test.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private prison company, is changing its name to CoreCivic in an effort to rebrand and diversify.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Mark Bellinger, a longtime television reporter in Nashville, has died. He was 56.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - The heirs of a Mississippi blues musician claim rock guitarist Eric Clapton gave a songwriting credit to the wrong artist.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A family is suing Amazon for selling a hoverboard blamed for starting a fire that burned their $1 million home in Nashville.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans in the health insurance markets created by President Barack Obama's law will have less choice next year than any time since the program started, a new county-level analysis for The Associated Press has found.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen raised its sales and earnings outlook Thursday after bouncing back to a profit of 2.34 billion euros ($2.55 billion) in the third quarter from a large loss a year earlier, when it took a big charge from its car emissions scandal.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter, seemingly unable to find a buyer and losing money, is cutting about 9 percent of its employees worldwide.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators have approved new broadband privacy rules that make internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon ask customers' permission before using or sharing much of their data, potentially making it more difficult for them to grow advertising businesses.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. companies are cutting merger deals at a record pace even though antitrust regulators have moved to oppose several recent high-profile combinations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't expect much more from the U.S. economy this year — it may have already peaked.
NEW YORK (AP) — A midday advance on the stock market wilted in afternoon trading Friday after the FBI notified Congress that it will investigate new emails linked to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
BOSTON (AP) — The government has issued new rules meant to help students get their federal loans erased in cases involving fraud and misconduct by their schools.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said Thursday that it will close manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania and Illinois by early 2018, affecting about 580 workers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon wants you to order your turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce online this Thanksgiving — its latest effort to make its Prime subscription service a central part of food shopping, much the way it's done for other consumer goods.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says he hand-picked only the best to teach success at Trump University. But dozens of those hired by the company had checkered pasts — including serious financial problems and even convictions for cocaine trafficking or child molestation, an Associated Press investigation has found.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI informed Congress Friday it is investigating whether new emails that have emerged in its probe of Hillary Clinton's private server may contain classified information. The FBI said in July its investigation was finished.