VOL. 41 | NO. 45 | Friday, November 10, 2017
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Hipsters pursuing trendy urban shaves and haircuts, beers and cigars aren’t going to feel at home in Joe’s Barber Shop in the unnamed shopping strip just across Granny White Pike from Lipscomb.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
With the thermometer striking 76 degrees at game time for the Titans game, it’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is around the corner.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
With five interceptions in two games, it’s tough not to notice what second-year safety is doing for the Tennessee Titans.
First down: Welcome back, Pac. Admit it, when he ended his shameful tenure in Tennessee with a year-long suspension in 2007, you never thought you’d see Adam Bernard Jones play another game in Nashville.
PREDATORS
When Pekka Rinne broke into the NHL in 2005, Paul Kariya was the Predators’ leading scorer, Ryan Suter a promising rookie and the team was playing in a building called the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
NEWSMAKERS
Adam C. Severson of Baker Donelson’s Nashville office has been named a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
When your business is young, you naturally welcome every new customer with open arms in an effort to generate cash flow and get on your feet.
CAREER CORNER
I recently had the honor of speaking on the topic of executive presence – not just once, but twice.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Driving a small hatchback offers many advantages. They’re efficient, maneuverable, practical and, above all, affordable. Sometimes they’re even fun to drive.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Chevron says Tennessee's attorney general has undertaken a "fishing expedition" in its investigation that has claimed Chevron fraudulently bilked $18 million-plus in petroleum cleanup funds.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Historical Commission has given a marker honoring the original Fisk Jubilee Singers.
REAL ESTATE
U.S. homebuilders are feeling more optimistic this month, reflecting a recent rebound in sales of newly built homes.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 49,000 trucks worldwide to fix a fuel tank problem that increases the risk of a fire.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says the uninsured rate is holding steady, with about 9 percent of Americans lacking coverage in the first six months of this year. That's nearly 29 million people, about the same as in 2016.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks moved higher in early trading Thursday, led by big gains in technology companies. Consumer product makers and health care stocks also rose. Energy companies declined as the price of crude oil headed lower.
NEW YORK (AP) — Time Inc. is considering a sale to fellow publisher Meredith Corp., according to media reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production jumped a solid 0.9 percent in October as factory activity recovered from the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits edged up again last week to a still-low 249,000. Meanwhile, the overall number of people collecting unemployment benefits fell to a near 44-year low, further evidence that Americans enjoy job security.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart raised its annual profit outlook Thursday after the world's largest retailer reported third-quarter results that topped Wall Street projections.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators has reached agreement on legislation to ensure federal agencies and state governments accurately report relevant criminal history to the FBI's database of prohibited gun buyers.
Leading researchers castigated a federal plan that would use artificial intelligence methods to scrutinize immigrants and visa applicants, saying it is unworkable as written and likely to be "inaccurate and biased" if deployed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are muscling their massive tax bill through the House, with President Donald Trump urging them on to a critically needed legislative victory and GOP House leaders exuding confidence they have the votes.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A former truck stop company executive boasted in a secretly recorded conversation that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam "loved it" when the sales team ripped off customers.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The trade that sent Filip Forsberg to Nashville has not worked out well for the Washington Capitals.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Conservative activist Andy Ogles announced Wednesday that he is dropping his bid for the Republican nomination to succeed Bob Corker in the U.S. Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The nation's largest private prison provider has been operating some prisons in Tennessee without enough corrections officers, and much of the staffing information needed to monitor what's happening behind bars is riddled with errors or hasn't been shared with the state, according to an audit released Tuesday.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions are expected to forgo coverage if Congress repeals the unpopular requirement that Americans get health insurance, gambling that they won't get sick and boosting premiums for others in a sharp break with the idea that everyone should contribute toward health care.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sign-ups for Affordable Care Act health plans are running more than 45 percent ahead of last year's pace, according to government data released Wednesday.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person's DNA to try to cure a disease.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is telling investors its next generation of electric vehicles will cost the company 30 percent less than current ones, making them profitable after the new version debuts in 2021.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology companies led U.S. stocks lower Wednesday, giving the market its biggest loss since early September.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose at a solid pace last month, as bullish consumers bought more cars, furniture and clothes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices edged up a slight 0.1 percent in October, the smallest gain in three months as energy prices retreated.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A cautious outlook on the crucial holiday season overshadowed a strong quarter from Target, pulling shares down sharply before the opening bell and the shares of other retailers as well.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans began pushing a broad tax cut for businesses and many individuals through the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, a measure complicated by a late addition — repeal of the Obama health care law's requirement that Americans get insurance coverage.
NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Cordray, the aggressive first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, plans to leave the agency by the end of the month, giving President Donald Trump a chance to appoint a replacement likely to be friendlier to the financial industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama health care law's requirement that Americans get insurance coverage is now pinned as a target of Republican lawmakers, as they look to end the individual mandate to help pay for deep cuts in their tax legislation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sale of Uranium One, a Canadian firm with rights to mine U.S. uranium, to a Russian company is in the news again with the Department of Justice signaling it could appoint a special counsel to look into the matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just back from Asia, President Donald Trump has resumed his morning tweeting routine — this time citing what he's calling a "successful" trip and slamming a regular media target.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14
STATEWIDE
HENDERSONVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Baptist Convention is not allowing representatives from a church with a female pastor to vote at its annual meeting.
BRENTWOOD (AP) — Songwriter Thomas Lee Miller is joining the race for the Republican nomination to succeed Rep. Marsha Blackburn in Congress.
STATE LEGISLATURE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Democratic state Rep. JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga says she won't seek re-election to the Tennessee General Assembly next year.
REAL ESTATE
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Tiny homes have been promoted as the solution to all kinds of housing needs, and they've inspired at least six national TV shows. But the popularity of the trendy structures seems to evaporate when developers try to build them.
COURTS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — With both gun rights supporters and gun control advocates nationwide looking on, lawyers for Newtown families and gun maker Remington Arms are set to face off Tuesday before the Connecticut Supreme Court to argue whether the company should be held liable for the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have approved the first drug with a sensor that alerts doctors when the medication has been taken, offering a new way of monitoring patients but also raising privacy concerns.
DENVER (AP) — Colorado transportation officials have partnered with a company to explore the possibility of building a futuristic system that would move passengers and freight at speeds of up to 200 mph.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Energy companies led U.S. stocks modestly lower Tuesday, erasing the small gains the market made a day earlier.
BOSTON (AP) — Fidget spinners, a plastic Wonder Woman battle sword and a remote-controlled Spider-Man drone are among the toys topping a consumer safety group's annual list of worst toys for the holidays.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service reported a financial loss Tuesday for the 11th straight year, citing declining mail volume and costs of its pension and health care obligations even as it predicted another strong holiday season of package deliveries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level climbed 0.4 percent in October and 2.8 percent over the past year, biggest annual jump in more than five years and a sign that an improving economy may finally be reviving inflationary pressures.
LONDON (AP) — Oil will continue growing as a source of energy for over two decades, with the U.S. set to become the undisputed leader in crude and gas production, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
The sexual harassment and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein that rocked Hollywood and sparked a flurry of allegations in other American industries, as well as the political arena, are reaching far beyond U.S. borders. Emboldened by the women, and men, who have spoken up, the "Weinstein Effect" is rippling across the globe.
NEW YORK (AP) — Store chains feeling the upheaval in retail are making strategic alliances — and that can mean picking sides.
LONDON (AP) — Ratings agency Standard & Poor's says Venezuela has defaulted on its debt after it failed to make payments due on some of its bonds.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans said Tuesday they are intent on repealing the Obama health care law requirement that Americans get health insurance, targeting the provision as a way to pay for GOP legislation cutting corporate taxes and individual rates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bob Corker, the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, says the panel's hearing on the president's authority to use nuclear weapons isn't a rebuke of President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans stake their claim to middle-class rescue in tax cut legislation deemed to carry tax hikes for millions, President Donald Trump plans an in-person appeal to lawmakers as the proposal faces a crucial vote in the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's oldest son released a series of private Twitter exchanges between himself and WikiLeaks during and after the 2016 election, including pleas from the website to publicize its leaks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is leaving open the possibility that a special counsel could be appointed to look into Clinton Foundation dealings and an Obama-era uranium deal, the Justice Department said, in responding to concerns from Republican lawmakers.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee tight end Delanie Walker can pin down the biggest difference between the Titans this season and their often painful struggles of recent seasons.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee began the season in the Top 25 and is ending it with a coaching change.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is nominating white men to America's federal courts at a rate not seen in nearly 30 years, threatening to reverse a slow transformation toward a judiciary that reflects the nation's diversity.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The major U.S. stock indexes capped a day of mostly subdued trading with slight gains Monday.
Oil prices have jumped by about one-third since the summer on signs of stronger economic growth around the world and fear of instability in the Middle East.
NEW YORK (AP) — General Electric slashed its dividend in half and will attempt to vastly narrow its focus to three key sectors — aviation, health care and energy — as the conglomerate with early ties to Thomas Edison considers shedding even its historic lighting business.
BOSTON (AP) — International enrollments at U.S. colleges have fared better than expected this year, but many schools still fear the country's political climate, according to a national survey.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Promoted as needed relief for the middle class, the Senate Republican tax overhaul actually would increase taxes for some 13.8 million moderate-income American households, a bipartisan analysis showed Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government began its new budget year with an October deficit of $63.2 billion, up sharply from a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's top Republican said Monday that GOP candidate Roy Moore should quit his Alabama race amid allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago. Moore fired back that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the one who should leave, saying he "has failed conservatives and must be replaced."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday barged into congressional Republicans' carefully calibrated work on revamping the nation's tax code, calling for a steeper tax cut for wealthy Americans and pressing to add a contentious health care change to the mix.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Turning to an industry he's rebuked, President Donald Trump on Monday picked a former top pharmaceutical and government executive to be his health and human services secretary, overseeing a $1 trillion department responsible for major health insurance programs, medical research, food and drug safety, and public health.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House's tax-writing committee is expressing confidence that chamber won't go along with the Senate's proposal to eliminate the deduction for property taxes, setting up a major flashpoint as Republicans aim to put a tax cut bill on President Donald Trump's desk before Christmas.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden says he wouldn't have agreed to replace Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee under any circumstances.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Day prompted President Donald Trump and his administration to take stock of what's been done to fix health care for those in uniform. They claimed more progress than has been made.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm state Sen. Doug Overbey as the U.S. attorney for Tennessee's eastern district.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's relationship with one of the chief conspirators in a scheme to defraud customers at the truck stop chain controlled by the Haslam family is becoming a focus for the defense in the fraud trial of the company's former president.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — A state official says Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. have eliminated an industrial site in Tennessee from consideration for their new auto manufacturing plant.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has named senior adviser Stephen Smith as his new chief of staff.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee panel will consider a petition to protect a Nashville Civil War fort from nearby development plans.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's mayor says an indigent care hospital will wind down inpatient services and the historically black medical college that trains there will work with another hospital.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says more than 600,000 people signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage in the first week of open enrollment season, and nearly 8 in 10 of those were current customers renewing their coverage.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alison Wrenne was making waffles for her two young children one morning when abdominal pain forced her to the floor. A neighbor who is a physician assistant urged her to go to the emergency room.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing slightly lower Friday as the market's eight-week winning streak comes to an end.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ripped into one of his favorite targets Thursday in Beijing: The United States' "shockingly" large trade deficit with China.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump's upscale Mar-a-Lago club received permission from the federal government to temporarily hire 70 foreign housekeepers, waiters and cooks to fill out its staff during its upcoming busy season, with its managers attesting there aren't enough Americans qualified, willing and available to do the work.
The board game Clue. In the National Toy Hall of Fame. With the Wiffle Ball and paper airplane.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Students who attended for-profit colleges filed more than 98 percent of the requests for student loan forgiveness alleging fraud by their schools, according to an analysis of Education Department data published Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator warned Britain again that time is running out to reach an agreement, as officials from the two sides met Thursday for an abbreviated round of divorce talks.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House and Senate tax overhaul plans are broadly similar, but crucial differences are creating headaches for Republican leaders determined to keep myriad interest groups and factions of the GOP satisfied. And then there's the ambitious timetable they've set of finishing in time to get legislation to President Donald Trump by Christmas.
A comparison of a Republican-written tax bill approved Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee and another being proposed by GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee:
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T says it's ready to fight the government for its $85 billion Time Warner deal if it has to. The Justice Department's objections surprised many on Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate narrowly confirmed a lawyer for the petrochemical industry on Thursday to a key post at the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee air pollution regulations affecting his former clients.
BEIJING (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials have signed a seemingly significant package of trade and investment deals during President Donald Trump's visit. They say it's worth more than $250 billion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — How's this for awkward? The United States has a delegation at international climate talks in Bonn that will be telling other nations what they should do on an agreement that the president wants no part of.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sweeping tax legislation from Senate Republicans includes a one-year delay in plans for a major corporate tax cut despite strident opposition from the White House and others in their own party. Their bill would leave the prized mortgage interest deduction untouched for homeowners in a concession to the powerful real estate lobby but would ignore a House compromise on the hot-button issue of state and local tax deductions.
A member of President Donald Trump's commission on voter fraud sued in federal court on Thursday, alleging that the commission is violating federal law by excluding him and others from participating in the work of the commission and refusing to provide documents available to other members.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's an article of faith among Republicans — reinforced by the party's drubbing in this week's off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey — that the GOP's electoral fortunes next year hinge on whether they succeed in their longstanding dream to redraft the nation's complex, inefficient tax code.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Disguised Russian agents on Twitter rushed to deflect scandalous news about Donald Trump just before last year's presidential election while straining to refocus criticism on the mainstream media and Hillary Clinton's campaign, according to an Associated Press analysis of since-deleted accounts.