VOL. 35 | NO. 50 | Friday, December 16, 2011
REALTY CHECK
It’s official. The Nashville real estate market has hit bottom and is in the process of rebounding. The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors announced recently that November sales for 2011 were up 20 percent over November, 2010. That statistic is staggering.
TERRY McCORMICK
Rookies are not to be trusted in the NFL.
NEWSMAKERS
Veteran banker and businessman Gordon Inman will be named chairman of FirstBank Middle Tennessee. He also will join the board of directors.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Every year you’re faced with a quandary. Missing the office holiday party is not an option. You have to go, no question.
I SWEAR
Last week’s column was about speeding and how some charged therewith find a way to make the issuing officer laugh by candor, poetry, good-natured jokes, etc. Such stories reminded others of their own experiences.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - At least one member of Occupy Nashville has set up a tent not far from the governor's office at the state Capitol.
NASHVIILLE (AP) — The Nashville hospital that performed Tennessee's first heart transplant will no longer be doing the surgeries.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — White Castle, a 90-year-old hamburger chain known for its square "slider" burgers, is sipping on the idea of offering alcoholic beverages as it tests beer and wine sales at a restaurant in Indiana.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - With Amazon and Tennessee in agreement over the collection of sales taxes, the online retailer on Thursday finalized its plans to open two new distribution centers in Murfreesboro and Lebanon that are expected to create 1,300 new jobs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tiera Washington's workload doubled during the holiday rush at UPS' largest air hub, where seemingly endless streams of packages are sorted and shipped as the peak season puts the package delivery company to the test.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority's chief operating officer, 60-year-old Bill McCollum, says he will retire June 30.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record 3.91 percent this week, the third time this year that rates have hit new lows.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Never have average rates on long-term fixed mortgages been as low as they are now: 3.91 percent for a 30-year home loan and 3.21 for a 15-year loan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market is getting healthier, adding to evidence that the U.S. economy is improving as 2011 nears an end.
NEW YORK (AP) — Encouraging economic reports sent stocks higher in mid-afternoon trading Thursday. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since April 2008, the latest sign that the job market is healing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew more slowly in the summer than previously thought because consumers spent less than the government had first estimated. But economists expect growth in the current October-December quarter to be stronger.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are rising as the market looks to continue the rally seen late in the previous session.
CHICAGO (AP) — A new investment group led by a Chicago entrepreneur and a former Newsday media executive has agreed to buy Sun-Times Media Holdings, the company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, group officials said late Wednesday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Strikes to protest austerity measures paralyzed ground traffic in Belgium and hit Christmas travelers in several nations across Europe, promising days of headaches through the holidays.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday chided House Republicans he said are holding up an extension of expiring payroll tax cuts, saying the debate is "about the American people."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Thursday that Congress' failure to reach agreement on legislation extending a payroll tax cut for working Americans "hurts the Republican Party." The GOP's 2008 presidential nominee said his party made a mistake in voting down the Senate-passed version of a bill that would have kept the current payroll tax relief intact for at least two more months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If President Barack Obama, the House and the Senate all want to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits through next year, why are they fighting so bitterly over doing it?
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the sentence of a man who sent threatening letters to a federal judge in Nashville.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A $5 million donation will fund expansion of wound-care services at Baptist Hospital in Nashville.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam is asking for an outside review of new teacher evaluation standards in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam has appointed Judge Roger Page to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Section.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is ending 2011 on a roll.
The holiday shopping season is wrapping up to be bigger than anyone expected. Now, retailers are holding their breath and hoping consumers will keep spending in the final days before Christmas.
Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that its Countrywide unit engaged in a widespread pattern of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes rose last month. But the National Association of Realtors says it overstated about 3.5 million sales during and after the Great Recession, showing the housing market remains much weaker than previously thought.
Emily Vanek is not buying up a bunch of LeapPad Explorers herself, but she may be at least partly to blame for some stores selling out of the $99 children's tablet this holiday season.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo is deepening its connections with Facebook's online social network.
Stocks are ending the day mixed after weak earnings from Oracle pulled down technology companies.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe's main weapon in the battle against climate change is now fighting for its own survival.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to break a stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases, President Barack Obama urged the top leaders of Congress Wednesday to first pass a short-term extension while promising to work with lawmakers on a full-year measure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stuck in a stalemate, President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals are slugging it out in Washington rather than reaching for a holiday season accord to prevent payroll taxes from going up on 160 million workers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 650,000 doctors caring for millions of seniors will get a steep cut in Medicare payments Jan. 18 unless a gridlocked Congress issues a reprieve, program officials said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly three years after the deadly crash of a regional airliner flown by two exhausted pilots, the Federal Aviation Administration is releasing rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20
NASHVILLE AREA
LEBANON (AP) - Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. said Tuesday that early results show that shareholders elected all of the company's nominees to the Cracker Barrel board at its annual meeting, defeating a dissident nominee's bid to join it.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn says she's stuffing stockings with a bright present this year: the kind of light bulbs that are due to be phased out next year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Metro Nashville School Board decided Monday evening to keep a charter school open on a probationary status.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Higher Education Commission agreed Tuesday to support a plan that would have colleges and universities pay part of the cost for campus construction projects and also requested approval of a five-year capital program that totals $1.8 billion.
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Rep. Lois DeBerry has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season - mainly being alive.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The State Funding Board on Monday agreed to revise its general fund revenue projections upward by at least $177 million in the current budget year, and pegged next year's growth at up to 4 percent.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday said the largest U.S. banks and financial companies should hold extra cash on their balance sheets to cushion themselves against financial crises.
NEW YORK (AP) — Encouraging signs out of Europe and a surprisingly strong report on the U.S. housing market drove the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 300 points Tuesday. It was the best day for stocks this month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A surge in apartment construction gave home builders more work in November. And permits, a gauge of future construction, rose largely because of a jump in apartment permits.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers came out again to seriously shop last week, after taking breather from a record spending spree over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to one measure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, reflecting a modest pickup in the nation's job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — General Mills is reporting that net income slipped 28 percent in the second quarter, pressured by rising costs and some charges, but revenue jumped by double digits.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Sales of cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor plunged by half barely a week after the world's top-selling drug got its first U.S. generic competition, new data show.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Senate adjourned for the holidays, House Republicans are moving to shelve a bipartisan two-month extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut that cleared the Senate over the weekend and are demanding instead that their fellow lawmakers return to the Capitol for negotiations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Mitch McConnell does not high-five easily or often. But a deal to keep American workers' taxes from rising on Jan. 1 was reason enough for the coolest negotiator in the Senate to lift a hand on camera and slap — or pat — some skin.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam over the past decade has given more than $45 million to two family-run charitable foundations that support education, religion and culture.
Deadly tornadoes voted top 2011 Tenn. news story
Tennessee's top 10 stories of 2011
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development has created its winter website, winter.tnvacation.com.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two Muslim men who were kicked off an airplane in May after the pilot objected to their presence are suing Delta Air Lines Inc. and Atlantic Southeast Airlines Inc., which operated the flight from Memphis to Charlotte, N.C.
Martin Automotive Group has purchased Jim Reed's two downtown Nashville dealerships, Jim Reed Subaru and Jim Reed Hyundai. The dealerships will remain at their current location and immediately reopen as Downtown Subaru and Downtown Hyundai.
BRENTWOOD (AP) - LifePoint Hospitals of Brentwood, Tenn., is getting $5 million in federal funds to help reduce preventable injuries and complications from health care acquired conditions.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
DALLAS (AP) — AT&T says it is ending its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA after facing fierce government objections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising interest from would-be buyers is leaving U.S. homebuilders less pessimistic about the housing market. But tighter lending standards are still keeping many potential buyers from purchasing new homes.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market took a late afternoon fall after European finance ministers failed to come up with the full amount of money pledged for a bailout fund.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are slightly lower, as traders close out positions for the year despite an encouraging report about U.S. housing that pointed to stronger oil demand.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company said Monday they are investing a combined $300 million into Twitter, giving the microblogging site a cash boost as it looks to entice more users and paying advertisers.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million workers on Jan. 1.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Highlights of legislation renewing payroll tax cuts, jobless benefits approved by the House and Senate:
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 32 mostly coal-fired power plants in a dozen states will be forced to shut down and an additional 36 might have to close because of new federal air pollution regulations, according to an Associated Press survey.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says he may support changes to Tennessee's open government laws to allow officials more leeway to discuss official business in private.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's unemployment rate in November dropped 0.4 percent to 9.1 percent, the lowest since January 2009.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey on Thursday floated the idea of holding a special legislative session next winter if it's still necessary for Tennessee to come into line with requirements set by President Barack Obama's health care law.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - School vouchers won't be on Gov. Bill Haslam's agenda next legislative session.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville has been named to a melanoma research "dream team."
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state fire marshal's office has cut off the electrical outlet Occupy Nashville was using on Legislative Plaza after an inspector found that it posed a safety threat.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Battle of Nashville will be commemorated Saturday with a living history encampment at Fort Negley Visitors Center.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Bridgestone Arena will remain the name of Nashville's downtown arena through 2019.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Call it the Great Channel Squeeze.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled investors about risky subprime loans the mortgage giants held when the housing bubble burst.
An early rally faded on the stock market Friday, leaving indexes down about 3 percent for the week as worries resurfaced about a breakup of the euro. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion plunged after slashing its forecast for holiday sales.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cameron International, the maker of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer that failed to stop last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has agreed to pay $250 million to BP under a legal settlement, BP said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jon Corzine on Thursday disputed an allegation that he knew about customer money that may have been transferred to a European affiliate just before MF Global collapsed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell back down to 3.94 percent, the record low set earlier in the fall.
NEW YORK (AP) — With the final Christmas countdown begun, the nation's largest retail trade group has upgraded its holiday sales forecast reflecting growing optimism that much more spending is to come.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are flipping the dimmer switch on a law that sets new energy-savings standards for light bulbs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall budget bill paying for day-to-day budgets of 10 Cabinet departments and averting a government shutdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress appears on track to avert a government shutdown this weekend, even as President Barack Obama's push to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for another year is encountering snags.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has cleared a $662 billion defense bill and will send the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newt Gingrich overlooked a couple of years of red ink when he asserted Thursday night that he balanced the budget for four years as House speaker. And in claiming sole credit for the achievement, he glossed over the fact that budgets are not a one-man show: There was a Democratic president in town, too.