VOL. 35 | NO. 11 | Friday, March 18, 2011
Realtor of the Year Hagan Stone juggles clients, volunteering
Daily, Hagan Stone rushes from meeting to meeting, fields phone calls, managing to make time for church and family, and is, concurrently, one of the most successful realtors in Nashville.
Growing consumer confidence and an increasing willingness among banks to make mortgage loans to those with good credit are helping Middle Tennessee’s housing market regain its footing after slipping during the recession.
Developers who want to transform Bellevue Center mall into an outdoor shopping center have missed another – and apparently final – deadline to qualify for $12 million in city tax breaks they would have received for providing space for a new public library.
Davidson County’s continuing population shift might soon result in more and smaller Metro Council districts in the southern portions of the county.
GREEN BUSINESS
When Tara Biller had her first baby in South Florida, she did like all the other moms she knew: Hired a professional baby-proofer to come through her home and develop a plan to keep her kids safe, and even did all the work for her.
GET A JOB!
With the employment market becoming more complex, often requiring specialized job training, many employers are asking incoming employees to sign restrictive agreements or covenants as part of an employment contract.
NEWSMAKERS
Nashville Bank & Trust officials announced today that Allen Bolden has joined the company as accounting operations manager.
BOOK REVIEW
“Moonwalking with Einstein”
I SWEAR
In 1995, I read Christopher Moore’s book, “The Mediation Process – Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict.”
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Knock. Knock.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal by Gov. Bill Haslam to limit monetary damages from lawsuits in Tennessee is unnecessary and a jury should decide how much is awarded and not government, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson told a House panel Wednesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Tea Party drew sharp rebukes from Republicans on Wednesday for claiming Gov. Bill Haslam showed "socialistic" tendencies in his previous role as mayor of Knoxville.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gary Cordell, former finance director with the Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee, has been appointed director of the Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State officials say Tennessee has received a federal award of $8.3 million to assist General Motors workers affected by layoffs in the automotive industry.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home construction in the United States is all but coming to a halt. -
NATIONAL BUSINESS
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices rose above $106 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid a wave of violent protests and uprisings in the oil-rich Arab world.
Lower unemployment and bankruptcies helped reduce the nation's economic stress in January compared with a year earlier, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis. Still, the figures show the economy has yet to regain full health.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra Foods Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter net income fell 6 percent as the maker of Healthy Choice and Chef Boyardee dealt with rising costs.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. said it will soon resume production of the Prius and two other hybrid models while rival Honda Motor Co. has extended its Japan auto shutdown until early April in the aftermath of the massive quake and tsunami.
BEIJING (AP) — IMAX Corp. announced plans Thursday to open 75 more theaters in China within four years in partnership with Wanda Cinemas, the country's largest theater operator, underscoring the Chinese movie industry's rapid expansion.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Returning home to some messy politics, President Barack Obama must contend with a battery of challenges, from a spending standoff that threatens to shut down the government to congressional angst over the U.S.-led war against Libya. Foreign crises rage across Africa and the Middle East, and Americans still want a more quickly improving economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising show of growth, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the last decade, exceeding estimates in most states. Pulled by migration to the Sun Belt, America's population center edged westward on a historic path to leave the Midwest.