VOL. 42 | NO. 11 | Friday, March 16, 2018
Unable to get cell-phone service at a football game in Nashville or Knoxville? Can’t send a text from a Broadway honky tonk or Beale Street blues bar? Wondering how autonomous cars will ever work?
PREDATORS
When the Predators played Chicago for the first time earlier this season, they were carefully protecting a one-goal lead in the closing minutes before Ryan Hartman blew everything up.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators say forward Calle Jarnkrok will miss the rest of the regular season with an upper-body injury.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Willie Mays – or at least recounting the day she met and filmed the man some say is the greatest baseball player ever – makes Molly Secours light up.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
March 10 was a big night for Greater Nashville Realtors as a record 750 members, family and friends gathered at the Omni Hotel Ballroom to celebrate the 268 members who received Awards of Excellence.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales,February 2018, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week for the first time this year as the spring home buying season begins. The decline comes after nine straight weeks of increases that pushed borrowing costs higher.
NEWSMAKERS
Firestone Building Products Company, LLC, which provides roofing and building envelope solutions, has named Michelle Lane executive director of marketing. In this role, Lane will be responsible for the overall marketing strategy for FSBP, including programs, product development, channel management, education and communications.
BRIEFS
Ticketmaster will continue in partnership with the Tennessee Titans and Nissan Stadium and will introduce digital ticketing in the 2018 season.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The Model 3 is Tesla’s most affordable electric car, with a promised starting price of $35,000. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have put down a $1,000 deposit for one. Almost all of them are still waiting for the chance to order.
CAREER CORNER
Applying for a job seems like a fair process. You apply online and, if you’re a good fit for the job, the company will give you a call.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers have passed a bill to require public schools to prominently display the national motto, "In God We Trust."
NASHVILLE AREA
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Magazine and broadcasting company Meredith, which owns WSMV-TV in Nashville, laid off an additional 200 workers on Wednesday and announced it would eliminate another 1,000 jobs over the next 10 months as it integrates the operations of Time Inc., which it bought six weeks ago.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville International Airport has unveiled its upgraded and expanded international arrivals building.
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Reports of sexual misconduct nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017 at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Twenty-five communities in Tennessee are receiving more than $9.6 million in grants to help them attract economic development projects.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is facing off against AT&T to block the telephone giant from absorbing Time Warner, in a case that could shape how consumers get — and how much they pay for — streaming TV and movies.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sinking and bond prices are climbing as trade tensions between the U.S. and China rise. The Trump administration is expected to announce trade sanctions on China, while the government in Beijing said it will defend itself. Industrial and technology companies took some of the worst losses while banks dipped along with interest rates. Stock indexes in Europe and Asia also fell.
NEW YORK (AP) — Last year was a terrific one for nearly every stock investor as markets kept soaring higher. It was even better for one group that's among the most maligned on Wall Street.
NEW YORK (AP) — Toy company executive Isaac Larian and other investors have pledged a total of $200 million and hope to raise four times that amount in crowdfunding in a bid to save potentially more than half of the 735 Toys R Us stores that will go dark in bankruptcy proceedings.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was ready to hit China with billions of dollars in trade sanctions Thursday for stealing American technology and pressuring U.S. companies to hand it over. Farmers, electronics retailers and other U.S. businesses braced for a backlash as the Chinese government vowed to take "all necessary measures" to defend itself in an emerging economic showdown.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders have finalized a sweeping $1.3 trillion budget bill that substantially boosts military and domestic spending but leaves behind young immigrant "Dreamers," deprives President Donald Trump some of his border wall money and takes only incremental steps to address gun violence.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An effort to protect young Dreamer immigrants from deportation never really had much chance of squeezing into the last bill Congress must pass this election year. That's why bargainers from both parties were surprised when the White House tried anyway.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man who spent 31 years in prison before new DNA evidence led to his 1978 rape and burglary convictions being overturned has been awarded $1 million in damages.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee attorney general says lawsuits by local prosecutors over the opioid epidemic are complicating his efforts to reach a multistate settlement with drug companies. In response, the prosecutors, who represent about half of Tennessee's counties, say local communities lose out when lawsuits like theirs are rolled into one settlement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is making it harder for the federal government to use a section of the tax law to convict someone of a crime.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of existing homes rebounded in February after declining for the previous two months, a sign that many Americans are still looking to buy despite rising prices and a shrinking number of homes available on the market.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Breaking more than four days of silence, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm.
NEW YORK (AP) — The crisis-management playbook is pretty simple: Get ahead of the story, update authorities and the public regularly, assume responsibility and take decisive action. Crisis-management experts say Facebook is 0-for-4.
LONDON (AP) — The head of Trump-affiliated data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica has been suspended, while government authorities are bearing down on both the firm and Facebook over allegations the firm stole data from 50 million Facebook users to manipulate elections.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's latest privacy scandal, involving Trump campaign consultants who allegedly stole data on tens of millions of users in order to influence elections, has some people reconsidering their relationship status with the social network.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker BMW says this year's profits will at least equal last year's results as the company sinks billions into developing electric and autonomous car technology to meet expected changes in how people get from one place to another.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — After a jittery afternoon of trading, major U.S. stock indexes fell Wednesday while smaller companies fared better. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as investors expected, and said it could raise rates at a quicker pace next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is raising its key interest rate and signaling confidence in the U.S. economy's durability but plans to continue a gradual approach to rate hikes for 2018 under its new chairman, Jerome Powell.
SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks is making a $10 million commitment to develop a greener coffee cup that is fully recyclable and compostable.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investors are cautious as they await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's first meeting under its new chairman, Jerome Powell, and his subsequent news conference.
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s intellectual property agency says China has eclipsed Japan in the No. 2 rank among countries filing international patent applications and is on track to surpass the United States in the top spot within three years.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite second thoughts, President Donald Trump swung behind a $1.3 trillion government spending bill Wednesday that would give him a partial victory on funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure strengthening the federal background check system for gun purchases will be included in the $1.3 trillion government spending bill being negotiated by congressional leaders, aides said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Talks over a $1.3 trillion government spending bill are almost complete as the White House and Capitol Hill Democrats ironed out deals on a first round of funding for President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are expected to press Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on the department's efforts to secure state election systems as the Senate Intelligence Committee launches an effort to safeguard against foreign meddling in this year's elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election, drawing bruising criticism from members of his own party, including a leading senator who scorned the election as a "sham." Trump also said he and Putin might meet "in the not too distant future" to discuss the arms race and other matters.
TUESDAY, MARCH 20
STATEWIDE
The Tennessee Democratic Party has hired Jeff Teague as executive director, replacing Jason Freeman.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE(AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden is slated to speak at Vanderbilt University next month.
SPORTS
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Predators stalwart Pekka Rinne briefly stopped to marvel when informed of the elite NHL goaltending company he joined in becoming a three-time 40-game winner — and after a shutout, no less.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has proposed $30.2 million to improve school safety.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Republican-led Tennessee House has passed legislation aiming to require certain able-bodied TennCare recipients to spend 20 hours a week working, volunteering or attending school.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A resolution supportive of moving President James K. Polk's body for the third time since his death about 170 years ago has failed in the Tennessee House.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that would spell out requirements to disclose who paid for sponsored political content on social media platforms.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country music journalist, publicist and songwriter Hazel Smith has died. She was 83.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Britain's information commissioner says she is using all her legal powers to investigate the handling of millions of people's personal Facebook data by the social media giant and by political campaign consultants Cambridge Analytica.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of environmental and animal-welfare groups sued on Tuesday to challenge the Trump administration's moves toward allowing the importation of the heads, hides and tusks of African elephants as hunting trophies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a free speech fight over California's attempt to regulate anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes finished mostly higher after a day of bouncing around Tuesday as retailers, energy companies and banks recovered some of their losses from the day before, but technology companies struggled as Facebook dropped again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials are meeting this week for the first time under their new chairman, Jerome Powell, whose news conference to follow is stirring high anticipation.
CHICAGO (AP) — Orbitz says a legacy travel booking platform may have been hacked, potentially exposing the personal information of people that made purchases between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 22, 2017.
MADRID (AP) — A Vatican crackdown on the commercial use of its name and official emblems has encountered resistance from a Spanish website that refuses to give up referencing the seat of the Catholic Church in its masthead.
NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian company that is partnering with the Trump Organization on an office tower project has been accused of running an elaborate real estate swindle that cheated investors out of nearly $150 million, according to complaints filed with Indian authorities.
NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind the golden arches wants to get greener. McDonald's said Tuesday it's taking steps to cut the greenhouse gases it emits, including tweaking the way the beef in its Big Macs and Quarter Pounders is produced.
NATIONAL POLITICS
LONDON (AP) — Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix has said in comments that were secretly recorded and broadcast Tuesday by Britain's Channel 4 news that his company played a major role in securing Donald Trump's narrow victory in the 2016 presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Battles over priorities in a huge government-wide spending bill are essentially settled, leaving a scaled-back plan for President Donald Trump's border wall and a huge rail project that pits Trump against Capitol Hill's most powerful Democrat as the top issues to be solved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Republicans are telling President Donald Trump in ever blunter terms to lay off his escalating criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia probe. But party leaders are taking no action to protect Mueller, embracing a familiar strategy with the president — simply waiting out the storm.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the 2018 primary season already underway, leaders of the Senate intelligence committee are launching an effort to protect U.S. elections from a repeat episode of foreign interference.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing back against her critics, Melania Trump said Tuesday she's committed to fighting cyberbullying despite the knocks she's gotten for taking on the issue when her husband regularly uses Twitter to berate his foes and call them names.
MONDAY, MARCH 19
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — More than 29 million people face a threat of severe storms Monday that could bring hail the size of tennis balls, damaging winds and strong tornadoes to the southeastern United States, forecasters said.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — A Trump-affiliated firm under scrutiny for inappropriately obtaining data on tens of millions of Facebook users created profiling algorithms that "took fake news to the next level," a former employee said.
LONDON (AP) — Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic criticized Facebook and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, after reports surfaced that another company, Cambridge Analytica, improperly harvested information from 50 million Facebook users.
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook has a problem it just can't kick: People keep exploiting it in ways that could sway elections, and in the worst cases even undermine democracy.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CANTON, Miss. (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. says it will increase van production at its Mississippi plant, adding a second shift in April.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Uber suspended all of its self-driving testing Monday after what is believed to be the first fatal pedestrian crash involving the vehicles.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Volkswagen plans to build a new five-passenger SUV in Chattanooga.
BERLIN (AP) — A group representing European carmakers is urging Brexit negotiators to urgently address issues affecting the auto industry and prevent "potentially disastrous implications" for its supply chain.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook plunged to its worst loss in four years Monday and led a rout in technology companies. The social media company's stock fell following reports that a data mining firm working for the Trump campaign improperly obtained data on 50 million Facebook users.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's first meeting under Jerome Powell's leadership will likely end Wednesday with an announcement that the Fed will resume its modest interest rate hikes.
NEW YORK (AP) — Claire's, the mall chain that has pierced the ears of millions of teens, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Negotiators from the European Union and Britain on Monday hailed major progress in the Brexit talks, but conceded there had been no breakthrough on keeping open the Irish border.
NEW YORK (AP) — When the Kushner Cos. bought three apartment buildings in a gentrifying neighborhood of Queens in 2015, most of the tenants were protected by special rules that prevent developers from pushing them out, raising rents and turning a tidy profit.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitol Hill Democrats have rejected a White House bid to extend protections for so-called Dreamer immigrants in exchange for $25 billion in funding for President Donald Trump's long-sought border wall as Washington talks on a $1.3 trillion catchall spending bill hit a critical stage on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is not considering firing the special counsel investigating Russian election interference, a top White House lawyer said, after a cascade of Trump tweets revived chatter that the deeply frustrated president may be preparing to get rid of the veteran prosecutor.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain is defending the special counsel investigating Russian election interference after a series of tweets from President Donald Trump revived chatter that the Trump may be preparing to get rid of the veteran prosecutor.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plan to combat opioid drug addiction nationwide calls for stiffer penalties for drug traffickers, including the death penalty where appropriate under current law, a top administration official said. It's a fate for drug dealers that Trump, who aims to be seen as tough on crime, has been highlighting publicly in recent weeks.
FRIDAY, MARCH 16
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican House and Senate leaders say the state isn't paying lawmakers or staffers to attend a California legislative summit.
SPORTS
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Nashville Predators keep rolling toward the best regular season in franchise history.
Mississippi has hired Middle Tennessee's Kermit Davis as its men's basketball coach.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — On Monday, AT&T squares off against the federal government in a trial that could shape how you get — and how much you pay for — streaming TV and movies.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied the state attorney general's request to move up eight execution dates before June 1.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee judge who was initially accused of helping a woman with legal troubles in exchange for sex faces a new indictment.
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — Dollar General's light revenue during the fiscal fourth quarter was outshined by booming sales at established stores and a strong outlook.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says reported DUI offenses on college campuses in the state have increased by more than 60 percent.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — IHeartMedia, one of the world's largest radio companies, is seeking bankruptcy protection as part of an agreement with its lenders to reduce debt it took on to become a privately held company.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will try again next week to pass a Republican bill to help fatally ill people try unproven treatments — and supporters seem likely to prevail.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homebuilders broke ground on fewer apartment complexes in February, causing overall housing starts to fall 7 percent.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market eked out a small gain but still ended the week lower after several days of losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers sharply ramped up their demand for workers in January, advertising 6.3 million jobs at the end of the month, the most on records dating back 17 years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factory output jumped last month, led by big gains in the production of cars, computers and furniture.
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's largest business lobby is warning President Donald Trump against slapping big tariffs on Chinese imports. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is sounding the alarm as the White House weighs whether to punish China for forcing U.S. companies to hand technology to Chinese companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — The demise of Toys R Us will have a ripple effect on everything from toy makers to consumers to landlords.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing back harder on Russia, the Trump administration accused Moscow on Thursday of a concerted hacking operation targeting the U.S. energy grid, aviation systems and other infrastructure, and also imposed sanctions on Russians for alleged interference in the 2016 election.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pledged to a conference of police leaders that President Donald Trump's administration will continue to invest in their departments.
NATIONAL POLITICS
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When the GOP took full control of Oklahoma government after the 2010 election, lawmakers set out to make it a model of Republican principles, with lower taxes, lighter regulation and a raft of business-friendly reforms.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Jeff Flake has a direct message for the Republicans of New Hampshire: Someone needs to stop Donald Trump. And Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, may stand up against the Republican president in 2020 — either as a Republican or an independent — if no one else does.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new U.S. advisory board created to help rewrite federal rules for importing the heads and hides of African elephants, lions and rhinos is stacked with trophy hunters, including some members with direct ties to President Donald Trump and his family.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's company said Thursday that it has been turning over documents for months in response to requests from federal investigators looking into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing back harder on Russia, the Trump administration accused Moscow on Thursday of a concerted hacking operation targeting the U.S. energy grid, aviation systems and other infrastructure, and also imposed sanctions on Russians for alleged interference in the 2016 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump continues to insist the United States has a trade deficit with Canada, following news reports that he claimed at a fundraiser that he talked trade with the country's prime minister without knowing all the facts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says there will "always be change, but very little" in the White House as he denies reports of an impending widespread administration overhaul.