VOL. 36 | NO. 20 | Friday, May 18, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cancer patient Kathy Watson voted Republican in 2008 and believes the government has no right telling Americans to get health insurance. Nonetheless, she says she'd be dead if it weren't for President Barack Obama's health care law.
GREEN BUSINESS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Vanderbilt one of its People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Phase grants at the 8th annual National Sustainable Design Expo last month in Washington, D.C.
REALTY CHECK
This week the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors announced its support of the tax increase proposed by Mayor Dean during his State of Metro Address two weeks ago.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential sales for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
NEWSMAKERS
Nashville’s oldest law firm has a new name. Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, launched in 1905, is now known as simply Waller.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Do you know what’s preventing your sales team from consistent, exceptional performance? It most often comes down to a handful of common mistakes that preclude salespeople from realizing their full potential. Once you recognize and eliminate them, you may be surprised how rapidly you see an improvement in performance.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Something More Than Feelings A business mentor of mine would retort “cite your source” to qualify any argument I was making. A common argument today asserts that with the developed world economies fragile and global unemployment levels high, the anecdotal information suggests that global consumers live in a tent city.
I SWEAR
Near the end of a short essay, El Dorado, published in 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “… to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive ….” (Hint: The essay is not about travel at all. It’s about life.)
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Don, Mom and I were traveling to Florida a few weeks back, and while driving through Mississippi passed the Sardis Lake exit. That sign started a flood of childhood memories.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A measure to set up a state fair commission has been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a proposal that allows parents to grade themselves on how involved they are in their children's schooling.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A measure to require drug testing as a condition for receiving welfare has been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a measure that allows college professors to teach high school courses.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a proposal to help Tennesseans get off unemployment and find a job.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A measure that requires roll-your-own cigarette retailers to pay a licensing fee and tax and adhere to certain restrictions has been signed by Gov. Bill Haslam.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tim McGraw will be saluting veterans in a big way while on tour this summer.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge in Nashville has dismissed a case against two major Hollywood film studios brought by one half of the legendary soul music duo Sam and Dave.
NASHVILLE AREA
MURFREESBORO (AP) - A Murfreesboro restaurant that's been a landmark on the city's public square for more than a century was abruptly closed by the Tennessee Department of Revenue for uncollected taxes.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones industrial average and other stock indexes drifted lower Thursday after a meeting of European leaders failed to deliver any new steps to ease the region's debt crisis.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — European leaders insist they want to keep Greece in the eurozone, but are putting off any agreement on how they hope to accomplish that. Greece says it, too, wants to stay in the eurozone, but until after elections it's uncertain whether it can implement the austerity that Europe has set as a condition for doing so.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average U.S. rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record low for a fourth straight week. Cheap mortgages have helped boost home sales modestly this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. bank earnings rose in the first three months of the year to the highest level in nearly five years and the number of troubled banks fell for the fourth straight quarter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits changed little last week, signaling modest job growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders for long-lasting factory goods edged up slightly in April but a key category that tracks business investment spending fell for a second straight month.
Oil is rebounding a day after hitting a seven-month low below $90 a barrel.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's initial public offering is the subject of two congressional inquiries and mounting lawsuits as the social network enters its fifth day of public trading.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joining the battle to redefine Internet search, Yahoo is taking aim with a new browser enhancement it calls "Axis."
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Driving onto an Interstate highway? Crossing a bridge on the way into work? Taking a tunnel under a river or bay? Get ready to pay.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - In spite of efforts to crack down on the state's prescription drug abuse epidemic, a new report shows nearly 18 million prescriptions for controlled substances such as OxyContin and hydrocodone were dispensed in Tennessee last year - a 23 percent increase from the previous year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The head of a group investigating the comments of Southern Baptist Convention ethics leader Richard Land has resigned.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Genesco Inc.'s fiscal first-quarter profit surged 39 percent as sales strengthened at its Journeys, Lids and Johnston & Murphy stores.
BALDWYN, Miss. (AP) — Hancock Fabrics faces many challenges, according to analysts and the company.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to cut 27,000 jobs as the growing popularity of smartphones, the iPad and other mobile devices makes it tougher for the company to sell personal computers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans bought more new homes last month, the latest evidence that the U.S. housing market could be starting to recover.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ending the day mixed after a sharp recovery in the last hour of trading.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil tumbled below $90 on Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven months as U.S. supplies continue to grow.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators are examining whether Morgan Stanley, the investment bank that shepherded Facebook through its highly publicized stock offering last week, selectively informed clients of an analyst's negative report about the company before the stock started trading.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The rate of late payments for auto loans fell nationally in the first three months of the year to the lowest level in more than a decade, even as lenders financed more vehicle purchases for high-risk borrowers.
TOKYO (AP) — Mazda Motor Corp. and Fiat SpA are working together on developing and manufacturing a roadster, or two-seater convertible, although the automakers will come up with different, distinctly styled models.
PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) — The MacLaren brothers are third-generation dairy farmers, but they will likely be the last in their family.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Uncle Sam may not want you after all.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 2010 census missed more than 1.5 million minorities after struggling to count black Americans, Hispanics, renters and young men, but was mostly accurate, the government said Tuesday.
TUESDAY, MAY 22
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Department store owner Dillard's is laying off 125 workers in Nashville as it moves online fulfillment to a central Arkansas center.
LEBANON (AP) — Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 25 percent thanks to higher prices and more customers.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Pet food company Mars Petcare is breaking ground on an $87 million regional innovation center in Williamson County.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vacuum maker Oreck is expected to pay nearly $700,000 in refunds to consumers as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over false advertising claims.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Authorities say an Alabama man has been charged in the theft of a $15,000 guitar that belonged to Hank Williams Jr.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government study says that allowing Bush-era tax cuts to expire and a scheduled round of automatic spending cuts to take effect would probably throw the economy into a recession.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. is getting its blue oval logo back.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans bought more previously owned homes in April, a hopeful sign that the weak housing market is gradually improving.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing mixed after news out of Greece yanked indexes lower shortly before the closing bell.
NEW YORK (AP) — The organization overseeing a major expansion of Internet addresses has reopened its system for letting companies and organizations submit proposals.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices dropped near their lows for the year following warnings of a "severe recession" in Europe and an apparent easing of tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
NEW YORK (AP) — Google says it has completed its acquisition of phone maker Motorola Mobility and it has appointed a Google executive as the new CEO of the business.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit dropped 26 percent on restructuring charges as the struggling electronics retailer began implementing its turnaround plan.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — The core of his presidential candidacy under attack, Mitt Romney has yet to shape a playbook to defend a quarter-century in the business world that created great riches for him and great hardship, at times, for some American workers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is inviting school districts to compete for $400 million in grants, taking its Race to the Top education initiative to the classroom level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are reviewing what JPMorgan Chase told investors about its finances and the risks it took weeks before suffering a multibillion-dollar trading loss.
MONDAY, MAY 21
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Country music star George Jones is in the hospital again with a respiratory infection.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tim McGraw has chosen a new record label run by an old friend.
NASHVILLE AREA
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The Schweitzer administration has chosen a Tennessee firm to set up and run a health clinic for state employees in Helena.
DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Scott Mitchell drives 600 miles so he can mow the lawn.
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper is hosting a free veterans workshop at the Tennessee National Guard Armory in Nashville.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Complete College Act of 2010 changed the formula for how Tennessee's universities are funded, rewarding them for graduating students, not just enrolling them.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's stock is tumbling well below its $38 IPO price in the social network's second day of trading as a public company on Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — A new survey shows economists are growing slightly more optimistic about recovery in the job and housing markets but expect other pillars of the economy to remain weak.
NEW YORK (AP) — Forget Facebook. This is still Apple's stock market.
Oil prices rose as encouraging signs about the economy in the United States and China tempered concerns about Greece's debt crisis.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase is suspending plans to buy back its own stock, a little over a week after the bank posted a large trading loss.
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest corporate takeover in the United States to date.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Lowe's Cos.' first-quarter profit climbed 14 percent, as warmer weather helped boost sales. But the world's second-biggest home improvement company lowered its full-year earnings forecast on Monday, saying it is still cautious on the housing market and economic conditions.
FRIDAY, MAY 18
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Doug Dillard, an influential banjo player who helped shape rock 'n' roll and introduce the nation to bluegrass music during a popular run on "The Andy Griffith Show," died Wednesday in Nashville. He was 75.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has redesigned its state website to improve its function and look.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's unemployment dropped slightly in April, marking the ninth straight month of decreases in the state's unemployment rate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam says he's considering a funding increase for the state's public pre-kindergarten program, a move that would put him at odds with some fellow Republicans in the Legislature.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Nashville and Knoxville regions are under the summer season's first air quality alerts.
MOUNT JULIET (AP) — Mount Juliet officials have fired a city worker and accepted the resignations of four others accused of sending sexually explicit messages.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Lawn mowing contractors who would use propane can get as much as $1,000 toward the purchase of new equipment.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Humane Society of the United States has released video of the abuse of Tennessee walking horses that led to a federal indictment charging four people with violation of the federal Horse Protection Act.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's stock is trading up 8 percent Friday, as investors seek to put a dollar value on the company that turned online social networking into a global cultural phenomenon.
It's going to take more than Facebook's initial public offering to push the stock market higher.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates fell in two-thirds of U.S. states last month, evidence that modest economic growth is boosting hiring in most areas of the country.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices fell to near $92 a barrel Friday in Asia, extending a sharp two-week selloff as the latest twists in Europe's debt crisis added to a gloomy economic outlook.
WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is willing to testify at a congressional hearing this spring on the bank's $2 billion trading loss.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is about to find out just how much status updates, puppy photos and billions of "likes" are worth on Wall Street.
NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett's company is making another foray into newspapers, agreeing to buy 63 newspapers from Media General Inc. for $142 million.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as they press cuts to food stamps and a host of other domestic programs, Republicans running the House of Representatives are shielding their own office expense accounts from further cuts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting plan that will close nearly 250 mail processing centers, saying on Thursday it can no longer wait as Congress remains deadlocked over how to help.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed President Barack Obama's two nominees to the Federal Reserve Board, bringing the seven-member board to full strength for the first time since April 2006.