VOL. 48 | NO. 16 | Friday, April 19, 2024
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
For the 13th time in the past 12 months, a single-family home in Davidson County has sold for more than $6 million. This time the sale goes to a newly constructed home in Forest Hills, with Barbara Keith Payne as the listing agent. The buyer was not represented, as is often the case.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prospective homebuyers are facing higher costs to finance a home with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate moving above 7% this week to its highest level in nearly five months.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start as home shoppers contend with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices.
Top Davidson County commercial real estate sales for March 2024, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Not many losses feel like wins, but that’s exactly what happened when the Nashville Predators fell to the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in overtime April 9 at Bridgestone Arena.
Having recently played his 100th career regular season NHL game, Predators forward Luke Evangelista is early in what looks like it could be a long career and is making the transformation into a veteran player who can do things that very few others can on the ice.
NEWSMAKERS
Bridget A. Stewart is joining the business litigation service group at Stites & Harbison, PLLC.
BRIEFS
TriStar Health has announced it plans to apply for a certificate of need with the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission to build a full-service, acute-care hospital in Spring Hill.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buying a plug-in hybrid vehicle, or PHEV, can be a great way to ensure fuel efficiency. These are hybrid vehicles that drive just like a regular hybrid but have a chargeable battery that allows you to first drive a short distance on all-electric power. Frequently charging the battery at home can significantly reduce your gasoline use.
PERSONAL FINANCE
American workers expect to retire at a median age of 65, reveals a 2023 survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI. But the actual median age for retirement is 62, the survey found.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
It takes considerable work to make a household run smoothly, and the thread that runs through all the labor is money. It’s money that makes it possible to fix a broken appliance, enroll the children in summer camp and save up to replace the aging car.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Tuesday night to level their best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Oracle Corp.'s planned campus in Nashville, Tennessee, will serve as the business software giant's world headquarters, placing it in a city that's a center for the U.S. health care industry, CEO Larry Ellison said.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is poised to become the second state in the nation to make it illegal for adults to help minors get an abortion without parental consent, a proposal that is likely to face immediate legal challenges should Gov. Bill Lee sign it into law.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican-led states are rushing to give broader immigration enforcement powers to local police and impose criminal penalties for those living in the country illegally as the issue of migrants crossing the U.S. border remains central to the 2024 elections.
A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it.
Some public school teachers in Tennessee could gain new powers to carry concealed guns into the classroom, a year after a deadly school shooting in the state's capital city stirred impassioned debate about the best ways to curb such violence.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A transgender Tennessee woman sued the state's Department of Safety and Homeland Security on Tuesday after officials refused to change the sex on her driver's license to match her gender identity.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bill designed to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags in Tennessee public school classrooms was spiked Tuesday after it failed to attract enough support in the GOP-controlled Senate.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court hears arguments Thursday over whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans after their sweeping ruling overturning Roe v. Wade violate federal healthcare law, though some also questioned the effects on emergency care for pregnant patients.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden picked up the endorsement of North America's Building Trades Unions at a Wednesday event where the president and his allies set out to dismantle Republican Donald Trump's reputation as a successful real estate developer.
TRENDS
WASHINGTON (AP) — About one-quarter of U.S. adults age 50 and older who are not yet retired say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BEIJING (AP) — As auto giant Volkswagen AG races to catch up with upstart Chinese competitors, it has drivers like 26-year-old Ren Yiling in mind.
TRAVEL
The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation.
MEDIA
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok.
NEW DELHI (AP) — The hugely popular Chinese app TikTok may be forced out of the U.S., where a measure to outlaw the video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature.
HEALTH CARE
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk had tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Cyberattacks on businesses are rising, including small businesses. It's a troubling trend because a breach can be very costly and time consuming if owners don't have a plan to deal with one.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish. The S&P 500 closed little changed Wednesday after a two-day winning streak erased nearly two-thirds of last week's steep loss.
NEW YORK (AP) — For millions of American workers, the federal government took two actions this week that could bestow potentially far-reaching benefits.
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The big U.S. aid package for Ukraine and other allies that President Joe Biden signed Wednesday also allows the administration to seize Russian state assets located in the U.S. and use them for the benefit of Kyiv.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, the necessity of providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid as it fends off Russia's invasion is rooted in their earliest and most formative political memories.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other global hotspots.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
TUESDAY, APRIL 23
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks will be without goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday.
STATE GOVERNMENT
A new rule from President Joe Biden's administration blocking blanket policies to keep transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity could conflict with laws in Republican-controlled states.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A proposal that would allow parents to be fined for their child's criminal offenses is headed to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his approval.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A veteran tabloid publisher testified Tuesday that he pledged to be Donald Trump 's "eyes and ears" during his 2016 presidential campaign, recounting how he promised the then-candidate that he would help suppress harmful stories and even arranged to purchase the silence of a doorman.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine whether doctors can provide abortions to pregnant women with medical emergencies in states that enact abortion bans.
NEW YORK (AP) — A longtime tabloid publisher was expected Tuesday to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign as testimony resumes in the historic hush money trial of the former president.
NEW YORK (AP) — Monday's opening statements in the first criminal trial of a former American president provided a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Donald Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges on multiple fronts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has scheduled a special session to hear arguments over whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted over his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump faces serious charges in two cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election and illegally remain in power.
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared to side with Starbucks Tuesday in a case that could make it harder for the federal government to seek injunctions when it suspects a company of interfering in unionization campaigns.
ELECTION 2024
UnitedHealth says files with personal information that could cover a "substantial portion of people in America" may have been taken in the cyberattack earlier this year on its Change Healthcare business.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is wading deeper into the fight over abortion rights that has energized Democrats since the fall of Roe v. Wade, traveling to Florida to assail the state's upcoming ban and similar restrictions that have imperiled access to care for pregnant women nationwide.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Tesla's first-quarter net income plummeted 55% as falling global sales and price cuts sliced into the electric vehicle maker's revenue and profit margins.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Forget about red hot. A new color-coded heat warning system relies on magenta to alert Americans to the most dangerous conditions they may see this summer.
ENVIRONMENT
LONG AN, Vietnam (AP) — There is one thing that distinguishes 60-year-old Vo Van Van's rice fields from a mosaic of thousands of other emerald fields across Long An province in southern Vietnam's Mekong Delta: It isn't entirely flooded.
YOUR MONEY
NEW YORK (AP) — When Anna Branch, 37, had her hours at work reduced at the start of the pandemic in 2020, she suddenly noticed ads for an app called EarnIn.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied for a second straight day Tuesday to blunt the blow of what's been a rough April.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies would no longer be able to bar employees from taking jobs with competitors under a rule approved by a federal agency Tuesday, though the rule is sure to be challenged in court.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Officials in Baltimore plan to open a deeper channel for commercial ships to access the city's port starting on Thursday, marking a significant step toward reopening the major maritime shipping hub that has remained closed to most traffic since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last month.
Google fired at least 20 more workers in the aftermath of protests over technology the company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, bringing the total number of terminated staff to more than 50, a group representing the workers said.
DETROIT (AP) — Despite a small dip in U.S. vehicle sales, General Motors' first-quarter net income rose more than 25% on strong deliveries of pickup trucks and other higher-profit vehicles.
PepsiCo reported better-than-expected revenue in the first quarter on strong international demand for its snacks and beverages.
Simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington remain the top worry for American companies operating in China, according to a report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China released Tuesday.
AUBURN, Wash. (AP) — After a series of lower-paying jobs, Nicole Slemp finally landed one she loved. She was a secretary for Washington's child services department, a job that came with her own cubicle, and she had a knack for working with families in difficult situations.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission sued to block Tapestry, Inc.'s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Ltd., saying that the deal would eliminate direct head-to-head competition between the fashion companies' brands like Coach and Michael Kors in the so-called affordable luxury handbag arena.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is poised to send $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday as the Senate began debate on long-awaited legislation to fund the weapons Kyiv desperately needs to stall gains being made by Russian forces in the war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate returned to Washington on Tuesday to vote on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the final congressional steps to send the legislation to President Joe Biden's desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad.
MIAMI (AP) — The social media company founded by former President Donald Trump applied for a business visa program that he sought to restrict during his administration and which many of his allies want him to curtail in a potential second term.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is starting three days of talks with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing this week with U.S.-China ties at a critical point over numerous global disputes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee Monday criticized the CIA's handling of sexual misconduct allegations in its ranks, saying victims have been deterred from coming forward and were aware of "little to no accountability or punishment for the perpetrators of the assaults or harassment."
MONDAY, APRIL 22
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua scored 12 seconds apart in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks stormed back for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday night.
STATE GOVERNMENT
GALLATIN (AP) — Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Monday that he thinks workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga made a mistake by voting to unionize under the United Auto Workers in a landslide election but acknowledged the choice was ultimately up to them.
GALLATIN (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee conceded defeat Monday in his push to enact universal school vouchers this year, acknowledging there was not a "path forward" after months of Republican infighting.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president's historic hush money trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Kentucky man who stormed the U.S. Capitol while carrying a Confederate battle flag was sentenced on Monday to more than two years in prison for pepper spraying two police officers in the face, partially blinding them for hours during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers and an attorney for former President Donald Trump settled their differences Monday over a $175 million bond that Trump posted to block a large civil fraud judgment while he pursues appeals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week with profound legal and political consequences: whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a federal case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a soccer promoter's antitrust lawsuit to go forward against FIFA and the U.S. Soccer Federation over the world governing body's policy of not permitting a country to host league matches involving teams from other countries.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up a Biden administration appeal over the regulation of difficult-to-trace ghost guns that had been struck down by lower courts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court wrestled with major questions about the growing issue of homelessness on Monday as it considered whether cities can punish people for sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rarely a day goes without President Joe Biden mentioning insulin prices.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The medical records of women will be shielded from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek an abortion where it is legal, under a new rule that the Biden administration finalized Monday.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — They watched from the courtroom or via closed-circuit television in an overflow room — roughly 140 reporters, most with laptops or other silenced electronic devices, serving up news at its most elemental and in rapid-fire fashion.
LONDON (AP) — The European Union on Monday demanded TikTok provide more information about a new app that pays users to watch videos and warned that it could order the video sharing platform to suspend addictive features that pose a risk to kids.
PHILANTHROPHY
Lana Vierra misses the swing set at her Lahaina home, which was reduced to ashes in the wildfires that swept through her community last summer.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla knocked roughly a third off the price of its "Full Self Driving" system — which can't drive itself and so drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene — to $8,000 from $12,000, according to the company website.
TRANSPORTATION
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Work is set to begin Monday on a $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, with officials projecting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is marking Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities. He also plans to expand his New Deal-style American Climate Corps green jobs training program.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Monday and clawed back a chunk of their losses from last week, which was the worst for the S&P 500 in more than a year.
Delta Air Lines, the most profitable U.S. carrier, is raising pay for nonunion employees as it gets ready for another attempt by a union to represent its flights attendants.
NEW YORK (AP) — Express Inc — once a trendsetter of casual office attire that has struggled to compete with the likes of Zara and H&M — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons said Monday they will sell more of their stores in an effort to quell the federal government's concerns about their proposed merger.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the U.S. will send badly needed air defense weaponry once the Senate approves a massive national security aid package that includes more than $60 billion for Ukraine.
FRIDAY, APRIL 19
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mandisa, a contemporary Christian singer who appeared on "American Idol" and won a Grammy for her 2013 album 'Overcomer', has died. She was 47.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee State has taken its biggest step yet toward becoming the first historically Black college and university to introduce ice hockey by hiring Duanté Abercrombie as the Tigers' head coach.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — FedEx on Friday pledged $25 million over the next five years to be used in sponsorship deals with University of Memphis athletes, a huge boost for the school's name, image and likeness compensation efforts.
EAST TENNESSEE
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers' ambitious drive to expand its reach to nonunion factories across the South and elsewhere faces a key test Friday night, when workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will finish voting on whether to join the union.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A full jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated Friday in Donald Trump's hush money case, setting the stage for opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
NEW YORK (AP) — Police officials said they were reviewing whether to restrict access to a public park outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial after a man set himself on fire there Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A far-right extremist group leader was sentenced on Friday to more than five years in prison for repeatedly assaulting police officers with makeshift weapons during a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol over three years ago.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor said Friday that she won't bring charges against a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to evade state campaign finance laws in order to unseat the powerful speaker of the Assembly.
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial ordered the media on Thursday not to report on where potential jurors have worked and to be careful about revealing information about those who will sit in judgment of the former president.
NEW YORK (AP) — When the first batch of potential jurors was brought in for Donald Trump's criminal trial this week, all the lawyers had to go on to size them up at first were their names and the answers they gave in court to a set of screening questions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump lost a bid Thursday to pause a string of lawsuits accusing him of inciting the U.S. Capitol attack, while the former president fights his 2020 election interference criminal case in Washington.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of an asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to check her in. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others responsible for contamination to pay for its removal.
ENERGY
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency cleared the way Friday for a higher blend of ethanol to be sold nationwide for the third summer in a row, citing global conflicts that it says are putting pressure on the world's fuel supply.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife such as caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google will combine the software division responsible for Android mobile software and the Chrome browser with the hardware division known for Pixel smartphones and Fitbit wearables, the company said Thursday. It's part of a broader plan to integrate artificial intelligence more widely throughout the company.
MEDIA
HONG KONG (AP) — Apple said it had removed Meta's WhatsApp messaging app and its Threads social media app from the App Store in China to comply with orders from Chinese authorities.
Netflix gained another 9.3 million subscribers to start the year while its profit soared with the help of a still-emerging expansion into advertising, but caught investors off guard with a change that will make it more difficult to track the video streaming service's future growth.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A U.S. congressional committee released confidential Brazilian court orders to suspend accounts on the social media platform X, offering a glimpse into decisions that have spurred complaints of alleged censorship from the company and its billionaire owner Elon Musk.
TOKYO (AP) — A group of Japanese doctors has filed a civil lawsuit against U.S. search giant Google, demanding damages for what they claim are unpoliced derogatory and often false comments.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The worst week for big technology stocks since the COVID crash in 2020 dragged Wall Street on Friday across the finish line of another losing week.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol is asserting its authority to seize cannabis shipments — including commercial, state-authorized supplies — as licensed cannabis providers file complaints that more than $300,000 worth of marijuana has been confiscated in recent months at highway checkpoints in southern New Mexico.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sometime in the next few days or even hours, the "miners" who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are going to take a 50% pay cut — effectively slicing new production of the world's largest cryptocurrency in half.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With rare bipartisan momentum, the House pushed ahead Friday on a foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian support as a robust coalition of lawmakers helped it clear a procedural hurdle to reach final votes this weekend. Friday's vote produced a seldom-seen outcome in the typically hyper-partisan House, with Democrats helping Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's plan advance overwhelmingly 316-94. Final House approval could come this weekend, when the package would be sent to the Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down a decision so consequential it could alter the course of history -- but also end his own career -- House Speaker Mike Johnson prayed for guidance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians, as well as the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon could get weapons moving to Ukraine within days if Congress passes a long-delayed aid bill. That's because it has a network of storage sites in the U.S. and Europe that already hold the ammunition and air defense components that Kyiv desperately needs.
THURSDAY, APRIL 18
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have been among the league's biggest spenders in free agency, and they still won't be able to fill all the remaining holes with only seven selections in this NFL draft.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Famous fans react to the death of Allman Brothers singer, songwriter and guitarist Dickey Betts, who died at 80.
NEW YORK (AP) — At an age when many contemporaries contemplate retirement, musician T Bone Burnett has made big changes in his life and art.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican-dominant Statehouse approved a $52.8 billion spending plan Thursday for the upcoming fiscal year that includes an eye-popping $1.95 billion tax break and refund for businesses, but little new tax relief for most Tennessee families.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Wednesday seemed ready to agree with an attorney for Nashville police that the writings of a school shooter could be released as public record once the investigation is officially closed.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Two jurors in Donald Trump's hush money trial were dismissed Thursday, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair following disclosure of details about her identity and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.
NEW YORK (AP) — When the first batch of potential jurors was brought in for Donald Trump's criminal trial this week, all the lawyers had to go on to size them up at first were their names and the answers they gave in court to a set of screening questions.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man has pleaded guilty to sending death threats to the state attorney general and the Manhattan judge who presided over former President Donald Trump's civil fraud case, prosecutors said Thursday.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday in Philadelphia as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday misstated key details about his uncle's death in World War II as he honored the man's wartime service and said Donald Trump was unworthy of serving as commander in chief.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Tesla's stock tumbled below $150 per share, giving up all of the gains made over the past year as the electric vehicle maker reels from falling sales and steep discounts intended to lure more buyers.
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of workers at a big Mercedes-Benz factory near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will vote next month on whether they want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.
CRIME
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is ramping up its efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S., launching a specialized gun intelligence center in Chicago and expanding task forces to curb carjackings.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the world economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of higher interest rates and the shock of war in Ukraine and Gaza, but "there is plenty to worry about,'' including stubborn inflation and rising levels of government debt.
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn't change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool hiring.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stock indexes drifted to a mixed close following more reports showing the economy remains stronger than expected.
Google has fired 28 employees in the aftermath of protests over technology that the internet company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, further escalating tensions surrounding a hot-button deal.
Booming sales of cold drinks at Starbucks have created a problem: growing amounts of plastic waste from the single-use cups that Frappuccinos, Refreshers, cold brews and other iced drinks are served in.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide $6.1 billion in government support for Micron Technology to produce advanced memory computer chips in New York and Idaho.
HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia on Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected profit and a double-digit fall in sales in the first quarter due to a market weakened by a lack of clients investing in 5G technology.
CSX dealt with weather challenges and the closure of the Baltimore port as the railroad saw its first-quarter profit slip 10%, but it still managed to keep most of its customers happy with reliable service.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House congressional leaders were toiling Thursday on a delicate, bipartisan push toward weekend votes to approve a $95 billion package of foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as several other national security policies at a critical moment at home and abroad.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Democrats are entertaining the prospect of coming to House Speaker Mike Johnson's rescue should Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., force a vote seeking his ouster, though it will likely depend on his ability to deliver an emergency aid package focused on Ukraine and Israel.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake won a major boost late Wednesday when House Republican leaders included it in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel. The bill could be law as soon as next week if Congress moves quickly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a long-awaited package of bills that will provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel, replenish U.S. weapons systems and give humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
CAPRI, Italy (AP) — Top NATO and European Union officials urged foreign ministers from leading industrialized nations on Thursday to take quick, concrete steps to provide more air defense systems and artillery to Ukraine, warning that continued delays could tilt the war in Moscow's favor.
BEIJING (AP) — Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance — Chinese goods exports to the EU exceeded its imports from the 27-nation bloc by 291 billion euros ($310 billion) last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran's attack against Israel over the weekend has spurred a flurry of bipartisan legislative action in Congress, uniting lawmakers against the country even as the risk of a larger regional war looms.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate dismissed all impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, ending the House Republican push to remove the Cabinet secretary from office over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and shutting down his trial before arguments even began.