VOL. 36 | NO. 52 | Friday, December 28, 2012
A tweak in incentives sparks an increase in Tennessee filming
Before the legislature boosted funding for Tennessee’s state film incentive program in early May, a number of movies with stories rooted in locations throughout Middle Tennessee were shot elsewhere.
In early September, taping of episode four of “Nashville” hit high gear at Hillwood Country Club, which served as a stand-in for Belle Meade Country Club.
How to become a background character actor on Nashville:
The television show’s star power is being flexed in ways that could open other avenues of success.
During her career in customer service, Donna Drehmann spent years listening to people complain. And some of the most challenging calls came while she worked for a cell phone insurance company, one that promised customers a new phone within 24 hours if they lost theirs.
REALTY CHECK
I was standing in line with a Metro firefighter recently and asked him if Christmas trees were the source of fires. Surprisingly, he responded that they were not as the LED lights do not pull much electricity and consequently fail to emit enough heat to ignite a branch.
TERRY McCORMICK
There were certainly plenty great sports stories with a local connections in 2012.
NEWSMAKERS
Waller, Nashville’s oldest and largest law firm, has elected five new attorneys as partners. Each attorney was previously an associate at the firm:
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Another possible client said “no” today, and you don’t know what to do.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Make it your resolution to execute these Top 10 smart marketing trends in 2013.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
Why would a group of people who were literally trying to kill each other one day, joyfully celebrate together the very next day? And, can you learn any lessons from these people that might help you minimize or deal with conflict in your work environment?
I SWEAR
My understanding of Christmas tree lights is, in a word, nada, zilch, nil. OK, so that’s three words. I plug in a strand. If the bulbs light up, we’re good. If they don’t, I’m lost.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Parties! Parties! Parties! Once we get close to the end of November, it seems like the parties, dinners, and get-togethers are non-stop. When you add on birthdays, showers and weddings, most every weekend and evening is taken until after the celebration of the New Year.
STATEWIDE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Chattanooga has experienced job growth that led the state's major metropolitan areas in the last year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A weekend bridge repair project in Nashville will result in an interstate highway detour.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Middle Tennessee State University's College Goal Sunday is moving to Saturday this year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Strong U.S. sales in December capped a remarkable year for the auto industry — especially Japanese brands — and 2013 should be even better.
DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler's U.S. sales jumped 21 percent last year, the carmaker's strongest performance since 2007.
DETROIT (AP) — Subaru is recalling nearly 634,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. because lights beneath the doors can overheat and cause fires.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A last-minute surge in spending seems to have saved the holiday shopping season for stores.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Housing is rebounding. Families are shrinking debts. Europe has avoided a financial crackup. And the fiscal cliff deal has removed the most urgent threat to the U.S. economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market crept higher in midday trading Thursday, one day after the Dow Jones industrial average posted its biggest gain in more than a year.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell Thursday as euphoria over a U.S. budget deal cooled and traders focused on ample crude supplies and lackluster demand.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages moved closer to their record lows this week, a trend that has made home buying more affordable and helped sustain a housing recovery.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Macy's said Thursday that revenue in stores open at least one year rose 4.1 in December, edging past Wall Street estimates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, though the winter holidays likely distorted the data for the second straight week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows U.S. businesses sharply increased hiring in December, helped by a surge of new construction jobs created to help rebuild from Superstorm Sandy.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Starbucks Corp. says it will open its first Vietnam cafe early next month in Ho Chi Minh City as part of its strategy to expand across Asia.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' hectic resolution of the "fiscal cliff" crisis is the latest in a long series of decisions by lawmakers and the White House to do less than promised — and to ask Americans for little sacrifice — in confronting the nation's burgeoning debt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential candidate, voted for the "fiscal cliff" compromise that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul voted against it. And Vice President Joe Biden helped broker the deal with GOP leaders in the Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is headed for a vote on aid for Superstorm Sandy victims after House Speaker John Boehner mollified Republicans from New York and New Jersey upset with his decision to cancel action on the bill.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Unforgettable songs like "Tennessee Waltz" and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window" made Patti Page the best-selling female singer of the 1950s and a star who would spend much of the rest of her life traveling the world.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The year just ended tied for the second-warmest year in Nashville's history.
NASHVILLE - Nashville Public Library patrons can help feed the hungry while eliminating overdue fines.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) - State Sen. Jim Tracy officially announced Wednesday that he will run for the congressional seat held by fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, saying the embattled lawmaker has deceived his constituents and needs to be replaced with a more trustworthy representative.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state's largest physician organization is making some staff changes for the new year.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The U.S. Senate has approved four new members to the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which will go on to the President's desk for his signature.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is planning four public meetings this month in Tennessee and Kentucky.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A healthier economy and more new model introductions should push U.S. auto sales above the 15 million mark this year, predicts an auto industry research firm.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The "fiscal cliff" compromise, even with all its chaos, controversy and unresolved questions, was enough to ignite the stock market on Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil jumped Wednesday on the first trading day of the new year, after a deal in Washington averted the dreaded "fiscal cliff."
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing grew slowly last month after shrinking in November and hiring increased. The modest gain suggests the economy entered the new year with some momentum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders spent less on construction projects in November, the first decline in eight months, as activity was held back by a big drop in spending on federal projects.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (AP) — Avis is buying Zipcar for $491.2 million, expanding its offerings from traditional car rentals to car sharing services.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' excruciating, extraordinary New Year's Day approval of a compromise averting a prolonged tumble off the fiscal cliff hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on.
WASHINGTON (AP) — While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A last-minute deal will keep the U.S. from driving off the so-called "fiscal cliff," but higher taxes and continued political fighting in Washington threaten to shake the fragile economy well into 2013.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats from New York and New Jersey lashed out at House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday for pulling legislation on Hurricane Sandy aid, demanding that he reverse course and allow a vote as their constituents continue to struggle with the aftermath of the devastating storm. President Barack Obama called for an immediate House vote, and governors of the two states called House inaction a "dereliction of duty."
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Yale University scholar and ordained American Baptist clergywoman will be the new dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School starting next July.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - A state appeals court has overturned a candidate's voting fraud conviction after finding that West Tennessee prosecutors misled the jury.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — About 7 percent of Tennesseans previously receiving jobless benefits have been dropped for failing to verify that they were searching for work.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Transportation has been awarded a $10 million federal grant to assist a number of transit agencies across the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee law enforcement will be using the new "no refusal" law over the weekend before New Year's Eve that allows police to get blood samples of suspected drunken drivers.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Prosecutors on Thursday declined to pursue a criminal trespassing charge against a Wisconsin man arrested earlier this month for climbing a fence at a Nashville home linked to country star Taylor Swift.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes increased last month to its highest level in two and a half years, the latest sign of improvement in the once-battered housing market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banks are ending the year with their best profits since 2006 and fewer failures than at any time since the financial crisis struck in 2008. They're helping support an economy slowed by high unemployment, flat pay, sluggish manufacturing and anxious consumers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell for a fifth day on concern that Washington lawmakers will fail to reach a budget deal before a self-imposed year-end deadline.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell slightly Friday, as the stock market drifted lower and efforts continued in Washington to strike a budget deal before the year-end deadline.
LONDON (AP) — Pearson, the U.K. publisher and education company, is to take a 5 percent stake in Barnes & Noble's NOOK e-reader as technology companies seek new inroads into the potentially lucrative business of digital textbooks for schools.
NEW YORK (AP) — Dockworkers along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico agreed Friday to extend their contract for more than a month, averting a weekend strike that could have crippled major ports from Boston to Houston and bottled up billions of dollars' worth of cargo.
NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Neitlich is the last person you'd expect to be rattled by the stock market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage last week dipped closer to the lowest on record, a trend that is making home buying more affordable and also enabling more Americans to refinance their loans.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A person familiar with the details says President Barack Obama is not making a new 'fiscal cliff' offer at his high-stakes meeting with congressional leaders at the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate Democrat says he believes "odds are better than people think" that a deal can be reached to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts next week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brian Schatz symbolized a generational change in Hawaii's U.S. Senate delegation, taking the hand of his new colleague, 88-year-old Sen. Daniel Akaka, moments before being sworn in Thursday as the successor to the late Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye.