VOL. 38 | NO. 12 | Friday, March 21, 2014
A look at the events and schedule for the NCAA Women’s Final Four, scheduled for April 6-8 at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
STREET LEVEL
Jamal Britton hoists Alaskan king crab legs from steamer to Styrofoam to-go box. Without hesitation, he turns to grilling fish filets as he attempts to satisfy the steady flow of folks ducking beneath the almost-invisible scrawled memorial to Steve McNair.
REALTY CHECK
“By the end of this quarter, Fannie and Freddie will have paid the government $203 billion, slightly more than the $187.5 billion they received from the government in their 2008 bailout. But 2008 was six years ago. Had the government charged shareholders a very reasonable 10% interest on the loan, F&F would owe another $93 billion. So, let’s talk when F&F’s total payments to Uncle Sam total $281 billion.”
REAL ESTATE
Top February 2014 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
VIEW FROM THE HILL
With the budget debate looming in the General Assembly, and many other serious issues on tap as the Tennessee Legislature hits the home stretch, Republican leaders of the supermajority turned their attention to higher education.
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
When her children were small, Thelma Harper spent long hours at their school. As a room mother, she found plenty of ways to utilize her time and talents. As her children grew up, however, they didn’t want Mom around quite as much.
NEWSMAKERS
C. Lee Parmley, M.D., J.D., professor of Anesthesiology and chief of the Critical Care Division of the Department of Anesthesiology, has been named chief of staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series.
I SWEAR
Season 4, Episode 3: “The Pitch.” The show: “Seinfeld.” The theme? Let’s call it “the absence of anything.”
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - The first production model Fender Stratocaster has been sold for $250,000.
HEALTH CARE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Nearly every day for three months, Carl Bechdel had to make calls or send emails to try to get family insurance coverage for his husband and himself under President Barack Obama's landmark health law.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State Department of Commerce and Insurance officials are cautioning uninsured Tennesseans that they may find it challenging to get health insurance if they wait after the March 31 deadline for open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors who treat Medicare patients would get a last-minute reprieve from a scheduled 24 percent cut in their government reimbursements under a bill the House was considering Thursday.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal that would allow parents to decide the fate of a struggling school is advancing in the Senate.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft on Thursday unveiled Office for the iPad, a software suite that includes programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and works on rival Apple Inc.'s hugely popular tablet computer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes fell for the eighth straight month in February, a sign of slow real estate sales over the next few months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter, slightly more than previously estimated, as consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in three years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 311,000, the lowest since late November and a hopeful sign hiring could pick up.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose this week in the wake of comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen suggesting that the Fed could start raising short-term interest rates by mid-2015.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were mostly lower Thursday as further declines in technology companies outweighed encouraging economic news. Citigroup fell 6 percent after the Federal Reserve denied the bank's plan to raise its dividend and buy back more stock. Most other major banks won approval to raise their dividends.
The price of oil advanced past $101 a barrel Thursday amid an upward revision to U.S. growth figures and continuing supply concerns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday barred Citigroup from raising its dividend or boosting its stock buybacks, saying it's too hard to predict how some parts of the bank's global operation would fare in a sharp economic downturn.
Bank of America will spend $9.33 billion to resolve a dispute over mortgage securities with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to create a school voucher program in Tennessee is advancing in the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A watered-down version of Gov. Bill Haslam's anti-meth legislation is advancing in the House, though significant differences remain with the Senate bill.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The latest effort to get rid of Tennessee's motorcycle helmet requirement has failed in a Senate committee.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gail Kerr, an outspoken columnist for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, died Tuesday. She was 52.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors CEO Mary Barra is reaching out directly to customers, as GM tries to counter bad publicity from a recall of cars with a potentially deadly ignition switch defect.
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling just over 1 million cars, SUVs and vans because the front passenger air bags may not inflate in a crash. It's the company's second recall to fix the same problem.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio auto dealers have struck an agreement that will allow Tesla Motors to sell its electric cars in the state.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — People who've started applying for health insurance but aren't able to finish before the March 31 enrollment deadline will get extra time, the Obama administration has announced.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Growing digital outlets are bringing "a sense of momentum" to the news business even as long-term problems continue to plague the industry, a journalism think tank said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in February by the largest amount in three months, helped by solid gains in demand for airplanes and autos.
NEW YORK (AP) — A slide in technology companies dragged the stock market lower, erasing an early gain.
The price of oil rose above $100 a barrel Wednesday as the market looked beyond a large increase in oil supplies.
GENEVA (AP) — Disasters such as floods in Europe, winter storms in the U.S. and typhoons in Asia cost insurance companies $45 billion in 2013, a leading Swiss firm said Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is buying virtual reality company Oculus, betting $2 billion that its technology will become a new way for people to communicate, learn or be entertained.
TUESDAY, MARCH 25
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - While Republican lawmakers in some states may have benefited from congressional redistricting, the changes had little effect in Tennessee.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal that makes changes to the process for selecting books for state schools is advancing in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Senate sponsor of a contentious proposal to delay further implementation of Tennessee's Common Core education standards for two years said Tuesday that a compromise is close on the legislation.
NASHVILLE (AP) - An effort to exempt Tennessee from daylight saving time has failed by one vote in the state House.
NASHVILLE (AP) - State lawmakers on Tuesday decided not to rewrite the legal definition of Tennessee whiskey this session, meaning the rules supported by Jack Daniel's will govern other distillers in the state for at least another year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislative leaders and several groups are launching a new initiative to encourage healthy eating in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal that would give students free religious expression is headed to the governor for his consideration.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would allow the state's attorney general to investigate public corruption has likely failed this session.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A student group that opposes Tennessee's voter ID law has staged a silent protest in the gallery of the House chamber.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would make students in the country illegally eligible for in-state tuition has failed this session.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seemingly divided, the Supreme Court struggled Tuesday with the question of whether companies have religious rights, a case challenging President Barack Obama's health overhaul and its guarantee of birth control in employees' preventive care plans.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence has rebounded to the highest reading in six years, providing a further sign that the economy's prospects should brighten with warmer weather.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices dipped in January for a third straight month, likely because of slower sales in recent months caused by cold weather, a limited supply of homes and higher mortgage rates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer people bought new U.S. homes in February. Sales fell to their slowest pace in five months, a sign that the housing market has yet to recover fully from brutal winter weather.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks got a lift Tuesday as health care companies bounced back after a heavy sell-off.
Oil prices edged slightly lower on Tuesday as soft factory data from China and the U.S. balanced the threat of sanctions against Russia following its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
WASHINGTON (AP) — About half of all payday loans are made to people who extend the loans so many times they end up paying more in fees than the original amount they borrowed, a report by a federal watchdog has found.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House wants the National Security Agency to get out of the business of sweeping up and storing vast amounts of data on Americans' phone calls. And a proposal to have the government seek information from phone companies' existing records satisfies public concerns about privacy, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
MONDAY, MARCH 24
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - For many Tennessee property owners in flood-prone areas, a move by Congress to soften steep increases to subsidized insurance policies may come as little comfort.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - More than five years after U.S. governors began a bipartisan effort to set new standards in American schools, the Common Core initiative has morphed into a political tempest fueling division among Republicans.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service says it plans on filling more than 70 skilled maintenance positions in both Nashville and Memphis.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's largest minority group risks being left behind by President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new health care law helps some people, hurts others and confuses almost everyone. Hoping to simplify things a bit, The Associated Press asked its Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus followers for their real-life questions about the program and the problems they're running into as the March 31 deadline approaches to sign up for coverage in new insurance markets.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Five former employees of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff were convicted Monday at the end of a six-month trial that portrayed them as telling an elaborate web of lies to hide a fraud that enriched them and cheated investors out of billions of dollars.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — With the pace of U.S. economic growth seen speeding up later this year and next, many business economists expect the Federal Reserve to end its bond purchases this fall or even earlier.
NEW YORK (AP) — Weakness in the health care and technology sectors dragged the U.S. stock market lower.
The price of oil edged higher Monday as traders waited to see how long a key transit route in the Gulf would be closed following an oil spill there.
NEW YORK (AP) — Cisco says it plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next two years to build up its cloud computing network.
TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) — No timetable has been set to reopen a major U.S. shipping channel after nearly 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil spilled into the Texas waterway, but more help was being called in Monday to contain the spill and protect important shorebird habitat.
If you think of climate change as a hazard for some far-off polar bears years from now, you're mistaken. That's the message from top climate scientists gathering in Japan this week to assess the impact of global warming.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Divisions among Republicans over a budget deal and a shortfall in tax estimates are complicating the House GOP's efforts to advance a spending plan this spring.
FRIDAY, MARCH 21
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Graham Nash will be in Nashville on Friday.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's largest teachers' union is suing Gov. Bill Haslam and his education commissioner.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Folks waiting for the neighborhood grocery store to stock their favorite merlot or chardonnay may have to wait a little longer even though Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a law to allow supermarket wine sales in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposed constitutional amendment calling for the popular election of the state's attorney general has failed again in the Senate.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has handed a defeat to a coalition of retail groups that challenged as too high the Federal Reserve's cap on how much banks can charge businesses for handling debit card transactions.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new health care law helps some people, hurts others and confuses almost everyone. Hoping to simplify things a bit, The Associated Press asked its Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus followers for their real-life questions about the program and the problems they're running into as the March 31 deadline approaches to sign up for coverage in new insurance markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new health care law helps some people, hurts others and confuses almost everyone. Hoping to simplify things a bit, The Associated Press asked its Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus followers for their real-life questions about the program and the problems they're running into as the March 31 deadline approaches to sign up for coverage in new insurance markets.
Sarah Curtis-Fawley will have to offer insurance to her workers at Pacific Pie Co. because of the health care overhaul, and the estimated $100,000 cost means she may have to raise prices or postpone opening a third restaurant.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing slightly lower after an early rally faded away.
The price of oil rose above $99 a barrel on Friday as the U.S. and European Union expanded sanctions against Russia and warned of possible penalties against its energy industry.
NEW YORK (AP) — The "Every Day Low Price" king is trying to shake up the world of pricing once again.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wendy's is rolling out a program that lets customers pay using their smartphones, following a similar plans unveiled by Burger King this week.
A credit rating firm has concluded a review of the United States' credit rating and reiterated that it deserves the highest rating.
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks plans to turn more of its cafes into a destination for beer and wine in the evenings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than five years after the financial crisis struck, the biggest U.S. banks are better able to withstand a severe recession than at any time since the meltdown, the Federal Reserve has determined.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T says it will start taking orders for Samsung's new Galaxy S5 smartphone starting Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study documents the bleak plight of Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months: Just 11 percent of them, on average, will ever regain steady full-time work.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, at the time the nation's largest oil spill.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is the top target in the U.S. for international criminal enterprises that operate from safe havens in Eastern Europe, Africa and China, according to a report being released Thursday.