VOL. 41 | NO. 44 | Friday, November 3, 2017
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Democrats have voted to support resolutions calling for the legalization of medical marijuana, wider health care coverage and a $15 minimum wage.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Music City is awash in games of musical chairs with buyers and sellers changing partners on older homes.
SPORTS
It was at a Predators team dinner prior to the start of this season that Nashville coach Peter Laviolette focused the spotlight on his 19-year-old rookie. Having heard Samuel Girard might have singing talent, Laviolette decided to have some fun with the youngster, calling on him for an impromptu performance in front of teammates.
As impressive as it was that the Nashville Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final last spring without their top two centers, it was still a glaring need.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
Back in the day, where was a TV game show called “To Tell the Truth.” On this game show, there was one person who had forged a unique accomplishment and two imposters also claiming to be this person. At the end of the show, the panel would vote, and then the real person of accomplishment would reveal themselves by standing up.
Let Marcus be Marcus. Mariota has not been able to run since injuring his hamstring against Houston four weeks ago. But with a bye week, Mike Mularkey pronounced him healthy and able to run again. The Titans need it to jumpstart the offense and find some consistency.
NEWSMAKERS
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has hired five attorneys to the firm’s Nashville office. They are:
BEHIND THE WHEEL
When it comes to finding a family vehicle that can do it all, a three-row midsize crossover SUV is a great place to start. You can typically expect to find room for up to eight passengers, lots of cargo space and all the latest safety features.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
One. For many years, that’s the number of women in your department at work. One (you), or maybe a few more, but not many. You survived it, for sure, but times have absolutely changed since then – and in the new book “Power UP” by Magdalena Yesil, they’re still changing, even now.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Social media isn't part of a job search. You only need a resume, business cards and a nice suit to find a job, right? This was true when you were looking for a job in 2001.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Garth Brooks continued his winning streak as entertainer of the year at the 2017 Country Music Association Awards, beating out Luke Bryan and Keith Urban.
The 2017 Country Music Association Awards marked one of its most political and emotional shows in years, as the night offered powerful moments focused on unifying as a country during a year dominated by gun violence, divisive politics and natural disasters.
Yes, Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year and Chris Stapleton picked up two honors, including album of the year.
STATEWIDE
PIGEON FORGE (AP) — A Tennessee city has reunited first responders to unveil its tribute to their work battling deadly wildfires last year.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are sinking Thursday morning as technology companies and most other parts of the market take sharp losses. Industrial companies are also trading lower. Macy's is climbing and competitor Kohl's is falling after the two department stores disclosed their third-quarter results.
The board game Clue. In the National Toy Hall of Fame. With the Wiffle Ball and paper airplane.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's sales fell as it had a hard time pulling shoppers through its doors and Kohl's reported a drop in quarterly profit Thursday, underscoring just how challenging the holiday shopping season will be for department store chains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits edged up slightly to a still-low 239,000 last week. Meanwhile, the four-week average fell to a fresh 44-year low, evidence that the job market remains healthy.
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.
DANANG, Vietnam (AP) — Talks aimed at salvaging a Pacific Rim trade pact rejected by U.S. President Donald Trump continued Thursday on the sidelines of a regional summit, but prospects for an agreement remain uncertain.
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
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.
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.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate version of the Republicans' high-stakes tax overhaul is set to be unveiled with billions in tax cuts for people and corporations, repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, and a likely compression of the personal income tax brackets from seven to four.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are starting to see a political edge in health care — particularly the idea of widening Medicaid access for more low-income people — after big election victories Tuesday night.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said he is not on the list of potential witnesses at the federal fraud trial of former executives and sales representatives at the truck stop chain owned by his family.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are celebrating their 10-year anniversary — as hosts of the Country Music Association Awards.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country star Keith Urban was honored for his philanthropy and hit country songwriter Bob DiPiero was honored as an icon by the performing rights organization BMI on Tuesday.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is introducing a warranty for its community and technical college programs by offering free retraining if an employer says a graduate's skills set comes up short.
LYNCHBURG (AP) — With the holidays approaching, the Jack Daniel Distillery is working with a military support group to make sure military members and their families can celebrate with relatives.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's bid to land an expansion franchise from Major League Soccer now has $275 million in financing approved to build a new stadium, giving Music City a major boost weeks before a final decision from the league.
SPORTS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Nashville Predators finished off a successful early-season trip with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' nonpartisan budgetary analysts say ending the requirement that most people buy health insurance would save less money than was estimated earlier.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Struggling social-media darlings Twitter and Snapchat are taking on new looks as the services seek wider audiences in the shadow of Facebook.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Commuters of the future could get some relief from congested roads if Uber's plans for flying taxis work out.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co.'s fiscal second-quarter profit slipped 3 percent despite growing sales because of costs related to improper vehicle checks in Japan and a massive global air-bag recall in the U.S.
BEIJING (AP) — Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday that it is launching a venture with a Chinese partner to develop electric vehicles for sale in China, the biggest market for the technology.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes finished with small gains Wednesday as video game makers gave technology companies a boost and household goods companies also rose. However a recent decline in interest rates continued to put pressure on banks.
NEW YORK (AP) — Panera Bread says it is buying bakery chain Au Bon Pain to boost its presence in airports, hospitals and colleges.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans seeking to visit Cuba must navigate a complicated maze of travel, commerce and financial restrictions unveiled Wednesday by the Trump administration, part of a new policy to further isolate the island's communist government.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T now says it's "uncertain" when its $85 billion Time Warner purchase will close.
LONDON (AP) — Hubertus Vaeth is not about to let a good crisis go to waste.
BEIJING (AP) — U.S. and Chinese companies on Wednesday signed business deals the two sides valued at $9 billion during a visit by President Donald Trump in a tradition aimed at blunting criticism of Beijing's trade practices.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate negotiators have agreed on an annual defense policy bill that authorizes $700 billion for the Pentagon in the 2018 fiscal year, a dramatic increase over the amount President Donald Trump sought as lawmakers aim to restock what they say is a depleted U.S. military.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government analysis of the House GOP tax bill says its true costs to the nation's debt are at least $259 billion greater over the coming decade.
Democrats swept Virginia and New Jersey's governor's races, incumbents came out on top in several big-city mayoral races and voters in Maine said they wanted to join 31 other states in expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans would lose the ability to deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest under the Republican tax bill, a proposal that education advocates say will make college less affordable.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee waded through a fresh pile of amendments Wednesday as Republicans pressed their drive to overhaul the nation's tax system, a day after GOP lawmakers blocked Democrats' efforts to get bigger tax benefits for the cost of raising or adopting children.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday that his administration won't retaliate against several University of Tennessee campuses that opted against his effort to privatize facilities management services at higher education institutions.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Singer songwriters Rodney Crowell and Kelsea Ballerini and hit country songwriter Ashley Gorley were honored at the ASCAP Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Attorneys for two former executives at the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain told jurors on Tuesday that their clients shouldn't be found guilty by association with other members of the company's sales team who pleaded guilty to the scheme to defraud customers through diesel fuel rebates.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Monday outlined their case against former Pilot Flying J executives and sales representatives as being the result of an "infection of fraud" at the truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter says it's ending its iconic 140-character limit — and giving nearly everyone 280 characters.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A self-driving car company created by Google is pulling the human backup driver from behind the steering wheel and will test vehicles on public roads with only an employee in the back seat.
BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen and Google have announced plans to cooperate in exploring possible uses in the auto industry for quantum computers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday as smaller companies and banks took their worst losses in a few months. With stock indexes near record highs, investors moved some money into big-dividend stocks like real estate companies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted roughly the same number of open jobs in September as the previous month, partly because hurricanes held back hiring at restaurants and hotels.
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC says growth in global oil demand will steadily lessen from an annual average of 1.3 million barrels a day between 2016 and 2020, to 300,000 barrels a day by 2035-2040. But it says fossil fuels will remain the main energy source decades from now.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday lifted its ban of Los Angeles Times reporters and critics from its press screenings after a widespread backlash prompted several media outlets to announce their own boycotts of Disney movies.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republicans' tax-cut plan springs from a core argument: What's good for big business and the moneyed elite is inevitably good for the economy and everyone else.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans cited donor pressure as they rolled over Democratic objections Tuesday and pushed forward with contentious legislation to overhaul the nation's tax code.
PARIS (AP) — French authorities said President Donald Trump is not among more than 100 world leaders invited to Paris for a climate summit next month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When House Republicans proposed their tax-cut plan last week, critics noted that it came with a towering price: It would swell the nation's debt by $1.5 trillion at a time when the economy is already faring well on its own and a vast generation of retiring baby boomers threatens to strain the Social Security and Medicare programs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a day of partisan bickering over whether the Republicans' sweeping tax plan would truly help the middle class, a key House panel on Monday approved late changes. Lawmakers restored the tax exemption for employees receiving child care benefits from their companies, but also put new requirements on a tax credit used by working people of modest means.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6
STATE LEGISLATURE
SHELBYVILLE – State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) today announced he has resigned his 14th District seat and speaker pro tempore of the Senate post effective immediately.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans know they're in no position to be choosy over how they win games.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kevin Byard stretched his arm into the air reaching for the ball only to see teammate Adoree Jackson break up the Tennessee safety's chance at a third interception.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Airbnb says it is launching a "six-figure" advertising buy on TV airwaves and online as Nashville officials consider more regulation on short-term rentals.
REAL ESTATE
SEATTLE (AP) — In a park in the middle of a leafy, bohemian neighborhood where homes list for close to $1 million, a tractor's massive claw scooped up the refuse of the homeless - mattresses, tents, wooden frames, a wicker chair, an outdoor propane heater. Workers in masks and steel-shanked boots plucked used needles and mounds of waste from the underbrush.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A jury was seated Monday in the federal fraud trial of four former executives at the truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pass. That's what the Supreme Court has decided to do with a copyright dispute case stemming from a classic football video game.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are weighing a repeal of a key tenet of the Obama-era health care law in their tax overhaul as the House's tax-writing committee begins work on shaping the bill.
Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Anthem has picked a former top executive from its biggest competitor to replace Joseph Swedish as its next CEO.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks made modest gains and set more records Monday as upheaval in oil-rich Saudi Arabia sent crude prices to two-year highs. Chipmakers and media companies climbed on deal reports while phone and household goods companies sank.
LONDON (AP) — Leaked papers revealing investments in tax havens by the world's wealthy suggest U2 frontman Bono used a company based in low-tax Malta to buy part of a shopping mall in Lithuania.
DETROIT (AP) — Uber is pledging $5 million over the next five years to seven organizations that work to prevent sexual assaults, a move aimed at helping the ride-hailing service combat its own problems as well as society as a whole.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans and Democrats bickered heatedly Monday over whether the GOP tax bill truly helps the middle class, as the Ways and Means Committee kicked off a marathon session to amend and vote on the far-reaching legislation President Donald Trump hopes to sign into law by year's end.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republican tax bill would mean 38 million Americans on average likely will face tax increases by 2023.
NEW YORK (AP) — Newly leaked documents show that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Trump administration's point man on trade and manufacturing policy, has a stake in a company that does business with a gas producer partly owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
BONN, Germany (AP) — A senior U.S. diplomat says Washington will continue to take part in talks about implementing the Paris climate accord, despite President Donald Trump's threat to pull out of the pact.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans can't say it enough — the tax plan on the table is for the middle class. But the numbers tell the tale of a tax cut tilted to the rich.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years ago, well before the furor over allegations Moscow meddled in the 2016 election that put Donald Trump in the White House, at least 195 web addresses belonging to Trump, his family or his business empire were hijacked by hackers possibly operating out of Russia, The Associated Press has learned.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
MIDSTATE
NEW YORK (AP) — Sears Holdings Corp. says it will be closing another 63 stores as the ailing retailer tries to turn around its business.
STATE LEGISLATURE
KINGSPORT (AP) — A former Tennessee House Republican leader was injured in a highway wreck that sent him and four others to the hospital.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Country Music Association is apologizing after trying to impose restrictions on any questions by the media about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, gun rights or political affiliations at its awards show next Wednesday.
SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Board of Trustees has approved an updated $180 million first phase of renovation for Neyland Stadium.
REGION
NEW YORK (AP) — Kroger is launching its own fashion line starting next fall.
STATEWIDE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Thirty-five state attorneys general and the District of Columbia this week signed on to support South Dakota's legal bid to collect sales taxes from out-of-state internet retailers.
MEMPHIS (AP) — A former team ophthalmologist for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Republican Bob Corker.
MEMPHIS (AP) — A school system has voted to stand against the Tennessee Department of Education's insistence that the district release students' information to charter schools.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the fraud trial of four former executives at the truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has denied a company attorney's request for real-time transcripts of court proceedings.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pressuring Republicans to repeal a health care law penalty in their tax rewrite, a step the House's top tax writer indicated is politically problematic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Older people with low incomes nearly everywhere would have access to free "Obamacare" health coverage next year, according to a study Thursday that found the Trump administration's efforts to undercut the Affordable Care Act have broad unintended consequences.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The costs of borrowing money to buy a home held steady this week as U.S. mortgage rates hover near relative lows.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — BMW is recalling more than 1 million cars and SUVs in two U.S. recalls due to the risk of fires under the hood, and it's recommending that they be parked outdoors until repairs are made.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Major automakers say their joint European electric car recharging network will open its first stations this year in Germany, Austria and Norway in what the companies hope will be a big step toward mass acceptance of battery-powered cars.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Google is partnering with AutoNation, the country's largest auto dealership chain, in its push to produce self-driving cars for wide use.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The iPhone X's lush screen, facial-recognition skills and $1,000 price tag are breaking new ground in Apple's marquee product line.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With U.S. unemployment at a 17-year low and businesses complaining that they can't fill jobs, you might expect pay to be rising sharply as companies try to attract or keep workers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Another spurt higher for Apple and other technology stocks helped the Standard & Poor's 500 set a new record on Friday, and the index closed out an eighth straight week of gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The energy industry has winners and losers in the new House GOP tax bill. Losers are the electric car industry and producers of wind power and other clean energy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a solid 261,000 jobs in October in a bounce-back from the hurricanes that slammed the Southeast in September.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit rose in September to $43.5 billion as imports grew faster than exports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies in October grew at the best rate in more than a dozen years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly four years into Janet Yellen's history-making turn as the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve, the economy is growing, the unemployment rate is low and the stock market is setting record highs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With fanfare and a White House kickoff, House Republicans unfurled a broad tax-overhaul plan that would touch virtually all Americans and the economy's every corner, mingling sharply lower rates for corporations and reduced personal taxes for many with fewer deductions for home-buyers and families with steep medical bills.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republican tax bill is meant to send trillions in corporate profits overseas pouring back home and, in the process, give the U.S. economy a healthy boost.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Thursday unveiled a tax cut plan that would slash the corporate rate and lower the personal taxes of most Americans but also limit a cherished deduction for homeowners, as President Donald Trump and the GOP seek to deliver on the first tax revamp in three decades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have stressed that the tax plan they unveiled Thursday is tailored to benefit America's middle class. Just how much it would remains uncertain based on the details that have been provided so far.
GOP tax overhaul plan at a glance
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his choice of Federal Reserve board member Jerome Powell to be the next chairman of the nation's central bank, succeeding Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold the position.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — The largest shopping mall in the country is again pushing back on early Black Friday sales by closing on Thanksgiving — but this time, it plans to take it a step further.
NATIONAL POLITICS
BERLIN (AP) — Diplomats from around the world are converging in Germany next week to thrash out how to implement the Paris climate agreement, despite uncertainty over the role the United States will play in those efforts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, Republican Rep. Mary Bono endured the increasingly suggestive comments from a fellow lawmaker in the House. But when the congressman approached her on the House floor and told her he'd been thinking about her in the shower, she'd had enough.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Rick Perry says he thinks using fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Churches would gain the right to endorse political candidates and still retain their tax-free status under a provision in the House GOP's tax overhaul plan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Republican senators agree that the fate of tens of thousands of young immigrants in the U.S. illegally will be decided next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Trump campaign official linked to the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller has withdrawn his nomination as the Agriculture Department's chief scientist.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Accused of multiple financial crimes, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman on Thursday attacked the strength of the evidence against him, saying the case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is "embellished."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain is warning the Trump administration not to nominate any more defense industry executives for senior Defense Department positions.