VOL. 45 | NO. 10 | Friday, March 5, 2021
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Spring break is two weeks away for most schools, although in many homes the break means little as the children were not attending school and many families are not comfortable traveling.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates were steady to higher this week, as the benchmark 30-year loan breached the 3% mark for the first time since July 2020. Rates remain near historic lows as the economy strains toward recovery in the pandemic's wake.
NEWSMAKERS
Entertainment and IP attorney Brenner McDonald has joined McGlinchey Stafford as a member of the firm and resident in its Nashville office.
BRIEFS
Six Tennessee bottlenecks for trucks – including four in Nashville – have made the top 100 of most congested traffic locations, the American Transportation Research Institute reports.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Among luxury SUVs, the Cadillac Escalade has long made no apologies about being big and brash. Now Cadillac has redesigned the Escalade for 2021 with a new look and an infusion of new technology. Do these updates make it the best large luxury SUV you can buy?
PERSONAL FINANCE
Death and taxes may be the only certainties in life, but death taxes are only a remote possibility for most people. The vast majority of Americans won’t ever have or give away enough to owe estate or gift taxes.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
A little over a year ago, you didn’t think it would last.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
The past year has fractured our world in countless ways. Now, as people look to pick up the pieces, those managing debt need to account for their position in our uneven economic recovery.
CAREER CORNER
It sometimes feels as if the pandemic has changed everything about the nature of work. One notable thing that has changed: Our work attire.
PREDATORS
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL has suspended Nashville Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro two games for elbowing Carolina Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Staal scored his second goal of the game with 34.9 seconds left in overtime to give Carolina a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night and extend the Hurricanes' winning streak to six games.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans released cornerback Malcolm Butler on Tuesday three years into the five-year deal he signed in March 2018, according to his agent Derek Simpson.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Life is Beautiful arts and music festival announced its performer lineup on Wednesday, making a return of large annual events to Las Vegas after they were canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee House panel on Tuesday rejected a push to remove a judge for expanding absentee voting in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, siding with prominent attorneys who warned the ouster would be an unprecedented breach of judicial independence.
COURTS
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Two students have been charged with stealing $114,000 from Middle Tennessee State University, authorities said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has released new video showing someone placing two pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
TECHNOLOGY
Hackers aiming to call attention to the dangers of mass surveillance said they were able to peer into hospitals, schools, factories, jails and corporate offices after they broke into the systems of a security-camera startup.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Transportation Department has granted approval for a new airline led by David Neeleman, who started JetBlue Airways two decades ago.
MEDIA
Facebook has asked a court to dismiss state and federal antitrust lawsuits that accuse it of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors.
NEW YORK (AP) — Worldwide viewership of Oprah Winfrey's interview with British royals Prince Harry and Meghan is up to nearly 50 million people — and counting — as CBS quickly scheduled a Friday night rerun for anyone who missed it the first time.
NEW YORK (AP) — Buzzfeed announced Tuesday that it has laid off 45 reporters, editors and producers from the newly acquired HuffPost.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Wednesday they are slowing down the speed of uploading photos and videos to Twitter over its failure to remove banned content — part of growing efforts to clamp down on social media platforms that have played a major role in amplifying dissent.
RESTAURANTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Restaurants devastated by the coronavirus outbreak are getting a lifeline from the pandemic relief package that's awaiting final approval in the House.
ENVIRONMENT
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos plans to spend the $10 billion he invested in the Bezos Earth Fund by 2030, the fund's new CEO said Tuesday.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NASHVILLE (AP) — Bridgestone said Wednesday it will offer its 33,000 U.S. employees $100 payments to get vaccinated against COVID-19, joining a group of large companies offering incentives for the shots.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19 can get hugs again from their loved ones, and indoor visits may be allowed for all residents, the government said Wednesday in a step toward pre-pandemic normalcy.
With Georgia's sweet onion harvest approaching and COVID-19 vaccine arriving in increasing quantities from the federal government, migrant health centers around the state want to start vaccinating farmworkers. But there's a catch.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is announcing Wednesday the U.S. is buying an additional 100 million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
No one has been untouched. Not the Michigan woman who awakened one morning, her wife dead by her side. Not the domestic worker in Mozambique, her livelihood threatened by the virus. Not the North Carolina mother who struggled to keep her business and her family going amid rising anti-Asian ugliness. Not the sixth-grader, exiled from the classroom in the blink of an eye.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Chaffing under Spain's sluggish vaccination rollout, regional health authorities and doctors are urging the central government in Madrid to widen the categories of people who can receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are ending mostly higher on Wall Street as a benign reading on inflation led to long-term interest rates easing lower in the bond market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Congress riven along party lines approved a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed a triumph on a bill that marshals the government's spending might against twin pandemic and economic crises that have upended a nation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Wednesday, sending it to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The milestone political victory would provide $1,400 checks for most Americans and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses.
Esther Montanez's housecleaning job at the Hilton Back Bay in Boston was a lifeline for her, a 31-year-old single mother with a 5-year-old son.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government's budget deficit through February hit an all-time high of $l.05 trillion for the first five months of this budget year, as spending to deal with the coronavirus pandemic surged at a pace far above an increase in tax revenue.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices increased 0.4% in February, the biggest gain in six months, led by a sharp jump in gasoline prices. But core inflation, excluding food and energy, posted a much smaller 0.1% gain, easing fears about a possible sustained acceleration in inflation.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sales of Lego sets surged last year as more children stayed home during global pandemic lockdowns - and parents bought the colorful plastic brick toys to keep them entertained through days of isolation.
General Electric is combining its aircraft leasing business with Ireland's AerCap Holdings in a deal valued at more than $30 billion, a big step in what has become a six year odyssey to reshape the one-time sprawling, global conglomerate.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Final congressional approval of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill Wednesday represents an undeniable victory for President Joe Biden -- and one the White House knows it needs to sell to the public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Merrick Garland to be the next U.S. attorney general with a strong bipartisan vote, placing the widely-respected, veteran judge in the post as President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the Justice Department's reputation for independence.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Biden administration officials will hold their first face-to-face talks with their Chinese counterparts next week, the White House and State Department said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden laid out an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days in office, promising swift action on everything from climate change to immigration reform to the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will join the first-ever meeting of the leaders of Japan, India and Australia on Friday as he seeks greater cooperation with U.S. allies to counter China's strength in the region.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House approved legislation that would invigorate workers' unions, following decades of court defeats and legislative setbacks that have kneecapped the labor movement's once formidable ability to organize.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Striking a delicate balance, the United States and South Korea have agreed Seoul will pay 13.9% more this year for hosting American troops as part of a multiyear deal crafted to keep Seoul's share of the overall cost within historical norms, officials said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has formally approved an extension of the National Guard deployment at the U.S. Capitol for about two more months as possible threats of violence remain, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
TUESDAY, MARCH 9
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have found a team in the Miami Dolphins to take their 2020 first-round draft pick off their hands, trading offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson after his rookie season.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — After initially deeming that inoculating prisoners could be a "PR nightmare," Tennessee officials on Tuesday said some inmates were receiving a COVID-19 vaccine — but only those who qualify as part of other groups the state has prioritized.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee panel on Tuesday overwhelming voted to remove the state Capitol's bust of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader.
MIDSTATE
SMYRNA (AP) — Soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard's 1st Battalion, 181st Field Artillery Regiment, deployed on Sunday for a 10-month tour of the Middle East.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't weigh in on the legality of a controversial Trump administration immigration policy after an agreement by the Biden administration and states and groups challenging it. The agreement comes amid the Biden administration's reconsideration of the so-called public charge rule.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 854,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because the brake lights might not come on when the driver presses on the pedal.
When General Motors ended a half-century of building cars in Ohio's blue collar corner, 1,600 workers had to decide whether to accept the automaker's offer to move to another factory.
DETROIT (AP) — Kia is telling owners of nearly 380,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors due to the risk of an engine compartment fire.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge wind farm off the Massachusetts coast is edging closer to federal approval, setting up what the Biden administration hopes will be a model for a sharp increase in offshore wind energy development along the East Coast.
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry traveled to Brussels on Tuesday to discuss transatlantic cooperation with European officials in the wake of President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the global effort to curb climate change.
TECHNOLOGY
BOSTON (AP) — Victims of a massive global hack of Microsoft email server software — estimated in the tens of thousands by cybersecurity responders — hustled Monday to shore up infected systems and try to diminish chances that intruders might steal data or hobble their networks.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several million people stand to save hundreds of dollars in health insurance costs, or more, under the Democratic coronavirus relief legislation on track to pass Congress.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they're still feeling the financial impact of the loss of a job or income within their household as the economic recovery remains uneven one year into the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has acquired the vial that contained the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine administered in the United States as part of its plans to document the global pandemic and "this extraordinary period we were going through."
Leading airline and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials that would let travelers show they have been tested and vaccinated for COVID-19, a step that the airline industry believes will help revive travel.
Wedding anniversaries for Elizabeth O'Connor Cole and her husband, Michael, usually involve a dinner reservation for two at a fancy restaurant. Not this time around.
GIBRALTAR (AP) — Maskless parents pick up smiling Cinderellas, Harry Potters and hedgehogs from schools that reopened after a two-month hiatus just in time for World Book Day's costume display. Following weeks under lockdown, a soccer team resumes training at the stadium. Coffee shops and pubs have finally raised their blinds, eager to welcome locals and eyeing the return of tourists.
MILAN (AP) — Russia has signed a deal to produce its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Italy, the first contract in the European Union, the Italian Russian Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology companies powered stocks higher on Wall Street Tuesday, driving the Nasdaq to its biggest gain in nearly a year and more than making up for a sharp skid a day earlier.
U.S. airlines are adding jobs as industry employment extends a rebound from a low in October, when tens of thousands of airline workers were briefly laid off after federal payroll aid expired.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it will deliver an interim report on its suspension of oil and gas sales from federal lands and waters by summer, but officials declined to state how long the moratorium could remain in place.
PARIS (AP) — The world economy is bouncing back from the pandemic crisis faster than expected, thanks in part to successful coronavirus vaccines and U.S. stimulus efforts, but the improvements are uneven and joblessness remains a big concern, according to a new forecast.
A gender equality philanthropic initiative spearheaded by Melinda Gates' investment company, with support from MacKenzie Scott, has announced 10 project finalists for $40 million in funding slated to be awarded this summer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and the Democrats were on the brink of pushing through sprawling legislation with an eyepopping, $1.9 trillion price tag.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House was poised Tuesday to pass legislation that would invigorate workers' unions, following decades of court defeats and legislative setbacks that have kneecapped the labor movement's once-formidable ability to organize.
As the latest federal pandemic relief package makes its way to President Joe Biden's desk, Americans may be wondering when the benefits will reach them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is set to approve an extension of the National Guard deployment at the U.S. Capitol for about two more months, defense officials said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is enjoying an early presidential honeymoon, with 60% of Americans approving of his job performance thus far and even more backing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants America to know that he's from the government and he's here to help.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive coronavirus relief plan making its way to President Joe Biden's desk includes a plan to temporarily raise the child tax credit that could end up permanently changing the way the country deals with child poverty.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican National Committee is defending its right to use former President Donald Trump's name in fundraising appeals after he demanded they put an end to the practice.
MONDAY, MARCH 8
PREDATORS
DALLAS (AP) — Roman Josi scored the final shootout goal on a backhander, helping the Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 after blowing a 3-0 third-period lead Sunday night.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — More than 1 million Tennesseans are becoming eligible Monday for the COVID-19 vaccine after the Department of Health announced it was expecting a large supply of the immunizations.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee has announced that nearly $15 million in broadband accessibility grants will soon be used to support 17,800 unserved Tennesseans in more than 7,100 homes and businesses.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Prosecutors are asking that a Tennessee man charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach remain jailed until his trial.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Republican-dominated Tennessee House is sparking fears of an unprecedented breach of judicial independence by moving forward with a proposal to remove a judge for expanding absentee voting in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is reviving a lawsuit brought by a Georgia college student who sued school officials after being prevented from distributing Christian literature on campus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four men who say they were illegally imprisoned for nearly two decades for the murder of a teenager in Alaska will have their lawsuit go forward after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to get involved in the case.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday extended the country's tough coronavirus lockdown until the end of the month, but he added a note of hope to his message to a pandemic-weary nation by predicting that a "tipping point is coming when the vaccine gains the upper hand over the virus and more will be possible."
BERLIN (AP) — Germany has begun ramping up the use of the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca, after authorities last week gave the green light for it to be administered to people age 65 and over.
NEW YORK (AP) — They're just your regular neighborhood pharmacists, but some now wear superhero capes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street ended mixed as slumps in several Big Tech companies offset gains in many other parts of the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen, the first woman to head the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department, says women seeking to pursue careers in economics face a number of obstacles from the way beginning economics courses are taught to overly aggressive questioning questions in college seminars.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says fears that the administration's $1.9 trillion relief bill could trigger a rapid rise in inflation are misplaced.
BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices remained elevated Monday as Saudi Arabian oil facilities were targeted by drone strikes just days after the largest crude exporting nations in the world said they would not increase output.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
A sweeping bill that would extend federal civil rights protections to LGBTQ people is a top priority of President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress. Yet as the Equality Act heads to the Senate after winning House approval, its prospects seem bleak — to a large extent because of opposition from conservative religious leaders.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a first step toward reversing a contentious Trump administration policy, President Joe Biden on Monday ordered his administration to review federal rules guiding colleges in their handling of campus sexual assaults.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Joe Biden on the verge of his first big legislative victory, a key moderate Democrat says he's open to changing Senate rules that could allow for more party-line votes to push through other parts of the White House's agenda such as voting rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and South Korea have reached agreement in principle on a new arrangement for sharing the cost of the American troop presence, which is intended as a bulwark against the threat of North Korean aggression, both countries announced.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new executive order from President Joe Biden directs federal agencies to take a series of steps to promote voting access, a move that comes as congressional Democrats press for a sweeping voting and elections bill to counter efforts to restrict voting access.
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Just three seasons removed from hoisting the Presidents' Trophy, the Nashville Predators find themselves on the verge of rebuilding.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Aaron Ekblad had two goals and two assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
CINCINNATI (AP) — Scotty Pippen scored a career-high 36 points on near-perfect shooting, Jordan Wright added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Vanderbilt defeated Cincinnati 78-64 on Thursday night.
MIDSTATE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — A new commander of the 101st Airborne Division is taking over at Fort Campbell.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville officials are seeking a $2.25 million settlement with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a white Nashville police officer from behind during a 2018 foot chase, Mayor John Cooper's administration said in a news release Friday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — The chief lawyer for Greg Kelly, an American on trial in Japan on charges of under-reporting Nissan former Chairman Carlos Ghosn's compensation, says his client was merely trying to prevent Ghosn from going to a rival automaker.
TRANSPORTATION
BRUSSELS (AP) — A first phone call Friday clinched the first trade breakthrough to start rebuilding trans-Atlantic relations between the United States and the European Union in the wake of the Trump presidency.
Microscopic examination supports early suspicions that wear and tear caused a fan blade to snap inside one engine of a United Airlines plane that made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff last month in Denver, federal safety investigators said Friday.
ENVIRONMENT
BEIJING (AP) — China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced generally moderate new energy and climate targets on Friday that give little sign that it will step up its pace in combatting climate change.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
More than 27 million Americans fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will have to keep waiting for guidance from federal health officials for what they should and shouldn't do.
The national rush to vaccinate teachers in hopes of soon reopening pandemic-shuttered schools is running into one basic problem: Almost no one knows how many are getting the shots, or refusing to get them.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A late-day rebound in technology companies pulled the stock market out of a slump and helped give the S&P 500 its first weekly gain in three weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats laid aside one battle over boosting the minimum wage but promptly descended into another internal fight Friday as the party haltingly tried moving its $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill through the Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 379,000 jobs last month in a sign the economy is strengthening as virus cases drop, vaccinations ramp up, Americans spend more and states ease business restrictions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's job market delivered a surprising burst of strength in February. It lifted hopes that the rollout of viral vaccines, the distribution of federal aid and the increasing willingness and ability of consumers to go out and spend will invigorate the economy as the weather warms up.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A popular notion that there was a mass exodus from California last year is wrong, according to research from a nonpartisan think tank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Borrowing by Americans fell in January for the first time in five months, as a big drop in the use of credit cards offset increases in auto loans and student loans.
HAVANA (AP) — Business was booming for a trendy little clothing shop called Clandestina in the heart of Old Havana, one of thousands of new private businesses that had arisen in what was once a near-wholly state-run socialist economy.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The level of imported goods to the U.S. in January reached unprecedented levels and pushed the trade deficit 1.9% higher as the coronavirus pandemic continues to distort global commerce.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Thursday came out with their version of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. A look at some of the major changes in the bill now being considered by the Senate versus what passed the House last week.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Caution about the pandemic took the upper hand Thursday at a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel and allied countries, as they left most of their production cuts in place amid worry that coronavirus restrictions could still undermine recovering demand for crude.
ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — Warehouse retail chain Costco Wholesale said its fourth-quarter profits rose slightly from a year ago, its profits weighed by wage premiums paid to employees during the pandemic.
NEW YORK (AP) — Interest rates keep marching higher, and Wall Street keeps shaking because of it.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Eric Swalwell, who served as a House manager in Donald Trump's last impeachment, filed a lawsuit Friday against the former president, his son, lawyer and a Republican congressman whose actions he charges led to January's insurrection.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday signaled support to replace decades-old authorizations for the use of military force in the Middle East, a little more than a week after he relied on the authorizations to carry out a retaliatory airstrike against Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is enjoying an early presidential honeymoon, with 60% of Americans approving of his job performance thus far and even more backing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tried to maintain bipartisan momentum for a new infrastructure program by meeting Thursday with Republican and Democratic lawmakers at the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worried about continuing threats, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police has appealed to congressional leaders to use their influence to keep National Guard troops at the Capitol, two months after the law enforcement breakdowns of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
THURSDAY, MARCH 4
MIDSTATE
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it's looking for a site to build a second U.S. battery factory with joint venture partner LG Chem of Korea.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Health announced Wednesday that Tobi Adeyeye Amosun has been named assistant commissioner of the agency's Division of Family Health and Wellness.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for longtime immigrants who have been convicted of a crime to avoid deportation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has delivered her first opinion.
ENVIRONMENT
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Cities along the Mississippi River will take part in a global system to determine where plastic pollution comes from and how it ends up in waterways as a first step toward solving the problem, officials said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's hopes for curbing climate change hinge on action by two giant nations whose relations are deteriorating: China and the United States. The two countries both say they are intent on retooling their economies to burn less climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas. But tensions between them threaten their ultimate success.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Pandemic lockdowns and stay-at-home orders kept many drivers off U.S. roads and highways last year. But those who did venture out found open lanes that only invited reckless driving, leading to a sharp increase in traffic-crash deaths across the country.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jean Andrade, an 88-year-old who lives alone, has been waiting for her COVID-19 vaccine since she became eligible under state guidelines nearly a month ago. She assumed her caseworker would contact her about getting one, especially after she spent nearly two days stuck in an electric recliner during a recent power outage.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Breaking with other Southern GOP governors, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended her state's mask order for another month Thursday but said the requirement will end for good in April.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's independent vaccine committee has formally approved giving the AstraZeneca shot to people age 65 and over, the health minister said Thursday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks turned lower on Wall Street as bond yields made another upward spike, renewing pressure on high-flying technology companies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Thursday to begin debating a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill after Democrats made eleventh-hour changes aimed at ensuring they could pull President Joe Biden's top legislative priority through the precariously divided chamber.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested Thursday that inflation will pick up in the coming months but that it would likely prove temporary and not enough for the Fed to alter its record-low interest rate policies.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Caution about the pandemic took the upper hand Thursday at a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel and allied countries, as they left most of their production cuts in place amid worry that coronavirus restrictions could still undermine recovering demand for crude.
Roughly 98% of U.S. households that received a COVID-19 relief check in December will also qualify for the next round of payments being championed by President Joe Biden, according to a White House official.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits edged higher last week to 745,000, a sign that many employers continue to cut jobs despite a drop in confirmed viral infections and evidence that the overall economy is improving.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity fell at an annual rate of 4.2% in the fourth quarter, the largest quarterly decline in nearly four decades.
LONDON (AP) — The U.S. agreed Thursday to suspend millions of dollars' worth of tariffs on U.K. exports including Scotch whisky as part of an effort to resolve a long-running trans-Atlantic trade dispute over aerospace subsidies.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union executive wants to force employers to be much more open about how much their staff earn to make it easier for women to challenge wage imbalances and close the gender pay gap.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Members of oil producer cartel OPEC and allied countries are weighing an increase in production now that prices have recovered to near their pre-pandemic levels.
LONDON (AP) — Amazon has opened a cashier-free supermarket in London, its first bricks and mortar expansion outside the U.S. as the company bets on strong demand for its contactless shops.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Wednesday that Britain's "unilateral action" on trade rules will breach international law and is threatening legal action as post-Brexit tensions continue to escalate between the two sides.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is reviewing a police request to keep National Guard troops patrolling the U.S. Capitol for another 60 days following evidence of a "possible plot" by a militia group to storm the building again, two months after Trump supporters smashed through windows and doors in an insurrection meant to halt the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Department leaders placed unusual restrictions on the National Guard for the day of the Capitol riot and delayed sending help for hours despite an urgent plea from police for reinforcement, according to testimony Wednesday that added to the finger-pointing about the government response.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But after six congressional hearings, it's clear that the Capitol Police were unprepared and overwhelmed as hundreds of Donald Trump's supporters laid siege to the building. It's also clear that no one wants to take responsibility for it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee is investigating the agency that operates the Texas power grid, seeking information and documents about the lack of preparation for the recent winter storm that caused millions of power outages and dozens of deaths across the state.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kirsten Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for her colleague Al Franken's resignation in 2017 as he faced allegations of sexual misconduct, building a profile as a leading advocate for women that became the centerpiece of her 2020 presidential bid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are jamming their agenda forward with a sense of urgency, an unapologetically partisan approach based on the calculation that it's better to advance the giant COVID-19 rescue package and other priorities than waste time courting Republicans who may never compromise.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cheered on by President Joe Biden, House Democrats hustled to pass the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide, able to avoid clashing with moderates in their own party who are wary of reigniting a debate they say hurt them during last fall's election.