VOL. 41 | NO. 17 | Friday, April 28, 2017
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
In case anyone’s keeping stats, Senate leadership soundly defeated House leadership this session in the gas tax/tax cut battle.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Police didn’t stop me from entering the five-and-dime, site of one of America’s eventual and monumental civil rights victories.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
There are more than 200 businesses planning to relocate to or expand existing operations in the Nashville pipeline, says Ralph Schulz, CEO and president of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, March 2017, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
Things were supposed to be so easy for Jonathan Kongbo. He arrived at the University of Tennessee last year as the No. 1-ranked junior college prospect in the nation. He had the combination of size and speed that everybody wants in a defensive lineman. The sky was the limit.
NEWSMAKERS
Frost Brown Todd has hired James P. Catalano as member and Alexandria S. Fisher as senior associate to the firm’s Nashville office.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
If you’re looking for a bargain on an all-wheel-drive car, the 2017 Mitsubishi Lancer might be the one for you.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
I am part of Generation X – the last generation that ever scheduled their childhood evenings around when a beloved TV program was set to air.
CAREER CORNER
Being overlooked for a job is the worst. It’s especially bad after you’ve had a series of interviews. You took off work (multiple times), bought a new suit and updated your resume.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a bill into law that will force people to face stiffer penalties for committing a violent offence against a police officer.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Seven bounty hunters who descended on the wrong car outside a Wal-Mart have been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the killing of an unarmed man and the wounding of another, Tennessee police announced Wednesday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates barely moved this week after rising last week for the first time in five weeks. The benchmark 30-year rate remained above the key threshold of 4 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Deborah Braswell, a university administrator in Alabama, is a member of a dwindling group — people with a landline phone at home.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are mostly lower Thursday morning as oil prices continue to drop and energy companies take sharp losses. Banks are climbing as bond yields increase, which will allow lenders to charge higher interest rates on loans. Health care stocks are a bit higher as Congress prepares to vote on a bill intended to roll back much of former President Barack Obama's health care law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The productivity of American workers fell in the first quarter by the sharpest amount in a year, while labor costs increased.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories turned in the weakest performance in four months, although a key category that tracks business investment showed more strength.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week after two weeks of small gains.
NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners have lost some of their post-election optimism, according to a survey released Thursday by Wells Fargo & Co.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is getting more aggressive about emphasizing its role in the U.S. economy, apparently hoping to counter recurring criticism over its reliance on overseas factories.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans began pushing their prized health care bill through the House Thursday, as the GOP sought a victory for President Donald Trump six weeks after nearly leaving the measure for dead and days after support from GOP moderates seemed to crumble anew.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans took a major step toward their long-promised goal of unwinding the stricter financial rules created after the 2008 crisis, pushing forward sweeping legislation that would undo much of President Barack Obama's landmark banking law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order further weakening already-sparse enforcement of an IRS rule threatening the loss of tax-exempt status for religious organizations that endorse political candidates.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Three years ago, general manager David Poile let the only coach the Predators had ever known in Barry Trotz leave and hired Peter Laviolette to inject more offense into the Nashville lineup.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill that would allow minors who send sexually explicit photos of themselves to others to face far less serious consequences than they do now.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court gay marriage case want Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to veto legislation requiring use of the "natural and ordinary meaning" of undefined words in state law.
Legislation making it easier for Tennessee cities to be sued over gun restrictions eased through the House on Wednesday even though it would allow those filing lawsuits to claim triple attorney fees.
The House of Representatives turned back questions about the constitutionality of legislation limiting abortions after 20 weeks and passed it overwhelmingly Wednesday morning.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A gun rights push in Tennessee would give cities and counties an ultimatum: buy metal detectors, hire security guards and check bags at many public buildings, parks and buses; or let people with handgun permits bring in their guns.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court gay marriage case want Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to veto legislation requiring use of the "natural and ordinary meaning" of undefined words in state law.
REGION
RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) — In the northwest corner of Georgia, where cows and crops vastly outnumber people, a small cluster of privately owned treatment centers have sprung up in recent years for heroin and prescription painkiller addicts.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — A new study estimates the Tennessee Valley Authority's managed river system created an $11.9 billion economic impact in the Tennessee Valley last year.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority is reporting that it yielded $313 million in net income for the first half of 2017, a $32 million boost compared to the same period in 2016.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of moderate Republicans who'd been holdouts against the GOP health care bill said Wednesday they were now backing the high-profile legislation after winning President Donald Trump's support for their proposal for reviving the languishing measure.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times added a record number of digital subscribers last quarter, exciting investors who pushed the stock to an 11 percent gain in morning trading.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook says it will hire another 3,000 people to review videos of crime and suicides following murders shown live.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen saw its first quarter profit jump 44 percent as it focused on selling more profitable models and worked past its scandal over diesel cars rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks dipped Wednesday as media and health care companies took losses. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, but bond yields and banks rose as investors felt rates will increase soon.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has left interest rates unchanged while signaling that it expects a resilient U.S. economy and solid job market to justify further rate hikes later this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies expanded at a faster pace in April, good news for the overall American economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added 177,000 jobs last month, a private survey found, a solid gain that suggests the economy is still expanding despite recent signs of slower growth.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor on Wednesday announced a historic restructuring of a portion of the U.S. territory's $70 billion debt through courts after negotiations with bondholders failed. The announcement marks the biggest bankruptcy-type process ever for the U.S. municipal bond market.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House easily passed a $1.1 trillion governmentwide spending bill on Wednesday, awarding wins to both Democrats and Republicans while putting off until later this year fights over President Donald Trump's promised border wall with Mexico and massive military buildup.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Their health care bill teetering on the brink, House Republican leaders and President Donald Trump intensified their already-fierce lobbying Wednesday to save the long-promised legislation, agreeing to changes that brought two pivotal Republicans back on board.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin says his department is seeking to close perhaps more than 1,100 VA facilities nationwide as it develops plans to allow more veterans to receive medical care in the private sector.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican drive to overhaul financial regulations devolved into a Democratic effort to cast a spotlight on President Donald Trump's business empire and his refusal to release his tax returns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government-wide spending bill that President Donald Trump seemed to criticize Tuesday morning but now calls "a clear win for the American people" is headed for a House vote.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Wednesday blocked Democratic efforts to preserve the independence of a consumer watchdog created after the 2008 economic meltdown as the GOP pressed ahead with an overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory law.
TUESDAY, MAY 2
STATE LEGISLATURE
Despite a Memphis’ lawmakers concerns about a “knee-jerk” reaction, the House passed legislation Monday aimed at a California travel ban against states passing anti-gay laws.
Tennesseans who want to shoot feral hogs won’t have to worry about scaring the critters now that they have permission to put a silencer on their rifle.
Rep. Joe Towns’ legislation to change the state Constitution’s wording on slavery is being postponed until 2018, but it picked up a key endorsement Monday from Republican House Majority Leader Glen Casada.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate on Monday voted to pass a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks if doctors determine the fetus is viable. The ban would not apply in medical emergencies or if the mother faces risks of death or serious damage to a major bodily function.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A resolution calling for the body of President James K. Polk to be exhumed from the grounds of Tennessee Capitol has been scheduled for consideration in the state House before the Legislature adjourns for the year.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Republican Party has hired a new executive director.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Democratic state senator from Goodlettsville has been arrested on a felony charge of sexual battery.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The six top-selling automakers in the U.S. reported sales declines last month as demand seems to be slowing after seven straight years of growth.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Despite strong results from industrial companies, U.S. stocks couldn't get any momentum going Tuesday after car makers said their sales are shrinking.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustrated Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday warned top airline executives to improve customer services or face congressional intervention after a passenger was dragged from a United Airlines flight in an incident the company's chief executive called a "mistake of epic proportions."
NEW YORK (AP) — A battered news industry can find some flickers of hope in a survey that gauges public willingness to pay for journalism, as long as its leaders plan judiciously.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A tentative deal was reached between screenwriters and producers Tuesday, averting a strike that could have crippled TV and film production.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans worked to undo former President Barack Obama's law overhauling the nation's financial rules, arguing that it is undermining economic growth. Democrats countered that the GOP effort risked a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that pushed the economy to the brink of collapse.
MONDAY, MAY 1
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Monday told a group of graduating students at Fisk University to mobilize against prejudice and inequality.
STATE LEGISLATURE
A majority of Tennessee’s legislators are asking the state to hold up on a facilities management outsourcing contract with Jones Lang LaSalle.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers plan to pass the state's annual $37 billion budget this week.
MIDSTATE
CLARKSVILLE (AP) — A statue of Clarksville native and actor Frank Sutton is being dedicated this week near the city's Roxy Regional Theatre.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators finally had a chance to show how they would react to their first loss this postseason.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders trimmed construction spending slightly in March, one month after building activity hit an all-time high.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that cities may sue banks under the federal anti-discrimination in housing law, but said those lawsuits must tie claims about predatory lending practices among minority customers directly to declines in property taxes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from Alaska and oil and gas industry groups protesting the government's designation of more than 187,000 square miles in the state as critical habitat for threatened polar bears.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — "Obamacare" is showing surprising staying power, thanks in large part to doctors, hospitals and other health industry players opposing the alternatives that Republicans have proposed.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Baptist Health Systems and the larger Baptist Memorial Health Care of Memphis, Tennessee, have completed a merger, creating the largest hospital group in Mississippi.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is promoting a new health care proposal that the president insists will lower premiums and guarantee insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, even though some medical groups say they aren't so sure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is promising that the latest Republican health care legislation will cover people with pre-existing conditions "beautifully." Such reassurance is not to be found in the bill that's been under review.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday as big technology companies like Apple continued to rally. Investors bought stocks and sold bonds and gold after Congress agreed to a deal that will keep the government operating for the rest of the fiscal year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the U.S. economy on solid footing and unemployment at a near-decade low, the Federal Reserve remains in the midst of a campaign to gradually raise interest rates from ultra-lows. But this week, it's all but sure to take a pause.
NEW YORK (AP) — The turmoil at Fox News Channel has claimed another victim. The network said Monday that Bill Shine, the network's co-president and a longtime lieutenant of ousted Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, is out.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News owner 21st Century Fox and a New York investment firm are in talks to buy TV station operator Tribune Media, according to several reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers cut back sharply in spending on durable goods such as autos in March, leaving overall spending unchanged for a second straight month. The slowdown in consumer activity was a major reason overall economic growth slowed so sharply in the winter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American factories grew for the eighth straight month in April but at a slower pace than in March.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday said he will explore the possibility of higher gasoline and diesel fuel taxes, suggesting an increase could pay for his ambitious infrastructure plan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers on Monday unveiled a huge $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund most government operations through September but would deny President Donald Trump money for a border wall and rejects his proposed cuts to popular domestic programs.
FRIDAY, APRIL 28
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans headed into the draft needing to find more offensive help for quarterback Marcus Mariota while also boosting a defense that ranked 30th in the NFL against the pass last season.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Not long after seeing fellow Republicans in the Legislature reject his effort to expand Medicaid, Gov. Bill Haslam was touring the state to pitch another politically difficult proposal to boost funding for roads and bridges.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers want to make it against the law for minors to send or keep sexually explicit messages on smartphones.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Legislature has passed a bill that will make it easier for people convicted of lower-level offenses to get their criminal records wiped clean.
Memphis lawmakers blasted a Smyrna legislator Thursday morning, accusing him of violating their honor system by sliding a resolution through the House honoring an author they perceive as a Nathan Bedford Forrest apologist.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Senate has passed legislation requiring use of the "natural and ordinary meaning" of undefined words in state law, which LGBT advocates fear could spur discrimination against same-sex couples and transgender people.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans who have unused prescription drugs they no longer need can safely dispose of them Saturday at locations all around the state. It's part of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration's 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd's campaign says it has raised $1.25 million for the Republican's gubernatorial bid.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday left in place a decision blocking Anthem Inc.'s bid to buy rival health insurer Cigna Corp, saying that a bigger company is not better for consumers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House won't vote on Republican legislation scuttling much of President Barack Obama's health care law until at least next week, a GOP leader said Thursday. The decision deals a setback to the White House, which has pressured congressional Republicans to pass the bill by Saturday — President Donald Trump's 100th day in office.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer consumers signed contracts to buy U.S. homes last month as the spring buying season revs up with stiff competition for homes amid lagging inventory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week for the first time in five weeks. The benchmark 30-year rate pushed back above the key threshold of 4 percent.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — People are buying more SUVs and trucks and paying General Motors handsomely for them, pushing the company's first-quarter net income up 34 percent to a record $2.6 billion.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is acknowledging that governments or other malicious non-state actors are using its social network to influence political sentiment in ways that could affect national elections.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — YouTube's inability to keep big-brand ads off unsavory videos is threatening to transform a rising star in Google's digital family into a problem child.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Friday, ending just short of another milestone for Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy turned in the weakest performance in three years in the January-March quarter as consumers sharply slowed their spending. The result fell far short of President Donald Trump's ambitious growth targets and underscores the challenges of accelerating economic expansion.
NEW YORK (AP) — To understand taxes, you have to think about geography. Don't worry, this will make sense eventually.
NEW YORK (AP) — Is the online retail giant also looking to conquer physical stores?
Southwest Airlines plans to stop overbooking flights — an industry practice implicated in an ugly incident on a United Airlines flight that has damaged United's reputation with the flying public.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — With just hours to spare, the House easily approved a short-term spending bill Friday that would prevent a partial federal shutdown over the weekend. But on President Donald Trump's 99th day in office, lawmakers were leaving for the weekend without completing two other measures he's coveted: A Republican health care overhaul and a budget financing government for the entire year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At the Trump administration's request, a federal appeals court agreed Friday to postpone a ruling on lawsuits challenging Obama-era restrictions on carbon emissions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is sounding wistful as he reflects on his first 100 days on the job.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Working to dismantle his predecessor's environmental legacy, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at expanding oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Getting to the bottom of President Donald Trump's tax plan is difficult because it exists so far as bullet points on a single page, with no detail. Still, there are reasons to be wary about some of the claims coming out of the White House about it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Among the likely winners in President Donald Trump's tax-cut plan would be a real estate developer turned reality TV star who now happens to occupy the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he has told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he will not pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement at this time, but could still withdraw if he concludes a renegotiated pact is not "a fair deal for all."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump won the White House by arguing that what America needed was a president who had proved himself as a steely and successful corporate leader with no political baggage — someone, say, like himself.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The second-ranking House Democrat is threatening to withhold votes for a short-term spending bill to keep the government open, if Republicans try to push for a health care vote this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was warned by authorities when he retired from the military in 2014 not to take foreign government-sourced money without "advance approval" from the Pentagon, according to documents released Thursday by the ranking Democrat on a House oversight committee.