VOL. 40 | NO. 18 | Friday, April 29, 2016
Some local sensations have figured it out. Here’s how
A little more than a year ago, Leslie Mosier uploaded a video to Facebook and Instagram of her 2-year-old dog, an extraordinarily mellow 20-pound pug named Doug, skittering around Dragon Park with a pug-shaped Mylar balloon tied to his torso.
Robby Novak became a YouTube sensation three years ago when his video, “A Pep Talk from Kid President to You,” went viral.
Mridu Parikh wouldn’t have a viable business without the educational videos she writes, produces and posts online on her YouTube and Roku TV channels or directly to her company website.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
I thought about skipping church Sunday and playing golf. After listening to the House of Representatives’ debate on the Bible bill, I could probably skip church for a month and still be in good standing.
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
Rep. Gerald McCormick holds plenty of authority in the General Assembly as majority leader of the Republican Caucus, and he’s not afraid to show it.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
When Jalen Hurd committed to the University of Tennessee prior to his senior season at Beech High in Hendersonville, he had one goal:
DAVE LINK: UT SPORTS
If the Tennessee baseball team makes a run in the SEC tournament May 24-29, it may look back to last weekend’s series against No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt as a turning point in the season.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Houses are dangerous, but they are not death traps. Now if a house fell on a person, it might kill them. Just ask any witch you know.
NEWSMAKERS
Judith Price has been elected as a member of Riggs Davie PLC. Price is a corporate and health care attorney whose practice covers a wide variety of business matters, including entity formation, governance, employee matters, contracting, and transactions, particularly in the health care space.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Chevrolet revamped the Malibu for 2016, making the family sedan look more modern and giving it more safety and technology features, including software that helps keep teen-agers safe and parents in the know.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
All day long, ideas run through your head. Will this work? What if that process is tweaked? Can you make things more efficient, more cost-effective, speed them up, rev their engines?
GUERRILLA MARKETING
A “company-wide sales culture.” Every CEO and business owner dreams of it, but few realize it. It occurs when everyone in the organization plays some role in supporting sales and growth efforts, though roles will vary.
CAREER CORNER
In today’s workplace, email is an inevitable fact of life. Gone are the days of predictable phone calls or regular in-person chats to check in.
I SWEAR
His name is Cameron Ward. He was born in Montreal in 1957, graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1979 and earned his law degree in 1983 from the University of Ottawa.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Federal officials say five health centers in Tennessee are receiving more than $4.2 million to help them serve more patients.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford says it is investing $182 million in a San Francisco software development company called Pivotal.
DETROIT (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. brushed off a big first-quarter loss and cheered investors with news that it plans to accelerate its production plans.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, following the Federal Reserve's decision not to raise its benchmark interest rate.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the totals stayed near historic lows in a sign that the recent slowdown in economic growth has yet to spark layoffs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey says growth accelerated in April at U.S. services companies, a potential positive for the economy after a sluggish start to 2016.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were slightly higher on Thursday, helped by a sharp drive up in the price of oil, which rose more than 3 percent. Investors are looking ahead to Friday's closely watched jobs report.
Tribune Publishing Co. on Wednesday rejected Gannett's more than $388 million buyout offer, saying it's too little for the company that owns The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other newspapers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae posted net income of $1.1 billion for the first quarter, down from a year ago as declining interest rates reduced the value of the financial instruments it uses to hedge against rate swings.
NEW YORK (AP) — If government regulators get their way, it's going to become a lot easier to sue your bank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of electronic cigarette brands will have to seek federal permission to stay on the market under new rules that have the potential to upend a multi-billion dollar industry attempting to position itself as an alternative to traditional cigarettes.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators finally figured out how to shut down the NHL's best road team and a pretty potent power play. As a result, they have given themselves a chance to tie their second-round series.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state's economic development agency has spent more than $18,000 on Facebook ads aimed at supporters of Tennessee's top Republican officials, and none on Democrats.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - General Motors is on track to resume full operations at four North American plants where vehicle assembly was halted because of supply chain interruptions caused by earthquakes in Japan last month.
DETROIT (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors lost $282.3 million in the first quarter as it struggled to ramp up production of its newest vehicle, the Model X SUV.
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling more than 108,000 Rogue small SUVs in the U.S. because the rear hatch door could fall on people without warning.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. and global stock indexes moved lower a second day Wednesday following a dismal report on job creation that gave investors concern over the state of the economy. The data followed a round of economic news out of China and Europe a day earlier that also suggested sluggish growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories advanced by a modest amount in March, reflecting stronger demand in the volatile category of defense equipment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies added jobs at the slowest pace in three years in April, a private survey found, a sign that slower growth and volatile financial markets could be weighing on hiring.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. productivity fell again in the first three months of the year, while labor costs rose at the fastest pace in more than a year.
LONDON (AP) — As winter turned to spring, the eurozone economy appears to have lost some — but by no means all — of the momentum that saw it grow faster than the U.S. in the first quarter of the year.
TUESDAY, MAY 3
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bill allowing staff and faculty at Tennessee's public colleges and universities to be armed on campus became law Monday without the Republican governor's signature.
STATEWIDE
NEW YORK (AP) — International Paper said it is paying $2.2 billion to buy seven mills from Weyerhaeuser that make pulp used in diapers, tissues and other consumer products.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) - When in the course of human events someone wants to give a shampoo at a salon, a conservative think tank says they shouldn't have to get a license.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — America's love of trucks and SUVs helped push most automakers to healthy sales gains last month as Honda and Nissan reported best-ever April sales. Ford posted record SUV sales, while Toyota broke a record for SUV and truck sales.
HEALTH CARE
ST. LOUIS (AP) — For the second time in three months, a St. Louis jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a huge award over claims that its talcum powder causes cancer.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Are we there yet? It's another weak quarter on Wall Street, but there are some signs corporate America will come out of its recent funk.
NEW YORK (AP) — Renewed concerns about economic growth abroad — specifically Europe and China — weighed on markets on Tuesday, causing stocks to erase all of the previous day's gains.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida's largest newspaper, The Tampa Bay Times, said Tuesday it has purchased its main competitor, the Tampa Tribune, ending a decades-long newspaper rivalry.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Salt Lake Tribune's pending sale to the wealthy Huntsman family unshackles the newspaper from cost-cutting corporate owners and resolves crippling financial uncertainty — but it also raises concerns about whether the influential family will meddle in the paper's coverage.
MONDAY, MAY 2
SPORTS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The Nashville Predators frustrated Joe Pavelski and San Jose's top line for much of the night, forcing turnovers, blocking shots and limiting chances.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee officials knew of concerns about a testing company's ability to fulfill a $107.7 million contract to administer the new online TNReady standardized test even before this year's failed rollout, internal documents show.
HEALTH CARE
CHICAGO (AP) — Seven of the 10 most profitable U.S. hospitals are nonprofits, according to new research, including one in Urbana, Illinois, where hospital tax exemptions are headed for a contentious court battle that soon could determine whether medical facilities are paying their fair share of taxes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending advanced in March to its highest level in more than eight years. Gains in home building and nonresidential construction offset a drop in government projects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing expanded in April for the second straight month, suggesting that factories are adapting to a strong dollar and economic weakness overseas, according to a private survey.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gannett is escalating its pursuit of rival newspaper company Tribune, telling shareholders of Tribune not to vote for its board member nominees up for election in June.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican officials say the island's default on a $422 million bond payment is only the beginning if the U.S. Congress doesn't help resolve the situation soon.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett said the Federal Reserve and other policymakers are generally doing a good job, but it's difficult to predict all the effects of interest rates remaining low for this long.
LONDON (AP) — An Australian man long rumored to be associated with the digital currency Bitcoin has publicly identified himself as its creator, a claim that would end one of the biggest mysteries in the tech world.
DALLAS (AP) — Halliburton and Baker Hughes, whose planned merger is the latest big deal to be shot down by antitrust regulators, now must pick up the pieces and shore up their companies during a severe slump in oil and gas drilling.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Amid the frenzied negotiations, flaring tempers and occasional frivolity marking the end of another Tennessee legislative session, one lawmaker stayed conspicuously alone and quiet.
COURTS
MURFREESBORO (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has joined a lawsuit against the Department of Children's Services and the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center to end the use of solitary confinement for children.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Insurers will seek significant premium hikes under President Barack Obama's health care law this summer - stiff medicine for consumers and voters ahead of the national political conventions.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week, lifting from their 2016 lows but remaining historically low during the spring home-buying season.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen's CEO says he apologized in person to U.S. President Barack Obama for the carmaker's emissions scandal, in which it rigged its cars to cheat on diesel engine pollution tests.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell Friday as health care and technology companies continued to report weak first-quarter results, but thanks to some late buying, they managed to avoid major losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The University of Michigan says American consumers were a bit more downbeat in April.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers boosted their spending by a tiny amount in March as purchases of nondurable goods such as clothing offset a big fall in spending on autos and other long-lasting items.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A concert musician who was not allowed to board a flight with her violin says she hopes the incident will raise awareness of regulations that permit violins and other small instruments as carry-on luggage.
LONDON (AP) — It's been a long and tortuous journey, but the eurozone economy is finally back to the size it was before the global financial crisis.
NEW YORK (AP) — Digital TV listing company Rovi is buying TiVo in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.1 billion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast is buying DreamWorks Animation, the film company behind the "Shrek," ''Madagascar" and "Kung Fu Panda" franchises, for approximately $3.55 billion, strengthening its presence in the important and growing business of children's entertainment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was not a great start for the U.S. economy. With consumers and businesses turning cautious, the U.S. struggled to grow in the first three months of a presidential election year that is shining the spotlight on the economy's fitful recovery.