VOL. 44 | NO. 9 | Friday, February 28, 2020
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
This isn’t an endorsement, necessarily, but have you ever noticed we’ve never had a president named Joe?
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
While the house located at 4016 Westlawn Avenue in the Sylvan Park area is loaded with the amenities, those amenities pale in comparison to the certifications and designations of the Realtor who listed it.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, January 2020, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates declined this week as growing concern over the economic impact of China's viral outbreak spurred a steep downturn in global stock markets.
PREDATORS
Ryan Ellis is back in the lineup as the Predators make a late-season push for the playoffs.
UT SPORTS
Meghan Small was the first piece of the championship puzzle to fall into place. Once Matt Kredich got Small on board, the University of Tennessee director of swimming and diving knew big things could happen for the program.
NEWSMAKERS
Jonathan Farmer, former founding member of Farmer Purcell White & Lassiter, has joined Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, bringing 20 years of experience in federal and state criminal litigation and investigations, and commercial and tort litigation.
BRIEFS
Nashville-based HealthTrust, a performance improvement company for health care, and Community Hospital Corporation have completed a long-term partnership agreement.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
People use their trucks for everything from taking the children to school to hauling concrete.
PERSONAL FINANCE
High-yield cash management accounts are popping up at brokerages nationwide, promising customers much better returns and higher insurance limits than they can get from traditional banks.
CAREER CORNER
Have you ever had a panel interview? It’s one of those job interviews in which you show up expecting a one-on-one and find yourself playing one-on-three.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Read almost any article about millennials and you’ll come away with the distinct impression that this generation is royally screwing up.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two mobile units have been deployed to help residents who lost state driver's licenses or photo identification in severe storms that ravaged Tennessee counties this week.
MIDSTATE
COOKEVILLE (AP) — Moments after a tornado tore through his quiet Tennessee neighborhood, Darrell Jennings walked out his front door and heard screaming.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, state Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An $8.3 billion measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak should soon make its way to President Trump after a Senate vote planned for Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The growing fear over a new virus has transformed busy streets and shopping centers into ghost towns in parts of China, Japan and Italy.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday activated a task force to coordinate the state's efforts to prevent and treat coronavirus.
United Airlines will reduce flights, freeze hiring and ask employees to volunteer for unpaid leave as the airline struggles with weak demand for travel because of the new virus outbreak.
An industry group says the spreading coronavirus could cost airlines as much as $113 billion in lost revenue. That figure, released Thursday, is four times the number released just two weeks ago by the The International Air Transport Association, which is imploring governments for assistance. The group says the industry urgently needs help from governments in waiving some requirements and fees.
SINGAPORE (AP) — The International Air Transport Association says the virus outbreak that began in China could cost airlines as much as $113 billion in lost revenue due to the collapse of air travel.
BEIJING (AP) — To keep his 40 employees indoors and away from China's virus outbreak, the manager of an electronics factory in Dongguan, near Hong Kong, says he hired a cook and arranged dormitories for them.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity rebounded in the final three months of last year but by a smaller amount than initially reported, while labor costs increased at a slower pace than first thought.
VIENNA (AP) — The oil-producing countries of the OPEC cartel are calling for a deep production cut of 1.5 million barrels per day to support prices that are sagging due to the spread of the coronavirus.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Warren, who electrified progressives with her "plan for everything" and strong message of economic populism, dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Thursday, according to a person familiar with her plans. The exit came days after the onetime front-runner couldn't win a single Super Tuesday state, not even her own.
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Biden's presidential campaign spent the past month on the verge of collapse after disappointing finishes in the overwhelmingly white states that launched the Democratic primary. As he watched the turmoil unfold from Gadsden, Alabama, Robert Avery thought the race would change dramatically when it moved into the South.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Strapped for cash and badly outspent by his rivals, Joe Biden barely had enough money to air television ads in critical Super Tuesday battlegrounds.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The tornado that toppled the bell tower at East End United Methodist Church in Nashville about 1 a.m. Tuesday also caused a gas leak at the parsonage next door, forcing the Rev. Judi Hoffman to evacuate to a hotel.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 24 people were killed, some in their beds, authorities said.
PREDATORS
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kevin Fiala is becoming the top-flight scorer the Minnesota Wild have been lacking for so long.
UT SPORTS
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — On the brink of being blown out, Tennessee stuck with the plan against No. 6 Kentucky by creating opportunities and then making them count.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Saben Lee and Vanderbilt ended a day of heartache back home in Nashville with something to celebrate on a basketball court four hours away.
ELECTION 2020
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Joe Biden extended his wave of success on Super Tuesday to Maine, where he had little ground game.
NASHVILLE (AP) — An elections administrator in the tornado-stricken Tennessee county that includes Nashville is praising voters for turning out on Super Tuesday despite damage to voting locations and treacherous driving conditions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his presidential campaign and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was reassessing her candidacy Wednesday as the winnowing process in the Democrats' 2020 nomination fight lurched forward after a consequential Super Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A resurgent Joe Biden scored victories from Texas to Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, revitalizing a presidential bid that was teetering on the edge of disaster just days earlier. But his rival Bernie Sanders seized the biggest prize with a win in California that ensured he — and his embrace of democratic socialism — would drive the Democrats' nomination fight for the foreseeable future.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than a month ago, Joe Biden's campaign was in free fall. Even after he mounted a comeback in South Carolina, he confronted the reality of competing in crucial Super Tuesday contests with little money and no discernible campaign infrastructure.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in Tennessee, a state that woke up on Super Tuesday to mass tornado damage across Nashville and other parts of the state.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign was in serious doubt after she finished a surprisingly weak third in Tuesday's Democratic primary in her home state of Massachusetts.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials on Wednesday banned electrical shock devices used to discourage aggressive, self-harming behavior in patients with mental disabilities.
Scientists say they have used the gene editing tool CRISPR inside someone's body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's latest nationwide survey of business conditions has found that the coronavirus outbreak has begun to impact tourism and disrupt manufacturing chains in parts of the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitol Hill negotiators have reached agreement on an $8.3 billion measure to battle the coronavirus outbreak that's spreading and threatening a major shock to the economy and disruptions to everyday life in the U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rachel Sklar planned to go to the big South by Southwest film, media and music gathering in Austin, Texas, this month, but changed her mind as cases of coronavirus started appearing in the U.S. She was scheduled to speak at the annual event and expected to recruit new members for her businesswomen's organization, TheLi.st.
NEW YORK (AP) — The hand sanitizers on Amazon were overpriced. A Walmart this weekend was completely sold out. Only on his third try was Ken Smith able to find the clear gel — at a Walgreens, where three bottles of Purell were left. He bought two.
The fast-spreading coronavirus is forcing travelers to reconsider their trips.
ALTERED EXPECTATIONS: General Electric Co. General Electric believes the viral outbreak could have a negative impact of about $300 million to $500 million on its first-quarter industrial free cash flow. Operating profit for the period could be hurt by about $200 million to $300 million. GE said that the expectations are incorporated into its full-year 2020 outlook.
NEW YORK (AP) — From Baby Yoda to eco-friendly stacking rings, toymakers displayed an array of goods last week that they hope will be on kids' wish lists for the holiday 2020 season.
The fast-spreading coronavirus is forcing travelers to reconsider their trips.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors, trying to refashion itself as a futuristic company with technology to compete against Tesla, rolled out plans Wednesday for 13 new electric vehicles during the next five years.
ENVIRONMENT
BRUSSELS (AP) — Amid fierce criticism from environmental activists, the European Commission unveiled plans Wednesday for its first ever climate law, which will act as the basis of the European Union's aim to make the 27-country bloc climate neutral by 2050.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appeared divided in its first major abortion case of the Trump era, leaving Chief Justice John Roberts as the likely deciding vote.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury decided Wednesday that former television talk show host Tavis Smiley, who was fired amid allegations of workplace sexual misconduct at the height of the #MeToo movement, must pay about $1.5 million to his former employer, the Public Broadcasting Service.
NEW YORK (AP) — Simon & Schuster, the publisher of such authors as Stephen King and Bob Woodward, is up for sale.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points, or 4.5%, on hopes for more stimulus measures from around the globe to fight the virus outbreak.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Services companies grew at a faster pace in February than the previous month, an indication that the economy was still expanding immediately after the first cases of the coronavirus were reported in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added 183,000 jobs last month, a solid gain that shows the economy was largely healthy when the coronavirus outbreak spread further around the globe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell is confronting his stiffest test yet as head of the Federal Reserve in an atmosphere vastly altered from what his predecessors faced. It makes an uncertain situation even more challenging.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders and the Trump administration have reached an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and devote more than a $1 billion a year to clear a growing maintenance backlog at national parks.
TUESDAY, MARCH 3
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 22 people were killed, some in their beds, authorities said.
Mayor John Cooper today signed an executive order declaring an official state of emergency in the immediate aftermath of this morning's tornado that caused death, injury and widespread property damage in Davidson County.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee State University surpassed its goal to raise $1 million during the month of February, the school said.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Monday appointed a new director of Tennessee's Medicaid program known as TennCare.
ELECTION 2020
MEMPHIS (AP) — A judge has ruled that all Tennessee polls must extend Super Tuesday hours in the wake of tornado devastation, a state Democratic Party spokeswoman said Tuesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — In a race reshaped by Joe Biden's blowout South Carolina win and exits by Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential campaigns continue to make their Super Tuesday case in Tennessee through TV ads and appearances.
Tuesday's presidential primaries across 14 states mark the first major security test since the 2018 midterm elections, with state and local election officials saying they are prepared to deal with everything from equipment problems to false information about the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As her rivals head to the exits, Elizabeth Warren is vowing to press on to a contested convention.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Teams don't score five goals in one period very often. Leon Draisaitl found a way to make the night even more memorable.
HEALTH CARE
NEW YORK (AP) — AID AVAILABLE: The World Bank announced Wednesday that it is making $12 billion available to provide immediate support to low-income countries dealing with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers on Tuesday expressed skepticism that U.S. health officials will be able to meet their goal of significantly ramping up testing for the new coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers are finalizing a $7.5 billion emergency bill to fund the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, even as fear is growing that the rapid spread of the virus is a shock to the economy and will lead to significant disruption in people's everyday lives.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army on Tuesday began increased health screenings for all new soldier recruits arriving at the four basic training centers around the country in order to detect the new coronavirus, a senior commander said.
PARIS (AP) — France requisitioned protective masks and sent tens of thousands of students home from school, Norway blocked 1,200 passengers on a cruise ship and Spain isolated dozens of health workers as the new coronavirus spread further Tuesday into Europe.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's top health officials warned lawmakers on Monday that the state will likely soon see its own cases of coronavirus, but they said they remain optimistic about the state's ability to respond rapidly.
LONDON (AP) — British authorities laid out plans Tuesday to confront a COVID-19 epidemic, saying that the new coronavirus could spread within weeks from a few dozen confirmed cases to millions of infections, with thousands of people in the U.K. at risk of death.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed prepared Tuesday to preserve an important tool that federal securities regulators used last year to recoup $3.2 billion in ill-gotten gains in fraud cases.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Fear and uncertainty continue to control Wall Street, and stocks fell sharply Tuesday after an emergency interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to reassure markets wracked by worries that a fast-spreading virus will cause a recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizable half-percentage point Tuesday in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven major economies pledged to use "all appropriate tools" to deal with the spreading coronavirus but announced no immediate actions.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 0.5% in response to the economic shock of the new coronavirus.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's central bank reduced its key overnight policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.5% on Tuesday, citing worsening economic conditions from the virus outbreak in a growing number of countries.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Fine wines and hipster gin. Hunting rifles and knives. Contemporary paintings and million-dollar sports cars. They're all marketed at trade events that are quickly going dark across the globe due to the new coronavirus - and taking with them sales opportunities that may be difficult to make up.
MONDAY, MARCH 2
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Recording Academy on Monday fired Deborah Dugan, its former president who called into question the integrity of the Grammy Awards nominations process and said she was sexually harassed by a top lawyer for the organization, which she called a boys' club that coddled and favored powerful men.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's much-debated school voucher program is facing a second legal challenge from opponents echoing previous concerns that the program illegally diverts public tax dollars to private schools.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Chinese nationals were charged Monday with laundering over $100 million in cryptocurrency that had been stolen by North Korean hackers, U.S. prosecutors said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appeared divided Monday over whether the government can deport people who fail initial asylum screenings without allowing them to make their case to a federal judge.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, a case that will keep health care squarely in front of voters even though a decision won't come until after the 2020 election.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments has forwarded three names to Gov. Bill Lee to consider for a Court of Appeals vacancy.
HEALTH CARE
PARIS (AP) — The new virus is entering new territories, from megacities to seaside villages, and casting a fast-growing shadow over the world economy.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's president on Monday suggested to visiting Japanese deputy justice minister that Nissan's fugitive ex-boss Carlos Ghosn won't be extradited back to Japan and remains in the hands of Lebanon's judiciary, according to a presidential statement. The Japanese official said Ghosn should stand trial in Japan.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — IPhone owners could get $25 from Apple after the company agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle claims over intentionally slowing down older phones to preserve older batteries.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T is launching a new internet-delivered TV service Monday as it struggles with a shrinking DirecTV satellite business.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank says Europe's top monetary authority is ready to take "appropriate and targeted measures" if necessary to support the economy against the headwinds from the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 1,200 points, or 5%, on hopes that central banks will take action to shelter the global economy from the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter shares rose Monday following reports an activist investor took a stake in the social media service and plans to push for changes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spending on U.S. construction projects rose to an all-time high in January, helped by strong gains for home construction and government building projects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American factories expanded in February for the second straight month, despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The winning streak, however, may prove short-lived.
BOSTON (AP) — Jack Welch, who transformed General Electric Co. into a highly profitable multinational conglomerate and parlayed his legendary business acumen into a retirement career as a corporate leadership guru, has died. He was 84.
NEW YORK (AP) — As stocks around the world tumble on worries about a fast-spreading virus, investors have been clamoring for the superheroes of the financial world to ride to the rescue once again.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Worries about a new virus first detected in China that's infected tens of thousands of people globally are making a mark on the economy of a nine-state region in the Midwest and Plains.
NEW YORK (AP) — With the viral outbreak spreading to more countries, the price of oil has dropped precipitously as global demand weakens even further.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Long-awaited trade talks between the European Union and Britain kick off Monday amid deep tensions over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's threat to walk away from the talks if not enough progress is made within four months.
BEIJING (AP) — China's manufacturing plunged in February as anti-virus controls shut down the world's second-largest economy, but companies are confident activity will revive following government stimulus efforts, according to two surveys.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving to stem a vaping epidemic among young people, the House approved a bill Friday to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has not proved to be the bearer of reliable information when calamity threatens and people want straight answers about it. That's happening again as he addresses the prospect of a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
ELECTION 2020
SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Rivals no more, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg united behind Joe Biden's presidential bid on Monday as the Democratic Party's moderate wing scrambled to boost the former vice president just hours before voting began across a series of high-stakes Super Tuesday states.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar ended her Democratic presidential campaign on Monday and plans to endorse rival Joe Biden in an effort to unify moderate voters behind the former vice president's White House bid.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is endorsing Joe Biden for president.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden bought himself time. It's unclear how much.
WASHINGTON (AP) — He opened February by sharing victory with one of the Democratic Party's best-known figures and ended it with a humbling defeat at the hands of another. Yet Pete Buttigieg's unlikely path over the last 30 days exceeded virtually everyone's expectations of his presidential ambitions, except perhaps his own.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders is misrepresenting his stance on how many delegates a Democratic candidate must amass before clinching the party's presidential nomination.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Saturday's Democratic presidential primary election in South Carolina called health care the top issue facing the country today, clearly naming it as more important than the economy, climate change, immigration, race relations and guns.
FRIDAY, FEB. 28
NASHVILLE AREA
Mayor John Cooper today announced the names of 48 members of the Nashville community who will serve on the Sustainability Advisory Committee.
STATEWIDE
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A Navajo tribal company has reached an agreement that would allow the U.S. government to enforce environmental laws at recently acquired mining properties in Tennessee.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators gambled that keeping Mikael Granlund instead of trading the pending free agent at the deadline could help them play their way into the postseason.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. immigration courts on Friday proposed raising fees on filings and appeals by hundreds of dollars in a move that immigrant advocates said would block their clients' ability to access justice.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville podiatrist pleaded guilty this week to illegally distributing controlled substances.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is adding 1,200 jobs at two Michigan factories to build midsize SUVs and two new luxury sedans.
BERLIN (AP) — German auto giant Volkswagen agreed Friday to pay 830 million euros ($912 million) in damages to hundreds of thousands of customers whose diesel cars were outfitted with software to manipulate emissions readings.
GENEVA (AP) — The Geneva auto show was canceled after the Swiss government put an immediate ban Friday on all public and private events involving more than 1,000 people in order to halt the spread of the new coronavirus.
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese vice minister for justice is heading to Lebanon for talks on the case of former Nissan Motor Co. executive Carlos Ghosn, who fled for his home country late last year while out on bail awaiting trial.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials scrambled Friday to get coronavirus testing up and running in every state, as the Trump administration signaled it may also invoke a 70-year-old defense law to guarantee the availability of protective gear should the virus spread.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health officials reported the first U.S. drug shortage tied to the viral outbreak that is disrupting production in China, but they declined to identify the manufacturer or the product.
PARIS (AP) — Amusement parks, sports events, religious gatherings, even school. More and more things in a growing swath of the world are now affected by the new virus. And that's messing with global financial markets as basic business, trade and tourism suffers from the disruptions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government whistleblower has filed a complaint alleging that some federal workers did not have the necessary protective gear or training when they were deployed to help Americans evacuated from China during the coronavirus outbreak.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration moved Thursday on a water-recycling push it says could get good use out of more of the wastewater that industries, cities and farms spew out, including the billions of barrels of watery waste generated by oil and gas fields each year.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As global markets plunged amid growing fears about the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump and his allies pulled from a familiar playbook Friday and blamed others for the slide. It's a challenging sell for a president who has lashed his fate to Wall Street like no other.
Stocks sank around the globe again Friday as investors braced for more economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak, sending U.S. markets to their worst weekly finish since the 2008 financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sought to calm fears Friday over the viral outbreak by issuing a rare statement of reassurance that the Fed will "use our tools" to support the economy — a strong signal of a coming interest rate cut.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans pulled back on their spending in January, even as their incomes surged, a sign the economy was growing modestly before the threat of coronavirus arose.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska state officials reacted with alarm this week after a second large U.S. bank said it would not support future oil and gas projects in the Arctic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Do Americans trust anyone or anything in public life these days?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving to stem a vaping epidemic among young people, the House has approved a bill to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee is launching a wide-ranging probe of Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department, demanding briefings, documents and interviews with 15 officials as it tries to determine whether there has been improper political interference in federal law enforcement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee is launching a wide-ranging probe of Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department, demanding briefings, documents and interviews with 15 officials as it tries to determine whether there has been improper political interference in federal law enforcement.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill to provide $1 billion for small telecom providers to replace equipment made by China's Huawei and ZTE, sending the measure to President Donald Trump.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iowa Democratic Party on Thursday released updated results of the Iowa caucuses after the completion of a recount requested by the campaigns of Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucuses have passed, and South Carolina's vote is just days away — but there's still no winner of the Iowa caucuses.
THURSDAY, FEB. 27
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday came out in full support of allowing most people in the state to carry a firearm in public without a background check or training.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a 5.2% jump in Americans signing contracts to buy homes in January from the previous month as lower mortgage rates and a solid economy are pushing up demand for housing.
ENVIRONMENT
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch consortium announced an ambitious plan Thursday to create "green" hydrogen using power from a huge offshore wind farm that has yet to be built.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitol Hill negotiations on emergency spending to combat the coronavirus outbreak are likely to produce a bill that's double or even triple the $2.5 billion plan requested by President Donald Trump just days ago.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is painting a misleading portrait of the risks of the coronavirus, citing statistics to suggest it is far less dangerous than the flu when in fact, it's not yet clear just how dangerous the new virus is.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence moved Thursday to project calm in the role of chief coordinator of the government's response to the new coronovirus, as the Trump administration rushed to contain mounting public concerns and steep stock market declines.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared that a widespread U.S. outbreak of the new respiratory virus sweeping the globe isn't inevitable even as top health authorities at his side warned Americans that more infections are coming.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook said Wednesday that it is banning ads that make false claims about products tied to the new coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank nearly 1,200 points Thursday, deepening a weeklong global market rout caused by worries that the coronavirus outbreak will wreak havoc on the global economy.
The spread of the new coronavirus around the world is hitting companies hard as they suspend production, meetings, events and business travel. Here's a look at the latest developments:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — This week's big sell-off on Wall Street suggests stocks have finally caught up to the bond market, where fear of an economic slowdown has been evident for months.
LONDON (AP) — Britain laid out its opening demands for upcomingtrade talks with the European Union on Thursday,including a blunt threat to walk away from the negotiating table if there is no progress within four months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the final quarter of last year, but damage from the spreading coronavirus is likely depressing growth in the current quarter and for the rest of the year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods dipped in January, pulled down by decreased demand for cars, auto parts and military aircraft.
BEIJING (AP) — Small, mostly private companies that are the engine of China's economy are back to operating at one-third of normal levels after anti-virus controls shut factories, shops and restaurants, regulators said Thursday, and they promised more low-cost loans and other aid.
ELECTION 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — Competent, a fighter, good. Old, out of touch, disingenuous. And, of course: who's that?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans have widespread concerns about the security and integrity of elections, with few saying they have high confidence that votes in the 2020 presidential election will be counted accurately.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the nation's largest labor unions is unveiling plans to invest $150 million in a nationwide campaign to help defeat President Donald Trump, a sweeping effort focused on eight battleground states and voters of color who typically don't vote.