VOL. 41 | NO. 49 | Friday, December 8, 2017
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
“Realtors: Senate-passed Tax Legislation Bad News for Homeowners,” reads a recent headline from the National Association of Realtors. Lest this spawn a political debate, it should be noted that NAR’s membership is 1.3 million strong and that its PAC raises and disburses millions and million of dollars each year, and that those dollars are usually almost evenly split between the two major parties.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt's mission is to get the Volunteers back to the status they enjoyed when his new boss was roaming the sidelines.
Tennessee’s bungled search for a football coach will come at a cost for the university. A big cost.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
Incompetence is king of this Hill
When he was president of the University of Tennessee in 1959-70, Andy Holt often referred to the Vols athletics program, and particularly its football program, as “the front porch of the university.”
Ultimately, Phillip Fulmer’s success or failure as Tennessee’s athletics director will be tied to his very first hire. If his pick wins enough football games, Fulmer has done his job.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
Road trip! The Tennessee Titans are trying something a little different for a two-game swing out West beginning with this Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
1. Get after Gabbert. The Cardinals are starting Blaine Gabbert at quarterback on Sunday, and Titans coach Mike Mularkey knows him well. Gabbert was his starting QB for 10 games in Mularkey’s lone year as the Jaguars head coach in 2012. Things didn’t go well for Mularkey, Gabbert or the Jaguars that year. Gabbert has hung around the league since then and made some modest improvements, but he still is prone to mistakes, as he had two interceptions and a lost fumble Sunday against the Rams.
NEWSMAKERS
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has added 13 new associates in Nashville, as well as two in Washington, D.C., and one in Memphis. Nashville additions and practice areas:
BRIEFS
After 62 years in the heart of downtown Nashville, Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon, Inc., has relocated to 615 3rd Avenue South in the SoBro area.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buying a used car from a private-party owner is a good way to stretch your car-buying dollar, but it’s not without risk. Although there are state and federal laws that protect used-car buyers, most apply to purchases made at dealerships, not private-party sales.
CAREER CORNER
We’ve all been there. There’s a company holiday party you’d rather not attend – or maybe your next-door neighbors are throwing an event that you just can’t avoid. Whatever the occasion, these parties can be draining during the holidays.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
We often give a little more back to our communities during the holiday season by supporting toy drives, food banks or even devoting a day to volunteering with our co-workers.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democrat James Mackler says he's dropping out of the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee to replace Sen. Bob Corker, a move that appears to clear the path to the Democratic nomination for former Gov. Phil Bredesen.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Bridgestone Americas is celebrating the grand opening of its new Tennessee headquarters building.
NASHVILLE (AP) — An airport authority in Tennessee has named its new CEO after letting its previous leader go.
SPORTS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The way P.K. Subban sees it, he was due a little good fortune anyway.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — As the federal government prepares to unravel sweeping net-neutrality rules that guaranteed equal access to the internet, advocates of the regulations are bracing for a long fight.
NEW YORK (AP) — "Net neutrality" regulations, designed to prevent internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and Charter from favoring some sites and apps over others, are on the chopping block. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on a proposal that would not only undo the Obama-era rules that have been in place since 2015, but will forbid states to put anything similar in place.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The rate on 30-year fixed-rate U.S. mortgages slipped to 3.93 percent this week.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Gains by technology companies helped send U.S. stocks higher in midday trading Thursday. Retailers also rose after the government said retail sales jumped in November. Health care stocks lagged the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers went on a shopping binge last month as the holiday season began, leading to big gains among online retailers, electronics stores and furniture stores.
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney is buying a large part of the Murdoch family's 21st Century Fox for about $52.4 billion in stock, including film and television studios and cable and international TV businesses, as it tries to meet competition from technology companies in the entertainment business.
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney is buying a large part of Fox , but Fox News Channel and other U.S. television businesses are staying with the Murdoch family.
Delta Air Lines picked Europe's Airbus over Boeing for a huge order of new jets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the nation's economy was still reeling from the body blow of the Great Recession, Seattle's was about to take off.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell by 11,000 last week to 225,000, the lowest in nearly two months and another sign that U.S. workers are enjoying job security.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans would be delivered in a sweeping overhaul of the tax laws, under a new agreement crafted by Republicans in Congress.
NEW YORK (AP) — As a Republican-backed tax cut bill makes its way through Congress, some investors are scouring the market for potential winners and losers: companies they think will benefit the most, and those who'll be left out. But it might not be that simple.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Weary national Republicans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday, a day after voters knocked out their own party's scandal-plagued candidate in deep-red Alabama. Yet all is not well in a party confronted with new rounds of infighting and a suddenly shrinking Senate majority heading into next year's midterm elections.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rep. Diane Black says she knows from personal experience, having endured sexual misconduct as a state lawmaker, why Congress needs to expose federal lawmakers who settled cases, force them to repay any tax dollars involved and ban such taxpayer-funded settlements going forward.
STATEWIDE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A new study says four Tennessee metro areas are among the top 10 metro areas for job growth in the southeast so far this year.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — T-Mobile is launching a TV service next year, becoming the latest company to marry wireless and video.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BLUE SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. says its Mississippi plant has assembled its millionth Corolla sedan.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing mostly higher on Wall Street, but a pullback in bank stocks left the Standard & Poor's 500 index slightly lower.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is raising its key interest rate for the third time this year and foresees three additional hikes in 2018, a vote of confidence that the U.S. economy remains on solid footing 8½ years after the end of the Great Recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says that she and her colleagues expect a "modest lift" to economic growth from the tax cuts being proposed by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners are awaiting details of a reported Republican deal in principle on a tax overhaul, the details of which could come soon.
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the day when Janet Yellen will hold her final news conference as Federal Reserve chair, the Fed has left little doubt what it plans to do Wednesday: Raise its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target plans to boost its same-day delivery capability by paying $550 million for Shipt, its latest move to try to catch up with Amazon.
SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — Apple has made its second notable investment this week, the latest into the facial recognition technology company, Finisar.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging gasoline prices pulled U.S. consumer inflation up 0.4 percent in November.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's Supreme Court has ruled in favor extraditing a Russian cybercrime suspect to the United States to stand trial for allegedly laundering billions of dollars using the virtual currency bitcoin.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate GOP leaders forged an agreement Wednesday on a sweeping overhaul of the nation's tax laws, paving the way for final votes next week to slash taxes for businesses, give many Americans modest cuts and deliver the first major legislative accomplishment to President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand got a fight she wants after President Donald Trump lashed out at the New York Democrat in a provocative tweet that claimed she'd begged him for campaign contributions and would "do anything" for them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rarely has a sitting president rallied behind such a scandal-plagued candidate the way Donald Trump did with Alabama's Roy Moore. And rarely has that bet failed so spectacularly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A massive Republican tax package swiftly taking shape would pull down the top tax rate for wealthy Americans to 37 percent and slash the tax rate for corporations to a level slightly above what businesses and conservatives wanted.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Diane Black can count Vice President Mike Pence among her supporters.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Officials say they'll close Fall Creek Falls State Park's inn, restaurant and conference center in April for a $25 million rebuilding.
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper and Tennessee state Sen. Steve Dickerson are hoping to raise voter registration rates with a new project involving businesses and other organizations.
SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee athletic director John Currie and Greg Schiano signed a memorandum of understanding to make the Ohio State defensive coordinator the new Volunteers football coach before the deal fell apart amid a public backlash.
Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey says he doesn't think quarterback Marcus Mariota's sprained left knee or left tackle Taylor Lewan's sore back should keep either out of the Titans' game with San Francisco on Sunday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Big-name companies notched gains on Wall Street Tuesday, delivering more records for two of the major stock indexes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level rose 0.4 percent in November and 3.1 percent over the past year. It was the biggest annual jump in nearly six years and reflected a big spike in the price of gasoline and other energy products.
BERLIN (AP) — An international summit Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the Paris climate agreement has drawn world leaders, celebrities, companies and environmental groups to the French capital, all aiming to keep up momentum on efforts to curb global warming.
PARIS (AP) — The owner of Westfield shopping centers is being bought by French property investor Unibail-Rodamco for $15.7 billion as shop retailers struggle to keep up with the move to online sites like Amazon.
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) — A charred oak barrel can only be used once to create bourbon whiskey. But some of Kentucky's craft brewers are proving that used barrels can be put to good use.
NEW YORK (AP) — The former chief financial officer for a company licensing recipes from the real-life chef who inspired the "Soup Nazi" character on "Seinfeld" has admitted to tax evasion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Citing a Comcast statement, the Wall Street Journal reported that the cable company is no longer in discussions to buy pieces of 21st Century Fox . That could open the door to a Disney bid.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional aides say Republican negotiators have agreed to set the corporate income tax rate at 21 percent as part of last-minute negotiations on a sweeping tax package.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government collected a record amount of tax income for the month of November and also had a record level of spending for the month, producing a budget deficit of $138.5 billion, up slightly from a year ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans on Tuesday were speeding toward an agreement on a massive tax package that would ease the hit on Americans living in high-tax states and appease corporations that could have lost precious tax breaks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican tax plan will deliver a swift adrenaline shot to the economy that will send hundreds of billions pouring into federal tax coffers, the Trump administration asserts in a new analysis. But nonpartisan analysts make a less rosy projection of new revenue from the tax legislation now before Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, pushing back against women accusing him of sexual misconduct, insisted Tuesday he's the target of "false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met."
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — State officials are planning a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Tennessee State Museum.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A historical marker has been unveiled honoring a pioneering activist for gay and lesbian rights in Tennessee.
STATEWIDE
JOHNSON CITY (AP) — A Tennessee researcher is hoping visitors to a park will help her gather data for what she calls a "citizen science project."
SPORTS
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals didn't get much offense against Tennessee. Their defense, though, was just fine.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer advocates reported some glitches Monday in the final days for "Obamacare" sign-ups, although the Trump administration largely seemed to be keeping its promise of a smooth enrollment experience.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks ended modestly higher on Wall Street, enough to mark more record highs for two major indexes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investors seem certain about this: The Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates this week for the third time this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted slightly fewer job openings in October than the previous month, but the number of people being hired improved.
CHICAGO (AP) — Bitcoin's debut on a major U.S. exchange is a hit so far, with the price of the first-ever futures contract for the virtual currency rising 16 percent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Guillermo del Toro's Cold War-era fairytale "The Shape of Water" swam away with a leading seven nominations from the Golden Globes, while the HBO drama "Big Little Lies" led television nominees with six nods.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Nominees for the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Monday in Beverly Hills, California, by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association:
NEW YORK (AP) — Some women, and men, worry the same climate that's emboldening women to speak up about sexual misconduct could backfire by making some men wary of female colleagues.
PARIS (AP) — Baby milk maker Lactalis and French authorities have ordered a global recall of millions of products over fears of salmonella bacteria contamination.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday will try to sell the American people on an unpopular Republican tax overhaul that his administration claims will generate a large part of $1.8 trillion in new revenue — a figure that a top Democratic lawmaker dismissed as "fake math."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Start the countdown clock on a momentous two weeks for President Donald Trump and the GOP-run Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The orbit of odd political claims stretched from Utah canyons to the looming Alabama Senate race to crazy-as-usual Washington in recent days.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8
NASHVILLE AREA
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — After a slow start to the year, Dollar General bounced back in the third quarter thanks to stronger sales that pushed revenue and earnings ahead of projections.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says he agrees with most views espoused by a conservative group that had him speak at its convention, despite the organization's opposition to his past Medicaid expansion attempts.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the last Democrat to win a statewide election in Tennessee, touted his problem-fixing credentials on Thursday in announcing his bid to succeed Republican Bob Corker in the U.S. Senate.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. will not be a contributor on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program until allegations of misconduct against him are resolved.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Sheila Butt, who has drawn national attention for her statements about race and climate change, has announced she won't seek a fifth term in the Tennessee House next year.
COURTS
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A federal judge says the former president of the truck stop chain Pilot Flying J disparaged black people, women and the city of Cleveland in secret recordings that have been kept under seal in his fraud trial.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. mortgage rates rose this week as the economy showed signs of strength, which makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will raise its short-term rate next week.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Subaru and Hyundai have the most vehicles named top safety picks by the insurance industry.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose Friday following a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report, and the strong finish pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain despite some weakness earlier in the week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 228,000 jobs in November, a sign of the job market's enduring strength in its ninth year of economic recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers in business services, health care and manufacturing were in a hiring mood in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump weighed in on an investigation into scandal-plagued Wells Fargo, tweeting Friday that fines and penalties against the bank would not be dropped, and may actually be "substantially increased."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging stock prices and steady increases in home values powered American household wealth to $96.9 trillion this fall, though the gains aren't widely shared.
LONDON (AP) — Few people will be more relieved at Friday's long-sought U.K.-EU deal on Brexit than British Prime Minister Theresa May.
LONDON (AP) — From the Irish border to the divorce bill, the deal struck Friday between Britain and the European Union covers the main terms of divorce. It also paves the way for the two sides to start negotiating on the key points of their future relationship, such as trade.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of bitcoin swung wildly Thursday, rising to more than $19,000 only to fall sharply within minutes, as both the euphoria and anxiety surrounding the virtual currency escalated just days before it starts trading on a major U.S. exchange.
LONDON (AP) — A company in Slovenia that mines bitcoin says it has been hacked, for a potential loss of tens of millions of dollars.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A global forum of banking regulators has finished its yearslong work on rules that aim to keep weak banks from needing taxpayer bailouts and setting off financial crises like the one that led to the Great Recession.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former aide to Republican Rep. Trent Franks has told The Associated Press the congressman repeatedly pressed her to carry his child, at one point offering her $5 million to act as a surrogate mother.
NEW YORK (AP) — Net neutrality is a simple concept but a dense and often technical issue that has been argued over for years in tech and telecom circles. Now everyday folks are talking about it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday passed a stopgap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend and buy time for challenging talks on a wide range of unfinished business on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Republican lawmakers oppose efforts to scale back a proposed cut in the corporate income tax rate to pay for other tax breaks, complicating efforts to appease Republicans from high-tax states.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota Sen. Al Franken said Thursday he will resign from Congress in coming weeks following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations and a collapse of support from his Democratic colleagues, a swift political fall for a once-rising Democratic star.
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday countered strident attacks on his agency by President Donald Trump, saying, "There is no finer institution than the FBI."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt says his proposed regulatory rollbacks and other policies are grounded in science. He dismisses criticisms that he is ignoring experts in a push to appease favored industries.