VOL. 41 | NO. 12 | Friday, March 24, 2017
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
For those who ignore the news – fake or otherwise – Donald Trump won the presidency last November. While he didn’t capture a majority of the vote, he did win the electoral vote, causing many detractors to call for the elimination of this outdated voting method.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
If it wasn’t for my old friend and hero, Bobby Bare, I’d not have a column this week.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Spring break is over, and here come the listings. At least that’s the hope as depleted inventories have left buyers disappointed for the past three years.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, February 2017, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
The time has come to write a new chapter of Tennessee Vols football.
NEWSMAKERS
Kurt Winstead, a founding member of the Nashville law firm Rudy Winstead Turner, PLLC, has been promoted to brigadier general in the Tennessee National Guard.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The Macan, Porsche’s smallest SUV, is more affordable and more fuel efficient for 2017 and is stocked with more standard equipment, including a rearview camera.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Your boss is a VIP: a Very Important Person. Nothing gets done without approval from the Executive Suite and nothing is unnoticed.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
When Palm Computing was in its heyday, many analysts thought they couldn’t be beaten. They had technology coveted by the market and an internal culture – dubbed Zen of Palm – which employees described as the best they’d ever experienced.
CAREER CORNER
When you’re truly unhappy in your current job, a new one can’t get here fast enough. Having to drag yourself to the office each day can be the worst.
FAMILY TRAVEL
“The Last Supper” is billed as one of Leonardo da Vinci’s great masterpieces, and it’s housed in Milan’s Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. I didn’t know this until recently thumbing through the Milan entry in a guidebook to Italy. But when I mentioned it to my wife, she demanded it make our itinerary when we are in Milan for about 24 hours this summer.
STATE LEGISLATURE
Anti-gay marriage legislation appears to be dead for the year in the House of Representatives.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee House panel has voted down two bills that would've let people carry handguns without a permit.
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro says tuition increases will be at 3 percent or less for the third year in a row due to self-imposed budget restraints.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled against a woman who sued a Knox County judge, saying the judge was within his rights to fire her because of a state law that gives employers wide latitude to dismiss people.
HEALTH CARE
SHELBYVILLE (AP) — In Rep. Scott DesJarlais' district, some residents are cheering the demise of the revised national health care law bitterly opposed by the House Freedom Caucus, of which DesJarlais is a member.
BUCKNER, Kentucky (AP) — One of the House Republican rebels, Kentucky Rep. Tom Massie, wasn't just "no" on the GOP health care bill to replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Massie was "hell no."
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week for a second straight week, slipping further from their highest levels of the year reached two weeks ago.
AUTO INDUSTRY
GOYANG, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's largest auto show provides a look at the future of Asian premium cars and electric vehicles, as well as efforts by Asian auto and tech companies to catch up in the field of autonomous driving.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Coming soon to McDonald's: Fresh beef.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster rate in the fourth quarter than earlier estimates, as consumers powered economic momentum heading into 2017.
U.S. stock indexes edged higher in early trading Thursday as investors weighed the latest batch of company earnings, deal news and economic data. Financial stocks led the gainers. Energy companies also rose, getting a boost from rising crude oil prices. Real estate companies and other high-dividend paying stocks fell as bond yields headed higher.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the U.S. job market remains healthy.
LONDON (AP) — It took Britain more than a decade of trying to join the European club. It's now got just two to get out and strike a new relationship.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some tactics Russia used to meddle in last year's presidential election would give shivers to anyone who believes in American democracy, the Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat says.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
STATEWIDE
The Tennessee Department of General Services is set to award a statewide contract for facility management services to Jones Lang LaSalle, a company that already handles 10 percent of state office space and estimates a 15.9 percent savings if all higher education institutes participate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State auditors are questioning how tens of millions of dollars meant to provide meals and snacks to low-income children in Tennessee were spent.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris is urging a panel reviewing teaching standards for social studies to follow a state law requiring students to learn about the Tennessee Constitution and state and local governments.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A previously defeated proposal to amend the state constitution to say that God is the source of Tennesseans' liberties has been resurrected in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Top editors at National Public Radio challenged the firing of an affiliate reporter who covered meetings between high school students and legislators who said they were secretly recorded talking about LGBT issues.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee judge who is being investigated after allegations that he helped a woman with her legal troubles in exchange for sex is facing federal charges of bribery, witness tampering and retaliating against a witness, prosecutors said Tuesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Romanian man has pleaded guilty in an international scheme to list fake ads for vehicles on eBay and other websites, spurring would-be buyers to send his group $873,000.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — A major update to Microsoft's Windows 10 system will start reaching consumers and businesses on April 11, offering 3-D drawing tools, game-broadcasting capabilities and better ways to manage your web browsing.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — More people signed contracts to buy U.S. homes last month as warm weather and rising confidence appeared to encourage consumers to look for houses.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Note to President Donald Trump and House Republicans: People really don't like your approach to overhauling America's health care. If you're hoping to revive the effort, you may want to try something different.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's top health official got strong pushback Wednesday from lawmakers of both parties about deep cuts the White House is pressing in medical research, public health and social service programs.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. regulators have approved the first drug for an aggressive kind of multiple sclerosis that steadily reduces coordination and the ability to walk.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans and White House officials sounded ready to abandon efforts to repeal and replace the nation's health care law, at least for now, even as House Republicans — and the president himself — insisted Tuesday they were not ready to give up.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stock indexes closed mostly higher Wednesday after a sharp increase in crude oil prices helped drive market-leading gains for energy companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — The priorities laid out in President Donald Trump's budget message have some small business owners strategizing how they might benefit from a big boost in defense spending, and others thinking about how to make up for revenue they could lose to cuts in grant programs and subsidies.
LONDON (AP) — Britain filed for divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, with fond words and promises of friendship that could not disguise the historic nature of the schism — or the years of argument and hard-nosed bargaining ahead as the U.K. leaves the embrace of the bloc for an uncertain future as "global Britain."
BERLIN (AP) — European regulators blocked the proposed merger of Germany's Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, saying it would effectively have created a European monopoly in clearing bonds.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House intelligence committee is refusing to step away from its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, as fresh political allegations bring new cries of protest from Democrats.
CHICAGO (AP) — Environmental groups that vowed to fight President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back his predecessor's plans to curb global warming made good on their promises Wednesday, teaming up with an American Indian tribe to ask a federal court to block an order that lifts restrictions on coal sales from federal lands.
BEIJING (AP) — China promised Wednesday to stick to its climate commitments after President Donald Trump eased U.S. curbs on coal and oil use, opening the way for Beijing to assert itself as a leader in environmental policy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jared Kushner has been a power player able to avoid much of the harsh scrutiny that comes with working in the White House. But this week he's found that even the president's son-in-law takes his turn in the spotlight.
TUESDAY, MARCH 28
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville judge faces federal corruption charges of bribery, witness tampering and retaliating against a witness.
STATE LEGISLATURE
With hardly a peep of discontent from lawmakers, the governor’s IMPROVE Act containing fuel-tax increases and a host of tax cuts moved out of the House Local Government Committee today.
State senators are intent on striking down Memphis and Nashville marijuana laws giving police discretion to hand out citations for possessing small amounts of pot.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bill to prevent campaign funds from being invested in private companies is headed for Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's desk.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate passed a resolution Monday that would allow the body of former President James K. Polk to be exhumed and moved to a fourth resting place.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices jumped in January from a year earlier at the fastest pace in nearly 2 ½ years, as a tight supply of houses for sale spurred bidding wars in many cities.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — When U.S. senator John McCain told Ukrainian television that the allegedly Russian-backed breach of the Democratic National Committee's server was "an act of war," Michael Schmitt cringed.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is adding more Snapchat-like features to its app. The company says it wants to let people's cameras "do the talking" as more people are posting photos and videos instead of blocks of text.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Banks and other financial companies led U.S. stock indexes sharply higher Tuesday, snapping an eight-day losing streak for the Dow Jones industrial average.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says U.S. banks must do all they can to promote economic development in low-income areas where high unemployment has persisted despite the overall job market's significant gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence climbed to its highest level in more than 16 years, a strong gain for one of President Donald Trump's preferred economic indicators.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts of $18 billion from programs like medical research, infrastructure and community grants so U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment on the border wall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic senator is seeking marketing information, sales records and studies from manufacturers of the top-selling opioid products in the United States to determine whether drugmakers have contributed to an overuse of the pain killers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring "the start of a new era" in energy production, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said would revive the coal industry and create jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is following up its longshot roster of budget cuts with a wish list of $18 billion worth of immediate reductions, including cuts to medical research, infrastructure, and community development grants.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Here are the 17 independent agencies based in the Washington area that President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating:
MONDAY, MARCH 27
STATE LEGISLATURE
A Senate panel approved legislation Monday prohibiting the outsourcing of jobs at state parks less than a week after the State Building Commission renewed plans for rebuilding and privatizing the inn at Fall Creek Falls.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state attorney general's office says a bill that would require all Tennessee license plates to bear the words "In God We Trust" is constitutionally suspect.
State Sen. Lee Harris is criticizing Gov. Bill Haslam’s decision to renew an outsourcing plan for development and operations at Fall Creek Falls State Park, calling it a move to bolster profits for a private company.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee state Senate could decide as early as Monday on whether to approve a resolution that would allow the body of former President James K. Polk to be exhumed and moved to a fourth resting place.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is speaking to the annual convention of a national trucking group as state lawmakers debate his proposal to boost transportation funding through a hike in Tennessee's gas and diesel taxes.
STATEWIDE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — New yearly census estimates pegged Tennessee's 2016 population at 6.65 million, which was nearly 1 percent more than the prior year.
HEALTH CARE
BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she's open to working with Republicans to improve former President Barack Obama's health care law after a GOP replacement bill failed to gather enough support.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will not restore a $7.25 billion settlement between merchants and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over credit card transaction fees.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber says it is resuming its self-driving car program in Arizona and Pittsburgh after it was suspended following a crash over the weekend.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 56,000 cars because of power steering hoses that may leak fluid and potentially lead to fires.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Worries that Washington may not be able to help businesses as much as once thought knocked stock indexes down hard early Monday, but they clawed back most of their losses and ended the day mixed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. economic growth is expected to accelerate this year and next, yet remain modest, even if President Trump's promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending are implemented, a survey found.
DENVER (AP) — United Airlines says regular-paying flyers are welcome to wear leggings aboard its flights, even though two teenage girls were barred by a gate agent from boarding a flight from Denver to Minneapolis on Sunday because of their attire.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is signing a handful of measures aimed at rolling back Obama-era regulations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hoping to drive his priorities forward following the crumbling of the Republican health care bill but GOP finger-pointing is rampant, underscoring how tough it will be to produce the unity the party will need.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's son-in-law has volunteered to answer questions before the Senate Intelligence Committee about arranging meetings with the Russian ambassador and other officials, the White House confirmed Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is establishing a new White House office run by his son-in-law that will seek to overhaul government functions using ideas from the business sector.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's aides opened the door to working with moderate Democrats on health care and other issues while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer quickly offered to find common ground with Trump for repairing former President Barack Obama's health care law.
FRIDAY, MARCH 24
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker is taking heat after being accused of sponsoring a bill that would hide his own unpaid speeding tickets from the public.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bill that helps non-violent offenders find employment has passed in the Legislature with bipartisan support.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The House has voted on a bill that would block any efforts by Tennessee cities to decriminalize the use of marijuana. The bill would nullify laws that Memphis and Nashville have passed that have reduced the penalty for weed in some cases.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that would punish protesters who block traffic and obstruct emergency vehicles from responding to an emergency.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A landlord and a Nashville street artist have finished restoring the popular "I Believe in Nashville" mural a week after it was vandalized with tar.
HENDERSONVILLE (AP) — Authorities say a Hendersonville doctor traded prescriptions for narcotics in exchange for money and sexual acts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has selected a former Tennessee secretary for trade and commerce as U.S. ambassador to Japan.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Central Missouri's Lincoln University is searching for a new president after the campus' top administrator resigned for a similar position at another historically black college.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction barring a Tennessee County from putting juvenile offenders in solitary confinement.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a humiliating setback, President Donald Trump and GOP leaders pulled their "Obamacare" repeal bill off the House floor Friday after it became clear the measure would fail badly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan guaranteed a win on the Republican plan to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law. Instead, he suffered a brutal defeat, cancelling a vote and admitting "we're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Once again, "Obamacare" has survived a near-death experience. It won't be the end of the political debate, but House Speaker Paul Ryan acknowledges, "We're going to be living with 'Obamacare' for the foreseeable future."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The old and the poor made out great when House Republicans failed Friday to dismantle Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. The rich and the almost rich didn't do so well.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is no longer expressing confidence that the upcoming House vote on health care will be successful.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, the author of the best-selling book, "The Art of the Deal," is about to see his deal-making abilities ratified in a legislative showdown on the House floor — or dramatically rebuffed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After seven years of fervent promises to repeal and replace "Obamacare," President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders buckled at a moment of truth Thursday, putting off a planned showdown vote in a stinging setback for the young administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican House leaders delayed a planned vote Thursday on a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," because they lacked the votes. The delay was a stinging setback for President Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. After meeting behind closed doors with Trump administration officials Thursday night, House Republicans agreed to vote on the bill Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans' health care bill provides massive tax cuts to the wealthy while increasing taxes for many lower income families, adding to America's big income gap between the rich and everyone else.
AUTO INDUSTRY
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. is declining to talk to union supporters about conditions at its Mississippi assembly plant.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans responded to higher mortgage rates by snapping up new homes in February at the fastest pace since July.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates slid this week from their highest levels of 2017.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks flirted with sharp losses but managed a mixed finish after Republicans canceled a vote on their health care bill because it became clear the bill would fail. Investors didn't trade much as they waited for answers about the state of President Donald Trump's business-friendly agenda.
LONDON (AP) — Businesses across the 19-country eurozone, and particularly in France, are increasingly upbeat and hiring more people despite big uncertainties — including France's high-stakes presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Federal Reserve survey has found that children who grew up in poverty were twice as likely to struggle with financial challenges later in life, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, a key figure in investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, has volunteered to be questioned by lawmakers as part of a House probe of the Kremlin's alleged meddling in the 2016 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday that after the initial congressional battle over health care, the administration plans to turn quickly to tax reform with the goal of getting a program approved by Congress by August.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared it a "great day for American jobs" on Friday as he formally green-lighted the Keystone XL pipeline, clearing the way for the $8 billion project to finally be completed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims of wiretapping (all times local):
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government investigation of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, crossed the Atlantic earlier this year to the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, once known as a haven for money laundering by Russian billionaires.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Senate Democrat said Thursday he will oppose President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee and lead a filibuster of the choice, setting up a politically charged showdown with Republicans with far-reaching implications for future judicial nominees.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan says he doesn't want to see President Donald Trump negotiate with Democrats on health care. But he warns that will be the result if House Republicans can't come together and pass their bill.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen is paying more than $157 million to 10 states to settle environmental lawsuits over the company's diesel emissions-cheating scandal.