VOL. 43 | NO. 40 | Friday, October 4, 2019
JIM MYERS: CULINARITY
Sometimes story ideas come from strange places, often from the incongruous rabbit holes we descend led by the hand of restless curiosity. This one starts with a gruesome crime scene.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Those with cleanliness fetishes should beware when buying homes and understand the houses they consider will not meet their tidiness specifications. Those who are concerned about sanitation often include the term “House must be cleaned by a professional cleaner prior to closing” in their offer.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, August 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates held steady this week, offering a potential boon to homebuyers amid an uncertain economic outlook.
TENNESSEE TITANS
When Isaiah Mack survived final cuts a month ago, the Titans rookie from UT-Chattanooga joined a special fraternity of players with roster spots despite no draft pedigree.
About the only thing we know about the Tennessee Titans is that they are consistently inconsistent.
Four weeks in, and I have yet to get a Titans result right. They are 2-2 and I am 0-4. This week I’ll try again to see if I can figure this team out.
PREDATORS
Talented squad welcoming great teams, hated rivals in 2019-20
The Predators are the hottest ticket in Nashville. Don’t believe me? Last season I paid $150 a seat for near back-row spots to see the Preds play the Bruins.
NEWSMAKERS
Judea S. Davis is joining Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as an associate in the Litigation Practice Group.
BRIEFS
Baker Donelson has been named by Women Inc. magazine to its “Top 100 Law Firms for Women” list.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Until recently, heavy-duty trucks have been the reserve of ranchers, horse owners and your neighbor who owns a paving company – tough trucks for people who do tough work.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Your knees were always scabby and hurt. Skinned elbows, bloody scratches, dirt, bruises, scuffs were hallmarks of your childhood, and you earned every one of them by playing hard and never ignoring a challenge.
Thomas Goldsmith, musical historian, musician and former writer and editor at The Tennessean, will discuss his new book, “Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Classic,’’ Friday, Oct. 11, noon-1 p.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
PERSONAL FINANCE
You know you should have a will, but you keep stalling.
CAREER CORNER
I recently heard a saying that stuck with me: “Learning is the new loyalty.” Hearing this phrase, it felt like the record stopped. Everything was quiet for a moment while I contemplated just how much I agree.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Consumers shop online for just about everything. So you’ve likely experienced the stinging disappointment when a TV, piece of furniture or something else you ordered finally arrives on your doorstep – damaged.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is waking up to its first official "Day of Prayer, Humility and Fasting."
REGION
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Across a vast expanse of the South stretching from Texas to Maryland, there are growing concerns for the cattle, cotton and corn amid a worsening drought fueled by this summer's record high temperatures.
COURTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The copyright owners of the "Charlie Brown Christmas" theme song have sued Dollywood in federal court for copyright infringement.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Nearly four weeks into the United Auto Workers' strike against General Motors, employees are starting to feel the pinch of going without their regular paychecks.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration plans to issue licenses to U.S. companies to supply "nonsensitive goods" to Chinese tech giant Huawei, The New York Times reported, in a move that might help to cool tensions ahead of trade talks.
ENVIRONMENT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Hotels in the nation's most populous state will have to stop giving guests small plastic shampoo bottles under a new law set to take effect starting in 2023.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Overall consumer prices were unchanged in September as a big decline in energy costs offset small gains in other areas.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of retirees will get a modest 1.6% cost-of-living increase from Social Security in 2020, an uptick with potential political consequences in an election year when Democrats are pushing more generous inflation protection.
BEIJING (AP) — China's richest businesspeople got richer in 2019 despite a tariff war with Washington and an economic slowdown, a survey showed Thursday.
HONG KONG (AP) — For people in Hong Kong angry over tactics used by the police to break up anti-government protests, the HKmap.live app was a handy little tool.
In response to the NBA defending Daryl Morey's freedom of speech, Chinese officials took it away from the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have been arrested on campaign finance violations resulting from a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump's re-election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The combative White House letter vowing to defy the "illegitimate" impeachment inquiry has actually put President Donald Trump on a more certain path to charges. His refusal to honor subpoenas or allow testimony would likely play into a formal accusation against him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are following impeachment proceedings closely and are slightly more likely to approve than disapprove of the inquiry itself. But the public is more closely split over whether President Donald Trump should be removed from office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For once, Republicans and Democrats in Congress were in the same place: out of the loop.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 9
TOURISM
MARYVILLE (AP) — A forestry professor says the fall leaf colors in the Smoky Mountains will be more subdued this year.
REGION
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Appalachian Regional Commission has announced $44.4 million for 54 projects affecting coal-impacted communities in Appalachian states.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Roman Josi extended San Jose's early-season woes.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union hit a snag Tuesday over what the union says is a lack of commitment by GM to build new vehicles in U.S. factories.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed overhauling decades-old Medicare rules originally meant to deter fraud and abuse but now seen as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear before Congress this month as the tech giant is under pressure from lawmakers and regulators over its massive market power and record of privacy breaches.
LONDON (AP) — The European Union has warned that next-generation telecommunication networks face a range of cyber threats, including from hostile countries.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union police agency says cybercriminals are using new technology and exploiting existing online vulnerabilities as they shift their focus to larger and more profitable targets.
BEIJING (AP) — Apple became the latest company targeted for Chinese pressure over protests in Hong Kong when the ruling Communist Party's main newspaper criticized the tech giant Wednesday for a smartphone app that allows activists to report police movements.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Defense Intelligence Agency official was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaking classified intelligence information to two journalists, including a reporter he was dating, the Justice Department said.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing broadly higher on Wall Street, giving the market its first gain this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials were sharply divided last month when they decided to cut their key policy rate for a second time this year, a split that indicates the path forward for future rate cuts remains cloudy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When out shopping, most Americans like lower prices. But the Federal Reserve sees things a little differently.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings fell 1.7% in August and hires edged down, bolstering views that the labor market may lose momentum as economic uncertainty and a manufacturing recession squeeze employers.
PARIS (AP) — A global economic body has proposed overhauling the way multinationals - particularly tech giants - are taxed to make sure they pay their fair share in countries where they do significant business.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping have plenty of reasons to call off their trade war.
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. financial system is prepared to cope with a no-deal Brexit, though uncertainties about the country's withdrawal from the European Union are weighing hard on the wider economy, the Bank of England said Wednesday.
BEIJING (AP) — China demanded Washington lift sanctions on Chinese tech companies and warned Wednesday it will "resolutely safeguard" the country's interests.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. does not endorse Turkey's military assault on Syria, calling the operation a "bad idea."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday over sharp bipartisan criticism of his decision to pull back U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, saying he is focused on the "BIG PICTURE" that does not include American involvement in "stupid endless wars" in the Middle East.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Constitution gives the House "the sole power of impeachment" — but it confers that authority without an instruction manual.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans have spent most of the past two years trying to limit public fights with President Donald Trump, either out of party loyalty or fear of being on the wrong end of a presidential tweetstorm.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Battling an impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump is misrepresenting facts as he blasts his investigators and seeks to highlight the administration's efforts to fulfill campaign pledges on the economy and war in the Middle East .
TUESDAY, OCT. 8
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan has tapped the head of its China business, Makoto Uchida, as its new president and chief executive, to help lead a recovery from the leadership crisis and sinking profitability that followed the arrest of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, last year.
COURTS
MEMPHIS (AP) — A group of voters is appealing a judge's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the security of voting machines in Tennessee's largest county and calling for a switch to a handwritten ballot and a voter-verifiable paper trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A seemingly divided Supreme Court struggled Tuesday over whether a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, with one conservative justice wondering if the court should take heed of "massive social upheaval" that could follow a ruling in their favor.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Facebook has agreed to pay $40 million to advertisers who said it inflated the amount of time its users watched videos.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Tuesday as tensions between the U.S. and China flared ahead of negotiations aimed at resolving the costly trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising trade tensions are threatening to block a path out of poverty for the world's poorest countries: their ability to manufacture low-cost parts for multinational corporations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that U.S. job growth since early last year was not as robust as thought, a hint that the Fed may be ready to keep cutting interest rates to support the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — The parent company of Toys R Us is turning to a key rival to restart its e-commerce business ahead of the holiday shopping season.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new head of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that the world economy is in the grips of a "synchronized global slowdown" that will result in slower growth for 90% of the world this year.
BRUSSELS (AP) — EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says the bloc should agree on a tax to ensure global digital companies pay "their fair share" in Europe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. producer prices fell in September, another sign that inflation remains tame more than 10 years into America's economic expansion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the nation's unemployment rate at its lowest point since human beings first walked on the moon, you might expect the Federal Reserve to be raising interest rates to keep the economy from overheating and igniting inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government ran a budget deficit of just under $1 trillion in the just-closed fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.
TOKYO (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league is not apologizing for Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's since-deleted tweet showing support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, even after China's state broadcaster canceled plans to show a pair of preseason games in that country later this week.
The United States is blacklisting a group of Chinese tech companies that develop facial recognition and other artificial intelligence technology that the U.S. says is being used to repress China's Muslim minority groups.
TV show South Park and a major video game studio are the latest businesses swept into a growing debate over how to navigate China's censorship efforts.
LONDON (AP) — Britain and the European Union traded ill-tempered barbs Tuesday as the U.K. said a Brexit deal might be impossible, while insisting it was still working for one with just over three weeks until its scheduled departure from the bloc.
HONG KONG (AP) — The Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday dropped its bid to buy its London counterpart after the European exchange rejected the surprise offer.
The Trump Administration is blocking shipments from a Chinese company making baby pajamas sold at Costco warehouses, after the foreign manufacturer was accused of forcing ethnic minorities locked in an internment camp to sew clothes against their will.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for House Democrats urged a judge Tuesday to release secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as Congress conducts an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a span of 24 hours, President Donald Trump moved from threatening to obliterate Turkey's economy if it invades Syria to inviting its president to visit the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump intensified his fight with Congress Tuesday over the Democrats' impeachment investigation, as the administration blocked a U.S. diplomat from testifying behind closed doors about the president's dealings with Ukraine. House committee chairmen said they would subpoena the envoy to force him to appear.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As House Democrats fire off more subpoenas, the White House has launched a high-stakes strategy to counter the impeachment threat to President Donald Trump: Stall. Obfuscate. Attack. Repeat.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An envoy wrapped up in a congressional impeachment inquiry was a late convert to President Donald Trump, initially supporting another candidate in the Republican primary and once refusing to participate in a fundraiser on his behalf.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump cast his decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Syria as fulfilling a campaign promise to withdraw from "endless war" in the Middle East, even as Republican critics and others said he was sacrificing a U.S. ally and undermining American credibility.
MONDAY, OCT. 7
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Film Festival turns 50 this year with a new director who is expanding its footprint.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter had a black eye and 14 stitches after falling Sunday at his Georgia home, but made it to an evening concert in Tennessee to rally volunteers ahead of his 36th home building project for Habitat for Humanity.
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is visiting Tennessee State University, where he will meet students and see the school's research programs.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have released kicker Cairo Santos a day after he missed three field goals and had a fourth blocked.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Cairo Santos pulled his first field goal attempt wide left from 50 yards, tried to fix the issue and overcorrected, yanking his next attempt from 36 yards wide right.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Contract talks aimed at ending a 22-day strike by the United Auto Workers against General Motors continued Monday after United Auto Workers union bargainers rejected a company offer on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — Activists with the Extinction Rebellion movement blocked roads and staged demonstrations in big cities around the globe Monday, part of a wide-ranging series of protests demanding much more urgent action against climate change.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Consumer products giant Unilever, whose brands include Dove soaps and Lipton teas, said Monday it aims to halve its use of non-recycled plastics by 2025.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Attorneys representing a Tennessee inmate whose death sentence was converted to life in prison say the state attorney general has no authority to challenge the agreement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court began a potentially contentious election-year term Monday in seeming general agreement that juries in state criminal trials must be unanimous to convict a defendant.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court began its election-year term Monday by wrestling over whether states must allow criminal defendants to plead insanity.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't get involved in a case in which a newspaper was kept from getting information about jurors hearing a high-profile New York murder trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will leave in place a court decision that derailed the impeachment trials of three West Virginia Supreme Court justices accused of corruption.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it won't review the case of an Alabama death row inmate who argued his sentence is unconstitutional because a judge imposed it over the will of a jury.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A day of choppy trading on Wall Street ended Monday with stocks broadly lower as the market extended its losing streak into a fourth week.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Monday stressed the importance of an independent central bank "absolutely free" from politics in the wake of increasing pressure from President Donald Trump urging the central bank to lower interest rates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer borrowing increased at a solid pace in August, helped by the biggest jump in auto and student loans in three years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a limited trade agreement Monday with Japan. The deal would win back for American farmers benefits they lost when Trump pulled out of a broader Asia-Pacific pact his first week in office.
NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric is freezing the pension plans of about 20,000 of its workers and offering pension buyouts to 100,000 former employees as it attempts to reduce its mountain of debt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's business economists think President Donald Trump's trade war with China will contribute to a sharp slowdown in economic growth this year and next, raising concerns about a possible recession starting late next year.
LONDON (AP) — British labor union Unite has expressed dismay over reports that the bank HSBC will slash 10,000 jobs worldwide.
LONDON (AP) — Britain and the European Union appeared to be poles apart Monday on a potential Brexit deal, with the Dutch government urging the British government to offer "more realism and clarity," and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting that the bloc must soften its stance.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Monday urged a group of Tennesseans to call the state's two Democratic congressmen and ask them to help pass the Trump administration's trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing unusually wide criticism, President Donald Trump sent out strong but conflicting signals on the "endless war" in Syria and Middle East on Monday. He declared U.S. troops would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on Kurds who have fought alongside Americans for years but then threatened to destroy the Turks' economy if they went too far.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump's main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press reported Monday that a circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted their connections to President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani as they sought to install new management at the top of Ukraine's state-owned gas company last spring. The intervention was happening while Giuliani was pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. But in this case, the aims were profit, not politics. Their plan hit a snag after the election of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but then U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry took up the effort to install a friendlier management team at the company, Naftogaz. Perry has denied any wrongdoing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine issued subpoenas Monday to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and acting White House budget director Russell Vought.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine may have fresh information to work with after a new whistleblower stepped forward with what the person's lawyer said was firsthand knowledge of key events.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are marching forward with their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, with more depositions coming this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing an impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump is turning to a familiar playbook to defend himself: blasting the inquiry as illegal, attacking his investigators and critics alike, and deriding the whistleblower process as all-but-rigged.
FRIDAY, OCT. 4
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say a newly solidified partnership between Middle Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College will help address the state’s doctor shortage in rural areas.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Jeremy Banks has been dismissed from the Tennessee football team after video showed him cursing and saying "where I'm from, we shoot at cops" during his arrest last month following a traffic stop. The linebacker has apologized .
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Matt Duchene was feeling a bit nervous before his debut with Nashville. A misstep in the pregame warmup helped the Predators’ new free agent feel more at ease.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider reinstating a permit that was tossed out by a lower court that would allow construction of a natural gas pipeline through two national forests, including parts of the Appalachian Trail.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is adding an abortion case to its busy election-year docket, agreeing to take up a Louisiana law that could leave the state with just one clinic.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other U.S., U.K. and Australian officials are pressing Facebook to give authorities a way to read encrypted messages sent by ordinary users, re-igniting tensions between tech companies and law enforcement.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — HP Inc.’s new CEO has unveiled the company’s latest plan to streamline its operations — one that envisions cutting its workforce by as much as 16% over the next three years.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics said Friday it has ended the production of smartphones in its last factory in China.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Sports Illustrated’s new manager said Thursday that the 65-year-old sports magazine is cutting more than 40 jobs out of a staff of 150.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street ended a choppy week of trading with a broad rally that drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 370 points higher.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the U.S. economy is facing some risks at the moment, but overall it is in a "good place" and the Fed's main job is to "keep it there as long as possible."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit widened in August for the first time in three months as exports increased but imports increased more. The politically sensitive gap with China in the trade of goods narrowed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve plans to continue pumping money into a crucial corner of the financial markets that banks and others use for short-term loans but that has suffered recent shortfalls.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy added a modest 136,000 jobs in September, a gain that managed to help lower the unemployment rate to a new five-decade low of 3.5% but also suggested rising caution among employers.
BERLIN (AP) — European officials said Friday they hope to engage the U.S. in talks on the new tariffs it has imposed on the EU, but are ready to respond with taxes on American goods if needed.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson says President Donald Trump stopped him from telling Ukraine's president that U.S. military aid would be forthcoming, actions now at the heart of the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An internal watchdog says he's investigating the Treasury Department's actions in handling Congress' request for President Donald Trump's tax returns in a long-running legal battle.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump's contacts with Ukraine had not yet been made public. An impeachment inquiry by Democrats had yet to begin.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he will formally object to Congress' impeachment inquiry even as he acknowledged that House Democrats "have the votes" to proceed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. diplomats encouraged Ukraine's newly elected president to conduct an investigation linked to Joe Biden's family in return for a high-profile visit to Washington with President Donald Trump. It soon escalated into what one feared was a "crazy" swap that risked vital U.S. military aid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Microsoft said Friday that hackers linked to the Iranian government targeted a U.S. presidential campaign, as well as government officials, media targets and prominent expatriate Iranians.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is publicly encouraging China to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden, snubbing his nose at an impeachment inquiry into whether a similar, private appeal to another foreign government violated his oath of office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Once again, President Donald Trump is seizing on unsubstantiated claims promoted by political allies as he seeks a foreign government’s help finding dirt on Democratic political rival Joe Biden. This time it’s China.
THURSDAY, OCT. 3
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday downplayed recent pushback on his administration’s effort to change Tennessee’s Medicaid program into a block grant system, countering that the opposition is likely due to misinformation.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — More than 45 million people across 14 Southern states are now in the midst of what’s being called a “flash drought” that’s cracking farm soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires, scientists said Thursday.
MIDSTATE
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is slated to headline an event on trade in Tennessee next week alongside Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
TECHNOLOGY
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that member countries can force Facebook to remove or block unlawful material worldwide, in a case that raises new questions over the responsibilities of tech giants.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Democrats of an all-out attempt to “totally obliterate Medicare” and portrayed himself as the program’s defender while signing a directive to expand Medicare’s private insurance options.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — While an auto workers strike against General Motors continues in its 18th day, a top union bargainer reported that talks with Ford are going well.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors offered striking union members wage increases or lump-sum payments in all four years of a proposed contract, as bargainers seek a deal to end a walkout that’s in its third week.
COURTS
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two years after a gunman rained gunfire on country music fans from a high-rise Las Vegas hotel, MGM Resorts International reached a settlement that could pay up to $800 million to families of the 58 people who died and hundreds of others who were injured, attorneys announced Thursday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology and health care companies helped U.S. stocks rebound broadly from an early sell-off Thursday, snapping the market’s steep two-day skid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal consumer watchdogs have ordered Juul and five other vaping companies to hand over information about how they market e-cigarettes, the government’s latest move targeting the industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the U.S. economy’s vast services sector slowed sharply in September to its lowest point in three years, suggesting that the Trump administration’s trade conflicts and rising uncertainty are weakening the bulk of the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, forecasts that holiday sales will rise between 3.8% and 4.2% even as uncertainty looms over an escalating trade war with China.
PARIS (AP) — The European Union warned Thursday it will retaliate against the U.S. decision to slap tariffs on a range of the bloc’s exports - from cheese to wine - that could cause job losses in Europe and price increases for Americans.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought Thursday to build a coalition at home to back his fresh Brexit approach even as key European leaders declared that the measures he just proposed fall far short of the concessions needed to forge a deal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, ensnared in an impeachment inquiry over his request that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, on Thursday called on China to do the same.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Once again, President Donald Trump is seizing on unsubstantiated claims promoted by political allies as he seeks a foreign government’s help finding dirt on Democratic political rival Joe Biden. This time it’s China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The former special U.S. envoy to Ukraine told lawmakers Thursday that he wasn’t personally involved in President Donald Trump’s effort to have that country’s leaders investigate Joe Biden’s family and that he warned Ukrainians to steer clear of American politics.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is rapidly confronting a decision at the core of House Democrats’ nascent impeachment inquiry: Should he comply with congressional demands and risk disclosure of embarrassing information? Or should he delay and possibly deepen his legal and political predicament?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Agitated and angry, President Donald Trump squared off against House Democrats, packing his increasingly aggressive impeachment defense with name-calling and expletives. Quietly but just as resolutely, lawmakers expanded their inquiry, promising a broad new subpoena for documents and witnesses.