VOL. 38 | NO. 10 | Friday, March 7, 2014
Hal Cato spent 10 years as CEO of the Oasis Center, a community center for at-risk teens. When he announced that he was leaving in 2011, Nashvillians knew that Oasis Center and the community were losing a great asset.
While many outsiders would likely be astonished, Nashville in recent years has emerged as a Southern pacesetter in the world of startups.
REALTY CHECK
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors (GNAR) celebrated the wonderment of 2013 with its Award of Excellence Gala Saturday night at the Hilton. With an announced crowd of 575 in attendance and more than 175 award winners, the event was reminiscent of 2006 when 226 won awards and over 600 poured into the Renaissance Hotel.
VIEW FROM THE HILL
Phil Bredesen’s first act as governor was to issue an executive order requiring his cabinet officials, including himself, to disclose their yearly income.
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
When someone first mentioned to freshman state Rep. Jeremy Durham that there would be a new seat in Williamson County, he thought he was being asked to suggest someone, not run.
NEWSMAKERS
Bob Higgins, president and CEO of Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon, Inc., has been named 2014 Engineer of the Year by the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You were at work, but nothing was working. You knew there were problems with that big project, but you moved forward anyhow. Made contingency plans. Asked experts. You became obsessed.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Given the increasingly shorter attention span of today’s Web user, it’s no wonder Twitter’s looping video app – Vine – is crawling its way into brand marketing strategies across the globe.
I SWEAR
The phrase “civil war” is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. And, of course, it’s generally used to refer to open hostilities between factions that occupy a common geographical sphere.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Hubby and I are at a newspaper convention in San Antonio. We were looking forward to a break from the wet, cool weather at home, but so far, we’ve had one foggy, wet day after another.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Pritchard's Distillery has struck a deal with Aveniu Brands to market and distribute its spirits.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country music's most famous radio show, WSM-AM's "Grand Ole Opry," has been on air since 1925, but the show didn't find a permanent home until the Grand Ole Opry House opened 40 years ago.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A resolution that expresses regret for the Removal Act of 1830 and the Trail of Tears has been approved in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state Senate has passed a resolution directing the University of Tennessee to require parents to opt in to allowing student fees to go toward events deemed "controversial or objectionable."
NASHVILLE (AP) - Legislation that would protect schools from lawsuits for allowing traditional winter celebrations and religious displays has been approved in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal to dial back the implementation of Tennessee's Common Core standards has failed this session.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A judge ruled late Wednesday that some records in the rape case against four former Vanderbilt football players should be released to a media group that argued the public has a right to them.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two well-known Middle Tennessee attorneys have been charged with extortion after being accused of having a client arrested when she didn't give in to pressure to pay them more in legal fees.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen gave a cautious outlook for the year ahead Thursday after announcing a modest rise in 2013 earnings.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors excluded the Saturn Ion from a Feb. 13 recall for faulty ignition switches after engineers inexplicably failed to look at fatal crashes involving the compact car.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three nominees for the Federal Reserve's board are expressing their support for the Fed's efforts to bolster the U.S. economy. Their comments suggest that the Fed's low-interest-rate policies will continue if they win confirmation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 315,000, a sign the job market is picking up after a winter slump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales bounced back in February after suffering a steep decline during a bitterly cold January. Shoppers spent more on autos, clothing and furniture.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose last week but remained close to historically low levels.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is raising the price of its popular Prime membership to $99 per year, an increase of $20.
The Dow Jones industrial average was headed for its fourth loss in a row Thursday afternoon. Stocks had opened higher on better news about retail sales and the U.S. job market, then turned lower in late morning trading.
The price of oil rose above $98 per barrel on Thursday after plunging the day before on concern China's economic slowdown is deepening.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12
COURTS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A former coal mining town's effort to revive its fortunes by changing its name to Rocky Top has hit a snag.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A leading conservative member of the commission that evaluates Tennessee's appellate judges says the panel was influenced by partisan politics in deciding whether a judge on the state's highest court was fit to serve.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro is urging lawmakers not to pursue legislation that would penalize the school over its student-run Sex Week.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle says he may swing his support behind a proposed constitutional amendment calling for the popular election of the state's attorney general.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would prohibit student test scores from being tied to teacher licensing has passed a key House panel.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal that makes changes to the process for selecting books for state schools is advancing in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would permit a charter school to be operated by a for-profit entity is advancing in the House.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is offering free loaner cars and $500 toward a new GM vehicle to more than a million owners of compact cars that are being recalled for a deadly ignition switch defect.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is trying to do something unusual in this age of rapidly evolving technology — get ahead of a big new development before it goes public.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Herbalife Ltd. says that it is facing an inquiry from the Federal Trade Commission.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew 15 percent last year to more than $164,000, the largest average Wall Street bonus since the 2008 financial crisis and the third highest on record, New York's state comptroller reported Wednesday.
U.S. stocks are finishing mixed after a listless day as traders continue to worry about slowing growth in China and tensions in Ukraine.
The price of oil dropped below $99 a barrel Wednesday as the possibility of a deeper economic slowdown in China fed expectations of weaker demand.
GENEVA (AP) — The global airlines industry still expects a record profit for 2014, just not quite as high as previously forecast due to the impact of rising jet fuel prices, officials said Wednesday.
CHICAGO (AP) — The agency that oversees public transportation in Chicago is suing American Airlines for falsely claiming to buy "vast amounts of jet fuel" from a small office in a rural community to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in taxes in the nation's third-largest city, where the actual work is done.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will direct the Labor Department to strengthen overtime pay protections for millions of workers, a White House official said.
TUESDAY, MARCH 11
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The number of Tennesseans singing up for coverage under the federal health insurance exchange reached nearly 78,000 through February.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal that would allow parents to decide the fate of a struggling school is advancing in the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A coalition of close to 200 workers rallied on the steps of the state Capitol on Tuesday to speak out on issues ranging from increasing Tennessee's minimum wage to supporting public schools.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam on Tuesday raised concerns about efforts by fellow Republicans in the state Legislature to block a dedicated bus lane project through Nashville.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would require any data collected under Tennessee's Common Core standards only be used to track the academic progress and needs of students has passed the House.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal that would change the time frame the Legislature's Fiscal Review Committee has to provide a fiscal analysis of a bill has been delayed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Legislation that would allow a student to express a religious belief in a school assignment has passed the House.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service says Tennesseans are e-filing tax returns in record numbers.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Vanderbilt Law School is hosting a public session later this month to discuss how state appellate court judges are selected in Tennessee and how that process might be improved.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A congressional committee is investigating the way General Motors and a federal safety agency handled a deadly ignition switch problem in compact cars.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's Department of Motor Vehicles is wading into the complex question of how to regulate the use of cars that rely on computers — not people — to drive them.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
Without any big economic news or blowout company earnings to respond to, investors found little to get excited about Tuesday and sent the stock market lower for the second day in a row.
NEW YORK (AP) — Looks like the best suitor won. After an extended chase that included overtures on both sides, Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank will combine to create the nation's fourth largest seller of men's wear.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised slightly more jobs in January than in December, a sign that hiring should remain steady in coming months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale businesses in January suffered their steepest sales drop in nearly five years, yet they continued to increase their stockpiles. This suggests that companies expect the economy to rebound after experiencing an abrupt winter slowdown.
The price of oil dropped below $101 a barrel Tuesday on expectations U.S. crude stocks rose last week.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With more trains and buses to take, and the appeal of using travel time for pursuits other than dodging traffic, Americans are taking greater advantage of a renaissance in public transit, according to a new report.
Despite growing national figures, most Tennesseans aren't using public transit as much as they did last year, according to new ridership numbers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic senators clocked an all-nighter, working in shifts into Tuesday morning to warn of the devastation from climate change and the danger of inaction.
MONDAY, MARCH 10
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee's largest teachers' union is suing the Knox County Board of Education, claiming the student test scores used to assess a teacher's performance were flawed and cost her a bonus.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country Music Hall of Fame singer Mel Tillis is recovering in Nashville after heart surgery over the weekend.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state House is scheduled to take up legislation Monday evening that would protect schools from lawsuits for allowing traditional winter celebrations, or religious displays.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sided with a Wyoming property owner in a dispute over a bicycle trail that follows the route of an abandoned railroad. The decision could force the government to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to compensate landowners.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ted Welch, a prolific fundraiser in Tennessee Republican politics for four decades, has died. He was 80.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it's pulling the plug on proposed changes to the Medicare prescription program that ran into strong opposition on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The share of Americans without health insurance is dropping to the lowest levels since President Barack Obama took office, but sign-ups under his health care law lag among Hispanics — a big pool of potential beneficiaries.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks are closing slightly lower following disappointing economic news from China and Japan.
The price of oil sunk to around $101 on Monday after a surprise drop in China's exports suggested demand for crude could weaken.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sbarro has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization for the second time in three years.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Americans are boarding public buses, trains and subways in greater numbers than any time since the suburbs began booming.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's top economists say the nation is on track to make economic progress over the next two years, but say it would do even better if Congress would enact the additional spending he proposed in his most recent budget. A divided Congress in an election year is not likely to heed that call.
FRIDAY, MARCH 7
NASHVILLE (AP) - Actor Vince Vaughn is bringing a new comedy festival to Nashville this spring with live tapings and stand-up acts to be held at the city's music venues.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The FBI has taken over the Idaho criminal investigation into private prison company Corrections Corporation of America.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The state fire marshal's office is asking Tennessee residents to inspect their smoke alarms when they change their clocks this weekend.
MIDSTATE
DICKSON (AP) — Mohawk Industries says it will build a $180 million tile plant in Dickson County, creating 320 new jobs over the next four years.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Senate on Thursday voted to require Gov. Bill Haslam to secure legislative approval for any potential deal to expand Medicaid in Tennessee despite the Republican governor's repeated assurances that he would first seek their OK for any arrangement.
NASHVILLE AREA
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Issuing a last call for health care, President Barack Obama assured Latinos on Thursday that signing up for new insurance exchanges won't lead to deportation for any relatives in the U.S. illegally.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brutal winter weather snarled traffic, canceled flights and cut power to homes and factories in February. Yet it didn't faze U.S. employers, who added 175,000 jobs, far more than the two previous months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly in January as a rise in imports of oil and other foreign goods offset a solid increase in exports.
NEW YORK (AP) — One positive report on the economy was not enough to make investors more confident.
The price of oil crept up to near $102 a barrel Friday after a solid increase in U.S. employment and a decline in the dollar.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers increased their borrowing in January on autos and student loans but cut back on their credit card use.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto said Thursday that he is not the creator of bitcoin, adding further mystery to the story of how the world's most popular digital currency came to be.
Staples has become the second major chain to announce the mass closing of stores this week, providing the latest evidence of how the retail landscape is being remade by shifts in American shopping habits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell after three weeks of increases, edging closer to historically low levels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A surging stock market and rebounding home prices boosted Americans' wealth to a record in the final three months of last year, though both trends have slowed so far in 2014.
NEW YORK (AP) — A few weeks after her foray into the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, Barbie is entangled in controversy again, this time over her ties with the Girl Scouts.
NEW YORK (AP) — The departure of Target's chief information officer in the wake of the company's massive pre-Christmas data breach highlights the increased pressure facing executives who are charged with protecting corporate computer systems from hackers whose attacks are on the rise and becoming more sophisticated.