VOL. 39 | NO. 45 | Friday, November 6, 2015
VIEW FROM THE HILL
The federal government isn’t likely to descend on Tennessee with trust-busting vengeance once three of the state’s four largest newspapers are owned by the same company.
REALTY CHECK
Justin Halpern was a comedian who moved home to live with this father and began to chronicle interesting, comical quotations from his father in a Twitter feed called – since this is a family column I shall refer to it as – “‘Stuff’ my Dad Says.”
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the most profitable time to sell a house since the Great Recession started in late 2007. But first-time buyers are increasingly scarce.
Top residential real estate sales, September 2015, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The clock is ticking for Mike Mularkey, just as it is for most of the organization’s management team.
UT SPORTS
I miss Steve Spurrier. It won’t be the same without Spurrier coaching South Carolina when Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) plays host to the Gamecocks (3-5, 1-5) on Saturday.
NEWSMAKERS
Dickinson Wright PLLC has hired Ariel Mason and Dustin Kovacic as associate attorneys. Mason joins the firm’s downtown Nashville office, and Kovacic joins the office on Music Row.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Mazda’s smallest sport utility vehicle, the new CX-3, is a nimble five-seater with fresh styling, an affordable starting price, generous standard equipment and noteworthy fuel economy.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
There’s a little jingle in your pocket, and you can’t wait to spend it.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
One out of every three professionals on the planet is on LinkedIn.
CAREER CORNER
With the NBA basketball season just starting up, ESPN has made an announcement that may seem quite shocking. They are planning to lay off 300 employees, or 4 percent of their 8,000-person workforce. Given that ESPN is a worldwide authority in sports, this news seems a bit jarring at first.
I SWEAR
For a couple more months, the I Swear Crossword and this column will have something in common. Starting Jan. 1, 2016, the connection between the two will be lost.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Murfreesboro Aviation is being recognized for flight training excellence by the world's largest aviation association.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen is telling employees that they can come forward with information about how the company cheated on U.S. emissions tests — and won't be fired.
DETROIT (AP) — Lexus put the red bows atop its cars a month early, and General Motors is advertising Black Friday deals two weeks before Thanksgiving as the auto industry copies traditional retailers with holiday discounts well before the holidays.
LONDON (AP) — Rolls-Royce shares plunged 18 percent as the maker of plane engines warned weaker demand would hit profits.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates this week rose sharply for a second straight week as expectations grew that the Federal Reserve may soon raise its key short-term interest rate.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is stressing the need to review the unconventional monetary policies that central banks around the world deployed in response to the 2008 global financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers advertised more job openings in September but hiring was essentially unchanged.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment aid was unchanged last week, a sign that most businesses are reluctant to cut jobs.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are skidding Thursday, weighed down by weakness in mining and energy companies as commodities prices fall. Stocks are heading for their sixth drop in seven days.
NEW YORK (AP) — An independent retailer may not look like the cutting edge of technology, but these small businesses increasingly turn to apps and sophisticated software to connect with customers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is trying to rally hundreds of thousands of eBay sellers to get behind a proposed trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders secured the endorsement of the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union on Thursday, marking the largest labor union to back his Democratic presidential campaign.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Memory foam maker Sinomax is building a new $28 million plant in southeastern Nashville, creating 350 new jobs.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville educator has been awarded $25,000 from the Milken Family Foundation.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Treasury Department says it returned $40 million of unclaimed property to its rightful owners this past fiscal year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Shortly after Elizabeth Berry parked her bright yellow 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS on the street in front of her family's home in May 2014, flames engulfed the engine, destroying the car and scorching her mailbox.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority says it's testing the emissions of vehicles made by 23 foreign and domestic brands following revelations that Volkswagen installed software on some 11 million vehicles allowing them to fake emissions results.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes ended lower Wednesday after a day of wavering between small gains and losses. A weak report from Macy's pushed retail stocks lower, and energy stocks retreated as the price of oil fell.
MILAN (AP) — The world's largest eyeglass maker has signed a deal with the U.S. department store chain Macy's to open up to 500 LensCrafters optical retail centers inside Macy's.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kroger said Wednesday that it plans to buy fellow grocer Roundy's for about $178 million to expand in the Midwest.
LONDON (AP) — The world's two biggest beer makers will join forces to create a company that produces almost a third of the world's beer. But in the U.S., the deal will not bring arch rivals Budweiser and Miller under the same roof.
Young women are living with their parents or relatives at a rate not seen since 1940 as more millennial women put off marriage, attend college and face high living expenses.
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — On a trip through a Gulf squeezed by low oil prices, the head of the International Monetary Fund repeatedly called on countries to cut back on subsidies, lower government spending and consider levying taxes.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Marco Rubio emerged unscathed. Ben Carson defended his integrity. Donald Trump flashed his dominant personality. And Jeb Bush avoided disaster.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Carson botched the economic effect of minimum wage increases. Jeb Bush again pitched a dubious target for economic growth. Marco Rubio, in a tale about plumbers and philosophers, undersold the value of a college education.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam says he's uncertain whether he would seek approval from fellow Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly about potential plans to privatize state operations.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is calling on state lawmakers to decide on Tennessee's priorities on future road projects before resolving the politically tricky issue of finding a way to pay for them.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam is planning to make what his office is calling a "significant" economic development announcement in Nashville.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Google Maps is getting disconnected. With an update for Android phones Tuesday, you'll be able to search nearby businesses and get driving directions, including turn-by-turn voice prompts, even if your Internet connection is spotty or non-existent. Google says a version for iPhones will come soon.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks reversed course and moved mostly higher Tuesday, breaking a four-day losing streak.
PARIS (AP) — Oil prices are likely to remain low over the next five years because of plentiful supply and falling demand in developed countries, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday in its annual forecast.
NEW YORK (AP) — Toys are staging a comeback. The U.S. toy industry is expected to have its strongest year in at least a decade after several years of kids choosing videogames and mobile apps over Barbie and stuffed bears.
BERLIN (AP) — A cabin crew strike at Lufthansa will expand on Wednesday to affect all of the German airline's flights in an escalating dispute over benefits.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Armed with a new $5.3 billion wish list for statewide road projects, Gov. Bill Haslam embarked on another tour Monday seeking to jumpstart support among deeply skeptical lawmakers for boosting transportation funding in Tennessee.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court is revising its rules to allow for electronic filing in the state's appellate courts.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers' proposed contract with Ford Motor Co. — approved Monday by local union leaders — is the richest of the Detroit Three, with a promise of $10,250 in bonuses for most workers this year alone.
DETROIT (AP) — A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that people suing General Motors over faulty ignition switches can seek punitive damages that could cost the company millions of dollars or more.
DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen is offering $1,000 in gift cars and vouchers as a goodwill gesture to owners of small diesel-powered cars involved in an emissions cheating scandal.
BERLIN (AP) — Environmental activists protested outside the main entrance to Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, unfurling a banner reading "Das Problem" — a play on the carmaker's marketing slogan "Das Auto."
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The luxury electric car market may be small, but it's lucrative enough to get another jolt — this time from a mysterious startup that says it wants to re-imagine how people interact with their autos.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
PARIS (AP) — A slowdown in international trade could be a harbinger of a new recession for the world's leading economies, a leading global policy organization warned Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market had its biggest fall in two weeks as investors worried that the global economy could be slowing.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On stage only a short time after the United Arab Emirates said it would increase its oil production despite low worldwide prices, the oil and gas minister of neighboring Oman didn't pull any punches.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Former U.S. senator and actor Fred Thompson was remembered Friday for his booming voice, sense of humor and sincerity.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The last six residents of a 90-year-old Nashville facility for the disabled will relocate this month to small group homes.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Metro councilman was in the hospital Thursday after authorities say he was shot multiple times in west Nashville.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A federal judge has blocked the city of Franklin's efforts to countersue an environmental group that is suing the wealthy municipality over pollution from its wastewater treatment plant.
STATEWIDE
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - State officials are asking consumers to be wary of fraudulent ticket purchasing during the upcoming holiday season.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Internet radio service Pandora says it has reached a direct licensing deal for songwriting rights with Sony/ATV music publishing, the largest music publisher in the world.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country music's top digital male artist Jason Aldean has returned to Spotify a year after pulling out of the streaming service over concerns about fair compensation.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford, a sign that union leaders expect General Motors workers to approve a similar four-year deal.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is investing $1 billion in a research company it's setting up in Silicon Valley to develop artificial intelligence and robotics, underlining the Japanese automaker's determination to lead in futuristic cars that drive themselves and apply the technology to other areas of daily life.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Attorneys for Volkswagen's lone U.S. factory in Tennessee on Tuesday argued against efforts by maintenance workers, who make up 12 percent of blue-collar workers at the plant, to seek a union election.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring swelled in October by the largest amount all year, and unemployment dropped another notch to 5 percent, increasing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month for the first time in a decade.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are closing mixed after a strong October jobs report prompted investors to position themselves for higher interest rates coming as early as next month.
NEW YORK (AP) — When fear was pumping through the stock market this summer, most retirement savers kept their cool.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring roared back in October after two weak months, with employers adding a robust 271,000 jobs and likely setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market boomed in October. Employers added 271,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 5 percent, the lowest level in seven years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Details of a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal released Thursday set the stage for a raucous debate in the U.S. Congress but also may provide reassurances to those who worried the agreement could gut protections for the environment, public health and labor.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal now being debated would cover everything from Vietnamese labor unions to copyright protections to trade in sockeye salmon. With the details having been released Thursday, a furious dispute is expected in the United States and some of the 11 other countries that negotiated it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional backers of the U.S. Export-Import Bank are close to reviving it four months after conservative foes ensured that its charter expired.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ending a seven-year political saga, President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal at the center of his environmental legacy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite years of warnings that the nation's roads, bridges and transit systems are falling apart and will bring nightmarish congestion, the House on Thursday passed a six-year transportation bill that maintains the spending status quo.