VOL. 41 | NO. 46 | Friday, November 17, 2017
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, October 2017, for Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports. Due to technical issues, Davidson County sales are unavailable for October.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term mortgage rates rose this week to the highest level in months.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
Motocross’ loss is apparently the NFL and the Tennessee Titans’ gain. As unlikely as it sounds, Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan’s football career almost didn’t take off, because of his love for another endeavor – dirt bike riding.
What players have had the biggest impact on the Titans 2017 turnaround? Here are the top five, in no particular order:
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Tennessee Titans feel like they missed an opportunity.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The end is creeping up on Ben Roethlisberger. There have been times this season when the 35-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback looks every bit his age, and plays like it, too.
DAVE LINK: UT SPORTS
Fired coach helped rescue UT program that had hit bottom
After the fact, Butch Jones’ shortcomings are there for all to see. He could recruit talented players but he couldn’t develop them. His hiring of assistant coaches was haphazard. He choked in late-game situations. He blurted out half-baked comments at press conferences. His interpersonal relationships were strained. He talked tough but had a thin skin.
As Tennessee’s interim head coach following the dismissal of Butch Jones, Brady Hoke is entrusted with the task of making the best of a bad situation.
John Currie is eight months into his job as Tennessee’s athletics director and already facing a coaching hire that could define his career.
Brady Hoke makes his debut as Tennessee’s interim football coach Saturday at 7 p.m. EST (ESPN) against LSU in Neyland Stadium.
COURTS
The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners has filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Tennessee to adopt the Uniform Bar Examination, which would be a major change in the portability of bar exam results for aspiring Tennessee attorneys.
NEWSMAKERS
The law firm of Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC has hired Flynne Bailey and Hilary Dennen, both litigation attorneys.
BRIEFS
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has begun operating and providing clinical services at 14 retail health clinics within Walgreens stores located across Middle Tennessee. The clinics build upon the continued relationship between Walgreens and Vanderbilt Health, which has included infusion services provided throughout the Middle Tennessee and Walgreens pharmacy participation in VUMC’s clinically-integrated network.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Pickups have been the best-selling vehicles in America for decade, and two of the most popular are the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. These trucks are modern, comfortable and capable, especially when it comes to towing and hauling.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
What was your favorite toy when you were a child? You can probably remember it instantly: the thing you couldn’t bear to leave at home, the doll you spent hours with, the toy truck that road-tripped your imagination.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
How much time do people spend with your marketing materials?
CAREER CORNER
Being happy at work is an essential part of career fulfillment. But sometimes, it seems we spend more time researching where to eat the best hamburger than where to work.
COURTS
SPARTA (AP) — A Tennessee judge who offered inmates less jail time if they voluntarily underwent birth control procedures has been publicly reprimanded by state judicial regulators.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Eight Tennessee properties have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's busiest passenger airport is expecting heavy volume nearing record levels for the extended Thanksgiving weekend.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slipped this week to 3.92 percent from 3.95 percent last week. But the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage, popular among homeowners seeking to refinance, blipped up to 3.32 percent from 3.31 percent.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, U.S. stocks are little changed Wednesday morning after they finished at all-time highs the day before. The price of oil is rising on reports OPEC might extend its cuts in production, and energy companies are also up. Technology companies are taking small losses as the two former halves of Hewlett-Packard both tumble.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell for the first time in three weeks, pushing total applications down to a low 239,000, further evidence of the strength of the labor market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell last month for the first time since July, pulled down by plummeting orders for commercial aircraft. A category that tracks business investment posted the biggest drop in more than a year.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber is coming clean about its cover-up of a year-old hacking attack that stole personal information about more than 57 million of the beleaguered ride-hailing service's customers and drivers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the biggest challenge facing the central bank in coming years will be to craft an interest rate policy that avoids putting the economy through a "boom-bust" cycle.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States' trade representative has expressed concerns on a lack of progress in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement at the conclusion of the fifth round of talks in Mexico City.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on a slew of North Korean shipping firms and Chinese trading companies in its latest push to isolate the rogue nation over its nuclear weapons development and deprive it of revenue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bring on the turkey — but maybe hold the politics.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Kentucky priest has been named bishop of the Diocese of Nashville.
Nashville Soccer Club and Nissan today announced a multiyear partnership in which Nissan will become the club’s first jersey front sponsor.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee state representatives and their staffs are being required to attend sexual harassment training led by the YWCA.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has removed data from its website about the amount of low-level radioactive waste going into landfills.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — With a chance to contribute on special teams, Mattias Ekholm is showing just how dangerous he can be for the Nashville Predators.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans bought more homes last month, as sales snapped back in hurricane-hit Texas and Florida. Yet the market is still suffering from a dwindling supply of available homes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The market's biggest winners this year, technology and health care, powered U.S. stock indexes to more all-time highs on Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Seeing an attempt to block its buyout out of Time Warner as a "radical" departure by the U.S. government, AT&T is preparing for a fight to see the $85 billion deal through.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T is vowing to fight the U.S. government to save its $85 billion bid for Time Warner, after the Justice Department sued to block the deal on grounds it could hike television bills and hamper innovation.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ikea relaunched a recall of 29 million chests and dressers Tuesday after the death of an eighth child.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Lowe's profit more than doubled in the third quarter as Americans along the Gulf Coast loaded up trunks and trucks with materiel to repair the damage delivered by a pair of gigantic hurricanes.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday followed through on his pledge to repeal 2015 regulations designed to ensure that internet service providers treat all online content and apps equally, setting up a showdown with consumer groups and internet companies who fear the move will stifle competition and innovation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration plans to announce Tuesday new sanctions on North Korea, after declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism in the latest push to isolate the pariah nation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One month before the Trump administration sparked outrage by reversing a ban on trophies from threatened African elephants, federal officials quietly loosened restrictions on the importation of heads and hides of lions shot for sport.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20
STATEWIDE
HUMBOLDT (AP) — Tyson Foods Inc. plans to build a new chicken production complex in Tennessee, a $300 million project that is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs when the facility begins operations in late 2019, the company said Monday.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Mel Tillis, the affable longtime country music star who wrote hits for Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs and many others, and overcame a stutter to sing on dozens of his own singles, has died.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A look at reaction from the country music world on Mel Tillis, who died Sunday at age 85.
SPORTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Sunday for boarding Colorado Avalanche forward Dominic Toninato.
AUTO INDUSTRY
HELSINKI (AP) — Volvo Cars said Monday it will sell tens of thousands of self-driving cars to Uber, which is expanding to become an operator and owner of its own car fleet.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers are getting the word that taxpayer-subsidized health plans are widely available for next year for no monthly premium or little cost, and marketing companies say they're starting to see an impact on sign-ups.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the true cost of the opioid drug epidemic in 2015 was $504 billion, or roughly half a trillion dollars.
TECHNOLOGY
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Marvell Technology has bid about $6 billion for Cavium in a cash-and-stock deal that would create a chip maker to compete with Intel and other giants in the industry.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday as a mix of smaller, U.S.-focused companies, technology firms and banks climbed. Drugmakers struggled, which limited those gains.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department is suing AT&T to stop its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner, setting the stage for an epic legal battle with the telecom giant.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen on Monday submitted her resignation from the Federal Reserve board to President Donald Trump, announcing that she will leave the board when her successor is sworn in as Fed chairman.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly disclosed financial records show that President Donald Trump's nominee to become Health and Human Services secretary reaped big earnings during his tenure as a top pharmaceutical executive.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. will designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terror amid heightened nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it's willing to strike a health-care provision from Senate legislation to cut taxes and overhaul the tax code if the provision becomes an impediment to passing one of President Donald Trump's top legislative priorities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past week, President Donald Trump told a made-up story about his predecessor and revived a distorted claim about NATO that's been gathering dust for some months.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An all-volunteer group of activists has defied the odds by collecting hundreds of thousands of voter signatures for a 2018 initiative to overhaul redistricting in Michigan — without having to pay a dime for a signature.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) — The country music series "Nashville" will return for its sixth and final season in January, ending a show that had to handle the jump to another network and the loss of a key star.
STATEWIDE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates fell to record lows in Tennessee and in September, and dropped in 9 other states.
PREDATORS
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — For the better part of the past week, the third period has been Jason Zucker's time to shine.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal utility's top executive estimated Thursday that it would cost $900 million and take 24 years to comply with a court order to move coal ash from unlined and leaking pits and ponds to a lined landfill on the site of a Tennessee power plant.
HEALTH CARE
BOSTON (AP) — A pharmaceutical company founder accused of leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors to prescribe a powerful opioid pain medication will fight the charges against him and believes he will be vindicated, his attorney said Thursday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction of new homes climbed 13.7 percent in October, the biggest jump in a year as builders broke ground on more apartments and single-family houses.
U.S. homebuilders are feeling more optimistic this month, reflecting a recent rebound in sales of newly built homes.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen says it plans to spend more than 34 billion euros ($40 billion) over the next five years on developing electric cars, autonomous driving and other new technologies.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that a Volkswagen recall may not fix a wiring problem that can stop the front driver's air bag from inflating in a crash.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A German auto parts manufacturer will build a new plant in Alabama and hire 300 workers to supply parts for regional automobile manufacturers.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Volkswagen is seeking more suppliers owned by minorities or women for its lone U.S. assembly plant in Tennessee.
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa and other executives of the Japanese automaker are returning a part of their salaries to show remorse over illegal vehicle inspections at the automaker's plants in Japan.
DETROIT (AP) — After more than a decade of making cars and SUVs — and, more recently, solar panels — Tesla Inc. wants to electrify a new type of vehicle: big trucks.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 49,000 trucks worldwide to fix a fuel tank problem that increases the risk of a fire.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers and smaller U.S. companies jumped again Friday as they continued to report strong third-quarter results, but technology companies and other big U.S. corporations couldn't add to the previous day's gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Airlines are bumping fewer passengers off oversold planes after taking to heart the public anger over a man being violently dragged from his seat earlier this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators have weakened rules meant to support independent local media.
If you're traveling over Thanksgiving, you'll have even more company than last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Phone companies will have greater authority to block questionable calls from reaching customers as regulators adopted new rules to combat automated messages known as robocalls.
NEW YORK (AP) — Time Inc. is considering a sale to fellow publisher Meredith Corp., according to media reports.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Does money roll downhill? In their drive to cut taxes, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are betting it does.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have stretched closer to delivering the first big legislative victory for President Donald Trump and their party, whisking a $1.5 trillion overhaul of business and personal income taxes through the House. Thorny problems await in the Senate, though.
The House passed a nearly $1.5 trillion tax bill that differs from legislation making its way through the Senate. A comparison of the Republican-written measures:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a defense policy bill that authorizes a $700 billion budget for the military. That's far more than President Donald Trump requested and greatly exceeds mandatory spending caps.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — For over a decade, Charles Crenshaw has been paying his ex-wife tens of thousands of dollars annually in alimony. The now-retired engineer is hoping to renegotiate the agreement for lower payments, but he's waiting first to see what comes of a tax reform proposal in Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is lifting a federal ban the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican and Democratic senators have joined forces on legislation to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who slaughtered more than two dozen people at a Texas church.
NEW YORK (AP) — Insurers for aviation defendants including American Airlines and United Airlines have agreed to pay $95 million to settle claims that security lapses led planes to be hijacked in the Sept. 11 attacks.
NEW YORK (AP) — Slowly, but surely, being a saver is paying off again.