VOL. 43 | NO. 5 | Friday, February 1, 2019
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
At one point in the city’s storied past, Nashville’s population included approximately 20,000 musicians, singers, songwriters and a host of others employed by ancillary industries of the music business, according to a music industry insider.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged up after declining in recent weeks.
Top commercial real estate sales, December 2018, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
A Tennessee legislator is trying to insert Almighty God into the Tennessee Constitution, after falling short in 2018. And in 2017. And 2016. And 2015. He certainly doesn’t lack for persistence. Bless his heart.
STATE GOVERNMENT
Democrats in the state legislature are pushing a bill that would force the secretary of state to vacate the office if that official decides to run for public office.
PREDATORS
The Predators look like a Stanley Cup contender again coming out of the NHL All-Star Game break.
NEWSMAKERS
Butler Snow has hired Elizabeth W. Moreton, Matthew P. Smith and Benjamin A. Whitehouse for the firm’s Nashville office. Moreton will practice with the firm’s commercial litigation group, Smith with the firm’s pharmaceutical, medical device and health care litigation group, and Whitehouse with the firm’s regulatory and business group.
BRIEFS
A new $12.75 million gift to Vanderbilt Law School will provide support for its Law and Business Program, which prepares students to enter legal practice with a solid understanding of business law, corporate management, accounting and finance.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
You don’t complete a 7,100-mile, 48-state road trip without learning a few things, especially if you go in the grips of winter.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
That thing? You’re ready to let it go. It sparks joy but not enough. Or it doesn’t, and you’re not sure why you didn’t donate it before. Indeed, boxes of things are ready for giveaway and you’re looking at sparkling-clean digs. Did you do it yourself or, as in the new memoir “Maid” by Stephanie Land, were you assisted by a stranger in your space?
PERSONAL FINANCE
If you’re getting a divorce, it pays to keep quiet on social media, says New York divorce attorney Jacqueline Newman. Trashing a soon-to-be ex or boasting about your great new life can complicate divorce negotiations.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
There’s a statistic from InsideView that tells us 90 percent of CEOs say they never return cold calls or cold emails. Ouch. Why bother? Because we have no doubt companies need qualified leads, from both outbound and inbound, to contribute to the health and well-being of the sales pipeline.
CAREER CORNER
You’ve decided 2019 is the year. You’re going to find a new job. You’ve been waiting for the right time, and it’s finally here.
STATE GOVERNMENT
President Donald Trump's call for a ban on late-term abortions is unlikely to prevail in Congress, but Republican legislators in several states are pushing ahead with their own tough anti-abortion bills that they hope can pass muster with the Supreme Court.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Health Management has agreed to pay $9.7 million to settle allegations it submitted false claims to the state's Medicaid program, TennCare.
AUTO INDUSTRY
PARIS (AP) — Carmaker Renault has alerted French authorities to a 50,000-euro gift from the chateau of Versailles to its former chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn — reportedly linked to his lavish wedding at the royal estate.
DETROIT (AP) — Cold temperatures can sap electric car batteries, temporarily reducing their range by more than 40 percent when interior heaters are used, a new study found.
MILAN (AP) — Italian American automaker Fiat Chrysler says fourth-quarter net profits rose by 61 percent, powered by North American sales of the all-new Ram 1500 and Jeep Wrangler.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Spotify is making a bigger bet on podcasts as it looks to bring a Netflix-like model of original programs to the audio world. The music-streaming pioneer gobbled up two podcasting companies, Gimlet and Anchor, on Wednesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week, a sign that layoffs are rare and the job market is strong.
BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sparred on Thursday during "robust" talks on the U.K.'s Brexit plans, and agreed to hold more negotiations that could push the sealing of any deal to within a month of Britain's scheduled departure.
ATLANTA (AP) — Southern regional banks BB&T and SunTrust are combining in an all-stock deal to create a new bank valued at about $66 billion.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Union officials have slashed their growth forecast for the 19 countries that use the euro, saying even the lower estimate was vulnerable to "large uncertainty" from slowing growth in China and weakening global trade.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are calling for a Green New Deal intended to transform the U.S. economy to combat climate change and create thousands of jobs in renewable energy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to approve William Barr's nomination to be attorney general Thursday in a vote that is likely to be mostly along party lines as Democrats have questioned how transparent Barr will be once special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation concludes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Congress that investigations and legislation don't mix. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi said such threats have no place in the House, as unbowed Democrats charged ahead Wednesday with plans to probe Trump's tax returns, business and ties to Russia.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he is continuing to mull possible voucher-like legislation, but the Republican still has not yet decided what that policy would look like or whether the bill would be introduced this year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee will begin offering residents the option to upgrade their driver's license starting July 1 to meet federal requirements that will affect air travel.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced his first legislative push, which aims to increase access to student vocational and technical training.
MEMPHIS (AP) — State parks in Tennessee are looking for volunteers to help fight invasive plant species.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have made a pair of trades, adding size and toughness trying in an attempt to fill the void created by the absence of a trio of players.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators took care of several issues Tuesday night at the expense of the Arizona Coyotes.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors posted an $8.1 billion net profit for 2018, fueled by better prices for vehicles sold in the U.S., its most lucrative market.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota's fiscal third quarter profit plunged to 180.9 billion yen ($12.6 billion), about a fifth of what the Japanese automaker earned the previous year, despite relatively solid sales, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker Daimler said Wednesday that fourth-quarter net profit fell 49 percent to 1.64 billion euros ($1.87 billion) as its Mercedes-Benz luxury car business was buffeted by trade conflict, diesel woes and costs for developing new models and technologies.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Music streaming service Spotify is buying podcast companies Gimlet and Anchor as it looks to take on Apple's popular iTunes' podcasting platform.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is launching a campaign to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030, targeting areas where new infections happen and getting highly effective drugs to people at risk.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — While 2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record, British meteorologists are predicting the next five years will be much hotter, maybe even record-breaking.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A mixed bag of corporate earnings nudged U.S. stocks slightly lower Wednesday, snapping the market's five-day winning streak.
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's federal financial watchdog said Wednesday that it plans to roll back most of its consumer protections governing payday lenders.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. is adding large numbers of digital subscribers and growing its digital revenue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says that President Donald Trump had a "quite productive" dinner with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He says they discussed a wide range of subjects, from the state of the economy to the Super Bowl and Tiger Woods' golf game.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit fell 11.5 percent in November to the lowest level since June.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday there are no plans yet for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet soon in hope of finalizing a trade deal, though Mnuchin plans to travel to China's capital next week to continue the negotiations.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple's top retailing executive is stepping down amid a slowdown in iPhone sales that has raised doubts about the company's future growth prospects.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The founder of Craigslist says he will donate $15 million to Columbia University and the Poynter Institute for separate efforts promoting ethics in journalism.
United, Delta and American Airlines are engaged in an airlines arms race to grab the most affluent customers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Face to face with emboldened Democrats, President Donald Trump called on Washington to cast aside "revenge, resistance and retribution" and end "ridiculous partisan investigations" in a State of the Union address delivered at a vulnerable moment for his presidency.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union speech Tuesday night, calling on Democrats and Republicans to work together and making only brief reference to the rancor that has dominated his presidency.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump laced his State of the Union speech with puffed-up numbers and partial truths Tuesday as he hailed an "economic miracle," warned of human traffickers flooding across the border and appeared to place Afghanistan in the Middle East instead of where it is, Asia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam to continue his efforts to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — With Republican sponsored legislation pending to limit local investigations of police misconduct, Nashville Mayor David Briley said Tuesday it's his job to ensure the will of the voters is carried out by continuing to implement a community oversight board for police.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Republican lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation limiting the powers of community oversight boards just months after Democratic-leaning Nashville passed a referendum establishing such a group to investigate police misconduct claims.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say Swedish appliance maker Electrolux isn't legally required to repay $100 million in state incentives for its soon-to-be-shuttered Memphis factory.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Correction has opened two housing units designed specifically to address the needs of veterans.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan's board has chosen as a director Jean-Dominique Senard, who was recently appointed chairman at the Japanese automaker's alliance partner Renault SA of France.
DETROIT (AP) — Nicole Foster-Beck asks a lot of the heavy-duty pickup truck she uses on her 43-acre horse farm east of Dallas.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse has been indicted on accusations that she accidentally gave a drug used in executions to a patient who then died.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her first public appearance since undergoing lung cancer surgery, attending a concert in her honor given by her daughter-in-law and other musicians.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology companies helped lead stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday as strong earnings reports from several companies put investors in a buying mood.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Council President Donald Tusk took a swipe Wednesday at some Brexit-backers in Britain, wondering aloud what "special place in hell" might be reserved for those who had no idea how to deliver the country's exit from the European Union.
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, forecasts that retail sales should grow between 3.8 percent and 4.4 percent to more than $3.8 trillion this year as shoppers remain in the mood to spend in a strong economy and job market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. service companies grew in January at the slowest pace in six months, amid concern over the impact of the partial government shutdown on the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Soybeans, which account for less than 1 percent of U.S. exports, are upstaging weightier issues as the Trump administration tackles trade disputes with China and other countries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank may be poised for a shake-up with President Donald Trump planning to nominate David Malpass, who has been a critic of the bank, to lead the institution focused on global poverty.
LONDON (AP) — A closely watched survey shows that economic growth across the 19-country eurozone dipped further at the start of 2019 to its lowest level in five-and-a-half years.
LONDON (AP) — With Brexit less than eight weeks away, it's becoming clear that the British economy is stalling as firms struggle with the uncertainty over what will happen.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says Chairman Jerome Powell had dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump on Monday, but the two men did not discuss the future course of interest rates.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump will call for optimism and unity in his State of the Union address, using the moment to attempt a reset after two years of bitter partisanship and deeply personal attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will enjoy the backdrop of a mostly solid economy as he delivers his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, though questions about its sustainability linger.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's top paid Cabinet members won't be getting a pay bump under the Republican's administration, but a majority of the new agency heads will see slight salary increases.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Belmont University in Nashville is planning to offer a bachelor of architecture program, which it says will be only the second in the state.
MIDSTATE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Fort Campbell is expecting more than 700 soldiers to return this month to the Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee state line.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The man accused of killing four people in a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville last year now faces a 17-count indictment.
UT SPORTS
Tennessee had a couple of shaky moments after earning its first No. 1 ranking in 11 years. The Volunteers are sure rolling now.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LONDON (AP) — With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union — as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation.
The Canadian subsidiary of General Motors was unable to stop an auto workers union from airing a critical TV commercial during the Super Bowl.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls are forging ahead with "Medicare-for-all," but others are taking a more cautious approach.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks recovered from an early wobble Monday, lifting the benchmark S&P 500 to its fourth straight gain.
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey became the latest state on Monday to boost its hourly minimum wage to $15 after Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a measure phasing in the higher rate over five years.
CHICAGO (AP) — O'Hare International Airport in Chicago was the busiest airport in the U.S. in 2018, surpassing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for the first time in four years.
NEW YORK (AP) — New reports from payroll company ADP show that small businesses are lagging behind larger companies in hiring, a trend that's not expected to change anytime soon.
NEW YORK (AP) — The publisher of USA Today and dozens of other newspapers said no to a hedge-fund backed media group with a reputation for slashing jobs, but the buyout fight may not be over.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just how financially secure you feel depends on your age, your race, your education and — perhaps not surprisingly — your income.
LONDON (AP) — With Brexit just seven weeks away, Britain's ruling Conservative Party was locked in tense negotiations with itself Monday to rework the U.K.'s divorce deal with the European Union — as the EU stood firm in ruling out any renegotiation.
LONDON (AP) — A leading global tourism body estimates that around 700,000 jobs in travel and tourism could be lost across Europe if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal on future relations.
NEW YORK (AP) — This year some of the Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, like Bud Light's "Game of Thrones" teaser. Other crowd-pleasers focused on humor, like Amazon's take on celebrity product testers.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says major social media firms have stepped up their efforts to remove hate speech online.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has heard arguments on whether to order a Tennessee county to stop jailing some people simply because they can't afford bail.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee has ordered a 90-day freeze in new state rules and regulations as the Republican's new administration begins to review how the state operates.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct is in settlement talks with a student whose lawsuit calls it unconstitutional that school officials distributed T-shirts promoting the Republican for a state Capitol field trip.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's secretary of state says new business filings increased by more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States announced Friday that it is pulling out of a landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia, arguing that it should not be constrained by a deal Moscow is violating with "impunity" by deploying banned missiles. Democrats in Congress and some arms control advocates slammed the decision as opening the door to an arms race.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has declared that there'll be no "wall money" in any compromise border security deal as she and President Donald Trump signaled that congressional negotiators may never satisfy his demands for his cherished Southwest border proposal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pelosi behind and above. Female immigrants, gazing down from the balcony. A black woman who ran a close race for governor of Georgia, rebutting.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on Friday declared his bid for the presidency in 2020 with a sweeping call to unite a deeply polarized nation around a "common purpose."
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks capped a bumpy day of trading Friday with modest gains, extending the market's winning streak to its third straight day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending edged up in November as a gain in home building helped offset weakness in nonresidential construction.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers shrugged off last month's partial government shutdown and engaged in a burst of hiring in January, adding 304,000 jobs, the most in nearly a year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American factories grew at a slightly faster pace in January than in the previous month when there had been a big slowdown in manufacturing activity.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Foxconn Technology Group said Friday that after its chairman spoke directly with President Donald Trump the Taiwanese company will proceed with plans to construct a plant in Wisconsin that will make liquid crystal display screens that can be used for small electronic devices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's top health official asked Congress on Friday to pass its new prescription drug discount plan and provide it to all patients, not just those covered by government programs like Medicare.
TECHNOLOGY
It took a 14-year-old boy to discover Apple's shocking FaceTime bug, which allowed just about anyone to turn an iPhone into a live microphone.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE(AP) — A handful of Tennessee lawmakers are raising questions about the company that currently administers the state's problem-plagued student assessment testing program.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville is joining state and federal authorities for what Mayor David Briley dubbed the city's largest-ever interagency effort to fight gun crime.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Swedish appliance maker Electrolux says it is stopping production at its Memphis, Tennessee, factory while investing $250 million in a separate facility in the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A prosecutor says a pathology laboratory has agreed to pay $63.5 million to settle claims that its relationships with referring doctors violated federal kickback law.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist Harold Bradley, who played on hundreds of hit country records and along with his brother, famed producer Owen Bradley, helped craft "The Nashville Sound," has died. He was 93.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A new state report says Tennessee is unlikely to face a legal challenge should it begin collecting more sales taxes from internet purchases.
HEALTH CARE
A new report estimates that nearly half of all U.S. adults have some form of heart or blood vessel disease, a medical milestone that's mostly due to recent guidelines that expanded how many people have high blood pressure.
NATIONAL POLITICS
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Democrats' gains in state legislatures didn't end with last November's elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday hardened their positions about a border wall, casting doubt on the prospects of Capitol Hill negotiations intended to reach a compromise and avoid a second government shutdown.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, preparing to meet a Chinese trade delegation Thursday, said the United States won't reach any final trade agreement with China until he sits down again with President Xi Jinping.
DENVER (AP) — Two years after jumping into a fight with the Trump administration over public lands, the U.S. outdoor industry is turning up the political pressure — though its impact is difficult to measure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says "unity" will be the theme of his State of the Union address next week, and says he respects Stacey Abrams, who will give the Democratic response.
Wall Street got its mojo back in January after finishing 2018 with its worst December since 1931.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — While the polar vortex is driving up demand for natural gas, it isn't doing the same for the price.