VOL. 38 | NO. 46 | Friday, November 14, 2014
SMYRNA (AP) — A plan to offer free tuition to all Tennessee high school graduates has some higher-education institutions looking to hire more faculty.
REALTY CHECK
In what has become expected in this post-Recession boom, home sales continue to set records each month with no end in sight, based on October sales figures from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.
REAL ESTATE
October 2014 real estate trends for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
A look at Davidson County’s top lenders based on total number of all loans, commercial and residential.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged lower this week, approaching their lows for the year. The benchmark 30-year loan rate hovered near 4 percent.
TENNESSEE TITANS
For those who are still watching the Tennessee Titans and hoping that something can go right before the 2014 season is up, it could be a long wait.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE – University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones doesn’t have to remind his team about the disappointing fade last November.
NEWSMAKERS
More than 400 business leaders gathered at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel last week to induct Jack Bovender, Jr., retired Chairman of HCA., into the Phoenix Club Nashville Business Hall of Fame.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The 2015 Buick LaCrosse is absolutely, positively not like the stodgy Buicks of old.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Ladies should always speak quietly. They should never interrupt, never exhibit anger or be impolite. Ladies should always gently defer to their superiors. They should never ask for anything, but should be grateful for what they get. Ladies should know their limits.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
In sales, as in life, many a person throws in the towel after failure, not realizing failure is actually an inevitable outcome of the innovative.
CAREER CORNER
The desire to want to change careers is a common experience.
I SWEAR
“But is it __?” This clue is used in dozens of crossword puzzles. The answer is ART.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
November is here – already. Like the month of October, it brings many fun and interesting things. First of all, it brings daylight saving time in parts of the South, so now I’m wide awake at four in the morning. By 9 o’clock at night, I’m on my last leg.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — A nonprofit hospice provider has been given state approval to expand services in Rutherford County.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some low-cost generic drugs that have helped restrain health care costs for decades are seeing unexpected price spikes of up to 8,000 percent, prompting a backlash from patients, pharmacists and now Washington lawmakers.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The quality chief for Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. told a Senate committee Thursday that a national recall of driver's side air bag inflators is not necessary.
DETROIT (AP) — Mark Rosekind is a nationally known expert in human fatigue. He may soon inherit a government agency that's been criticized for nodding off at the wheel.
DETROIT (AP) — The Honda Odyssey was the only minivan to earn the highest safety rating in new crash tests by the insurance industry.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates continued to tick down this week, remaining close to yearlong lows.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans bought homes in October at the briskest pace this year, a sign that the sluggish housing market is turning around.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Experts have a message for anyone with webcams, baby monitors and home security cameras: change your password now.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo will supplant Google's search engine on Firefox's Web browser in the U.S., signaling Yahoo's resolve to regain some of the ground that it has lost in the most lucrative part of the Internet's ad market.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An index designed to predict the future health of the economy rose in October at the fastest pace in three months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits declined slightly last week, suggesting that job gains should remain solid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in October as a fourth straight decline in gasoline costs helped to keep inflation at bay.
A pickup in U.S. home sales and figures showing a decline in weekly applications for unemployment benefits helped lift stocks in midday trading Thursday. Strong earnings from several retailers also gave markets a boost.
NEW YORK (AP) — The good news for Thanksgiving travelers: the price of gas is at five-year lows. The bad news: a lot more people will be on the road.
Giving thanks will be a little costlier this year, but — and here's something you can be truly thankful for — it probably won't empty your wallet.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As broadly as President Barack Obama may push the limits of his authority to shield from deportation millions of immigrants illegally in the United States, the fate of millions more will still be left unresolved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday noted that previous U.S. presidents have issued some type of executive order on immigration, suggesting his Democratic successor was on "pretty firm legal footing."
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19
NASHVILLE AREA
MATTHEWS, N.C. (AP) — Family Dollar is delaying a special meeting at which shareholders were to vote on its $8.5 billion acquisition by Dollar Tree as regulators determine how many stores might need to be divested for antitrust reasons.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A year after Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed a bill that would have discouraged undercover citizen investigation of animal abuse, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Mercy for Animals says it has secretly documented abuse at a Chattanooga chicken processing plant.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has selected a Knoxville attorney to be his new general counsel.
NASHVILLE (AP) — With a decades-long ban on hemp production in Tennessee finally lifted, some farmers say they want to grow the crop but aren't used to the government oversight that comes with it.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen is recalling 442,000 Jettas and Beetles to fix a problem that can cause rear suspension failure if the cars aren't fixed properly after a crash.
DETROIT (AP) — A showdown is looming between U.S. safety regulators and a Japanese company that makes air bags linked to multiple deaths and injuries.
TECHNOLOGY
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese censors have newly blocked access to several popular websites as they target content delivery networks that serve much of the Internet, according to a U.S. Internet service company.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction of new homes fell slightly in October after a big surge in the previous month, but the weakness was largely driven by the volatile apartment sector.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policy-makers discussed a variety of economic threats at their October meeting — from turbulent financial markets to overseas weakness — but decided to move forward with plans to end their landmark bond buying program.
U.S. financial markets pulled back slightly from their most recent record highs Wednesday, ending lower for the first time this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study suggests that something about the banking industry seems to bring out dishonesty in people.
BOSTON (AP) — A bow that shoots illuminated arrows its manufacturer says can fly up to 145 feet, and the "Catapencil" — a pencil with a miniature slingshot-style launcher at its erasure end — are among an annual list of unsafe toys released Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world still isn't close to preventing what leaders call a dangerous level of man-made warming, a new United Nations report says. That's despite some nations' recent pledges to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions.
It will soon cost you money to check a bag on JetBlue if you buy the cheapest level of tickets.
LONDON (AP) — A British couple says they were charged 100 pounds ($156) by a hotel in northwestern England after they described it as a filthy hovel in an online review.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama called on local school officials Wednesday to help meet his goal of bringing high-speed Internet to virtually every American student within a few years to help them compete with counterparts in countries who already use technology to help them learn.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is promising the new Republican majority will quickly resurrect Keystone XL pipeline legislation killed by Democrats, potentially setting up an early 2015 veto confrontation with President Barack Obama.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has obtained new accreditations for its forensic facilities in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A new University of Tennessee report states the number of uninsured people in Tennessee has hit a 10-year low.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A nonprofit environmental group is suing a Kingsport ammunition plant for dumping explosive chemicals into local drinking water.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee Democratic Party committee is recommending three candidates for the state party chairmanship.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling about 65,000 Fusion midsize cars in North America because the ignition keys can be removed if the transmission is not in park.
TOKYO (AP) — There will only be a few hundred, and they won't be cheap, but Toyota is about to take its first small step into the unproven market for emissions-free, hydrogen-powered vehicles.
TECHNOLOGY
HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia is back in the fray. Just months after selling its ailing handsets business to Microsoft, the Finnish company is planning to go back into the consumer market with a new tablet.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. homebuilders' confidence rebounded in November as both sales expectations and buyer traffic improved.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation picked up in October due to higher prices that U.S. companies received for new model cars, beef, pork, pharmaceuticals and electric power.
Investors remained in a record-setting mood Tuesday, edging the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index to their latest all-time highs.
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A U.S. private equity firm has joined the family of late reggae star Bob Marley in hopes of building what it calls the "world's first global cannabis brand."
ATLANTA (AP) — Home Depot's third-quarter profit rose 14 percent as comparable-store sales climbed in the U.S., suggesting that a huge data breach announced two months ago has not shaken the faith of its customers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With limited time still in power, President Barack Obama is staking his final two years on climate change, pushing the issue to the front of his agenda as he seeks to leave an imprint on the world that will endure after he's gone.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the run-up to a razor-thin vote, Sen. Mary Landrieu beseeched fellow Democrats on Tuesday to provide the support necessary to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, the massive project at the center of a fierce environmental dispute and her own uphill struggle for a new term from Louisiana.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Two Republican state senators filed legislation Monday to repeal the state's Common Core standards even though Gov. Bill Haslam has called for a public review of the higher benchmarks in English and math.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Titans are holding a food drive in conjunction with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee before their Monday night game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — More grants are being offered to promote energy efficiency projects in Tennessee.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Two trucking companies are accusing Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam of directly orchestrating a scheme to cheat customers out of promised rebates and discounts, according to recent court filings.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether homeowners who declare bankruptcy can void a second mortgage if the home's market value has dropped below the amount they owe on the first mortgage.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The deadline for victims of crashes caused by faulty General Motors ignition switches has been extended for a month as the death toll rose to 33.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — As a crucial second sign-up season gears up, the Obama administration said Sunday that HealthCare.gov is stable and working well, a far cry from last year's frozen computer screens and frustrated customers.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
LONDON (AP) — The global economy's problems seem to be multiplying.
Despite a day of mostly listless trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index managed to notch another all-time high.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York trustee recovering money for thousands of investors says a half-billion-dollar settlement has been reached with two financial funds that invested with Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing output grew modestly in October, as autoworkers churned out fewer cars and trucks.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Under pressure to jolt the lethargic world economy back to life, leaders of G-20 nations on Sunday finalized a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years. The fanfare, however, was overshadowed by tensions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Brandt Snedeker has taken out skeet targets with a golf shot. Now the PGA pro has a chance at helping the Titans and Bridgestone donate up to $50,000 for domestic violence programs at halftime of Tennessee's game with Pittsburgh on Monday night.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says he wanted the state's embattled education commissioner to remain in his administration for a second term but it didn't happen.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Finance Commissioner Larry Martin says the state's revenue collections for October were more than $15 million over what was expected.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam said Thursday that Education Department Commissioner Kevin Huffman is leaving for the private sector, a day after making the same announcement about his economic and community development commissioner.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - The head of the German union representing automotive workers is speaking out against Volkswagen working with anti-labor groups at its plant in Tennessee.
SEVIERVILLE (AP) — An automobile parts manufacturer that already has a presence in Morristown is opening a new plant in Sevierville.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is once again trying to simplify its privacy policy, largely to address criticisms that it's too complex and lengthy for the average user.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose modestly in October, evidence that recent job gains and lower gas prices are lifting consumer spending as the holiday shopping season begins.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ending mostly mixed, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out a record close.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The annual G-20 leadership summit that groups democrats with authoritarians and rich nations with poor has long suffered from a perception it's all talk and no action. This year, leaders are under extra pressure to produce something tangible.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil took another sharp tumble Thursday as it appeared increasingly unlikely that OPEC members will cut production to reverse a plunge that is entering its fifth month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The growing globalization of financial markets requires the Federal Reserve to understand how economic developments in other nations may affect the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banking giant Morgan Stanley helped a Chinese company, Tianhe Chemicals, sell $654 million in stock in a June public offering. But The Associated Press identified significant discrepancies in publicly accessible financial records and statements Tianhe made to investors.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House passed legislation Friday approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, setting the stage for a Senate showdown that mixes energy politics with a fight over Louisiana's Senate seat.