VOL. 40 | NO. 13 | Friday, March 25, 2016
VW, East Tennessee suppliers seem confident scandal, slump will fade
Next month will mark five years since the first Passat rolled off the assembly line at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant. Most anniversaries are a cause for celebration.
As part of its punishment for the emissions scandal, the EPA could also require VW to make electric or hybrid vehicles in Tennessee, according to several recent reports in the German press.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Volkswagen and government regulators must present a detailed plan within a month on getting nearly 600,000 diesel cars to comply with clean air laws or risk the possibility of a trial this summer over an emissions cheating scandal, a federal judge said Thursday.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland makes a persuasive argument against de-annexation legislation now being considered by the state Legislature, providing a long list of figures to show it would devastate the Bluff City.
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
Knoxville Republican state Rep. Bill Dunn says he believes in putting up “guardrails” to keep Tennesseans from getting off track.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Country, rock stars trust Glaser’s healing touch
It wouldn’t have surprised me to hear Vince Gill’s intricate fingerings of “For What It’s Worth” (my favorite Vince solo) or “Oklahoma Borderline” (Chet Atkins’ favorite) when I stepped inside the door of the non-descript complex that houses Joe Glaser’s guitar repair, resuscitation and rebirthing center.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
As Nashville and the surrounding counties continue to flourish, the homeless population also is expanding.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, February 2016, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week after three straight weeks of increases. The decline could be a spur to prospective buyers as the spring home buying season gets started.
NEWSMAKERS
Megan Gustafson, Ph.D., has joined Patterson Intellectual Property Law, as an associate. Gustafson is a registered patent attorney with six years of experience.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The nicely styled Mitsubishi Outlander, the only compact SUV with standard third-row seats, is attracting more buyers after starting prices were reduced for the 2016 model year.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Being a business professional is much like being a rock star: If you make great music, your audience is going to like you.
CAREER CORNER
There seems to be a rumor about job searching floating around. Have you heard? Finding a job is easy.
I SWEAR
I wrote a couple of columns in October 2008 that, taken together, set forth a quotation and then endeavored to correctly identify the source thereof.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is releasing his plan for road construction in Tennessee on Thursday.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A coalition of groups has launched an ad campaign against House Speaker Beth Harwell and other lawmakers over a controversial bill that would allow counselors to refuse to treat patients on the basis of "sincerely held religious beliefs."
NASHVILLE (AP) - State Rep. Jon Lundberg, a captain in the Navy Reserve, will miss the remainder of the legislative session after being called up for duty at the Pentagon.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A bill to have state lawmakers fill U.S. Senate vacancies has been defeated.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said Wednesday that he remains opposed to a renewed effort to make the Holy Bible the official state book of Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla Motors built its reputation making sporty, sexy and very expensive electric cars. It's staking its future on something more affordable.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged to slightly higher this week after declining the previous week.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but applications still stayed near historic lows that point to a stable job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slightly higher Thursday morning, a tranquil start to the last trading day of what has been a stormy first quarter. Energy companies are rising the most as the price of oil edges upward. The gains are adding to a strong March that wiped away steep losses from the start of the year.
BEIJING (AP) — McDonald's Corp. said Thursday it plans to open 1,500 new restaurants in China, South Korea and Hong Kong as it looks to faster-growing markets to help drive a global turnaround.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — After 13 hours of debate, Argentina's Senate voted early Thursday to overwhelmingly approve a deal with creditors in the U.S., putting an end to a years-long dispute that made the South American nation a hard place to do business and kept it from accessing desperately needed financing.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California state lawmakers are poised to enact the nation's highest statewide minimum wage on Thursday, with gradual increases to $15 by 2022.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Tennessee Senate committee has voted to kill a legislative proposal seeking to allow communities to hold elections to reverse annexation by cities.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dropped a complaint seeking $177,500 in fines from a state lawmaker for discharging waste from his northwestern Tennessee hog farm without a permit.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A contentious bill seeking to declare the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee is headed back for a vote in the full state Senate.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - TennCare Director Darin Gordon, who spearheaded Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's unsuccessful Insure Tennessee proposal, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down after 10 years in charge of the state's expanded Medicaid program.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Two Tennessee-based cancer charities labeled "shams" by the Federal Trade Commission have settled a massive fraud case, along with their president, by agreeing to a $75.8 million judgment and the dissolution of the businesses.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A workshop is planned this week at the Tennessee State Library and Archives to help people learn more about ancestors who fought during World War I.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI's announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers learned that they can't keep the government out of even an encrypted device that U.S. officials had claimed was impossible to crack. Apple, meanwhile, remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as technology companies traded higher for the second day in a row and consumer companies gained steam as cruise lines rose. The beleaguered financial sector recovered some of its losses from earlier this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies added a solid 200,000 jobs in March, buoyed by strong gains in construction, retail and shipping, according to a private survey.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A clash over chocolate-filled cookies has culminated in Trader Joe's settling a lawsuit filed by Pepperidge Farm.
SEATTLE (AP) — The Boeing Co. is reportedly taking steps to eliminate 10 percent of its workforce in Washington state.
TUESDAY, MARCH 29
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country icon Merle Haggard has canceled his April concert dates as he recovers from a recurring bout of double pneumonia.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Fiddler Charlie Daniels, singer Randy Travis, and producer and label owner Fred Foster are joining the Country Music Hall of Fame.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Sometimes when Carrie Underwood steps out onto the stage at a country music festival, she might be the sole female artist to perform.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — SoundCloud is entering paid music streaming, hoping to turn its huge community of cover singers, dubstep remixers and wannabe stars into a bigger source of revenue.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A controversial proposal that would have sealed off police body camera footage from the public is dead for the year.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A state senator on Tuesday questioned fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to earmark $30 million for an undisclosed economic development project in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam is proposing to spend $8 million to keep the ABC television show "Nashville" in the Tennessee capital.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state House has narrowly passed a bill to increase penalties for texting while driving in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state Senate sponsor of a proposal to designate the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee is trying to persuade colleagues to revive the effort.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday proposed new spending on Tennessee roads, TennCare and schools.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A seemingly divided Supreme Court is exploring a possible compromise ruling in the dispute between faith-based groups and the Obama administration over birth control.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the clearest sign yet of the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, conservative opponents of labor unions on Tuesday lost a high-profile Supreme Court dispute they once seemed likely to win.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has awarded more than $2 million to attorneys who helped gay couples in Tennessee win a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows same-sex marriage.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal consumer watchdog sued Volkswagen on Tuesday, charging the company made false claims in commercials promoting its "Clean Diesel" vehicles as environmentally friendly.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices climbed at more than double the rate of incomes in January, a trend that could ultimately create affordability challenges for buyers.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The extraordinary legal fight pitting the Obama administration against technology giant Apple Inc. ended unexpectedly after the FBI said it used a mysterious method without Apple's help to hack into a California mass shooter's iPhone.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple's legal standoff with the FBI ended Monday, but experts say the issues behind it will come up again, as more tech companies take measures to guard their customers' messages, photos, business records and other files.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed at their highest level of the year Tuesday as investors welcomed the latest signal from the Federal Reserve that it will move slowly to raise interest rates. Big names including Apple and Microsoft led technology stocks higher as the market made its biggest gain in two weeks.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the Fed still envisions a gradual pace of interest rate increases in light of global pressures that could weigh on the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers are feeling more confident in March, with a rebounding stock market brightening their outlook.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A political deal to raise California's minimum wage to a nation-leading $15 an hour could help some workers cope with the state's crushing cost of living but also deprive other low-wage earners of jobs altogether, economists said as Gov. Jerry Brown and other leaders touted what would be a landmark agreement.
MONDAY, MARCH 28
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal that would seal police body camera footage from the public is gaining traction in the legislature as open records and civil rights advocates cry foul.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The House passed a bill Monday to impose a cap on liquor store ownership in Tennessee, sending the measure that some Republicans derided as contrary to free market principles to Gov. Bill Haslam's desk.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in February, with purchases surging in the Midwest ahead of the traditional spring buying season.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer spending posted a tiny gain for the third straight month in February while income growth slowed sharply.
NEW YORK (AP) — Business economists are more pessimistic, predicting weaker growth in corporate profit and the economy than they were late last year, a survey found.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed mostly higher in quiet trading, led by gains in consumer companies.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company will soon be unable to farm alfalfa in its own parched country to feed its 170,000 cows. So it's turning to an unlikely place to grow the water-chugging crop — the drought-stricken American Southwest.
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Legislature has passed a bill that will require nearly every government office across Tennessee to tell citizens how they can get public records.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Longtime state Sen. Randy McNally plans to run for Senate speaker after this year's elections.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A bill seeking to strip funding from University of Tennessee's diversity office has been withdrawn in the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Senate passed a bill that would force people who sue state employees or elected officials to pay legal fees if they fail in a lawsuit.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to remove four-year public universities from the Board of Regents system and give them their own boards won approval Thursday in the Tennessee House.
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) — Dollar General Corp. keeps steamrolling ahead. The chain, based in Goodlettsville, said that it plans to add about 2,000 stores over the next two years, bringing its total count to more than 14,000 stores.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are encouraging generic drugmakers to reformulate their painkillers to make them harder to abuse, the latest in a string of steps designed to combat abuse of highly-addictive pain drugs like codeine and oxycodone.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster rate in the fourth quarter than previously estimated, boosted by stronger consumer spending. Consumers may be providing more lift to the economy in the current January-March period.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The few Asian stock markets that were trading Friday mostly advanced, with shares in Tokyo and Shanghai up and Seoul stocks slightly lower. Financial markets in Europe, the United States and most of Asia were closed for the Good Friday holiday.