VOL. 40 | NO. 50 | Friday, December 9, 2016
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
The Haslam Administration is forging ahead with plans to nab a statewide facilities services contractor after an outside analysis backed up a study showing estimated cost savings of more than $35 million a year at Tennessee universities.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Moving can be an emotional, tortuous, brutal experience. But those relocating need not undertake the task alone. There are companies, equipped with living, breathing human beings, that can take the stress from the process.
REAL ESTATE
November 2016 real estate trends for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
In light of the Tennessee Titans’ 6-6 record and continuing relevance in the NFL playoff picture, I offer those three little words that are so hard to say:
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
Those looking at the Tennessee Titans’ season thus far as half-empty see a 6-6 team with enough flaws to offset many of the positive steps that have been taken this year.
First down: Stop Von Miller. If you watched the Super Bowl last year, you know what a one-man wrecking crew Miller is. Wherever he lines up across the line from the Titans, they will have to account for him and simply cannot let him harass Marcus Mariota and the offense.
NEWSMAKERS
Scott Troxel of Keller Williams has been elected as the 2017 president of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors. His one-year term of service will begin Jan. 1.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Nissan took a model year off from its largest SUV, the Armada, but it’s back for 2017 restyled and re-engineered with a plush ride, a well-equipped interior and more horsepower than ever.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Any salesperson who’s been in the game for more than a day knows that products and services aren’t sold based on price. Top sales pros first focus on the value of what they’re selling and how it can best meet the customer’s needs.
CAREER CORNER
Do you wish you were making more money?
I SWEAR
“Gilmore Girls,” a show that ran on the WB, and the CW, from 2000-2007, has been streaming on Netflix since July of this year. I like it. I like the fast-paced dialogue, the pop culture references and the less-burdened Lauren Graham.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Dolly Parton says a star-studded telethon for those affected by recent wildfires in her native Tennessee has brought in about $9 million.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee's Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote Thursday on the appointment of Beverly Davenport as the first female chancellor of the public university system's flagship campus in Knoxville.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are launching a series of youth football day camps that are set to take place next summer in various Tennessee locations.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The chairman of the state House Republican Caucus is defending a recent decision to hold a meeting behind closed doors.
REAL ESTATE
U.S. homebuilders' confidence soared this month to the highest level in 11 years, reflecting heightened expectations of better sales now and well into 2017.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber is riding its self-driving cars into a legal showdown with California regulators.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo has become the worst-case example of an unnerving but increasingly common phenomenon — massive hacks that steal secrets and other potentially revealing information from our personal digital accounts, or from big organizations that hold sensitive data on our behalf.
BERLIN (AP) — Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system, designed to rival the U.S.-made GPS service, has begun formal operations.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans signed up for unemployment benefits last week, the second straight week that claims have declined.
NEW YORK (AP) — US stock indexes rose Thursday morning, led by banks and other financial companies which stand to make bigger profits with expectations of higher interest rates on the way. The dollar continued to climb against other currencies after the Federal Reserve raised its forecast for interest-rate increases next year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — He brushed off climate change as a Chinese hoax, then called it the real deal and finally declared that "nobody really knows." Donald Trump is sending mixed signals on whether or how he will try to slow Earth's warming temperatures and rising sea levels.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation that would allow the use of marijuana for a variety of medical conditions in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The leadership positions among Democrats' small state Senate caucus will remain unchanged for the 110th Tennessee General Assembly.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Almost 200 Tennessee companies are aligning against proposals they fear would encourage discrimination.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged two former pharmaceutical executives with fixing prices of generic drugs, part of an ongoing government investigation into anticompetitive tactics by companies that make lower-cost drugs intended to reduce medication costs.
COURTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was deposed Tuesday in a civil lawsuit against the Pilot Flying J truck-stop chain, which is owned by his brother, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and other family members.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A Chinese state-run newspaper reported Wednesday that the government will penalize an unidentified U.S. automaker soon for alleged anti-competitive behavior. With signs pointing to General Motors, shares of the Detroit company fell 2 percent.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen says it's going to speak more English and help more women reach for top positions as it shakes up its corporate culture in the wake of a diesel emissions scandal.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber is bringing a small number of self-driving cars to its ride-hailing service in San Francisco — a move likely to excite the city's tech-savvy population and certain to antagonize California regulators.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Yahoo says it believes hackers stole data from more than one billion user accounts in August 2013, in what is thought to be the largest data breach at an email provider.
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, who faced fierce opposition from some Silicon Valley leaders during the election campaign, strove to assure the titans of tech on Wednesday that his administration is "here to help you folks do well."
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has raised a key interest rate in response to a strengthening U.S. economy and expectations of higher inflation, and it foresees three more rate hikes in 2017.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks had their worst day in two months after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday on the back of a strengthening job market and surprised investors by increasing its forecast for rate hikes next year. The dollar's value jumped against other currencies, and bond yields climbed to their highest levels in years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans increased their retail spending just slightly in November, a possible sign of lackluster holiday shopping.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices rose at the fastest pace in five months in November, pushed higher by retailers' profit margins and more expensive food.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A police officer in Tennessee is expected to make a full recovery after being shot and wounded Tuesday at a Nashville motel.
MIDSTATE
SPRING HILL (AP) — University of Tennessee Extension has scheduled a workshop for people who want to go into farming but don't know how to get started.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Singer Joe Ligon, the dynamic frontman of the Grammy-winning gospel group Mighty Clouds of Joy, has died. He was 80.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The self-driving car project that Google started seven years ago has grown into a company called Waymo, signaling its confidence that it will be able to bring robot-controlled vehicles to the masses within the next few years.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Technology leaders are about to come face-to-face with President-elect Donald Trump after fiercely opposing his candidacy, fearful that he would stifle innovation, curb the hiring of computer-savvy immigrants and infringe on consumers' digital privacy.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will sign legislation on Tuesday that makes new investments in cancer research and battling drug abuse.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — All new cars and light trucks would be able to talk wirelessly with each other, with traffic lights and with other roadway infrastructure under a proposal released Tuesday by the Transportation Department. Officials say the technology holds the potential to dramatically reduce traffic deaths and transform driving.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Major U.S. stock indexes set records again Tuesday as energy companies continued to climb following international deals that will cut oil production. Big-name technology companies like Apple and IBM also traded higher as the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 19,900 for the first time.
PARIS (AP) — The International Energy Agency says OPEC oil production climbed to a record high last month, in the days and weeks leading up to a major global deal to slash output.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Months after SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment ended its orca-breeding program amid pressure from animal rights activists, company officials announced Tuesday that they will help develop in Abu Dhabi the first new SeaWorld park without orcas — and the first outside the United States.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — He ran for president twice, but Rick Perry may be best known for two made-for-TV moments: uttering "oops" when he forgot the Energy Department was one of the agencies he pledged to eliminate and being a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars."
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Republican lawmaker wants to overhaul Social Security, the decades-old program that provides benefits to some 60 million retirees and disabled, with a plan to gradually increase the retirement age and slow the growth of benefits for higher-income workers.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Organizers of a national conference aimed at promoting the rights of immigrants to the United States had to make some dramatic adjustments to their agenda before the conference opened over the weekend in Nashville.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A lawyer for a prominent Republican donor is disputing former executives' claims that client Andy Miller Jr. hired political allies, friends and family to work do-nothing jobs.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say the state's revenues for November were up slightly from the same month a year ago.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's governor has sent a request to President Barack Obama to expedite a major disaster declaration for five of the state's counties to aid in recovery from wildfires and severe storms.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some big names with big money have jumped into the alternative energy race.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The nation's first offshore wind farm has opened off the coast of Rhode Island, ushering in a new era in the U.S. for the industry.
HAVANA (AP) — Google and the Cuban government signed a deal Monday allowing the internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company's most popular content.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from two former American International Group executives seeking to avoid civil fraud claims on charges they hid hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from investors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the broad reach of a federal law prohibiting bank fraud, a ruling that gives the government more leeway to prosecute financial crimes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will decide whether a Tennessee man convicted for his role selling iodine water purification filters to methamphetamine makers can be required to forfeit nearly $70,000 in profits.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are eagerly planning initial votes next month on dismantling President Barack Obama's health care law, a cherished GOP goal. But many worry that while Congress tries to replace it, the party will face ever-angrier voters, spooked health insurers and the possibility of tumbling off a political cliff.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks mostly fell on Monday, but a spurt in oil prices helped push the energy sector higher and the Dow Jones industrial average to another record.
ATLANTA (AP) — Media mogul Sumner Redstone's National Amusements is abandoning a proposal that CBS and Viacom reunite after a 10 year split.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's flag carrier finalized a major deal with U.S. plane maker Boeing Co. to buy $16.6 billion worth of passenger planes Sunday in one of the most tangible benefits yet for the Islamic Republic from last year's landmark nuclear agreement.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and Cuba signed a first-ever agreement on closer ties on Monday, and vowed that the arrival in office of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would not impact on their future relations.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — The top Senate Republican said Monday that Congress will investigate a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the November election on behalf of Donald Trump, an intelligence conclusion that the incoming commander in chief has called "ridiculous."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to corral the "out of control" cost of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But congressional Republicans and Democrats, aware of the tens of thousands of jobs the aircraft generates in 45 states, will be wary of any plans by Trump to cut the program.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says he will step away from managing his business empire while he's in office — but he's not going to sell it off. If he follows through, he will shatter a presidential precedent on conflicts, and ethics experts say he will open the door to investigations and lawsuits that could hobble his administration.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Artists and organizations in Music City are stepping up to help their neighbors after devastating wildfires damaged about 2,500 buildings and caused 14 deaths in the Gatlinburg area.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — In a state that heavily favored President-elect Donald Trump, a Vanderbilt University poll says optimism in Tennessee has grown about the future of the state and country since the spring.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A healthy increase in home values and higher stock prices drove up U.S. household wealth in the July-September quarter, though the gains are largely concentrated among wealthier Americans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates climbed for the sixth straight week in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election win, marking new highs for the year.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Airlines could let passengers make in-flight phone calls using Wi-Fi under a proposal from federal regulators.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose for the sixth day in a row Friday as major indexes continued to set records. The biggest gains went to companies that have been mostly left out of the post-election rally, including health care companies and makers of household goods.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Still grappling with Donald Trump's surprise election, the nation's business community has begun to pressure the president-elect to abandon campaign-trail pledges of mass deportation and other hard-line immigration policies that some large employers fear would hurt the economy.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won parliamentary approval Friday for ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plan to withdraw from the 12-nation trade pact.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rupert Murdoch may get all of European broadcaster Sky after all after the U.K. phone-hacking scandal scotched a previous effort.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The likelihood that young adults will earn more than their parents has plummeted in recent decades, a study has found, fueling concerns that the American dream of steady upward mobility is foundering amid a widening wealth gap.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's central bank has increased its growth forecast this year and next for the country's economy, Europe's biggest.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The trucking industry scored a victory this week when Republican lawmakers effectively blocked Obama administration safety rules aimed at keeping tired truckers off the highway. But there's more coming down the road.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices rose in November by the smallest amount in three months as the climb in energy prices moderated a bit and food prices remained flat.